For this album, Cellist Friedemann Doling selected four very interesting 20th century compositions from his solo program, which he performs regularly and which meet with an especially positive response from audiences. The works by Toch, Fortner, Adler and Klebe - rarely performed and in part recorded here for the first time - find with this album the even greater audience they deserve.

Pianist Matthias Veit believes that in our fast-paced music world, including the classical world, our lives consist of increasingly fragmented and frenetic listening across eras. This release attempts to come to terms with these changes, exploiting the wealth of brief piano pieces in the repertoire to build a kaleidoscope of musical epochs.

Schoenberg, Adorno and Stravinsky - three great composers of the 20th century meet on this project of violin works. In the hands of Liana Issakadze these works take on the quality of a wild circus act and shine with splendor and technical authority. Issakadze plays like the violinist with six fingers that Schoenberg prophesied.

This CD presents the first recording of the new Pope Benedict Organ, which was built in 2006 by the Swiss organ building firm Mathis. The recording took place in September/October 2006, during the week of celebrations surrounding the consecration of the new Instrument by Pope Benedict XVI.

Franz Hummel was the first composer after Beethoven to use Anton Diabelli’s famous theme as the basis for an extended solo piano work. + These variations are like a humorous, tongue-in-cheek chronicle of music, and some stylistic quotations offer a challenge, as in a musical quiz, to guess who could possibly have written which variation. + Angela Cholakian is regarded as one of the most passionate and original pianists playing the romantic and contemporary literature. + With phenomenal technique she effortlessly puts into practice all that her obsessive imagination demands of her.

This recording, played by Gerhard Weinberger, is the first to have been made with the restored Johann Patroclus Möller Organ which was built in 1736-38. Two of Johann Sebastian Bach's important free works form a framework for this CD: the Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 538, and the well known Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582.

The soloist Elena Denisova and the string orchestra Collegium Musicum Carinthia as well as the RTV Orchestra Moscow conducted by Alexei Kornienko proudly present two new violin concertos of the 21st century. The works of Nikolaus Fheodoroff and Mikhail Kollontay are characterized by a constantly evolving, lively musical choreography of the performers and are, in a musical and technical sense, very masterful and expressive. As an ambassador of tonal sensuality Elena Denisova ranks as one of the finest and most charismatic violinists of her generation. Known for her great musical maturity, individual style of interpretation and supreme virtuosity, her performances have won critical acclaim from press and public alike. Denisova was born in Moscow and, as a young child, was fascinated by Jascha Heifetz’s expressive playing and versatility of tone; she loved listening to his records over and over in her childhood home. Her parents supported this highly sensitive talent, and she recorded her first LP while still a pupil at the music school of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She has won many violin competitions and initially was active as a soloist and chamber musician in the former USSR- for example as soloist of the Moscow State Philharmonic and first violinist of the Moscow National Quartet. Elena lives for her convictions about how music can reach audiences today. She is a knowledgeable advocate of the music of our time, and international composers have dedicated highly complex pieces to her. She covers the complete violin concert repertoire from the Baroque to the Modern, whereby composers and colleagues affirm that “she plays even the most complex and challenging modern works with the same self-assurance and inner logic as if she were playing Brahms or Beethoven.” (Franz Hummel)

What do an Opera Aria by Gounod and a short Serenade by Borodin have in common? They both served as models for two short piano pieces by Maurice Ravel: Portraits of other composers. Anne Riegler offers in her debut album a perspective on Ravel's music that is unique in its approach. All piano works in which Ravel names and refers to other composers are paired with original compositions of those portrayed composers, resulting in an exceptional journey through all periods of music history from Couperin to Ravel.

ZYMAN Piano Concerto 1. ROLÓN Piano Concerto, op. 42. 1 El Festin de los Enanos • 1 Claudia Corona (pn); Gregor Bühl, cond; Nuremberg SO • TYXART 13024 (58:33)


It is always gratifying when musicians seek out obscure works to record, thereby broadening our knowledge of the repertoire. Although I have listened to many anthologies of 20th-century Mexican music, José Rolón (1876–1945) has never come to my attention before. He was a pianist, teacher, orchestra founder, and composer who studied in Paris with, among others, Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger. His two works on this disc reveal a French influence in their orchestral finesse and polish, combined with the rhythms and melodic contours of Mexican folk music. Along with this large-scale Concerto he wrote symphonic poems, a Symphony, and a String Quartet, all of which I would very much like to hear. (One movement of the Quartet is accessible on YouTube, but there does not seem to be a complete recording available.)


