Judith Pfeiffer

Double Talk

Hewar: Letters to a homeland

La Bellina

Brahms: Lieder

The Gates of Jerusalem

Fatum

For Gabriel Feltz, Sergej Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony "communicates, in a very moving way, the life-long struggle of one of Russia's greatest musicians with this genre." Because of this, it was particularly important for the conductor to show the exuberant power of imagination, the changing moods and the extremely elaborate instrumentation of Rachmaninoff's work. Passion, discipline, dedication- these virtues are not only at home in Dortmund's football stadium, but also in the Dortmund Philharmonic. Since it's foundation in 1887 the city's orchestra has consistently been at the forefront among Germany's concert and opera orchestras. The Philharmonic Concerts are just as dazzling as the performances in the Opera House and are the reason that the Dortmund Philharmonic is consistently counted among Germany's finest orchestras. The renowned orchestra has been directed by General Music Director Gabriel Feltz since the 2013/2014 season.

Dorothe Ingenfeld was born and raised in Xanten, on the Lower Rhine in Germany. After first receiving tuition on flute and piano, she had her first singing lessions at the age of 15 with Gabriele Schepers-Wittig. One of the first songs which her teacher worked on with her was Liebestreu by Brahms. She went on to study singing at the Hochschule fur Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She was awarded a prize at the International Competition of the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg, received a scholarship from the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and attended master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who intensified her love of the works of Schumann, Brahms, Schubert and Wolf. She writes of this release: “How did I come to make a CD just with songs about mothers and daughters? My daughter was away for three weeks during the summer holidays and I wanted to use the time creatively to record a CD. I looked at my favorite songs and discovered that three of them had this thematic connection. The obvious thing to do was to take this as a theme, so I sat down with both of my pianists and we looked for other such songs. We found over thirty of them, from which we chose the most beautiful songs and those we found the most fitting… It was a source of infinite joy for me to slip into the roles of all these mothers and daughters and I wish you just as much joy while listening!”

The album Music for Strings from Anatolijus Senderovas, one of the most prominent Lithuanian composers, the laureate of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art, embraces fifteen years (2000-2015) of his chamber oeuvre and reveals the most typical features of his music, i.e. profound emotionalism, temperate modernism and intense dramaturgy. The recording offers the possibility to hear one of the most significant pieces of Lithuanian music of the recent years- the String Quartet No. 3 by Senderovas- and reflects the creative friendship of the composer with the noted ensembles established firmly in the Lithuanian music elite- the piano trio FortVio and the string quartet ArtVio. FortVio is known for their excellent technique, and powerfully vivid interpretations. Their repertoire includes works from different eras (from Viennese classicism and nineteenth century Romanticism to twentieth century Lithuanian composers), the variety often combined within a single concert program. ArtVio was formed in 2003 and immediately began performing in concert. In just a few years, the Quartet built up an impressive list of distinguished performances while performing a wide variety of works. The members are committed to stylistic diversity and to performing a broad spectrum of music, from the great classical masterpieces to contemporary works.

The legacy of the children's songs of Eastern Europe provides an almost inexhaustible reservoir of graceful, imaginative, mystical and cheerful stories. The most beautiful of them are presented on this album. The jazz trio East Drive is accompanied by old and new musical friends and companions to bring these songs to life. East Drive is one of the most dazzling phenomena of Europe's jazz scene today. They combine both strong melodies and dense rhythms with a freely improvised approach in their music, yet still not being afraid of straightforwardness and clear harmonical ideas. Every performance by East Drive becomes its own unique reality, due to their readyness to take risks and blind trust, their ability and will to pick up and perpetuate any impulse of the others, their pristine energy, pure impulse and sheer endless creativity.

Bodek Janke is one of the most interesting and versatile jazz drummers of our time. Together with the American singer and songwriter Melissa Mary Ahern, an album was created which contains both her own pieces and cover versions. Thanks to the artist's extraordinary voice and the fantastic instrumentalist ensemble this recording has become an enchanting song album. Polish-born drummer and percussionist Bodek Janke has been dubbed "above-average", "outstanding" and "a master of many dialects" by international journalists in various musical situations. At the Badisches Konservatorium Karlsruhe / Germany he received his classical percussion and music theory education. In his teenage years, Bodek was already an internationally acclaimed touring and recording marimbaphone virtuoso. From 1998 to 2004 he studied jazz-drums and jazz-composition at the Academy of Music of Cologne and graduated "with distinction". He completed his studies in 2007 with a "Master of Arts and Music Performance" - diploma from the City College of New York. Currently the intensely touring musician is focusing on recording, teaching workshops and masterclasses and establishing a cultural center and educational institution in the mountain region of Lower Silesia.

Romanian pianist Catalin Serban writes of his new release: "While looking for exciting correlations and comparisons of works and composers who, for a long time, have touched and inspired me, I discovered these three compositions - stylistically completely different, and yet united by their bell-like motifs and sounds. Geroge Enescu's Suite op. 10 No. 2 even has the title Des cloches sonores (Eng. Sonorous Bells), and the bell sounds are unmistakeably audible in all four movements of the Suite, albeit in very differing dynamics and atmospheric sound colors. The G major Sonata op. 78 D 894 by Franz Schubert is a piece with which I have a long and close association. What greatly influenced my interpretation of the famous first movement was my contemplation of the long, expansive chords - these sounds as if they are produced by a far-away bell in a quiet, profound landscape. The impressive ending and the highlight of the Sonata No. 5 op. 53 by Alexander Scriabin uses the very gentle harmonies and individual notes of the beginning, which develop from distant tolling bell to become an overpowering, mighty peal of bells."

Since his inauguration as the new General Music Director of the Dortmunder Philharmoniker (Dortmund Philharmonic) in the 2013/14 season, Gabriel Feltz has been able to draw attention to himself and his orchestra with a series of high-caliber performances and productions that have been noticed throughout Germany. Since its foundation in 1887 the Dortmunder Philharmoniker have consistently been at the forefront of Germany’s concert and opera orchestras. The recording of the first Rachmaninoff symphony is another highlight in the highly praised Rachmaninoff cycle. This special work is the least performed of Rachmaninoff’s symphonies, partially due to the disturbing feeling one gets when listening to the work for the first time, as opposed to his other symphonies which sound more familiar. The First Symphony was written when the composer was only 22, but as this recording proves it is more than just a youthful work- it turns out to be a very singular contribution to the genus “symphony.”

Lithuanian conductor and cellist David Geringas boasts a large performing repertoire, from early Baroque to contemporary, showing his flexibility as an artist. The repertoire Geringas has chosen for this 2-disc release is chronological- the first disc contains pre-war Lithuanian music, and the second disc contains Lithuanian music from just after the war until the start of the 1980s. Geringas writes of this release: “Lithuania is my home country. I was born and raised in Vilnius. But what does Lithuania sound like? This double CD is a recollection of the country and the sentiments of its people. Lithuania does not only sound in Lithuania, but everywhere where people remember Lithuania.”