Why should things be more fair in musical history than elsewhere? Here, too, the wall that stands between fame and obscurity is very thin and, moreover, rather arbitrarily erected. But it can be unsurmountably high. Coincidences, small vicissitudes of life can decide between success and failure in the eyes of posterity. The composers whose works we find on this recording are prime examples of this. On the one hand, George Frideric Handel, the cosmopolitan, widely known composer, chapel master to His Majesty, the King of England, and director of the Royal Academy of Music, who hardly needs any further introduction, and, on the other hand, Johann Sigismund Weiss. Who? The name Weiss only brings to mind Sylvius Leopold, the famous lutenist at the Dresden court, acquainted with Bach - this was the older brother of our Weiss. He, too, was a professional musician, and, as his works show, one who was entirely on a par with his brother, indeed even with Handel - but he never became famous. He was born ca. 1690 in Breslau, and died in Mannheim in 1737. We hardly know anything about his life and work. From 1708 to 1718, he was lutenist of the Electoral Palatinate court chapel in Dusseldorf, subsequently - until 1723 - he held the same position in Mannheim. There he advanced to court Kapellmeister. But his path crossed that of Handel.

This recording of pieces by Johannes Martin Doemming is a broad cross-section of his output. Regarding the instrumental concerti, the main focus is on the winds: flutes and oboe or oboe d'amore. Stylistically, we find Doemming's pieces ranging from Buxtehude (cantata) over the high baroque to the time of sensitivity, almost in the style of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

This is already the third recording by a highly unusual ensemble. Perhaps the only ensemble in the world featuring guitar and harp. A truly distinctive sound combination. Both artists are also represented on Musicaphon with solo recordings; Maximilian Mangold now has well over ten. And both have a passion for contemporary music. All the works on this CD were composed specifically for them.

Chamber music by the Graun brothers in various ensembles for woodwind and strings. A highly varied album that provides a good insight into the sophisticated entertainment music of the High Baroque period.

Hardly any work by a great composer has undergone as many arrangements as Richard Wagner's music dramas. Just a few years ago, Cord Garben discovered the "50 Symphonic Movements from Richard Wagner's Music Dramas" in an antiquarian bookshop. They were created by the Hamburg lawyer, composer, and patron Hermann Behn (1859-1927) between 1914 and 1917. While Behn used the "conventional" method in his arrangement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 for two pianos, four hands (Musicaphon M56915)-meaning nothing more than distributing the relevant material of the orchestral score in a way that is easily playable for both pianists-he took a completely different approach with Wagner's dramas. In 1914, he had already achieved his signature symphonic sound on the pianos in his arrangement of the first fragments of the "Ring of the Nibelung." To this end, he skillfully employed doubling of chord sequences and absurdly wide fingerings in the left hand, which can only be reproduced in a "broken" style, i.e., by quickly plucking the notes from bottom to top. This inevitably results in deliberate inaccuracies in the harmony, which-with sufficient pedal use-lead to a previously unheard richness of sound. Christiane Behn (great-grandniece of Hermann Behn) and Cord Garben play Behn's arrangements (in excerpts) on two 1912 Steinways that once belonged to Hermann Behn's cousin Rafael Behn and are now in Christiane Behn's possession. Behn himself once played his arrangements on these instruments (together with his friend Gustav Mahler, among others, as well as with Rafael Behn).

Composing is a fundamental need for me and a way to express myself. Composing is part of my life and opens up unimagined spaces for me in the creative process. My goal is to make these accessible and understandable to an audience. It is important to me to only write what can be heard. Therefore, I am not interested in abstract and (overly) complicated structures, but rather in organic processes that can be understood. For me, it is less about intellectual comprehension than about a vigilant (emotional) re-experiencing. Only then can the music unfold the effect that is appropriate to it's very special power.

Prof. Erich Beurmann donated 70 instruments to the Hamburg Museum of Arts and Crafts. Among them are a large number of harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos: from an Italian harpsichord dating from 1540 to a Steinway concert grand piano from 1871. A significant portion of these instruments are kept playable so that the music of various eras can be reproduced on the instruments of the time. Susanne Von Laun regularly plays instruments from this collection in concerts and on guided tours. The artist, who was awarded the Muzio Clementi Award in 2005, selected five instruments for this CD (a square piano from 1777, three fortepianos from 1795 to 1820, and a Broadwood grand piano from 1841), which can now be heard on CD for the first time.

Gripping, highly emotional interpretations of the symphonies of one of the most famous and important composers of the 20th century.

Modern guitar music, played by one of the best German guitarists with a particular preference for music of the 20th and 21st centuries

Mountain Worlds, Soul Flight

Sacher. Schweiz. Nachhall

Sehnsucht. Hoffnung. Weltgeschehen

Stravinsky, I.: Rite of Spring / Strauss, R.: Don Juan / Til

Bach & Reger: Sonatas for Cello and Piano, Vol. II

Harpsichord Recital: Schweitzer, Claudia - BACH, J.S. / KRIE