1621 was the year in which one of the most influential composers of Europe passed away - Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (15611621). With his knowledge and artistry, he had inspired an entire generation of musicians. Also in this year one of his students - Samuel Scheidt (15871654) - achieved public success as a composer by publishing Ludi musici, a collection of entertaining dance movements and canzonas. The recorder ensemble AS TIME GOES BY - A New Consort of Music from Vienna presents this music in a very exiting and insightful interpretation, which brings the nuances and details of these unknown compositions to light.

Clara Haberkamp does not like to be categorized and describes herself as a genre-open pianist and composer. Hailed as 'one of the most distinctive pianists on the German jazz scene' (radio DLF), she has recently made waves internationally with her latest record, Plateaux (TYXart, TXA24184). Blending jazz, classical music, and New Music, her sound is direct, intimate, and unmistakably her own. Occasionally, she adds her voice as another color in her musical palette, speaking directly to the listener. Clara Haberkamp's solo piano album LOVE MAPS (including also two vocal tracks) is a masterpiece of musical navigation-a beautifully crafted sonic map bridging jazz, classical music, and multifaceted improvisation. Familiar pieces and original compositions are transformed through her unique artistic sensibility.

For those accustomed to hearing a more standard, cohesive repertoire on an album, this program may seem unusual: For this studio concert, the Russian-American pianist Misha Namirovsky was guided by two artistic principles: on the one hand, the juxtaposition of forms, structural breadth and musical character, and on the other, the aspects of profundity, virtuosity and reflection.

On the occasion of his 60th birthday, Herve Joulain is presenting - most of this first recordings - of composers who have dedicated these works to him partly. To be, in the truest sense of the word, a musician of his time, one must engage with today's composers and their works. This means having works dedicated to you that need to be created and promoted, entering into dialogue with the composers, inspiring them with your talent to create new works; it means exploring the instrument's possibilities and stimulating the musician's abilities to venture down bold and hitherto unexplored paths. This is achieved here in an exemplary manner!

Powerful songs inspired by the life and fate of Georg Elser (1904-1945): a musical memorial to the man who almost stopped Hitler. In 1939, Georg Elser failed in his assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and was murdered for it on April 9, 1945, in the Dachau concentration camp. More than eight decades later, Michael Moravek (one of the most poetic representatives of English-language Americana songwriting from Germany) has dedicated an extraordinary work to him: GEORG - Songs of Courage and Humanity, and the question of attitude in dark times. Moravek, together with his band Electric Traveling Show, succeeds in giving Elser a voice and, at the same time, making the songs shine with a drastic topicality that could not be more contemporary. Together with his virtuoso band, he creates sparkling Americana folk rock with jazzy nuances and poetic, sober lyrics.

Each part in this double album presents one work of 33 variations by Franz Hummel. Initially, Hummel felt challenged by Beethoven's Diabelli Variations to compose another 33 variations on the same theme. At a memorial concert following Hummel's death (August 20th, 2022), his three master students, Yojo Christen, Christoph Preiss, and Alexander Maria Wagner, performed and reinterpreted these variations so powerfully that the desire arose to record this experience for the album. The second album features the Hercher Variations, which Franz Hummel composed between 2017 and 2019, interpreted by Christoph Preiss. A special feature is that, apart from these two works by Hummel, there are only a few cycles with 30 or more variations in well-known piano literature, e.g., Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations.

London-based German pianist and composer Bruno Heinen draws on classical compositions of the twentieth century and the jazz tradition in his works. Heinen's work has been described by The Guardian as eclectic, eccentric, and unobtrusively sophisticated. This album is inspired by Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos and uses cells and ideas from Volume 6 of Bartók's work, as well as lyrics in the form of Bartók quotations, to create a new suite. Bruno Heinen's quartet, The W, is a newly formed contemporary jazz combo featuring the charismatic British jazz singer Heidi Vogel. On drums is New Yorker Gene Calderazzo, who plays a leading role in the international jazz scene. The double bass is played by Italian Andrea Di Biase, who has performed with such greats as Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler. Like the four even lines that form the letter 'W', the four members of the group become 'one' to create a perfectly balanced and captivating new sound!

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!

