"DEFINITELY year's-best list material." --Iowa Public Radio

The Knights, the bold Brooklyn-based orchestral collective, embody the spirit of exploration with The Kreutzer Project, a program that posits Tolstoy’s response to Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” Sonata: What exactly is it? I don’t understand. What is music? What does it do? And why does it do what it does?

Beethoven and Tolstoy in turn inspired Czech composer Leoš Janácek, whose first string quartet is also called “Kreutzer Sonata”. The Knights’ response to these iconoclastic touchstones is to reimagine the Beethoven as a “Kreutzer Concerto”, arranged by The Knights’ co-founder Colin Jacobsen, who is also the orchestrated version’s violin soloist; and the Janácek as orchestrated by The Knights’ co-founder and conductor Eric Jacobsen. They keep the canon going with Colin’s newly-composed “Kreutzings”, which makes buried allusions to both Beethoven and Janácek; and a commission from Anna Clyne, whose piece “Shorthand” takes its title from a line in Tolstoy’s novella: “music is the shorthand of emotion”.

REVIEW

Arranged by Colin Jacobsen as an orchestral concerto, the “Kreutzer” Sonata explodes into a promethean supernova. The opening bars (also performed by Jacobsen) are played with familiarity and a seemingly deliberate avoidance of showmanship. But then the expected texture of a piano is replaced by woodwinds, offering even more melancholy in the minor key through the hints of oboe and bassoon. The call-and-response echoes aspects of Beethoven’s actual Violin Concerto, and underscores a line in Tolstoy’s own Beethoven-inspired The Kreutzer Sonata: “It seemed to me that he was weary of his solitude.” 

The dramatic potential that can get lost with the wrong pianist (or even simply the wrong listening session) is fully unpacked here, laid out like a sprawling dinner service for 20; crystal stemware gleaming, flatware catching the glint of tapered candles.

The Knights’s “Kreutzer Project” is built on the foundation of Beethoven, bookended by Janáček’s String Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata.” This work owes more to Tolstoy’s story, which focuses on a man who kills his unfaithful wife in a Beethoven-fuelled frenzy.

The Knights are no strangers to making orchestrated chamber works come to life in glittering multidimensionality...[but] it could have been overselling to call two works a “project.” Which is why they’ve recorded four, with Colin Jacobsen’s “Kreutzings” and Anna Clyne’s “Shorthand.” Clyne [introduces] the weedy world of Janáček while also riffing on the second movement of Beethoven’s sonata. Her natural predilection for thorny timbres and phantasmal texture work well with the Czech composer’s overgrown paths and houses of the dead, and soloist Karen Ouzounian plays with a voracious, burnished tone, as though the 11-minute work were a full concerto. Perhaps it should be.

--Van Magazine (Olivia Giovetti)

This album features three masterpieces by composers deeply connected to Vienna, two of whom-Haydn and Beethoven-earned the timeless title of "Viennese Classics," while Schubert, ever the bold innovator, explored new musical territories in their shadow. Created within less than fifty years, these works reveal the evolution of the piano sonata genre and the eventual rejection of it's conventional form-from Haydn's Sonata in E Major, which straddles the line between the galant style and fully developed classicism, to Schubert's avant-garde and extravagantly Romantic Fantasy in C Major, a work far ahead of it's time. Schubert's innovation would not have been possible without Beethoven's influence. Beethoven's late-period Sonata in E Major, written just two years earlier, serves as a bridge between the two, clearly paving the way toward a pre-Romantic expressive style. Mariusz Ciolko, an internationally performing artist, pedagogue, and competition juror, brings a unique interpretation to this demanding piano repertoire. He masterfully balances classical elegance with Romantic virtuosity, offering a performance that captures both the technical brilliance and emotional depth of these iconic works.

Haydn: Cello Concertos - Hétu: Rondo

In a palace at the edge of the Ottoman Empire, Constance, a noble captive, lives under the watchful guard of the powerful Pasha Selim, who longs for her heart. But Belmonte, her devoted lover, braves seas and dangers to find her. With the help of Pedrille, he attempts a daring escape, all under the suspicious eye of Osmin, the brutal yet comical guard. Nighttime intrigues, outlandish disguises, and eternal vows weave an exuberant comedy where emotions are put to the test. The Orchestre de l'Opera Royal, conducted by Gaetan Jarry, blends liveliness and eloquence to bring to life one of Mozart's most spirited works-performed in French!

