Classical Music

Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms - Korean-born pianist SoRyang features the who's who of the Romantic period of classical music on her latest recording titled "piano". SoRyang, who at the age of 16 found a new home in Austria, begins by laying out Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor Op. 13, the popular "Pathetique", which clearly illustrates the path from the Classical to the Romantic, which is reached with the "Wanderer Fantasia" in C major Op. 15, D 760 by Franz Schubert. Being one of his most accomplished and technically demanding works, Schubert is cited with "the devil should play this thing". A little intermezzo is given with the "Romanze" in F major, part of the Piano Pieces Op. 118 by Johannes Brahms, before SoRyang presents the monumental Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 14 (2nd revision of 1853) by Robert Schumann - a work that he initially described as "Concerto Without Orchestra for the Pianoforte".

The Little Match Girl is among the most famous as well as saddest fairy tales from the pen of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). Over the course of more than one and a half centuries this fable has inspired the imagination of many artists, including the American composer David Lang. In his work "The Little Match Girl Passion", which was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in music, Lang contrasts the sufferings of this poor little girl with the sufferings of Jesus, inspired by Bach's St. Matthews Passion. The score also requires the a-capella singers to operate a variety of percussive instruments. On this album titled "Again and Again" the Company of Music with choir master Johannes Hiemetsberger also present other Christmas-related choir songs like "First Snow" by Bo Holten, John Tavener's "The Lamb", "Again and Again" von David Lang and "Lullay, My Liking" by Gustav Holst.

The Austrian Salonists with violinist Peter Gillmayr are widely popular with both audiences and critics alike for their extraordinary, cross-genre programs. This new recording by the title "Russian Dances" features works by composers like Alexej Kozlov and Anatoli Novikov, traditional Russian melodies like "Dark Eyes" or "Moscow Nights" and evergreens like the "Waltz No. 2" from the Suite for Variet�-Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovitch. Further dances are taken from popular ballets like "The Nutcracker" by Pjotr Iljitsch Tchaikovsky ("Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy") or from "Romeo and Juliet" by Sergej Prokofiev. It my surprise some listeners that there also exist tangos from Russian descent, but the virtuoso Russian bajan player Efim Jourist composed numerous works that pay homage to this dateless Argentine dance.

Glenn Gould and Friedrich Gulda were almost the same age, Gulda was born in 1930, Gould in 1932. They would both later gain world fame as pianists on both sides of the Atlantic. Both were pianistic superstars in the fifties of the last century and have irritated their audiences with their eccentricity for various reasons. But in their late teens neither one nor the other was foreseeable. Their musical education stood on a broad basis, Gulda, having been a composition pupil of Joseph Marx was closer to late romanticism than the avant-garde, whereas Gould had already discovered his inclination to the Second Viennese School. And so both of them wrote a string quartet before their pianistic careers, which in Gould' case is his Opus 1 (without ever being followed by an Opus 2), while Gulda's work finds it's place within a variety of other student works. What if they had not found their way to the piano? Here the two gifted musicians give two possible answers.

One of the greatest evenings in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein in 2017 was without any doubt the festive concert for the 90th birthday of Paul Badura-Skoda on 15 October. The standing ovation in the audience's welcome to Badura-Skoda was a prelude to a pianistic moment of glory for all those involved, something they had hardly ever experienced before in this intimacy. The following piano marathon, which Paul Badura-Skoda mastered with flying colors, would have demanded the utmost respect from the audience even with a half-old pianist. The program featured six Bagatelles and the three last piano sonatas by Beethoven, a program which by means of Paul Badura-Skoda's interpretation allowed in addition to a demonstration of his stupendous technique for a spiritual and emotional penetration of this crowning Beethovenian piano music, enthusing the audience. The evening ended as it had begun - with unanimously standing ovation of an audience that bid it's darling farewell with a storm of applause and flower greetings, and that itself was walking out into this October night with blessed and overflowing hearts, an October which was one of the warmest since weather records began. Luckily, this unique concert on October 15, 2017 was recorded, so this DVD also conveys the atmospheric impetus of this great evening in the Wiener Musikverein. And maybe the warmth of this starry October night is still to be felt.

Until today, German lyricist Johann Heinrich Voss has been primarily known for his translations of Green and Roman classic literature into German. His original lyrics, during his life, were set to music by many of his contemporaries. For this release, Ulf Bastlein has chosen settings of Voss’s lyrics by Carl Loewe, CPE Bach, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, as well as less-popular composers like Johann Abraham Peter Schultz, Johann Rudolf Zumbsteeg, and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. Ulf Bastlein has performed in almost every European country and frequently is an honored guest at international music festivals. He recently was awarded prizes at both the VDMK singing competition in Berlin and the Nurnberger Meistersinger competition. He is joined by pianist Sascha El Mouissi who, in addition to a being a respected accompanist, enjoys a successful solo career.

