Dvorak's symphonic poems are fascinating works because they offer a perfect combination of colourful orchestration, lively narrative art and deeply rooted Czech folk music tradition. The poems recorded here, 'The Water Goblin' (1896), 'The Midday Witch' (1896) and 'The Golden Spinning Wheel' (1896), in particular, demonstrate the composer's ability to paint musical pictures and tell stories in a haunting way.

This recording features the complete motets by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), set in the context of music from the previous generation of his family which inspired him. In his final decade, J.S. Bach researched and performed motets by his father’s cousin, Johann Christoph (1642-1703), whom he greatly admired. Although Johann Sebastian took the motet genre (and presumably his singers) to the limits of possibility, one can also hear the strong influence of the family tradition. This is the first of a series of location-specific Solomon’s Knot recording projects. We chose Arnstadt's inspirational Bachkirche for these works, not only for its wonderful acoustic, but also as a place which connects the two Bachs: Johann Christoph was born in Arnstadt, and Johann Sebastian's first job as an organist was at the church, which came to be named after him.

Selection of the most popular recorder concertos by Antonio Vivaldi; combined with arias and arrangements like "Winter" from "Le quattro stagioni".

In the early 18th century, the most important works of Baroque chamber and orchestral music were still almost exclusively intended for the ears of aristocratic audiences. The princely courts had close to a monopoly on the enjoyment of art new music; churches were the only place where common people could listen to the works of great composers. However, the rising European bourgeoisie, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, increasingly challenged this aristocratic musical privilege from the end of the 17th century onwards.

The rapid spread of music printing made it possible to play music at home, among friends and family. At the same time, civic concert institutions sprouted up all over Europe. In 1678, the first bourgeois opera house in Germany was opened in Hamburg, the Oper am Gänsemarkt. In 1701, Georg Philipp Telemann founded a student music ensemble in Leipzig that organised public concerts under the name Collegium musicum; and in 1725, King Louis XV allowed the oboist of the royal chapel in the Tuileries Palace in Paris to organise a series for the general public, the Concerts spirituels.

After the big success with Bach, Viviane Chassot presents her favourite accordion pieces by Chopin, Satie, Yann Tiersen, etc.

The Swiss recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi enchants his audience with his great virtuosity and stylistic versatility. Together with the Piccante Baroque Orchestra, which consists of early music specialists from the Basel music scene, he takes us on a fiery virtuoso sound journey to the Venice of the "Prete rosso" Antonio Vivaldi. Like hardly any other composer of his time, Vivaldi helped the recorder and its variants to musical heights with his compositions. Stupendously virtuoso runs alternate here with beautiful cantilenas.

At Christmas, we are especially touched by vocal music. Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio ensures sold-out churches for organizers. Last Christmas, Silent Night and Feliz Navidadare played over and over again in department stores. Choral music also provides a suitable musical setting for baking Christmas biscuits and wrapping presents. What is it that makes this music so appealing? Is it just the memories and traditions associated with it, or does the general atmosphere of Christmas songs already result in a radically different sound? Even in a secular world, Advent and Christmas maintain their central importance in the course of the year. The focus has evolved from the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus to a festival of mutual affection.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of the important French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, the Basel Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Ivor Bolton had set itself the goal of giving its audience an insight into the composer's well-known and lesser-known symphonic works. In addition to the symphonies and various concertos, the orchestra has explicitly focused on the symphonic poems of the composer of the "Carnival of the Animals". For the first time, these works as well as the well-known "Bacchanale" from the opera "Samson et Dalila" have been recorded according to Hugh Macdonalds' new critical edition published by Bärenreiter. Camille Saint-Saëns - who also performed several times at the Stadtcasino Basel - was very old when he died in 1921 at the age of 86. He had an eventful life behind him. He lost his father when he was still a baby. He entered the world of music as a child prodigy. Later, as an adult, his two young sons die. After the death of his mother shortly afterwards, he dissolves his flat in Paris, gives away and sells his furniture and goes into hiding. He spends fifteen years in a travel fever in ship cabins and train compartments. He travels from North Africa to China, from Russia to America - and composes. With the four works he composed between 1872 and 1877, "Le Rouet d'Omphale", "Phaéton", "Danse macabre" and "La Jeunesse d'Hercule", Camille Saint-Saëns placed himself firmly in the tradition of Hector Berlioz, who had ushered in a new era in France with his "Symphonie fantastique", premiered in 1830, as well as the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt, who had established the genre in Germany. During Saint-Saëns' lifetime, his four "Poèmes symphoniques" became repertoire works that were heard around the world, but only the "Danse macabre" has remained in the concert programme to this day. This work with its pictorial depiction of a witches' sabbath - though clearly ironically broken - was a true scandalous piece at the time of its creation, not so far removed from Stravinsky's Sacre in this respect. His own mother fainted with indignation at the premiere and the hall audience went wild. In Germany, Carl Reinecke refused to perform the work because he considered the pictorial representation of skeletons by means of a xylophone immoral. Compared to the "Danse macabre", "Phaéton" is certainly more moderate. It describes Phaéton's high-spirited ride on Helios' sun chariot, which of course - danger of crashing! - does not end well. A rousing and concise orchestral piece. The critical first editions, which have just been published by Bärenreiter within the "Œuvres complètes instrumentales", offer the opportunity for new interpretations of these works on a reliable source basis. About the orchestra: the Süddeutsche Zeitung describes it perfectly: "You only have to experience the Basel Symphony Orchestra with its principal conductor Ivor Bolton once to know what this fabulous orchestra is capable of." Whether in its own concert series, at the Stadtcasino Basel or in guest performances at home and abroad, the innovative ensemble repeatedly confirms its high level of sound culture. The Briton Ivor Bolton has been the orchestra's principal conductor since the 2016/2017 season. Conductors with whom the Basel Symphony Orchestra has been closely associated include personalities such as Johannes Brahms, Felix Weingartner, Gustav Mahler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Gary Bertini, Walter Weller, Armin Jordan, Horst Stein, Otto Klemperer, Nello Santi, Pierre Boulez, Mario Venzago and Dennis Russell Davies.

