The words ‘Irish blessing’ are sure to make you think of the famous verse about sending a traveller on their way. It is found in German translation in the new hymn books of many Lutheran and Protestant churches. Schwetzingen chamber choir Quatro Forte, “two dozen voices” that “truly sing as bewitchingly as if the choir had our hearts in their hands” (Schwetzinger Zeitung), was founded in 1991. These days, the Schwetzingen choir has a privileged place in the cultural life of the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region, having developed a varied repertoire in the course of its twenty-seven-year existence. With works for up to 16 parts from the Renaissance to modern times, both unaccompanied and with orchestral accompaniment, the chamber choir displays great musical versatility, with special emphasis on singing the music so as to express the full meaning of the words while achieving a smoothly balanced, sensitive choral sound. Alexander Gütinger has been musical director of the ensemble since 2008. It is to his energy and vision that the choir owes its homogeneous balance of voices and its consequent audience recognition. The present album was recorded in the Franz-Danzi-Saal in Schwetzingen with the generous support of the City of Schwetzingen and its Music School. This peace and security is again conveyed by the purely instrumental works on this release, which owe their special timbre to the traditional Irish instruments, the flute and harp.

When Mozart died, he was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. Had he lived, he might well have regained the commercial success and public acclaim he enjoyed in the early 1780s, for no sooner had he passed, his fame rose like a meteor. In the 19th century, Mozart's popularity eclipsed that of nearly all other 18th-century composers. This recording is about the perception of Mozart after his death. The transcriptions and free fantasies that Petronel Malan has selected trace Mozart reincarnated - transfigured - through the ears, technique, and compositional gifts of seven composers. Chronologically, they range from Hummel, a Mozart pupil, to Friedman, a 20th-century keyboard virtuoso who survived World War II. Stylistically the range is equally wide.

Petronel Malan - South African pianist Petronel Malan now makes her home in the United States. Her debut recording with hänssler classic, "Transfigured Bach: The Complete Bach Transcriptions of Bartok, Lipatti and Friedman," was nominated for three Grammy® awards, including "Best Instrumental Solo Album 2004." This album is her second recording in a series with hänssler Classic. As a Blüthner Artist, Ms. Malan uses Blüthner pianos exclusively for her recordings.

Classical Music

With 3600 listed works in all known genres credited to his name, Telemann was one of the most prolific composers of his time. He was famous for his extremely fluid compositional technique; but his stable health also enabled him to work for nearly 75 years without any major interruptions. Interestingly, Handel’s music was spared a major downfall in its posthumous acceptance. And while Johann Sebastian Bach’s works were only properly discovered in the course of the changing ideals of cultural history in the nineteenth century, Telemann’s works were regarded with increasing criticism, occasionally even with contempt. Systematic research into his contribution to music history did not begin until the second half of the twentieth century. Owing to the huge volume, there is no end in sight.

“The idea of this album arose many years ago, at the time I released my second solo album Vergessene Weisen (forgotten melodies)- Russian music at the turn of the 20th century. What keeps amazing me is the number of gems that are still to be discovered in the piano repertoire of this period and the high quality of these rarely performed works. Of course, time eventually puts everything in its place, though sometimes this process is rather slow. A thought that has often occurred to me is that, at the time when this music was being written, these Russian composers may well have bumped into people like Vladimir Lenin or Nikola Tesla on the streets of Paris, and nobody then knew the impact such people would have on the world. That said, this album was not intended as a compilation of rare Russian piano works, but as a lively musical extract from this exciting period in which Europe underwent rapid and dramatic change…” (Anna Zassimova) Anna Zassimova studied piano under Vladimir Tropp, Michael Uhde, and Markus Strange. A versatile artist, she also has a doctorate in musicology and a degree in art history. She teaches at the University of Music in Karlsruhe and lives in Baden-Baden.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Henri Sigfridsson.

After a long wait, their new recording is finally here! This time the young Finns give the String Quartets of Shostakovich their attention. The Third Quartet may be considered something like the opposite of the composer's "classical" 9th Symphony - and one of the most beautiful of the cycle. The Fourth Quartet is rather lyrical and densely scored. The Seventh Quartet, undoubtedly a painful and personal work, was composed in memory of Shostakovich's first wife, who died in 1954.

The Finnish string quartet Meta4 has developed in recent years, to become one of the world's top quartets. Founded in 2001, the four musicians won the Shostakovich Competition (Moscow) in 2004, and later, in 2007, the Haydn Competition in Vienna. In the years since, the Meta4 Quartet has maintained a busy concert schedule performing in the great halls and musical centers of Europe. The quartet's repertoire includes works from Haydn to the present day, including many works especially written for them. Their first CD (a program of Haydn's op. 55 Quartets) received wide critical acclaim and several coveted awards including the Prize of the German Record Critics' Award and the 2010 Echo Klassik Award.

