With works by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, this CD is dedicated entirely to the magic of musical romanticism. Two composers, two worlds of sound - united by emotional depth, imagination and a love of the piano. Lei Meng interprets Schumann's filigree Arabesque op. 18 and his passionate C major Fantasy op. 17, a musical confession full of inner drama. Schubert will perform the intimate Allegretto in C minor D 915 and the powerful, visionary Wanderer Fantasy D 760 - an orchestral masterpiece for piano. Lei Meng, born in 1991 in Harbin (China), studied at the Mozarteum Salzburg and the CNSMD in Paris, among others. She has won prizes at international competitions and has performed in Europe, China, Brazil and the USA. She has been Professor of Piano and Piano Didactics at the Mozarteum Salzburg since 2024. Her artistic versatility is reflected in numerous solo and chamber music projects. Pure romanticism - full of longing, melancholy and expressiveness. An invitation to listen and dream.

Emotions are running high in Guiseppe Verdi's eighth opera: two men are battling to win the same woman and the Incas are fighting for their freedom in the face of oppression by the occupying Spanish forces. This cultural conflict provides an exotic backdrop for the unfolding of a captivating love-tragedy, bursting with passion and heroism.

The programme Schonheit und Staatsversagen (Beauty & State Failure) brings together music and text to explore the contrasts of life in Bavaria around 1800 - between city and countryside, wealth and poverty, education and illiteracy. The vivid reports of civil servant Joseph von Hazzi reveal a little-known, often harsh rural reality, full of struggle but also raw, sometimes comical pleasures. In contrast, songs by Munich composers like Josephine Lang, Franz Lachner and Lindpaintner - alongside Schumann, Leopold Mozart and Haydn - paint an idealised, emotional image of alpine life. Though shaped by different worlds, both perspectives reflect timeless human experience. This album opens up new perspectives on the past - touching, surprising, and full of musical individuality. And always, of course, with Alma!

This album reflects the long-standing artistic friendship between Maze and Denis Rouger and showcases the close musical bond between the composer and the chamber choir. The CD presents spiritually rich works like the Trois Choeurs mystiques and expressive psalm settings that blend timelessness with emotional depth. Inspired by liturgical, biblical, and poetic texts, Maze's music ranges from simple to provocative, always marked by inner reflection and power. Highlights include the Messe � double choeur, Psalm 8, and solo performances by tenor Martin Hohler and baritone Georg Benz. Celebrating Maze's 70th birthday, the recording captures the choir's artistic joy and brings his multifaceted choral language vividly to life under Rouger's direction.

On 10 May 1740, Wilhelmine of Bayreuth's opera Argenore was to premiere at the Margrave's Theatre - a celebration that never happened. The dark dramma per musica, in which only an exile survives and King Argenore rules with brutal force, mirrors Wilhelmine's own life: her isolation at the Prussian court, her father's despotism, and the tense bond with her brother Frederick II are reflected in the opera's characters. Musically, Argenore features emotionally charged keys and a central role for Ormondo, who performs six arias. In 2022, the Gottingen Baroque Orchestra revived the opera in a world marked by crisis, highlighting the dangers of authoritarian rule and misinformation. A newly developed version replaced the Italian recitatives with a German monologue by Marlene Streeruwitz, while preserving all original arias - allowing the full dramatic force of Wilhelmine's music to emerge.

The piano played a central role in the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - from his first musical experiences to his most important compositions. Mozart's openness to new keyboard technologies, such as instruments with hammer action, justifies the modern interpretation of his works, as presented sensitively and historically informed by Amy Lin in her third recording of the intended complete recording. Born in Taiwan, pianist Amy Lin combines her deep understanding of the German musical tradition with an international concert career and an impressive discography ranging from Mozart to contemporary composers. Her education includes studies with Leon Fleisher and Gerhard Oppitz, where she was awarded the highest honor, the Meisterklassendiplom. The piano sonatas on this recording, such as the melancholy K. 280 or the famous 'Sonata facile' K. 545, combine accessible melodies with technical and aesthetic challenges. Mozart's sonatas will delight beginners and connoisseurs alike.

Born in Guadeloupe to an aristocratic plantation owner and a black slave, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (1745-1799) was one of the most enigmatic figures in 18th century Paris: one of the best violinists and one of the most popular composers in France, but also a heartthrob, an excellent fencer and swimmer. In fact, his biography almost resembles that of a character from Bridgerton. Jens Barnieck (fortepiano) and Jeanette Pitkevica present a selection of printed sonatas and manuscript pieces.

Detriti da canti precari (2017), a cycle of 14 short pieces, is the result of a profound artistic dialog between the composer Filippo Perocco (*1972) and the Ensemble L'Imaginaire. It occupies an important place in the ensemble's repertoire and stands for collaboration driven by a shared passion for sound, friendship and freedom.

Georg Philipp Telemann is undoubtedly one of the composers who wrote the most parts for the recorder. No wonder, as he had mastered the instrument since his childhood and provided it with rewarding parts not only in chamber music, but also in orchestral and vocal works. The young Portuguese recorder player Joao Francisco Tavora studied in Porto and Leipzig and presents works for recorder by Telemann in various scorings, which show off his extraordinary playing technique and interpretative skills to their best advantage.

Of all the great composers of classical modernism, Bartok undoubtedly made the most significant contributions to violin chamber music. The Latvian-Armenian violinist Georg Sargsyan and the Australian pianist James Maddox present two major works from this repertoire. The piano sonata, the only contribution to the genre in the composer's otherwise extensive piano oeuvre, rounds off the program.

From an artistic point of view, Dvorak reacted with this work to the Stabat Mater by the German church musician and priest Franz Xaver Witt, the founder of the Cecilia Society, which was performed in Prague in 1875. This work, scored for only choir and organ, was a pontifically approved version of contemporary church music. In the nineteenth century, the Vatican generally supported a return to the sober a cappella style of Palestrina while being critical of orchestral sacred works. Dvorak, at the time organist at the Prague church of St. Adalbert, did not agree with this view. He had a different idea of a Catholic choral work, and his Stabat Mater is more in line with Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonic conception of the Missa solemnis

The Blue Chamber Quartet recording George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue could just have easily come at the beginning of their career, as the ensemble, founded 2005, and Gershwin’s compositions from 1923/24 share a similar approach: the connection between classical music in the broadest sense with elements of jazz. + This can also be seen in the other works on this recording, particularly those of Leonard Bernstein, Mark Glentworth and Allen Shawn, that the Blue Chamber Quartet play in their very own way. “… an ear-opening classical crossover quartet.” (Audiophile Audition – USA)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music