BACH Overtures: in C, BWV 1066; in b, BWV 1067; in D, BWV 1068; in D, BWV 1069 1. Brandenburg Concertos. 1 Violin Concertos, BWV 1041-43 2-4. Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1052-58 2,5. 2 Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1060-62 1,5,6. 3 Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1063 2,5,7,8 , BWV 1064 2,5,7,9. 4 Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1065 2,5,7-9. Concertos for Harpsichord, Violin, and Flute, BWV 1044, 1050a. 2,4,5,10 “Restored” Oboe Concertos, BWV 1053R 2,11 , BWV 1055-56R 2,11 , 1059R 2,11 , 1060R 2,3,11. Sinfonia in D, BWV 1045 2,4. “Reconstructed” Violin Concertos, BWV 1052R 2,4 , 1056R 2-4,11 , 1064R 2-4,11 • Helmuth Rilling, cond; 3 Christoph Poppen (vn); 4 Isabelle Faust (vn); 5 Robert Levin (hpd); 6 Jeffrey Kahane (hpd); 7 Mario Videla (hpd); 8 Michael Behringer (hpd); 9 Boris Kleiner (hpd); 10 Jean-Claude Gérard (fl); 11 Ingo Goritzki (oba, ob); 12 Muriel Cantoreggi (vn); 1 Oregon Bach Festival Ch & O; 2 Bach-Collegium Stuttgart • HÄNSSLER 98009 (11 CDs: 575:48)


This 11-CD set is, you might say, an excerpt from the 172-CD boxed set that Hänssler Classic has issued of Bach’s complete works under the direction or supervision of Helmuth Rilling. Those readers who have followed my reviews already know my love (yes, that’s the exact word) and admiration for Rilling’s work since at least the mid 1960s when I first became familiar with him. Such readers will also know that Rilling, throughout his career, continued to fly in the face of much Historically Informed Performance Practice, particularly in terms of phrasing, pitch, and the continual use of straight tone. Rilling believes, and rightly so, that interpretation trumps the instruments or mechanical devices used to achieve it, and I am right beside him. His strings and winds, then, use a light, fast vibrato, certainly not wide enough to be noticeable by the ear but enough to add luster to the orchestral timbre; he plays everything at A=440 because he knows that one can never be sure what pitch was used at what time in what city when performances of this music were given; and he also knows that there is very little evidence as to whether some of this music ever received public performances at all. On top of this, he believes in a lyrical style with pointed rhythms and forward momentum which gives the music life and zest.


Having said all that, and assuming that Hänssler Classic agrees or they wouldn’t have issued 172 CDs supervised by him, it is more than a little surprising to not find his name anywhere on the box of this set or even in the booklet under the credit listings for each individual disc. Only when you go to the very back of the booklet do you find a brief biography of Rilling, which tells you that he is the conductor, since both of these orchestras were founded by him. Very strange! Equally strange, considering how everyone and his uncle gets credit nowadays, the horn players of the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra are not listed for the First Brandenburg Concerto , and one has to go to the back of the box—not the front, or the spine, or even on any of the 11 CDs—to find the catalog number of this set in very tiny print on the bottom left.


Naturally one’s proclivity to acquire this set, which consists of recordings made between 1992 and 2000, depends in large measure on how much you like Rilling’s Bach and wish to make these performances your recordings of choice. I’m sure that Hänssler realizes that most collectors probably have some of these recordings, and/or alternative performances by other conductors, already on their shelves, and that if they wanted someone to package a “complete” Bach set—whether just the orchestral works, as here, or the whole shebang—they would have already acquired one of the many such sets available. Remember, too, that Teldec has already issued a competing set (on 153 CDs) of “Complete Bach,” there using multiple artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Christopher Hogwood, Ton Koopman, Frans Brüggen, and many others; and, in the case of the vocal and instrumental soloists, many listeners have very specific preferences, several of which probably aren’t on either set of CDs. Therefore we have to assume that, in terms of marketing, these all-inclusive sets are definitely targeted to the more casual music lover, one who has attended Bach concerts over the years and perhaps owns a few solo instrumental, orchestral, or choral works by him, but would now like to acquire everything the man ever wrote.


