Classical Music

Brahms, Johannes: Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel op. 24 Reger, Max: Variations and Fugue on a theme by J.S. Bach op. 81 A multigenerational project of a special kind: Friedrich Wilhelm Schnurr goes back far enough to have studied with the piano legends Alfred Cortot and Wilhelm Kempff. As a dedicated teacher of world rank, he himself has continued to leave his mark on generations of pianists through to the present. Many of his outstanding pupils have gone on to occupy prestigious professorships throughout the world. MDG is now rereleasing a recording from the 1980s showing us Schnurr as an energetic, gripping interpreter. Variations on themes by Handel and Bach form his musical topic: Johannes Brahms and Max Reger also knew what sort of predecessors they had! Handel himself based a variation movement on his dancy and simple theme. What the young Brahms did with it, however, is sensational. Although he adheres very closely to the original in formal matters, a gigantic cosmos of musical characters and expressive levels unfolds. It is fascinating how Schnurr develops this most highly compressed and concentrated music through to the mighty concluding fugue. Max Reger chose an instrumental prelude from a Bach cantata as the pretext for his variation cycle. Unlike Brahms, however, after a few paraphrases he strayed far from his point of departure. Already the third variation is a very free, contemplative fantasy surprising us with it's sudden dynamic outbursts. Reger too concludes with an extraordinary fugue. Already the initial subject is brimming with chromaticism, and when the second subject enters later on, the result is a double fugue of colossal dimensions.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart must have felt bored to death in small-town Salzburg! Fortunately, his ambitious father regularly gave him the opportunity to experience big-time action. On extended concert tours he introduced his genial son at courts and in salons, and the boy took advantage of his absence from the Prince Archbishop's court to absorb all sorts of impressions for use in his own music. It was on his travels to Italy and to imperial Vienna that he composed the thirteen string quartets featured on this edition by the Leipzig String Quartet - now in its second volume...and to be continued! The Leipzig String Quartet explores the youthful composer's discovery drive with audible joy. Historically informed and with bows proper to the period of the quartets' composition, the four musicians are ready to enjoy playing with chamber music's surprises. Not at all academic and far from any kind of historicizing dogmatism, they generate listening pleasure and suspense - so that we can hardly wait for the third volume!

To celebrate early music pioneer Anthony Rooley's 80th birthday, a very special jewel sparkles in MDG's "Preziosa" series: "Il Primo Libro de Madrigali" is Johann Grabbe's masterpiece. The Consort of Musicke's debut recording received the highest international acclaim, delighting critics and enthusiasts alike. This definitive new edition of their breathtaking interpretation also gives hilarious behind-the-scenes insights at the musical mischief of this legendary vocal ensemble.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Beethoven is not the only one this year. Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck is also celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth in 2020. During his lifetime Rinck was highly esteemed and showered with honors, but today his music has been almost completely forgotten. The Trio Parnassus has explored Rinck’s choice oeuvre for chamber music and discovered a composer who combines Rococo elegance with Romantic ideas in a most highly individual manner. Already the formal dimensions of Rinck’s works show that he had an independent mind: each of the three Piano Trios op. 32 comprises only two movements, and the Sonata in D major for Piano Trio consists of a mere one movement. Ulrich Rasche has carefully reconstructed the lost cello part of the sonata on the basis of the piano part. Rinck was not one to brood while churning out themes and motifs; in what are often small dimensions he develops an airy lightness that nevertheless is repeatedly countered by surprising breaks. Perhaps it was this carefree attitude that led Rinck to assign the label “très facile” (very easy) to the violin sonata recorded here. In any event, it cannot have been the lack of demanding technique since both the pianist and the violinist repeatedly have their hands full, especially in the charming variation movement. Mozart is not far away in this early work. The concluding Trio in E flat major has three movements, which means that it is the one that corresponds the most to Classical ideas of form. With its slow introduction and highly expressive harmonies, this mighty work comes very close to Beethoven’s musical language. A welcome broadening of a musical horizon full of birthday surprises!

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music