Violinist Antje Weithaas stands for highest musicality, exquisite technique, and fabulous playing and artistry. On this release, she plays the solo part of these works, and also leads the Camerata Bern Orchestra. She explains her own reading of the score which in some cases is different from the “standard” reading: “I wanted to record Tchaikovsky for several reasons. Most importantly, I love Tchaikovsky’s music, particularly the two works featured on this recording. I wanted to coax the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto out of the corner of virtuoso tradition, which it has occupied until now. In certain aspects, an established way of playing it has become somewhat cemented over the last decades. But neither do I see that approach justified in the score, nor does it correspond with my view of Tchaikovsky as a musician and a human being. We all found it thrilling to challenge and question our previous experience with this piece, both as performers and as listeners, and to tackle it as if it was new to us…”

Markus Becker writes: “Solitude, or, more exactly, isolation, is what marked Haydn’s biography the most. Composing at the Esterházy court, he lived far from Vienna, without having to bother with the distractions of socializing among the upper set in the Imperial city. Haydn could remain at one with himself and his music, as he famously stated himself: “No one near could confuse me, so I was forced to become original.” Perhaps his situation in those surroundings allowed him the inner freedom to write a sort of music that seems to remain at one with itself. Of course this music is also “asking” to be awoken into sound, to be heard by others. Yet in another way, in a spectacularly unspectacular manner, it seems to be thoroughly introspective, listening to itself.

In conversation, Markus Schäfer and Tobias Koch remind us that these songs’ status was not as monolithic as it has become. “Due to their audacity and sheer energy, the effect was initially almost frightening in Schubert’s closest circle of friends”. We diverge from what is familiar, as well as from the ‘Urtext’, in a multitude or striking musical details: we introduce other notes, different embellishments, interpolated recitatives, additions, rests, transitions, unexpected turning points. We plead in favor of the listening habits of Schubert’s day: more spontaneity, more individuality, an emphasis on the unique role each musical moment can play for interpreters.

The much acclaimed series of the complete Mahler Symphonies with the Düsseldorf Symphonic under the baton of Ádám Fischer gets more complete with the release of the Symphony No. 2. Ádám Fischer writes: “Mahler’s Second Symphony has special significance for me… The first reason is biographical. Mahler finished writing the first movement in Budapest where he was musical director at the opera. When I was likewise general music director at Budapest Opera, I imagined that Mahler had sat in the same room and gotten angry over the same things as I did. Work at the opera must have been so nerve-wracking that he found no time for anything else. I can only confirm that. A second thought leads me to Haydn. We know that famous quote from Hans von Bülow, who is reported to have exclaimed that Wagner’s Tristan, compared with the first movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony, was as tame as a Haydn symphony. This mainly leads me to think that von Bülow was probably not yet aware of the direct connection that leads from Haydn to Mahler, which I sense. As far as I am concerned, Mahler is just as much a part of Vienna Classicism as Haydn. The third personal story has to do with the third movement, which is based on Mahler’s song Saint Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fishes. For the past thirty years I have been working in favor of a series of human and citizens’ rights organizations. I find that no other piece better describes the dilemma experienced by these organizations and movements than Mahler’s song.”

Here’s a recording that offers rewards on so many levels. Two excellent, profoundly insightful performances, beautifully recorded, ought to be recommendation enough. But hearing these works side by side is fascinating and strangely moving.

Both quartets have tended to be seen as problematic: transition works rather than fully focused statements. The Schoenberg – so we’re told – shows him repeatedly teetering on the edge of the atonal chasm before drawing back in relief.

The Sibelius is said to sit, not entirely comfortably, between the neo-classicism of the Third Symphony and the dark explorations of the Fourth – and does it really work as chamber music? But after the Tetzlaff Quartet’s performances these issues seem barely relevant. Here are two composers courageously entering new imaginative worlds, and opening up vistas that surprise and even delight.

It’s wonderful to hear the Schoenberg played not only with such flawless intonation, but also with such understanding for the way the music thinks harmonically. If there’s less angst than usual, the gains in tenderness, delicacy and in sense of overall musical shape strike a deeper vein of authenticity.

The slow movement of the Sibelius is glorious: poised and eloquent, it shows its composer rediscovering the possibilities of the simplest tonal harmonies at a time when Schoenberg was rejecting them. And at last here’s a performance of the Vivace second movement that makes this music sound as though it really was conceived for four solo strings – not as a string orchestra manqué. So, top recommendations for both works, and an inspired coupling – don’t hesitate.
Performance: 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5) star

-- Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine

Markus Becker writes of his new release: “I’ve been playing and studying Reger’s piano music for a long time now. In the 1990s, not long after graduation, I recorded his complete works for solo piano. Ever since then, I’ve been featuring Reger frequently in my recitals; not only solo piano pieces, but chamber music including violin, clarinet, and cello sonatas, the works for two pianos, piano trios, quartets, and Lieder. Reger composed an impressive quantity of music in almost all genres. Of course I’ve been familiar with the Piano Concerto for a long time, but I only recorded it for the first time live in January 2017. That is the source for the recording on this album…”

