Classical Music

Starring Gabriele Nani, Marianne Fiset, Josef Wagner.

Classical Music

Classical Music

After three acclaimed CDs with works by Mozart for piano and violin, the well-known young Salzburg violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger now presents all the violin sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. With the internationally renowned Beethoven specialist Michael Korstick at the piano, the first part of this series begins with the Sonata No. 8 in G, op. 30/3, the famous ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata No. 9 in A, op. 47 and the seemingly more heartfelt in tone and final Violin Sonata No. 10 in G, op. 96, once praised by critics as the ‘most poetic and musically most sensitively crafted’ of his sonatas. The Austrian-born Mr. Irnberger performs often at international festivals and has a discography of recordings with musicians such as Jörg Demus and Paul Badura-Skoda as well as with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the ‘Spirit of Europe’ orchestra. Köln native Michael Korstick has undertaken concerts and tours to Mexico, Korea, Andalusia and Morocco. For his CD recordings, which have received excellent reviews in music magazines and journals, he has been awarded the German ‘Echo Klassik Prize’ several times and the MIDEM Classical Award.

Classically trained and educated, Monika Lang has remained faithful to the “Evans Feeling” in many sorts of ways. Ms. Lang is able to draw on her experiences in the field of chamber music for her communication with drummer Wolfgang Reisinger and bassist Uli Langthaler, two downright artist personalities with long-lasting experiences on stage and in studio, in developing her own “musical dialogue”. Quite clandestinely, the band has also compiled a so far fragmentary musical biography of Bill Evans. After all, the selected pieces reflect different kind of stages of the pianist’s life.

Jerusalem-born tenor Shmuel Barzilai has been Chief Cantor of the Vienna Jewish Community since 1992. On Areshet Sefateinu, Barzilai, accompanied by the S.F.Y. Philharmonic and Choir under Mordechai Sobol’s direction, presents traditional religious chants by Yossele Rosenblatt, Ben Zion Shenker and David Werdyger, among others, written for Jewish liturgical holy days, permitting a closer view on the Yiddish Neshome (Soul), and displaying one key element of Hasidic Judaism, embraced by the following line from the Talmud: “The prayer is to be recited where there is song.” (Berakoth 6a)

The third and concluding 2-CD set of works by one of the last surviving members of the generation of composers the Nazis sought to extinguish, Walter Arlen, presents short songs for piano solo as well as songs with soprano, describing different touchstones and experiences of his life. Atrocities like the Kristallnacht 1938 in Vienna find their musical expression in his works, as well as journeys to distant, exotic places and expericences with people; and time and again art and music are the ingredients to Walter Arlens life after his eviction by the Nazis. Polish-Canadian pianist Daniel Wnukowski and Texan-born Rebecca Nelsen interpret songs of utmost inner emotions and reflections on human history and life.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Demmler Quartet, Dietrich Hempel and Thomas Probst, violins, Maria Schöne, viola, and Jörg Ulrich Krah, cello, present string quartets from 450 years of Mecklenburg musical history. Beginning with Thomas Mencken in the 16th c., a broad arch is stretched over A. Rosetti, Friedrich von Flotow and Wagner into the 21st c. and the Fantasia for String Quartet by ensemble member Jörg Ulrich Krah. Besides the great works for string quartet the young ensemble regularly presents works in expanded instrumentation as well as more rarely played composers whose oeuvre has still to be discovered.

The Wilten Boys’ Choir, conductor Johannes Stecher and the ensemble he founded, the Academia Jacobus Stainer, present the Weinachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248 of J.S. Bach. Composed for the choir of St. Thomas, the work is practically tailor-made for a mixed boys’ choir like the Wilten Boys’ Choir. Paul Schweinester, tenor, and Daniel Schmutzhard, baritone, two former members of the Wilten Boys’ Choir, who are today successful singers on the international stage take on the soloist parts. Recorded at the Wilten Basilica, Innsbruck, Austria.

Import Hybrid-SACD pressing.

Paul Badura-Skoda, worldwide renowned interpreter of Viennese classicism and, thanks to the year of his birth – 1927 – Austria's most senior active pianist, is releasing another new recording, following the trilogy of Mozart’s piano sonatas (Gramola 98989-91). In conjunction with the Cannes Symphony Orchestra (Orchestre régionale de Cannes Région Provence – Alpes – Côte d’Azur) under the direction of Wolfgang Dörner, Mr. Badura-Skoda presents his interpretations of Mozart’s piano concertos No. 9 / K 271 (Jeunehomme) in E-flat major and No. 21 / K 467 (Elvira Madigan) in C major. Paul Badura-Skoda, besides his performances, is very proficient in musical theory and history of interpretation, a facet proven by numerous publications and critical editions as well as the liner notes to most of his CDs, where Badura most eloquently and entertainingly retraces the works’ history of origin and reception. As encore, the wonderfully dreamy Adagio K 356 / 617a for glass harmonica is included.

The main work on this program is Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling’s (1904-85) large string quartet in F minor in a version for string orchestra with an added part for double bass. The symphonic and dramatic dimension of this work is in the German tradition of counterpoint emerging from Bach via late Beethoven, Bruckner and Schwarz-Schilling’s mentor Heinrich Kaminski. Further arrangements of string quartet movements by Mozart and Beethoven, Arvo Pärt’s ‘Orient & Occident’, and two world premiere recordings of contemporary works by Peter Michael Hamel and Anders Eliasson follow.