Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

For his fourth release on the Fuga Libera label, the pianist and fortepianist Piet Kuijken, professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Antwerp Conservatory, presents a programme of music by Ludwig van Beethoven. The starting point of this double album is an artistic approach that is both pedagogical and musical: the first half of the release contains pieces such as the Sonate Pathétique op.13 and the Sonata op.110 performed on a historical piano (a Tomkison original from 1808), while the second invites you to compare this with pieces of the same magnitude – the Appassionata Sonata op.23 and the imposing op.111, amongst others – played on a modern piano. A text written by the eminent musician invites you to follow the artist’s approach, within the same type of repertory when faced with these two different instruments. A sensitive and interesting album to help you discover all the different facets of this artist!

Classical Music

Classical Music

This fruitful "encounter" between Leonard Bernstein and Maurice Ravel juxtaposes Bernstein's intensity and rhythmic vitality with the melancholy refinement of Ravel's colors, while also highlighting the composers' commonalities, such as a shared tonal language and masterful incorporation of jazz idioms. Our purpose, however, is not only to appreciate an artistic cross-exchange but also to build upon it. This is what Trio Zadig and Benjamin Attahir seek in Asfar, a new work that springs from the creative nexus of these 20th-century giants and continues the conversation. The Zadig Trio came together when two childhood friends from France, Boris Borgolotto and Marc Girard Garcia, met American pianist, Ian Barber. Already, they have been awarded 11 international prizes at international competitions in France, Italy, Austria and USA. With depth and passion they play a repertoire that goes from Haydn to contemporary composers.

The winner of the International Bruges Musica Antiqua Competition, Naruhiko Kawaguchi has made a name for himself thanks to his sensitive and nuanced interpretations and his expressive style of fortepiano playing. In this album, the young artist has put together a programme devoted to Schubert and performed on a period instrument. You will (re)discover such works as the Ungarische Melodie D817, the Adagio D612, the Wanderer-Fantasie, D760 and the Four Impromptus D899, as well as Franz Liszt’s solo piano arrangements of some of his lieder – Trockne Blumen, Der Mu¨ller und der Bach and Meeresstille. Always keen to get involved with talented young musicians, Outhere Music has been a partner of the MAFestival for several years now and offers one of its winners the chance to make a recording – which will be released this year on the Fuga Libera label. Naruhiko Kawaguchi is a new example of Outhere’s wish to promote promising young artists and aid their career development.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Li�ge, Daniel Weissmann, is first and foremost a violist. In the company of the pianist Jean-Louis Delahaut, he presents a recital that illustrates the rich repertory of his instrument from the age of the Romantic composers and virtuosos. A child prodigy, Daniel Weissmann discovered music at the age of two and began his studies on the violin at the age of four. He trained first at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and then at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, gaining diplomas in violin and in chamber music. His sense of initiative and taste for setting up new projects, however, also led him to study economics and management at the Universite de Paris-Nanterre; these were to be extremely important in his twinned activities as performing musician and as director of various musical institutions and projects. After becoming enraptured with the beauty of the viola's sound, he then played the instrument in string quartets and other chamber ensembles before deciding to devote himself to the discovery of the Baroque and Romantic works composed for the instrument. Since 2015 he has been managing director of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege; he continues his own musical activities with a series of concerts and recordings, as these allow him to remain in close contact with the twin facets of his musical life.

For his first recording Sat�nik Khourdo�an, concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie and an enthusiastic and passionate violinist, joins forces with the gifted pianist Alexander Gurning, who has received numerous awards for his qualities as a chamber music performer. Faur� and Saint-Sa�ns found in Ysa�e a virtuoso performer and an exceptional ally in getting their music known, who was on friendly terms with both men, and who was also a composer himself. They often played together in Paris, notably at the concerts of the Soci�t� nationale, and in the Brussels salons of the XX and the Libre Esth�tique. Khourdoian devotes his debut album to the music of all three distinguished French musicians.

Classical Music