This series of organ recordings to date has presented a very international repertoire and, indeed, it was only with the first release of the collected recordings of Max Reger for Welte Philharmonie (The Britannic Organ Vol. 8) that a German organist was featured in depth. With the release of Vol. 10, there is now a disc dedicated to German organists from the first decades of the 20th c., featuring recordings of Kurt Grosse, Walter Fischer, Thaddäus Hofmiller, Alfred Sittard, Joseph Messner, Günther Ramin, Karl Matthaei, Karl Straube, and several other organists.

In this new release, the Delian Quartet along with Anatol Ugorski perform works by Shostakovich. Featured on this album are Shostakovich’s String Quartets Nos 4 & 6, as well as the rarely performed Theatre Suite. The Theatre Suite is a compilation of pieces from two works of incidental music: The Human Comedy, Op. 37, and Hamlet, Op. 32. “The performers of Shostakovich’s D-major Quartet, Op. 83 do full justice to all the double meanings compellingly contained in this work of disturbingly intimate character.” (General-Anzeiger)

Felix Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte (Songs Without Words), comprising 8 volumes and 48 individual works, are delightful solo piano miniatures that, although not so intended by the composer in most instances, have come to embody certain descriptive characteristics of people, places or things with the help of publisher's attaching names to some after-the-fact. Michael Endres award-winning (Diapason d'or; Choc du Musique) discography is an extensive one, amounting to 30 albums; for OehmsClassics he has recorded works of Schumann, Schubert, Weber, Ravel and Gershwin, among others.

The Austrian summer home of all things Johann Strauss since 1957 when the Seefestspiele M�rbisch debuted with Die Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), the 2015 festival's staging of Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice) is celebrated with the release of this brand new recording of Strauss' operetta of mistaken identity, ambition and fevered passion during ball night at the carnival. Conductor Andreas Schu�ller leads the M�rbisch Festival Chorus and Orchestra and a star-studded cast headlined by tenors Herbert Lippert as The Captain "Duke Urbino" and Richard Samek as Caramello.

This recording includes a rare performance of Brahms' cantata Rinaldo, recorded live at the Salzburg Summer Riding School 2007. South African born Johan Botha sings the tenor part. His international breakthrough occurred in 1993 at the Opera de la Bastille as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madame Butterfly.

Classical Music

This production of recordings on the Welte Philharmonie Organ in the Museum for Musical Automatons in Seewen is dedicated to the subject of improvisation. During the 19th century, improvisations occupied an undisputed place in piano and organ music. This free, imaginative manner of playing in the era of Classicism and Romanticism also existed during the 20th century, especially amongst organists in their daily practice, but it receded into the background of public musical life and perception in the eyes of the music industry.

Classical Music

The firm of M. Welte and Söhne’s NYC branch on 5th Ave. lasted from 1865 until 1917, under the name M. Welte and Sons. Established by the founder’s son, Emil Welte (1841–1923) lived in the USA permanently, only rarely visiting Freiburg. A recording studio with a grand piano for making piano recordings and a recording organ as well occupied this fine 5th Ave. address. Piano recordings of the Welte firm were thus not only made in Freiburg im Breisgau from 1905 until 1932, but also in New York. Featuring organists Clarence Eddy, Samuel Atkinson Baldwin, Lynnwood Farnam, Richard Epstein and Edwin H. Lemare.

Classical Music

Anna and Ines Walachowski have long been considered amongst the leading present-day piano duos. For the past two decades, the sisters have thrilled their audiences on international stages. They have received invitations to many renowned festivals, including the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival, the Dresden Music Festival, the MDR Music Summer, the Lower Saxon Music Days, the Mosel Festival, the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival as well as the Harbin Music Festival and the Bangkok Music Festival. The present album is the third issued by OehmsClassics.

The Museum of Music Automatons in Seewen and the Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe both contain recording rolls made by Max Reger and several of his contemporaries manufactured by the firm of M. Welte and Sons on a Welte Philharmonie recording organ beginning in 1911 in Freiburg im Breisgau. This double CD contains, for the first time, not only all the recordings that Reger made for the firm, but also more interpretations of Reger‘s works on the second CD with the organists Günther Ramin, Kurt Grosse, Walter Fischer and Joseph Messner.

Of Jewish parentage, the Hungarian-born composer János Tamás (1936-95), who fled to Switzerland following the 1956 Hungarian uprising, started making an impact on Swiss musical life beginning in the 1960s. + Amongst his wide-ranging musical activities as music pedagogue, conductor and pianist, composing came to occupy an increasingly central position. + His legacy consists of a compositional œuvre of about 120 works in nearly all genres. + The chamber-music compositions on the present Oehms CD, performed by Tomas Dratva and friends, cover all periods of the life work of Mr. Tamás.

Classical Music

• Seventh volume of historic early 20th century organ recordings using the Welte Philharmonie system.