Founded 1998, the Bennewitz Quartet, from the Czech Republic, have become one of the classical music world's top international chamber ensembles, a status confirmed not only by prestigious competition victories but also by the acclaim of the critics. Having recently recorded an all-Dvor�k program on two CDs (Cypresses) for hanssler in 2012, the ensemble returns to the music of this Bohemian/American master with two quartets for strings, both of which are important milestones in the composer's �uvre: No. 10 in E-flat Major, op. 51, and No. 13 in G Major, op. 106.

Written during the summer of 1875, Anton�n Dvor�k's Symphony No. 5 in F Major, Op. 76 is considered the first work in which Dvor�k found his way to a new symphonic idiom. It's noticeable inflections of Bohemian folklore, accompanied by almost Schubertian phrases, infuse the symphony with light and give it buoyancy. Two of Dvor�k's many one-movement orchestral pieces, In Nature�s Realm Op. 91 and the Scherzo capriccioso Op. 66, serve as considerable, substantial encores. Karel Mark Chichon (OBE) is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbru�cken Kaiserslautern.

Great Britain's music culture is marked by a centuries-old tradition of choral singing, as is shown, for instance, in the institution of college choirs. Church policy had a beneficial effect on the development of sacred music. After the Anglican Church separated from Rome in the 16th c. and the abbeys were secularized, many cathedral choirs were founded which took over the Holy Office from the monastic communities. The fact that sacred choral music in the British Isles is still written largely with an orientation to liturgical purposes must be understood as an effect of this constellation. The close relationship between the way composers and performers work, moreover, explains the tendency of a large portion of this art to be addressed to the general public. Marcus Creed directs the SWR Vokalensemble in a program of 20th-21st c. choral music by five outstanding, legendary figures of British music: Maxwell Davies, the Scotsman James Macmillan, Jonathan Harvey, John Taverner and Benjamin Britten.

St�phane Den�ve, Chief Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) leads his orchestra on this recording in interpretations of the music of French composer Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), works that count among Honegger's best known, including his Second and Third (the 'Liturgique') Symphonies, Rugby and Pacific 231, the latter two works brief bursts of considerable energy and impact. Honegger's mingling at the outer edges of the "Les Six" group of composers and his admiration, in this sense contradictory, of German music, including Wagner, gives his works peculiar piquancy.

Richard Strauss spent nearly a decade and a half writing Eine Alpensinfonie, a work describing the impressions of a mountain hike with such clarity that the score could almost be considered film music sans film. Don Juan's premiere (1889) established the reputation of the 24-year-old Strauss as the most important composer since Richard Wagner. Francois -Xavier Roth, one of the most charismatic and enterprising conductors of his generation, took on the role of Principal Conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg in September 2011.

For his fourth CD recording on SWR, pianist Michael Korstick turns his focus and attention toward Claude Debussy and his journey toward artistic maturity, from the French composer's earliest piano pieces, the Deux Arabesques, the Mazurka, ca. 1890/91, and perhaps most conspicuously the Suite Bergamasque (1890, rev. 1905), it's third movement being the famous "Clair de Lune", to the birth of what become known as musical "impressionism", most notably foreshadowed with the Estampes of 1903. Numerous award winning CDs have won Michael Korstick a reputation as one of Germany's leading pianists.

Insomnia is the story of a nocturnal journey, reassuring and disturbing at the same time, both mystical and unpredictable. An escape from ourselves into the soft focus the night, but then leading us back again at the end, taking us even deeper inside ourselves. Insomnia is the aimless wanderings of the Sleepless One, through inner and outer worlds which remains hidden during the harsh light of day. Insomnia is five Hymns to the Night, composed by five American composers over a period of nearly 100 years. While at first glance, they may seem stylistically very different, when taken together; these five works are the perfect soundtrack for a journey through the long hours after the sun has set. At the center of this journey stands A Little Midnight Music, George Crumb's adaptation of the Thelonious Monk Jazz Standard 'Round Midnight. He leads his listeners and performers past the neon signs of the New York jazz clubs of the 1940s into the oppressive darkness of the avant-garde pianist. Sleepless Night and Urban Nocturnes by Bruce Stark not only reference jazz, and are the outgrowth of the composer's long-standing interest in improvisation. In George Gershwin short Prelude we can almost imagine the clinking of glasses at last call. John Cage's Dream and Brian Belet's Summer Phantoms - Nocturne function as the album's centerpieces and provide a pair of contrasting soundtracks for nightly inner escapism. To describe Kai Schumacher as a "punk pianist" would be excessive. His deeply thoughtful style of playing blurs the boundaries of the classical avant-garde and pop culture without getting stuck in all-toofamiliar crossover paths. One focus of Kai Schumacher's solo repertoire has been on American piano music of the late 20th and the 21st centuries. His debut album of Frederic Rzewski's monumental variation cycle The people united will never be defeated! (2010) was celebrated by FonoForum magazine as "a pianistic sensation". With his second album Transcriptions (2013), he ventured into the musical heroes of his youth - Rage against the machine, Nirvana, Slayer, etc., transforming the concert grand in his piano remixes into a tone generator of monstrous proportions, sound effects board or a set of tuned percussion instruments.