With works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Fritz Kreisler, the Amadeus Trio presents a multifaceted programme that combines Viennese chamber music tradition, lyrical depth and virtuoso esprit. Beethoven's famous 'Gassenhauer Trio' captivates with it's wit and elegance, Schubert's first piano trio with it's formal breadth and poetic expressiveness, while Fritz Kreisler's miniatures bring the unmistakable Viennese charm into the modern age with a wink. Founded in 2020, the Amadeus Trio brings together three internationally renowned soloists who share a passion for chamber music and intense dialogue with each other - and with the audience. The members of the trio have already performed with leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and have appeared in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Tonhalle Zurich, the Vienna Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. The Amadeus Trio performs internationally in Europe and Asia and received standing ovations at it's debut in the sold-out Vienna Konzerthaus. Today, the ensemble stands for lively, high-class chamber music that draws inspiration from tradition and brings it into the present with fresh energy and immediate expressiveness.

After a remarkable debut in Vienna's Musikverein back in 2023, "The Philharmonic Brass" released their first album "Overture!" conducted by Tugan Sokhiev. Under Riccardo Muti's conductorship, the group reached a new peak in it's young career and launched the acclaimed album 'Italiana!' in spring 2025. To meet the highest audiophile standards, Supreme Classics is now re-releasing the first album, "Overture!" as a Hybride SACD and digitally in Dolby Atmos. "Overture!" includes virtuoso arrangements of some of the best-known overtures including Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Gershwin's Cuban Overture.

Jennifer Kloetzel’s lifelong journey with Beethoven began early: she was eight years old when her teacher placed the composer’s second cello sonata on her music stand, opening the door to an odyssey of intrigue and, ultimately, obsession with the composer’s music. Since then, rarely has a day passed without Beethoven being a part of Jennifer’s life. She has studied and performed all of the composer’s duos and trios. As founding cellist of the Cypress String Quartet, she spent 20 years rehearsing, performing and recording the string quartets. Jennifer now arrives at a career milestone with this recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano. Views vary as to what comprises Beethoven’s “complete” works for cello and piano. Jennifer’s discerning choice includes the five Sonatas for Cello and Piano, three sets of variations – based on arias from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus – and the Horn sonata for which the composer also wrote a cello part. Jennifer spares no attention to detail across the entire spectrum of this significant recording project. Her performing partner Robert Koenig plays on a 19th century Blüthner concert grand piano. The illuminating liner notes are penned by Beethoven scholar William Meredith who boldly states, “if there were only the five cello sonatas of Beethoven left of all his music, these alone would have cemented his place in history.” The recording was made in the stellar acoustic of Skywalker Sound. The 3-album set is lavishly packaged in a deluxe digipack. The title track, “The Conquering Hero” – from the opening set of variations from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus – evokes everything for Jennifer about Beethoven’s music, coming from a place of triumph and joy.

The instrument 'flute' is closely associated with the Prussian king Frederick the Great and his residence Sanssouci, as the Prussian king was a passionate flutist and numerous works were composed for him. For the recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi, it is a special challenge to transfer these works, which were actually composed for a transverse flute, to his instrument. The idea behind this was to bring new aspects and facets to the works originally composed for the transverse flute, which he actually succeeds in doing brilliantly.

To mark their 30th Anniversary, Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Adès are releasing their acclaimed Beethoven and Barry cycle as a box set. The works were recorded between 2017 and 2019 at Barbican Hall, London and Theatre Royal, Brighton. Thomas Adès: “This collection is the fruit of two parallel passions. After twenty years of performing and often premiering Gerald Barry’s works, I was frantic to record as much of it as possible. I had also loved working on Beethoven Symphonies with Britten Sinfonia, and suddenly an idea was born: why not dare the two firebrands to join hands? As soon as this idea took hold, everything fell into place. I believe Ludwig van Beethoven must be treated as a living composer, and I find Gerald’s music to be entirely classic. So the two complement each other ideally.” Gerald Barry: “Tom Adès decided on this pairing. It startled me. The first record I bought when I was about 13 was Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. We didn’t have a record player so all I could do was study the cover and advertisements on the back. I could look and see but not hear. I would take the record out and smell it. I used my nose as a stylus going round and round.”