As it turns out, however, most of the singers Rilling used in his recordings of vocal works over the years are among the elite of the musical world (Christine Schäfer, Sibylla Rubens, Ingeborg Banz, Michael Schade, Thomas Quasthoff, Matthias Goerne, and Michael Volle, among others), and in these concertos he has some exceptionally fine soloists like violinists Christoph Poppen and Isabelle Faust, harpsichordists Robert Levin, Jeffrey Kahane, and Michael Behringer, flautist Jean-Claude Gérard, and oboist Ingo Goritzki—not all household names, but all first-rate interpreters who have the Bach style “under their skin.” Yes, I also like the keyboard concertos played by pianists like Glenn Gould and Konstantin Lifschitz. I have a special fondness for the violin concerto recordings of Bronislaw Huberman and Sigiswald Kuijken, but to be honest, as an overview of Bach’s style, Rilling’s versions will simply blow you away. They just have so much verve, life, and exuberance to them that they make Bach sound happy, and by golly that’s something we don’t get enough of. I have some recordings of the multiple-harpsichord concertos directed by Trevor Pinnock on DG Arkiv, and those performances are pretty good, but Rilling’s performances are far superior. Consider that it would be only too easy for a reviewer to start listening to this set and, after a few hours, start to get antsy or feel that it is overkill, but never once did my interest flag or the music wear out its welcome.


One reason why this is so—aside from Rilling’s ability to always make Bach sound enjoyable—is that his soloists do not play here as Gould or Lifschitz did, which is as virtuoso soloists against the ensemble, but rather in sinfonia concertante fashion. Rilling understands that performances in Bach’s day, though brilliantly performed by all concerned, were generally more of an ensemble effort than one, two, or three soloists vying for attention against a backdrop of strings and/or winds. Thus the sinfonia concertante style of the Brandenburg s is extended to the violin, keyboard, and oboe concertos; and, moreover, both conductor and soloists use a judicious amount of rubato, just enough to add an element of suspense to the proceedings, to reduce the possibility of their sounding mechanical or metronomic. Of course, exceptions are made for the three- and four-harpsichord concertos, where so much of the solo writing comes to the fore and the orchestra drops away, but that is only to be expected.


My one complaint as to programming concerns the short playing time of several of the CDs. Consider: CDs 1-3 and 5 are all under 45 minutes. With such short timings, it’s no wonder that Hänssler’s Bach Edition runs 19 CDs longer than Teldec’s. That’s a waste of disc space. No one who downloaded this music would ever put so little music on a single disc. This set could very easily have fit on eight CDs as follows:


CD 1: Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066-68 – 63:39


CD 2: Orchestral Suite, BWV 1069 + Brandenburg s 1-3 – 63:49


CD 3: Brandenburg s 4-6 + Sinfonia in D, BWV 1045 – 57:37


CD 3: Violin Concertos, adding BWV 1052R & 1064R – 78:47


CDs 4 & 5: Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1052-58


CD 6: Two-Harpsichord Concertos


CD 7: Two & Three-Harpsichord Concertos – 74: 35


CD 8: Restored oboe concertos + Violin Concerto BWV 1056R – 74:41


Aside from this caveat, and my complaint about not having the conductor’s name anywhere on the box, if you’re looking for outstanding recordings of these works you really can’t go wrong with this set. It’s so good, in fact, that I was finally able to retire my poor old recordings of the Brandenburg s conducted by Benjamin Britten and the Pinnock multi-keyboard concertos.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

The musicians of the Berlin Baroque Soloists, who for the most part are members of the Berlin Philharmonic, are well known to Radek Baborák from his time as solo horn player of the orchestra from 2003 to 2010. “That is why the recording with the Berlin Baroque Soloists was not such an unusual project,” says Radek Baborák, “but it was a dream of mine to play something by Bach with this ensemble, which plays modern instruments. Some eight years ago, we played together in a program of works by Telemann and Zelenka. That was a thrilling time. What particularly appealed to me about my colleagues was that for all their concentration on the work in hand, they still had a relaxed approach. They were orientated towards historical performance practice, but without the dogmatic rigor that one sometimes finds in specialist ensembles.” To make his dream come true, and drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of Bach, Radek Baborák trawled the composer’s works. He comments: “I am not a musicologist, in the first place I am a musician. When I find something I like, I use it for my purposes. If the material is robust – and it always is with Bach – it doesn’t matter what you play it on: the harpsichord, the organ, with strings, with choir, it will always sound good.”

Hänssler CLASSIC is proud to present Helmuth Rilling's landmark recording of the complete Bach Cantatas in a new, specially-price collector's edition. Rilling was the first conductor to ever record the complete Bach cantatas and still, 25 years after they were first released in celebration of the Bach tercentennial in 1985, they remain the standard by which all other interpretations are judged.

