Classical Music

Die inn're Welt

The Slavonic soul of Antonín Dvořák is undoubtedly present with violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger in conjunction with PKF – Prague Philharmonia under the direction of Petr Altrichter. The violin concerto in a, op. 53, like the Mazurek, op. 49 and the Romance op. 11 for violin and orchestra exhibit many Bohemian folk dance and song references. The Sonatina in G, op. 100, written at the end of Dvorak's relocation to the “New World” exhibits Negro Spiritual as well as Irish and Scottish folk tune influences. The Slavonic Dance, op. 46/2 and the Humoresque, op. 101/7, appear here as well.

Classical Music

When Beth Levin released her third live album seven years ago, she summed up Ludwig van Beethoven's last three piano sonatas under the motto 'A Single Breath'. At the time, a critic called her a titan and wrote that she played as if she was a contemporary of Eduard Erdmann, Artur Schnabel, Wilhelm Backhaus and Walter Gieseking. This has not changed. Since then, colleagues, admirers and connoisseurs have repeatedly asked her to present her interpretation of the Hammerklavier Sonata. She has now complied with this request, also with a 'Live in Concert' recording. And again she plays in a highly explosive manner, spontaneously as in an improvisation and at the same time with an incorruptible inner logic, with inexhaustible power and an immense dynamic spectrum of expression. The Hammerklavier Sonata forms the symphonic climax of Beethoven's piano work with its final fugue that transcends all boundaries. This concert program is introduced with a suite of George Frideric Handel, including a set of wonderful variations. Handel was Beethoven's favorite composer, and the motto "All power to the dominant" could stand above both composers. Between the works of the two old masters is the 3rd Disegno by the great Swedish composer Anders Eliasson, who died in 2013, entitled 'Carosello'. This free-tonal cantabile study in 5/4 time creates a sphere of weightlessness in contrast to the cadential purposefulness of Handel and Beethoven. "One may agree with it or not. No one plays Beethoven like Beth Levin." (Christoph Schlüren, 2013)

Playing Franz Schubert's music on the unusual instrument known as the "arpeggione" in an ensemble with the combination of Schrammel harmonica and contraguitar known as the "Wiener Packl" (Viennese posse) in traditional Viennese music - as far-fetched as this combination may seem at first glance, on closer inspection it is not so outlandish, given that the inventor of the arpeggione, Johann Georg Stauffer, also made the first attempts to develop the contraguitar. And the Schrammel harmonica was also invented around the same time, also in Vienna! On this album by the title "Arpeggione.200," Peter Hudler, Andreas Teufel and Daniel Fuchsberger perform Schubert's popular Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in addition to different L�ndler and their own arrangements of songs like "Trockne Blumen," "Du bist die Ruh" or "Sei mir gegr��t," opening a gateway to a very special, distinctly poetic, lyrical sound world which also highlights the close relation of Schubert's works to traditional Alpine folk music.

Pianist and composer Eduard Kiprsky, a native of St. Petersburg and winner of countless international composition awards, has long been involved with writing song cycles. On this album, titled "Friedensgebet" (Prayer for Peace), mezzo-soprano Margarita Gritskova-a beloved ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera-and Alexander Mikhailov, tenor at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, join Kiprsky at the piano to perform a selection of his songs. These settings of poems by Heinrich Heine, Eduard Morike, Hermann Hesse, Joseph von Eichendorff, and Clemens Brentano, among others, explore doubt, loss, and suffering, yet also love, hope, and resilience. Framing the vocal works are two instrumental pieces: the Arioso for Piano, Violin, and Cello and the award-winning "Friedensgebet" String Quartet, which lends the album it's title.

On his latest album New Doors, internationally successful Viennese jazz violinist Rudi Berger connects the three worlds that have profoundly shaped him since his beginnings: the Vienna-Brazil-New York axis has provided the virtuoso with a multitude of musical companions, such as Brazilian guitarists Toninho Horta and Fabiano Chagas; fellow Brazilians Mauro Rodrigues (flute) and Oswaldo Amorim (bass); Austrians Bernhard Wiesinger (saxophone), Markus Pechmann (trumpet), and Clemens Hofer (trombone); New York pianist Peter Madsen; and British guitarist John Arman. These musicians and many more join Rudi Berger on original compositions like "I Remember Chick", "Other Side", "New Doors", and "Walk On Joe", as well as on well-known hits such as "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Brigas Nunca Mais", and "Georgia On My Mind". They support him with groovy rhythms, swinging harmonies, unpretentious virtuosity, and maximum joy in playing.

