Mozart's tireless creative drive and the universal power of his music "With this fifth and final CD of my complete recording of Mozart's piano sonatas, I conclude a musical cycle that has been particularly meaningful to me. It has been a truly enriching journey to explore Mozart's development as a composer and pianist through these works, and I am delighted to be able to share this journey with you in it's entirety. The piano sonatas on this recording reflect Mozart's tireless creative drive and the universal aspirations of his music. Each of these works uniquely demonstrates his unrivalled mastery and sense of form, expression and emotional depth." Jean Muller

Bushakevitz's playing gleams with understated wit and sensuality - a catalogue of emotions GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE. "A very special pianist - Bushakevitz is a master of expression. His playing is filled with a sense of longing and nostalgia." THE JERUSALEM POST. "As always, Bushakevitz was detailed, nuanced and with great lyrical flair for pieces that require both a display of formal technique and improvisational instinct" SCHERZO

For all its traditional ties, Stravinsky's music continues to have a shockingly modern effect on many listeners even today. In his music, praise of God is formulated in tones entirely different from those expected by music lovers schooled in the romantic tradition. Stravinsky did not compose "emotional" or "expressive" religious music but sought objectivity, archaic prototypes, and traditions of timeless value, presenting these elements as if under microscopic enlargement.

Since it's foundation in 2017 and it's inaugural performance on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Carmen Wurth Forum, the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra has been impressing audiences with a broad repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary compositions in it's role as the orchestra in residence. The orchestra is a further milestone in the Wurth Group's cultural commitment, in addition to it's artistic activities. Claudio Vandelli has been principal conductor of the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra since 2020. With it's powerful sound and nuanced interpretations, the Wurth Philharmonic Orchestra brings music of exceptional quality to it's home region of Hohenlohe, making it unique in the region as a professional symphony orchestra.

Piano Quintets Jascha Nemtsov's academic work focuses on Jewish music and Jewish composers in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as topics such as "nationalism and music", "religion and music" and "totalitarianism and music". Numerous international award-winning CD releases bear witness to this. With his latest CD, he brings - together with the critically acclaimend Asasello Quartet - two Jewish-Ukrainian composers out of the shadows: Leo Ornstein and Boris Tishchenko.

Schubert Vol. 3 Looking ahead to 2028 and the 200th anniversary of the composer's death, the Alinde Quartet will annually release a disc of Schubert string quartets for the next eight years, alongside a specially commissioned work. Finding the ideal sound world for Schubert's quartets is by no means easy, yet the Alinde strikes a near-ideal balance between internal clarity and textural warmth, shone through by sparkling intonation.

Julian Jaeyoung Kim, a South Korean-born pianist, is hailed as a marvelous virtuoso. His performances embody a deep sense of commitment and a relentless curiosity about uncovering the true essence of music. "Julian's flexible and intelligent interpretations reflect his command over rhythmic tension and tonal detail, evoking echoes of masterful pianists like Nelson Freire." Gramophone "Julian Kim's technical brilliance shines in every piece as he draws out the full richness of the piano's sound. With style, precision, and sensitivity, he navigates dramatic, heroic, entertaining, and humorous moods with ease and elegance." Klassik Heute

SILENCE IS GOLDEN ist ein Dramedy-Album. Die Aufnahmen haben etwas gemein: sie bergen tonnenschwere Inhalte, die durch Humor leicht verdaulich werden. Musikalische Gesellschaftssatire von Schubert bis Ligeti.

Constantinescu stands out among the composers who followed George Enescu into the Romanian musical limelight during the first half of the 20th century. On the one hand, through his diverse oeuvre, which encompasses almost all of the genres from chamber music to film music, and on the other hand, through his own musical language, consisting of great color and harmonic variety. Skilfully adapted ecclesiastic Byzantine modes and chants, modal scales, and the authentic and fascinating melodies of Romanian folk music merge within Constantinescu's oeuvre, which stands balanced somewhere between Western tradition and a national musical idiom.

Composers' conclave in Leipzig - chamber music by Edvard Grieg, Ethel Smyth and Amanda Maier "An expression of the deep friendship by Maier, Grieg and Smyth may be felt in the linking momentum of their composing: although each of these creative figures embodied their own personal style, each of them draws from the living waters of their country's folk music, which throbs through their works as it's primal impulse."

