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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38023 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Prelude & Fugue in A minor,WoO 9 Prelude & Fugue in G minor, WoO 10 Fugue in A flat minor, WoO 8 Chorale Prelude & Fugue on «O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid», WoO 7 Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op.posth.122 As civic musical life was blossoming and the church was losing much of its significance in the period of enlightenment and secularisation in 19th century Germany, organ playing and organ music was no-longer part of the mainstream of musical culture. Few interpreters and composers became seriously involved with the instrument, the way it was played (the pedals), the way it was built and its special features. Among the composers who wrote for the organ all their lives and whose religious works took up a large part of their output were Felix Mendelssohn and Josef Gabriel Rheinberger. But there were also other well-known musical personalities who repeatedly turned to playing and writing for the organ at special times during the course of their creative lives. These included Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. A look at the various biographies reveals two main reasons for such people to occupy them-selves with the organ: firstly, to improve polyphonic composition skills through a close examination of contrapuntal writing and the works of baroque composers (such as Buxtehude, Handel and Bach) and, secondly, to help cope with personal crises in life by working with themes of a religious nature. Both of these reasons apply to the works of Johannes Brahms: His organ compositions appeared in two phases of his life, characterised especially by close contact to Robert and Clara Schumann. In 1855 and 1856, when Brahms was often staying at the Schumann’s house in Düsseldorf, the early works appeared (the Prelude and Fugue in a minor WoO 9, the Fugue in A flat minor WoO 8, the Choral Prelude and Fugue on "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid” WoO 7 and the Prelude and Fugue in G minor WoO 10). On the one hand, Brahms was intensively occupied in his contrapuntal studies at the time; on the other hand, there was a special friendship developing with Clara Schumann. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38024 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Piano Concerto in C major, Op. 12; Symphony in E flat major, Op. 14; Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in D major, Op. 24 Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens Had he been asked to name his favourite instrument, Johann Wilhelm Wilms would have surely replied “the orchestra". This might sound rather strange coming from a composer renowned, ¡n his adapted home of Amsterdam, as the greatest of the young piano virtuosos and teachers (and also over the decades as a flutist) of his time. As soon as one hears one of his orchestral works, however, it makes perfect sense. Every page of a Wilms score sings with the composer’s desire to communicate his musical ideas by means of an ensemble of carefully chosen and capable instrumentalists. Wilms openly professed the primacy of instrumental music over its vocal counterpart. The great conductor and composer Igor Markevitch’s observation “The greater the masters were, the mare they wrote not far the instrument, but for the person who breathed life into it” is thus particularly applicable to Wilms. His extensive familiarity with the specific capabilities of all the orchestral instruments is matched by his intimate knowledge of the technical skills and persona/qualities of the musicians in his circle who played them. He therefore not only wrote beautiful passages for his orchestral colleagues to play, but also frequently entrusted them with role-like ports within the interweaving dialogues of his scores. It is hardly surprising that the musicians whose playing was showcased in this way later begged him to write solo concertos for them. That is how roughly fifteen concertos and concerto-like works for one or mare orchestral instruments came to be written in less than twenty years. Most of these remained unpublished and forgotten until today. Of the approximately eight works for piano and orchestra which Wilms wrote in just under three decades for his own use, only the five published concertos survive. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38025 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none CESAR FRANCK (1833 – 1890): Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major (version for cello and piano, 1886) SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873 – 1943): Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 19 (1901) |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38026 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none BERNHARD ROMBERG (1767 – 1841) Trauer-Symphonie auf den Tod der Königin Luise von Preußen in C minor, Op. 23; Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 28; Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 53 At the beginning of the 19th century Bernhard Romberg was celebrated as a great virtuoso on the violoncello and recognized as one of the most important composers of his time. Yet towards the end of his life he considered himself to be obsolete. At the beginning of the century the press had nothing but eulogies and superlatives for him. As a “composer and connoisseur of the arts he is the best cellist on earth” (Hamburg 1801), he was perceived as the “most perfect of all currently living cellists” (Berlin 1805) and considered to be “one of the greatest composers and most masterful of all living cellists”, and as “the first and greatest virtuoso on his instrument”, who was also considered to be a “truly significant” composer (Leipzig 1807). Even his compositional legacy – with the exception of o few works that are still used for education purposes today – fell into oblivion and was soon forgotten after his death. