Luigi Picchi learned the rudiments of music from his father Faustino; a self-taught organist; and later studied with the Pavia-based teachers Giovanni Baroni and Franco Vittadini in preparation for admission to the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1909. The first phase of his musical activity saw him engaged in the concert and operatic life of the province as well as composing: instrumental and vocal works; a Requiem Mass (1922) and musical accompaniments for the Passione di Cristo (1925) to a text by Don Ennio Bernasconi. In Como; Picchi’s true vocation; for sacred music; was able to be realized: as a boy he had had the opportunity to play for liturgical services on the Sairano organ and; as a young student at the Conservatory; he had continued this activity in villages in the surroundings of Milan. He also composed pieces for organ which were featured in L’Organista italiano (1922–26) and I Maestri dell’Organo (1931); journals issued by the Carrara music publishing house of Bergamo; whose founder Vittorio Carrara was astute enough to sense and appreciate Picchi’s talents: his artistic substance as well as the playability of his music and its suitability for the liturgy. In 1932 Carrara entrusted him with the editorship of a new journal; L’Organista liturgico; which he held until 1943. Alongside his music for organ Picchi also composed vocal works for use by the cathedral choir as well as amateur choral groups and public assemblies; including various motets as well as masses (Cristo risusciti; 1932; Italica; 1940; Christus vincit; 1941) and also educational music (theatrical sketches; school songs) and theoretical works (Scuola moderna di Teoria e Solfeggio; 1941–44). His wish to set the text of the mass in an appropriate manner together with his faithfulness to Cecilian ideals led Picchi to the innovations of his Missa Misericors Deus (1949); published by Ricordi together with the masses in honour of San Nicolao della Flüe (1947) and San Pio X (1954) and his collections of Christmas Carols (1947) and Easter Songs (1950–54). In 1954 Picchi established a new journal on organ music; Laus Decora; operating from Como; it was issued over the course of a decade with associated publications from the Schola music publishing house and introduced readers to a wide range of vocal compositions by Picchi; including various songs and motets; the masses Rex pacificus (1945); In onore di Maria Vergine Assunta (1950) and Auxilium Christianorum (1960) as well as various school songs and educational works (Nuovo Corso di Solfeggio; 1954; Metodo teorico-pratico per lo studio dell’Armonio e del Pianoforte; 1956). The resumption of his collaboration with the Carrara publishing house coincided with the implementation of the liturgical reforms as stipulated by the Second Vatican Council; of which Picchi had already been a precursor in his interpretative consistency as well as his involvement of the assembly of the faithful; namely in his songs for Il popolo alla messa; 1953; written in collaboration with Don Luigi Agustoni and Don Silvano Albisetti. His greatest success in this field was the Messa Vaticano II (1965) followed by the Messa dei Defunti (1966) and the Messa Apostolica (1968). Picchi’s organ output included compositions written for later editions of Laus Decora (1966–67) as well as for the journal I Fiori dell’Organo (1968–70).

In its 100th anniversary edition, the Salzburg Festival celebrates a real triumph with a mind-blowing new production of Elektra, one of the most famous masterpieces of opera history by the two festival founders Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte as vengeful and traumatized Elektra turns the opening of the Festival into a real knockout performance! Her sister Chrysotemis is sung by her compatriot Asmik Grigorian, who made her international breakthrough as acclaimed Salome at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and whose performance once again draws the audience into spell. Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Klytämnestra, Derek Welton as Orest and Michael Laurenz as Ägisth complete an ensemble of top-notch singers. The staging by Krzysztof Warlikowski of this work about matricide, obsession, revenge and physical degradation is a deep psychological study of a broken family. Franz Welser-Möst brings his trademark flair to the pit where the brilliantly effervescent and then again heartrendingly gentle playing Wiener Philharmoniker create gloriously exultant Strauss moments. “To have chosen Elektra of all pieces, was audacious – and to have brought it off so well, triumphant” (The Times) “One Highlight of the centenary season.” (The Telegraph)

With this second volume of ¡Colombia Viva! – a series capable of infinite expansion, as is indeed intended – Mauricio Arias-Esguerra embarks on another lightning tour of the recent piano music of his native country, displaying the wide variety of styles on offer there, from atmospheric modernism to catchy folk dances, a recurrent element being striking rhythmic vivacity.