In 1777, Mozart met the wealthy Ferdinand Dejean, an amateur flautist and retired surgeon of the Dutch East India Company. Dejean commissioned a handful of works from the young composer, who termed them 'some simple, short little concertinos'. Nevertheless, these pieces, which actually demand great virtuosity from the soloist, as well as a sensitivity to tonal nuances, have continued to be popular favourites ever since. A short while later, during his stay in Paris, Mozart wrote a further concerto, this time for a flute-playing aristocrat and his harpist daughter to perform as a duo of soloists - both of them 'admirable musicians' according to Mozart. Unlike Dejean, this noble virtuoso had an up-to-date instrument with eight keys, allowing the flute to reach down to middle C, and to play in the - hitherto impractical - key of C. Supported by A Nocte Temporis, the ensemble that she founded in 2016 with Reinoud Van Mechelen, flautist Anna Besson, now one of the most acclaimed instrumentalists of her generation, has recorded these evergreen works, with solo harpist extraordinaire Clara Izambert joining her in the Concerto for Flute and Harp.

Fresh from his triumphant onstage success in Paris, Berlin and Brussels singing leading roles in the operas of Rameau and Mozart, tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen presents his long-awaited first Mozart recording. Together with his ensemble A Nocte Temporis, he has devised a highly imaginative programme. From the eleven single opera and concert arias for tenor and orchestra that are ascribed to Mozart, the Belgian tenor has selected those that are entirely in the composer's hand - leaving out the ones completed or reconstructed by others, and adding an exquisite aria from Mitridate, re di Ponto. Mozart was only nine years old when in 1765, during his stay in London, he launched into his first opera aria for tenor and orchestra, to verses from a libretto by Metastasio. At the end of 1766, on his return to Salzburg, the child prodigy composed Or che il Dover - Tali e cotanti sono KV 36 for a festive celebration, making the court aware of his enormous talent. Throughout his career, alongside his own operas Mozart also wrote arias intended for insertion into the operas of other composers, hidden masterpieces that now receive revelatory performances.

Volume 11 of the 'Next Generation Mozart Soloists' series presents Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major along with Piano Concertos KV 40 and KV 449. The Piano Concerto No. 3 is a very early work, derived from works by other composers, whereas No. 14 was written in 1784 by a fully mature Mozart, who was moving away from functional music towards expressing his ideas in a more dramatic structure. What links the two, says Swiss-Canadian pianist Teo Gheorghiu, is that they are both "concertos mainly joyful and optimistic in expression". French violinist David Castro-Balbi says "of Mozart's violin concertos, No. 5 has the strongest operatic character". These two soloists are accompanied by the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the baton of Howard Griffiths.

Young Chinese pianist Ran Jia plays an appealing program with works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasy in C Minor, K 475, and the piano sonatas 3, 6 and 8.

Jeremie Rhorer and Le Cercle de l'Harmonie launch a new collaboration with Alpha Classics, with several projects planned, following the Mozart operas released on the label in 2016 and 2017. Here they tackle a monument of the sacred repertoire that is fascinating for it's rich, complex, even 'mysterious' conception. Rhorer tells us that his interpretation pays close attention to the question of tempi, which have often become progressively slower and heavier since the post-Romantic period: the tempi have 'a direct bearing on the vocal comfort of the singers, since breath control is one of the great difficulties of this work', he says. For this recording, he has called in a quartet of top-flight soloists along with the Audi Jugendchorakademie, a remarkable German youth choir founded in 2007. In conjunction with his period-instrument orchestra, soon to celebrate it's twentieth anniversary, they offer a passionate vision of Beethoven's masterpiece.

Alessandra Gentile with the Perugia Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christian Schmitt, a monographic album dedicated to W.A. Mozart with the two Concertos for piano and orchestra no. 19 and no. 9. The CD opens with the Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 19 KV 459, completed in Vienna in 1784 and performed in 1790 by Mozart himself in Frankfurt on the occasion of the celebrations for the coronation of Leopold II (and for this reason called the second Coronation Concerto) and published posthumously in 1800. A piece that appears particularly lively, not only for the enriched instrumentation of the wind instruments, but also and above all for the brilliant indications of meter and tempo and for the incredible richness of the writing. The Concerto no. 19 KV 459 is followed in the tracklist by a largescale work, the Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 9 KV 271, also in three movements, composed in Salzburg between 1776 and 1777, a piece considered among the milestones of Mozart's vast repertoire. The recorded program thus allows us to rediscover with new sophistication two cornerstones of Salzburg's genius, entrusted to the interpretation of Alessandra Gentile and Christian Schmitt conducting the Perugia Chamber Orchestra, a group that debuted in 2013 and collaborates regularly with important masters, soloists and choral groups."