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38027 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none CHANT D’AUTOMNE CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS (1835 – 1921): Morceau de Concert, Op. 94; Romance, Op. 36; Romance, Op. 67; JEAN-TOUSSAINT RADOUX (1825 – 1889): Méditation; EMILE PESSARD (1843 – 1917): Danse la Forét, Op. 130; PAUL JEANJEAN (1874 – 1928): Nocturne; Romance; AYME KUNC (1877 – 1958): Nocturne; ROBERT GUILLEMYN (? – 1945): Chant d’Automne; GEORGE TEMPLETON STRONG (1856 – 1948): Hallali; EMMANUEL CHABRIER (1841 – 1894): Larghetto; THEODORE DUBOIS (1837 – 1924): Cavatina; JULES MASSENET (1842 – 1912): La Mer, Mélodie de F. Schubert; ADOLPHE BLANC (1828 – 1885): Romance, op. 43bis Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens (on period instruments) The CD gives a fine overview of what and how was composed for horn during the 19th century in France and its close surroundings. One searches in vain for large, multiple movement solo concertos from this period, finding instead a rich trove of shorter character pieces, emphasizing in particular the horn’s lyrical qualities. After his horn studies in Darmstadt, Stuttgart and Cologne Ulrich Hübner first played the modern horn for five years in the orchestra of the State Theatre of Mainz. In 1995 he left his orchestral position to concentrate on historical performance practice, playing since then in leading European orchestras such as Anima Eterna, Concerto Köln, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and La Stagione Frankfurt. Ulrich Hübner’s recording of Mozart's Horn Concerto KV 447, with the orchestra Anima Eterna conducted by Jos van Immerseel, was highly praised by the critics and awarded the "Diapason d'Or" in 2006. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38028 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828): Selected “Lieder” - Arpeggione ALFRED SCHNITTKE (1934 – 1998): Cello Sonata No. 1 Musical programs never come about by chance, but sometimes despite the best planning one may still be surprised by the effect created by a particular combination of pieces. This happened to us when we played Schnittke’s Cello Sonata No.1 and Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata in this order in a concert. We were struck by the influence the two works had on one another – Schnittke on Schubert, but also working backwards, Schubert on Schnittke. The question was, why? We thought a lot about this. Literally, the composers are worlds apart. Schubert, the Austrian, Schnittke, the Volga German with German-Russian roots, born 140 years later. Yet much connects them too. It may be just a coincidental biographical parallel that both became musicians despite the initial resistance of their parents but ended amongst the most important composers of their times. The same is true for the fact that they both died too young of severe illnesses. But as I see it, what does connect the composers very strongly is their character. Both went their own way, steadfastly and without compromise, even though for a long time they attracted almost no public attention. Both were highly sensitive, vulnerable people, unfamiliar with the lighter side of life but rather acquainted with feelings of dejection, melancholy, mourning, fear and the latent proximity of death. But perhaps their effect on one another is due less to their similarity than to the deeper contrasts between them. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38029 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none VIRTUOSO CONCERTOS FOR OBOE JOHANN CHRISTIAN FISCHER (1733 – 1800): Oboe Concerto No. 1 in C major; Oboe Concerto No. 2 in E flat major; Oboe Concerto No. 7 in F major CARL STAMITZ (1745 – 1801): Oboe Concerto No. 2 in B flat major Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens (on period instruments) Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800) was one of the most celebrated oboists of the Classical Era. Born in Germany at Freiburg-im-Breisgau, he played for a time in the court band at Dresden before entering the service of Frederick the Great. On coming to London, where he is first recorded in June 1768, he became a member of Queen's Band and played regularly at court. Fanny Burney, daughter of music historian and composer Charles Burney, praised “the sweet-flowing, melting, celestial notes of Fischer's hautboy”. From 1979 to 1987, Michael Niesemann studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln (Cologne), where he has taught modern and historical oboes since 1993. From 2004 to 2007 he was the professor for Baroque oboe at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg. In October 2007 he was appointed the oboe professor at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. As a chamber musician Niesemann was a member of Musica Antiqua Köln (Reinhard Goebel) for ten years. As an orchestral musician, he was one of the founding members of Concerto Köln, with whom he played until 1993. From 1994 he has been principal oboist with Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s orchestras, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38030 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Fantasie in C minor for large orchestra, Op. 11 (1806); Grand concerto pour le piano-forte, Op. 12 (1804); Serenata composta per la Signor Hunnius (1804); Ariaan