Denmark’s leading instrumentalists Ulla Miilmann (flute) and Tine Rehling (harp) joined forces to record a superb collection of late romantic and impressionistic works by an alley of foremost composers of France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ulla Miilmann and Tine Rehling began their collaboration as duo in 2007. They have since been dazzling wide range of audiences with their pure and elegant interpretation of repertoire with a significant emphasis on French music.

Internationally renowned flutist Ulla Miilmann is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the prestigious “Flute-Talk” competition in Chicago and the Gold Medal at the Danish All Music Competition, among others. Flutist Ulla Miilmann was born in 1972 in Denmark. She received her Bachelor of Music at North Carolina School of the Arts in 1992. During her college years, Ms Miilmann was already selected as representative of Denmark in the European Broadcasting Union "Concerts for Young Soloist". Currently she is the principal flutist of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Miilmann was nominated for the GRAMMY award for her performance of Ole Schmidt's Concerto for flute and string orchestra. Together with the elite instrumentalists of Denmark: Søren Johannsen on harpsichord and Kjeld Lybecker Steffensen on Baroque cello, Ms Miilmann interprets the complete flute works by J. S. Bach including the Partita in A minor for solo flute.

Bo Andersen, like his teacher Ib Nørholm, seeks to achieve a balanced synthesis of tradition and innovation by adopting an approach which aims at accessibility without any compromise in originality. On this CD project Andersen compiles his recent works on the Passion theme, all of which are world premier recordings by international leading soloists and ensembles.

Michiyo Honma is one of the leading performers of modern harpsichord on the international scene. She has commissioned several works with the Danish composers during the last few years and has compiled here a collection of world premier recordings. The composers involved in this project unanimously praise Honma’s performance as outstanding.

Denmark’s leading composer Ib Nørholm is undoubtedly one of the most documented – both in printed music and recorded music – composers of our time. This latest production is a collection of his art songs in the last three decades. “... products of the composer’s search for an accommodation between the modernist and traditionalist approaches – a compositional third way which keeps faith with the noble tradition of Scandinavian art song without any compromising of an individualist approach.” (Geoff Thomason – from the liner notes)

Denmark’s leading composer Ib Nørholm started his musical education at the age of nine with piano lessons and began to study organ at 15. It is with keyboard instruments that Nørholm developed and matured both as composer and performing artist (Nørholm received diploma as organist and has been the appointed organist at Copenhagen’s Bethlehem Church for a number of years.) This 2-CD set of superbly performed piano works traces Nørholm’s footsteps in the past 50 years and illustrates the exceptional career of a great contemporary composer.

Danish Saxophone Quartet who has been widely known for their superb performance of contemporary music embarked on a new field of classical repertoire a few years ago. Their rendition of Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge received acclaim from critics and audience a like and released on Kontrapunkt 32259. Present CD of Goldberg Variations was recorded live in concert in Rome with the superb arrangement by Italy’s foremost arranger/composer Francesco Frederico Venerucci. repertoire a few years ago. Their rendition of Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge received acclaim from critics and audience a like and released on Kontrapunkt 32259. Present CD of Goldberg Variations was recorded live in concert in Rome with the superb arrangement by Italy’s foremost arranger/composer Francesco Frederico Venerucci.

Rued Langgaard and Otto Mortensen are the two intriguing names in the early 20th century of Danish music, where the new current of modern approach to the music is apparent. Both composers show however strong attachment to the Danish romanticism. While Langgaard in the recent years has gained international recognition Mortensen is largely unknown outside of Denmark.

Born in 1963, Bo Andersen belongs to that generation of Danish composers whose formative years coincided with a period of far-reaching artistic reconsideration on the part of many of his older compatriots. Although several composers, such as Holmboe, retained their loyalty to a conservative tradition, many of those who were then the younger generation had in the 60s and early 70s embraced the ideals of the post-war avant-garde, only to become disillusioned with its more extreme, and ultimately anti-communicative manifestations. The result was a new search for a compositional – and expressive – rhetoric which would achieve a balanced synthesis of tradition and innovation. Like his teacher Ib Nørholm, Bo Andersen adopts an approach which aims at accessibility without any compromise in originality. Andersen studied composition with Nørholm at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where his teachers also included Yngve Trede and Erik Norby, and like so many Danish composers, he also studied the organ. Andersen is also a graduate of the University of Copenhagen, where he read Musicology and Nordic philology.

Toke Lund Christiansen continues his series of complete music written for flute by Friedrich Kuhlau with this collection of six duos for two flutes. His partner is Malin Nordlöf, solo flutist at the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. With this release the series, which has been very well received all over the world, has been extended to 13 CDs with still several to come.

Hans Graf will become the fifteenth Music Director of the Houston Symphony, beginning with opening night of the 200l-2002 season. He debuted with the Houston Symphony in March 2000 conducting Emanuel Ax in Adams‘ Century Rolls, with Schubert‘s The Great also on the program. A week later, he led the orchestra and Houston Symphony Chorus in an expanded weekend series of Orft‘s Carmina Burana. He made an appearance as a guest conductor with two subscription programs in May 2000. The Austrian-born Graf is in his sixth season as Music Director of Canada‘s Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and his third season with the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine in France. Believing “there is something to learn from musicians and orchestras everyday,“ Graf guest conducts all over the globe. In the United States, he frequently makes appearances in Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Dallas, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. He has conducted Mostly Mozart at the Lincoln Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Tanglewood and the Cleveland Orchestra in Blossom Center. Internationally, Graf often conducts in the major concert halls of Scandinavia, France, Italy, England, Japan and Australia. He has appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, as well as the St. Petersburg and Israel Philharmonics. He has been part of major European festivals including Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Savonlinna (Finland‘s Opera Festival), Bregenz, Vienna and Salzburg (for thirteen successive seasons). An opera proponent for its “wonderful musical power and sense of human expression,“ Graf first conducted the Vienna State Opera in 1981 and has since appeared at major opera houses in Berlin, Munich, Paris and Rome. His extensive opera repertory includes several premieres.

