If there is a musical equivalent to a great French red wine: The music of Émile-Robert Blanchet would be a worthy candidate. Karl-Andreas Kolly has taken on piano music by his Swiss compatriot and recorded it on Super Audio album, much of it probably for the first time. Blanchet studied with Busoni, so it's no wonder that his music, too, knows no bounds pianistically. The naturalness with which Andreas Kolly masters these supreme difficulties leaves room for musical depth with long enduring resonance. After studying in Weimar and Berlin, Blanchet returned to Lausanne, where he taught at the conservatoire and also took over its direction for a time. At the age of 40, however, he turned his back on teaching to devote himself almost exclusively to his passion, mountaineering. Fortunately, he continued to play occasional recitals, for which he repeatedly composed his own pieces. Blanchet is obviously not interested in virtuoso effect. Again and again, there are harsh dissonances in the full-bodied chords that create an intense, sometimes downright threatening atmosphere, as in "Tocsin" (Alarm Bell), which - unlike many nationalistically euphoric contemporaries - seems to foreshadow the horrors of the First World War as early as August 1914. Whether in the numerous etudes, ballads or nocturnes: Blanchet's idiosyncratic harmonies unfold their multi-layered charms above all in the aftertaste. Karl-Andreas Kolly traces these special sounds with great sensitivity; the Steinway concert grand "Manfred Bürki" from 1901 with its profound depth and brilliant treble does the rest for a lasting listening experience that virtually invites repetition.

Herbert Blomstedt has made more than 130 recordings with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Most of them were made during his time as principal conductor between 1975 and 1985. Thanks to the fruitful cooperation between Denon and MDG, selected gems from this inexhaustible treasure chest are now available again. After the brilliant opening with Bruckner's Symphonies 4 and 7, now follows the legendary interpretation of Mozart's last four symphonies from 1981 and 1982. Blomstedt knows how to make perfect use of the qualities of what is probably the world's most tradition-steeped orchestra with it's "sound of old gold" (Karajan): The Adagio introduction to the Prague Symphony sets in powerfully. The magical sound of the strings fills the famous acoustic of Lukaskirche without any effort, and even in the surprisingly broad tempo, a wide-ranging musical arc develops, which can do without fashionable, superimposed drama. Cleverly and with the overview of a mature artist, Blomstedt arranges the relations between the movements as well as within the symphonic quadriga: the Allegro is fresh without being rushed; this creates space for a Presto that really deserves this name. Out of itself, the Schlager in G minor begins to glow, and the beginning of the "Jupiter" Symphony radiates with almost Olympian grandeur. Herbert Blomstedt is now 94 years old. He is still in demand on the world's most important podiums. His Mozart interpretations are already a historical document and yet timelessly valid. At that time, the Denon sound engineers were already among the best in the world. This also benefits these recordings in immaculate audiophile quality.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed twelve symphonies for string orchestra - he was just at confirmation age. The dogma chamber orchestra is now presenting this youthfully fresh music for the first time in its entirety, along with the five solo concertos with string accompaniment which were written at the same time. The symphonies one to three mark the beginning, as well as the virtuoso Piano Concerto in A minor with Herbert Schuch on the piano. Possibly the symphonies were written as "homework" for the lessons with Carl Friedrich Zelter. He must have been very satisfied, because he proudly presented his pupil to his friend Goethe, who in turn put the boy on a par with Mozart. In fact, however, it was probably more likely that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the godfather with his "sensitive style", as can be heard in the expressive voice leading and the almost romantic expression in the slow movements. Even though the first three symphonies are short in duration throughout, it seems as if an irrepressible will to explore the expressive potential of the music is trying to break through. The much larger piano concerto, on the other hand, is based on the contemporary virtuoso literature, including a breathtaking stretta in the final rondo. Herbert Schuch is the ideal instrumentation for this work, whose sonically beautiful middle movement contains many a dreamy episode. The agile dogma chamber orchestra, led by Mikhail Gurewitsch from the concertmaster's desk, is in top form here: far more than just accompanying, the ensemble lets the carefree nature of the music run its course, both concertante and symphonic. A Mendelssohn experience that one does not want to wait too long to continue.