"• Volume 7 of what will become the first truly complete recording of Schumann's piano works • Outstanding reviews worldwide • Each volume in the series features at least one World Premiere recording • Florian Uhlig is one of today’s in-demand and most interesting German pianists"

Florian Uhlig draws near the conclusion of the first truly complete edition of the solo piano music of Robert Schumann with this 9th installment in the series featuring the Kinderszenen op. 15 and the Novelletten op. 21 surrounding hitherto largely neglected contemporaneous pieces. An exclusive hännsler Classic artist praised for his cohesive concert programs, Mr. Uhlig made his orchestral debut at the London Barbican in 1997, and since then a busy performing schedule has taken him to the concert halls of Berlin, New York, London and Paris, as well as Hong Kong, Reykjavik and Cape Town.

hänssler CLASSIC is proud to release the fourth volume in what will be the only true complete recording of Schumann's music for piano solo. On the 4th volume ("Schumann in Vienna"), Florian Uhlig presents piano works composed in Vienna in 1838/39, amongst others "Faschingsschwank aus Wien op.26" and "Humoreske B Flat Major op.20".

As was the case in the three previous installments, this program is arranged "thematically". Each volume will contain unpublished works or fragments. Schumann left many extended fragments that can easily be reconstructed without daring speculations, and in such cases, these fragments deserve to be heard and included in our presentation of Schumann complete works for the piano.The entire series production and booklet notes are the work of the highly respected Schumann scholar Joachim Draheim, who has provided not only invaluable biographical and historical background but has had access to many previously unpublished manuscripts and Schumann's own corrections and revisions to the printed scores.

With vol. 8, pianist Florian Uhlig reaches the midway point of his widely acclaimed, much admired first truly integral Schumann recording project. - This new CD deals with the dual nature of the composer and writer, finding it's finest expression in the David's b�ndlert�nze (1st version, op. 6). - The typical romantic play of rubrics, musical ciphers and pseudonyms can also be found in the Carnival, op. 9. - Additionally, Mr. Uhlig has collected some related miniatures that Schumann either rejected or were never included in subsequent printed editions, at least three being world premiere recordings.

Several attempts have been made over the last sixty years or so to record all of Robert Schumann’s works for solo piano, a fascinating cosmos full of variety that ranges from extremely virtuosic pieces for the concert hall to valuable literature for piano tuition. This attractive but difficult quest has unfortunately been marked by a lack of the necessary care, not to mention purely artistic deficiencies, so that none of the releases deserves the name “complete recording”. Since Schumann published several works in two more or less different versions, it is not legitimate in a “complete recording” to include only one of the versions, let alone to amalgamate two of them. Moreover, works published at remote places as well as unpublished works and fragments that could easily be completed without too much speculation, have so far been taken into account only in exceptional cases. Florian Uhlig’s release is the first genuine complete recording of Robert Schumann’s works for solo piano. The pianist for the first time attempts to present all the original piano works between 1830 (Abegg Variations op. 1) and 1854 (Theme and Variations in E flat Major), using the latest critical editions and/or first editions. The release includes several first recordings.

Hänssler Classic is proud to release the fourth volume in what will be the only true complete recording of Schumann's music for piano solo. On the 4th volume ("Schumann in Vienna"), Florian Uhlig presents piano works composed in Vienna in 1838/39, amongst others "Faschingsschwank aus Wien op.26" and "Humoreske B Flat Major op.20".

As was the case in the three previous installments, this program is arranged "thematically". Each volume will contain unpublished works or fragments. Schumann left many extended fragments that can easily be reconstructed without daring speculations, and in such cases, these fragments deserve to be heard and included in our presentation of Schumann complete works for the piano.The entire series production and booklet notes are the work of the highly respected Schumann scholar Joachim Draheim, who has provided not only invaluable biographical and historical background but has had access to many previously unpublished manuscripts and Schumann's own corrections and revisions to the printed scores.

- Hänssler Classic

Florian Uhlig on this album takes on one of the most difficult tasks of all piano music: Robert Schumann's second piano sonata. With its provocative, completely paradoxical tempo specifications and its enormous technical demands, this sonata has driven generations of pianists into the cloister: how on earth is this supposedly such a complex but at the same time emotionally charged work? Florian Uhlig shows how it works. Everything sounds very natural, fluid. Technical issues seem to play a very minor role. Instead, Uhlig prefers to take care of the work context. The recording is particularly interesting due to the inclusion of Schumann's rejected original finale and an Allegro (Op.8), which is closely related to Schumann's first Sonata Op. 11, which can also be admired on this album. And this again shows Uhlig's claim to present the most complete recording of the Schumann piano oeuvre so far, but fortunately not the most complex one. It is very pleasant that someone cares more about real music than superficial effect!

Schubert worked for three years on this beautiful Mass. The last of his settings of the Catholic liturgy. One of the most perfect Mass-settings in the entire musical literature. The Oregon Bach Festival Chorus & Orchestra led by Helmuth Rilling hit just the right devotional, balanced tone for this devotional composition, while maintaining an aesthetic suitable for the concert hall. Conductor Helmuth Rilling is one of the most esteemed conductors of this music.