a Naxos (Cantata a voce sola del Sig. J. Haydn)(1808) Kölner Akademie/Michael Alexander Willens The Salzburg composer Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm (1778-1858) was something of a musical globe-trotter, serving in St Petersburg and Rio de Janeiro, spending most of his life in Paris and nearly ten years in England. During the course of his rich and eventful life he became friends and collaborated with many famous musicians of his time, such as Cherubini, Moscheles, Cavaillé-Coll, Grétry, Dussek, Chopin, Beethoven, Czerny and Mendelssohn. Today, if one remembers Neukomm at all, it is as Joseph Haydn's last pupil. At best, he is known as one of the "small masters" – whose work is however now enjoying a new renaissance. In the series “Forgotten Treasures”, the Kölner Akademie and Michael Alexander Willens present a fine selection of his orchestral and vocal music. Die Kölner Akademie is a unique ensemble based in Cologne which performs music of the seventeenth through the twenty first centuries on modern and period instruments with world renowned guest soloists. Die Kölner Akademie has received the highest critical acclaim and excellent reviews for its outstanding performances and the CDs released in the recording project “Forgotten treasures” with the label ARS-Produktion. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38031 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none *WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS! Piano Trio No. 6 in C minor, Op. 50; Piano Trio No. 9 in F minor "Post tenebras lux"*; Piano Trio No. 10 in F major "Gaudeamus"* The composer Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) was born in Leipzig. His father was first violinist in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, his first piano teacher was Carl Reinecke, the director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1877 Röntgen went to Amsterdam, and became a piano teacher in the Conservatory there. As renowned accompanying pianist, Röntgen was working for the great violinist Carl Flesch and the cello player Pablo Casals. For a while these musicians even formed a piano trio with Röntgen. Amongst many other works in the Pablo Casals archive we find the Trio Op. 50. After the appearance of three piano trios in the 1890s and even winning an international prize for his 6th Piano Trio in 1907, he didn’t compose one for some years. It wasn’t until shortly before his death in 1932 that several more piano trios (as the 10th Piano Trio) flowed from his pen. The Storioni Trio, founded in 1995, has worked over the years with great musicians such as Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Menahem Pressler, as well as members of the Emerson Quartet and the Vermeer Quartet, and performs chamber music with artists such as Gidon Kremer, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Rainer Kussmaul, Nobuko Imai, Emma Johnson. The Storioni Trio regularly give concerts at all major venues in the Netherlands, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and at the most important music centres in the world, such as the Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) or the Wigmore Hall in London. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38032 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Fantasia & Fugue in D Major Prelude & Fugue in A Major Toccata & Fugue A flat major Two Interludes from the Oratorio “The Book with Seven Seals” About Fantasia and Fugue in D major: Against this framework, Franz Schmidt found completely independent solutions for his large-scale organ works, as his Fantasia and Fugue in D major already shows. It was completed on the 5th of January 1924, and first performed by Franz Schütz in a concert in the Main Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna on the 10th of February 1924, in honour of the composer’s fiftieth birthday. It is clear to see he had recently been composing the variations on the “Theme from Fredigundis”, as the Fantasia and Fugue in D major combines variation and fugal principles in one large, single movement work. It starts with a theme showing the typical characteristics of a chorale, although not based upon any existing chorale melody, illustrating the increasing detachment of the organ from its original religious context and from church performances. Schmidt develops the theme through a total of five variations, interrupted after the first and fourth by fugal episodes. This gives a formal structure in five larger divisions, coming surprisingly close to the North German five-part Toccata form. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38033 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none MAX REGER (1873-1916): from Op. 83: No. 2 Lieblich hat sich gesellet , No. 3 Abendständchen, No. 4 Husarendurchmarsch, No. 5 Hochsommernacht, No. 6 Eine gantz neu Schelmweys, No. 7 Minnelied & No. 9 Abschied Fünf ausgewählte Volkslieder (Herzweh, Liebchens Bote, Das Sternlein, Mein Dianderl tief drunt im Thal, Ich hab die Nacht geträumet); from Neun ausgewählte Volkslieder: No. 7 Verlorenes Lieb’ HUGO WOLF (1860-1903): Sechs geistliche Lieder nach Gedichten von Joseph Eichendorff: (Aufblick; Einklang (Einkehr); Resignation; Letzte Bitte; Ergebung; Erhebung); from Op. 13 (No. 1 Mailied; No. 2 Geistesgruß; No. 3 Im Sommer) Musical variety and tonal perfection were Bernd Englbrecht’s goals when he founded the Renner Ensemble Regensburg in 1987. The Ensemble is named after the Regensburg cathedral organist and composer Josef Renner (1868–1934). Right from the start, the young ensemble, whose members received their musical training at the Musikgymnasium der Regensburger Domspatzen (the Regensburg Cathedral