Praise for some of the original recordings that make up this set:

Complete Cantatas
"There is no question as to the excellence and distinction of many of Rilling's soloists, which feature a number of famous Bach specialists of the last quartet of a century...Rilling has proved a pragmatist in matters of historical performance practice; he adopts brisk tempos and light accents at times, but allows himself considerable expressive and agogic freedom." – Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition]

In particular, Rilling's unaffectedly musical, period-performance-influenced but undogmatic approach seems designed to sustain long-term listener satisfaction. He's so strong in the basic qualities that matter most. For example, he has the best soloists of any major series of Bach vocal works--names like Arlene Auger, Juliane Banse, Matthias Goerne, Christophe Prégardien, Christine Schäfer--the list reads like a "who's who" of major late-20th-century singers. The choral singing also is uniformly superb.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Christmas Cantatas
The intensity of colour and expression in these works is stunning – the surging, brass-capped elation of Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, so full of the simple joy of the Christian message, the searching meditation on temptation in Selig ist der Mann, the seemingly bottomless well of spiritual sustenance plumbed in the chorale conclusions. Rilling’s performances (on modern instruments) are neatly tailored and naturally benevolent in nature, buoyant with the wholesomeness and warmth that this great music so frequently emanates. There is simply no better way of celebrating a musical Christmas.

– Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine

Secular Cantatas
I'm not sure whether Helmuth Rilling has acquired a reputation for seriousness, though his recorded legacy—crowned by his complete Bach sacred cantatas series—has tended toward music of high purpose; for a primarily choral conductor, it couldn't be otherwise. Nevertheless, he shows a light touch on this disc that is in keeping with this music's intent to entertain. Rilling continues to buck trends. His instruments are modern, and his choir is relatively large (49 voices) but always precise and flexible. He does not always forsake velocity, as collectors of the sacred cantatas series will recall: Pales's wonderful second aria and its appended instrumental interlude skip smartly along. "Sheep" obeys the speed limit, but just barely. As usual, Rilling has assembled a splendid set of young soloists, who not only sing well but also get with the action.

– George Chien, Fanfare

How would have Bach composed if he had had access to modern instrumentarium: a violin with Tourte’s bow that produces a higher volume of sound, a trumpet with an entire chromatic scale or a contemporary grand piano? Would he be inspired by the art of virtuosos of today, such as the Leipzig ensemble of Collegium Musicum, as he was known to have composed for distinguished artists? Would he forgive pop or computer game composers for using his music? How would he judge changes in the key of pieces, which played a vital role in the intellectual and emotional rendition of music according to Baroque rules? Or else, would he adjust to the vibe of our epoch and make use of samples instead of real performers? In any case, he would definitely appreciate the interpretations by Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, Krzysztof Kaczka and L’Appasionata, a Verona-based chamber orchestra. The energy that these young musicians display while playing Bach’s pieces would certainly match the composer’s spirit. If we observe Bach’s portraits for which he would pose in a dignified wig as we listen to his grand music, we might think that Bach was a placid and serious man. Yet not once did his contemporaries have to cope with his fits of anger or turbulent character; on the contrary, he must have also been high-spirited and humorous, which we may deduce from his numerous pieces.

“AMERICAN SOUL: from Broadway to Paris” is the title of Duo Rosa’s second opus, featuring art songs, Broadway melodies and cabaret tunes. In this new project, the two musicians maintain a concept that was one of the keys to the previous album’s success: a blend of classical and popular music in a varied, accessible programme that pleases audiences of all ages, regardless of whether they are classical music lovers or not. Concertgoers were mesmerized by the energy exuded by Duo Rosa on their first tour — Return World Tour — and by the theatrical effects with which they infused classical melodies and Latin American popular songs. Thus it is only natural that they would now turn to North American repertoire, in all its flamboyance, to present a recital brimming with emotions: happiness, nostalgia, humour, sadness…and many other surprises! To grasp the audience’s attention and hold them spellbound, the duo has selected a series of highly popular songs combined with less well-known classical melodies. They perform famous Broadway tunes such as I feel pretty and Somewhere by Bernstein from West Side Story, or Gershwin songs including The man I love and I got rhythm from An American in Paris. The cabaret genre is likewise present, with numbers by Kurt Weill (Buddy on the nightshift and Je ne t’aime pas) and William Bolcom’s humorous Amor. Léna Kollmeier also displays her skill as a solo pianist in two attractive, demanding pieces filled with imagery.

