Music for Harpsichord

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

In his treatise on early melodramas by Jacques Rousseau, Anton Schweitzer, Georg Benda, Christian Gottlieb Neefe, Johann Friedrich Reichhardt, Abbé Vogler, Peter von Winter, Johann Rudolph Zumsteeg, Siegmund von Seckendorff and Carl Eberwein, Edgar Istel (1880-1948) explained: “Today, as we all know, all works of art that combine spoken word and instrumental music (regardless of whether they are dramatic or not) are very incorrectly called ‘melodramas’. But since we use the term to describe everything of this kind, it is no longer applicable to the peculiar genre created by Benda in particular.“ Istel comes to the conclusion: “Our contemporaries caused great confusion, and it is not surprising that things became much worse in the 19th century. Even experts did not know what to do anymore. Encyclopedias (even Grove‘s) and Riemann look quite colorful.“ This release presents true Melodramas for declamation and piano from 19th to 21st century, performed by Peter P. Pachl and Rainer Maria Klaas.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Of the hundreds of recordings of Schubert’s “Die Winterreise” this one’s uniqueness lies in the countertenor voice - in this case the contralto equivalent (“Altus”) voice of Israeli singer Zvi Emanuel-Marial, heard singing the composer’s glorious song cycle, a first-time recorded occurrence. + Mr. Emanuel-Marial has been much in demand on opera stages as well as in concert halls all over Europe. + He has participated in the Salzburg Festival as well as Mannheim Mozart Summer, and has sung Baroque and modern opera parts at opera houses in Amsterdam, Mannheim and Berlin.

The Lieder ohne Wort by German composer Felix Mendelssohn used to be famous all over the world. There was a time when these 48 pieces, which appeared in eight cahiers between 1833 and 1850, were played, or at least attempted, in every cultured parlor where there stood a piano. Stylistically situated somewhere between Chopin and Schumann, these are short pieces that are too hard to play for everyone except the very gifted amateur, yet not spectacular enough for great concert halls, but they come into their own in the intimacy of the cultivated salon. Yongkyu Lee is a Korean pianist who now lives and works in Germany. Already as a young piano prodigy he attracted the attention of world-class pianists such as Martha Argerich and Alexis Weissenberg. Mr. Lee is a winner of major piano competitions all over the owrld. Today he divides his time between his native Korea where he teaches a piano class at Han-Yang University and his base in Germany from where he concertizes with major orchestras around the globe.

In recent years, composers began inquiring of the dynamic, charming and top-ranked mandolin/guitar Trekel-Tröster Duo if they might compose a work especially for them. This CD project, a fascinating mixture of works all receiving their premieres, is the result. The accompanying booklet includes composer commentary on their respective works in German and English. Since founding the duo in 2004, Steffen Trekel and Michael Tröster have performed across Europe, Japan, the USA and South Korea.

Classical Music

Classical Music