Grand Piano Masters

Grand Piano Masters by Josef-Stefan Kindler & Andreas Otto Grimminger, K&K Verlagsanstalt
A release series with audiophile recordings of music for piano, recorded, produced and created by Josef-Stefan Kindler and Andreas Otto Grimminger.
Copyright by K&K Verlagsanstalt, www.kuk-art.com

Maulbronn Monastery Edition by Josef-Stefan Kindler & Andreas Otto Grimminger, K&K VerlagsanstaltPublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording for posterity outstanding performances and concerts. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in Direct 2-Track Stereo Digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value.
The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or we could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2/2

Track

Cover
EUR 3,80
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):
Piano Sonata No. 2

in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2

Performed by Lilya Zilberstein (Piano)

Instrument: Concert Grand Piano D 280 by C. Bechstein

A concert recording from Bad Homburg Castle (Germany), October 2007

Remastered Original Recording

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 25 Min. 32 Sec.
Digital Album · 4 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Work(s) & Performance

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then? Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)
Lilya Zilberstein

T

he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition. The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast. Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Brahms: Variations for Piano in D Major, Op. 21

Track

Cover
EUR 2,85
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Variations for Piano in D Major, Op. 21

Performed by Lilya Zilberstein

Concert Grand Piano: D 280 by C. Bechstein

A live recording from Bad Homburg Castle in Germany

DDD · Duration: 21 Min. 32 Sec.
Digital Album · 2 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Work(s) & Performance

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)
Lilya Zilberstein

T

he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast.
Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

View more releases:

Digital Music Albums:

Online-Musik-Alben:

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Work Albums

BRAHMS: 8 Pieces for Piano, Opus 76

Track

Cover
EUR 7,60
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
8 Pieces for Piano, Opus 76

Performed by Lilya Zilberstein

Concert Grand Piano: D 280 by C. Bechstein

A live recording from Bad Homburg Castle in Germany

DDD · Duration: 27 Min. 38 Sec.
Digital Album · 8 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Johannes Brahms

T

he 8 Piano Pieces op. 76 by Johannes Brahms comprise four Capriccios and Intermezzi each. With this collection of character pieces, published in February 1879, Brahms came forward again after a long time with a work for solo piano, which was premiered by Hans von Bülow in Berlin on October 29, 1879. While he had already composed the first Capriccio in 1871, he wrote the remaining pieces in 1878 in Pörtschach on Lake Wörth. The collection, originally divided into two booklets, shows the influence of Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, whose complete editions published by Breitkopf & Härtel Brahms supervised at this time. In condensed form, the mostly three-part pieces already point to the internalized late style of Opera 116 to 119, whose characteristics include the multi-layered piano movement, chromaticism, and rhythmic refinements. The piano pieces appeared only after Brahms had not written any independent solo piano works for an extended period. After the Paganini Variations published in 1866, the Waltzes for piano four hands op. 39, which he held in high esteem, and the first part of the Hungarian Dances, initially also written for four hands, there was a long pause in publication in this field, which ended only in 1879. For Andrea Bonatta this shows how difficult it was for Brahms to find new expressive possibilities after the pianistic explorations of the virtuoso Handel and Paganini Variations. For the pianist, chamber musician and gifted sight-reading player, this phase did not mean that he would have completely abandoned the piano. In addition to the Waltzes and Hungarian Dances, he wrote the Sonata for Piano and Violoncello op 38, the Liebeslieder Waltzes op 52, the version for two pianos of his Haydn Variations op 56b, the Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor op 60 and the Neue Liebeslieder op 65 during this period. In 1878, he also began to work on his symphonic Second Piano Concerto in B flat major; the piano thus played an important role in chamber and later concertante music.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Performer(s)
Lilya Zilberstein

T

he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast.
Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

View more releases:

Digital Music Albums:

Online-Musik-Alben:

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Work Albums

Grand Piano Masters · Passione

Album Cover
EUR 22,00
CD
Grand Piano Masters
Passione

Lilya Zilberstein plays

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Eight Pieces for Piano, Opus 76
Variations for Piano, Opus 21

Instrument:
Concert Grand Piano D 280 by C. Bechstein

A concert recording from Bad Homburg Castle
in Germany, October 2007

HD Recording · DDD · c. 52 Minutes

Previews

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)
Lilya Zilberstein

T

he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast.
Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Works, Movements & Tracklist

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Eight Pieces for Piano Opus 76
1. No. 1 Capriccio in F-Sharp Minor
2. No. 2 Capriccio in B Minor
3. No. 3 Intermezzo in A-Flat Major
4. No. 4 Intermezzo in B-Flat Major
5. No. 5 Capriccio in C-Sharp Major
6. No. 6 Intermezzo in A Major
7. No. 7 Intermezzo in A Minor
8. No. 8 Capriccio in C Major

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
9. Eleven variations on an original theme
in D major Opus 21, No.1

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
10. Fourteen variations on a Hungarian melody
in D major Opus 21, No.2

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
11. Intermezzo No. 1
in E flat major, Op. 117/1


Concert Grand Piano:
D 280 by C. Bechstein (No. 194643)

Concert Date:
October 5, 2007

Sound & Recording Engineer:
Andreas Otto Grimminger

Production & Mastering:
Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler

Photography, Artwork & Coverdesign:
Josef-Stefan Kindler

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USTVOLSKAYA: Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani

Cover
EUR 4,50
Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006):
Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani

performed by
Patricia Hase (Piano) and the Ensemble Galina
Conductor: Peter Leipold
With courtesy of Hans Sikorski Music Publishing Hamburg

A concert recording from the Richard-Jakoby-Hall
of the Hanover University of Music, Drama & Media in Germany
Concert Grand Piano: Steinway & Sons D-274

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 17 Min. 43 Sec.
Digital Album · 4 Tracks · incl. Booklet

FILES
Previews

Art Movie(s)


Work(s) & Performance
Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya: Concerto for piano, strings and timpani

"It's not you who are under my influence, it's me who is under yours". This quote by her teacher Dmitri Shostakovich has become the defining words for the relationship between himself and his pupil, Galina Ustvolskaya. The "teacher-pupil" dynamic notwithstanding, for her own part, Ustvolskaya spent her life trying to distance herself from her violent relationship with Shostakovich. This seems an obvious sign of sincerity, the pursuit of impartial and unrestrained untamedness of the composer. These adjectives also certainly best describe the few works that make up her comprehensive output, which made themselves known without adapting to any one style. Though she rarely left her hometown until her death in 2006, she was a part of the music scene in St. Petersburg both under Soviet regime and after its collapse - an enigmatic phenomenon untouched by all political or aesthetic trends. In her case, she chose the life of an outsider completely of her own accord. Ustvolskaya did not tolerate any superficial interference, according to the musicologist Olga Gladkova, out of a desire to maintain her own individuality, compoure, and intentions. Therefore she never took commissions, on the contrary, she refused even partial interpretations of her work if the composer did not appear "real" to her.
Especially in her "Concerto for piano, strings and timpani", written in 1946, the composer starts to withdraw herself from her academic influences, to strike a new path, and to find completely new ways of expression. It is not without motive that she decided to start her official list of works with this concerto. The first noticeable feature is the single-piece form, which is described by the composer as cohesive but still contrasting.
The opening theme is highly concentrated within the Rhythm. No notes seem to be wasteful. The piano breaks out of the silence like an explosion with the specific dotted thirty-second notes in fortissimo that are repeated in unison by the orchestra and which are concluded by the timpani. All the followings motives are developed from the basic theme. Olga Gladkova compared the concentrated main theme with a nuclear reaction - after the explosion many infinitely small atoms are produced, instantaneously destructive and creative. Close beside is a plain melody in subito - pianissimo, circling around itself, not leading anywhere. This is a very fundamental characteristic of the later works by Ustvolskaya. The second theme, which branches out wildly, seems to come rushing in a fugue. But academic processes and stencils are avoided consequently and the fugato is being constantly taken to explore new avenues, like a kaleidoscope, out of which unexpected new pictures are formed. In addition to the rigid and concentrated 4/4 measure, the quiet secondary theme is at the quietly flowing 6/8 measure. The "continuity", which is described by the composer, happens also by the very strong contrasts.
Especially remarkable is the coda of the concerto. The rhythmically striking dotted thirty-second notes are taken from the initial theme and with full force repeated again and again.
An unprecedented massive structure comes into being, which instead of running to the disaster leads into a C major chord, which appears at the moment of most extreme tension and repeats in a big crescendo until the end. The immense focus on one rhythm, the constant repetition of this rhythm and the unbridled force of it, speaks to the forementioned monstrous new language of the composer.
Although the great crescendo of the coda is written in C major, it seems to evoke various kinds of associations. In the dialogue with the young musicians of the ensemble, I would like to describe three different impressions. On the one hand there is the feeling of generous grace, of forgiveness, the cathartic effect after a prayer. Facing this sensation is the feeling of being threatened by a wall that is approaching you relentlessly, without ability to escape. The third association is similar to the theme of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony - forced rejoicing, created under threat. An eagerly awaited end of the war, but an ending with terror.

Peter Leipold
Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

Performer(s)

B

ridging distances, bringing music closer to the people in a completely natural intimate way - these are the strengths of the pianist Patricia Hase, born in 1989 in Wiesbaden. Educated in one of the talent-hotbeds of the international piano elite at the Hanover University for Music, Drama and Media in the studio of Matti Raekallio, the young musician has set for herself the task of establishing through her music the connections between highly intellectual works of Western culture and the everyday life of the listener. In doing so she captivates with her warm sound, profound interpretations, and mature virtuosity. In addition to her pet project, the interpretation of the works of Franz Schubert which are celebrated by the press and public, Patricia likes to forge a bridge between "past" and "present", such as this recording, which ranges from the 1770-born Ludwig van Beethoven to Galina Ustvolskaya, who died in 2006.

S

ince the beginning of her studies Patricia Hase has enjoyed a close friendship with the conductor Peter Leipold, born 1987 in Stuttgart. Since then, numerous concerts have led the two young musicians throughout Europe. The work of Peter Leipold, who started his career at the Theater Erfurt and was honored by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung for his "quality of musical fine drawing", fascinates in his role as a seeker of and servant to the rich facets and colors of music that can be unveiled in the score and by the orchestra, as a conductor who represents the bridge between the musical performer and the score. With the recording of "Concerto for Piano, Timpani and String Orchestra" by Galina Ustvolskaya, Peter Leipold follows his passion for new music, on which he already specialized during his conducting studies for music of the 20th and 21st centuries at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.

Ensemble Galina - the search for harmony

The Ensemble Galina was founded in October 2014 and formed out of the desire to make music at a level where the quality of music and friendship come together. The young chamber orchestra is made up of 18 musicians - music students and emerging professionals from all over Germany. With the pianist Patricia Hase and the conductor Peter Leipold the ensemble makes it its mission to inspire a new sense in the musical performance - searching for harmony in the dialogue between soloist and ensemble and between composer and performers, honoring the true sense of the word »concertare«. For the name of the ensemble, they chose the Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaja (1919-2006), her »concert for piano, strings, and timpani« becoming the foundation stone on which the Ensembles was built. Ustvolskaja, who had to fight for cultural survival as a composer under the Soviet Regime touched us musicians not only with her life story, but with her music’s unbelievable emotional approachability, sincerity, and depth. The urgency in her existential musical expression became a very special motivation for the young musicians. To inspire true emotion as well as to search out interesting contemporary forms of expression are the goals and purpose of the Ensemble. With this new approach, which is shaped through collective dialogue and musical discourse, the Ensemble Galina endeavors to preserve the great cultural property in our time.

Peter-Lukas Gebert ~ Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

The Ensemble Galina

Violin: Friederike Jahn (Concert Master), Rebekka Gebert, Florian Giering, Emilia Grotjahn, Cornelius Köhler, Erika Lunz, Alina Riegel, Friederike Schindler, Saskia Becker-Foß, Inara Waiss
Viola: Peter-Lukas Gebert, Julia Yeon-Joo Oh, Raphael Tietz · Cello: Ingmar Escher, Inka Jans, Jaromir Kostka
Double Bass: Hermann Haffner, Lukas Rudolph · Timpani: Jonas Krause

The Ensemble Galina is supported by the "circle for the promotion of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media e.V.", the banking house Hallbaum,
the Wellness-Hotel Diedrich in Hallenberg (Sauerland) and the "funding pool gender of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media".

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

***** Wonderful performance and very good recording quality

Wonderful performance and very good recording quality. I love the beauty of the interpretation and the combination of the two works!

An Amazon Customer on July 31, 2016 - Customer Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Review

The first recording played without blunders is out!

The first recording of the Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani played without blunders is out!