Franz Schubert, who hardly ever owned a violin of his own, created music of wonderful inwardness for this instrument. Not a virtuoso in the conventional sense, he was a master of emotional sound speech. Like his piano works, his pieces for violin and piano also open up that sphere of the 'there' in which the earthly merges into transcendence. In their dialogue, the opposing worlds of the violin - the 'torn tone' - and the piano - the 'bound melody' - meet to form a lyrical unity that does not 'represent' anything, but simply 'is'. Ingolf Turban and Tomoko Sawallisch are the ideal performers for these works!

The Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima met the double bassist Oliver Potratz and the drummer Oliver Steidle in Berlin in the year 2000. The three musicians became companions on a journey that has now lasted for 25 years. They have defined their own sound and consistently push the boundaries of what is musically possible in a trio formation. The musical combination of influences from Finland and Berlin results in an original, wild and creative jazz music. Klima Kalima uses elements from rock, blues and folk to give their modern jazz sound a quirky and unique touch. The album 'Finn Noir' was released in 2013 (Enja Records), followed by the live album 'Live' (Planet Berlin 2022). These, along with their earlier albums 'Loru', 'Chasing Yellow' and 'Helsinki on My Mind', received excellent international reviews. They won the New German Jazz Award in 2008 and have performed concerts across Europe. Their new album 'Voyager Blues' will be released in fall 2025 on TYXart records. This project revolves around the twin spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2, which are located in the boundary zone of the solar system. One by one, the instruments on board are being shut down, in the hope that enough energy remains for the remaining devices to function until 2030. The musical project 'Voyager Blues' centers on these dying probes, with the band Klima Kalima providing the soundtrack to an imaginary film about the increasingly lonely and fading spacecraft. This theme also resonates with the lifestyle of the three musicians, who seem destined to be on the road for life. Over 25 years of hard work - through endless cycles of composing, rehearsing, performing live, and recording - the trio has developed it's own language. The magazine 'Jazzthetik' wrote of their last album: "Monk-ish in a cheerfully stubborn spirit, but not in repertoire, the three developed a richly packed program of distortions, exaggerations, and intensifications." In this project, the group returns to it's musical roots. This freer musical language is essential in 'Voyager Blues' to reflect the endless loneliness of the probes and allows even more space for ideas and dialogue among the musicians. Musically, this time the focus is on a narrative, melodic language. The basic concept is the blues - it's simplicity and clarity echo the solitary nature of dying. Alongside are melodies and polyrhythmic layers, interpreted in rock-inspired, constant dialogues between the musicians.

Finnish jazz guitarist Kalle Kalima and jazz trombonist Conny Bauer met in 2022 at a birthday concert for Nils Wogram, where they were playing at a jam session. They quickly developed new compositions together and worked on new ideas, for example based on a musical system developed by Conny in which certain intervallic movements can take place at certain times. They recorded their current album in Berlin in 2023. The music is strictly collective with the intention of escaping the usual categories.