Joseph Haydn gave lessons in singing, keyboard instruments, theory, and composition throughout his life. His pupils included Ignaz Pleyel, Sigismund Neukomm, and the Pole Franciszek (Franz) Lessel. In October 1805, the latter received from his teacher the autograph score of his Symphony No. 56, dating from 1774. This symphony forms a pair with Symphony No. 55, known as 'The Schoolmaster', dating from the same year. Both are included in this eighteenth volume of the Haydn2032 series, along with Symphony No. 29 (1765), "whose finale Presto sounds as if a swarm of naughty children had just escaped from a strict teacher," writes Christian Moritz-Bauer. Giovanni Antonini and the Kammerorchester Basel also recorded the finale of Lessel's Fifth Symphony in G minor, the only movement that has survived from his complete orchestral works, which include five other symphonies.

Those present at the Munich Nationaltheater for the 1st Academy Concert of the 20/21 season, will remember it as a special moment. Subsequent to concert venues being forced to close in March 2020, this was one of the first post-lockdown public performances anywhere, as well as being Vladimir Jurowski’s second concert with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester in his role as designated general music director.

On the program: Beethoven’s Second Symphony, which was also played during the opening concert of the Musikalische Akademie in 1811. Its conceptual magnitude and tonal vehemence make this symphony – listened to with an attentive ear – far more than simply a precursor of Eroica. It was preceded on this occasion by Brett Dean’s Testament, a contemporary orchestral piece which engages with Beethoven’s music, his thoughts and his emotional state. This live concert recording vividly captures the anticipation and excitement felt on the night, as well as the bold endeavor to offer a fresh perspective on a purportedly familiar work.

Rarity – German version of Mozart's "Finta gardiniera. 5 years ago, the Munich Radio Orchestra under Andrew Parrott performed Mozart's singspiel "Die verstellte Gärtnerin" - the rarely performed German version of "Finta gardiniera," which can now finally appear on cpo. When this opera was first performed, Mozart was 19 years old - an age at which most composers had not even begun. Wolfgang Amadeus' career as a musician - and as a composer - had been in full swing for several years, however. The work belongs to the genre of opera buffa, within which it follows the type of opera semiseria (half opera) popular at the time. Accordingly, in addition to buffa parts, there are also semi-seria parts and even a pure seria part. The music is of great richness. Mozart shows himself here as a true master of opera buffa. At the same time, the music already points beyond these to masterpieces such as Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. The first two acts of the opera contain large-scale, effective finales. In the second act, Mozart combines the finale with several preceding arias and recitatives to create a grand scene that transcends the boundaries of contemporary number operas.

For the third time Kolja Lessing, one of the most versatile musicians of our times, dedicates himself to the multifaceted composer Carl Czerny and specifically to his Systematische Anleitung zum Fantasieren auf dem Pianoforte op. 200 (Systematic Introduction to Improvisation on the Pianoforte). “If a finely written musical work can be compared to a noble architectural edifice in which symmetry must predominate, then a successful fantasy is a beautiful English garden, seemingly without rules but brimming with surprising variety and intelligibly, meaningfully, and planfully executed.” It was with this poetic comparison that Czerny, writing in the introduction to his Anleitung zum Fantasieren, characterized the nature of improvisation, contrasting it with a composition elaborated in writing. It is scarcely surprising that Czerny, quite early marked by many years of the closest contact with his mentor Beethoven and his unique art of improvisation, presented this compendium in 1829 in his effort to grasp music encyclopedically. As an instructive work, it systematizes all the different kinds of improvisation then in use and illustrates them with numerous models, often ones honed with the finest artistry. In his compendium Czerny addressed the knowledgeable, technically uncommonly well-versed player. In his accompanying texts he refers to models that at the time were almost completely unknown such as Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Art of Fugue, to exemplary works by his contemporaries Beethoven, Clementi, Hummel, and Moscheles, and even to his own publications in respect of each improvisational genre. It is thus that Czerny’s op. 200 offers fascinating insights into the musical practice of the early nineteenth century at the crossroads between Classicism and Romanticism – while he himself already belongs to the Romantic period by virtue of his encyclopedic thought bringing together all the epochs of music history.