'Galina Ustvolskaya official' on Facebook

Review

Featured on Spotify

This release is featured in the editorial playlist on Spotify​:
COMPOSER WEEKLY: GALINA USTVOLSKAYA

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Release Type: Work Albums

BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

Track

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2
EUR 4,75
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Concerto No. 2

in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

World Premiere Recording of the version for Piano and String Orchestra
by Vinzenz Lachner (1811-1893)

Patricia Hase (Piano) · Ensemble Galina (String Orchestra) · Conductor: Peter Leipold

A concert recording from the Richard-Jakoby-Hall of the Hanover University of Music, Drama & Media in Germany

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 29 Min. 57 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · incl. Digital Booklet

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance
Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

It can now be assumed, that on the 29th of March 1795 what is now known as the second concerto in B flat major Op. 19 was presented to the Viennese public in Hofburgtheater. Announced was "a new concerto on the pianoforte, played and composed by the maestro, Herr Ludwig van Beethoven". The origins of the composition date back to the year 1790. At that time Beethoven was living in Bonn and had begun to give many concertos as a soloist - in Bonn, Vienna and on tour. The concerto went through four different versions before it was first printed in 1801. Further versions were developed between 1793 and 1794, when the third movement was added, as we know it today. This Rondo, in 6/8 measure, exhibits particularly significant features. First the metric shift of the main theme, which creates an unusual syncopation; the first note appears on the first metric beat and not as an upbeat, as would be expected. This syncopation also remains the connecting rhythmic element for the whole movement. Only once, namely in the coda, does the first eighth note appear as an upbeat, but here it does so in the completely surprising "wrong" key of G major. The movement through keys in the Rondo is in principle quite remarkable; the minor variant of the main theme first appears in G-minor, then in C-minor and then completely unexpectedly in the far distant B-flat minor. Generally the work with motives and the development of the main theme are already very significant and certainly influenced by his then newly acquired teacher Joseph Haydn, as well as the ending of the Rondo, which to this day has not lost its witty effect. The piano seems to be completely lost in a cadence before the orchestra abruptly sets the five sensational final bars of the concert in subito fortissimo. Last but not least is the aforementioned syncopated character, which also could be traced back to the influence of folk music in the symphonic music of Haydn.
The final version of the orchestral score, as we know it today, was built on the highly successful concert tour to Prague in 1798, whose success Beethoven used to generously revise the Concerto in B. Only the piano part was completed in 1801 in Vienna. The unusually long time-frame of the composition over 11 years echoes the visible transformation of Beethoven from a traveling virtuoso to an established composer. At the same time it also shows the continuous process of establishing independence from his education and his heroes. This is illustrated precisely in the way he reworks an earlier work. In the first impression the main motive of the first movement appears very much in the sense of Mozart and Haydn. But also at the same time it is already in the same manner he created his later main motives, which exist primarily to be further developed. Compared for example with the main theme of the "Eroica" - here and there it's built up exclusively by broken triads whose motific development run through the whole movement. An equally characteristic feature is the completely contrasting lyrical response to the main theme, which quite abruptly follows it in the second measure.
Similarly significant is the dialogue between the piano and the orchestra at the end of the second movement, the Adagio, which is entitled "con grande espressione". The piano seems to be able to convince and reassure the orchestra - as it also does later in the second movement of the fourth piano concerto.
Following the initiative of the Stuttgart piano teacher and publisher Prof. Dr. Sigmund Lebert, several arrangements of piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven emerged in 1881 "...for study and concert-hall" and for which he was able to get famous composers, such as Franz Liszt or Vincenz Lachner. We owe to the latter the transcription of the second concerto, which gets a fascinating, rarely heard chamber music sound through careful allocation of the parts and refined orchestration and which appears for the first time with this recording.

Peter Leipold
Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

Performer(s)
Patricia Hase

B

ridging distances, bringing music closer to the people in a completely natural intimate way - these are the strengths of the pianist Patricia Hase, born in 1989 in Wiesbaden. Educated in one of the talent-hotbeds of the international piano elite at the Hanover University for Music, Drama and Media in the studio of Matti Raekallio, the young musician has set for herself the task of establishing through her music the connections between highly intellectual works of Western culture and the everyday life of the listener. In doing so she captivates with her warm sound, profound interpretations, and mature virtuosity. In addition to her pet project, the interpretation of the works of Franz Schubert which are celebrated by the press and public, Patricia likes to forge a bridge between "past" and "present", such as this recording, which ranges from the 1770-born Ludwig van Beethoven to Galina Ustvolskaya, who died in 2006.

Peter Leipold

S

ince the beginning of her studies Patricia Hase has enjoyed a close friendship with the conductor Peter Leipold, born 1987 in Stuttgart. Since then, numerous concerts have led the two young musicians throughout Europe. The work of Peter Leipold, who started his career at the Theater Erfurt and was honored by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung for his "quality of musical fine drawing", fascinates in his role as a seeker of and servant to the rich facets and colors of music that can be unveiled in the score and by the orchestra, as a conductor who represents the bridge between the musical performer and the score. With the recording of "Concerto for Piano, Timpani and String Orchestra" by Galina Ustvolskaya, Peter Leipold follows his passion for new music, on which he already specialized during his conducting studies for music of the 20th and 21st centuries at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.

Ensemble Galina

Ensemble Galina - the search for harmony

The Ensemble Galina was founded in October 2014 and formed out of the desire to make music at a level where the quality of music and friendship come together. The young chamber orchestra is made up of 18 musicians - music students and emerging professionals from all over Germany. With the pianist Patricia Hase and the conductor Peter Leipold the ensemble makes it its mission to inspire a new sense in the musical performance - searching for harmony in the dialogue between soloist and ensemble and between composer and performers, honoring the true sense of the word »concertare«. For the name of the ensemble, they chose the Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaja (1919-2006), her »concert for piano, strings, and timpani« becoming the foundation stone on which the Ensembles was built. Ustvolskaja, who had to fight for cultural survival as a composer under the Soviet Regime touched us musicians not only with her life story, but with her music’s unbelievable emotional approachability, sincerity, and depth. The urgency in her existential musical expression became a very special motivation for the young musicians. To inspire true emotion as well as to search out interesting contemporary forms of expression are the goals and purpose of the Ensemble. With this new approach, which is shaped through collective dialogue and musical discourse, the Ensemble Galina endeavors to preserve the great cultural property in our time.

Peter-Lukas Gebert ~ Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

The Ensemble Galina

Violin: Friederike Jahn (Concert Master), Rebekka Gebert, Florian Giering, Emilia Grotjahn, Cornelius Köhler, Erika Lunz, Alina Riegel, Friederike Schindler, Saskia Becker-Foß, Inara Waiss
Viola: Peter-Lukas Gebert, Julia Yeon-Joo Oh, Raphael Tietz · Cello: Ingmar Escher, Inka Jans, Jaromir Kostka
Double Bass: Hermann Haffner, Lukas Rudolph

The Ensemble Galina is supported by the "circle for the promotion of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media e.V.", the banking house Hallbaum,
the Wellness-Hotel Diedrich in Hallenberg (Sauerland) and the "funding pool gender of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media".

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

***** Wonderful performance and very good recording quality

Wonderful performance and very good recording quality. I love the beauty of the interpretation!

An Amazon Customer on July 31, 2016 - Customer Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Review

Featured on Spotify

This release is featured on the Spotify list of 50 notable classical new releases

Spotify Editorial

Grand Piano Masters · Piano Concertos by Beethoven & Ustvolskaya

Frontcover
Backcover
EUR 22,00
CD
Grand Piano Masters
Piano Concertos by Beethoven & Ustvolskaya

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19
World Premiere Recording of the version for Piano & String Orchestra
by Vinzenz Lachner (1811-1893)

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006):
Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani
With courtesy of Hans Sikorski Music Publishing Hamburg

Patricia Hase (Piano) · Ensemble Galina
Conductor: Peter Leipold

A concert recording from the Richard-Jakoby-Hall
of the Hanover University of Music, Drama & Media in Germany

HD Recording · DDD · c. 49 Minutes

Previews

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance
Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

It can now be assumed, that on the 29th of March 1795 what is now known as the second concerto in B flat major Op. 19 was presented to the Viennese public in Hofburgtheater. Announced was "a new concerto on the pianoforte, played and composed by the maestro, Herr Ludwig van Beethoven". The origins of the composition date back to the year 1790. At that time Beethoven was living in Bonn and had begun to give many concertos as a soloist - in Bonn, Vienna and on tour. The concerto went through four different versions before it was first printed in 1801. Further versions were developed between 1793 and 1794, when the third movement was added, as we know it today. This Rondo, in 6/8 measure, exhibits particularly significant features. First the metric shift of the main theme, which creates an unusual syncopation; the first note appears on the first metric beat and not as an upbeat, as would be expected. This syncopation also remains the connecting rhythmic element for the whole movement. Only once, namely in the coda, does the first eighth note appear as an upbeat, but here it does so in the completely surprising "wrong" key of G major. The movement through keys in the Rondo is in principle quite remarkable; the minor variant of the main theme first appears in G-minor, then in C-minor and then completely unexpectedly in the far distant B-flat minor. Generally the work with motives and the development of the main theme are already very significant and certainly influenced by his then newly acquired teacher Joseph Haydn, as well as the ending of the Rondo, which to this day has not lost its witty effect. The piano seems to be completely lost in a cadence before the orchestra abruptly sets the five sensational final bars of the concert in subito fortissimo. Last but not least is the aforementioned syncopated character, which also could be traced back to the influence of folk music in the symphonic music of Haydn.
The final version of the orchestral score, as we know it today, was built on the highly successful concert tour to Prague in 1798, whose success Beethoven used to generously revise the Concerto in B. Only the piano part was completed in 1801 in Vienna. The unusually long time-frame of the composition over 11 years echoes the visible transformation of Beethoven from a traveling virtuoso to an established composer. At the same time it also shows the continuous process of establishing independence from his education and his heroes. This is illustrated precisely in the way he reworks an earlier work. In the first impression the main motive of the first movement appears very much in the sense of Mozart and Haydn. But also at the same time it is already in the same manner he created his later main motives, which exist primarily to be further developed. Compared for example with the main theme of the "Eroica" - here and there it's built up exclusively by broken triads whose motific development run through the whole movement. An equally characteristic feature is the completely contrasting lyrical response to the main theme, which quite abruptly follows it in the second measure.
Similarly significant is the dialogue between the piano and the orchestra at the end of the second movement, the Adagio, which is entitled "con grande espressione". The piano seems to be able to convince and reassure the orchestra - as it also does later in the second movement of the fourth piano concerto.
Following the initiative of the Stuttgart piano teacher and publisher Prof. Dr. Sigmund Lebert, several arrangements of piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven emerged in 1881 "...for study and concert-hall" and for which he was able to get famous composers, such as Franz Liszt or Vincenz Lachner. We owe to the latter the transcription of the second concerto, which gets a fascinating, rarely heard chamber music sound through careful allocation of the parts and refined orchestration and which appears on CD for the first time with this recording.

Peter Leipold

Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya: Concerto for piano, strings and timpani

"It's not you who are under my influence, it's me who is under yours". This quote by her teacher Dmitri Shostakovich has become the defining words for the relationship between himself and his pupil, Galina Ustvolskaya. The "teacher-pupil" dynamic notwithstanding, for her own part, Ustvolskaya spent her life trying to distance herself from her violent relationship with Shostakovich. This seems an obvious sign of sincerity, the pursuit of impartial and unrestrained untamedness of the composer. These adjectives also certainly best describe the few works that make up her comprehensive output, which made themselves known without adapting to any one style. Though she rarely left her hometown until her death in 2006, she was a part of the music scene in St. Petersburg both under Soviet regime and after its collapse - an enigmatic phenomenon untouched by all political or aesthetic trends. In her case, she chose the life of an outsider completely of her own accord. Ustvolskaya did not tolerate any superficial interference, according to the musicologist Olga Gladkova, out of a desire to maintain her own individuality, compoure, and intentions. Therefore she never took commissions, on the contrary, she refused even partial interpretations of her work if the composer did not appear "real" to her.
Especially in her "Concerto for piano, strings and timpani", written in 1946, the composer starts to withdraw herself from her academic influences, to strike a new path, and to find completely new ways of expression. It is not without motive that she decided to start her official list of works with this concerto. The first noticeable feature is the single-piece form, which is described by the composer as cohesive but still contrasting.
The opening theme is highly concentrated within the Rhythm. No notes seem to be wasteful. The piano breaks out of the silence like an explosion with the specific dotted thirty-second notes in fortissimo that are repeated in unison by the orchestra and which are concluded by the timpani. All the followings motives are developed from the basic theme. Olga Gladkova compared the concentrated main theme with a nuclear reaction - after the explosion many infinitely small atoms are produced, instantaneously destructive and creative. Close beside is a plain melody in subito - pianissimo, circling around itself, not leading anywhere. This is a very fundamental characteristic of the later works by Ustvolskaya. The second theme, which branches out wildly, seems to come rushing in a fugue. But academic processes and stencils are avoided consequently and the fugato is being constantly taken to explore new avenues, like a kaleidoscope, out of which unexpected new pictures are formed. In addition to the rigid and concentrated 4/4 measure, the quiet secondary theme is at the quietly flowing 6/8 measure. The "continuity", which is described by the composer, happens also by the very strong contrasts.
Especially remarkable is the coda of the concerto. The rhythmically striking dotted thirty-second notes are taken from the initial theme and with full force repeated again and again.
An unprecedented massive structure comes into being, which instead of running to the disaster leads into a C major chord, which appears at the moment of most extreme tension and repeats in a big crescendo until the end. The immense focus on one rhythm, the constant repetition of this rhythm and the unbridled force of it, speaks to the forementioned monstrous new language of the composer.
Although the great crescendo of the coda is written in C major, it seems to evoke various kinds of associations. In the dialogue with the young musicians of the ensemble, I would like to describe three different impressions. On the one hand there is the feeling of generous grace, of forgiveness, the cathartic effect after a prayer. Facing this sensation is the feeling of being threatened by a wall that is approaching you relentlessly, without ability to escape. The third association is similar to the theme of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony - forced rejoicing, created under threat. An eagerly awaited end of the war, but an ending with terror.