Only a few, famous jazz bassists have ever gone beyond the limitations of their instruments and sought new opportunities on the cello. The cellist Valentin Radutiu turns the tables to show how well the cello suits jazz - at times taking the role of the traditional string bass, at others a resonant tenor guitar while at others giving it's voice wings. The repertoire on Remembering The Rain: A Jazz View, comes mainly from the "Great American Songbook", supplementing that glorious heritage with standards by John Lewis (MJQ) and Bill Evans, both of whom had their own anchors in classical music as well.

One has no problem naming famous String Quartet ensembles; however, String Trios simply cannot make the same boast! Even on the repertoire of the side, composers have produced many more significant quartets than they have string trios. Thus, it was something of a minor miracle when three musicians such as violinist Arthur Grumiaux, Georges Janzer (V�gh Quartet violist) and Janzer's wife, the cellist Eve Czako, finally met to perform works of Mozart and Beethoven. The resulting June 8, 1966 Schwetzingen Castle recital is a most memorable concert that will welcome repeated listening.

This release marks the first appearance of the chief conductor of the German radio philharmonic orchestra, Karel Mark Chichon, on the SWR music label, and for his debut, the young London-born conductor has done nothing less than a complete recording of the symphonies of Anton Dvorak. but that's not all! in addition to the symphonies are other orchestral works of the Czech master, as is the case here with the early, Slavic-patriotic themed rhapsody, op. 14. future releases will include all the overtures and interludes from Dvorak's operas - works of exquisite beauty, but rarely appearing on recordings.

Henryk Szeryng, once regarded a supreme master, has faded from memory, his fame not comparable to that of Heifetz or Oistrakh, Milstein or Menuhin, although often mentioned along with them. His performances set standards; the major record companies vied for his favor. In 1955 Szeryng played with the Sinfonie Orchester des S�dwestfunks under Hans Rosbaud. These live recordings of a Romantically-edited Nardini Concerto in E minor and Vieuxtemps' popular fourth concerto were followed in March 1957 by studio recordings of Ravel's "Tzigane" and Schumann's neglected Violin Concerto.

The LaSalle Quartet was active from 1946-88; however, it's influence goes far beyond that. Violinist Walter Levine is still a vital, much sought out authority for string players. From their founding, the Quartet was devoted to the late 19th and 20th c repertoire. The works of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern were a significant part, as were the quartets of Schoenberg's teacher, Alexander Zemlinsky. This CD of studio recordings from 1965, 1968 and 1977 draws Zemlinsky together with Haydn and Brahms - a bold program for an ensemble specializing in modern to include some "early music".

Among the major 19th c. choral/orchestral works Sir Roger Norrington and his former Orchestra, the Radio. Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, have tackled over the years, now finally comes Brahms' "German Requiem." one of the most beautiful and popular sacred music works in the repertoire. Although Biblical texts are used, the piece is not in the standard church liturgical tradition. World class soloists/soprano Christina Landshamer and basso Florian Boesch are acompanied by the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart and the NDR lend their full artistic support to Mr. Norrington's interpretation of this work.

Undoubtedly one of most important Hungarian musicians post-WWII, violinist Johanna Martzy's star would soon fade from international memory, becoming a name known only to connoisseurs. All her recordings were taken off the market a few years after their release, giving her a near legendary mystique and a very committed collector following. These 1956/62 Mozart performances, live recordings of studio production, display not only technical perfection and a glorious tone, but consummate bow mastery in all it's nuances as well as a cultivated passion of expression.

� In this latest installment of recordings focusing on the choral traditions of different country's choral music traditions launched last year by the Vokalensemble Stuttgart des SWR, we now arrive in sunny Italy, a country said to have no native choral tradition. � Giuseppe Verdi of course used choirs in his operas, but apart from that there are only a few choral works that have sustained any place in the repertoire, some of the finest of which are presented here. � With the beginning of the 20th century, however, one encounters composer's that are less well known, but whom have certainly composed some very exciting music for choir, including Pizzetti, Giacinto Scelsi, Luigi Nono and Goffredo Petrassi. � They all offer poignant, poetic, funny, mysterious, ironic choral works that are original and always interesting in their structure. � They show an Italy away from the operatic bel canto, but certainly not lacking in beautiful melodies.