While there is no doubt today that this music originates from Bach, due to numerous deviations from the usual viola da gamba music of his time, it is considered likely that he originally had a different ensemble in mind, or that these works existed in other instrumentation before he adapted them for the viola da gamba. This was a common practice then, just as it makes sense today to arrange "classics" for all kinds of other instruments, preserving their original character while simultaneously creating possibilities for new tonal aspects. It was in precisely this spirit that Kurt Gold and Reinhard Latzko arranged Bach's sonatas for their instruments. In Astor Piazzolla, we encounter one of Argentina's most prominent and innovative musicians, who stands out as a bandoneon player, composer and founder of the "Tango Nuevo". This category includes "Le Grand Tango", which was commissioned in 1982 by the Russian cello virtuoso Mstislav Rostropovich.

Internationally celebrated as both a soloist and conductor, Florian Krumpock has more than proven his outstanding capability in the international concert scene. "Forget Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos. There are highly virtuoso keyboard tigers in Austria too", was the verdict of the daily newspaper "Die Presse" on the pianist's solo debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus. On this album, Florian Krumpock presents two of Robert Schumann's seminal works Fantasiestucke, Op. 12 and Symphonic etudes, Op. 13 both deeply intertwined with his great love and future wife, Clara Wieck. The album's title, "Between Eusebius and Florestan", alludes to the alter egos Schumann frequently invoked during this period: opposing personas that profoundly influenced his work as both a music critic and a composer. This recording of the Symphonic etudes includes five posthumously published variations, with the finale drawn from Schumann's 1852 revised version.

Rome 1839, Palazzo Poli: one of Liszt's Roman concerts has gained significance in the history of music. A prominent audience of high ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries listened to Liszt's performances. Strangely enough, it was at this concert that Liszt took the risk of introducing a new type of program, as he decided for the first time to dispense with the participation of other artists and to conduct the evening entirely on his own. This was the first "solo piano recital" or, as Liszt jokingly put it: "The first of my boring musical monologues, which I now want to give everywhere in future. Le Concert c'est moi!" This album by Kateryna Titova presents live recordings as well as recordings made as part of an eponymous exhibition at the museum at Liszt's birthplace Raiding, featuring, among others, the so-called Dante Sonata, Liebestraume Nos. 2 & 3, two Paganini etudes as well as the first Mephisto Waltz.

Women were not always allowed to compose - often due to restrictions imposed by their families or for social reasons. Ursula Erhart-Schwertmann, cello, and Elisabeth Aigner-Monarth, piano, illustrate on this album by the title "lost & found" the compositional activity of women in that era, in which composing for women was increasingly recognized. Their lists of works contain mainly short chamber music pieces, less often large-scale orchestral works. This selection of works also takes this into account and offers a compilation of character pieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Female composers from France, Great Britain, Denmark and north-eastern Europe like Mel Bonis, Amy Beach, Ethel Barns, Hilda Sehested or Marie Clemence de Grandval, among others, are given a voice and document the musical range of this genre.

Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) was, during his lifetime, just as renowned and beloved as his contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach. However, unlike the "Bach Revival" that began in 1829, Graupner's rediscovery only started in the early 20th century. To this day, a significant portion of his over 2,000 works remains unpublished. Pandolfis Consort, founded by violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler and performing on period instruments, presents three of Christoph Graupner's more than 1,400 church cantatas, featuring Austrian soprano Lisa Rombach. The texts are based on the works of Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717), and the mood of these cantatas-titled "Angst und Jammer" ("Fear and Misery"), "Furcht und Zagen" ("Dread and Trembling"), and "Verleih, dass ich aus Herzensgrund" ("Grant That I May from the Depths of My Heart")-inspires this album's title: "Lamentare". As interludes, two of Graupner's instrumental chamber works are featured: excerpts from "Entrata per la musica di tavola" in G minor (GWV 468) and the Sonata in G minor (GWV 724).

In a time of widespread crisis and social upheaval, this album by the title "In The Spirit of Freedom" by composer and musicologist Joachim Brugge aims above all to emphasize the idea of inspiring subjects - instead of stagnation through mainstream and routine. The idea of freedom naturally forms the indispensable prerequisite for a self-determined life, as shown in the first piece "In The Spirit of Freedom", with references to Ludwig van Beethoven and Walt Whitman. "In The Spirit of Brahms" thematizes an adaptation of individual works by Johannes Brahms, such as some waltzes from Op. 39 and the Violin Concerto, Op. 77. "In The Spirit of History" reflects the seemingly self-evident availability of almost 1000 years of music history in the digital age, with a recourse from the Middle Ages (Perotin) to the 19th century (Edvard Grieg). Finally, "In The Spirit of Fairy Tales" opens up a final perspective on motifs from Finnish fairy tales (in the spirit of Jean Sibelius), with a broad spectrum of fascinating characters, stories and music. The chamber ensemble Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie is conducted by Alexander Drcar, and is supported by soloists Thomas Oberleitner, trumpet, Rodrigo Alegre Vargas, tenor und Monja Heuler, harmonica.