Peter Leipold

Performer(s)

B

ridging distances, bringing music closer to the people in a completely natural intimate way - these are the strengths of the pianist Patricia Hase, born in 1989 in Wiesbaden. Educated in one of the talent-hotbeds of the international piano elite at the Hanover University for Music, Drama and Media in the studio of Matti Raekallio, the young musician has set for herself the task of establishing through her music the connections between highly intellectual works of Western culture and the everyday life of the listener. In doing so she captivates with her warm sound, profound interpretations, and mature virtuosity. In addition to her pet project, the interpretation of the works of Franz Schubert which are celebrated by the press and public, Patricia likes to forge a bridge between "past" and "present", such as this recording, which ranges from the 1770-born Ludwig van Beethoven to Galina Ustvolskaya, who died in 2006.

S

ince the beginning of her studies Patricia Hase has enjoyed a close friendship with the conductor Peter Leipold, born 1987 in Stuttgart. Since then, numerous concerts have led the two young musicians throughout Europe. The work of Peter Leipold, who started his career at the Theater Erfurt and was honored by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung for his "quality of musical fine drawing", fascinates in his role as a seeker of and servant to the rich facets and colors of music that can be unveiled in the score and by the orchestra, as a conductor who represents the bridge between the musical performer and the score. With the recording of "Concerto for Piano, Timpani and String Orchestra" by Galina Ustvolskaya, Peter Leipold follows his passion for new music, on which he already specialized during his conducting studies for music of the 20th and 21st centuries at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano.

Ensemble Galina - the search for harmony

The Ensemble Galina was founded in October 2014 and formed out of the desire to make music at a level where the quality of music and friendship come together. The young chamber orchestra is made up of 18 musicians - music students and emerging professionals from all over Germany. With the pianist Patricia Hase and the conductor Peter Leipold the ensemble makes it its mission to inspire a new sense in the musical performance - searching for harmony in the dialogue between soloist and ensemble and between composer and performers, honoring the true sense of the word »concertare«. For the name of the ensemble, they chose the Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaja (1919-2006), her »concert for piano, strings, and timpani« becoming the foundation stone on which the Ensembles was built. Ustvolskaja, who had to fight for cultural survival as a composer under the Soviet Regime touched us musicians not only with her life story, but with her music’s unbelievable emotional approachability, sincerity, and depth. The urgency in her existential musical expression became a very special motivation for the young musicians. To inspire true emotion as well as to search out interesting contemporary forms of expression are the goals and purpose of the Ensemble. With this new approach, which is shaped through collective dialogue and musical discourse, the Ensemble Galina endeavors to preserve the great cultural property in our time.

Peter-Lukas Gebert

Ensemble Galina · Members

Violin: Friederike Jahn (Concert Master), Rebekka Gebert, Florian Giering, Emilia Grotjahn, Cornelius Köhler, Erika Lunz, Alina Riegel, Friederike Schindler, Saskia Becker-Foß, Inara Waiss
Viola: Peter-Lukas Gebert, Julia Yeon-Joo Oh, Raphael Tietz · Cello: Ingmar Escher, Inka Jans, Jaromir Kostka
Double Bass: Hermann Haffner, Lukas Rudolph · Timpani: Jonas Krause

The Ensemble Galina is supported by the "circle for the promotion of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media e.V.", the banking house Hallbaum,
the Wellness-Hotel Diedrich in Hallenberg (Sauerland) and the "funding pool gender of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media".

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Works, Movements & Tracklist

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827):
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19
Arranged for Piano & String Orchestra by Vinzenz Lachner (1811-1893)
1. I Allegro con brio [14:38]
2. II Adagio [9:03]
3. III Rondo. Allegro molto [6:21]

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006):
Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani
With courtesy of Hans Sikorski Music Publishing Hamburg
4. I Lento assai - II Allegro moderato [3:00]
5. III Andante (cantabile) - Pesante - Cadenza [4:54]
6. IV Largo - Tempo di Allegro moderato [4:52]
7. V Grave - Pesante [4:56]

8. Applause [0:54]

Recorded to 'Direct 2-Track Stereo Digital' in a concert at the Richard-Jakoby-Hall of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media in Germany, recorded, released & created by Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.

Concert Date:
October 26, 2015

Sound & Recording Engineer:
Andreas Otto Grimminger

Mastering:
Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler

Photography, Artwork & Coverdesign:
Josef-Stefan Kindler

English Translations:
Catie Leigh Laszewski

Review

Featured on Spotify

This release is featured in the editorial playlist on Spotify​:
COMPOSER WEEKLY: GALINA USTVOLSKAYA

Spotify Editorial

Review

***** Wonderful performance and very good recording quality

Wonderful performance and very good recording quality. I love the beauty of the interpretation and the combination of the two works!

An Amazon Customer on July 31, 2016 - Customer Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Review

Featured on Spotify

This release is featured on the Spotify list of 50 notable classical new releases

Spotify Editorial

Review

The first recording played without blunders is out!

The first recording of the Concerto for Piano, Strings & Timpani played without blunders is out!

'Galina Ustvolskaya official' on Facebook

Review

The Hannover-based pianist Patricia Hase has just released the Grand Piano Masters: Concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) & Galina Ustvolskaya with conductor Peter Leipold and Ensemble Galina in with the record label K&K Verlagsanstalt this summer. A coffee addict and an avid reader who listens to German rap band Cro when she works out, Patricia tells primephonic’s Rina Sitorus about the new recording and her biggest wish in music.

Could you tell us about your newest album?

It’s very special for me to have recorded this album, because the conductor Peter Leipold and I are very close friends for many years now. It is so special for me to have this album recorded with him and the orchestra, Ensemble Galina. These wonderful concertos of Beethoven and Galina Ustvolskaya are two works which I'm addicted to.

Beethoven really is one of my favorite composers. It feels very natural for me to play his music. His early concertos are so fresh and full of spirit. The orchestra is young, the conductor is young, and I am young, so it was great to bring the spirit out of Beethoven's early works from his younger years. And Galina Ustvolskaya is one of the most impressive composers I've ever encountered. She was so strict and her music is uncomprimising, which really impressed me. I have a feeling that she really wanted to say something and not just merely make nice music.

The combination comes naturally - both works were written when the composers were young. I find that music written in that time of a person’s life actually says so much about our world today. It's hard to say which one I like better, I like both works just as much.  

You mention that the music is a reflection of the world today. Could you elaborate on that?

I think the main themes are always the same: love, passion, death, religion. What Beethoven wrote are the same main themes which belong to us today. It's really important to show the audience that his music is absolutely modern and it is important for us to get connected to our feelings and our lives. 

With all that in mind, I suppose you had had some kind of overall theme or mood in the back of your mind prior to the recording. Are you pleased with the final outcome?

Yes I had a very clear idea of how it should sound and how the music should feel. I was very hard on myself during the preparation – everything had to be better and better. But then, this recording was special because it was a live recording, so we only had one chance to get it right. So I stopped thinking when I entered the stage. My wish in that moment was to give everything I have and to leave my heart at that place, at that moment. Beforehand, I had been thinking it through so much, but once it started, I just let go, had fun and felt what was in the air. Maybe that’s what music is all about.

I hope one can hear that from the album.

Tell me about the audience during the recording.

It is always so interesting to see the audience. Their reactions are always so different every time. Every concert is very different but there is always a special atmosphere.

I remember the audience during the last recording so well. It was so quiet in the hall. It was in my hometown, Hannover, and there were many people in the audience who I knew. They were crossing fingers and I could feel that!

It was also so nice that backstage, right before we started, we all came together, for a big hug and I had the feeling that we had a great connection together. I had a feeling that everybody would give the best of what he or she can. It was such an amazing feeling, knowing that everybody wants to give their best. 

How would you describe the collaboration between you, Peter Leipold and Ensemble Galina?

Well, Peter and I know each other for many years and I learned so much about music from him. I performed my first piano concerto with him conducting. Then there was a time when we were just thinking: ‘We know so many wonderful musicians, why don't we bring them together and see what happens?’ We are professional colleagues but we are also really good friends with a good connection. I think people can hear it on the album, that when we come together, there is such a nice atmosphere. To play this first recording with so many friends on stage playing together was so amazing. I feel so proud when I see the album.

Is it too early to ask about how the reaction to your latest album has been?

We got so much feedback – the media wrote very very nice things about us! Konstantin Bagrenin, Galina’s widower, wrote us a letter and he was really impressed and that his wife would have loved it. I think I could cry!

What can we expect in the near future?

The label KuK wants to make another recording with me and maybe with the orchestra. We are still brainstorming about the project, but we have cool ideas, though we have to keep it secret at the moment. But don't you worry, more is coming!

What about your own project(s)?

Well I have a lot of concerts planned, and there is a possibility of a solo recording. It could be Schubert, my other favourite composer.

Where will you be in 10 years?

I hope I can play piano and continue being on stage for my whole life. It'll be great if I get the chance to make music and keep going in this very special and wonderful direction. But you never know what’s going to happen. I'm completely relaxed, so we'll see – the rest will come.

Any names you'd like to work with?

I really really like the violinist Isabelle Faust. It would be great for me to play with her, and I also really like the pianist Maria João Pires. I think she's so absolutely amazing. And so many conductors! Maybe to play once with the Berlin Philharmonic – of course that is the dream of every musician, I think. I played a lot with horn player Felix Klieser. These were such amazing experiences and maybe there's another chance to play with him again.

What do you do when you're not busy with recordings or concerts and how do you balance your music with other obligations, such as friends and family?

I really like to play sports and I'm addicted to coffee and chocolate. Sitting in a cafe, having a nice coffee while talking to a friend: that is the real Patricia. And I also like reading: from criminal stuff to music, biographies, funny stuff; I read everything!Balancing my music with the rest is much easier than I had thought it would be. I have many friends from all over the world which is perfect, since in most cities I play, there is somebody I know. I'm very connected to them through technology. And my family lives all over the world, so I'm used to that. I think the point is, they've already known me this way since the beginning. Because I also make music together with friends, we can combine friendship and the work. Sometimes during rehearsals with the orchestra we really have to be careful that we are not only talking about other [non-musical] stuff. People bring cakes, and during break we can talk about 'important private' stuff!

What is your biggest wish as a musician?

To break the distance between the audience and the people on stage. Sometimes I feel that the people in the audience are just watching the people who are on stage, so I find it important to get everything connected.

How would you achieve that?

I often talk to the audience and explain something about the works. Other times I tell them what I feel when I play, or just ideas of what it could be and leave it open, so that we can discuss it afterwards. For me it is interesting to know what the audience thinks. It makes it more alive and brings it closer to the present day.