L'Appel du Cor / The Call of the Horn (Works for Horn and Piano) - Beyond Stereotypes. The stereotype of the French is well known, it is a man with a beret on his head and a baguette under his arm. The stereotypical image of the horn is the hunting horn, the only vision that the general public has of an instrument that they hear nearly every day but that they know so little. So why does horn player Herve Joulain title his new CD "L'Appel du Cor" (The Call of the Horn), why go into the field of cliche? First of all, the hunting horn is part of the history of the horn and it does not deny it. Then composers made this past, these origins, a source of musical inspiration. Whether rustic, thunderous, or poetic, they have made the softened, the 'tayaute', also the 'debuche de la plaine' and the famous 'halali' the material of their musical writing for the modern horn. Some of the pieces performed by Herve Joulain could be wrongly described as minor works, specific to the 'conservatory end-of-year competitions'. Here the horn player's playing shows us that they are far from it and deserve to be played and listened to. Thus, from Busser to Bozza, from Pugno to Planel, Herve Joulain's horn takes us on a journey among dreams and lullabies, legends and whims, right up to the feminine vision that composer Elsa Barraine has for the horn in her brass band. The horn player Herve Joulain and the pianist Fanny Azzuro interpret these works - some of which can be heard as premiere recordings - in a wonderfully musical way. - - - L'Appel du Cor (Werke fur Horn und Klavier) - Jenseits von Stereotypen. Das Klischee uber die Franzosen ist allseits bekannt - ein Mann mit Baskenmutze auf dem Kopf und einem Baguette unter dem Arm. Das stereotype Bild des Horns ist das des Jagdhorns - die einzige Vorstellung, die die breite offentlichkeit von einem Instrument hat welches sie beinahe taglich hort, das sie aber doch so wenig kennt. Warum also betitelt der Hornist Herve Joulain seine neue CD "L'Appel du Cor" (Der Ruf des Horns), warum begibt er sich ins Feld der Klischees? Zunachst einmal ist das Jagdhorn Teil der Geschichte der Horner ansich, und dies soll auch keinsfalls verleugnet werden. Dann gestalteten die Komponisten genau diese Vergangenheit, diese Ursprunge zu einer neuen Quelle musikalischer Inspiration. Ob rustikal, donnernd oder poetisch, sie haben das Weiche, das "Tayaute", auch das "Debuche de la plaine" und das beruhmte "Halali" zum Material ihrer musikalischen Komposition fur das moderne Horn gemacht. Einige der von Herve Joulain aufgefuhrten Stucke konnten falschlicherweise als "kleinere" Werke bezeichnet werden, die spezifisch fur Vorspielabende an Musikschulen zum Jahresende sind. Hier zeigt uns das Spiel des Hornisten, dass diese Musik weit davon entfernt ist und es verdient, gespielt und gehort zu werden. So nimmt uns das Horn mit den Komponisten von Busser bis Bozza, von Pugno bis Planel mit auf eine Reise zwischen Traumen und Schlafliedern, Legenden und Launen, bis hin zu der "weiblichen Vision", die die Komponistin Elsa Barraine fur das Horn in ihrer Blaskapelle hat. Der Hornist Herve Joulain und die Pianistin Fanny Azzuro interpretieren diese - teils als Ersteinspielungen zu horenden Werke - in wunderbar musikalischer Art und Weise.

There are several sets of pieces that Bach collated (also) with his lessons in mind, amongst them the 'Orgelbuchlein', the 'Little Organ Book', which he started whilst working in Weimar in 1708, and the so-called 'Inventions and Sinfonias', composed in the 1720s in Cothen for his son Wilhelm Friedemann and for "lovers of the clavier, and particularly those who desire to learn". He worked on the 'Orgelbuchlein' over many years, adding to it and making changes, presumably adapting to his student's needs. His inscription on the title page proclaims in a rhyming couplet that his compositions were "in praise for the Almighty's will, and for my neighbour's greater skill". In the context of this programme two choral preludes and two 'Sinfonias' are used as "warm-ups", or preludes for five imagined lessons, functioning as the binding of the student's portfolio.

The Turkish pianist Emre Yavuz studied in Ankara and Vienna. After his final recital, he was the first piano student at the Vienna Conservatory to graduate with top marks. After a Rachmaninoff album, the multi-award-winning artist's latest recording for TYXart is dedicated to piano works by Maurice Ravel, whose 150th birthday the music world will be celebrating in 2025.

This album combines Japanese and European art songs - two seemingly distant cultural spheres revealing often impressive affinities, whereby in the direct comparison the respective characteristic profiles of the Western and Far Eastern style traditions are certainly preserved, perhaps even more apparent. All in all, a musical round dance is created through the highs and lows of human emotions and experiences - and regardless of the permanent back and forth between East and West, an invisible bond leads us to the brilliant rising of the Far Eastern sun in the last song of "A magnificent morning" by Yoshinao Nakada. Wonderfully interpreted by Misaki Kobayashi and Matthias Veit.

Music for piano solo (2017-2019) by Caspar Rene Hirschfeld (*1965) was premiered by Joshua Rupley in 2023 and deals with transience or the emergence, change and decay of all phenomena. In addition to a virtuoso technique, the work also requires a highly developed sense of sound in the quietest registers and the courage to remain completely calm in the quiet passages.

Elena Denisova is recognised as one of the most charismatic personalities of the international violin elite and sees herself as an ambassador of the magic of sound. She realises this as a passionate motto in all her interpretations of classical and 21st century works. It also applies to Bach's three sonatas for solo violin, which she performs here entirely in this spirit.