Rudolf Moser composed works across a wide range of genres for a variety of instrumentation. He was particularly interested in historical musical styles and borrowed forms and phrases, ecclesiastical compositional modes, and historical instrumentation from the past. This CD focuses on Moser's orchestral music. The compilation of works from his middle and late periods reveals a mature artist who has found his style.

Although few of Eduard Erdmann’s Lieder from the years up to 1918 were published, they occupy an important place in the public perception of the young composer. The influence on the impulsive young composer of his role models Schumann and Brahms, Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss, cannot be denied – and yet his songs also point to something new. It is to be regretted that a number of Erdmann’s early Lieder, quoted in an undated handwritten list (“12 Lieder by various authors”), have been lost or destroyed.

The music critic Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt, who addressed himself in his essay “Neue Lieder” (Melos 1/1920) to the art-song repertoire of his time, observed that since Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder it had seemed almost impossible to write anything singable. There are accordingly few composers whose Lieder Stuckenschmidt recognizes as sufficiently distinctive to earn praise in his article: these are the fifteen Schoenberg songs from Stefan George’s “Buch der hängenden Gärten” (op. 15), the four Lieder op. 2 by Alban Berg, and works by Karl Horwitz, Karol Szymanowski, Manfred Gurlitt – and Eduard Erdmann.

Lieder by Hanns Eisler, Rudi Stephan, Robert Kahn, Charles Ives "The album REMEMBRANCE is intended to convey the hope and desperate desire for peace - born of conscious memory and the lessons from the past. With this, my debut album, I want to encourage listeners to reflect and consciously remember the suffering and destruction of war and it's physical and psychological consequences. It should be a remembrance of those who fought for a better world, or dreamed of it. A memorial to all of those who innocently lost their lives far too early. The message of this music is today, unfortunately, more topical and relevant than ever. It challenges us to reflect on the human consequences of war and reminds us of the unceasing desire for peace and a better future." Marcel Brunner

A Woman's Life at the Dawn of a New Epoch Chamber Music by Vilma Webenau Vilma Webenau was, as far as we know, far from wealthy during most of her lifetime, and was hardly known, even in musical circles. That said, her image has in recent years been fleshed out a little more, not least due to the enormous interest in her most famous teacher: the hitherto most comprehensive account of her career was published in 2019 as part of a study by Elisabeth Kappel on the topic of "Arnold Schoenberg's female pupils". Some of the details were already in the public domain, and many gaps in the narrative still remain. All the same, we now have a relatively conclusive picture of a woman whose life and work can in no way be defined as the norm for an average citizen.

Discovery: In 1870, Marie Jaëll takes composition lessons with César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns at the Paris Conservatoire. Franz Liszt became her advisor and supporter. He publishes her works and plays them in concert, writing: "A man's name above her music, and she would be on all pianos".

With one exception, this CD box contains my complete piano works from 2010 to 2020, which are being released on CD for the first time. Operas 76, 86 and 116 are dedicated to Ana-Marija Markovina, who also premiered them. (Stefan Heucke) This CD-Box is a great stroke of luck. Stefan Heucke's work is an impressive testimony to the musical interweaving of genres and themes, of new and historical forms and techniques of expression, of music and literature. The fact that Heucke's complete piano works from 2010 to 2020 are being released on CD for the first time with this CD box set makes one literally 'sit up and take notice'. The compositions are brilliantly performed by pianist Ana-Marija Markovina. Both Stefan Heucke and Ana-Marija Markovina have known one another for a long time; their collaboration is a stroke of luck for the music scene in this country and beyond.

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely regarded as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. He has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, among which the Berliner Philharmoniker with whom he made his debut in 1985 with Daniel Barenboim; the Wiener Philharmoniker with whom he played a first time in 1983 with Lorin Maazel in Salzburg; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all London orchestras, as well as all big American orchestras. Frank Peter Zimmermann is a regular guest at all major music festivals of among others Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne. Over the years Frank Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography: He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, Dean and Pintscher; the six solo sonatas of Ysa�e; the 24 Caprices of Paganini and the complete Violin Sonatas of J.S. Bach and Mozart. Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, he started learning playing the violin with his mother when he was 5 years old. He studied with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers. He plays on the 1711 Antonius Stradivari violin "Lady Inchiquin", which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, "Kunst i'm Landesbesitz".

