Classical Music

Jozef de Beenhouwer offers Clara Schumann and listening audiences a special gift on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of her birth: an album including numerous recording premieres from this famous pianist's extensive transcription oeuvre. He not only honors her compositional talent but also spotlights works with which she very deliberately and intensively occupied herself - and in the process very attractively nuances our picture of the musical Schumann family. The focus is formed by selected songs by Robert Schumann. Thirty transcriptions in all were published during Clara's lifetime, and eleven others were discovered and edited only a few years ago. de Beenhouwer's choices drawing on both sources impressively demonstrate how skillfully Clara integrated the voice part into Robert's piano parts, which often are quite complicated. Clara also transferred Robert's Studies and Sketches for the Pedal Piano to the piano. The pieces are for hands with an enormous span and flexibility- and attest to her outstanding pianistic capabilities. Johannes Brahms of course also has something to contribute to this meritorious program: the minuet from the Serenade in D major and the scherzo from the- almost unplayable- arrangement of the Serenade in A major shed light on Clara's intimate artistic friendship with this younger composer.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Samuel Barber’s piano music is rarely heard, for one reason simply because of its enormous challenges in matters of technique. The young Korean pianist Yeseul Moon has not let herself be deterred and on her MDG debut is presenting a breathtaking new recording of this magnificent music in which light entertainment and profound expressivity do not form a contradiction. The focus is formed by Barber’s Sonata op. 26, his only contribution to twelve-tone music, which, however, repeatedly flirts with echoes of traditional harmony. The legendary Vladimir Horowitz premiered this sonata – not without first asking the composer for a few extra difficulties. The breakneck finale consists of a four-part fugue – not the sort of thing for weak nerves. Individual rhythms mark the Excursions, perhaps the “most American” contribution to this program. A Blues of infinite sadness (No. 2), floating septoles (No. 3) defying the force of keyboard gravity, and highly suspenseful syncopations (No. 1) keep things going all the way through to the lively spirited finale (No. 4). For the ballet suite "Souvenirs" Moon has asked her teacher Hardy Rittner as a secondo partner - a stroke of luck, as their incredibly harmonious interplay proves. The Ballade op. 46 is Barber’s swan song, and rarely has a swan been heard lamenting so heartbreakingly. By contrast, the Nocturne spreads out a positively idyllic atmosphere.

Classical Music

Chamber music fans have long awaited this MDG special edition bringing together two standard-setting recordings of Philipp Scharwenka’s chamber music. These albums created a sensation when they were first released but disappeared from the catalogue many years ago. The press wrote that the recording of his piano trios by the Trio Parnassus offered “an absolutely addictive combination,” while the Mannheim String Quartet was said to convey “ideal balance between expression and structure.” Scharwenka steered clear of fads and modish fancies. Grounded in the tradition of the nineteenth century but hardly reactionary or retrospective, his music counted Max Reger among its very knowledgeable admirers. Scharwenka was an indisputably masterly inventor of catchy themes, and his motivic work and harmonic sophistication make for rewarding listening experiences, and so do our illustrious ensembles. The Mannheim String Quartet magnificently presents Scharwenka’s music in its “greatest formal perfection and tonal beauty” – thus a contemporary review. Moreover, Thomas Duis, a proven chamber music expert, joins the quartet musicians for the Piano Quintet. The Trio Parnassus, an experienced top ensemble, gets down to business with its gripping renderings not only of famous musical warhorses but also of many a new discovery. This is late romantic filigree work that goes straight to the heart and is guaranteed to delight audiophile chamber music fans.

Classical Music