When Ada Aria Rückschloss took her first piano lessons at the age of three, she was already an enthusiastic listener to music. She was only eight when she first took lessons from celebrated professors. She studied at the colleges of music (MHS) in Karlsruhe (as a junior student), Stuttgart and Würzburg and attended numerous master classes. Her teachers include such leading figures as Bernd Glemser, Sontraud Speidel, Friedemann Rieger, Kristian Bezuidenhout, the duo Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl, and Arnulf von Arnim. Ada Aria has won over 100 prizes at national and international competitions. Concert tours have taken her throughout Europe and to the USA.

Recording an album is always an amazing adventure, this time even more so, and we are very grateful to everyone who made this album possible. But why was it so special? Firstly, because of the choice of program, of little known, exciting works, and secondly due to the fact that this project was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, there is the special significance that each of these works has attained precisely under the current circumstances. There is no doubt that the chronological sequence of the pieces tells a story documenting the development of musical styles over the course of the century in witness to contemporary events. But today, having experienced this music from the first lockdown through to the present day, the music itself and the sequencing have taken on a very significant relevance for us. From the melancholic, naïve and yet somewhat dreamy sounds of Lili Boulanger through the courage, tenderness and complexity of Grazyna Bacewicz, to Galina Ustvolskaya’s no-man’s land, where the absence of structured time reminds us of aimless days and hours without knowing what might happen the next day. And finally, Jennifer Higdon and her organized chaos that is nevertheless not hopeless, but a little rebellious, emotional, with deep insight into nature that seems to be a light and source of energy for humankind. Louise Chisson and Tamara Atschba.

“One day during my studies, as I came in for my piano lesson, my teacher, Andrew Ball, asked if I knew the piece the previous student was working on. The student, still there, played the first few pages and I was instantly mesmerized. Some gestures seemed familiar, but the sonority and discourse were both alien and fascinating. It turned out to be Busoni’s Sonatina Seconda. I had heard about Busoni, mostly as an editor and arranger and had some vague knowledge of a work or two, but now a strong connection was suddenly established. Shortly after the lesson I took the score out of the library and set about to learn it. I find many musicians and audience members have a similar experience with Busoni’s music. They might at best give it some polite respect once they know a bit about his extraordinary personality, but rarely have an emotional connection to it. At the same time, I personally know several people who, either through exposure (mostly from myself), or through their own study, have slowly turned relative indifference into ardent admiration.” (Victor Nicoara)

It is frankly little short of a miracle that the name of Carl Frühling is still remembered today, since we know next to nothing about him. Scant biographical notes provide a few reference points rather than an orderly résumé of his life, and a mere handful of the hundred or more works he is thought to have composed is extant today. The main reason for his relegation to oblivion is a fact that Frühling kept secret; a fact that nevertheless had to be declared on official documents: he was Jewish. Even before the Nazis took power his religion had caused him problems, making it difficult for him to pursue a career as a composer. As a result, Frühling understandably tried to conceal his religious adherence. In 1907 he converted to Protestantism and in his CV of 1929 he stated that he was born in Vienna. The truth is however that he actually came from Lviv (the Germans called it Lemberg, and today, the city is in Ukraine), then a predominantly Jewish city, where he was born on November 28, 1868. Frühling concluded his piano studies around 1889 and was awarded the Liszt Prize. He quickly established himself as a pianist, and was frequently in demand as a chamber musician. As a composer, however, Frühling found it difficult to make his mark. Initially, he tried to make a name with easy-listening piano works; he wrote virtuoso salon compositions such as concert waltzes, mazurkas and later, fantasias on tunes from popular operas. Although they were meant to be popular works that would sell well, they nevertheless evince a sense of proportion and cleverly thought-out pianistic writing, and are marked by humor and imagination.