Ilmari Hannikainen: Early Songs The Finnish pianist, composer, and piano teacher Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955) wrote over one hundred solo songs. As a child, he accompanied his mother, the singer Alfhild "Alli" Hannikainen (1867-1949), on the piano. His own songs bear dedications to her and to many other well-known Finnish singers of the time, some of whom he also performed with. As late as the 1950s, he recorded several songs for Finnish Radio, but unfortunately, only a few of the recordings have survived.

Bartok: Complete Works for Piano Solo "Since my childhood I have felt a strong affinity with the music of Bartok, which I sensed from an early age to be particularly honest and truthful. The time I spent with it gave me the opportunity to discover aspects of myself to which I should otherwise have had little access. The complete recording of Bartok's works for piano gave me the chance to experience this music even more intensively than before and to gain a better understanding of Bartok's artistic journey, to recognize the young Bartok in the late composer and the late Bartok in the young man. At the same time, I wanted to make a recording that shows Bartok from other angles than those often highlighted." Andreas Bach

Johannes Brahms: Klavierkonzerte, Michael Korstick, DSO Berlin, Constantin Trinks The two piano concertos by Johannes Brahms occupy an uncontested place in the pantheon of the greatest works of this genre. At the same time they play a unique role in the development of the concerto form in the 19th Century, particularly in view of their uneven history of reception.

The leap that Beethoven makes from his first violin sonata compared to his last is huge. "On a personal level, I've always felt that Beethoven is the composer to whom I feel the closest to; the first sonata I ever played was a Beethoven sonata, and so I immediately became enthusiastic about this project. I decided to ask Michael Schoch if he would be interested, and that's how all of this came about." Annedore Oberborbeck

From the song cycle Die schone Mullerin, Op. 25, D. 795 ("The Fair Maid of the Mill"), the eighteenth lied titled Trockne Blumen ("Withered Flowers") served as inspiration for Schubert to compose Introduction and Variations, D. 802 for flute and piano. This piece was written in 1824 for Ferdinand Bogner, a flute professor at the Vienna Conservatory and one of Schubert's friends. Eventually, Bogner became head of the Gesellschaft der osterreichischen Musikfreunde (Austrian Philharmonic Society) and helped organize the premiere of several of Schubert's works. Deeply expressive and lyrical, the version for flute and string quintet in this recording was arranged by Rainer Schottstadt and is a technical tour de force for every flutist.

An Ostdeutsche Rundschau report, dated the 19th of January, 1901, stated: "A new work by local composer Mathilde v. Kralik received great and, as we are pleased to note, well-deserved applause at it's first performance. Miss Kralik has worked diligently and with great success on her artistic perfection since her last appearance. In this new work, the highly talented composer, a pupil of Bruckner and Krenn no less, demonstrates complete formal confidence and thorough familiarity with both technique relating to the individual instruments and their use and the skill of blending them in order to achieve attractive and characteristic sound effects. We were particularly pleased with the clear structure, the beautiful, elegant lines in the main voicing, as well as the straightforward, dignified counterpoint and the graceful, fresh melody, the latter of which is the expression of a fine musical sensibility."

American Chamber Music

John D. Gottsch (*1950) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and shortly afterward his family moved to Florida. He spent his youth in the lake country of Florida, swimming with alligators and always looking down when in woods or a swamp to avoid rattlesnakes and water moccasins. He traveled many of the rivers of the state which would begin in the back country and eventually empty into the Gulf or the Atlantic. These explorations of Florida gave him an enduring love for the beauty and wildlife of the state. Gottsch now splits his time between Baltimore and Key West. He has been a lifelong composer, and his compositions reflect his deep appreciation of the outdoors.

Walter Gropius is regarded as a revolutionary visionary who founded the Bauhaus style in the 1920s. His work is characterised by clarity and boldness. In common with the musicians of the Gropius Quartett, Weimar and Berlin were to become the centres of his creative work. Following Gropius' example, and influenced by personal encounters with Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich, the Gropius Quartett has set itself the goal of crystallising the clear structure of the composition and bringing it to life through their own passionate playing style. The members of the Gropius Quartett have known one another since studying together at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad and at the Juilliard School in New York.