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-Dvorák 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 œuvre: No. 10 in E-flat Major, op. 51, and No. 13 in G Major, op. 106.

Classical Music

Classical Music

MOZART: Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 19 (1952 / 1956)

Hänssler Classic/SWR Music is proud to announce the latest release of jazz great Sammy Nestico in performance with the SWR Big Band. Sammy Nestico is widely considered to be one of the most important American composers and arrangers in the world. He returns once again, to collaborate with the multi-Grammy nominated SWR Big Band on a program featuring entirely his own compositions.

While renowned for his thrilling arrangements of jazz standards, Sammy Nestico is also one of the great jazz composers, as you will hear for yourself on this new recording. In addition to scintillating new arrangements of tunes from the Grammy-nominated "Fun Time," Maestro Nestico adds a sheath of other originals in new charts especially created for the jazz virtuosos of the SWR Big Band.

The result of this latest meeting of the Grand Old man of Swing, with the SWR Big Band will continue to delight jazz collectors everywhere.


"Nestico’s arrangements are mostly about eruptive brass and life-affirming energy, but in the occasional slow piece, like “A Song for Sarah” and “Samantha,” there are rich colors and subtle sonorities which this recording beautifully renders and arrays across a lifelike sound stage." -- Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes.com

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

RIHM: Tutuguri: Der Ritus der schwarzen Sonne (The Rite of t

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LABEL SWR

MESSIAEN: Eclairs sur l'Au-dela (Illuminations of the Beyond

Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 55

Karel Mark Chichon leads the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie through a passionate, colorful and meticulously prepared interpretation of Dvorak's Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4. This release is the third installment of SWR Klassik's Dvorak Symphony Cycle.

The Ballets Russes was a series of ballet events held in Paris between 1909 and 1929, founded by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. The series Diaghilev - Les ballets russes, which has been supported for man years now by SWR, has committed itself to presenting all of the works composed for and by this series.

One of the great violinists of the twentieth century, Henryk Szeryng was an artist greatly celebrated during his lifetime, but is sadly known only to experts today. Looking back, his reputation may have been overshadowed by some of his contemporaries, but in terms of his flawless technique and the power and beauty of his tone, Szeryng unquestionably remains one of the great masters of his era. These two live concert recordings from December 7, 1969 feature performances by the South West German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim. Szerying, as both soloist and conductor, stamps his natural authority on the music from the very first note, with his straightforward approach and clear sense of direction driving the entire ensemble. The soloist’s idiosyncratic nuances of tempo infect the whole structure, while his exuberant playing dominates the entire performance. In Vivaldi’s ever-popular Four Seasons, Szeryng applies clear and often abrupt contrasts: heavy marcato, lively staccato, flawlessly balanced legato and, above all, his consummate tenuto, which seamlessly links every bow change. This last trait also thoroughly distinguishes his Mozart playing from almost anything to which our ears are accustomed today. When it comes to Mozart, we can admire the naturalness of his interpretation and his choice of tempi, which are not adopted merely for effect, but govern the logic and clarity of the articulation.

This album is one of the most important symphonies by Shostakovich. This is the fifth Shostakovich release featuring the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Andrey Boreyko. Many considered it a "wonderful, passionate performance."

Hans Rosbaud was greatly admired for his discipline, a capacity for enthusiasm, detailed knowledge of orchestral instruments and his faithfulness to the scores. He did not consider himself a champion exclusively of modern music, but rather of the entire repertoire. While he conducted many Mozart operas, he also gave equal attention to the works of Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler. This release, which contains several unpublished recordings, surveys a different Rosbaud from the new music specialist. We discover his interpretations of overtures from the early Romantic period, plus concert pieces by Carl Maria von Weber and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Weber’s overtures are considered virtuosic orchestral “treats.” Rosbaud puts his own distinctive slant on the music even during extrovert passages. He doesn’t exaggerate speeds, allowing the different instrumental groups to develop the themes to the fullest extent; the bolero and polonaise rhythms of Preziosa and the ultra-romantic sound of the horns in Der Freischutz are showcased to maximum effect. The flowing passages in Mendelssohn’s overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream Op. 21 are executed with precision and without pedantry. Rosbaud imbues the 17-year-old Mendelssohn’s masterpiece with dreamlike, intangible qualities that make this music truly unique. The scherzo and the nocturne of the incidental music Op. 61 are performed with equal care and precision.

The legendary conductor Kurt Sanderling has always been a great admirer of Rachmaninov’s music. This is a recording form 1995 of Sanderling conducting Rachmaninov’s 3rd Symphony. The eminent German conductor, Kurt Sanderling, was born to a Jewish family in Arys in East Prussia and took piano lessons as part of a private education. For his further studies he moved the short distance north to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) and then to Berlin. When the Nazis rose to power, Sanderling’s world was turned upside down. He left for Moscow to live with an uncle, and it was there that he made his mark in a debut concert with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is therefore no surprise that Rachmaninov’s music spoke so deeply to him. He led a seven decade career, and passed away in 2011.

This is a 1960 studio recording of pianist Halina Czerny-Stefansky performing her core repertoire. The bonus tracks featuring two works by Szymanowski and Zarebski are live recordings from 1966. The release shows highly sensitive Chopin interpretations with a clear Polish empathy. Halina Czerny-Stefansky studied piano under her father as well as at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, and later in Warsaw. She was a joint First Prize winner at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1949, sharing this prize with Bella Davidovich. She was a juror in many competitions including the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition. She was also a juror at the International Chopin Piano Competition for many years.