It must have been splendid when the Council was newly elected in Gdansk. Music was played on all organs in St. Mary's Church, and the responsible Kapellmeister had to deliver festive multi-choral works for the occasion. Andrzej Szadejko and his Goldberg Baroque Ensemble convey a fascinating impression of this baroque practice in a spectacular first recording: this album presents works by Johann Valentin Meder, who was Kapellmeister at St. Mary's until 1698, including motets with up to three choirs. Elsewhere, multi-choir singing had long since gone out of fashion, but in Meder's music, this opulent and therefore harmonically mostly simple movement style of earlier times is combined with the highly topical concertante style of the Italian Baroque. This leads to idiosyncratic, extremely attractive results. And Meder was always at the forefront: one of the first operas in German language was written by him. In his motets, too, he skillfully combines dialogue with commentary - particularly impressive in the motet "The infernal serpent". And the two chorale motets "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder" and "Meine Seele säufzt und stöhnet" point far into the late baroque future in their imaginative and varied treatment of verses. A special highlight of this lavish production: the large, recently reconstructed late baroque Merten-Friese organ on the rood screen of Gdansk's Trinity Church is also used for the three-choir motets. Together with kettledrums, trumpets and trombones, it completes the tonal triangle with the top-class vocal choirs on the right and left, using the full-sounding pedal work - an exciting sound celebration, which can of course be experienced most impressively in three-dimensional reproduction.

After Schubert and Brahms, Jacques Ibert is at the centre of the third production Peter Gülke has recorded with his Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra for MDG. It has become much more than a "stopover": Gülke presents the special, very individual qualities of this music between impressionism and neo-classicism, between romanticism and modernism, between virtuosity and sound painting on this Super Audio album with apparent matter-of-factness that testifies to deep knowledge and great respect. It is difficult to categorize Ibert as belonging to a fixed style. He was of course in contact with the composers of the "Groupe des Six", who were around the same age, and of course influences by Ravel and Debussy cannot be ignored. "Escales"(stopovers), allow Ibert to visit three very different places, each with it's own coloring, as if on a journey, including the call of the muezzin and hints of Zingharese. In our country, Ibert's music is grossly underestimated. At most, the flute concerto is on the programme now and then, and Gülke's expert compilation does not pass it by. Flutist Helen Dabringhaus, whom the composer hardly ever allowed time to breathe, audibly enjoys the demanding solo part, and in the polytonal layers of the second movement, the young virtuoso knows how to rub herself wonderfully against the accompanying strings. Outside musical stimuli are not uncommon in French music, and Ibert also draws inspiration from them, very clearly in the "Suite symphonique", rather enigmatically in the "Symphonie marine". The "Louisville Concert" even strikes American notes. Gülke, who due to his age only wanted to take over the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra on a transitional basis, forms these poetic works into magical sound paintings in what is now his fourth season. A stroke of luck for the orchestra - and of course for the audience!

Mozart’s Symphony in A major K. 201 and Schubert’s Symphony in B flat major D. 485, two works by consummate young masters, in a gripping live performance by the Dogma Chamber Orchestra from Dortmund’s Konzerthaus- could the music enthusiast possibly ask for anything finer? Perhaps that this exhilarating feast of tonal artistry be made available in the best possible sound quality? Well, this Super Audio album brings an original 2+2+2 recording in 3-D sound, high resolution, and sensitive tonal balance- nobody could ask for more! Youthful carefreeness and compositional mastery form a remarkable synthesis in the two symphonies. Schubert and Mozart were not even twenty years old when they composed these highly and justifiably popular works. Embodying classical formal perfection and sparkling with genial ideas, they delight audiences right from their very first notes. Mozart himself must have attached special importance to his A major symphony: even ten years later he included it on the program of one of his legendary academy concerts- and did so with overwhelming success! These precious gems are in the best hands with the Dogma Chamber Orchestra. The agile ensemble entirely undogmatically presents interpretations that are just as sparkling as they are tonally sophisticated. Performing without a conductor and schooled on chamber music, the young musicians offer compelling interpretations with esprit and virtuosity- absolutely refreshing!

The second installment of the dogma chamber orchestra's ambitious Mendelssohn project: this time the program includes a special triad with Symphonies Nos. 4 to 6, plus the Violin Concerto in D minor with the wonderfully versatile Viviane Hagner as soloist. With this entertaining program, one can listen to a great genius growing, for the 6th symphony at the latest fires the young Felix from the baroque models right up to the height of his time. But even the beginning is ambitious: the 12-year-old prodigy opens his C minor symphony with a Grave introduction based on the old French model; deep contrapuntal seriousness pervades the first movement, which is followed by an almost ethereal Andante that evaporates at the end. The unclouded finale, which - as in all three symphonies - follows attacca, is all the more powerful. In the E-flat Major Symphony, the young Mendelssohn takes an enormous step forward. The baroque gesture recedes in favor of a genuinely classical tonal language; the two trios in the minuet middle movement provide solo tasks for basses and violas, and the rapid guttural finale in prestissimo leaves audience and players breathless. Mendelssohn learned to play the violin from the only slightly older Eduard Rietz. Rietz's influence is clearly audible in the D minor Violin Concerto, especially in the echoes of contemporary French virtuoso literature. Viviane Hagner celebrates the typical variety of strokes with relish and audible pleasure, which reaches its exuberant climax in the lively Rondo.

