The meticulously prepared releases by the Stuttgart label Tacet deserve attention... this tells me that Gerrit Zitterbart can rank with the most gifted Beethoven performers of his generation... (Frankfurter Rundschau)

This is vol. 2 of the "Haydn Quartets" by W. A. Mozart, played by Auryn Quartet and in the guise of TACET Real Surround Sound. After strong recommendations for the previous Auryn/Imai Mozart string quintets recording (Audiophile Highlight in Stereo, klassik-heute recommendation, nomination for ICMA) and lots of praise for the previous version of this recording there is not a lot to say. Except maybe that once again TACET Real Surround Sound musically reaches far beyond normal stereo. Every magical detail of the interaction between Matthias Lingenfelder, Jens Oppermann, Stewart Eaton und Andreas Arndt becomes clear. An ambitious multichannel recording is no high tech version of stereo, and for many listeners it is equal to a live concert. A stunning recording!

Very old - and yet completely new! Beethoven sonatas once again? Yes, once again. For the Austrian pianist Markus Schirmer really has something to say to Beethoven. The way Schirmer illuminates the text and places emphasis on certain aspects is very fresh and personal. A must? - Yes, a must!" (Wiener Zeitung)

Composed in the same year, 1855, about at the midpoint in his life, the French composer Charles Gounod (1818-93), best known for his opera Faust, finds his only two symphonies the subject of this new recording by the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under their artistic director and concertmaster Gordan Nikolic. Appointed to his post in 2005, Mr. Nikolic (b. 1968) makes everything that moves him in the music both audible and visible; his passionate performances speak directly to the heart. 'Nikolic generates excitement in everything he plays' (The Times).

Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio is really something! How can the listener to be kept agog for a full 46 minutes, then feel the return of the initial theme at the end of the last movement for what it is: The end of a grandiose arch spanning the whole cosmos? Tempo proportions, phrasing and many other things are important here. The Abegg Trio went to the trouble of referring to the original manuscript and getting scientific he to check these proportions and to perform them faithfully just as Tchaikovsky intended them. Those who know the work are in for a surprise...

This outstanding 5-disc set presents the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven performed by the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Wojciech Rajski. The incentive for this series was for the whole of the symphonies to be available in Real Surround Sound. The project began in 2005 in Sopot, Poland, and ended when the ensemble performed the 9th symphony at St. John’s Church, Gdasnk, in the summer of 2015. Wojciech Rajski is known for his impeccable interpretation. He guides us through this exhaustive collection of ideas from one of the most famous composers, lacing the music with dazzling brilliance and sensitivity.

Kultur SPIEGEL, January 2005: "There are good pianists, there are grandiose pianists and there is Evgeni Koroliov: In each recording the Russian pianist, who hitherto was mainly to be heard playing Bach, sets new standards. With Debussy he competes with champions such as Gieseking or Michelangelo - and triumphs: this round of portraits of atmosphere, hovering wonderfully between jest and seriousness, has never before sounded so expressive or transparent."

Classical Music

The 'Haunted Spot' is one of the most mysterious and worrying pieces of the Forest Scenes op. 82 and seems somewhat unusual as the opening of a Schumann CD. And yet this miniature takes US straight into the middle of Koroliov's Schumann idea, which radically rejects all facile virtuosity and any superficial flow. Koroliov digs deep into the Kreisleriana and is obsessed with detail in his search for rough patches, resistance and the unexpected. The fact that he never loses sight of the greater picture is one of the secrets of this truly great pianist. The Scenes from Childhood sound wonderfully simple, just like the dreamy recollection of an aging poet. After this CD we would like to go back to Schumannn's favourite poet Jean Paul. (Partituren)

The new issue No. 17 from the series "The Welte Mignon Mystery," being introduced today, differs from the earlier ones in regard to it's program, among other things. Edwin Fischer chose only pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for his piano-roll recordings, probably recorded for the Welte company in 1923 (possibly already in 1909). He played none of the encores customary at the time and no work of his own. It is therefore obvious that the Welte technology was also suitable for larger, longer works. The Sonatas Op. 10, No. 3 and Op. 110 of Beethoven - distributed over several rolls, but brought together on our CD - are created anew in their entirety before our ears as coherent structures with comprehensive arcs of tension. Edwin Fischer came to terms with the music of the very greatest composers; on his Welte recordings, at least, there was no room for the salon pieces so beloved during this period. In this respect, too, the exceptional quality of his personality is readily apparent.

Freden (Leine) might only be a small dot on the map but the Internationale Fredener Musiktage have become an essential part of the German music festival landscape. Over the years the scenic Leine valley has turned into a sort of summer residence, where every individual artists's musical whims can draw on new strength and ispiration far from the metropolitan hustle and bustle. So it is not surprising that more and more top national and international musicians play in the Camerata Freden and join again each year to produce an exquisite festival ensemble.

You know this phenomenon? You impose restrictions on yourself and watch a thing or do an operation within these limits, and as a result you extend the horizon and find a new world seeming bigger than the whole. It is like a magnifier showing new details hidden under the roughness of the surface. Welcome in the world of 555 Domenico Scarlatti piano sonatas! Most of them have only one movement with one double bar in the middle and two repetitions. In his self-created cosmos Scarlatti moves totally spontaneous, confident and unsystematical. Inside the system he breaks nearly all rules such as 4 bar scheme, style, rhythms, colors, playful like a child that does not know if there are any limits and where they are. However, you have to take the magnifier, otherwise you stay outside on the surface. This is exactly what Christoph Ullrich does. He looks for every sonata and it's character in detail and lives all the playfulness of Scarlatti with enthusiasm. The seventh release of the 17-part complete edition shows another chaotic solar system of the Scarlatti universe. Fascinating, weird, glittering and beautiful.

In the middle ages, the reverence for Saint Nicolas was not limited to the Christmas season, as it is today. It is unlikely that he would have become the patron saint of sailors and other professions, had this been the case. The ensemble Peregrina found a great number of songs on their search for Nicolas. In putting together this program it was of great advantage to have within the ECHO-awarded ensemble, and within its network of musicologists who know where to look, how to read and interpret the sources and how to perform the music.

An outstanding career spanning three decades has made the Auryn Quartet one of the most sought-after and respected ensembles performing around the globe."The Auryn plays with an enviable balance of abandon and discipline" (American Record Guide) and "shared spirituality" (The New York Times).

This is not an historical recording. Yet mysteriously the music is performed in an interpretation which is historically authentic down to the last detail. The key to this mystery is: The original performer was present at the recent recording session, but not physically: The music is heard on a modern Steinway. Never has music stored in the Welte-Mignon system sounded so "right" or so good - so unadulterated that it need not fear comparison with a living pianist! (See detailed text in the enclosed booklet. Can you tell the difference: dead or alive?)