This album is the fulfilment of a dream and the result of over five years of planning, developing and preparing a unique collaborative project between composers, arrangers and musicians – 6 pieces, 6 composers, 4 premieres – What inspired me to record this album was the fascinating way the sound of the bassoon blends with the string quartet. My choice of repertoire was based on pure pleasure – I chose works that I love to play, some original, others arranged, and asked composers I admire so much to write for this combination.

In two of the works I added the double bass, which enriches them very much and helps immensely to encounter different sound worlds. To create this with musicians of this calibre was simply wonderful. Their interest, curiosity and flexibility together with the skill, calm and experience of our sound engineer, Andreas Werner, and the fact that we were able to record in the legendary Radiostudio in Zurich, makes me feel so privileged. I couldn't be happier with the result which I hope you too will enjoy!

"He's a peak performer. If he keeps this up, he'll probably climb other peaks altogether...a talent that combines rigor and playfulness." --Werner Theurich, Spiegel Online

German-Uzbek pianist Nuron Mukumi was born in 1996 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He began playing the piano at the age of six, won 1st prize at the International Piano Competition for Russian Music in California at the age of seven, and 1st prize at the Uzbek Republic Youth Competition in Tashkent. In the same year he began conducting training and at the age of eight made his conducting debut with the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, in which he also played the piano part. He studied with Prof. Lev Natochenny in Frankfurt am Main and in Zurich as well as with Marian Rybicki in Paris, was a scholarship holder of the Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte Foundation and is currently studying with Prof. Hubert Rutkowski at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, where he will take his concert exam.

For Prospero, Nuron has recorded Peter Tchaikovky's 18 Pieces for Piano, op. 72: The 18 multi-faceted, musically complex and virtuosic character pieces were written in May 1893 - just six months before Tchaikovky's death - and show a composer full of beans.

Daria Parkhomenko presents a wonderful compilation of piano works by the highly underrated Romanian composer George Enescu. Daria Parkhomenko, a young Russian pianist of Romanian origin, is one of the most promising talents of her generation. Described as a “leading lady” by the international piano press on her 1st place victory at the world-renowned George Enescu Piano Competition in 2018, Daria has performed at some of the world’s most renowned concert halls and has appeared with several of the world’s leading conductors and orchestras. In addition to her avid career as a soloist, Daria as a passionate chamber musician. Together with Korean violinist, Jiae Park, and German cellist, Jakob Kuchenbuch, Daria formed the “HON Trio”.

An unusual instrument: piccolo flute. Interesting pieces, new sounds, perfectly interpreted.