The Rosebud String Quartet was formed in 2013 at the inaugural Rosebud Chamber Music Festival, an annual summer chamber music showcase in rural Alberta. Comprised of principal players from the Edmonton Symphony and the orchestras of the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet of Canada, the RSQ is one of Canada’s most dynamic ensembles with a unique voice and a deep love for the music of Haydn. This recording brings together three great, late works by the acknowledged masters of Viennese classicism, Mozart and Haydn, and on it displays the Rosebud String Quartet's remarkable chemistry and depth.

Internationally acclaimed concert organist Zuzana Ferjencikova, who is currently working on a complete recording of Jean Guillou's organ works for AEOLUS, can be heard on her new album "Legendes" with her own transcriptions of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, and Liszt. The centerpieces are Beethoven's Grande Sonate Pathetique and Liszt's second legend of St. Francis, as well as Ferjencikova's fascinating arrangement of the aria "Tristis est anima mea" from his oratorio "Christus." The Seifert instrument used for the recording is at the heart of the numerous musical activities of "Orgelwelten Ratingen" and, thanks to it's tonal diversity, is extremely versatile. The new SACD (stereo and 5.1 multichannel surround) reproduces the sound of the instrument, distributed in several locations in the room, in all it's multidimensionality with remarkable plasticity. Die international gefragte Konzertorganistin Zuzana Ferjencikova, die bei AEOLUS an einer Gesamtaufnahme der Orgelwerke von Jean Guillou arbeitet, ist auf ihrem neuen Album "Legendes" mit ihren eignenen Transkriptionen von Werken Beethovens, Mozarts, Schumanns und Liszts zu horen. I'm Zentrum stehen dabei vor Beethovens Grande Sonate Pathetique und Liszts zweite Franziskuslegende sowie Ferjencikovas faszinierende Bearbeitung der Arie "Tristis est anima mea" aus dessen Oratorium "Christus". Das fur die Aufnahme verwendete Instrument der Firma Seifert steht i'm Zentrum der zahlreichen musikalischen Aktivitaten der "Orgelwelten Ratingen" und ist Dank seiner Klangfarbenvielfalt extrem vielseitig einsetzbar. Die neue SACD (Stereo und 5.1 Multichannel Surround) gibt den Klang des an mehreren Orten i'm Raum verteilten Instrumentes in seiner Mehrdimensionalitat außerst plastisch wieder.

Halifax-based record label Leaf Music is pleased to announce the release of cellist Robert DeMaine and pianist Peter Takács’s double album of Beethoven’s complete works for piano and cello. Set to be released July 8 2022, this stunning collection showcases Beethoven’s unprecedented textures and formal innovations found in his sonatas for cello and piano. DeMaine is a master of Beethoven’s conversational tone and technical flourishes, playing with “lapidary technical precision, and a persuasive identification with the idiom of the music at hand,” While Takács showcases the composer’s experiments in harmony and form with his noted ability to communicate musical interpretations.

Beethoven wrote that he composed the oratorio Christus am Ölberge (Christ on the Mount of Olives) in just "a fortnight, amid all sorts of tumult and other unpleasant and alarming events in my life." It marked the first time since the two ‘imperial cantatas’ of 1790, the Cantata on the Death of the Emperor Joseph II WoO 87 and the Cantata on the Accession of Leopold II WoO 88, that he had embarked on a multi-movement vocal work. Christus am Ölberge was also Beethoven’s first composition on a religious subject and was destined to remain his only oratorio.

Rarely heard Fandangos combined with known Fandangos. Unique arrangements & improvisation. Unique instrumentation: trombone, recorder, guitar, harpsichord, guitar, percussion. Early music approach to the origins of the popular dance "Fandango"

MOZART SONATAS is the moving final collaboration between Pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and violinist Jacques Israelievitch. Battling late stage cancer, Israelievitch rallied his strength to finish this complete recording of Mozart's piano and violin sonatas just months before passing away. The album shows how Mozart's compositional style developed; his early sonatas favor the piano, but the violin gradually grows in importance as we reach the later sonatas. This ambitious five-volume collection includes noted violin-piano sonatas like the Palatine Sonatas and the Auernhammer Set. These masterful performances are a proud final entry in Israelievitch's recorded catalog and stand as a powerful testament to the human spirit.