Patricia Hase, in conversation with primephonic's Rina Sitorus

CHOPIN: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58

Track

Cover
EUR 4,50
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):
Piano Sonata No. 3

in B Minor, Op. 58

Performed by Aleksandra Mikulska

Concert Grand Piano: C-227 by Steinway & Sons (No. 524500)

A live recording from the layrefectory of the German UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Monastery

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 26 Min. 41 Sec.
Digital Album · 4 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)


Image Gallery
Performer(s)

S

ensitivity, musical expression and a flawless, transparent technique: Aleksandra Mikulska embodies to the highest degree all of these qualities once demanded by Chopin himself. Teachers, critics, members of the jury as well as audiences all unanimously agree on this. For a long time now Aleksandra Mikulska has not only distinguished herself through her very own, extraordinarily genuine interpretation of Chopin, which won her the prestigious special award as best Polish female pianist at the International Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2005 and ensured an enthusiastic reception of her début Chopin CD in 2010. With her "passionate" and "enrapturing" performances of Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin, she presented audiences at the Lake Constance Festival in 2010 and 2011 with some of the "finest hours of piano music". Attending the class for gifted children at the Karol Szymanowski Music High School in Warsaw, gaining several promotion awards from the Polish government as well as winning prizes at international competitions laid the groundwork for the top-class international training of the young pianist. Even while still at grammar school, Aleksandra Mikulska was already being coached by Peter Eichler in Mannheim, and, after gaining her high-school diploma, she continued to study with him at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music. Parallel to her studies there, international masterclasses with Diane Andersen and Lev Natochenny amongst others provided further stimuli. After graduating with honours she moved to the piano academy "Accademia Pianistica incontri col maestro" in Imola, Italy, the land of music, where she was coached mainly by Lazar Berman and Michael Dalberto till 2008. From 2006 she also worked with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Hanover Academy of Music, where she gained her concert diploma in 2010. Aleksandra Mikulska unites the three musical traditions of Poland, Germany and Italy in a unique, personal and unmistakable style. She is a frequent guest at international festivals such as the Lake Constance Festival, the Maulbronn Monastery Concerts, the piano cycle "Musik am Hochrhein" (Switzerland), the Merano Festival in Italy and the Lapland Piano Festival. Furthermore, she also gives solo recitals all over Europe and performs with orchestras in Germany, Italy and Belgium. One focus of her artistic efforts is the dissemination of music by the great composers of her native country. Aleksandra Mikulska is vice-president of the Chopin Society in the Federal Republic of Germany in Darmstadt and board member of the German-Polish Association of Baden-Württemberg. Furthermore, she is a member of the Karol Szymanowski Society in Zakopane (Poland) and has close ties with the music society De Musica in Warsaw and the German-Polish Cultural Society "Salonik". Her recording début in 2010 was devoted to the works of Frédéric Chopin. In the Autumn of 2011 Aleksandra Mikulska published her second CD with the title "Expressions" including works by Haydn, Szymanowski und Chopin. Both recordings enjoyed great popularity with audiences and the specialist press. Meanwhile she has presented her third album which includes Chopin's four ballades. (Translation by Jill Rabenau)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

View more releases:

Grand Piano Masters · Chopin & Szymanowski

Cover
EUR 22,00
CD
Grand Piano Masters
Chopin & Szymanowski

Aleksandra Mikulska plays
on the Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano C-227

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):

· Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor Opus 58
· Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante Op.22
· Mazurka Opus 24 No. 4 in Bflat Minor
· Scherzo No. 2 in Bflat Minor Opus 31
· Mazurka Opus 33 No. 4 in B Minor
· Ballade No. 4 in F Minor Opus 52

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937):

· Preludes Opus 1 Nos. 1, 7 & 8

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: c. 83 Minutes
KuK 113 · ISBN 978-3-942801-13-3 · EAN 4260005910865

Previews

Art Movie(s)

Performer(s)

S

ensitivity, musical expression and a flawless, transparent technique: Aleksandra Mikulska embodies to the highest degree all of these qualities once demanded by Chopin himself. Teachers, critics, members of the jury as well as audiences all unanimously agree on this. For a long time now Aleksandra Mikulska has not only distinguished herself through her very own, extraordinarily genuine interpretation of Chopin, which won her the prestigious special award as best Polish female pianist at the International Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2005 and ensured an enthusiastic reception of her début Chopin CD in 2010. With her "passionate" and "enrapturing" performances of Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin, she presented audiences at the Lake Constance Festival in 2010 and 2011 with some of the "finest hours of piano music".
Attending the class for gifted children at the Karol Szymanowski Music High School in Warsaw, gaining several promotion awards from the Polish government as well as winning prizes at international competitions laid the groundwork for the top-class international training of the young pianist.
Even while still at grammar school, Aleksandra Mikulska was already being coached by Peter Eichler in Mannheim, and, after gaining her high-school diploma, she continued to study with him at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music. Parallel to her studies there, international masterclasses with Diane Andersen and Lev Natochenny amongst others provided further stimuli. After graduating with honours she moved to the piano academy "Accademia Pianistica incontri col maestro" in Imola, Italy, the land of music, where she was coached mainly by Lazar Berman and Michael Dalberto till 2008. From 2006 she also worked with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Hanover Academy of Music, where she gained her concert diploma in 2010.
Aleksandra Mikulska unites the three musical traditions of Poland, Germany and Italy in a unique, personal and unmistakable style. She is a frequent guest at international festivals such as the Lake Constance Festival, the Maulbronn Monastery Concerts, the piano cycle "Musik am Hochrhein" (Switzerland), the Merano Festival in Italy and the Lapland Piano Festival. Furthermore, she also gives solo recitals all over Europe and performs with orchestras in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
One focus of her artistic efforts is the dissemination of music by the great composers of her native country. Aleksandra Mikulska is vice-president of the Chopin Society in the Federal Republic of Germany in Darmstadt and board member of the German-Polish Association of Baden-Württemberg. Furthermore, she is a member of the Karol Szymanowski Society in Zakopane (Poland) and has close ties with the music society De Musica in Warsaw and the German-Polish Cultural Society "Salonik".
Her recording début in 2010 was devoted to the works of Frédéric Chopin. In the Autumn of 2011 Aleksandra Mikulska published her second CD with the title "Expressions" including works by Haydn, Szymanowski und Chopin. Both recordings enjoyed great popularity with audiences and the specialist press. Meanwhile she has presented her third album which includes Chopin's four ballades. (Translation by Jill Rabenau)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Works, Movements & Tracklist

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):
1. Ballade No. 4 in F Minor Opus 52
2. Mazurka Opus 33 No. 4 in B Minor
3. Mazurka Opus 24 No. 4 in in Bflat Minor
4. Scherzo No. 2 in Bflat Minor Opus 31
5. Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in Eflat Major Opus 22

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937):
6. Prelude Opus 1 No. 2 in D Minor ~ Andante con moto
7. Prelude Opus 1 No. 7 in C Minor ~ Moderato
8. Prelude Opus 1 No. 8 in Eflat Minor ~ Andante ma non troppo

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor Opus 58
9. I.: Allegro maestoso
10. II.: Scherzo: Molto vivace
11. III.: Largo
12. IV.: Finale. Presto non tanto


A concert recording from the lay refectory of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Monastery, July 5th, 2012, recorded, released & created by Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.

Sound & Recording Engineer: Andreas Otto Grimminger.
Mastering: Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Photography: Josef-Stefan Kindler. Artwork & Coverdesign: Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Concert Grand Piano: Steinway & Sons, C-227 (No. 524500)

VORRABER: Concerto Classico for Piano & String Orchestra, Op. 37

Cover
EUR 3,60
Franz Vorraber (*1962):
"Concerto Classico"
for Piano & String Orchestra, Op. 37

World Premiere Recording
Franz Vorraber ~ Piano & Conducting
Castle Concerts Orchestra

Concert Grand Piano:
Steinway & Sons D-274 (No. 597417)

A concert recording from Bad Homburg Castle (Germany)

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 22 Min. 46 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · incl. Booklet

FILES
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Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance

T

he "concerto classico" op. 37 refers, as it can be seen from the title, back to the classical structure and the motives in terms of Haydn. As customary habit at the time, rhythmic set phrases and harmonic collocations of today have been used and processed. In the theme of the first movement can easily be noticed. Thus, the formal arrangement between tutti and solo is obliged to the classical model. Some surprising twists, especially the intensifying rhythm throughout the piece, combine typical formula of the First Viennese School to contemporary elements. The simple theme of the second movement is enriched with complex harmonic turns. Due to the interjections of the piano, a harmonically opposed dialogue is created. The pianos' harmonics, conducted with whole tones and additionally colored by the fifths of the strings, comes finally to a quiet ending. After a virtuosic opening, the third movement is designed concerto-grosso-style. The tutti is dominating the string orchestra. It is interrupted by the pianos’ soloist tours with a rather "groovy" basso continuo. The contrabass is taking the bass line in the middle part to calm the ensemble. After a wild cadence of the piano, the strings return with momentum and vividly end the work with copious virtuous piano figures.

Franz Vorraber

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)

F

ranz Vorraber is one of the internationally renowned interpreters of Schumann. He repeatedly performed the complete solo oeuvre in cycles of twelve concertos and was published it in a thirteen-part CD recording at Thorofon, receiving numerous international awards and honors. Being born in Graz, his studies have been shaped by the First Viennese School and the German School, and he graduated with a soloist diploma and unanimous decoration. Franz Vorraber was invited as soloist to internationally famous festivals as the Viennese Musiksommer, the piano festival Ruhr, the music festival Schleswig Holstein, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Mendelson fest in Leipzig, the Klosterfestspiele Maulbronn, the Musiksommer of Chorin, the European Weeks of Passau, the Frankfurter Feste, the festival Santander, the Schubertiade, the Rheingau music festival, the Hohenloher Kultursommer, the Bebersee festival et cetera. He worked with conductors like Dennis Russell Davies, Fabio Luisi, Alun Francis, Gabriel Feltz, Mar Tardue or Marcus Bosch. His repertoire of piano concerts includes 50 different concerts, many of them have been have been released on CD. His own works as a composer have been increasingly performed lately. There have been many premieres of pieces of chamber music at the Mendelson Fest at the Gewandhaus or at the Schumann Fest in Bonn in cooperation with the blowers of the Staatskapelle Berlin and musicians of the Gewandhaus Leipzig. A great success was the premiere of his first piano concerto at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn. Some works of piano were published by Thorofon and by K&K Verlagsanstalt, i. a. "Sentences of Love" in cooperation with the poet and writer Peter Härtling.

Castle Concerts Orchestra

T

he Castle Concerts Orchestra has been individually assembled by Franz Vorraber due to this production to guarantee the best body of sound possible for the arrangement and the composition. We named the orchestra after our series "Castle Concerts", in which framework this concerto has been performed and recorded.
Concert Master: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt)
Violins: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt), Yuri Uomizu (Wiesbaden), Corinna Freibott (Bad Bocklet), Yana Luzman (Würzburg), Hwoyeong Lee (Wiesbaden), Florian Bartl (Friedrichsdorf), Julia Muginstein (Würzburg), Paul Hartwein (Oberursel), Clara Holzapfel (Wiesbaden)
Violas: Hiltrud Hampe (Frankfurt), Konstantin Molodchinin (Würzburg), Ulrike Kruttschnitt (Würzburg)
Cellos: Bernhard Zapp (Bonn), Jan Ickert (Frankfurt)
Double Bass: Susan Lutz (Würzburg)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Digital Music Albums:

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Release Type: Work Albums

CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11

Track

Cover
EUR 6,65
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):
Piano Concerto No. 1

in E Minor, Op. 11

The version for Piano & String Orchestra

Franz Vorraber ~ Piano & Conducting
Castle Concerts Orchestra

Concert Grand Piano:
Steinway & Sons D-274 (No. 597417)

A concert recording from Bad Homburg Castle (Germany)

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 41 Min. 29 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · incl. Booklet

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance
Frederic Chopin

C

hopin loves singing and as a singing poet of the piano, he inveigles into the universe of dreams. Chopin composed the piano concerto in e minor at the age of 20 during spring/summer of 1830 in Warsaw. It emerged shortly after his concerto in f minor and belongs to the standard repertoire of concert literature. In fall 1830, Chopin left Warsaw to go to Paris. This work is based mainly on polish dancing rhythms; especially prominent is the krakowiak in the last movement. Eventually, his work is characterized by its exceptional cantability. Chopin writes opera for the piano. He most likely performed this concerto himself in Warsaw in the same string casting it can be heard here.

Franz Vorraber

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)

F

ranz Vorraber is one of the internationally renowned interpreters of Schumann. He repeatedly performed the complete solo oeuvre in cycles of twelve concertos and was published it in a thirteen-part CD recording at Thorofon, receiving numerous international awards and honors. Being born in Graz, his studies have been shaped by the First Viennese School and the German School, and he graduated with a soloist diploma and unanimous decoration. Franz Vorraber was invited as soloist to internationally famous festivals as the Viennese Musiksommer, the piano festival Ruhr, the music festival Schleswig Holstein, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Mendelson fest in Leipzig, the Klosterfestspiele Maulbronn, the Musiksommer of Chorin, the European Weeks of Passau, the Frankfurter Feste, the festival Santander, the Schubertiade, the Rheingau music festival, the Hohenloher Kultursommer, the Bebersee festival et cetera. He worked with conductors like Dennis Russell Davies, Fabio Luisi, Alun Francis, Gabriel Feltz, Mar Tardue or Marcus Bosch. His repertoire of piano concerts includes 50 different concerts, many of them have been have been released on CD. His own works as a composer have been increasingly performed lately. There have been many premieres of pieces of chamber music at the Mendelson Fest at the Gewandhaus or at the Schumann Fest in Bonn in cooperation with the blowers of the Staatskapelle Berlin and musicians of the Gewandhaus Leipzig. A great success was the premiere of his first piano concerto at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn. Some works of piano were published by Thorofon and by K&K Verlagsanstalt, i. a. "Sentences of Love" in cooperation with the poet and writer Peter Härtling.

