Classical Music

The piano duo of Anna Christiane Neumann and Anja Kleinmichel bring Bach Without Words their Genuin debut containing transcriptions of chorales, chorus and arias taken from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas and passions. In arrangements for both two and four hands, as well as transcriptions by Neumann; this is a unique opportunity to hear these masterpieces in a radically different musical configuration.

Wild, impetuous, rocking, fantastic - in short, Stepan Simonian playing J.S. Bach! All seven Bach Toccatas for piano are on this CD, works that have led a wallflower existence compared to other Bach keyboard works. When one listens closely to the virtuoso playing of the 2010 Bach Prize winner the music flashes and sparkles and polished details are presented to the delighted listener.

Classical Music

Classical Music

We challenge anyone to listen to five minutes of Christoph Sietzen's new Genuin release without twitching their toes, tapping along with their fingers, and being seized with the irresistible urge to get up and start dancing. The prizewinner of the 2014 ARD Music Competition takes us on a trip through the percussion worlds of the late 20th an dearly 21st centuries that 70s groupies would have taken large quantities of drugs in order to emulate. Sietzen dazzles us with his sheer precision, seemingly endless range of tonal colors, and musical drive. From Arvo Part to Iannis Xenakis, from Emmanuel Sejourne to Bruce Hamilton - expanded consciousness guaranteed!

What inexhaustible richness: the baritone Daniel Blumenschein, together with the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Robbert van Steijn, opens the door to a vast musical land. On their new GENUIN release, they embark on a journey through the most beautiful German folk songs in colorful new orchestral arrangements by Stephan König. The track list includes, for example, "Komm, lieber Mai und mache" ("Come, dear May and make"), "Kein schöner Land" ("No fairer land") and, of course, the titular "Im schönsten Wiesengrunde" ("In the most beautiful meadow grounds"). With a well-balanced mixture of tradition and modernity, the album knows how to capture the musical language of the recorded songs in ever new ways and transport them into the present time. As a result, we experience what is seemingly familiar completely anew!

Music that lies between the late Baroque and the beginning of the classical period: these are the four sonatas for viola da gamba and basso continuo by the Magdeburg Cathedral Kapellmeister Johann Friedrich Ruhe – a real discovery! Georg Zeike performs them on the viola da gamba together with Bernadett Mészáros on the harpsichord. The unique feature of this recording is the fortepiano, which had just been developed in Ruhe's time. How does the "old" viola da gamba harmonize with the two different keyboard instruments, the "old" and the "new"? An exciting juxtaposition! The two Leipzig artists have toured throughout Europe with leading early music ensembles and regularly worked as chamber music partners.

Six feather-light divertimenti by Joseph Haydn are presented by flutist Anna Zhitnukhina on her new GENUIN album. The works are miniature gems that deserve to be distributed more widely! Moreover, it is remarkable that the young flutist has recorded all six trios twice, one time on historical, one time on modern instruments, respectively. What becomes audibly apparent here is just how strongly the interpretation of each piece of music depends on the way it is approached as well as on the choice of instrumentation. Both versions offer clarity, elegance, and expression, yet all listeners will opt for the one or the other version according to their taste - a fascinating experiment!

World premiere recordings are brought together on this new GENUIN album featuring works by the composer Christian Ridil: Renowned musicians from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, play in formations ranging from brass quintet to flute and percussion to the exquisite combination of (chromatic) harmonica and harpsichord. The works of the Goethe University Frankfurt‘s former university music director are characterized by stylistic diversity, wit, charm, and virtuosity and yet bear Ridil's clear signature. Absolutely worth discovering!

One of the most brilliant works in the quartet literature, an exciting new composition based on it, and a virtuoso award-winning ensemble: the Aris Quartet's GENUIN album "attacca" bursts with energy from the very first moment. Highly acclaimed with awards such as "Echo Rising Stars" 2019, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, and "New Generations Artists" 2018, the Aris Quartet juxtaposes Beethoven's "Russian" Quartet Op. 59, No. 1, with Gerald Resch's String Quartet No. 3. Gerald Resch's intention was to build a kind of "adjacent property" to Beethoven. The Aris Quartet vividly brings out both the connections and differences with it's nuanced playing.

The Klaviertrio Hannover lands a real coup with its world premiere recording of three piano trios by the composer Emilie Mayer, who has long received too little attention! The works, newly discovered by the ensemble's pianist Katharina Sellheim and specially edited by the trio based on manuscripts, rank with the great piano trios of the 19th century. They are works by a composer whose symphonies were performed throughout Europe in the mid-19th century and whose work secured her a firm place in the contemporary music world. Through its editorial work and inspired interpretation of these three trios, the Hannover Piano Trio provides an essential piece of the puzzle to complete our understanding of the Romantic era!

Natalie Labourdette (soprano) and Victoria Guerrero (piano) make up an internationally award-winning art song duo that has released its debut album on GENUIN. The track list includes 20th-century vocal music based around the experience of "la petite mort", as the French language refers to the climax of lovemaking. "La petite mort": this is an existential experience, the desire to "linger", deep loneliness, and happy union! Alban Berg, Gabriel Fauré, Samuel Barber, and other great composers of classical modernism created miniature masterpieces – and the two young musicians dedicate themselves to this repertoire with a great sense of tonal color and interpretive clarity!

The young, aspiring pianist Ivan Galic carries us off into a world of dreams on his debut GENUIN album. Rarely heard works by the Croatian composer Ivo Macek are heard alongside incredible repertoire by Schubert and Brahms. Ivo Macek's music, with its subdued and sensual sound of classical modernism, fits well with the works of the two Romantics: Galic earns great merit by raising the flag for this qualitative and gripping music! He plays the late works of the idiosyncratic Brahms just as he plays the worldly Schubert with remarkable clarity and transparency.

I TEMPI brings an unjustly forgotten Swiss composer into the limelight. Rudolf Moser, the pupil of Max Reger and teacher and artistic partner of Paul Sacher, created a manifold oeuvre in numerous genres. I TEMPI, an ensemble that performs each work using appropriate, authentic instruments, now presents works by Moser for strings, including pieces featuring the oboe and the harpsichord. Both combinations lead to distinctive timbres, and conductor Gevorg Gharabekyan leads his musicians with prudence and delicacy. Moreover, the orchestra has an equal partner and soloist with the young, multiple award-winning oboist Marc Lachat!