On the occasion of the 2025 Kreisler anniversary year, the exceptional violinist Benjamin Schmid posed the question: What happens for the violin in Vienna roughly 100 years after Fritz Kreisler? The result is this phenomenal recording with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna under Lorenz Aichner, featuring orchestrated works by Kreisler and the world premiere recording of the Concerto for Beni for Solo Violin and String Orchestra (2023) by Georg Breinschmid, born in Vienna in 1973. To quote the dedicatee, it is a "magnificent violin concerto that, from my perspective, shares much with the musical understanding of Fritz Kreisler: music with unadulterated joy of playing, which devotes itself immediately and as artfully as possible to the parameters of melody, harmonic experience, and dance-like (or groovy) rhythm. There is always a close relationship to instrumental virtuosity and sonority - something very strongly pronounced in both composers." The album includes Fritz Kreisler's Preludium and Allegro "in the Style of Pugnani" and the Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta in arrangements for (string) orchestra. Kreisler's Concerto in One Movement, based on the first movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 6, is presented here in an arrangement for wind orchestra, recorded with the Salzburg Wind Philharmonic under Hansj�rg Angerer.

On the occasion of her fiftieth birthday, Agnes Palmisano presents a cross-section of diverse Viennese Dudler and so-called coloratura yodels from two centuries under the album title "Dudel-Diva". The Viennese Dudler (the urban form of yodeling that emerged from the tradition of today's Theater an der Wien), listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since 2010, has in her one of the best and most successful interpreters today, who, together with a select ensemble of specialists in this cultural heritage, is able to bring the entire range of Viennese Dudler to the point and to the ear in a unique way. To this end, she is collaborating with the duo Wiener Blond, Die Gebruder and members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The bandwidth of this exemplary album ranges from the beginning of the yodel in the early 19th century to contemporary new compositions.

Since it's foundation in 1989, the "Richard Strauss Days" in Garmisch-Partenkirchen have changed in many ways. What has remained unchanged, however, is the special atmosphere of Strauss' adopted home in Southern Bavaria, where the composer not only spent around 40 years of his life, but also created a large portion of his works. Creating an authentic artistic atmosphere with a "workshop character", enabling the audience to enjoy Strauss' works at the place of his inspiration - surrounded by the natural Alpine landscape - is not only the aim of this festival, but also a unique feature of it. To mark the 75th anniversary of Richard Strauss' death, the "Richard Strauss Days" have started a new edition in cooperation with Gramola to document the festival in live recordings. Remy Ballot, Conductor in Residence since 2023, presented the tone poems "Don Juan" and "Ein Heldenleben" with the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024 as a brilliant first chapter of this edition.

The harpsichord from 1745 by Joannes Daniel Dulcken bearing the inventory number SAM 726 not only is an instrument with a beautiful and most distinctive sound: it also commands admiration as a visually magnificent exhibition piece. Nothing is known about the original owners, but over the course of a century and a half it found it's way from the production site in Antwerp to Vienna, where it was added to the collection of Historic Musical Instruments at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1921. In the following decades, it's playability was restored in several stages, with it's sound now documented for the first time on this CD. The internationally acclaimed Austrian organist and harpsichordist Stefan Donner presents the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach, one of the most famous variation cycles in music history, which is also an ideal choice of program due to the immediate proximity of it's publication in 1741 to the time of the instrument's creation

Fran�oise Choveaux studied at the Conservatory of Lille, the �cole Normale de Musique in Paris, the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and later at the Juilliard School in New York. She is a composer, but also a pianist, who connects with a musical tradition dating back to the 19th century. After returning from the Juilliard School to France in 1981, Fran�oise Choveaux settled in a small farmhouse in Killem, surrounded by the wind-swept fields of East Flanders. The powerful nature and vast landscapes are an essential part of her life, and thus each of her scores is either inspired by travels or inner emotions, or is directly connected to a literary or visual work. The 24 Preludes by the title "Paysages" (Landscapes) for piano, interpreted by the Bulgarian, Vienna-based pianist Martin Ivanov, were composed between 1981 and 2024 and are love songs to nature, inspired by the earthy elements of Flanders; she describes the sky, haunted by strong, contrasting winds, the radiant sky, and the black, fertile earth.