Classical Music

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanislaw Moniuszko, which occurred in 2019, prompted many musicians and concert and festival organizers to promote, in particular, the forgotten works of the Polish Romantic. Performed for the first time on 12 December 1869, the opera The Pariah met with severe criticism during the composer’s lifetime. Almost 50 years later, during Warsaw’s reopening, The Pariah also did not get much sympathy from the audience and reviewers. This album, including a concert recording made during this year’s Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, is a great opportunity to get acquainted with this little-known work.

Classical Music

• Lutenist Axel Wolf's fourth Oehms release

The Fourth Symphony in E-flat major with the epithet “The Romantic”, is likely the best-loved symphony of Anton Bruckner. It received its highly successful world premiere in 1881 in Vienna, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under Hans Richter. The Scherzo with its hunting sequences is in particularly high favor with audiences. OehmsClassics presents here a live recording from April 2008 from the Great Festival Hall in Salzburg.

Classical Music

Classical Music

A Witches' Sabbath, A Little Dance with the Grim Reaper and The Battle on the Ice. The author of the programme booklet of this album, Hartmut Luck, gave these headings to the three magnificent works recorded for OehmsClassics by the Gurzenich Orchestra with Dmitrij Kitajenko. The Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne and its Honorary Conductor since 2009, Dmitrij Kitajenko, have been united in an outstanding collaboration lasting over the course of decades. Their Tchaikovsky cycle, already now considered a reference recording, was completed in early 2014 with the Seventh Symphony and the Third Piano Concerto. Their recording of Tchaikovsky's one act opera Iolanta issued in the summer of 2015, with Olesya Golovneva, Alexander Vinogradov and Andrei Bondarenko in the leading roles, created a sensation and received outstanding reviews in the international specialist press. This highly successful artistic collaboration was continued with an equally highly praised Rachmaninoff cycle. The Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne and Dmitrij Kitajenko have dedicated their latest recording to Tchaikovsky's complete ballet music to The Nutcracker as well as Stravinsky's Divertimento from The Fairy's Kiss.

The Lord's Prayer is the most universal prayer in Christendom, prayed by believers of all denominations. What would be more natural, then, than to bring together several settings of this prayer on a CD with the outstanding Salzburg Bach Choir? the CD was recorded in a relatively modern church in the Salzkammergut (Salzburg Province, Austria), equipped with interior wooden ceilings and walls, resulting in a very special acoustic. Alois Glassner, choral conductor and Professor of Music, University of Vienna, has been the choir's artistic director since 2003.

This new release is the twelfth and final volume of Oehms Classics’ The Britannic Organ series. A total of 23 discs have been issued in the series since 2011, containing over 27 hours of music. All of the tracks on this series were recorded on the magnificent Welte Philharmonie Organ of the Museum for Music Machines in Seewen. Selections from monumental works are included on this volume, including Beethoven’s Eroica and Handel’s Xerxes.

Recorded over the course of two and a half years, this four disc set showcases a comprehensive body of esteemed countertenor Valer Sabadus's repertoire. Valer Sabadus, despite his young age, has already joined the ranks of the world's best vocalists. Sabadus's wide-ranging repertoire extends from early Baroque works by the great masters, to contemporary pieces riddled with unique harmonies and vocal techniques. The breadth of his abilities is shown through his versatility and adaptability. This CD set includes works from Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Henry Purcell, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, among others.

Roman Trekel’s sixth and latest OehmsClassics CD includes many well-known lieder by Richard Strauss as well as the Five Wesendonck Lieder of Richard Wagner. Strauss’ Four Last Songs is heard in the much more intimate version with piano accompaniment. Wagner designated two of the Wesendonck Lieder – Im Treibhaus and Träume – as studies for Tristan and Isolde. Roman Trekel has distinguished himself as one of the most sought-after baritones today. A close collaborator of Staatsoper Berlin and Daniel Barenboim, he has sung to great acclaim on the most important stages of the world.