Horn Universe - Works for Horn, Tenor and Orchestra by Telemann, Mozart, Britten and Kikta Although nameless, the Suite in F Major TWV 44:7/55: F4 by Telemann is extremely pictorial: In the early 18th century, the horn is still somewhat new as an ensemble music instrument, and it serves to evoke the rural. This piece takes us outdoors. Like any French-style suite, it begins with a slow and majestic Overture, almost celestial [...] This recording allows us to discover a new completion of Mozart's Concerto in D, with a reworked second movement (Andante) by horn player Marco Elia Righi in 2020. Not only did he bring the Rondo with Mozart's original melodies back to life, he also added a second movement, Andante: Written in consideration of the natural horn's technique, this new movement is quite reminiscent of the style of the slow movements of the other concertos, while perfectly ?tting into the continuity of the Allegro. Marco shows real Mozartian taste, and brings a little freshness into this familiar music. What a pleasure to rediscover Mozart! The Serenade by Britten begins and ends with calls, not of a bugle as evoked in the Nocturne, but of a horn. In this period of con?ict when many deaths were to be deplored, one cannot ignore the thought of a death knell, recalled by the two horn solos which frame the Serenade. These calls, played without the valves, let the tone of F and it's natural harmonics sound the way the bugle without valves can produce them. On the other hand, not only does Britten's choice highlight the beauty of the horn and the talent of it's interpreter, but these sounds add a plaintive and painful idea that announces everything that the tenor declares. [...] As a great admirer of all the works in this album, hornist Herve Joulain cannot hide his excitement at presenting the Concerto for Horn and Strings by Valery Kikta. The composer is of Ukrainian origin but has been living and teaching in Moscow for decades. It was pure chance that led Joulain to discover the recording by Valery Zhavoronkov, while looking for educational information for the completion of his horn book. He immediately fell in love with the piece, Kikta having mastered the art of playing with half a dozen major thematic elements, which he reuses very happily, not to say brilliantly. These elements are sometimes declamatory, sometimes rhythmic, sometimes melodic, sometimes obstinate, o?ering the instrument a palette of unexpected colors to play with. [...] A great new recording, interpreted by Herve Joulain (Horn), Karlis Rerihs (Horn: Telemann), Kaelig Boche (Tenor: Britten), Sinfonietta Riga Chamber Orchestra and Kaspars Adamsons.

For many centuries, Georgia has been a country in which different ethnicities and religions have lived side by side: Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Jews, Christians and Muslims. This multicultural environment has influenced Josef Bardanashvili's style in the direction of pluralism, eclecticism and tolerance towards musical cultures. This openness can also be felt in each of the works on this CD.

In the heyday of English Renaissance music, the boundaries of musical forms and instrumental technique were expanded and composers embarked on a search for new, fascinating sounds. Thanks to the outstanding ensemble on this recording - Anna-Lena Elbert, Friederike Heumann (viola da gamba, lyra viol), Evangelina Mascardi (Renaissance lute) and Angelique Mauillon (harp) - this music blossoms again in it's ancient splendor and we can be enchanted by it's beauty, ingenuity and bittersweet melancholy.