Already with their first album "Tanz' von innen", the Divinerinnen ensemble impressed with this slender sound ideal which challenges the typical sound of Viennese light music. Three years later, this is followed up with their new album "divinerisch!", for which the seven musicians seem to have distilled their style and aired it out - the Landler (country dance) doesn't sound like leather soles on a wooden floor, but like bare feet on a summer meadow. The cozy bedtime heaviness of the late hour, of wine and conviviality, which many associate with Viennese music, is not at all their thing. The Divinerinnen ensemble gives the melodies a radical breath of fresh air. And when you listen, you realize that as much as you like to wallow in melancholy and world-weariness from time to time, right now you need a new beginning and clarity. That's where the divinerisch way rises - to airy heights, where you can feel a fresh cool breeze in your ears: sharp and spicy, radiant and sparkling sound, delicate and light-footed melodies. More frizzante than spritz. Many a typical Viennese motif is thoroughly aired out. Many a newcoming piece is self-confidently divinerized. And when they dip a toe briefly and elegantly into the dirt during a spicy verse, you find them terribly charming and a bit sexy besides, these Divinerinnen. (Sandra Hupfauf)

October 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the death of composer Viktor Ullmann - an occasion to focus on his artistic legacy and his unshakeable belief in the power of art. As early as 1918, while stationed at the Italian front, Ullmann was intensively occupied with Rainer M. Rilke's "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke" (The Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke). This work accompanied him all the way to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he created an impressive melodrama from it in 1944. The Austrian pianist Senka Brankovic and the actor Helmut Mooshammer present Cornet Rilke's experiences in the war against the Turks, in which he finally meets his death, as a complete original narrative with Ullmann's music, including the passages omitted from Rilke's text by Ullmann. Today, in a time of fragile social conditions, his work reminds us once again of the everlasting importance of art and humanity.

American Classics - Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott and Walt Whitman

You have to sing with your fingers! - Frederic Chopin is said to have often demanded of his pupils during piano lessons. On which instruments could this demand be better realized than on the pianos of his time that he preferred? For this recording, the young Austrian pianist Martin Nobauer selected five historical instruments that were built between 1829 and 1853. Although there are only 24 years in between, the development in sound aesthetics from the rather thin and transparent sound of the earlier instruments to the fuller, rounder sound of the Pleyel grand piano from 1842 and especially the erard grand piano from 1853 is clearly perceptible. The works chosen for this album were composed in close temporal proximity to the creation of the instruments: the Piano Sonata in B minor op. 58, the Impromptu in G-flat major op. 51, the Mazurkas op. 50 as well as the Ballade op. 52 and the Fantaisie op. 49, both in F minor.

Benjamin Schmid has long been considered one of the most versatile violin virtuosos of our time, being equally at home in the classical as well as in the jazz genre. Following his album with Jazz Violin Concertos, Schmid doubles down with the Salzburg Wind Philharmonic under the direction of conducted by Hansjorg Angerer with works by Friedrich Gulda and Kurt Weill. Gulda opened up a new era of musical freedom with his "Concerto for Violoncello and wind orchestra" (here in a version for violin) at it's world premiere in 1981 at the Vienna Konzerthaus in 1981. The zest of pop music, yodeling themes, brass bands from the Salzkammergut, brass music on Kirtag, swing, funk and free-jazz borrowings all come together to create a rousing whole that leaves not a dry eye in the house - with cheerfulness and joie de vivre. With the Violin Concerto op. 12, which was premiered in 1925, Kurt Weill's breakthrough. In Weill's oeuvre this work represents the peak of his avant-garde tendencies: The harmony tells of his admiration of Arnold Schoenberg, the formal characteristics of the influence of Busoni, the often motoric rhythm of the knowledge of Paul Hindemith. Two works for solo violin - "For Fritz" (dedicated to Fritz Kreisler) by Benjamin Schmid and "Youkali" by Kurt Weill - complement this brilliant performance.

The ensemble Pandolfis Consort, the countertenor Nicholas Spanos and the Czech Ensemble Baroque Choir present works by the Neapolitan composer Nicola Antonio Porpora on this album entitled "SALVE". The music on this album forms an imaginary concert program: In the first part, there are three Marian antiphons framed with introductory and connecting individual sonata movements composed a few years earlier in London. The second part features Psalm 127 "Nisi Dominus". Together, this is the music composed by Porpora for the feast of the Assumption for the Ospedaletto in Venice in 1744. Common to all the vocal pieces is the concentration on the sonorous, uplifting voice with infinite coloratura, the virtuoso part of the first violin and, in one case, the counterpart of the choir, which is scored here as soloist voices. This reduction to the essentials, to solo instruments, to the core of the music, has for many years been the focus of the Pandolfis Consort, founded by violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler, performing on period instruments