Castle Concerts Orchestra

T

he Castle Concerts Orchestra has been individually assembled by Franz Vorraber due to this production to guarantee the best body of sound possible for the arrangement and the composition. We named the orchestra after our series "Castle Concerts", in which framework this concerto has been performed and recorded.
Concert Master: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt)
Violins: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt), Yuri Uomizu (Wiesbaden), Corinna Freibott (Bad Bocklet), Yana Luzman (Würzburg), Hwoyeong Lee (Wiesbaden), Florian Bartl (Friedrichsdorf), Julia Muginstein (Würzburg), Paul Hartwein (Oberursel), Clara Holzapfel (Wiesbaden)
Violas: Hiltrud Hampe (Frankfurt), Konstantin Molodchinin (Würzburg), Ulrike Kruttschnitt (Würzburg)
Cellos: Bernhard Zapp (Bonn), Jan Ickert (Frankfurt)
Double Bass: Susan Lutz (Würzburg)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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HAYDN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Hob. XVIII:4

Track

Cover
EUR 3,80
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809):
Concerto No. 4 in G Major

for Piano & String Orchestra, Hob. XVIII:4

Franz Vorraber ~ Piano & Conducting
Castle Concerts Orchestra

Cadences by Franz Vorraber
Concert Grand Piano: Steinway & Sons D-274 (No. 597417)

A live recording from Bad Homburg Castle (Germany)

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 19 Min. 18 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · Booklet

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance

P

apa Haydn - nothing of the sort! The great musician always knew how to entertain people without using cheep templates filled with gaudy timbres or highly dramatic gestures. For him, joie de vivre is admissible, even desirable. Behind this rhythmic vitality and all the gestures, the master distinguishes and seduces people to superior thoughts, too. Little is known about the creation of the piano concert in G major. Guaranteed is just a date of performance on April 28th, 1784 at the Concert spirituel in Paris with the blind Viennese pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, whom i. a. Mozart composed for. The importance of Haydn as author of concertos is still underestimated in the History of Music. This particular concerto is composed for a string quartet only, without blowers. It comprises a typical, classically built work full of surprises and embellishments. This extent of humor and playfulness will rarely be accomplished by composers later born.

Franz Vorraber

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Performer(s)

F

ranz Vorraber is one of the internationally renowned interpreters of Schumann. He repeatedly performed the complete solo oeuvre in cycles of twelve concertos and was published it in a thirteen-part CD recording at Thorofon, receiving numerous international awards and honors. Being born in Graz, his studies have been shaped by the First Viennese School and the German School, and he graduated with a soloist diploma and unanimous decoration. Franz Vorraber was invited as soloist to internationally famous festivals as the Viennese Musiksommer, the piano festival Ruhr, the music festival Schleswig Holstein, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Mendelson fest in Leipzig, the Klosterfestspiele Maulbronn, the Musiksommer of Chorin, the European Weeks of Passau, the Frankfurter Feste, the festival Santander, the Schubertiade, the Rheingau music festival, the Hohenloher Kultursommer, the Bebersee festival et cetera. He worked with conductors like Dennis Russell Davies, Fabio Luisi, Alun Francis, Gabriel Feltz, Mar Tardue or Marcus Bosch. His repertoire of piano concerts includes 50 different concerts, many of them have been have been released on CD. His own works as a composer have been increasingly performed lately. There have been many premieres of pieces of chamber music at the Mendelson Fest at the Gewandhaus or at the Schumann Fest in Bonn in cooperation with the blowers of the Staatskapelle Berlin and musicians of the Gewandhaus Leipzig. A great success was the premiere of his first piano concerto at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn. Some works of piano were published by Thorofon and by K&K Verlagsanstalt, i. a. "Sentences of Love" in cooperation with the poet and writer Peter Härtling.

Castle Concerts Orchestra

T

he Castle Concerts Orchestra has been individually assembled by Franz Vorraber due to this production to guarantee the best body of sound possible for the arrangement and the composition. We named the orchestra after our series "Castle Concerts", in which framework this concerto has been performed and recorded.
Concert Master: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt)
Violins: Barbara Kummer-Buchberger (Frankfurt), Yuri Uomizu (Wiesbaden), Corinna Freibott (Bad Bocklet), Yana Luzman (Würzburg), Hwoyeong Lee (Wiesbaden), Florian Bartl (Friedrichsdorf), Julia Muginstein (Würzburg), Paul Hartwein (Oberursel), Clara Holzapfel (Wiesbaden)
Violas: Hiltrud Hampe (Frankfurt), Konstantin Molodchinin (Würzburg), Ulrike Kruttschnitt (Würzburg)
Cellos: Bernhard Zapp (Bonn), Jan Ickert (Frankfurt)
Double Bass: Susan Lutz (Würzburg)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

MIDNIGHT CLASSICS Vol. 2

Cover
EUR 9,90
Volume 2
Midnight Classics

Music just to relax...
by Dvorák, Mozart, Schubert,
Brahms, Bach, Janácek, Franck and Lauridsen

DDD · Duration: 40 Min. 04 Sec.
Digital Album · 9 Tracks

FILES
Previews

Art Movie(s)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Works, Movements & Tracklist

1. Impromptu in G-Flat Major
Op. 90, No. 3 (D.899/3)
by Franz Schubert
Performed by Franz Vorraber (Piano)

2. Sus pe culmea dealului
by anonymous
Performed by Ulrich Herkenhoff (Pan Flute) and Matthias Keller (Pipe Organ)

3. Intermezzo No. 3 in A-Flat Major
from 8 Pieces for Piano, Op. 76
by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Lilya Zilberstein (Piano)

4. Flute Sonata in E-Flat Major, BWV 1031
by Johann Sebastian Bach
II. Siciliano
Performed by Ulrich Herkenhoff (Pan Flute) and Matthias Keller (Pipe Organ)

5. Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
by César Franck
I. Prelude
Performed by Ulrich Herkenhoff (Pan Flute) and Matthias Keller (Pipe Organ)

6. Piano Concerto No. 23
in A Major, K. 488
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
II. Adagio
Performed by Christoph Soldan (Piano) and the Capella Istropolitana under the direction of Pawel Przytocki

7. Serenade for String Orchestra
in E Major, Op. 22, B. 52
by Antonín Dvorák
I. Moderato
Performed by the Beethoven Academy Orchestra under the direction of Pawel Przytocki

8. String Quartet No. 2
"Listy duverne " (Intimate Letters), JW VII/13
by Leoš Janácek
II. Adagio
Performed by the Amati String Quartet

9. O Magnum Mysterium
by Morten Lauridsen
Performed by the Maulbronn Chamber Choir under the direction of Jürgen Budday


Sound & Recording Engineer: Andreas Otto Grimminger.
Mastering & Production: Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Photography: Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Artwork & Coverdesign: Josef-Stefan Kindler.

SCHMIDINGER: Concertino for Piano & String Quintet 'a piacere'

Cover
EUR 3,90
Helmut Schmidinger (*1969):
Concertino for Piano & String Quintet
"a piacere"

Performed by Christoph Soldan (Piano)
and the Silesian Chamber Soloists
~ World Premiere Recording ~

Concert Grand Piano: Steinway & Sons D-274

Recorded in a concert at the theatre
"Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 14 Min. 33 Sec.
Digital Album · 1 Track

FILES
Previews

Art Movie(s)


Work(s) & Performance

A

s a source of inspiration for 'a piacere', being created due to encouragement and request of the pianist Christoph Soldan, I benefited in multiple regards from the piano concerto K. 415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I have, aside from an intense connection to the oeuvre of Mozart due to my work for the 'Neue Mozart Ausgabe', also an intimate relation to the piano concerto, as it is the only concerto I could interpret myself. The most obvious reference to Mozart's work is the choice of the instrumentation: piano and string orchestra or piano with string quartet - as it pleases you, just 'a piacere'. The melodic material I choose from a miniature cadence in bar 199 of the first movement of Mozart's K. 415 and by modification of the octave position I created a seemingly original texture out of a literal quote - the gesture is preserved. The rhythmic figures live on the sequence of impulses of 4 - 1 - 5. In this work of one movement there is a change of strictly notated parts with rhythmically deliberated parts, signed over 'a piacere', before concluding in a finale that is accompanied by an oscillating string figure - as in Mozart's concerto.

Helmut Schmidinger

Released with kind permission of Doblinger Music Publishing, Vienna

Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Work Albums

MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449

Cover
EUR 8,50
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 14

in E-Flat Major, K. 449

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler after and with
the Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449,
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
in a version for Piano & String Quintet,
performed live by Christoph Soldan (Piano)
& the Silesian Chamber Soloists
at the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)
with a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano D-274

3 Chapters · Runtime: c. 20 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):
Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449
1. Allegro vivace
2. Andantino
3. Allegro ma non troppo

Music Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

Bravo!

A viewer on YouTube and Google+

Movies:

Filme:

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Digital Movies

MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415

Cover
EUR 8,50
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 13

in C Major, K. 415

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler after and with
the Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415,
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
in a version for Piano & String Quintet,
performed live by Christoph Soldan (Piano)
& the Silesian Chamber Soloists
at the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)
with a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano D-274

3 Chapters · Runtime: c. 24 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):
Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Rondeau: Allegro

Music Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Movies:

Filme:

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Digital Movies

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449

Track

Cover
EUR 3,80
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449

Version for Piano & String Quintet,
performed by Christoph Soldan and the Silesian Chamber Soloists.

Recorded to 'Direct 2-Track Stereo Digital HD' in a concert
at the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)
with a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano D-274

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 19 Min. 48 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · Digital Booklet

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Image Gallery
Work(s) & Performance
MozartMozart

T

he concertos are just the medium between being too heavy and too light - they are very brilliant - pleasant to hear - certainly without falling into the void - here and there it is possible for the connoisseur alone to get satisfaction - but such - that the laymen can be contented without knowing why.


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
about the three concertos for piano K. 413, K. 414 and K. 415 in a letter to his father on December 28th, 1782

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce. The concerto in C-major K. 415 is the most splendid one. The second movement Mozart first planned in c-minor, but he gave up this intention in favor of a light, jaunty movement in F-major. Nevertheless, there is a slight reminiscence to this original minor movement in the concerto's last movement: the vivid six-quaver beat with his appeal to the Papageno-motif is interrupted two times by a melancholic insertion in c-minor. The concerto in E-flat-major K. 449 is the first composition registered by Mozart in his own catalogue of works that he started in February 1784. It belongs to the most accomplished works of Mozart's music, with his latent, but dramatic dynamic and its depth that goes beyond the diverging antagonism of musical forces. The piano concertos of Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan

Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

Bravo!

A viewer on YouTube and Google+

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415

Track

Cover
EUR 3,80
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 13

in C Major, K. 415

Version for Piano & String Quintet,
performed by Christoph Soldan and the Silesian Chamber Soloists

Recorded to 'Direct 2-Track Stereo Digital HD' in a concert
at the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)
with a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano D-274

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 23 Min. 29 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks · incl. Booklet

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Art Movie(s)

Image Gallery
Work(s) & Performance
MozartMozart

T

he concertos are just the medium between being too heavy and too light - they are very brilliant - pleasant to hear - certainly without falling into the void - here and there it is possible for the connoisseur alone to get satisfaction - but such - that the laymen can be contented without knowing why.


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
about the three concertos for piano K. 413, K. 414 and K. 415 in a letter to his father on December 28th, 1782

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce. The concerto in C-major K. 415 is the most splendid one. The second movement Mozart first planned in c-minor, but he gave up this intention in favor of a light, jaunty movement in F-major. Nevertheless, there is a slight reminiscence to this original minor movement in the concerto's last movement: the vivid six-quaver beat with his appeal to the Papageno-motif is interrupted two times by a melancholic insertion in c-minor. The concerto in E-flat-major K. 449 is the first composition registered by Mozart in his own catalogue of works that he started in February 1784. It belongs to the most accomplished works of Mozart's music, with his latent, but dramatic dynamic and its depth that goes beyond the diverging antagonism of musical forces. The piano concertos of Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan

Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Piano Concertos by Mozart & Schmidinger

Frontcover
Backcover
EUR 22,00
CD
Grand Piano Masters
Piano Concertos by Mozart & Schmidinger

Concertos for Piano & String Quintet,
performed by Christoph Soldan & the Silesian Chamber Soloists.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):
· Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415
· Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-Flat Major, K. 449

Helmut Schmidinger (*1969):
"a piacere" ~ Concertino for Piano & String Quintet
World Premiere Recording

Recorded to 'Direct 2-Track Stereo Digital' in a concert
at the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany)
with a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano D-274

HD Recording · DDD · c. 58 Minutes

Previews

Art Movie(s)

Work(s) & Performance
MozartMozart

T

he concertos are just the medium between being too heavy and too light - they are very brilliant - pleasant to hear - certainly without falling into the void - here and there it is possible for the connoisseur alone to get satisfaction - but such - that the laymen can be contented without knowing why.


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
about the three concertos for piano K. 413, K. 414 and K. 415 in a letter to his father on December 28th, 1782

H

aving provided us with magnificent examples of concertos for stringed and wind instruments, Mozart reaches the ideal conception of a concerto with his piano concertos. They are the high point and peak of his instrumental producing. In Mozart's piano concertos two equal forces are facing each other that are really able to compete. They are therefore essentially his very unique creation. The piano concertos K. 413 - 415 and K. 449 were the first in a row of 17 momentous concertos created in Vienna and consequently founding his fame as virtuoso to the Viennese audience. The double possibility given to the performance, of either playing full orchestra, with oboe and horn (in the C-Major also with timpani and trumpet) or just with string quartet shows the flexibility he wanted to produce. The concerto in C-major K. 415 is the most splendid one. The second movement Mozart first planned in c-minor, but he gave up this intention in favor of a light, jaunty movement in F-major. Nevertheless, there is a slight reminiscence to this original minor movement in the concerto's last movement: the vivid six-quaver beat with his appeal to the Papageno-motif is interrupted two times by a melancholic insertion in c-minor. The concerto in E-flat-major K. 449 is the first composition registered by Mozart in his own catalogue of works that he started in February 1784. It belongs to the most accomplished works of Mozart's music, with his latent, but dramatic dynamic and its depth that goes beyond the diverging antagonism of musical forces. The piano concertos of Mozart never seem to touch the border of the socially appropriate - how could it, being designed to be acclaimed. But even so, it opens the doors to tell about the dark and the bright, the serious and the cheerful, the deepest - to lead its audience to a higher level of knowledge. The audience that is to deal with Mozart's piano concertos is the best there is.