On this release, Olivier Roberti performs a program of works by Brahms. Of Belgian nationality, Olivier Roberti studied at the Royal Academy of Brussels, then at the Conservatoire of Geneva in the class of Louis Hiltbrand, where in 1975 he obtained a First Prize of Virtuosity. He continued his studies in Switzerland with Edouard Vercelli, then in Italy with Carlo Zecchi and in the United States at the Peabody Institute of Baltimore in the class of Leon Fleisher. He regularly receives advice from Ruth Nye in London. He has performed with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of Nancy, the Czech National Orchestra, the RAI orchestra in Turin, the English Chamber Orchestra etc. He has recorded two CDs of concerti by Haydn with the English Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Kurt Redel, as well as concerti by Mendelssohn with the Czech National Orchestra. He has just recorded works for piano by Johannes Brahms for Haenssler Classic. He gives chamber music concerts and recitals in the United States: in Baltimore and New Mexico; in Switzerland, in Belgium, in Italy, in Austria, in Salzburg, in Prague, in London, in Germany, in Spain, in Cairo. In France, he plays in Orléans, in Paris at TMP Châtelet, at the “Auditorium des Halles”, the Musée d’Orsay and at the Salle Cortot. He also takes part in the Pablo Casals Festival. From 2004 to 2012, he was Artistic Director of the International Music Academy, Switzerland (IMAS) founded and directed by Seiji Ozawa. Since 1991, he has been the Founder and Director of the International Musical Encounters of Enghien.

“A composer’s oeuvre can only be fully understood in the context of his lifetime achievement. Concerts and events provide mere snapshots. I have always been more interested in the process than the highlights of an artist’s creative life...

"Mendelssohn was a cosmos that opened before me. There were worlds waiting to be discovered. My recording of the complete works is based on the system of compilation applied by Dr. Ralf Wehner...in chronological order of their composition, opening up completely new perspectives on the way Mendelssohn worked. It is clear, for example, that Mendelssohn first wrote his fugues, then composed the preludes to them quite a bit later, in order to publish them as pairs of Preludes and Fugues. That is also the only deviation from my chronological order: I have placed each Prelude before its Fugue, which is the way Mendelssohn intended it." -Ana-Marija Markovina

SET CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Piano Sonata in A Minor, MWV U8 • Piano Sonata in E Minor, MWV U19 • Piano Sonata in F Minor, MWV U23 • Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 105, MWV U30 • Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 6, MWV U54 • Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 106, MWV U64 • Charakterstücke (7), Op. 7 • Preludes and Fugues (6), Op. 35 • Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words) • Variations sérieuses in D Minor, Op. 54, MWV U156 • Variations in E-Flat Major, Op. 82, MWV U158 • Variations in B-Flat Major, Op. 83, MWV U159

REVIEWS:

Markovina can be justly proud of this complete set, having had to work together with both her production and recording teams with the coronavirus restrictions and precautions. At her recording sessions, she elected to use either of the two Bösendorfer grand pianos at her disposal in the studio, an Imperial and a Konzertflügel. In the Haus der Klaviere in Dülmen, project recording engineer Kaling Hanke has achieved consistently satisfying sonics and both of Markovina’s Bösendorfer pianos emit an impressive sound.

First class booklet notes for this box set are provided by Hänssler. There is an informative essay written by Markovina which describes her process of research and her acknowledgments. Exceptionally valuable in the booklet are the remarks and observations provided on each work mainly from Markovina and a few she has adapted from Mendelsohn specialist and biographer Professor R. Larry Todd.

--MusicWeb International

From the first work to the last I find this set of Mendelsohn’s complete solo piano works entirely compelling including the juvenilia and interesting group of short fragments. In what feels like a labour of love, Ana-Marija Markovina is in praiseworthy form throughout this valuable set, meeting the challenges with aplomb.

Needless to say there are rarities galore, but the simplest way to sample Markovina’s artistry is to hear her play Mendelssohn’s own transcription of the Nocturne from his A Midsummer Night’s Dream incidental music, which is quite ravishing. The pieces are presented chronologically (except the Preludes and Fugues, where Mendelssohn is known to have written the fugues first). And what do we have? Numerous rarities, including discarded Variations sérieuses, fragments and of course much-loved miniatures such as the Songs without Words. A very exciting enterprise to investigate.

--Gramophone

Every generation creates its own forms of expression. Often, this happens in abrupt rejection of what has gone before. And not infrequently, the provocative gestures in which a new attitude to life is articulated disappear again just as quickly as they appeared. Such thoughts may have moved Johann Sebastian Bach when, in the early 1740s, his two eldest sons took up the genre of the symphony, which had come from Italy and was accompanied by a novel treatment of the orchestra and compositional technique. Together with their generational peers, they created an independent line of tradition that was later referred to by music historians as the "symphony of the North German school." The fact that the symphony did not remain a short-lived fashion, favored by a handful of youngsters, but rather advanced to become a genre that was soon considered the "acknowledged paramount form of instrumental music", was one of the most significant and momentous musical achievements of the 18th century.

