Classical Music

Love! Is all about love. About love in the period from the 17th century to the 21st, via Russia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany, to England and the United States. About passionate love, motherly love, forbidden love and love lost. There is a love dance and much more. But Love! Is also about us, about our love for music and the unique combination formed by our instruments. Because the orchestral possibilities and the specifically melancholy tone color of the accordion form a magnificent blend with the scintillating and sonorous sound of the violin. This is the second release on Challenge Classics by the unique duo of accordionist Marieke Hopman and violinist Cecile Hujnen.

Debussy had been planning Preludes for two or three years before the first book was published in 1910. He seems to have been at work on the second book by the end of 1911 and the volume was published in 1913. Whereas Bach and Chopin used their Preludes as something of a technical exercise, composing one for each musical key, Debussy’s were free-form and full of his signature expressive indulgences. Each one has a different descriptive title that gives clues about what was going through the composer’s mind when he was writing them, from Shakespearean dances to underwater cathedrals. What Debussy did in the Preludes and earlier works with a similar inspiration was composing with sounds rather than notes. It is that, rather than their picturesque qualities, that changed history. Debussy did nothing less than liberate music from the domination by functional harmony which had prevailed for three centuries. Tonality becomes color.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Many songs on this album have one thing in common: they are mainly early compositions, in some cases even the first songs these composers wrote. They all have a certain spontaneity and freshness which shows that the young men who composed them were still at the beginning of their careers, full of dreams and hopes for the future. Thus, not surprisingly, many of the songs are also about dreams, totally in the spirit of the true romantic soul. Dutch baritone Raoul Steffani, born in 1992, has quickly established himself as one of the leading singers of his generation. After his masterclasses with Lieder masters such as Thomas Hampson, Christa Ludwig and Elly Ameling, he undertakes his album debut with a collection of early songs by some major Lieder composers.

Ben Kim writes: "I've long been interested in using the modern piano to mimic the unique temperament of the fortepiano, to make the notes not only sing but speak like a human voice, accentuating not only the luxuriant vowel sounds of the modern piano but also the short, staccato consonants created by the fortepiano. Mozart is master of the lyrical, but there are even more layers of dimension to be revealed by adding the percussiveness of the fortepiano, sometimes taking the modern piano off it's contemporary pedestal, and weaving the more transparent texture of it's historical sibling with the orchestra. For this recording, I had the privilege of playing with members of one of the world's most prestigious orchestras. Working with leader Michael Waterman, our hope was for the orchestra to be fully integrated, to create a whole that's greater than the sum of it's parts, soloist included. The recording was done without conductor, in a diplomatic approach more common to chamber ensembles than a 28-strong orchestra. We made musical decisions far in advance and in rehearsal set the balance so that the piano could suitably accompany the orchestra, rather than only the other way around. Removing it's lid to open up the piano, the orchestra huddled around it so that I was face-to-face with the operatic winds, bringing them to the forefront, with easy access to all string players around me. In this configuration we were able to fully relish the accompanimental and often under-prioritized middle register which so often forms the backbone of the music, contributing heavily to it's character. Taken together, this attitude of musical camaraderie was instrumental in helping us create a distinctive sound and feeling for these much-loved works."

Beethoven's most famous piano trio is dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, himself an accomplished musician. The importance of Rudolph as a patron can be seen in the number of other prominent works that Beethoven dedicated to him. Beethoven started work on the trio in the second half of 1810, but much of the work was done in March of the next year. Some descriptions give an inkling of how novel a composition this was perceived to be, and a young Ignaz Moscheles reported: "In the case of how many compositions is the word 'new' misapplied! But never in Beethoven's, and least of all in this, which again is full of originality. "A year after the Archduke, Beethoven wrote another piano trio in B-flat major. The autograph dates it 26 June 1812, but besides the similarity in key it is different in every way. It consists of a single movement, was not published during the composer's lifetime, and was written to encourage the nine-year-old Maximiliane Brentano in her piano playing. The Trio in E-flat WoO 38 might have been once intended to be part of op. 1 and although there are no extant sketches to support this, the style of the composition makes a dating of around 1790-1 plausible. The trio contains some surprising twists and turns, particularly in it's lengthy codas. The last piece for piano trio that Beethoven published during his lifetime has one of the longest compositional histories of all of his works. It consists of a long introduction, followed by ten variations on 'Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu' from Wilhelm M�ller's popular opera Die Schwestern von Prag. The first version of this piece was probably composed between 1801 and 1803, but it was substantially revised in 1816, and most likely further revised before publication in 1824. This final trio therefore includes elements from Beethoven's early, middle, and late styles.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music