Kathrin Hottiger is a Swiss soprano. She studied with Liliane Zürcher at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Since graduating, she has continued her studies with Malin Hartelius. Kathrin Hottiger won third prize at the 2018 "Pietro Antonio Cesti" international competition for baroque opera in Innsbruck, Austria, and was a semi-finalist at the "New Voices" competition in 2019. She received a scholarship from Migros Kulturprozent in 2017 and 2018 In various master classes, Kathrin Hottiger has worked with Bernarda Fink, Edith Mathis, Ton Koopman, and Evelyn Tubb. In the summer of 2022, Kathrin Hottiger performed the role of Zelmira in Joseph Haydn's opera "Armida" at the Bregenz Festival. Further highlights of her career have included engagements in Moscow, Washington DC and Jerusalem. She has worked with ensembles such as the Thomanerchor and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the musica viva orchestra Moscow, Camerata Bern, the Orchester de chambre de Lausanne, the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, and the argovia philharmonic under the baton of Rune Bergmann and Jan Willem de Vriend. In 2019, she sang the role of Eurydice in Gluck's opera "Orphée et Eurydice" at the Tchaikovsky concert hall in Moscow and in the Opera of Komi. In 2020, she gave her debut as Adele ("Die Fledermaus") at the Neues Theater in Dornach and in 2021 she sang Fortuna, Pallade and Damigella in Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" at Waldegg Castle. The CD produced during this production was released by Rondeau Production in Leipzig and is listed in the longlist 1/2023 of the German Record Critics in two categories. Further engagements include the roles of Amore ("Orfeo ed Euridice"), Venus ("Venus and Adonis"), and Gretel ("Hänsel und Gretel") at the Luzerner Theater, Switzerland. Kathrin Hottiger also enjoys singing in a chamber music setting. She regularly performs with the ensemble I Pizzicanti, based in Basel, which specializes in early music. In addition, she has a special love of the song, in particular of French and Scandinavian repertoire. Since spring 2022 she has been making music with the American-French pianist Pierre-Nicolas Colombat. Since 2017 she has given regular recitals as a duo with Edward Rushton.

The present release is a stunning 2-album collection with songs, lieder and pieces referring to the topic "Heimat"; all pieces arranged for tenor and horn quartet.

The tenor Daniel Behle is equally successful in the concert, Lied and opera genres and is making a name for himself as a composer as well. His extensive repertoire ranges from Baroque masterpieces, Classical and Romantic works to compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Founded in 2010 by four graduates of the French horn class of Christian Lampert at the State University of Music and the Performing Arts Stuttgart, German Hornsound has earned a strong international reputation based on its exceptional profile. With their new concert formats and creative program concepts they have debuted at nearly all music festivals in German-speaking Europe over the past few years.

This new release from Mathis Rochat and Erdem Mısırlıoğlu is a collection of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, imagined for solo viola or viola with piano. All of the works have been arranged by Mathis Rochat. Inspired by Yuri Bashmet's saying "Nobody knows how viola should sound!", Mathis Rochat enjoys the freedom that his instrument gives him in terms of sound coloring and likes to explore all kind of repertoire, new and old, originals or transcriptions. He has appeared as a soloist with the Walton Viola Concerto, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and the Hoffmeister Viola Concerto with orchestras such as the Norddeutsche Philharmonie and the Da Capo Ensemble.

French pianist Kim Barbier does not see herself to be a person or an artist who is restricted by borders, be they linguistic, cultural or geographical. On the contrary, despite training at the Paris Conservatoire, which gave her a special familiarity with French composers such as Debussy, Dutilleux, Faur� and Poulenc, her career has been marked by a variety of emphases without being limited to specific preferences. Within the framework of classical music, she feels no commitment to any particular style, epoch or work, and would find it difficult to name any out-standing composers who did not interest her. This is one reason given as to why she has lived in Berlin for a many years. She appreciates the quality, internationality and openness of it's musical world, where she has found so many opportunities for creative expression and further development. This is particularly true of a long- standing collaboration with musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. She remains closely connected to the local music scene through these colleagues, especially in the field of chamber music, while at the same time pursuing wide- ranging international concert activities beyond Berlin. The present selection of piano pieces represents the versatility of Kim Barbier's skills, experience and interests across a broad musical spectrum. In some cases, these have shaped her biography and are associated with key experiences in her life and career. At the same time, the sequence of compositions represents stations in the development of European music history from the Baroque to the Classical Modern periods. The juxtaposition creates a dialogue that reveals both connections and influences, while resulting in a sovereign musical narrative that is neither strictly nor formally bound.

To this day, the Slavonic Dances remain Dvořák‘s most popular work. They represent his own quintessential musical style, which competently plays with a masterly invented folklorism.

Timothy Hopkins is a German/American cellist living in Leipzig, Germany. He has a special fascination with performing arrangements and transcriptions of other instruments' literature for the cello. These include, for example, his own arrangements of the Chaconne from the 2nd Partita for Violin by Johann Sebastian Bach, the 24th Caprice by Nicolò Paganini, Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns, or, for example, the famous Violin Sonata by César Franck, which he performs in his own version on the cello. Timothy is a passionate chamber musician and has performed several times as a member of the Lipsia String Quartet and the Max Klinger Piano Trio at the HARMOS Chamber Music Festival in Portugal and at Rice University Houston/Texas. He also forms the Cello Duo Grancelli with his fellow student Moritz Klauk from Leipzig. Solo and chamber music performances have taken him to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the USA. As a soloist he has played several times with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the MDR Symphony Orchestra as well as the Castello Symphony Orchestra (Spain) and is a prize winner of national and international competitions.