This release is a new installment in the SWR Classics Edition dedicated to Hand Rosbaud. It offers the chance to enjoy two renowned pianists - Nikita Magaloff and Hans Richter-Haaser, with Hans Rosbaud providing authoritative orchestral accompaniment. Gramophone recently remarked that Rosbaud "was one of the unsung heroes of mid-20th-century music, who... gave thoroughly rehearsed and assimilated performances and premieres of the widest possible range of music". In Fanfare, Peter J. Rabinowitz pointed to range of his sympathies, claiming it was "greater than that of just about any of his contemporaries except perhaps Bernstein, Scherchen, and Stokowski. Rosbaud is best remembered, probably, for his Mahler, his Bruckner, his work with the Second Vienna School... and especially his commitment to the post-war avant-garde..."

There are few recordings of the famous Czech violinist Váša Príhoda. His SWR recording (dated 1951!) of the Dvorak violin concerto is released here for the first time. The recordings have been carefully remastered after the original SWR tapes. Born in 1900, Váša Príhoda performed his first public concert at age 13, playing the 4th Violin Concerto by Mozart. At age 19 he joined the orchestra of the Café Grand'Italia in Milan. There, he was heard by Arturo Toscanini, who arranged a benefit concert for him, which led to a successful Italian tour. He went on to concertize all over the world, and made a number of recordings when the industry was new.

Here we present a new installment in the complete recording cycle of Dvorák's Symphonic Works with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, containing not only the symphonies but also rarely recorded opera ouvertures of the Czech composer. The new chief conductor of the orchestra, Finnish maestro Pietari Inkinen, continues the Dvorák Cycle begun under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon. In September 2017 Pietari Inkinen became Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbruecken. Inkinen is also Chief Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he has held since the beginning of the 16-17 season. He has also been Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra since 2015. Also an accomplished violin soloist, Inkinen studied at the Cologne Music Academy with Zakhar Bron, winning various awards and prizes for his solo work, before taking further studies in conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He continues to enjoy play-directing and performing chamber music with his regular musical partners.

Following the 5-album box set of Claudio Arrau's solo recitals, this new installment focuses on his SWR recordings of piano concertos. The recorded works belong to Arrau’s most favorites and are now being released for the first time. These are stirring interpretations full of controlled virtuosity. Claudio Arrau León was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. A child prodigy, he could read music before he could read words. “His sound is amazing, and it is entirely his own… no one else has it exactly that way. His devotion… is extraordinary. He ennobles that music in a way no one else in the world can.” (Sir Colin Davis)

This is re-release of a bestselling SWR album. It contains major but rarely played works for piano and orchestra by Ernest Bloch, in the interpretation of Jenny Lin, who is the ideal pianist for these demanding scores. The excellent sound quality makes this album of late Romantic and neo-classicist music a great listen. Jenny Lin studied with Noel Flores at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, with Julian Martin at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and with Dominique Weber in Geneva. She currently resides in New York City where she serves on the faculty of the 92nd Street y Music School. She is one of the most respected young pianists today, admired for her adventurous programming and charismatic stage presence. She continues to receive accolades worldwide as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. The New York Times writes: "No one who has heard [her] will need to be told that Ms. Lin has a gift for melodic flow" and "remarkable technical command," the Washington post praises "Lin's confident fingers... spectacular technique... " and Gramophone magazine has hailed her as "an exceptionally sensitive pianist."

This is a live recording of a piano recital the great virtuoso Jorge Bolet gave 1988, in Schwetzingen (Germany), two years before his death. The performed works are by composers Jorge Bolet favoured most. This is a re-release of a SWR bestseller. When the first Schwetzingen Festival was held in 1952, even the optimists among the founders could not imagine that this was the beginning of a success story that would make it one of the major German festivals of the post war era. The "Schwetzingen script" of the fifties, "Comission new things, rediscover the old, give up and coming youngsters a chance," still holds today and is as modern as it was back then. Because it was founded by the Suddeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting company and kept going after it's merger into Sudwestrundfunk, this festival has been documented as no other. From the very first day on, every musical event was recorded and broadcast. Thus the Schwetzingen Festival became in time the biggest classical radio festival in the world, with nearly 550 broadcasts on all continents. The list of performers and ensembles reads like an artists' "Who's Who" of recent decades. For the "Schwetzingen Festival Edition," we are opening up the archives and allowing you to enjoy some of the greatest moments in music.

At his recital in Schwetzingen in 1962, Wilhelm Kempff confirmed his unique ability to connect exploratory, dreamful piano music in a repertoire with a broad radius and to give it clear gradations in all matters of style. In the process, he did not take this opportunity in Schwetzingen to follow a programmatic routine related to season and career, as is common in the risk-free assortment of works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert preferred by concert organizers. For the beginning of the series of pieces is likely to surprise even those familiar with Kempff's as a performer of wide-ranging sections of the piano repertoire. Rarely heard miniatures by Jean Philippe Rameau and Francois Couperin, forgotten by most practicing soloists, piano teachers and also the students following in their musical wake, show Kempff to be a musical acrobat and mystic of colors even on French territory.

This album presents two major orchestral works by Claude Debussy – Images and La Mer – alongside the delightful Danses for harp and orchestra. The French conductor Sylvain Cambreling highlights all the charm of these colorful scores. French-born conductor Sylvain Cambreling is a musician with big ideas. A thought-provoking, colorful and dramatic artist, he has a flair for grabbing the attention of audiences, yet his originality is rooted in thorough knowledge of musicology. As the Chief Conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, and Principal Guest Conductor of Klangforum Wien, he has offered ample proof of his gifts for imaginative programme-planning and persuasive championship of contemporary music.