Christoph Soldan

A

s a source of inspiration for 'a piacere', being created due to encouragement and request of the pianist Christoph Soldan, I benefited in multiple regards from the piano concerto K. 415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I have, aside from an intense connection to the oeuvre of Mozart due to my work for the 'Neue Mozart Ausgabe', also an intimate relation to the piano concerto, as it is the only concerto I could interpret myself. The most obvious reference to Mozart's work is the choice of the instrumentation: piano and string orchestra or piano with string quartet - as it pleases you, just 'a piacere'. The melodic material I choose from a miniature cadence in bar 199 of the first movement of Mozart's K. 415 and by modification of the octave position I created a seemingly original texture out of a literal quote - the gesture is preserved. The rhythmic figures live on the sequence of impulses of 4 - 1 - 5. In this work of one movement there is a change of strictly notated parts with rhythmically deliberated parts, signed over 'a piacere', before concluding in a finale that is accompanied by an oscillating string figure - as in Mozart's concerto.

Helmut Schmidinger

Performer(s)
Christoph Soldan

T

he pianist Christoph Soldan (born 1964) studied under the Professors Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg Musikhochschule. His break-through to active international concert playing came in a tour with Leonard Bernstein in summer 1989. Of Christoph Soldan, the world-famous director said, "I am impressed by the soulful size of this young musician." Since then, Soldan has played in numerous tours with renowned orchestras across Europe and abroad. In particular, this can be seen in the CD recordings of all of Mozart's piano concertos, which were performed and recorded from 1996 until 2006. A tour of piano evenings took place in Mexico and other countries in Central America in October 1997. In August 1998 he debuted in Salzburg and in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, and in May 1999 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In March 2000, there were three piano evenings in Japan. So far, there have been radio and television productions with the Hessische Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF. The Bayerische Rundfunk broadcasted his piano evening in the Munich Residenz in October 1998 and his concert in the Bad Brückenau music festival live in 1999. Radio Bremen braodcasted his recital in Bremen in august 2002. Starting in 1996 Soldan was performing all 27 piano concertos by Mozart together with the slovakian chamber orchestra Cappella Istropolitana, the South-West German Chamber Orchestra of Pforzheim and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra Katowice. This cycle of concerts ended in January 2006, performing the concertos for 2 and 3 pianos. Christoph Soldan developed a "pas de deux for piano and Dance", together with his wife, the dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. The première took place in Stuttgart in May 2000. In Spring 2001 he participated the Prague Spring Festival accompanied by the slovakian chamber orchestra "Cappella Istropolitana". Two recitals in Hamburg and Berlin were followed by a live-recording of two Mozart piano concertos in the medieval monastery of Maulbronn in september 2002. In January 2004 the première of the new dance project "something about humans and angels" took place in Stuttgart followed by a concert-tour to South Africa. Since 2007 Soldan is working also as a conductor concerning the performances of piano concertos by Bach and Mozart. In the 2015/2016 season, Christoph Soldan will be guesting in Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Slovakia and the United States with various programmes such as recitals, literary concerts, childrens concerts, as soloist with 5 of Mozart's piano-concertos as well as in chamber music programmes with Brahm's piano quintet op. 34. Since 1994 Christoph Soldan was artistic director of the "Schubertiade auf Schloß Eyb". In 2007, together with his wife, Soldan founded a theatre in the north of Baden-Württemberg between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, where all artistic programmes are taking place since then. The German press describes Christoph Soldan as an artist personality who works with the spiritual intensity and soulful dimension of a piece of music, rather than giving a purely technical virtuoso performance. This challenge to music and to himself is rarely seen today.

Silesian Chamber Soloists

T

he Silesian Chamber Soloists are the section leaders oft he Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice (Śląska Orkiestra Kameralna). All of them are outstanding soloists, who studied on several Music-Universities in Poland and Germany. In 1993 the ensemble has been founded as a quartett first and was enlarged later by an additional doublebass position. The high level of artistic performance made the quintet to the leading chamber ensemble in Silesia. Concert tours have been organized to various festivals within Poland and other European countries. The Silesian Chamber Soloists performed with great success in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, MDR Musiksommer und im Rheingau Musik Festival. Cooperations were made with outstanding conductors and soloists, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Pinchas Zuckerman, Maxim Vengerov, Mscislav Rostropovich and Christoph Soldan. One special feature does result from the fact, that the concertmaster of the ensemble, Dariusz Zboch, is not only a very gifted violinist but at the same time arranging pieces of music. His last work has been published on two CD productions, a cycle of arrangements of the solid goal hits from the 60th and 70th concerning the songs of Procol Harum, Queen, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Abba oder Deep Purple. This true "cross-over-project" is combining popular music with works of the classical repertoire. In 2015 und 2016 there are 5 concert tours, that take place together with the german conductor and pianist Christoph Soldan throughout several european contries. As repertoire there will be performed 4 piano concertos by Mozart, Schubert´s trout-quintett, Brahm´s piano-quintett opus 34 und Chopin´s piano-concerto in e-minor.
Dariusz Zboch (Violin) · Jakub Łysik (Violin) · Jarosław Marzec (Viola)
Katarzyna Biedrowska (Cello) · Krzysztof Korzeń (Double Bass)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Works, Movements & Tracklist

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):
Piano Concerto No. 13
in C Major, K. 415
1. I.: Allegro ~ 2. II.: Andante
3. III.: Rondeau: allegro

Helmut Schmidinger (*1969):
4. "a piacere"
Concertino for Piano & String Quintet
World Premiere Recording

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):
Piano Concerto No. 14
in E-Flat Major, K. 449
5. I.: Allegro vivace ~ 6. II.: Andantino
7. III.: Allegro ma non troppo

A concert recording from the theatre "Saalbau" in Neustadt (Germany), February 3rd 2015, recorded, released & created by Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Sound & Recording Engineer: Andreas Otto Grimminger.
Mastering: Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Photography: Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Artwork & Coverdesign: Josef-Stefan Kindler.

"a piacere" by Helmut Schmidinger is released with kind permission of Doblinger Music Publishing, Vienna

Review

Bravo!

A viewer on YouTube and Google+

Grand Piano Masters ~ Sentences of Love

Cover
EUR 10,08
Franz Vorraber:
Sentences of Love

Art Movie
by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with
compositions for Piano Solo
by Franz Vorraber,
performed live by Franz Vorraber.

Concert Grand Piano:
Bösendorfer D 275 (No.44414-149).

7 Chapters · Runtime: c. 25 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

01. Walk
Spaziergang

02. Thinking Minor
Ein Gedanke

03. Foreign World
Fremde Welt

04. Sunset Waltz
Walzer

05. Rainy Minor
Meditation

06. Remembrance
Erinnerung

07. Soften Lights
Ballade

Music Performer(s)

B

orn in Graz (Austria), Franz Vorraber has been fascinated by the piano since his early childhood. At the age of seven, he played the organ in church standing up - as he could hardly reach the pedals. At the age of thirteen, he was admitted to the piano class for exceptional students at the Music Conservatory in Graz, also learning the violin. The Viennese School in the tradition of Bruno Seidlhofer and the traditional German school of Wilhelm Kempff, handed down by Joachim Volkmann, dominated his study years. He has won many prizes for his skills on the piano. Here, just some of the awarders: the Austrian Culture Minister, the piano manufacturers Bösendorfer in Vienna and the city of Graz. He also won the Joachim Erhard prize. He completed his studies in Frankfurt and Graz receiving unanimously the highest awards. His greatest project has been the cyclical performance of Robert Schumann's complete piano works in a total of twelve evenings in different cities in Europe and Japan. The press and the public have repeatedly acclaimed him as one of the most important interpreters of Schumann in our times. He has recorded these works on a series of thirteen CDs for which he was awarded Austrian Broadcasting's Pasticcio prize in 2006. Despite all these prizes, other criteria are pivotal in Franz Vorraber's concerts: his enormous expressive force as a musician and his ability to expose the essential core of the music fascinate his public. He leaves his listeners emotionally moved. Since his debut in Tokyo at the age of 19, he has received many invitations to almost all the European countries, America and Japan, where he also holds master classes.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

Magnifique!

Marie Rose Gastou on YouTube

Movies:

Filme:

Performers, Series & Composers:

Künstler, Reihen & Komponisten:

Periods, Specials & Formats:

Epochen, Specials & Formate:

Release Type: Digital Movies

RACHMANINOFF: Russian Rhapsody for 2 Pianos

Track

Cover
EUR 1,80
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943):
Russian Rhapsody for 2 Pianos

performed live by Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz ("Duo Reine Elisabeth")
on 2 Concert Grand Pianos D-274 by Steinway & Sons

A concert recording from the City Theater Kempten (Germany), March 16th 2012.

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 8 Min. 04 Sec.
Digital Album · 2 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Work(s) & Performance

R

ussian Rhapsody is a piece for two pianos in E minor composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1891, when he was 18.[1] It is more accurately described as a set of variations on a theme, rather than a true rhapsody. It was premiered on October 29, 1891, and its performance lasts approximately nine minutes.[2]
While still a student at Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninoff wrote to Natalia Skalon on January 22, 1891 [O.S. January 10] mentioning that he had begun work on a piece for two pianos that he wanted to play with Alexander "Sasha" Siloti.[3] Although, he dated the manuscript January 12–15, 1891 [O.S.], implying that he had the composition in his head at the time of the letter, and only recorded the days he notated it on paper. Despite his stated intentions, he began rehearsing with Leonid Maximov, who had been a fellow student of Nikolai Zverev and pupil of Siloti, to play at a student concert at the Conservatory on March 8, 1891. However, Zverev, still upset over Rachmaninoff's request for a separate composing room, did not allow them to play together, so at the concert Rachmaninoff ended up conducting his choral work Deus Meus (1890) instead.[1] The Rhapsody received its premiere after he graduated, on October 29, 1891, in a performance by Rachmaninoff and Josef Lhévinne at the Conservatory.[2]
The piece is more often described as a set of variations rather than a true rhapsody, and a letter from Rachmaninoff's friend Vladimir Wilshaw describes the possible origin of the composition as a session in which Rachmaninoff improvised on a melody set forth by pianist Yuri Sakhnovsky.[4] Although both he and Lhévinne were more than capable performers, after the premiere, Rachmaninoff considerably simplified three passages. This is cited as the first of many future instances in which he would revise some of his pieces for no apparent reason, since it could not have been the ability of the performers that caused him to do so.[2]
It is natural for a composition of variations to repeat the theme, but it is noted that the Rhapsody lacks the textural contrast shown in his later works, although it is very virtuosic and brilliant.[5]
References:
1. Matthew-Walker, Robert (1984). Rachmaninoff: The Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers. London: Omnibus. p. 22. ISBN 0-7119-0253-4.
2. Harrison, Max (2006). Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. London: Continuum. pp. 28, 52. ISBN 0-8264-9312-2.
3. Sergei Rachmaninoff (January 22 1891 [O.S. January 10]). "Letters of Rachmaninoff". Senar. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
4. Bertensson, Sergei; Jay Leyda (2001). Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-253-21421-1.
5. Hinson, Maurice (2001). Music for More than One Piano: An Annotated Guide. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University. p. 157. ISBN 0-253-21457-2.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Performer(s)
Duo Reine Elisabeth

R

olf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz came to prominence after their remarkable successes at international piano competitions such as Leeds, Brussels, Warsaw and Moscow where they won major prizes. Today they belong to the most distinguished pianists of their generation. Both have completed their studies at the renowned "Hochschule für Musik und Theater" in Hanover; both have received many rewards and various scholarships.
Apart from their extensive activities as soloists in Germany and abroad, Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz formed a piano duet in 1988 called Duo "Reine Elisabeth", in commemoration to the world-famous piano competition "Concours Reine Elisabeth" in Brussels, Belgium, in which their successful participation in 1983 and 1987 launched their international careers.
The DUO has performed in several European countries as well as in Middle and South America (Chile, Mexico). Both pianists have played together with famous conductors like Bernhard Klee, Pierre Bartholomée, Christian Kluttig, Frank Beermann and others.
There is a large repertoire available reaching from the baroque style to the classic, romantic and modern eras. Apart from classical and romantic programmes both pianists also feature works of contemporary composers such as Volker Blumenthaler, Richard Heller, Karl Thieme, Frédéric van Rossum, Daniel Capelletti or Piet Swerts. A special achievement of the DUO is the performance of rare transcriptions of well-known orchestral works and ballets: Igor Stravinsky's "Petrushka", "Le Sacre du Printemps", Franz Liszt's version of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven for 2 pianos, Aram Chatchaturjan's ballets "Gayaneh" and "Spartak" or the Piano Concerto-Fantasy on Chinese Folk Tales by Alexander Tcherepnin. In the opera houses in Leipzig and Karlsruhe the "Sacre" has been performed by the DUO over twenty times in different choreographies (Uwe Scholz, Davide Bombana).
Both pianists are teaching as professors at famous music universities. Rolf Plagge is chairman of all juries and boards for pedagogic piano studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Wolfgang Manz is member of the senate and head of the keyboard section at the Nürnberg University of Music.
Several CDs have so far been produced. Besides works of Sergej Rachmaninov, Dimitri Schostakowitsch and Alexander Scriabine, the EMS CD ("Russian Music I") presents an adaptation for two pianos of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" as complete version of all four scenes created by the DUO.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

View more releases:

Ysaÿe: Variations for 2 Pianos, Op. 10

Track

Cover
EUR 3,80
Théo Ysaÿe (1865-1918):
Variations for 2 Pianos, Op. 10

Variations on a theme for two pianos, Op. 10,
performed live by Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz ("Duo Reine Elisabeth")
on 2 Concert Grand Pianos D-274 by Steinway & Sons.