The Concerto, begun in 1928 but not completed until 1935, is in three movements, played without a break. It has been performed rarely if at all since its 1936 premiere. For this recording pianist Claudia Corona revised and clarified the orchestral parts—a true labor of love. The work abounds in Lisztian figuration and colorful orchestral textures; the Piano Concerto it reminds me of is that by Khachaturian, composed around the same time, except of course that the themes have a Mexican rather than Armenian flavor. Structurally it is somewhat ramshackle, but its high spirits and the profusion of ideas keep it interesting. Rather like certain works of Villa-Lobos, you simply have to relax and go with it. Corona and the Nuremberg forces under Bühl attack the work with all the gusto it requires, especially the frenzied closing section.


The eight-minute symphonic scherzo Feast of the Dwarfs, op. 30, is built on a syncopated rhythmic figure (a triplet followed by a duplet), which the composer dresses up in sophisticated orchestral textures and develops skillfully. Dukas’s influence is obvious here, although the piece is no mere imitation. Again the mood is joyous.


Samuel Zyman (b. 1956) is the more familiar name. Born and educated initially in Mexico, he now resides in the U.S. and has taught at Juilliard since 1987. This Piano Concerto may be an expanded arrangement of an earlier Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra; the latter is the only Piano Concerto mentioned in Zyman’s list of published works. That chamber concerto was recorded in 1989 (by Mirian Conti), whereas this new recording is advertised as the premiere of the “symphonic version.” It was first played by Corona in concert in 2005. Again in three movements, it is similarly a large-scale showpiece but more tightly structured and tougher than the Rolón. The piano’s relentless scale passages in the first movement and the somewhat monolithic lyricism of the second both bring to mind the Concerto by Chávez (which recently received an excellent new recording, coupled with solo works by Zyman and others: see reviews by Peter Burwasser and myself in Fanfare 37:1). Zyman is warmer than Chávez, and this warmth comes to the fore in the vivacious Presto movement that closes the work. That final movement also contains a quiet, introverted passage of lyrical beauty for the piano, before scampering off towards the abrupt final cadence.


I cannot over-emphasize the care and zest with which these musicians approach this enjoyable program, and the recording quality is excellent. Without question, this disc is a delightful discovery.


FANFARE: Phillip Scott

This album brings together eight composers with very diverse works. Only upon closer examination do we perceive the connections between pairs of works on the recording, though each time of a different kind. We thus have the Beethoven/Brahms duo- the model and emulator, both firmly rooted in the German musical tradition; Suk-Martinu- the teacher and pupil, each also influenced by Eastern European folk music; Faure/Elgar- two representatives of late Romantic tone painting in Western Europe; and finally, Popper/Ginzel-two cellist-composers who know and take delight in every subtlety of their instrument. Reiner Ginzel studied with the eminent teacher Professor Karl Grosch, a student of the legendary cellist Julius Klengel. He perfected his abilities taking part in various master courses, and during this period was a prizewinner of national and international competition. After several years as solo cellist in the most renowned German orchestras, he was called to the University of Music and Theatre in Munich as professor. He is also a member of the German String Trio with which he has produced more than 30 albums. Annette Weisbrod, Swiss pianist brought up in England, is at present one of the most eminent musicians in Switzerland. Concerts as soloists, chamber musician and accompanist have taken her all over the world, from Europe to America, from Chile to China, and she has done several world tours, Radio broadcasts and over 4 dozen records to testify to her range and versatility.

The Joachim Wollenweber Edition series is dedicated to bringing public attention forgotten composers of the classical and romantic periods. Including sheet music in tandem with collaborations with top performers and musicologists, the CDs comprise a third wheel of the presentation. Volume 3 of this series is 'Romantic Duos' featuring moving compatibility of the fantastic Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic (viola) with Oliver Triendl (piano) in deeply engaged performances with these chamber pieces by Friedrich Kiel, Carl Reinecke and Prince Reuss and more.

Hermann Goetz (1840-76) had observed Wagner and Liszt, the avant-garde of his times, with interest, yet there is almost nothing of it in his musical language, firmly anchored in the First Viennese School and early Romanticism. + His melodies often have a seductively lyrical charm. + Of all his generation’s recognized masters, he is to be found most appropriately placed at the side of Edvard Grieg. + This TYX Art CD release marks the launch of new series based upon publication of new sheet music editions dedicated to refocusing attention on forgotten composers of the classical and romantic periods.

