Anton Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 is one of classical music's all-time greatest hits. It was composed and premiered in New Yok in 1893, which is why - but not only why - it is known as the ''New World Symphony.'' On this recording, which also includes the first cycle on the equally popular Slavonic Dances, the Piano Duo Trenkner / Speidel once again demonstrates the great advantages and fascinating rhythmic verve offered by reductions for piano four hands. Trimmed of the comfortable and sumptuous sound of the large orchestra, Dvorak's genial treatment of motives of Bohemian folk character shines in even greater glory. However, not a single one of these motives is genuine folk music. Both in the United States and in his native Bohemia, Dvorak occupied himself very thoroughly with traditional music, including African American spirituals and Native American songs. He then invented his own melodies of the same character and was very successful - as the famous main theme of the second movement demonstrates; its melancholy feeling goes straight to the heart! Dvorak also thought out the Slavonic Dances completely on his own and so very precisely hit just the right tone that research has repeatedly been conducted to determine the precise origins of this music. The constant shifts of tempo and rhythmic modifications represent a genuine challenge for a pian oduo but are no problem at all for Evelinde trenkner and Sontraud Speidel, who draw on many years of joint performance experience. While Dvorak only later prepared the version of the Slavonic Dances for piano four hands, he produced the keyboard version of his ninth symphony at about the same time as its premiere. Since he repeatedly ranges quite far from the orchestral version, it does not involve a piano reduction in the usual sense. The result, a genuine piece of music for piano duo.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

For her Chopin debut on MDG Jin Ju was awarded the highest honors from the top authorities: the jury of the Grand Prix du Disque Fr�d�ric Chopin. It is only every five years that these guardians of the Chopin legacy come together to distinguish a mere four extraordinary recordings. Now this Chinese pianist blessed with a special interpretive sense celebrates her induction into this illustrious circle with a continuation and a rarity - and invites you to join her! Chopin's third Piano Sonata, an enigmatic and gigantic work eschewing everything normally associated with a sonata forms the centerpiece e. It instead has episodes of nocturne character, extended static harmonic expanses, and ballads of fairy tale magic that Jin Ju knows how to narrate with great intensity. The many little pieces, above all the mazurkas, only seemingly form a contrast to this work. Plain and simple on the surface, these sometimes very short miniatures reveal an entire cosmos of associations. This is hardly surprising: Chopin's extant sketchbooks show with what great precision he worked on these pieces during the last years of his life. The Largo from the Cello Sonata, Chopin's last finished composition, is an interesting rarity, and Jin Ju plays it in a version for piano solo by Alfred Cortot, whose standard-setting Chopin interpretations have influenced generations of pianists and music enthusiasts. The perfectly maintained "Manfred Burki" Steinway concert grand piano and the recording technology are on the same high level as the loving selection and performance: this high-resolution, three-dimensional Super Audio album is dressed for success- let's party!

Classical Music

Classical Music

What might Franz Liszt possibly have in common with Erik Satie? The brilliant virtuoso and magician of pianistic opulence with the minimalistic ascetic of sound? Steffen Schleiermacher has discovered astonishing parallels between the former's late oeuvre and the latter's early oeuvre, which was taking shape at just about the same time. Together with the Gewandhaus concertmaster Andreas Seidel he is now presenting his astonishing new findings to the listening public - surprises are guaranteed. Now and again reminiscences of past times are heard, for example, in the ''Romance oubilee,'' before this forgotten romance unravels into ethereal nothingness. Moreover, Richard Wagner makes his presence felt again and again. Liszt's very mixed feelings about his son-in-law, whose death in Venice he foresaw like a visionary, is reflected in the two ''Sad Gondolas'' - and after Wagner actually had died in the heartrending and overwhelming ''R.W. - Venezia.'' Erik Satie, the house composer of the Wagner devotee Sar Peladan and his Rosicrucians, did precisely the opposite of what was expected of him. Statis sounds and sequences of unresolved chords without development hold his music in a permanent state of suspended animation managing without a beginning or an end. The door he opened for later generations of composers was one through which Franz Liszt delightfully would have gone if he had been somewhat younger.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Anton Diabelli became immortal through Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations". But the busy composer, arranger, publisher and music manager could also do it the other way round: his "Pot-Pourri from Beethoven's most popular works" may seem sacrilegious to some admirers of the titan today. When it was written in 1817, he met a huge demand. Helen Dabringhaus and Negin Habibi present this extraordinary treat together with other works by Diabelli for flute and guitar - a gallant entertaining music at it's best! Diabelli uses only short snippets of Beethoven for his "Pot-Pourri", jumping extremely nimbly from the 4th Symphony to the Piano Sonata op. 28, from it's slow movement to the Trio, from there seamlessly to the Spring Sonata, then to the 2nd Symphony, to Piano Trio op. 1 No 3 and back to 4th Symphony. What makes one dizzy in the description turns out to be either a cheerful guessing game when listening - or simply a distinctive reverence with depth. Diabelli's commercial success as a publisher is closely linked to Rossini's breakthrough in Vienna. And so it is not surprising that among his countless arrangements are also arrangements from Rossini operas. Dabringhaus and Habibi have chosen the overtures to "The Thieving Magpie" and "The Barber" - both still box-office hits today and also extremely attractive in the instrumentation for flute and guitar. Just listen to the famous drum rolls served up with a twinkle in the eye... Diabelli's feel for the public's taste is also evident in the two cheerful serenade compositions, which seem to have been written just for the flutist. Habibi's lively and sensitive guitar playing provides the lively alternation between dance-like and arioso parts, on whose secure base Helen Dabringhaus can revel in finely graduated sounds and constantly changing expressions.

Classical Music

Renaissance woman H�l�ne Grimaud is not just a deeply passionate and committed musical artist whose pianistic accomplishments play a central role in her life. She is a woman with multiple talents that extend far beyond the instrument she plays with such poetic expression and peerless technical control. The French artist has established herself as a committed wildlife conservationist, a compassionate human rights activist and as a writer. Now this is a small sensation: MDG is presenting H�l�ne Grimaud's early recordings for the DENON label from 1985 to 1992 in a set of two albums including great romantic repertoire by Brahms and Schumann. These recordings now once again available after many years, have been carefully restored and remastered by MDG master sound engineers and reveal an original artistic personality who achieved perfection at an early age and for whom the label "child prodigy" very evidently would be an understatement.