One-composer lieder recitals with the music’s creator sitting at the piano are rare events. • The soprano Gesche Geier, accompanied by pianist and composer Hans Martin Gräbner, interpret three of Mr. Gräbner’s lieder cycles, written in 2011 and 2013. • The first part takes us through the seasons and the course of life – the second, short cycle is homage to Franz Liszt – and a Masonic spirit permeates the third. • Texts include works of the Italian Trecento, German Romanticism and German writer Kurt Tucholsky. • The music never strays outside the bounds of tonality, with short excursions into 12-tone music.

Robert Groslot’s music reveals the complex personality of the composer, pianist, and conductor born in Mechelen, Belgium, in 1951. The three works recorded here- empathically interpreted by the two cellists, Ilia Yourivich Laporev and Ilia Laporev jr., and pianist Dasha Moroz- point to each other through their connection to spoken language, something that is also reflected in a few of the titles. Groslot takes his inspiration from images, in which a line is equal to writing a musical phrase, but a color can serve just as well to create a harmony. His fascination for puzzles forms the overarching structure for it all. But above all, his passion for language has led to intriguing writings that make his personal style recognizable. Because Groslot starts with improvisation, his music sounds like an intuitive language with a logical development, which is always audibly recognizable for the listener. In terms of melody, he thinks in musical phrases- just like in a spoken conversation- which can be suddenly interrupted or overlap each other internally. This “conversational technique” is the leitmotif through his body of work and also resounds through his titles.

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.

The seventh album of this series, and the second with works by Robert Fuchs brings together the complete repertory for violoncello and piano. The Austrian composer is deemed to be one of the most appreciated musicians of the Viennese musical life surrounding Johannes Brahms. The cello works recorded here impressed listeners already at the time of their creation with their inventiveness and elegance. The recordings on hand continue seamlessly where the firs talbum recording with duos and chamber music by Fuchs already closed prominent repertory gaps. While the viola was the focal point initially, here, it is some of the works the composer created for teh violoncello and that can all be counted among the most mature works to flow from his pen. If one were to give but one summarizing keyword for Fuchs' compositions for this instrument, it would no doubt be elegance. Elegance pervades all three operas and demonstrates the exceptionally high standard of this composer, almost forgotten today.

The songs recorded for this release span a whole female composer's life: Still a student at Munz'sches Konservatorium in Karlsruhe, Germany, Margarete Schweikert wrote the songs Der Page on a poem of Frida Schanz and I'm Schilf on verses of A. W. Stern. They were premiered in a concert given by the students on June 7, 1905. Three of the 'Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Martha Kropp' were performed for the first time on January 28 in 1955 in a concert arranged by the GEDOK Karlsruhe in presence of the composer. Her teachers were the violinist Carl Wendling and the composer Joseph Haas, a pupil of Max Reger, both lecturers at the local K�nigliche Konservatorium. During these years, Margarete Schweikert expanded her activities as violinist and as composer. She performed not only in Karlsruhe, but in other Southern German cities like W�rzburg, N�rnberg and Stuttgart. In the programs that she organized, she often combined chamber music for violin with her songs. Again and again renowned singers campaigned for her songs. One example is the baritone Otto Wessbecher, who, from 1911 on, included Gomorra frequently in his programmes. This release features renowned tenor Bernhard Berchtold and pianist Jeannette La-Deur performing a selection of Margarete's lieder, based on texts by Ehrler, Goethe, Goll, and more.

On this CD Argentinean pianist Carmen Piazzini presents Brahms' late pianistic works with a luminescence and poetic sensibility of tone that give the works new lyricism and radiance. Piazzini is one of today's most important pianists, with a sound reputation founded not only on her sensational recordings but on her compelling musicianship.

Founded in 1994, Ensemble Del Arte is an internationally known chamber orchestra who frequently performs with renowned conductors and soloists. From Baroque to contemporary music, Ensemble Del Arte tackles every genre. The ensemble presents here premiere recordings of works by contemporary Georgian composers Jimsher Asklaneli and Igor Loboda, and Bavarian composer Franz Hummel. This incredible live recording showcases the instrumentalists’ talents, as well as the interpretive abilities of conductor Fuad Ibrahimov.

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)

Canadian pianist Patricia Hoy and American cellist Alexander Suleiman collection is an intriguing blend of transcriptions of popular works by Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann that segue into compellingly uncharted territory with the closing 'Atavistic Music', a piece that provides a riveting contrast with it's freestyle improvisatory structure that recedes and blooms, ebbs and flows across it's 27 minutes and 33 seconds.

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.

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

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 Old Chapel in Regensburg was an important hub for the rediscovery of early a cappella music during the 19th century. This album explores the tradition as it was rediscovered during the tenure of Prof. Joseph Kohlhaufl, who served as musical director of the collegiate church between 1984 and 2011. A number of these tracks are first recordings, including the Missa Nos autem gloriari by Francesco Suriano (1549-1621), and the motets by Michael Haller (1840-1915).

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.

Pianist Georg Michael Grau presents this outstanding album including works by Beethoven and Auerbach. Beethoven’s Sonatas Op. 7 & Op 110 are showstoppers on this album, both works that are standard in the repertoire. The style of Russian-American composer Lera Auerbach combines traditional and modern elements, and provides an interesting contrast to the Beethoven sonatas.