A concert recording from the City Theater Kempten (Germany), March 16th 2012.

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 14 Min. 23 Sec.
Digital Album · 3 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Work(s) & Performance

T

héophile Ysaÿe (French: [te.ofil iza.i]; 2 March 1865 – 24 March 1918)[1] was a Belgian composer and pianist, born in Verviers, Belgium. His brother was the violinist and conductor Eugène Ysaÿe.
Rather overshadowed throughout his life by the career of his elder brother Eugène, Théo Ysaÿe began amateur studies in music at the Liège Conservatory and, on Eugène's advice, furthered his education in Berlin. In 1885, Ysaÿe returned to Paris, where he joined the Bande à Franck but also supported the growth of a new aesthetic movement represented by the impressionism of Claude Debussy. Ysaÿe helped promote the work of the new school of French musicians, in Brussels. In 1894, he and his brother found engagements with the La Libre Esthétique in Brussels, which offered the residents of the city the opportunity to experience a generous range of displays in both music and the plastic arts. Ysaÿe contributed his talents as a pianist and a répétiteur.
Although Ysaÿe was an excellent pianist, his fragile health did not allow him to follow the hectic pace of his brother's career and he instead became a professor at the Genève Conservatory of Music.
In 1918, Théo Ysaÿe died in Nice, France, two days before Debussy. His relatively vast oeuvre has not been published in its entirety, let alone performed as such. His opus 13, 14 and 15 were published by G. Schirmer in New York. He wrote symphonies, piano concertos, symphonic poems, and chamber music, principally, as well as a requiem. While he inherited initially the style of César Franck, his later work revealed a clear influence of impressionism.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Performer(s)
Duo Reine Elisabeth

R

olf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz came to prominence after their remarkable successes at international piano competitions such as Leeds, Brussels, Warsaw and Moscow where they won major prizes. Today they belong to the most distinguished pianists of their generation. Both have completed their studies at the renowned "Hochschule für Musik und Theater" in Hanover; both have received many rewards and various scholarships.
Apart from their extensive activities as soloists in Germany and abroad, Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz formed a piano duet in 1988 called Duo "Reine Elisabeth", in commemoration to the world-famous piano competition "Concours Reine Elisabeth" in Brussels, Belgium, in which their successful participation in 1983 and 1987 launched their international careers.
The DUO has performed in several European countries as well as in Middle and South America (Chile, Mexico). Both pianists have played together with famous conductors like Bernhard Klee, Pierre Bartholomée, Christian Kluttig, Frank Beermann and others.
There is a large repertoire available reaching from the baroque style to the classic, romantic and modern eras. Apart from classical and romantic programmes both pianists also feature works of contemporary composers such as Volker Blumenthaler, Richard Heller, Karl Thieme, Frédéric van Rossum, Daniel Capelletti or Piet Swerts. A special achievement of the DUO is the performance of rare transcriptions of well-known orchestral works and ballets: Igor Stravinsky's "Petrushka", "Le Sacre du Printemps", Franz Liszt's version of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven for 2 pianos, Aram Chatchaturjan's ballets "Gayaneh" and "Spartak" or the Piano Concerto-Fantasy on Chinese Folk Tales by Alexander Tcherepnin. In the opera houses in Leipzig and Karlsruhe the "Sacre" has been performed by the DUO over twenty times in different choreographies (Uwe Scholz, Davide Bombana).
Both pianists are teaching as professors at famous music universities. Rolf Plagge is chairman of all juries and boards for pedagogic piano studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Wolfgang Manz is member of the senate and head of the keyboard section at the Nürnberg University of Music.
Several CDs have so far been produced. Besides works of Sergej Rachmaninov, Dimitri Schostakowitsch and Alexander Scriabine, the EMS CD ("Russian Music I") presents an adaptation for two pianos of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" as complete version of all four scenes created by the DUO.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

BRAHMS: Variations for 2 Pianos, Op. 56b

Track

Cover
EUR 9,00
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897):
Variations for 2 Pianos

Op. 56b

Variations for two pianos on a theme by Joseph Haydn, Op. 56b
"Saint Anthony Variations"

Performed live by Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz ("Duo Reine Elisabeth")
on 2 Concert Grand Pianos D-274 by Steinway & Sons

A live recording from the City Theater Kempten (Germany), March 16th 2012

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: 16 Min. 11 Sec.
Digital Album · 10 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

320 kBit/sec.

Work(s) & Performance
Johannes Brahms

T

he Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, (German: Variationen über ein Thema von Jos. Haydn), now also called the Saint Anthony Variations, is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1873 at Tutzing in Bavaria. It consists of a theme in B-flat major based on a "Chorale St Antoni", eight variations, and a finale. The work was published in two versions: for two pianos, written first but designated Op. 56b; and for orchestra, designated Op. 56a.
The orchestral version is better known and much more often heard than the two-piano version. It is often said to be the first independent set of variations for orchestra in the history of music,[1] although there is at least one earlier piece in the same form, Antonio Salieri's Twenty-six Variations on 'La folia di Spagna' written in 1815. Brahms's orchestral variations are scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (2 in E flat, 2 in B flat), 2 trumpets, timpani, triangle, and the normal string section of first and second violins, violas, cellos and double basses. The piece usually takes about 18 minutes to perform. The first performance of the orchestral version was given on 2 November 1873 by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Brahms's baton.
Brahms composed the work on a theme entitled "Chorale St. Antoni" found in a wind ensemble composition. At the time Brahms discovered it, the wind ensemble piece carried an attribution to the composer Joseph Haydn. Brahms titled his own composition accordingly, crediting Haydn for the theme, but publishers in the early nineteenth century often attached the names of famous composers to works by unknown or lesser known composers in order to move inventory. Subsequent research has concluded that the wind piece Brahms used as a source does not fit Haydn's style. Today the wind ensemble piece remains without clear attribution. The situation has led to Brahms's piece being referred to today in recordings and concert programs as the St. Anthony Variations as well as its original title.
A detailed survey of the controversy can be found in Douglas Yeo's 2004 edition of the "Haydn" piece (ISMN M-57015-175-1).[2] In 1870, Brahms's friend Carl Ferdinand Pohl, the librarian of the Vienna Philharmonic Society, who was working on a Haydn biography at the time, showed Brahms a transcription he had made of a piece attributed to Haydn titled Divertimento No. 1. The second movement bore the heading "St. Anthony Chorale," and it is this movement which, in its entirety, forms the theme on which the variations are based. Brahms's statement of the theme varies in small but significant ways from the original, principally with regard to instrumentation. Some sources state the Divertimento was probably written by Ignaz Pleyel, but this has not been definitely established. A further question is whether the composer of the divertimento actually wrote the "St. Anthony Chorale" or simply quoted an older theme taken from an unknown source. To date, no other mention of a "St. Anthony Chorale" has been found.
The theme begins with a repeated ten-measure passage which itself consists of two intriguing five-measure phrases, a quirk that is likely to have caught Brahms's attention. Almost without exception, the eight variations follow the phrasal structure of the theme and, though less strictly, the harmonic structure as well. Each has a distinctive character, several calling to mind the forms and techniques of earlier eras, with some displaying a mastery of counterpoint seldom encountered in Romantic music.
The finale is a magnificent theme and variations on a ground bass, five measures in length, derived from the principal theme. Its culmination, a restatement of the chorale, is a moment of such transcendence that the usually austere Brahms permits himself the use of a triangle.
Just before the end of the piece, in the coda of the finale, Brahms quotes a passage that really is by Haydn. In mm. 463-464, the violas and cellos echo the cello line from m. 148 of the second movement of the latter's "Clock" Symphony, one of the finest examples of Haydn's pioneering work in the symphonic variation form. The reader may compare the two passages by following these links: Brahms, Haydn (see below for link credits). Ironically, this fragmentary allusion may be the music's sole link to Haydn.
Notes:
[1] McCorkle, Donald M., p. 5 in the Norton Scores edition of the Variations (ISBN 0-393-09206-2)
[2] Yeo, Douglas (2013). "Divertimento (Feldparthie) in B flat [St. Antoni Chorale], Hob. 2:46". yeodoug.com. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Performer(s)
Duo Reine Elisabeth

R

olf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz came to prominence after their remarkable successes at international piano competitions such as Leeds, Brussels, Warsaw and Moscow where they won major prizes. Today they belong to the most distinguished pianists of their generation. Both have completed their studies at the renowned "Hochschule für Musik und Theater" in Hanover; both have received many rewards and various scholarships.
Apart from their extensive activities as soloists in Germany and abroad, Rolf Plagge and Wolfgang Manz formed a piano duet in 1988 called Duo "Reine Elisabeth", in commemoration to the world-famous piano competition "Concours Reine Elisabeth" in Brussels, Belgium, in which their successful participation in 1983 and 1987 launched their international careers.
The DUO has performed in several European countries as well as in Middle and South America (Chile, Mexico). Both pianists have played together with famous conductors like Bernhard Klee, Pierre Bartholomée, Christian Kluttig, Frank Beermann and others.
There is a large repertoire available reaching from the baroque style to the classic, romantic and modern eras. Apart from classical and romantic programmes both pianists also feature works of contemporary composers such as Volker Blumenthaler, Richard Heller, Karl Thieme, Frédéric van Rossum, Daniel Capelletti or Piet Swerts. A special achievement of the DUO is the performance of rare transcriptions of well-known orchestral works and ballets: Igor Stravinsky's "Petrushka", "Le Sacre du Printemps", Franz Liszt's version of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven for 2 pianos, Aram Chatchaturjan's ballets "Gayaneh" and "Spartak" or the Piano Concerto-Fantasy on Chinese Folk Tales by Alexander Tcherepnin. In the opera houses in Leipzig and Karlsruhe the "Sacre" has been performed by the DUO over twenty times in different choreographies (Uwe Scholz, Davide Bombana).
Both pianists are teaching as professors at famous music universities. Rolf Plagge is chairman of all juries and boards for pedagogic piano studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Wolfgang Manz is member of the senate and head of the keyboard section at the Nürnberg University of Music.
Several CDs have so far been produced. Besides works of Sergej Rachmaninov, Dimitri Schostakowitsch and Alexander Scriabine, the EMS CD ("Russian Music I") presents an adaptation for two pianos of Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" as complete version of all four scenes created by the DUO.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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Minor Piano Atmospheres of Paris

Cover
EUR 10,08
K&K Impressions
Minor Piano Atmospheres of Paris

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with compositions for Piano Solo
by Frédéric Chopin & Karol Szymanowski,
performed by Aleksandra Mikulska

7 Chapters · Runtime: c. 40 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

1. Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F Minor Opus 52

2. Chopin: Mazurka Opus 33 No. 4 in B Minor

3. Chopin: Mazurka Opus 24 No. 4 in Bflat Minor

4. Chopin: Largo from the Piano Sonata No.3 in B Minor Opus 58

5. Szymanowski: Prelude Opus 1/2 in D Minor ~ Andante con moto

6. Szymanowski: Prelude Opus 1/7 in C Minor ~ Moderato

7. Szymanowski: Prelude Opus 1/8 in Eflat Minor ~ Andante ma non troppo

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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SCHUBERT: Wanderer Fantasy Opus 15

Cover
EUR 1,44
Franz Schubert:
Fantasia Opus 15 in C major (D 760)
"Wanderer Fantasy"

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with Franz Schubert's
Fantasia for Piano Opus 15
"Wanderer Fantasy",
performed live by Franz Vorraber
at Bad Homburg Castle (Germany)
on a C. Bechstein Concert Grand Piano D 280

1 Chapter · Runtime: c. 27 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Franz Schubert: Fantasia Opus 15 in C major (D 760)
"Wanderer Fantasy"

Work(s) & Performance

T

he "Wanderer Fantasie", as it is known, was written almost five years earlier, between 1822 and 1823. The words of a line from the Schubertlied, "Der Wanderer", set the theme for the second movement, which, in turn, forms the central sequence of variations that make up the piece. This is a daring, orchestral-like work that is unique even in our times. It consists of four movements built around one rhythmic motif, with each movement flowing into the next without a break, thus turning the four into one whole entity. Although the title of "Wanderer Fantasie" was not Schubert's, the reference to the lied "Der Wanderer" is obvious because of the central theme of the piece. The dominant rhythm pattern also appears in other works by Schubert. Wandering ceaselessly, without ever stopping - this continuous flow ad infinitum pulls everything along with it. It is the wandering of our lives, the relentless flow of time - time, which, as a symbol in the arts, is perhaps best represented by music. This wandering may well be interrupted by dreams, as in the 2nd movement, but it remains an ungovernable force that cannot be escaped. At the end of the third movement, Schubert composed a tremendous crescendo of sound that was probably too much for the instruments of that time to cope with and which merges into a fugued fourth movement in octaves, where sound unfolds in all possible registers. The notes are distributed up and down the entire keyboard, and there are chord tremoli and octave runs galore, all of culminate in an untamed flood of sound in C major.

