Bach: Die schönsten orgelwerke

With this 12th installment of his grand tour of Franz Schubert piano works, the internationally renowned pianist Gerhard Oppitz now concludes his journey. Included here are the Sonata in D Major, D. 850, the Rondo in E Major, D 506 and the 12 Waltzes, D 969. Mr. Oppitz’s understanding of the musical depth of Schubert's creations has proven all the more effective for its unobtrusive understatement. His talents in drawing out the narrative logic of each large-scale Sonata while appropriately engaging the smaller Schubertian jewels of pianistic invention are well known and highly regarded.

On May 29, 2013, Rilling will celebrate his 80th birthday! For this occasion Rilling has compiled a special collection documenting his legacy with hänssler Classic over the decades, featuring recordings of his most admired and critically acclaimed works. They show the conductor’s profound understanding of Bach and equal familiarity with masterpieces of later eras.

Orchestral Music - Mozart, W.A. / Handel, G.F. / Pachelbel,

SUMMER MOODS (DVD)

Includes work(s) by Valentin Silvestrov. Soloist: Jenny Lin.

Jenny Lin's discography to date shows just how difficult it is for a talented young pianist to gain recognition in today's marketplace. She has made excellent recordings for Koch, BIS, and now Hänssler, including discs devoted to modern "niche" composers (Ruth Crawford Seeger, Valentin Silvestrov) and some very clever "interesting repertoire" collections ( Chinoiserie, Preludes to a Revolution). Her complete Bloch music for piano and orchestra easily is (pianistically at least) the best collection of that music currently available. These recordings show that she has it all: intelligence, technique, imagination, curiosity, expressive intensity, and a willingness to take risks.

This Shostakovich ought to be a "breakout" release. Lin turns in what is hands-down the finest version yet recorded of this massive work -- a brilliant, moody, energetic, edgy, and technically stunning exploration of Shostakovich's compositional genius.

Despite the clarity of the counterpoint, the pianist is acutely sensitive to texture and atmosphere where Shostakovich demands it. There is no question that Lin has paid her dues, and it's high time that we hear what she has to say in the classics of the keyboard literature.

-- David Hurwitz, Listen [7-8/2009]

Selected sacred works under the direction of Gunter Wand Wand's music-making moved those who heard it with it's impeccable balance of perfection coupled with faithfulness to the original, emotional fulfilment, intellectual control, utmost sensitivity and spiritual penetration. He described his mission as "serving music", a cause to which this totally unpretentious man remained committed for seventy years. He rose to be one of the true "greats" of the twentieth century, a figure standing head and shoulders above our restless times, his name synonymous with the highest musical quality

Anna Zassimova invites us to take a third journey through the musical landscape of Russian destiny. This journey through the peculiarly Russian Ouroboros of the tormented twentieth century enables us to discover, once again, rare works and the uncharted environments in which they took root. All these works are parables of implacable destinies against which it seems futile to struggle, but which must be defied in order to follow the veiled path of the soul.

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.

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".

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.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: THE FIRST CANTATA YEAR. 2 CDs / Vol. 3. BWV 105, 46, 179, 199. 3, 69. 1, 77, 25, 119. GAECHINGER CANTOREY // HANS-CHRISTOPH RADEMANN- This is the third in a series of ten double CDs releases forming the year-long VISION. BACH project marking the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's taking up the post of Thomaskantor in Leipzig in May 1723. The aim is to perform all 62 cantatas from Bach's first year in Leipzig, in chronological order. Rademann conducts with feeling and tries to make the sound round and harmonious. The musicians of the Gaechinger Cantorei play excellently and show that historically informed performance practice and romantic music-making are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It is the result that counts. " pizzicato

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.