Fantastic worlds - Organ transformations - Bach organ Regensburg The human imagination opens up worlds full of enchanting beauty, threatening dreams, night and sun - and the organ is the ideal companion for this! From Frescobaldi to Saint-Saens, this CD follows capricious and passionately winding paths in "Fantastic worlds". Roman Emilius on the versatile Ahrend organ (2020) of the Trinity Church in Regensburg takes us into the fleeting realm of fantasy. Imagination is a special human gift. Fantasizing about things and making up stories is the basic requirement for all art. The words 'fantasy' and 'fantastic' have positive connotations today, but that wasn't always the case. "Fantastic" in the sense of imagined, invented, without plan or purpose was not reconcilable with the regularity of art. Yet "fantastic worlds" are often responses to the overly ordered, constructed, and lifeless, always focussing on depicting humans with all their mood swings. The organ as an instrument of the church has to transform itself for this because anything too human was to be kept out of the church. That is why this CD is subtitled "Organ transformations". "Stylus phantasticus" was the name given in the 17th century to a style of music that called for boundaries to be crossed and rules to be broken in favour of increasing expressiveness. This goes hand in hand with freedom of presentation. Two masters of this style are Frescobaldi in his toccatas and Buxtehude in his major works. The famous "Air" by Bach is an encore that, at the end of the recording, leaves the reconciliatory word to the namesake of the Ahrend organ in Regensburg's Trinity Church, known as the "Bach organ". Roman Emilius was born in Nuremberg in 1963. He studied church music at the Frankfurt/Main University of Music with Edgar Krapp (organ), Wolfgang Schafer (choral conducting), Irina Edelstein (piano), and Jiri Starek (orchestral conducting). Following the church music exam, he completed the organ graduate degree course (Konzertexamen) and the Diplom degree in orchestral conducting. He was awarded the cultural study award (Kulturforderpreis) of the city of Erlangen in 1988. After one year as an assistant in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, he received a scholarship from the Bavarian Ministry of Culture in 1992 for the "Cite Internationale des Arts" in Paris. In addition to his position as cantor at the Auferstehungskirche (Church of the Resurrection) in Furth, he was the pianist with the ars-nova-ensemble in Nuremberg from 1994 to 1998. In 1997, he became cantor at the Christuskirche (Christ Church) in Munich, where he was subsequently appointed church music director and started to teach choral conducting in the church music ? eld of study at the Munich University of Music. Since 2008, he has been the Protestant city and deanery cantor in Regensburg and director of theRegensburger Kantorei and the Raselius-Chor church choirs. Together with a panel of experts, he designed the Ahrend organ (Bach organ Regensburg) for the Trinity Church in Regensburg, which was inaugurated in 2020.

Even though the arias have been 'stripped' of their text (using the historical techniques of transcription, of course, which were very fashionable at the time), they showcase Farinelli's artistry and evoke the noble sound and his open-throated messa di voce that inspired composers such as his brother Riccardo Broschi to write such charming arias as "Ombra fedele" or "Son qual nave". And the arias that Hasse and Porpora wrote for Farinelli also bring us very close to his seductive supernaturalism.

During the last years, Kalle and I had the opportunity to work on original duo music without much pressure from outside and finally recorded this program in September 2022. I have always enjoyed listening to and exploring ensemble music that uses multiple instruments being capable of providing harmonic information. This certainly requires deep listening on various levels - pitch-wise, chord-wise, register-wise, rhythmically and texturally. The duo combination of piano and acoustic guitar puts these possibilities and challenges under a magnifying glass. The analogy of a "meta-instrument" seems especially fitting for this combination which showcases two instruments with very different properties that still make a lot of textural overlaps possible. Ideally their sounds blend into each other, one seems like an extension of the other. The pieces that I chose for this duo are song-inspired but also largely reflect some modernist compositional tendencies. It's as though Joni Mitchell, Henry Threadgill and Elliott Carter had decided to move to the same neighborhood, at least for a short sojourn, to work on an interactive project. Achim Kaufmann This is our first duo recording and it took almost two years to develop the music, yet we were not in a hurry and we let the music grow organically. Our decision to use acoustic guitar made the project unique for me. This project took me back to teenager years when I was overwhelmed by the acoustic work of Ralph Towner, Jimmy Page and Julian Bream. Finally I found a chance to integrate this in my music with Achim. For this project I had to tame the acoustic guitar again. The music is a collective meditation on influences from Miles Davis over Morton Feldman to Robert Johnson but all original compositions by Achim and me. I think this music shows new sides of our musical journey. Kalle Kalima