Meinem Kinde, German soprano Ute Ziemer's third album, brings into focus the theme of the child. Joined by pianist Julian Riem, an equal master of the song repertoire, Ms. Ziemer performs romantic works from the Volks-Kinderlieder by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Max Reger and Hugo Wolf, as well as other selected children's songs and lullabies by W.A. Mozart, Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Also included are less well-known children's songs and lullabies by Hermann Zilcher, Yrj� Kilpinen, Gaetano Donizetti, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.

The music of Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold is found in several Hollywood soundtracks. His Violin Concerto D major Op. 35 includes several themes and melodies from his film scores. While the only work from Julius Conus that is still frequently performed and recorded is his Violin Concerto in E minor, a notable inclusion on this release is his Elegy Op. 2 No. 1 for violin and piano, which is a world premiere recording. Violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger has won many awards and performed at festivals all over the world. He frequently performs with the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestra “Spirit of Europe.” Here he is joined by the Israel Symphony Orchestra, which was the first orchestra in Israel to perform standard works by Richard Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky, and others. +

Born in Odessa, pianist and conductor Boris Bloch has long been regarded as one of the most important interpreters of classical and romantic piano music. His large and ever expanding repertoire extends from Scarlatti and Bach, the Viennese Classicists, Chopin and Liszt, the German and Russian Romantics, and the most important composers of the 20th c. This new six-disc edition of Bloch live Liszt recordings contains the complete Annees de Pelerinage I-III, the Harmonies poetiques et religieuses, paraphrases on opera themes, as well as polonaises, concerto etudes and other piano pieces.

A great concern for the Austrian Adamas String Quartet has always been the treatment of composers whose works were termed "degenerate" and banned during the Nazi regime or who themselves became victims of the barbaric extermination machinery. On their second album, the critically acclaimed ensemble devotes itself to the string quartet by the Dzech composer Hans Krasa, a work showing an astounding compositional maturity.

Marialena Fernandes and Hotel Palindrone present this album of multicultural music. Blending together classical music, jazz, folk, ethno, and world music, the musicians on this albumtranscend the boundaries of any genre. The ensemble performs on traditional instruments, including bagpipes, lyre, nyckelharpa, Jew’s harp, and bouzouki.

Violinist Benjamin Schmid, recognized among the 35 greatest violinists of the past 50 years (see “Great Violinists of the 20th c. Vol. 2. 1948-85 ”, by J.M. Molkou), and rising star Diknu Schneeberger, guitar, trace Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt on Hot Club Jazz, new from Gramola. In collaboration with Diknu’s father Joschi Schneeberger, double bass, and guitarist Martin Spitzer, the quartet interprets pieces and arrangements by Django Reinhardt, works created in succession by Lulu Reinhardt, Cole Porter or Fletcher Allen as well as arrangements of French chansons.

This release is the debut album of Trio Aleksic, made up of Serbian siblings Aleksa, Nadezda, and Ana Aleksic. Since their inception in 2005, the ensemble has made appearances on a number of chamber music stages in Austria. The group holds interest in bringing little-known composers into the limelight. For this release, they have chosen string trios by Beethoven, Herzogenberg, and Dohnanyi.

As a distinguished expert in all modern compositional techniques, Kurt Schwertsik (b. 1935) decided early in his career to pursue a new, tonally influenced path. In this aesthetic accessible to a broad audience, he created a diverse oeuvre that extends from opera to Viennese lieder and has made him one of the most popular composers of Austrian contemporary music. With subtle differentiation, the Japanese pianist Aya Klebahn takes up his piano works, composed in a long, interrelated arc stretching over many decades. Aya Klebahn was born in Tokyo and commenced piano lessons at the age of four. She studied at the Toho-Gakuen University of Music in Tokyo and received her diploma in piano performance and music pedagogy. Ms. Klebahn has special affinity for contemporary piano music. She participated in the world premiere of works by composer Luna Alcalay during the Wien Modern festival. However, central to her work is her collaboration with Kurt Schwertsik. During the 2013 St. Gallen Festival she played his solo piano pieces in the presence of the composer. In 2015, she participated in a chamber music recital in the Vienna Musikverein for Schwertsik's 80th birthday. In 2016 she released recordings of Schwertsik's piano works for the production celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Musikwerkstatt Alte Schmiede. As a soloist, she recorded Schwertsik's complete piano works under the artistic direction of the composer.