Founded in 1999 by cellist and gamba player Sabrina Lehrmann, Neue Freisinger Hofmusik (New Freising Court Music) view themselves as present-day successors of the prince-bishop court musicians of Freising. The ensemble performs on authentic and reconstructed historical musical instruments in differing combinations. Their focus is music originating from Freising and Southern Germany, and other places central to European culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. This album gives insight into the compositional master of Freising court musician, Placidus von Camerloher. Almost all of these compositions have never before been recorded.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes sonata(s) by Domenico Scarlatti. Ensemble: Duo Capriccioso. Soloists: Gertrud Weyhofen-Tröster, Michael Tröster.

Classical Music

Beethoven’s String Quartets are the undisputed sine qua non of the string quartet genre, with all other works in this form, as well as the ensembles themselves who must inevitably perform and record them, measured against this body of work and its associated recordings. The Philharmonia Quartet of Berlin, four members of the BPO, has been termed a "top-flight-ensemble" by the Chicago Tribune, possessing “a heart melting sound” (Boston Globe). An ensemble of thirty years standing, the PQB has established itself as a highly regarded, standard-setting body, and one in great demand worldwide.

Classical Music

Georgian pianist Misho Kandashvili strikes with his combination of delicacy and strength, breathtaking technique and musical sensitivity. Born in 1993 in Tbilisi, he began playing piano at age seven and entered the Tbilisi Art School Anastasia Virsaladze, in the class of Irina Boterashvili. Already as a child, he developed a great interest for Bach’s music, that helped him improve over the years a very high quality and intelligence in his playing. In 2002, he was the winner of the Contest of Georgia, as well as of numerous national competitions. He performed the Bach concerto No. 3 in 2003, which was the first performance ever of this piece in Georgia. That same year, Mikheil participated in the Georgian-German Young Artists' Festival "Tbilisi 2003" in Tbilisi, and in Schwaigern, Germany, in 2004. On the present release he performs a program of works by Georgian and Russian composers.

The “Italianate” Bach? Not entirely Italian, in fact, although in these works we can clearly trace the ways in which the great German master absorbed and understood a variety of musical elements used by Italian composers (concerto movements and concerto-like sections, wild passaggi – and even the use of archaic durezze e ligature (discords and suspensions) and the con discrezione style of some Bach harpsichord toccatas, which inevitably bring Frescobaldi and Froberger to mind. Slobodan Jovanović was born in 1977 in Pančevo (Serbia). He studied harpsichord and clavichord with Robert Hill and basso continuo with Michael Behringer in Freiburg i. Br. In Karlsruhe he studied fortepiano and chamber music with Kristian Nyquist. He is also trained as a professional organist. Alongside harpsichordists Colin Tilney und Huguette Dreyfus he attended various master classes as a scholarship holder. As well as this he perfected his basso continuo under Jesper Bøje Christensen.

“From the moment the first notes of the trio by Claude Debussy reached my ears, I knew that this evening would be an unforgettable experience.” (I. León in La Jornada, Mexico) When the Gelius Trio members first played together in 1999 while recording an album with compositions by Dorothee Eberhardt, it was such a positive encounter that they founded their own ensemble. The two string players' experience as concertmasters of the Munich Phliharmonic Orchestra, playing under the direction of the most famous conductors in our epoch, is exceedingly enriching the cooperation. The eponym Micaela Gelius knows how to let the piano sing, empathetically accompanying, but also showing her pianistic finesses. The trio is known for the unity of the musicians' phrasings and for tonal beauty, passion and depth of feeling. Its extensive repertory includes trios from the classic to the contemporary period documented on six albums. On this release, the trio presents works by Anton Arensky, Arno Babadjanyan, and Dimitri Shostakovich.

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) began his compositional career by imitating the works of Chopin. His earlier works exude the conventional Romantic style, similar to that of Chopin and Liszt. Scriabin was a masterful pianist. After Chopin, no other composer has captured the refined piano technique that Scriabin utilizes in his compositions. A native of Mumbai, India, Pervez Mody lives and works in Germany. After studying piano in Moscow and Karlsruhe, Mody has won a great deal of prestigious piano competitions. This release is the fifth volume in a series by Pervez Mody compiling all of Scriabin’s piano works.

The present release is the sixth volume in Pervez Mody’s Scriabin series. Pervez Mody Concert pianist, is known for his spirited and thrilling performances with deep emotions and an individually access for music. He enjoys a big reputation on the concert circuit and participated in "Martha Argerich & friends" and Martha Argerich certified: “He is an extraordinary musician and performing artist of a very unique kind. I was fascinated by his powerful emotions... it was an unforgettable experience!“ Now he records the complete work of Alexander Scriabin under the label THOROFON and the professional musician world is full of praise for his Scriabin Interpretation. Vol. 4 of "Pervez Mody plays Scriabin" was listed for the "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik".

No work embodies Theodor W. Adorno's quote better than Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). Its subject and internal structure form the core aspect of the composition and thus are the cornerstones of a work which is much more than just ''a serious piece''. Gustav Mahler wrote Das Lied von der Erde in 1908 during his extremely tumultuous later life. Before his death in 1911, he had heard the premiere of neither the orchestral version nor his handwritten piano version. One important result of this was that the piano version disappeared from the public eye and remained in the possession of his window Alma Mahler. Its first performance was not until 1989. Since then, few pianists have ventured to it, certainly due to the fact that the orchestral version has itself long been established as an important work worldwide. The pianist and producer Christian Kalberer, together with Alexandra von Roepke and Peter Furlong, chooses the straight, unguarded musical path, musique directe, as a way of a dialectic of enlightenment. As Mahler wrote in a letter to Bruno Walter about this composition: I believe that it is the most personal thing I've done so far. At this time Mahler was still quite unsure about what to call the piece. At the first opportunity though, he gave it the farthest, furthest title: The Song of the Earth. Contained within its musical and dramatic continuity is a complete philosophy, which is reserved for only the greatest, teh most successful works of art.

The two present recordings are exemplary for the many years of successful cooperation between Eberhard Klemmstein, composer and violist, and Dorian Keilhack, conductor and pianist. Eberhard Klemmstein graduated in viola from the Academy of Music, Berlin and supplemented his studies with Prof. Takis Ktenaveas. In the period of 1979 to 2008 Klemmstein occupied the position of Director of the Erlangen Music Institute. It was here, too, that he launched his successful career as a composer. The many-sided character of his oeuvre is mirrored in numerous chamber music works for different set-ups as also works for orchestra which one encounters more and more often in concerts, radio broadcasts and on CDs as well as Lieder, works for orchestra and the operas “Alice im Konservenland” (first performed in 2000), “Der 8. Tag” (first performed in 2006), "Die Wilden Schwäne" and “Saladins Gabe”.

Stefan Hussong, born in Koellerbach an der Saar, Germany, is First Prize winner of the 1983 International Hugo Herrmann and the 1987 International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition for contemporary music. In 1999, he was awarded the Echo Classic Prize of the German Phonoacademy in the category Best Performer. That same year his solo release for Denon with works by John Cage won the Best Record Award of the year. Hussong has premiered more than 150 works dedicated to him and he has recorded more than 40 albums, some of which have won several prizes. On the present release, he joins forces with percussionist Rumi Ogawa and pianist Yumiko Meguri to present a programme of works by Magnus Lindberg, Elena Mendoza, Martin Smolka, Hope Lee, Heera Kim, and David Eagle.