While he was still a student, Rudens Turku established the Starnberg Music Days. Over the past twenty years this renowned festival south of Munich featuring an attractive combination of master classes and top-quality concerts has become a highlight of the musical spring season. To celebrate its twentieth anniversary, Turku has brought together an illustrious company of teachers and soloists for an ambitious project: chamber music on the large scale and with musicians numbering among the best in their fields. The Nonet by Louis Spohr is only rather rarely heard in the concert hall; here nine outstanding chamber musicians perform in extraordinary circumstances. In addition, the violin part is of daredevil virtuosity – which is no problem for Rudens Turku. Ulf-Guido Schäfer arranged Antonín Dvorák’s uncommonly popular American Suiteespecially for thisoccasion, and it is astonishing how a mere eight musicians can and do make Dvorák’s orchestral colors shine. Wolf Kerschek’s “Festival Rhapsody” composed for a festive occasion seems to have been made to order for Turku on the violin. This native of Albania shares his solo part with the star trumpeter Matthias Höfs in this genuinely festive arrangement with influences from Star Wars to Stravinsky. The sound experience offered by this nobly produced Super Audio album is also of festive opulence. A magnificent virtual space unfolds in a genuine three dimensions, even in the smallest living room. Filled with splendid music, spatial bounds seem to vanish. An audiophile musical listening experience of special excellence!

Franz Liszt certainly would have been very pleased with Zuzana Ferjencíková’s selection of the Aloys Mooser organ in the Fribourg Cathedral for the first release of her complete recording of his organ works. Liszt himself traveled to Fribourg with George Sand in 1836 in order to have this instrument presented to him. Inspired by this marvelous organ, he then repeatedly wrote compositions and transcriptions for performance on the organ, constantly expanding the sound panorama to keep up with the advances in organ design.

A surprise comes right at the beginning when Ferjencíková presents the famous Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H in the very rarely performed original version premiered by the Liszt pupil Alexander Winterberger at the Merseburg Cathedral in 1856. Fifteen years later Liszt smoothed out the harsh juxtaposition between massive chords and brilliant virtuosity in favor of filigree detail – one more reason to listen with special attention to the rarity recorded here.

Another heavyweight concludes this first SACD: the Introduction, Fugue, and Magnificat from the Symphony on Dante’s Divina Commedia display Liszt’s great compositional mastery. The three realms of the otherworld, which also can be interpreted as an allegory of human striving in general, are closely interrelated motivically and culminate in dazzling magnificence of sound. Ferjencíková registers the funeral song of chorale character after the opening recitative with Mooser’s famous Voix humaine, for which this master of Early Romantic organ design had a special swell box constructed.

Ferjencíková’s program selections demonstrate just how broad Liszt’s interest was in the music of his contemporaries and earlier generations. Here we find transcriptions ranging from Bach to Otto Nicolai and – as a special treat and two-for-one bonus – a Regina coeli laetare by Orlando di Lasso. It is presented twice – and the second time around on the historic Manderscheidt organ from the seventeenth century.

