Pianist Homero Francesch (b. 1947 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is best known for his numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft for which he was awarded the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis of 1978. In 1991 Francesch performed all of Mozart’s sonatas in several recitals and recorded them for Kontrapunkt (KPT 32092/96). In the same year he also performed and recorded all 27 piano concertos with Orchestre Philharmonic de Nice for Kontrapunkt.

Finnish conductor Leif Segerstam who is celebrating his 50th birthday on March 2, 1994 has been a prolific composer as well. This “birthday” CD concentrates on his compositional vintage 1977. The three orchestral works here bear the unmistakable Segerstam characteristics of freedom from the restrictive formal system, which he calls “free pulsative style”. Segerstam’s wife Hannel who is the leader of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra plays violin solo on the Concertino-Fantasia. Soloist on the Piano Concerto, Rainer Keusching is the pianist of the Wiener Philharmoniker who also performs regularly with Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphonics, Chamber Orchestra of Europe just to name a few.

This is the seventh volume of our Mozart piano concerto series recorded during the Mozart year in Nice, France. Nice Philharmonic Orchestra dedicated the whole 1991 season for the entire piano concertos. Uruguayan Homero Francesch is one of the most popular pianists in Europe and has made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon. Among the many Mozart concerti recordings, INTUNE magazine chose this series as “highly desirable”.

This is our third volume of the Nielsen symphony series and like the earlier releases (KPT 32157 and KPT 32171) there are a couple of rarely recorded symphonic works added to the main feature Symphony No. 2. Though Symphony No. 2 was composed 10 years later than the Symphony No. 1, it still belongs to the Nielsen’s earlier period in which his compositions are marked by his interest in musical characterization. The chief conductor of Odense Symphony Orchestra Edward Serov is from Moscow and when he is not in Denmark he leads Volgograd Symphony Orchestra.

Symphony 4, Symphony 5

Piano Concertos No. 17 & 18

Kontrapunkt marks its release number 200 with the Nielsen Violin Works performed by Søren Elbæk, undoubtedly the foremost violinist of younger generation in Europe. The first two tracks are solo pieces which Nielsen wrote for his Hungarian son-in-law Emil Telmanyi. As these two unaccompanied works demand its performer superhuman technique, they are practically unheard live on stage. There is only one analogue recording in Deutsche Grammophon catalogue performed by Peder Elbæk (Søren’s father) many years ago. This is the first digital recording.

Piano Sonata No. 2

Complete String Quartets

Symphoni 5, Symphonic Rhapsody

Die Kunst der Fuge

Zion, Heilige Nacht, Gefion

Kontrapunkt is proud to announce the release of Robert Schumann’s incidental music “Manfred” in the complete form. This is probably the only complete “Manfred” (digital) recording available on CD presently. The text used here is in German, revised by Dr. Dietrich Steinbeck for this recording. BSO’s Chief conductor Michael Schønwandt is Danish and just turned 40. Despite of his youth, Schønwandt has conducted most major orchestras in the world. He was the first Scandinavian conductor to conduct at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth in 1987. Earlier releases by Berliner Sinfonie Orchester with Michael Schønwandt: Ravel “Daphnis Et Chloé” (KPT 32152) and Berlioz “Requiem” (KPT 32143/4).

Piano Sonata No. 2

Organ Symphony No. 1 Op. 14

Complete Cello Sonatas

Early Italian Baroque

Piano Concertos No. 1, 2, 3 &

Complete Works For Cello And P

Complete Piano Sonatas

Kronborg Motets

Die Kunst der Fuge

Orgelb…hlein

String Quartets 1-6

In Memory Of ...