"For me Gyorgy Ligeti is the most important composer of the second half of the 20th century" said the conductor Frieder Bernius about the composer who died in 2006. The underlying composition of this album is a recording of the Requiem with the Kammerchor Stuttgart, recorded in early 2006, which Ligeti himself praised as being "an outstanding interpretation." The Requiem is being issued for the first time together with Ligeti's Lux aeterna which, so to speak, represents, with regard to its content, a "completion," as Ligeti had not set this in his Requiem, even though it is the final sentence of said liturgical text. These two works are supplemented by transcriptions by Clytus Gottwald, the dedicatee of the Lux aeterna, in which he professedly orientates himself according to Ligeti's "microtonality."

With this recording, Frieder Bernius once again honors the musical legacy of the Bohemian composer Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of the longstanding court kapellmeister of Donaueschingen on 3 December 2016, the focus is on his instrumental compositions. In addition to the Symphony No. 1, op. 7 – a work that has not been available in a current recording for many years – the release includes the Variations for Clarinet and Orchestra op. 128 and the Concertino for Violin and Orchestra op. 15. It represents a convincing homage to a composer who found his place in the transition between the Classical form of a late Mozart and the Romance form of early Romanticism, between lyrically reflective melodies and “Sturm und Drang” dramatics as well as between homophonic orchestral tuttis and strict counterpoint.

The audience of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival experienced a great musical event when the Kammerchor Stuttgart, conducted by its founder Frieder Bernius, performed Luigi Cherubini's Messe Solennelle No. 2 in D minor. The soloists of the evening were Ruth Ziesak, soprano, Christa Mayer, contralto, Christoph Genz, tenor, and Thomas E. Bauer, bass. The recording of this truly extraordinary work is now available on album. After a beginning which seems familiar, unforeseen, imaginative and witty turns lead melodic progressions and harmonic developments into entirely new directions. The harmonic variety is impressive, and chromaticism plays no less important a role. Subtle instrumentation lends many sections an exquisite sonority. And last but not least, the deeply felt interpretation of the text by means of melodic, rhythmic or harmonic figures, as well as by dynamics and tempo is one of the outstanding features of the work, highlighting the performers' brilliance.

All over the world, millions of mothers, fathers and grandparents get their children to sleep by the pacifying ritual of singing and rocking the infant or toddler. “Slaap, kindje slap”, for example, is sung in the Netherlands, “Baju, bajuschki, baju” in Russia, and “Thula baba” in South Africa.

Singers and instrumentalists from all over the world have recorded the most beautiful lullabies from their home countries exclusively for this CD collection. The accompaniment by tradition instruments highlights the original sound of these songs. The CD contains lullabies from Armenia, Belgium, China, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, New Zealand, North America, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary and a lullaby in Yiddish.

With this recording the prize-winning “Liederprojekt”, promoting singing with children, is being continued and expanded by an international collection.

A “landmark” is an object in a landscape or a turning-point, a milestone, symbol, or orientation point. Calmus performs ten “vocal landmarks” on its new album – works by ten composers from ten different countries. Musical borders open here, and styles mix. Songwriters encounter the avantgarde, folk meets jazz, South American rhythms pulsate alongside Yiddish melodies. You soon realize that it is actually a very short journey from minimal music to pop, and how classical harmonies and jazz sounds interweave. You will recognize masters such as Francis Poulenc, Leonard Cohen, Georg Kreisler, and Sting, but you are guaranteed to discover new songs such as the Krakow singer-songwriter Mordechaj Gebirtig, and the South American composers Federico Ruiz and Aylton Escobar. With landmarks Calmus has created a kind of “sounding globalization”. The music reflects a society which recalls the past and interprets it anew, which is receptive, and sometimes reflective, but also laughs and dances and swings!

Beethoven repeatedly described the Missa solemnis as his greatest work, intended to affect and move people. His labor on the composition was long and intense; the work is not regarded as the most important mass setting of the 19th century in vain. In terms of its scope and musical demands, it reaches far beyond what is liturgically usual – not without reason did the premiere take place in a concert hall. The Kammerchor Stuttgart and the Hofkapelle Stuttgart under the leadership of Frieder Bernius master the challenges of the Missa with bravura. All the sonorous groups work together intensively, creating an organic and homogeneous flow of interpretation. The young quartet of soloists Johanna Winkel, Sophie Harmsen, Sebastian Kohlhepp and Arttu Kataja complement the ensembles.

One of the most influential sacred works in all of history is presented on this new release: Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Frieder Bernius with the Kammerchor Stuttgart, as well as the Barockorchester Stuttgart, perform this work beautifully, highlighting their knowledge of historically informed performance practice. Soloists featured here include Hannah Morrison, Sophie Harmsen, Tilman Lichdi, Peter Harvey, and Christian Immler.

Originally written for the three days of Christmastide 1734 and the beginning of 1735, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio has since gone on to become an established part of Advent and Christmas – just like turkey and Christmas pudding. With soloists Regula Muhlemann, Anna Lucia Richter, Wiebke Lehmkuhl, Sebastian Kohlhepp, and Michael Nagy, the newly-formed ensembles of the Gaechinger Cantorey conducted by Hans-Christoph Rademann celebrate their first Christmas Oratorio together with this recording of all six cantatas! The newly-founded baroque orchestra and the newly-constituted choir of the Bachakademie will perform under the joint name GAECHINGER CANTOREY from now onwards. Based on the historic foundations of the Bach era, and with roots in the living performance history of the choir founded by Helmuth Rilling, this name represents an integrated musical approach and the aesthetic sound ideal of the baroque.