Franz Vorraber in November 2007

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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BRAHMS: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5

Cover
EUR 7,20
Johannes Brahms:
Piano Sonata No. 3

in F Minor, Op. 5

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with the Piano Sonata No. 3
in F Minor Opus 5 by Johannes Brahms,
performed live by Magdalena Müllerperth
at Maulbronn Monastery (Germany)
on a Steinway & Sons Concert Grand Piano C-227

5 Chapters · Runtime: c. 37 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5
1. Allegro maestoso
2. Andante espressivo
3. Scherzo: Allegro energico
4. Intermezzo: Andante molto
5. Finale: Allegro moderato ma rubato

Josef-Stefan Kindler ~ Images, Art, Direction, Movie & Music Producer
Andreas Otto Grimminger ~ Sound Engineer & Music Producer

Work(s) & Performance
Johannes Brahms

T

hrough evening's shade, the pale moon gleams - While rapt in love's ecstatic dreams - Two hearts are fondly beating", quoted Johannes Brahms above the notes for the "Andante" in the Piano Sonata No.3. This excerpt of a poem by C.O. Sternau (a pseudonym of Otto Inkermann) characterizes the mood of this piece, which had a large contribution to the fame of the young composer. Written in 1853 this "poetic" sonata marks the end of a cycle of three sonatas. Likewise it was the last tune the 20-year-old composer submitted to Robert Schumann for commentary. Robert Schumann himself described Brahms in an article titled "Neue Bahnen" (New Paths) in October 1853 as "a man with a calling" who was "destined to give ideal expression to the times".

Music Performer(s)

T

he German pianist Magdalena Müllerperth excited audiences in many concerts in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Austria, The Czech Republic, France and Switzerland and was also invited to perform in Russia, Ukraine and the USA. In 2008 she performed there as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis. With an impressive recital program she gave her debut recital in 2009 at the Klosterkonzerte Maulbronn and the Liederhalle Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011 she performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
Magdalena Müllerperth, born in 1992 in Maulbronn, Germany, began piano lessons at the age of five. When she was seven, she became a student, and in 2003 junior student at the University of Music Karlsruhe, of the renowned Prof. Sontraud Speidel. From 2007 until 2010 she studied with Prof. Alexander Braginsky at Hamline University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. At the moment she is a student of the pianist Jerome Rose at Mannes College - The New School of Music in New York City.
Since 1999, she earned many international prizes and awards, amongst others the First Prize at "Les Reoncontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes" in Belgium (2002), the First Prize and Premio della Critica (RAI) at the Concorso Europeo di Musica "Pietro Argento" in Italy (2004), a First Prize at the national competition "Jugend musiziert" (2005) and the First Prize at the Minnesota Orchestra, Young People's Symphony Concert Auditions in Minneapolis, USA (2008). Since 2007 Magdalena Müllerperth is "Youth Ambassadress of Music" of her hometown Maulbronn.
For her outstanding achievements Magdalena Müllerperth was awarded scholarships from the Mayer Foundation, the Karin Riese Foundation, "Lichtenberger Musikpreis", the "Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg", the Foundation "Deutsches Musikleben" and the "Richard Wagner Association".

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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Release Type: Digital Movies

SCHUMANN: Carnaval for Piano

Cover
EUR 8,64
Robert Schumann:
Carnaval for Piano Opus 9
"Little Scenes on Four Notes"

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with Robert Schumann's
Carnaval for Piano Opus 9
"Little Scenes on Four Notes",
performed by Rolf Plagge
on a Steinway & Sons concert grand piano C-227

5 Chapters · Runtime: c. 31 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

1. Preambule - Pierrot - Arlequin - Valse noble

2. Eusebius - Florestan - Coquette - Replique

3. Papillons - A.S.C.H. - Chiarina - Chopin - Estrella - Reconnaissance - Pantalon et Colombine

4. Valse allemande - Paganini - Aveu - Promenade

5. Pause - Marche des 'Davidsbuendler' contre les Philistins

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

View more releases:

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Release Type: Digital Movies

DEBUSSY: Images for Piano, Book 2, L 111

Cover
EUR 4,32
Claude Debussy:
Images For Piano - Set 2, L 111

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with Debussy's
Images for Piano Solo (Book 2, L 111),
performed live by Severin von Eckardstein
at the Mercatorhalle Duisburg (Germany)
on a C. Bechstein concert grand piano D 280

3 Chapters · Runtime: 13 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Claude Debussy: Images For Piano, Set 2, L 111
1. Cloches à travers les feuilles
2. Et al lune descend sur le temple qui fut
3. Poissons d'or

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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Brilliant piece! Wonderful interpretation!

Wonderful interpretation! What a brilliant piece by a brilliant composer. Debussy's music is "Food for the ears of the Gods".

Brian McCarthy bei YouTube

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Release Type: Digital Movies

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata"

Cover
EUR 4,32
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata"

Art Movie by Josef-Stefan Kindler
after and with Ludwig van Beethoven's
Sonata No. 23 in F Minor Opus 57 "Appassionata",
performed live by Lilya Zilberstein
at Bad Homburg Castle (Germany)
on a C. Bechstein concert grand piano D 280

3 Chapters · Runtime: c. 26 Minutes

Cover
MOVIE

Chapters & Tracklist

Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
1. Allegro assai
2. Andante con moto
3. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto

Music Performer(s)
Lilya Zilberstein

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he path that Lilya Zilberstein has taken reflects the triumph of a calling, a dogged determination to overcome obstacles that would have shattered any other talent: the eighties in the USSR were times of overt, yet unofficial antisemitism. Despite all the first prizes won at important Russian and Soviet competitions - at the Russian Federation's 1985 competition, for example - she was told in no uncertain terms that she was persona non grata at the Moscow Conservatory because of her Jewish origins. Permission to take part in international piano competitions was withheld, in particular when it came to the International Tchaikovsky Competition. The one exception to this in 1987 was more of a coincidence than anything else: she was given permission to take part in the Busoni Competition in Bozen. Her triumph there was a sensation, and five years passed before a first prize was ever awarded in Bozen again. Her debut in the West marked the turning point of Lilya's career, and experts in the music branch pricked up their ears. By August 1998, she had received the International Accademia Musicale Chigiana Prize in Siena. Holders of this award include Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Krystian Zimerman. Fast on the heels of this honour came extended tournées in numerous countries throughout Western Europe as well as an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. Since that time, Lilya Zilberstein has been a presence on the great stages of the world. In 1991, she debuted at the Berlin Philharmonic with Claudio Abbado conducting, which laid the foundations for repeated collaboration between them. She has participated in concerts with the most renowned international orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala and many, many more. Besides Claudio Abbado, she has worked with conductors such as Paavo Berglund, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedossejew, Dmitrij Kitajenko, James Levine, Marcello Viotti, Hugh Wolff and Michael Tilson Thomast. Deutsche Grammophon and Lilya Zilberstein have produced legendary CDs. A particular highlight is the benchmark recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. And in addition to her career as a soloist, Lilya Zilberstein is a passionate performer of chamber music and works with the great soloists of the day. The piano duo of Martha Argerich and Lilya Zilberstein has been highly acclaimed all over the world for many a year now. Over and above this, she regularly goes on world tournées with violinist Maxim Vengerow. The international press agrees on one thing: there is no superlative too good for her! Lilya Zilberstein belongs firmly in the circle of those magical sorcerers of sound on the piano.

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

Music that is new, pieces worth listening to and well worth conserving, little treasures from the traditional and the avantgarde - music that is unimaginable anywhere else but in the hotbed of Europe - we capture these in our Castle Concerts Series of recordings in their original settings in cooperation with Volker Northoff.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

Review

Bringing most emotions to me...

Her version of the third movement is the one bringing most emotions to me. Thanks.

Kloseee on YouTube

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Release Type: Digital Movies

Grand Piano Masters · Chopin & Szymanowski

Track

EUR 12,60
Grand Piano Masters
Chopin & Szymanowski

Aleksandra Mikulska plays

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849):
· Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor Opus 58 · Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante
· Mazurka Opus 24 No. 4 in B-Flat Minor · Scherzo No. 2 in Bflat Minor Opus 31
· Mazurka Opus 33 No. 4 in B Minor · Ballade No. 4 in F Minor Opus 52

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937):
· Preludes Opus 1 Nos. 1, 7 & 8

Concert Grand Piano: Steinway & Sons C-227
A live recording from Maulbronn Monastery

HD Recording · DDD · c. 83 Minutes
Digital Album · 12 Tracks

MP3

MP3 Album

256 kBit/sec.

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S

ensitivity, musical expression and a flawless, transparent technique: Aleksandra Mikulska embodies to the highest degree all of these qualities once demanded by Chopin himself. Teachers, critics, members of the jury as well as audiences all unanimously agree on this. For a long time now Aleksandra Mikulska has not only distinguished herself through her very own, extraordinarily genuine interpretation of Chopin, which won her the prestigious special award as best Polish female pianist at the International Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2005 and ensured an enthusiastic reception of her début Chopin CD in 2010. With her "passionate" and "enrapturing" performances of Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin, she presented audiences at the Lake Constance Festival in 2010 and 2011 with some of the "finest hours of piano music".
Attending the class for gifted children at the Karol Szymanowski Music High School in Warsaw, gaining several promotion awards from the Polish government as well as winning prizes at international competitions laid the groundwork for the top-class international training of the young pianist.
Even while still at grammar school, Aleksandra Mikulska was already being coached by Peter Eichler in Mannheim, and, after gaining her high-school diploma, she continued to study with him at the Karlsruhe Academy of Music. Parallel to her studies there, international masterclasses with Diane Andersen and Lev Natochenny amongst others provided further stimuli. After graduating with honours she moved to the piano academy "Accademia Pianistica incontri col maestro" in Imola, Italy, the land of music, where she was coached mainly by Lazar Berman and Michael Dalberto till 2008. From 2006 she also worked with Prof. Arie Vardi at the Hanover Academy of Music, where she gained her concert diploma in 2010.
Aleksandra Mikulska unites the three musical traditions of Poland, Germany and Italy in a unique, personal and unmistakable style. She is a frequent guest at international festivals such as the Lake Constance Festival, the Maulbronn Monastery Concerts, the piano cycle "Musik am Hochrhein" (Switzerland), the Merano Festival in Italy and the Lapland Piano Festival. Furthermore, she also gives solo recitals all over Europe and performs with orchestras in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
One focus of her artistic efforts is the dissemination of music by the great composers of her native country. Aleksandra Mikulska is vice-president of the Chopin Society in the Federal Republic of Germany in Darmstadt and board member of the German-Polish Association of Baden-Württemberg. Furthermore, she is a member of the Karol Szymanowski Society in Zakopane (Poland) and has close ties with the music society De Musica in Warsaw and the German-Polish Cultural Society "Salonik".
Her recording début in 2010 was devoted to the works of Frédéric Chopin. In the Autumn of 2011 Aleksandra Mikulska published her second CD with the title "Expressions" including works by Haydn, Szymanowski und Chopin. Both recordings enjoyed great popularity with audiences and the specialist press. Meanwhile she has presented her third album which includes Chopin's four ballades.(Translation by Jill Rabenau)

Series & Edition

P

ublishing Authentic Classical Concerts entails for us capturing and recording outstanding performances and concerts for posterity. The performers, audience, opus and room enter into an intimate dialogue that in its form and expression, its atmosphere, is unique and unrepeatable. It is our aim, the philosophy of our house, to enable the listener to acutely experience every facet of this symbiosis, the intensity of the performance, so we record the concerts in direct 2-Track Stereo digital HD. The results are unparalleled interpretations of musical and literary works, simply - audiophile snapshots of permanent value. Flourishing culture, enthralling the audience and last but not least also you the listener, are the values we endeavor to document in our editions and series.

The concerts at the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery supply the ideal conditions for our aspirations. It is, above all, the atmosphere of the romantic, candle-lit arches, the magic of the monastery in its unadulterated sublime presence and tranquillity that impresses itself upon the performers and audience of these concerts. Renowned soloists and ensembles from the international arena repeatedly welcome the opportunity to appear here - enjoying the unparalleled acoustic and architectural beauty of this World Heritage Site, providing exquisite performances of secular and sacred music, documented by us in our Maulbronn Monastery Edition.

The concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. We could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters Series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.

Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler, K&K Verlagsanstalt

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