Baritone Andre Schuen and pianist Daniel Heide were brought together through serendipity. They both took part in the 2008 Salzburg Mozarteum Summer Academy and performed during the prizewinners’ recital When Daniel heard Andre’s voice for the first time, he immediately knew he wanted to collaborate with the spectacular musician. This is the duo’s debut release, and the purpose is to present the entire scope of their repertoire. Andre Schuen has been exploring different facets of his voice. “The three personalities we encounter on this CD represent three different generations. In Robert Schumann we meet the enraptured youthful lover; in Frank Martin we meet a man caught in the midst of life but pushed to the brink of despair by fear of death. And Hugo Wolf draws our gaze to Mignon’s father, the old harpist, full of melancholy, approaching the end of his life.”

Although Karol Rathaus (1895-1954) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) were contemporaries, they could hardly have led more different lives. Both biographies nevertheless exemplify the 20th century with its catastrophes, persecutions and destruction, and it is thus worthwhile to feature their music together in the same programme. Karol Rathaus as one of Franz Schreker’s favorite students, he followed Schreker to the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he passed the entrance exam with flying colors with his First Sonata for Piano in C Minor, op. 2 (1920). Unlike the 3rd Sonata, the 1st Sonata still follows conventional, post-Romantic paths. In 1927, Rathaus wrote the 3rd Piano Sonata. The music is freely tonal Rathaus achieves an almost boundless improvisational freedom. This sonata sounds to me like a portrait of the 1920s, describing the moods and turbulences of a big city (Berlin?). In December 1926, 20-year-old Dmitrij Shostakovich presented his 1st Piano Sonata, op. 12. On 6 June 1943, in the midst of World War II, Shostakovich premiered his 2nd Piano Sonata op. 61.

Ten years ago, in 2006, three musicians got together to play Mendelssohn. The trio eventually started looking for an appropriate name, and they eventually found their "patron" in Oberon, one of the characters in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. The King of the Elves embodies the pleasure anyone can find in metamorphosis, in games and creativity, and that remains this musical trio's creed until today - the will to remain flexible at all times, avoiding any sort of routine in music-making and programming. "We 'compose' our programmes with great care", affirms cellist Antoaneta Emanuilova. The year 2016 also marked the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death: the trio thus decided to combine both jubilees in one programme.

Since contemporary music is also part of the three musicians' repertoire, they commissioned a new work. "We wanted it to be up-to-date, but something that would nevertheless have a connection with our namesake", explains violinist Henja Semmler. They suggested this idea to British composer Charlotte Bray whom the trio's pianist Jonathan Aner met by chance at a concert in Berlin four years before, when she had just moved to the German capital. Now in her mid-thirties, she has written a great amount of chamber music, and her cello concerto has been featured at the BBC Proms. "A magic spell must have been at work: just then, Charlotte was working on a trilogy of piano trios that were to be influenced by Shakespeare", the pianist recalls. Thus, after her first piano trio entitled Those Secret Eyes which had been inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, Bray decided to search for inspiration in the dreamworld of Oberon for her next work in the same genre. The resulting piano trio fantasia That Crazed Smile evokes a moonlit night where fairies join forces to shower star-crossed lovers with dreams.

Bray creates Impressionist and Surrealist spaces, alternating between pointillist and planar structures. An elaborate, free-tonal fabric seems to unravel before our eyes, illuminated with flashes of lightning. Expressively heightened moods contrast with passages that are playful, almost dance-like, thus making us utterly forget that Bray is actually applying rigorous composition technique.

The members of Trio Imàge stumbled upon this score by chance and were thrilled to incorporate it into their repertoire: “This early work of a mostly forgotten composer nevertheless features a series of astounding, imaginative ideas and innovations: this music is brimming with youthful emotion and lively virtuosity, along with interspersed elements of Vienna folklore and a vague presentiment of decades of terror looming on the horizon.” A current representative of the same tendency is the young accordionist, dancer, arranger, and composer Marek Dyakov, who, in his works, combines folklore elements with jazz harmonies and classical means of expression. Perperikoana belongs to Ancient Bulgarian Legends, a four-part cycle dedicated to Trio Imàge. The piece displays strong associations with the music of the Rhodope Mountains, home of the Perperikon, an ancient sacred rocky hill: the landscapes of that beautiful region, with their great variety, find their echo in the piece’s polyphonic structure. The title also contains a personal dedication to Ana, Dyakov’s wife.