Composer Kuno Kjærbye (b. 1959) belongs to the younger generation of composers educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. His teachers include Ib Nørholm, among others. Kuno Kjærbye is also active as a violinist and his compositions are often inspired by the instrument’s natural traits. About this CD the composer comments: “All the music on this CD is built on certain quarter-tone modes. It comes naturally to me as a violinist; your everyday scale study provides you with a sensitivity to hearing the small differences between, for example, a G sharp and an A flat. All the duos have a fundamental tonality which is extended by means of quarter-tone.”

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, the late 18th century Danish composer of German extraction was himself a virtuoso pianist and wrote emphatically for piano. Although Weyse is deeply rooted in the 18th century music represented by Handel, Bach and Haydn, on this second volume of his piano works the three pieces from Allegri di bravura indicate his development toward the new tradition of Viennese Classical. Morten Mogensen is one of the elite pianists of the younger generation in Denmark. His earlier releases of another Danish composer P.E. Lange-Müller’s complete piano works (Kotrapunkt 32228, 32248 & 32258) received both critical and public acclaim.

It was in 1998 when Denmark’s leading violinist of younger generation Søren Elbæk first performed with Argentinean Alicia Petronilli as a member of The Danish Chamber Players. Since then tango became part of his favourite repertoire. Elbæk’s rich and passionate sound suites the genre perfectly. In this intimate duo setting the two elite instrumentalists give the Latin American popular music a new artistic dimension with their unique and highly intriguing interpretation. The programme encompasses the wide range of tango spectrum including the classic Nostalgias by Cadícamo and the works by contemporary Astor Piazzolla, not to mention the famous “Tango Jealousy” of Danish Origin.

Denmark’s leading composer of sacred music Bernhard Lewkovitch dedicated the 6 Partitas and the 12 Chorales recorded here for Royal Danish Brass. One of the most prominent ensembles of Denmark Royal Danish Brass has a long standing collaboration with Lewkovitch, which culminates in this brilliant CD of strong spirituality.

Poul Schierbeck (1888 – 1949) studied composition with Carl Nielsen. Unlike his vocal works which are relatively known, the piano works recorded here have been unjustly neglected. The major part of the piano music is from the early years of Schierbeck’s career as composer, who otherwise studied law and served as an artillery lieutenant under the First World War. Some of the works here have never been in print and all of the works are recorded for the first time. Denmark’s foremost pianist Tove Lønskov made a thorough research of Schierbeck’s piano works and presents here her superb interpretation of them. Unlike his vocal works which are relatively known, the piano works recorded here have been unjustly neglected. The major part of the piano music is from the early years of Schierbeck’s career as composer, who otherwise studied law and served as an artillery lieutenant under the First World War. Some of the works here have never been in print and all of the works are recorded for the first time. Denmark’s foremost pianist Tove Lønskov made a thorough research of Schierbeck’s piano works and presents here her superb interpretation of them.

Denmark’s leading instrumentalists in the classical field, Toke Lund Christiansen (flute) and Elisabeth Westenholz (piano) have been performing together for a number of years. One of their favourite repertoires is German-born Danish composer Kuhlau’s works for flute and piano, which the duo has been recording for Kontrapunkt. This is a sequel to the highly acclaimed first volume of Variations & Divertimenti (Kontrapunkt 32237) featuring works from Kuhlau’s later years. Toke Lund Christiansen has been the principal flutist in The Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Elisabeth Westenholz is one of the most sought after concert pianists in Europe and her numerous recorded performances on Kontrapunkt have been received enthusiastically by critics and public alike.

The collaboration between Armenian violinist Nikolai Madojan and Danish pianist Elisabeth Westenholz produced a series of outstanding CDs starting with the Prokofiev Sonatas and Five Melodies (32185) in 1994. The Madojan/Westenholz duo has since been performing and recording to critical and popular acclaim. The world’s press wrote of their performances: “…Madojan…has a natural feel for the right inflexion…his is the more thought-provoking…Westenholz refreshingly tender-hearted and imaginative.” (Gramophone) “…Madojan is superb in capturing the expressive, genteel nature of the music. …His intonation is superb as well as timbre, and carefully balanced with the partnership of Westenholz.” (Intune) “…Madojan and Westenholz are a strong, articulate, well-proportioned and mutually reciprocal partnership.” (Gramophone)

Since her 1994 sensational recording debut with Orchestral Leider/Vier Letzte Lieder and Wesendonk Lieder on Kontrapunkt label, the Danish soprano Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe’s career has soared to the new height in the international opera scenes. This is her first recording of songs which she dedicates to HM Queen Ingrid Queen Mother who is from Sweden and is turning 80 this month. Meyer-Topsøe’s tie to Sweden is quite special through her education there and being a pupil of the Swedish legendary soprano Birgit Nilsson.The songs recorded here are with special relation to Sweden.

St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra under baton of Edward Serov had made series of superb recordings during the communist regime. Those recordings had unfortunately not been widely available even after the dissolution of USSR. Kontrapunkt in collaboration with Petersburg Recording Studio and Maestro Serov has restored and released many of those legendary recordings on CD. This latest release features two now deceased leading string players of Russia Victor Liberman (violin) and Yuri Krammarov (viola). The viola concerto by contemporary Russian composer Vladimir Tsytovich has never been available on CD before.