Rudolf von Beckerath built his very first organ for the St. Elisabeth Church in Hamburg. The "Opus 1" of the later world-famous organ builder has recently been restored to its former glory. Despite the extensive expansion of the instrument, it can still be played unchanged in its original state due to a technical refinement. Jens Ludwig presents the work with a personal selection and decided highlights of the baroque. Beckerath's original specification of 1951 could not be fully realized at that time for reasons of cost. 11 stops on two manuals had to suffice. Seven more stops were added a few years later, and this is the extent to which the instrument existed until its restoration in 2019. The clever double console houses Beckerath's original console on one side and its modern counterpart with four manuals opposite, which control both the "old" organ and its extension. This is an ideal symbiosis between conservation of the monument and innovative function. Whether Eurovision Fanfare, Toccata in D minor, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Handel's "Largo" or Bach-Gounod's "Ave Maria": you can almost sing along with this program. It is all the more beautiful to listen to the wonderful register colors, such as the trumpets in the main and swell sections in the pieces by Jeremiah Clarke, or the crumhorn in "Jesus bleibet meine Freude". The instrument is also excellently suited for chamber music or continuo playing. Here we hear Telemann's rarely performed viola concerto or CPE Bach's Hamburg Sonata in G major for flute and continuo. Most of the pieces have a direct connection to Hamburg. In the case of Telemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, this is obvious from their biographies. Bach and Handel also have their Hanseatic points of contact. And the pieces from France and England are easily justified by Hamburg's well-known internationalism.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Once again, Frank Bungarten has delved into the exciting history of guitar making, following the two previous projects, each of which was awarded an "Opus Klassik". Now it is the bowed guitar, equally impressive visually and acoustically, that the artist documents for the first time in a recording. Jan Tuláček, a highly specialized restorer from Prague, built him an exact replica for this recording, based on Schenk's original from the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum, on which Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger's imaginative lute tablatures are opulently heard. The bowed guitar is actually at home in the Biedermeier era. Its stringing as a 10-string third guitar, however, is perfectly suited to Kapsberger's music originally intended for Rennaissance lute. The body of this instrument is extended in a wide arc around the fingerboard and joins the pegbox at the end, resulting in striking resonances. The range and sonority are more reminiscent of keyboard instruments than a guitar. With its equally long-lasting and lively articulation, the bowed guitar proves to be ideal for a style that the lutenist Israel Golani called "17th century bebop". Highly expressive, with abrupt changes of affect, "Il primo libro di Intavolatura di Lauto" speaks directly to the mind and makes a broad sweep, even reaching into the rhetoric of sentiment. to the rhetoric of sensibility and the harmonies of jazz. Even during his lifetime, Kapsberger was regarded as a singular phenomenon in the papal Roman environment; for his lute lessons, he is said to have demanded - and received - twice as much in fees as his colleagues.

A breath of fresh air in chamber music: the young ensemble Tastenwind presents the very latest music that clarinettist Fabian Hauser has written for himself, flautist Katja Schulte-Bunert and pianist Elena Kaßmann. This ambitious debut on the MDG label makes a virtue out of necessity, as there is hardly any original literature for this distinctive instrumentation. Hauser began his compositional career as a student in a rock and pop band, for which he delivered new pieces almost every week. Now an experienced orchestral musician, he is also at home in classical music, and for his "Playground" project he combines the best of both worlds with relish. "Style breaks" already bears this in its name: Pop song meets twelve-tone row, the "Ringelreihen" comes along in five time, and the chromatic fantasy is interrupted by a tripped-up march. "Three Scenes for Three" was the first piece Hauser wrote for the Trio Tastenwind. The surprising becomes the programme here, loop technique meets classical form, and in the concluding "Playground" the three musicians can really let off steam. Playing with the unexpected naturally requires a solid compositional technique. Hauser masters this with aplomb, and together with his colleagues from the Bielefeld Philharmonic he presents himself in top form on this Super Audio album. The fresh three-dimensional sound does the rest for an unusual, astonishing listening pleasure.

“This composer’s chamber and vocal compositions ought to be more frequently heard.” This is what the English press wrote about Bernhard Molique during his lifetime, and Michael Groß has committed himself to filling this order. Following the spectacular world premiere of Molique’s piano trios with his Trio Parnassus, the series continues with more chamber music by this composer – an enthralling addition to the repertoire splendidly presented by the talented young stars of the Parnassus Academy and experienced chamber specialists! Molique skillfully combined public taste and artistic ambition as well as virtuosity and melodicism to form a marvelous musical union. The “greatest violin virtuoso in the whole of Germany” fearlessly rose to the highest challenges of technique, a fact also repeatedly revealed in his chamber music. Nevertheless, what are sometimes daredevil stunts by the flute or the violin above all in the variations are also integrated with fine proportions into the overall design. This is all the more astonishing since Molique, who learned to play the violin under the tutelage of the famous Louis Spohr, was an autodidact as a composer. Word of his talent quickly spread, and so this Royal Wurttemberg Music Director and Court Concertmaster was summoned from Stuttgart to London to educate young composers at the venerable Royal Academy. Here it was certified that “he is more genial than Schubert and Schumann” – a judgment that is perhaps a bit hyperbolic but nonetheless thoroughly understandable when we have the opportunity to enjoy these fresh new presentations by the Parnassus Academy. And they are at their very best in three-dimensional sound, on a perfectly balanced Super Audio album, making Molique’s chamber music a sumptuous feast- not only for special occasions!