Hans Jürgen Huber and Norbert Düchtel present the Trumpet and the Organ in a whole new way. In addition to works from the baroque and romantic periods, they also include modern pieces. The far-reaching repertoire ranges from the baroque period to original compositions from the 20th century. The partita "Lobe den Herren" ("Praise the Lord") by L. Graap is a discovery both artists use to showcase new sides to their instruments – with flawless techniques and great tonal cantability. This album is full of interesting works for the popular combination of trumpet and organ — by Mouret, Bach, Rathgeber, Pachelbel, Rheinberger, Handel, Krebs, Stanley, Albrechtsberger, Krebs, and includes three Ave Maria variations by Schubert, Arcadelt and Gounod.

This new release brings together works for flute and piano from the early 20th century. An era that was ruled by the idea of "L'art pour l'art". "This CD is one of the most interesting to be issued for a long time. The repertoire is very attractive. It is very well recorded and the playing is of the highest standard. A pleasure to listen to." - Sir James Galway

Classical Music

The “Wanderer Fantasy” is the theoretical starting point and crowning work of this recording, which, however, also thoughtfully looks at the atmospherically light side of Romantic wandering. The program thus firmly leads from the famous wanderer of the educated classes, Felix Mendelssohn, and his journey through Scotland to colorful musical atmospheric images by composers from Liszt to Debussy. They tell of forests, the world of gnomes and sprites, and of fantastical and exotic dances. Venetian gondola songs then segue from dry land onto the water and guide us on the winding bends of the 'Grand Canal' all the way to the 'L’Isle joyeuse', that island of joy regarded as the kingdom of love and bliss. Concerts in Germany and abroad have always earned the young German pianist Jamina Gerl excellent reviews from professional critics. For instance, the press in New York declared her orchestral debut performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto “a triumph for all concerned,” christening Gerl “a lioness of the keyboard.” In addition to her versatile concert programs, she is often praised for her poetically inspired piano playing, remarkable virtuosity and richly shaded, differentiated expression. Concerts and numerous competition triumphs resulted in her appearing in such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall and the Steinway Hall in New York, the Beethoven Haus Chamber Music Hall, the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Mannes College Concert Hall, Tonhalle Dusseldorf and Munetsugu Hall Nagoya.

Tilman Skowroneck writes: "This recording was initiated by Bengt Nassen, the owner of the harpsichord by Martin Skowroneck (1926-2014) that is featured here. Initially, I was planning to play music by Bach and Handel on this German instrument, which is based on early eighteenth-century models, but after acquainting myself with the instrument's possibilities, I was led in a different direction. It's sound is located somewhere between Italian brilliance and a more intimate vocal character. Some French builders of the seventeenth century made instruments whose characteristics were quite similar, even though they arrived at these results by different constructions. And so the idea was born to use this sound to retrace the connections between the Italian and French sound worlds of the late seventeenth century." Tilman Skowroneck was born in Bremen in 1959 and studied harpsichord in The Hague and Amsterdam. After his studies he established himself as a freelance harpsichordist in Germany and Holland. Since 1996, Tilman Skowroneck has participated at various early piano seminars at the University of Gothenburg and the Gothenburg organ centre GOArt. He is currently senior lecturer for musical performance at the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg.

The new Joachim Wollenweber Edition refocuses the public’s attention on forgotten composers from the Baroque period all the way into the modern age. New sheet music editions are created in collaboration with top artists, musicologists and radio stations, with the recordings being published at the same time. The eighth release in this TYXart chamber music series is dedicated to the Venetian composer Sandro Blumenthal (1874 – 1919), a versatile wanderer between the establishment and the avant-garde of the German musical and cultural landscape around the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. After a promising start as a composer of serious music, he turned to the cabaret and became an important singer of cabaret lieder. Internationally well-known artists present these almost forgotten chamber music gems for the first time.

Almost 70 years after it's premiere in Athens, we are now experiencing the German premiere of Mikis Theodorakis' First Symphony. This expressive composition has a dramatic history: the boiling sounds of this composition reveal the suffering, hope, and desire for freedom that the 25-year-old composer felt when he wrote this work on the prison island of Makronisos. This is contrasted with Ektoras Tartanis' own symphonic debut work, Erato Psaltrian, for baritone, harp, and orchestra; three movements entitled Genesis, Journey, and Celebration. Tartanis introduces us to the world of Greek mythology, the tradition of Byzantine chant, and, at the same time, to contemporary soundscapes. The piece was written for Anneleen Lenaerts, principal harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic, who performs the work together with the internationally acclaimed Swedish baritone Kosma Ranuer Kroon.