This album brings together things that at first glance don’t appear to have much in common: works by the two artists Johann Sebastian Bach and Agustín Barrios, who lived in distinctly different cultures many generations apart. However, the intriguing aspect of combining two so very disparate worlds is that shared elements only become apparent when they are placed side by side. Born in Uruguay, guitarist and composer José Fernández Bardesio began playing the guitar as an 11-year-old. He gave his first solo recital when he was only 15. He won first prizes at many renowned national and international competitions, including the Alirio Díaz (Gold Medal, Caracas), the Andrés Segovia Competition (Granada), the OAS Special Prize, and the Infanta Cristina Competition in Madrid.

Since making his debut in the United States and Spain in 1984, Bardesio has performed as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras in the Americas, Asia and Europe. He regularly appears at international guitar festivals and performs at important music centers including the Royal Festival Hall (London), Hall of the Americas (Washington, D.C.) and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York). He is featured in recordings with broadcasters in Venezuela, the US, Spain and France and his discography in the US, Spain and Germany bears testimony to his artistry. His albums are released by Hänssler Classic and his compositions with Hofmeister Musikverlag in Leipzig.

REVIEWS:

If one had to identify an individual outstanding gem from this recording, which showcased the overall virtues of Fernández Bardesio, it would be the Mazurka Apasionada by Barrios. He composed in various styles, and the Romantic European style is strongly evidenced here; both tracks 1 and 13 have that common root. The influence of Chopin can also readily be recognized in this music. One detects a particularly strong empathy for the music in this rendition.

Fernández Bardesio is a master guitarist who demonstrates high levels of technical command over the instrument, and similar qualities of musicianship, in this recording. In comparing his renditions of Barrios and Bach, one gets the feeling that he is more at home with the former. That feeling is heightened when again listening to Bream play the Bach Lute Suites. There will always be disagreement about the ‘correct’ way to play this music, compounded by one’s overall preference for revered renditions of the past.

The instrument used on this occasion is not identified. However based on the accompanying photographs, and his past employment of an instrument by Daniel Friederich, it would be safe to assume that this same instrument was played here. This recording embodies an enjoyable programme, and fine guitar playing. The juxtaposition of Bach and Barrios’ while thematically interesting, inadvertently displays musicianship more at home with the latter.

-- MusicWeb International

"The hours I spent learning Beethoven‘s last three sonatas were among the most cherished of my life. They were filled with the exhilaration of being in the presence of something magnificent, something truly meaningful. Over the years, these sonatas have become my intimate companions – a continuous source of learning and an always sympathetic yet mercilessly honest corrective for me…

"I learned Helmut Lachenmann‘s Wiegenmusik (Cradle Music) as a teenager, around the same time I actually met him at my grandfather‘s home. As a young man, Helmut had been a member of my grandfather‘s choir. I will never forget the impression his warm and friendly manner had on me...Much later, in preparation for a joint concert in which I played solo four of his works for piano, Helmut, in his unique way, introduced me to his works and invited me to “listen” – to listen to everything that is acoustically perceptible, to hear the attack of the key and its consequence, and to open up myself more to the beauty of tones, beyond the so-called limits; and ultimately not just with his music, but with all music.

"This juxtaposition of Beethoven and Lachenmann explores the interaction between the works – the field of tension opened up by their proximity. Without alienating the individual masterpiece, a new listening context emerges. The symbiosis of their auras allows us to experience anew what we have become accustomed to. I dedicate this album to my grandfather Gerhard Wilhelm, who dreamed of living life as a pianist like I do now – as a child of a generation that, unlike his, did not have to experience war. Let us hope that this does not change. Both Beethoven and Lachenmann will help in this endeavor." -Soloist Moritz Winkelmann

Christian Fink (1831-1911) was a respected organist and choirmaster, known nationally as a performer and composer, and co-editor of the music magazine Euterpe; he performed at festivals of new music and at times was even associated with the “New German” school. And yet this successful musical career did not assure his entrance into cultural memory. After his death, efforts were made to keep his work alive. But essentially, Fink virtually disappeared during the 20th century, from the perspective of music practice and music research, although his compositions were also written in a highly exciting period, between the deaths of Schumann (1856) and Gustav Mahler (1911), and at the same time as the works of Brahms, Wagner, and many other of the Romantics. In this way, Fink’s music, without an existing listening tradition, can provide new and stimulating insights into the 19th century. -Joachim Kremer