Choir; literally, “the Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows”) showed great skill in performing on the highest international level. Awards and prizes in numerous competitions across the globe attest to this. Works from the early medieval descant and the Renaissance and Romantic eras to the experimental vocal avant garde of the present day comprise the Ensemble’s extraordinarily comprehensive repertoire. As the successor to Bernd Englbrecht, Jörg Genslein has conducted the talented Renner Ensemble Regensburg since September 2003 “. It is not widely known that the considerable oeuvres of the composers Hugo Wolf (1860–1903) and Max Reger (1873–1916) also include works for male voice choir. In comparison with the numbers of compositions written for other combinations it is true that their number is relatively small. Hence the works collected on this CD represent a large part of the repertoire for a capella male voice choir left to us by the two composers. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38034 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Fünf Stücke im Volkston, Op. 102; Adagio und Allegro, Op. 70; Drei Romanzen, Op. 94; Drei Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; Waldszenen, Op. 82 Bit by bit, Robert Schumann systematically explored each musical genre and form. After predominantly fragmentary experiments in various genres, he concentrated almost exclusively on works for solo piano until 1840, turning to Lieder later in 1840, symphonies in 1841, and chamber music in 1842 and again from 1847. During his years in Dresden (1844-1850), Schumann occupied himself with adapting the pianistic character piece to the domain of chamber music. Here too one is struck by the composer’s systematic procedure. After completing the “Forest Scenes” op. 82, Schumann opened this spate of chamber music pieces in February 1849 with the “Fantasy Pieces” op. 73 for clarinet and piano, and the “Adagio and Allegro” op. 70 for horn and piano. These were followed by the “Pieces in Folk Style” op. 102 for cello and piano in April 1849 and the “Three Romances” for Oboe and Piano op. 94. The current recording unites compositions from the close of the Dresden chapter of Robert Schumann’s life, and provides new and exciting sound prospects through their performance on the bassoon. As the age of 21 Matthias Rácz (b. 1980) was already the principal bassoonist of the Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, and from 2003 he has had the same position in the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich. In addition he plays principal bassoon in Abbado’s Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Rácz is accompagnied by Yo Kosuge (b. 1983), one of the most respected young pianists in the world. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38035 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Sonata for Cello and Piano in F major, Op. 5 No. 1 (1796) Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2 (1796) Sonata for Cello and Piano in A major, Op. 69 (1807/08) Friedrich Kleinhapl, Austrian cellist with Belgian roots, finishes his studies in Graz. The final step of his education takes place in Paris, where he was instructed by one of the best teachers of the world: Phillippe Muller. Kleinhapl then got into contact with very renowned musicians: Claudio Abbado considered “his talent worth promoting”, Yehudi Menuhin characterized him as a “highly gifted young cellist” and the famous cellist Paul Tortelier was deeply impressed by his “brilliant technique”. London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Bologna, Milan, Triest, Prague and Budapest are only few of the cities where Kleinhapl has performed. He’s also given concerts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Studying with famous artists like Aldo Antognazzi, Pavel Gililov and Rudolf Kehrer, Andreas Woyke finished his classical education with special honor and since that time engagements and a number of international competition prizes lead him into nearly every continent of the world. In press reviews his art of interpretation is highly honored, which never stays technically superficial. Since 2003, Andreas Wokye has been permanent Duo-partner of Friedrich Kleinhapl. In March 2008, they have been awarded the international “Super Sonic Award” for their recording of Rachmaninov and Franck Sonatas. The SACD with Beethoven Sonatas is the fifth recording of the Duo. |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38036 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none “BRAIDING BACH” JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750) Präludium in C major BWV 846a (Wohltemperiertes Klavier Vol.I) ANDREAS WOYKE (*1966): Himalayan Sunrise Sarabande in C sharp minor BWV 811 A. WOYKE: Desert’s Song Sarabande in A minor BWV 808 A. WOYKE: Primavera Friulana Sarabande in D major BWV 828 A. WOYKE: Facing North Sarabande in G minor BWV 809 A. WOYKE: Amelie Sarabande in B minor BWV 814 A. WOYKE: Secret REvelation Fuge in C major BWV 846a |
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Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38038 Our Price: $24.25 Quantity in Basket: none Airs de ballet aus der Oper “Etienne Marcel” (1879) – version for 2 pianos 4 hands by Claude Debussy (1890) From “Samson et Dallila”, Op. 47 (1877) – version for piano 4 hands by Paul Dukas (ca. 1890?) Berceuse, OP. 105 for piano 4 hands (1896) Pas redouble, Op. 86 for piano 4 hands (1887/1890) “Le Carnaval des animaux” Grande Fantaisie zoologique, for 2 pianos, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, harmonica and xylophone (1886/1922) |
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