Completed: The first Leipzig cantata cycle. "Hans-Christoph Rademann's interpretation with the Gaechinger Cantorey combines precision with emotional depth, transforming each cantata into it's own little magical world full of sensually charged spirituality. The choir is agile, precise, confident, balanced and has a beautiful sound." FonoForum

Music that transcends the bounds of time. "For me, the finest music exists in an abstract spiritual world that is inspired by the instruments at hand, but by no means determined by them. Bach had few qualms about rewriting pieces for other instruments as he saw fit, and with many musical ideas, in contrast to virtuosos of the Romantic era, for example, one gets the impression that they were hardly influenced by the constraints of the instruments available. It's like a spirit realm, a large white hall of tones, sounds and voices. That's another reason why I found it so interesting from the outset to collaborate with you on this recording and turn this dream project into reality." - Yorck Kronenberg

Pocket-sized drama In essence, the texts by Heine featured in this compilation are taken from his Book of Songs. Behind each title lies a unique personal drama, sometimes in an oriental-style setting (Rubinstein's Der Asra) and occasionally in the finest Rhine Romantic tradition (Clara Schumann's Lorelei). They recount medieval episodes, transporting us into fantastical fairy-tale worlds, providing an escape from everyday life into an imaginary scenario. This is the order of the day, just as it was back then, because, perhaps especially in our often unromantic times, it is not such a bad idea to have someone sing you a song.

Dora Deliyska's programs are frequently dedicated to a specific theme that links the individual pieces together. At first glance, this does not appear to be the case with the present CD. Yet it would not be Dora Deliyska if there were not, in fact, a-perhaps mysterious-connection between the pieces performed. - Christian Kuhn

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 5

KEIN SCHÖNER LAND

Largo

V 5: CANTATAS (BWV 14,16,17,18

SYMPHONY NO. 2

JESU MEINE FREUDE

HANDEL: Te Deum, HWV 283, "Dettingen"

BIRTH OF CHRIST (DIE GEBURT CH

On the occasion of the 300th birthday of C. P. E. Bach in 2014, this timeless recording of his popular Magnificat along with the Missa brevis of his distant relative Johann Ludwig Bach is available once more. These are brilliant recordings by Helmuth Rilling.

George Enescu’s primary instrument was the violin, but he also wrote a substantial body of works for piano, including sonatas, suites, preludes, and other short character pieces. This three-disc Hänssler Classic set of the complete works for piano solo, performed by Romanian pianist Raluca Stirbat, offers valuable insights into Enescu’s evolving methods and artistic development over a period of four decades, from the Suite No. 1 in G minor, Op. 3 (1897) to the Piano Sonata No. 3 in D major (1935). Enescu passed through several phases, starting with a fascination with Baroque forms in his teenage years, and progressing to an enthusiasm for Wagnerian chromaticism and Romanian folk music, which led to a more integrated mature style. Stirbat is an ardent proponent for Enescu’s music, and her album is the first complete set of his piano music on CD. Recorded at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, the sound is crisp and detailed, though the resonance of the performing space is quite pronounced.

– All Music Guide (B. Sanderson)

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.

Classical Music

Classical Music

CLASSICAL OBOE • Lajos Lencsés (ob); Budapest Str; 1 Franz Liszt CO; 2 Auer Qrt; 3 Miwako Nagatomi (vn); 4 Vidor Nagy (va); 4 Dieter Brachmann (vc) 4 • HÄNSSLER 99.277 (66:57)


MOZART Adagio and Allegro, K 594. 1 DITTERSDORF Symphony in F: Adagio non molto. 2 Andantino in G. 2 HAYDN Divertimentos: No. 1 in D; 3 No. 2 in A. 3 VANHAL Quartet in C, op. 7/6 4


It’s been nearly a half century since I had the privilege of witnessing Igor Stravinsky conduct Les noces with Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, and Roger Sessions playing the four pianos. It was a rare assemblage of celebrated composers as performers, but not an unprecedented one. Josef Haydn is known to have invited Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (second violin), Johann Baptist Vanhal (cello), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (on his favorite stringed instrument, the viola) to play string quartets with him. Foss and Sessions may have been the Dittersdorf and Vanhal of their time (and vice versa), but I doubt that either Barber or Copland—in their wildest dreams—would have equated themselves with Haydn and Mozart.


This historical footnote is the hook on which Lajos Lencsés, one of our most prolific and imaginative oboe virtuosos, has hung this compilation of mostly recycled odds and ends. Alert readers will notice the array of assisting artists on the disc. Only the Mozart was newly recorded, but the mixture of sources does not intrude. Little, if any, of the program is quite as advertised. The Adagio and Allegro is a transcription of a piece for mechanical organ. Haydn’s divertimentos, composed for his princely employer, were originally scored for baryton trio. The Dittersdorf pieces are slow movements from two of his Six Symphonies after Ovid’s Metamorphoses . I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that the Vanhal contribution was originally a string quartet. No matter. Appropriating music written for another instrument, quite acceptable in Classical Vienna, is hardly unheard of today, and it creates possibilities for programming that would not otherwise exist. Lencsés makes the most of those possibilities. Fanciers of the oboe with a hankering for something a little out of the ordinary (but not too much so) should enjoy this disc.


FANFARE: George Chien

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers.

Classical Music

The German music journal Fono Forum said of Rilling's Elias, "Helmuth Rilling realizes the stylistic span of the choirs from an ascetic a cappella to an impressionistic coloration, an almost Brahmsian Sentiment, and even up to a dramatic intensity. The orchestra is their equal. High-caliber soloists are thoroughly convincing."

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music