This 3-CD collection presents the collaboration between Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in three of their unique Beethoven performances from the 1980s. The centrepiece is the recording of the Ninth Symphony, made on the occasion of the opening concert of the new Gewandhaus in Leipzig on 8 October 1981. It is largely thanks to the efforts of Kurt Masur, conductor of the orchestra from 1970 onwards, that a new, 'third' Gewandhaus was built on Augustusplatz in the city centre after the Second World War. The opening concert of the new Gewandhaus on 8 October 1981 therefore marked the beginning of a new era for the orchestra under it's then principal conductor. The CD collection also includes recordings of the MASS IN D MAJOR, OP. 123 'MISSA SOLEMNIS' and the CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA IN D MAJOR, OP. 61.

Why, in a booklet accompanying a recording of "Flute Music at the Court of Frederick the Great", is an attempt being made at this point to take a look into the soul of a damaged monarch? There is a guiding "thread of Ariadne" that leads through the labyrinthine trials and tribulations of Frederick's life and suffering – a singular passion that he discovered at a young age and never forgot throughout his life. It is the love of music, especially the love of playing the "flûte traversière".

“One of the most important advantages that the Luxembourg citizen has when abroad is that linguistically and culturally we embrace both the German and the French cultures...This gives a Luxemburger, particularly one active in the arts or the cultural environment, a different outlook and approach,” suggested Luxembourg composer Alexander Müllenbach in an interview. Perhaps it is this different perspective, the quite individual, open approach, that Françoise Groben herself had, a quality that she brought to her performance of German and French compositions for the cello. And it is for that reason that Banque Générale de Luxembourg placed at her disposal an exquisite instrument built by Matteo Goffriller in 1695.

Françoise Groben was born in Luxembourg on December 4, 1965. She received her first lessons in the cello at the age of five at the city’s Conservatoire, studying there with Francine Weber-Deprelle, Jean Join und Georges Mallach. She eventually completed her studies with Boris Pergamenschikov at the Cologne Musikhochschule, graduating in her concert examination, while continuing to attend master classes given by such artists as Daniil Shafran in Moscow or William Pleeth in London, or by the Amadeus Quartet. From 1974 onwards she was a member of the ensemble Les Musiciens founded by her father, Joseph Groben, and was only 15 when she first played in the Youth Orchestra of the European Union, going on to perform under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Herbert von Karajan and Georg Solti. The recordings collected here illustrate the entire spectrum of Françoise Groben’s artistic interests, demonstrating that she was not only a leading soloist but also a gifted and coveted chamber musician who regularly included pieces by Luxembourg composers in her programs and was strongly committed to contemporary female composers.

Unless one lived in a major European center with an orchestra, the opportunity to hear large-scale works by the great composers of the age was well-nigh impossible. The insatiable demand for new chamber versions of famed orchestral works saw Hummel ar-ranging Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 6 ‘Pastoral’ not long after the great composer’s death. Hummel approached his task with great care, bringing a fresh perspective to the works in his sensitive and compelling chamber music configurations. Hummel’s arrangements of Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 ‘Eroica’ can be heard on Naxos 8.574039.

"Being able to release my first solo CD with the hänssler CLASSIC label is simply fantastic. The assembled works on this CD reflect my musical focus. The juxtaposition of globally renowned and beloved compositions with the quest for seldom-performed musical treasures captivates me in my profession. I have recorded a journey through the colorful world of fantasy. The sound journey with Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn Bartholdy shows famous, rarely played and unfinished piano works, which, besides a reference to nature, find their nucleus in Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'.

"The three composers are united by the search for new possibilities of expression. There are (almost) no limits to the imagination. Ludwig van Beethoven takes center stage. His contrasting works Fantasy for piano Unv 12, an unfinished sketch, and the universally known 'Sonata quasi una fantasia' op.27 No. 2, more familiar to most as the 'Moonlight Sonata', are an exciting combination.Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Phantasie op. 28 'Scottish Sonata' harks back to Beethoven's love of nature. He wrote this fantasy in 1833 on his cultural journey through Italy, France and Great Britain. Here, Mendelssohn Bartholdy sets his impressions of the mood and landscape of Scotland to music. Franz Schubert's Fantasy op. 15 D 760 'Wanderer Fantasy' is a work that is close to my heart." - Maximilian Schairer