To mark the 85th birthday of the renowned Munich composer Wilfried Hiller, master of universal sound art, the CD VERNISSAGE Works for Violin, Piano, North Indian Singing Bowls, Wine Glasses and Tap Shoes will be released now: This unconventional instrumentation creates a synthesis of tradition and experimentation that takes the listener into new dimensions of sound. Several world premiere recordings can also be heard, some inspired by the expressive sculptures of the artist Antje Tesche-Mentzen. Interpreted by violinist Franziska Strohmayr and pianist Laura Pitz, who make the nuanced timbres shine, they also present solo works with virtuoso musicality and technique, interweaving harmonic worlds and percussive elements. This CD is a novelty in contemporary music: innovative, interdisciplinary and astonishing!

Making exclusive use of their own adaptations of masterworks, the Deutsche Saxophone Ensemble have embarked on a project to rework nearly the entire German musical tradition with the youngest of all musical instruments - the saxophone! DSE brings new clarity to polyphonic masterpieces with these fresh arrangements that must to be heard to be believed.

It was "the great meanings of the ancients" that drove Goethe to Italy and Mendelssohn to Scotland. Literati and musicians are united by a preoccupation with the past, searching for themselves in the foreign and distant. This is more than mere intellectual curiosity; to receive fresh stimuli for one's own work from the ancients is like an act of self-assurance through questioning those masters who form the canon of knowledge and to whom new voices must be gallantly added. By showing personal reverence through artistic references, artists have always created new forms of expression in the footsteps of the past. Bringing such interactions to light is the goal of this album. The collected works show examples of how pioneering this attitude is. It was Mendelssohn who was the impetus for the Bach renaissance in the mid-nineteenth century. It directly affected Clara and Robert Schumann as well as Franz Liszt, whose piano transcriptions of Bach's organ works open the recording. Like many composers, Liszt was drawn to Italy, whose cultural heritage, including Renaissance paintings and poems by Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarch, captivated him. Petrarch in particular appealed to Liszt and Schumann. The latter read his poems and translated them; Liszt set them to music. Dante's "Divine Comedy" was also omnipresent. Liszt's resounding Dante reading concludes the series of selected works that push us back, as it were, into the future.

In 1937, a Viennese antiquarian sells a comprehensive lute tablature, which then ends up in Lviv in today's Ukraine. For decades, the tablature is out of reach and subject to wild speculation. Today, it once again reveals European Renaissance masterpieces, presented here on this album. Bernhard Hofst�tter's lute playing has been described as "adeptly combining technical ease with a masterful sense of phrasing" (Lute Society of America) and demonstrating "a refined rhythmic sensibility and understanding" (International Record Review). His recordings of the music of the 18th century lute virtuoso Silvius Leopold Weiss have been hailed as containing "some of the most sympathetic and beautiful Weiss-playing yet committed to disc" (Gramophone). To date, Hofst�tter has published four solo albums which shine an imaginative and colorful light on the lesser known musical landscapes of the 17th and 18th centuries. His recordings have been met with international critical acclaim.

Joseph Haas' Christmas Liederspiel, Christnacht, combines Bavarian and Tyrol folk tunes into an oratorio. His Marian Hymns based primarily on texts from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The composers of the other various carols on this release are either pupils or contemporaries of Haas.

The main organ of the St. Gallen Cathedral (Switzerland) was built in 1968 and has since delighted numerous concertgoers and churchgoers. The exquisitely selected program of this recording bears witness to it's outstanding tonal qualities. The following composition merits special attention: "Fantaisie-Orage" by Swiss cathedral organist Jacques Vogt. The version recorded here was reconstructed by Paul Haas based on handwritten fragments. In this fantasy, already the beginning captures the listener with it's beautiful echo passages. After the presentation of several popular Swiss folk songs, a gloomy storm starts brewing, culminating in a passage reminiscent of Beethoven. According to the performance instructions, the organ is to be played with the entire palm of the hand and the elbow in order to imitate the storm and the lightning strikes as closely as possible. After the storm, the rural population gratefully joins in with the hymn "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name". International reviews attested cathedral organist Willibald Guggenmos "fantastic technique and dazzling musicianship" (Bernhard Holland - New York Times). His enormous repertoire includes the complete works of Bach, Franck, Liszt, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Boollmann, Stehle, Durufle and the great works of Max Reger.