Classical Music

Classical Music

During his lifetime Bernhard Romberg (1767-1841) was considered by many to be the "Paganini of the cello". Alongside with having been a quartet and duo partner of Ludwig van Beethoven, he is known in music history for his cello school, which is still of importance today, and for the numerous works which he composed for his own instrument. The two Hungarian artists Zsuzsanna Aba-Nagy and Zsuzsa Szolnoki present a fascinating portrayal of the three sonatas for harp and violoncello op. 5 published in 1803, and thus continue their commitment to extraordinary and forgotten chamber music.

The melody of the French children’s song “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman“, which was first published in the year 1761, is until today well-known in many different languages with varying lyrics (English: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”; Spanish: “El campanita del lugar”; German: “Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann”). The further appropriation as ABC-Song to teach the alphabet to young learners induced the Japenese pianist Yoshiko Okada to name her latest CD “Mozart ABC”, since this little song offered Mozart the inspiration for his twelve piano variations K 265. Furthermore, the album contains the popular Fantasia C minor K 475 and the Sonata No. 14 C minor K 457, which it was published toghether with, as well as the cheerful and spirited Sonatas No. 8 D major K 311 and No. 12 F major K 332.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Austrian star violinist Benjamin Schmid has a great reputation for his extraordinarily broad repertoire, which besides lesser known works for violin also includes the jazz genre. In cooperation with the Pannonic Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Tibor Boganyi, Schmid now releases a recording of both violin concertos by Bela Bartok. Written in 1908, the first concerto Op. Posth. Sz 36 remained lost due to his unfortunate admiration of, and the handing over of the manuscript to, a violinist until late after Bartoks death, and only was published in 1956. The violin concerto No. 2 Sz 112 was composed in 1937/38 and should become the last completed solo concerto before Bartok's emigration to the United States. Here, the listener can from listening alone hardly tell that in addition to the typical "Hungarian" melodies, twelve-tone motives and even quarter tones can be found in the solo part. Bejamin Schmid is one of today's most versatile violinists. He has recorded around 50 albums which have received various awards such as the German Record Prize, the Gramophone Editor's Choice, and the Strad Selection. He performs in about 80 concerts a year worldwide, and is professor of violin at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

The Austrian violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger has for many years been cooperating with world-class orchestras and soloists. For this release with the Violin Concerto and the Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello by Beethoven, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra offered their support under the baton of James Judd. Imberger already collaborated with pianist Michael Korstick and David Geringas, cello on their latest release with Schubert piano trios. Well then, now the concerts of Beethoven with their groundbreaking relevance with a top-of-the-line international cast.

Classical Music

The Austrian virtuoso Joseph Mayseder was during his lifetime (1789-1863) a much sought-after violinist, pedagogue and composer of Viennese musical life and shares with many of his contemporaries the common fate of fading away in public remembrance. While in his days over 900 editions of his works were published, it is hard to find any of them on today’s concert programs. The Mayseder Quartet with Raimund Lissy and Adela Frasineanu, violin, Robert Bauerstatter, viola and Othmar Müller, cello devotes itself to overcome this oblivion. The second volume of the complete edition of Mayseder’s chamber music presents the world premiere recordings of the string quartets No. 5 D major Op. 9 and No. 6 G major Op. 23. The joyful and in part highly virtuoso works fail to provide an explanation for their long lasting negligence.

Classical Music