There is one phrase that Rudens Turku uses repeatedly whenever he is discussing his work: “to sink into the note.” The German-Albanian violinist employs it to underscore his principal concern, which is to feel his way into the deeper layers of a composition and at the same time to be aware of the story of its composer’s life and of the way in which that life is embedded in a particular period and its political background. He finds an almost ideal opportunity to do this in the music of Astor Piazzolla - concert music by a cosmopolitan Argentine musician of Italian ancestry who grew up in the United States.

The Symphony in E major (D 729) from the summer of 1821 is one of five unfinished symphonies by Franz Schubert. Recently it has often been counted as Schubert's 7th symphony. Unlike his other symphonic fragments, the symphony in E major exists in a complete draft from the first to the last bar in all four movements. More recently, the symphony became accessible to a wider public again in the completed version by Brian Newbould (1982). Now the Austrian composer Richard Dünser, together with the conductor Mario Venzago, has presented a new version of the symphony fragment. The thin middle movements have been replaced by supplemented drafts from the year of Schubert's death. The result: a "new" great symphony by Schubert with a playing time of over 40 minutes; an original and gripping work that immediately convinces with its idiomatic and formal unity.

The present release is an innovative and sensitive encounter between poetry and music: a double album with Robert Schumann's song cycle "Dichterliebe" in an unusual arrangement for cello and guitar. Album 1 features the music, and album 2 features the music in combination with the poems by Heinrich Heine on which the composition is based, read by the well-known actor Hanns Zischler. This unique project is rounded off with the cycle "Über Liebe und Tod", four compositions by Michaela Catranis (*1985).

Oliver Schnyder (piano), and Andreas Jahnke (violin) and Benjamin Nyffenegger (cello) perform Smetana's Piano Trio in G Minor and the famous "Dumky"-Trio by Antonín Dvořák. The Oliver Schnyder Trio made their debut at the Zürich Tonhalle in 2012. Their recording of Schubert’s Piano Trios was hailed “a new benchmark recording” by the magazine Die Bühne and was chosen as “Switzerland’s Best Classical Album of the Year” by the Aargauer Zeitung. This immediate success was confirmed by the recording of Brahms’ complete Piano Trios, which also received great critical acclaim and was given a “Milestone” from Musik & Theater. Past and present concert appearances and festival residences include the SWR Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen, WDR Funkhaus Köln, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Festspiele Baden-Baden, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Schloss Elmau, Meisterzyklus Bern, Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw, Musikdorf Ernen, the Hirzenberg Festival and the festival Universum Beethoven, where they took part in a complete cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Trios at Boswil and Muri, alongside the Trio Jean Paul and the Wanderer Trio.

Violist Marc Sabbah and pianist Eliane Reyes explore the beauty of the viola and piano repertoire together and have recorded their first album together, "Appassionalto". The theme is "The Romantic Era of the Viola". They recorded works by Robert Schumann, Manuel de Falla, Henri Vieuxtemps, and Frank Bridge. Eliane Reyes, born in Vervier, Belgium, is currently professor of piano at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and at the famous Paris Conservatory. Her concerts have taken her to stages in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Her unique tone, technical ease and lively musicality have enabled her to collaborate with some of the most renowned artists and writers of our time. With numerous recordings, awards and the French Medal of Honour for Culture, Eliane Reyes is one of the most exciting pianists of her generation. Marc Sabbah, born in New York City, USA, has been soloist of the Belgian National Orchestra since 2012 and professor of viola at the Royal Conservatory of Mons, Belgium since 2017. Winner of numerous 1st prizes, he has performed on stages such as Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Paris Philharmonie and many others. As a soloist and chamber musician, Marc performs on stages throughout Europe, gives master classes and organizes a chamber music festival in a historic Belgian castle. His musical elegance and mastery of the viola leave the listener amazed and at ease at the same time.

Famous musical personalities are often associated with certain places: Bach with Köthen and Leipzig, Handel with Halle and London, Mozart with Salzburg and Vienna, Beethoven with Bonn and Vienna, or Brahms with Hamburg and Vienna. "And Vienna" often occurs, but "and Göttingen" almost never. Johannes Brahms is an exception. The Göttingen Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor Nicholas Milton honors the great Romantic with a complete recording of his symphonies as well as the "Academic Festival Overture" based on musical material that Brahms heard for the first time in Göttingen.

Even at the age of 82, the Swiss oboist, composer and conductor Heinz Holliger is still bursting with verve, curiosity and the desire to make music. His latest album is called "Les Roseaux Chantants" ("The Singing Reed Flutes"), an allusion to the double reed with which the notes on the oboe and English horn are made to sound. Works were chosen that were composed for the unusual combination of two oboes plus English horn. A tonally delightful sound and musical experience, as the works by Beethoven, Wranitzky, the Swiss composer Rudolph Ganz and, last but not least, Heinz Holliger himself, impressively demonstrate.