Classical Music

• Lutenist Axel Wolf's fourth Oehms release

Christopher Park is a pianist who captivates with his fascinating technical mastery, astounding musical maturity, and a particularly intense performance style- this was the explanation given by the jury at the Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival upon awarding Christopher Park the renowned Leonard Bernstein Award 2014. He thereby joined the ranks of noteworthy musicians such as Lang Lang, Lisa Batiashvili and Martin Grubinger, who all started their careers with this internationally sought-after award. He has been chosen as "Rising Star" by the European Concert Hall Organization, and has debuted in Europe's renowned concert halls in London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Vienna, Stockholm, and others. The present album features a pure Schumann program. It is a musical bouquet, suitable for the beginning of spring, which includes the rarely heard Scherzo which belongs to the Concerto, op. 14.

With these two rarely played works of Robert Schumann, Christoph Spering proudly introduces himself to OehmsClassics. He is able to enthrall audiences, especially at lecture-concerts in Cologne, with the background and secrets of music history and through clear and humorous presentations, creating a link between entertainment and education at a high standard of excellence. OehmsClassics is delighted over this collaboration and anxiously awaits the second publication of this year: The version of Gluck's Iphigenie in Aulis adapted by Richard Wagner.

Classical Music

Classical Music

When one thinks of Schumann, his piano works and Lieder come to mind, as well as the Piano and Cello Concertos and his symphonies. His chamber music has received rather less attention, although he showed himself particularly interested in experimentation in these works, both with regard to form and to instrumentation. With the present recording, OehmsClassics is proud to present a production with the young, up-and-coming violinist Iskandar Widjaja and the designated Principal Conductor of the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach. Iskandar Widjaja is considered one of the most interesting violinists of the younger generation. The "versatility of his style, his musical presentation with highly varied tonal nuances and facets together with a flawless technique and enormous charisma" (Mo. C. Eschenbach) are praised by colleagues as well as the media. Iskandar Widjaja plays the Stradivari "Willemotte" of 1734, on kind loan from Florian Leonhard, London, as well as a Stradivari replica by Scott Cao built in 2013.

The first entry in Richard Wagner’s legendary Ring Cycle, considered by the composer to be the “prelude” to the trilogy that follows. On Sebastian Weigle’s account of Wagner’s “Rienzi” on Oehms, The Guardian writes, “his interpretation… has an exhilarating momentum that at times pulls you in – despite yourself.” The two centuries old Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra is one of the great German opera orchestras, with a conducting heritage that includes Louis Spohr and Sir Georg Solti.

Classical Music

The CD Hasse reloaded was enthusiastically received by the critics and was included on the German Record Critics' Best List. Oehms Classics is delighted that Valer Barna- Sabadus has proven his ability again one year later. In September 2012, he recorded English songs of Purcell, Matteis and Dowland in the Himmelfahrtskirche in Munich.

The cellist Wen-Sinn Yang and the conductor Shao-Chia Lü both live and work and have found great success in Germany. Both were trained at important music academies in Berlin and Vienna. During the 2016/17 season, Wen-Sinn Yang was invited to perform several concerts as artist in residence with the Taipei Philharmonic. The performances of three concertos in June 2017 were so enthusiastically received that it was decided to release them as live recordings. The wonderful acoustics of the National Concert Hall in Taipei and the amicable dialogue between soloist and conductor have thus been preserved on this release.

On the occasion of the 200th birthday of the song Stille Nacht (Silent Night), the Salzburg baritone Rafael Fingerlos, who grew up in the Stille Nacht community of Mariapfarr im Lungau, and his piano partner Sascha El Mouissi wish to approach the subjects of "stillness“ and "night“ in a completely new manner. The intentionally secular, loving selection of poetry settings of the most widely varied romantic composers forms a counterpoint to the repertoire of customary Christmas albums. Well-known settings and precious musical-literary rarities result in an especially variegated and profound sound, a deeply moving listening experience. Twenty-four musical numbers following a clear dramaturgy, including three world premiere recordings (piano miniatures by the young, up-and-coming Salzburg composer Jakob Gruchmann), will remind listeners of a secular Advent calendar. After the third transitional miniature by Gruchmann, the calendar finds its spiritual fulfilment with the world famous Christmas song Stille Nacht (Silent Night) on the 24th place. This masterwork by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber has been recorded here in the original version for two male voices and guitar, including all six verses.

Classical Music

This 2012 Frankfurt Opera production of Richard Wagner’s second of four “Ring” operas, Die Walküre, features the Frankfurter Opern und Museumsorchester led by conductor Sebastian Weigle. The cast of singers includes Frank van Aken as Siegmund, Amber Wagner as Sieglinde, Susan Bullock as Brünnhilde, Terje Stensvold as Wotan, Ain Anger as Hunding and Martina Dike as Fricka. Mr. Weigle is the General Music Director of Frankfurt Opera, a position he’s held since 2008/9.

This Brigitte Fassbaender-directed Ariadne auf Naxos, Richard Strauss' 1916 opera based on a Hugo von Hofmannsthal libretto, is the third release from Frankfurt Opera to feature on OehmsClassics. "Scenically and musically brilliant" and "sparkling spirit and level-headed heartiness", is how the Frankfurter Rundschau of 7 October 2013 described the premiere evening. Sebastian Weigle, an experienced and outstanding Strauss conductor lead a cast that stars Camilla Nylund as Ariadne, Brenda Rae as Zerbinetta, Michael K�nig as the Tenor and Claudia Mahnke as the Composer.