Programme music as chamber music? There is an obvious common denominator between Greek mythology and Paul Celan's poetry: mysticism. Whether consciously or unconsciously, this element seems to give my personal cultural roots the appropriate musical expression. If one asks what exactly is meant to be expressed here and whether the titles and subtitles of the two chamber music works should be understood as program music, then a very specific artistic credo will be revealed. Greek mythology and philosophy form the foundation of my world view and at the same time my intellectual background. These myths and legends are not simple stories, but rather a code that needs to be deciphered - just like Japanese haikus, over which one can meditate for years - in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the world and human nature. In this respect, this music can be understood programmatic, but not in the sense of an approximate retelling of stories in mere tones; but rather as music aiming to reveal a deeper level of understanding in giving birth to the meaning of the underlying myth and bringing it emotionally closer to the listener. In this sense, the virtuoso piano work is entitled "The Lost Nereid". The Nereids were beautiful sea nymphs who beguiled people with their songs and could make the sea storm or pacify. In the Greek Kabbalah, the element of water represents the "feeling". How would one of those Nereids sing today, if she had lost herself from that archaic time to the present day? How would her song sound like in the turbulent world of ours, in which aesthetic values - if they exist at all - are entirely subjective? What feeling would it evoke and what lost beauty would it want to remind us of? he sonata for bassoon and piano, entitled "The Horae" deals with one of the three Horae in each individual movement: "Eunomia", "Diki" and "Eirini". "Horae" translates to "hours". These three goddesses were the constant companions of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. Their names thus display qualities that are directly linked to beauty or reveal that divine beauty to us humans, when we fill every "hour" of our lives with them - namely with "Good Law", "Justice" and finally with "Peace". Each of the three movements has it's own musical and formal character and uses the entire range of expression of both instruments as well as their technical possibilities.

With his new "lieder" (song) cycle "Kafer toten", composer Alexander Maria Wagner (b. 1995) presents a sonic cosmos that brings a new and surprising variety to the ears, both on the text/vocal level and on the instrumental level. He thus opens up the world of contemporary music in his very own way, excellently and passionately interpreted by Graham F. Valentine (Voice) and the the ensemble Christian Spataru, Florian Moser (Violin), Felix Rosenboom (Cello), Eniko Cseh (Flute), Jake Mann (Clarinet) and Shun Oi (Piano).

Limited Vinyl Edition, 180g (Double LP) - With his new "lieder" (song) cycle "Kafer toten", composer Alexander Maria Wagner (b. 1995) presents a sonic cosmos that brings a new and surprising variety to the ears, both on the text/vocal level and on the instrumental level. He thus opens up the world of contemporary music in his very own way, excellently and passionately interpreted by Graham F. Valentine (Voice) and the the ensemble Christian Spataru, Florian Moser (Violin), Felix Rosenboom (Cello), Eniko Cseh (Flute), Jake Mann (Clarinet) and Shun Oi (Piano).

It's flawless... it's fearless... I don't know how it gets better than this. It might appear off-the-wall, but Taylor Swift's words to describe a first kiss are also a summation of the new album by Clara Haberkamp, the wonderful German jazz pianist... who just happens to have been born in the same month of the same year as Swift: December 1989. And maybe there is something more than just a simple coincidence of month of birth going on here. As Haberkamp says: "I have changed. My role models these days are women, in music and elsewhere, who combine strength and self-determination with compassion and receptiveness." These reflections don't just feed into her own continuing development and her rising profile on the European music scene, they are also a defining part of the way she plays and leads her trio. Downbeat critic Josef Woodard has called Haberkamp "a commanding presence" and anyone listening to this album, or watching the trio in action live or on video will instantly hear and see how all that works, why it functions so well, and in so many ways and stylistic directions. She chooses to work with strong, infinitely subtle, top-flight players from a slightly older generation: bassist Oliver Potratz is one of the most in-demand players of the instrument in Germany; Jarle Vespestad's vast experience includes several years with both Farmers Market and Tord Gustavsen's trio. Each of them has made the best part of 100 albums. And yet it is the phenomenally adept pianist who is clearly the one in charge, shaping the music in it's many forms, throwing out the rhythmic and harmonicchallenges to her skilful and wise colleagues. This music has everything from the knottiest of counterpoint ("Collage"), achingly intense lyricism ("Enfold me like a poem"), the quiet and reflective ("On a Park Bench"), idealised dreamscape ("Fantasmes") to moments when she brings the music back to simple, heartfelt forms of expression which cannot fail to reach every heart ("If you could read my mind"). And there can be very few singer/pianists since Shirley Horn who have reached the degree of interdependence of piano and voice that Haberkamp brings to her hauntingly reharmonized "Danny Boy", a welcome return to singing for just one track on the album. The album title "Plateaux" comes from a 1980 book whose authors found every way they could to observe and encourage the dismantling of traditional power structures and hierarchies: "Mille Plateaux" by philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Felix Guattari, both of whom died in the 1990s. The world has moved on since those days, and to witness Haberkamp at the helm of her trio is to understand that there are many better ways to invent and to communicate. How natural, how totally at ease with herself at the piano and in her role as leader she is. It allows her to stand out in the crowded field of piano trios as very special, or "souveran" as the Germans say. The vast armies of Taylor Swift admirers bring sackfuls of glitter and hair accessories to her concerts. All that an admirer of Clara Haberkamp needs to bring is an open mind, ear, and heart. All three will be copiously rewarded by an artist who is increasingly, definably, defiantly, remarkably, herself.

