Like that of his teacher Schütz, Weckmann’s music exhibits an unusually intensive word-tone interrelation (above all in vocal music) and in its contrapuntal complexity with tonal dissonances verges on the limits of harmony. + No use at all was made of the modern electric bellows motor; instead the muscle power of two calcants was used to operate the organ’s historical bellows unit. The flexible wind supply, wind-force factor, and corresponding noises produced by the bellows result in a vivid sound picture meeting the requirements of historical authenticity.

With Paroli (originally entitled Frau Denise), a variation on the Figaro theme of the amorous misadventures of a duped, married nobleman set near Paris during the late 18th c., Leo Fall (1873-1925) succeeded in producing a captivating one-act chamber play that was neither operetta nor opera – even though it does have its share of reminiscences of fairy-tale operas, stylistic quotations of the rococo, discreet leitmotivic technique, and polished ensemble pieces. A prodigious operetta composer, Leo Fall was considered a true rival to Franz Lehár at the turn of the 20th c.

• Anton Bruckner died before completing work on the fourth and final movenment of his 9th symphony. • Conductor Mario Venzago's ongoing complete Bruckner symphony cycle has provoked vehement pro and contra critical reaction. • The Bern Symphony's history dates back more than 125 years.

Zebeljan: The Horses of Saint Mark

Our grand Herzogenberg edition would not be complete without his songs. In '99 our interpreters chanced upon a volume of music with a little selection of songs by Herzogenberg and found them to be very appealing. The marvelous intimacy of expression and the melodic designs combining rich invention with folk character in his songs are uniquely Herzogenberg.

Grieg, E.: Cello and Piano Music

Apart from the opera and the symphony, Max Reger made substantial contributions to almost every musical genre, and within chamber music his compositions for violin and piano formed the largest complex. These works are technically and musically demanding and, for one reason or another are rarely ever heard in the concert hall.

Halt's Maul und mach was - Ein Konzert für Arno Schmidt

Brahms, J.: Piano Quartet No. 1 (Orch. A. Schoenberg) / Clar

Evergreens

•The idea to focus on the chamber music of Tchaikovsky's most important pupil goes back to Anna Zassimova, the pianist on our new production. Along with assorted occasional works and duos, Taneyev's chamber catalogue consists of these three late, great piano chamber works. Overall, they demonstrate great architectonic design and melodic-rhythmic material of great beauty. The high demands placed by the pieces on the interpreters involve not only playing technique but also tonal balance.

Bach, J.S.: Organ Works, Vol. 21 (Weinberger) - Art of the F

Mozart, W.A.: Zaide [Opera]

Lena Neudauer attracted international attention when at the age of fifteen she not only spectacularly won the Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg but also was awarded practically all the special prizes. And Matthias Kirschnereit has long enjoyed international renown, even though he eschews the glamorous world of stardom. We have now brought together these two most highly talented musicians for a recording of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Orchestra, a work with a tradition extending from Bach and Baroque music by way of Mozart and Haydn to early romanticism. In the second early work heard on this album, the Violin Concerto in D minor, the legacy of classicism and that of Bach's highly regarded son Carl Philipp Emanuel, are clearly audible. For Mendelssohn's teacher Zelter and contemporary audiences the musical aesthetic of the late eighteenth century continued to dictate taste. Both of these early concertos attest to an authentic boy genius and an acclaimed public favorite!

Matthias Kirschnereit performs Handel's Six Concertos for the Organ and Harpsichord, op.4 on piano. It is only now that the depth and beauty of these concertos can be heard in full, and you can look forward to the six concertos of op. 7!