Benjamin Moser writes of his new program with Avi: “I have had the idea for this project since 2016. For the occasion of the 10th anniversary of my prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition and of my first album with Russian music, I wanted to make another recording, a sort of “Volume 2” with Russian repertoire. Within that framework I wanted to couple a well-known work with others that are more seldom performed: the Pictures at an Exhibition seemed like a good choice, since I had always wanted to play them- particularly in the original version, which I love. I wanted to couple them with Rachmaninoff’s 1st Piano Sonata, a seldom-performed work which is both marvelous and underrated. But then I discovered Earl Wild’s arrangements of Rachmaninoff songs, and soon became thrilled with these technically demanding yet delightfully lyrical miniatures. A further inspiration was provided by the focus on “America” chosen by the Ruhr Piano Festival, where, in the summer of 2017, I performed the programme now featured on this album under the name “Songs and Pictures” in a live recital- a daunting challenge indeed! Now, in cooperation with Deutschlandradio Berlin and Avi, this recording now finally sees the light of day.”

Memorias is clair-obscur's birthday present for Astor Piazzolla, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2021. This album provides the listener with comprehensive insights into Piazzolla's musical environment. A novel, unexpected musical context allows us to hear Piazzolla's music in a different way, with a fresh approach. It is obvious why the four musicians from Berlin are called "clair-obscur". Clair-obscur, a painting technique from the Renaissance, in which opposing light and dark tones are used to symbolize heavenly and earthly elements, is the visual equivalent of the sounds the quartet draw from their instruments: on the one hand, warm, intense and clear, and on the other harsh, aggressive and robust. These two poles can also be found in the composition of the quartet: two female and 2 male musicians in one ensemble create a unique musical energy.

“Beethoven has been pressed into many categories. At times he was seen as the great Titan, at others as an idealist; later approaches occasionally attempted to “de-emotionalize” his music. He simply had an incredible ability to be many things, but his music was never dispassionate. Beethoven could even sound overemotional, and then display dry wit! I see him at a crossroads in music history where he was occasionally still allowed to write plain, simple music, and I find that thoroughly moving. I’m always searching for connections across the centuries. Composers relate to one another, consciously or unconsciously. For instance, unconsciously: Henri Pousseur wasn’t thinking at all about Beethoven’s G Major Sonata. When I was thirteen years old, I performed the Pousseur piece at the European Youth Music Competition: it was a compulsory piece, and I won a special prize. It was the first truly “modern” piece in my repertoire, and required things I wasn’t prepared for at all. At the beginning, for example, six different dynamic shadings are overlapping simultaneously in both hands. I found those challenges exciting: after having gone through such an experience, I had “tasted blood” as far as contemporary music was concerned. In the middle of the piece, there is an improvisation on predetermined musical material: I wrote my version down, and have recorded it that way now.” (Herbert Schuch)

Cuarteto SolTango is a well known young band of classical musicians who play from original tango scores. In the year when Astor Piazzolla would have turned 100, it is the perfect time for the group to release 'Mision Tango'.

The Cuarteto SolTango epitomises the next generation of authentic tango, combining the luscious sound of a traditional orquesta tpica with the verve of true chamber musicianship. With the unique combination of violin, cello, bandonen and piano, they connect the Argentine Tango of the "Golden Age" with the tradition of chamber music concerts. They interpret a wide variety of classic tango styles ranging rom icons such as Anbal Troilo, Juan d'Arienzo and Lucio Demare right up to the pioneers of the Tango Nuevo, Osvaldo Pugliese and Horacio Salgan, in alluring arrangements by Martin Klett.

Since it was founded in 2008, the quartet has been invited to perform repeatedly at the music festivals of Schleswig-Holstein and Oberstdorf, thereby launching their musical brand at outstanding classical venues.

Since then, the four have played at a number of international festivals most recently at the innovative Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam, the Heidelberg Spring and the Studio Concert series at Bavarian Broadcast, Munich.

Following their debut album, they published their second album Cristal in 2015, collaborating with the German National Broadcasting (Deutschlandfunk) and the chamber music label CAvi. Rave reviews by Rondo and The Strad magazines, but also in the Tangodanza magazine proclaim their great success in the classical market as well as the international tango scene. The third album Sin Palabras was released in 2019.

"After a period of less involvement with keyboard instruments since the 1950s, the first book of Études pour piano confirmed Ligeti's return to writing for the piano. The Trois pièces pour deux pianos composed in 1976 stand as a central work in the composer's oeuvre and compositional development. The importance of rhythm is omnipresent, and his interest in this parameter would increase in the early 1980s with the discovery of the polyrhythms of African musicians and the vast complexity of Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano, as revealed by his Études.

György Ligeti composed his eighteen Études pour piano over a period of more than seventeen years. His first book of six Études was published in 1985. From the outset, the composer planned to compose a second volume, also comprising six Études. The reference to the piano tradition and the collections of six and twelve études by Chopin, Liszt, or Debussy is obvious. The second book, composed between 1988 and 1994, finally contained eight études. His third and last book includes four more Études composed between 1995 and 2001." -Cathy Krier