I have devoted this most recent recording to dance. The pieces that I perform here are all linked to the art of dance from different eras and different cultures. Throughout history and in most people's perception, dance has always been a source of entertainment and joy, but it can also represent more sombre occasions, with pomp and grandeur. The Chaconne, for example, has become both tragic and sublime over time and today it's rhythm has mellowed! Chopin's Mazurkas can be rustic and folkloric, haunting or lyrical, even dramatic. In short, dance can express diametric opposites and unite those opposites at the same time. That's why I also want to pay homage to Shiva's dance, for this god, the symbol of destruction, illusion and ignorance, destroys in order to awaken human beings and lead them to create a new world. Shiva's divine dance, Tandava Nritya, is regarded by Hinduism as the origin of the cycle of creation, preservation and devastation. Vagharshapat Dance is based upon a melody from 'Yerangi' found in "Six Dances for Piano" (1906) by the legendary Armenian composer Komitas (1869?935). Vagharshapat is the location of Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the fourth largest city in Armenia located 11 miles west of Yerevan. My recording ends with Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", in an arrangement of my own. The duality of this piece's character is obvious, as while the sabers suggest the idea of death, the dance becomes a 'living dance? one that enchants us or, a dance that comes alive. I hope that the current times of wars, destruction and social upheaval will soon be replaced by peace and the joy that comes with it, and I hope that this recording brings a form of respite and quietude and with it lightness, joy and happiness. Vardan Mamikonian "Vardan Mamikonian demonstrates a technique that combines power and poetry... and flashes of interpretive genius." New York Times Vardan Mamikonian has come to the attention of the international press and public thanks to his prestigious technique and extraordinary musicality. He has performed in the United States with such renowned orchestras as the Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, Pacific, Houston and National Symphonies, as well as with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He is a guest at major international festivals such as Verbier and St. Moritz in Switzerland, Ravinia in the USA, La Roque d'Antheron in France, the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival in Germany, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. He gives recitals in some of the world's most prestigious music venues: Musikverein Vienna, Carnegie Hall New York, Theatre des Champs-elysees Paris, Herkulessaal Munich, Wigmore Hall London, Tonhalle Zurich, Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco and Kennedy Center Washington, to name but a few. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians, Vardan Mamikonian began studying piano at the Spendiarian School of Music in his hometown, under Arkui Haroutunian. He continued his studies at the Moscow Central Music School and the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Valery Kastelsky, one of the last proteges of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. He then went on to perfect his skills at the Piano Academy in Imola, Italy, under the guidance of Lazar Berman. In 1991, Vardan moved to Paris, and in 1992, he won the World Music Masters Competition in Monte Carlo, reserved exclusively for winners of international competitions. Vardan Mamikonian has taken part in numerous recordings for radio and television, as well as for the German label Orfeo. Several of his recordings have been praised by the international press.

Thomas J. Woods (b. 1969): The Carnival of the Dinosaurs – A musical fairytale

Tyrannosaurus Regina is the tyrant Queen of the dinosaurs and preparations are underway for the Carnival celebrating her birthday. Always suspicious, she sends out spies to observe her subjects including a melancholy Brontosaurus, partying Triceratops and a tattooed Ankylosaurus. But perhaps the real threat comes from the Pterodactyls above?

“The Carnival of the Dinosaurs” is a musical fairytale that will delight listeners and readers young and old. Narrated and interpreted by Rachel Teear (Narrator), Freddy Kempf (Piano 1) and Natalia Woods (Piano 2).