Contemporary (c. from 1910)

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All releases with Contemporary Classical Music
Fantasies & Illusions ~ Bach's Sons and the FortepianoFantasies & Illusions ~ Bach's Sons and the Fortepiano
Fantasies & Illusions
Bach's Sons and the Fortepiano

Slobodan Jovanović (Fortepiano/Hammerflügel) plays

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788):
Sonata No. 4 in A Major, Wq 55,4 (H. 186), from: "For Connoisseurs & Amateurs", 1st Collection
& Fantasia in F-Sharp Minor, Wq 67 (H. 300) "C.P.E. Bach's Impressions"

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784):
12 Polonaises, Falck 12 & Fantasia in A Minor, Falck 23

Slobodan Jovanović (*1977):
Iluzija

A recording from the Laurentius Church in Karlsruhe (Germany)

HD Recording · DDD · Duration: c. 79 Minutes


CD
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Featured by Spotify

This release is featured in the editorial Spotify playlist of handpicked new classical releases - August 2, 2019

Spotify Editorial Staff

Review

**** Marvelous music, played with verve and dazzling dexterity

The Bach sons referenced, in this album's title, Fantasies & Illusions - Bach's Sons and the Fortepiano, are Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his older brother Wilhelm Friedemann. The pianist for this disc, Serbian-born Slobodan Jovanovic, also contributes a brief piece, and penned the extensive program notes about the music. Unfortunately, they are printed in German only, a language I barely know, so I cannot comment on their usefulness. What I can report with confidence is that the music is marvelous, and Jovanovic plays it with verve and dazzling dexterity. The chief thing to know about the Bach boys is that, despite having been instructed almost exclusively by their great father, the music that they produced represented a distinctive break from the world of the Baroque. C. P. E. Bach gives us rather more imaginative and lively music than his sibling, especially so in the fast outer movements of the Classically designed sonata. This music is bursting with joy. But he was also capable of considerable depth and repose, as in the beautiful Adagio of the sonata. The large Fantasia, clocking in here at 11 and a half minutes, is a work of extraordinary inventiveness, and most likely represents a setting down of one or more of the improvisations that the composer was widely renowned for. To my ears it sounds like a precursor to the Rondo in A Minor of Mozart.
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's polonaises are not as zesty as C. P. E.'s works, but just as expertly constructed, with an added layer of gracefulness that sets them apart. The polonaise format was very popular in late 18th century Germany, although these brief, lighthearted pieces have nothing in common with the massive works that Chopin was to create in the same name a generation later. I first encountered this music many years ago at a live performance by the superb American fortepianist Andrew Willis. There are only a handful of recordings of this delightful music available (alas, Willis not among them), and so this new recording is very welcome, especially given the fine recorded sound and the superbly colorful palette of Susanne Merzdorf's excellent reproduction of a 1782 Anton Walter instrument.
Jovanovic's own music, which dates to 1996, is quirky but intriguing, reminding me of a music box that starts out with a simple, sing-song tune, then begins to malfunction, leading it into odd key changes and rhythmic hiccups before somehow fixing itself and returning to proper working order. He rather bravely inserts the five-minute piece among the polonaises, but despite vast stylistic differences, there is a sense of mutual intellectual curiosity that tends to make the whole sequence flow surprisingly smoothly.

Review

Peter Burwasser - Fanfare Magazine,
also published on Amazon.com, February 2020

Glass & StonesGlass & Stones
Vienna Glass Armonica Duo
Glass & Stones

A concert with the Vienna Glass Armonica Duo (Glass Armonica & Verrophone)

Christa Schönfeldinger (Glass Armonica)
and Gerald Schönfeldinger (Verrophone)

plays works by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741),
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Gottfried Keller (1819-1890),
Carl Röllig (1754-1804), Edward Grieg (1843-1907),
Arvo Pärt, Ennio Morricone and Gerald Schönfeldinger

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

HD Recording · DDD · c. 55 Minutes

CD
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One of the most satisfying glass harmonica discs ever

The Vienna Glasharmonika Duo, consisting of husband and wife Gerald and Christa Schönfeldinger, is one of the longest established groups wholly devoted to performing music written for glass and their K&K-Verlagsanstalt release Glas & Steine (Glass & Stone) is of an in-concert recording from the summer of 2006. Christa Schönfeldinger performs on a reconstructed instrument that is almost exactly like the glass armonica that Benjamin Franklin invented in 1761 rather than the crystal glasses in a suitcase instrument more commonly used since Bruno Hoffman revived glass music in the 1950s. Gerald Schönfeldinger plays a modern instrument called a Verrophon that consists of a set of test tube-like glasses and contributes three original compositions to the program written in an idiom very well suited to this exotic combination of instruments. The recording, touted as a "Direct 2-Track Stereo" release, is excellent, made at Maulbronn Monastery in Austria, which has superb acoustics. Although the program includes the expected Mozart K. 617a and arrangements of some other pieces by him, it does expand upon our notions of glass harmonica music. Especially notable is the inclusion of Arvo Pärt's Intervallo, written in open score and usually played on the organ but perfectly well suited to the glass harmonica. Ennio Morricone's Il Gatto is included as a way to vary the sound of the program, which includes some glasses as struck with soft mallets in addition to the usual bowing with the fingertip. However, the most striking piece is Vienna Glasharmonika Duo's transcription of Edvard Grieg's lyric piece Der Kobold, which succeeds well in stretching the boundaries of these instruments, demonstrating that fast passagework is possible and the glass harmonica need not be limited to long, sustained notes, even though that's the kind of musical texture that suits it best.... ...Glas & Steine is one of the most satisfying glass harmonica discs ever. The resonance of Maulbronn Monastery helps take the edge off the sometimes-piercing top notes of the glass - notable especially in studio-made recordings - and provides an ambience that is appropriately ghostly and evocative...

Uncle Dave Lewis - All Music Guide

Grand Piano Masters · Piano Concertos by Beethoven & UstvolskayaGrand Piano Masters · Piano Concertos by Beethoven & Ustvolskaya
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
CD
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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

Maulbronn Chamber Choir · Love & SorrowMaulbronn Chamber Choir · Love & Sorrow
Maulbronn Chamber Choir
Love & Sorrow
"Liebe & Leid"
An a-cappella-recording with works about love and sorrow
for 4- to 12-part mixed choir
by Robert L. de Pearsall (1795-1856), Robert Schumann (1810-1856),
Peter Cornelius (1824-1874), Sven David Sandström (*1942),
John Tavener (*1944), John Rutter (*1945), Branko Stark (*1954),
David Hill (*1957), Wolfram Buchenberg (*1962),
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (*1963) & Eric Whitacre (*1970)
Conductor: Jürgen Budday
A recording from the German
UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Monastery
HD Recording · DDD · Duration: c. 75 Minutes
CD
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One of the best German choirs

The Maulbronner Kammerchor, conducted by Jurgen Budday, can serve as a model example of the best that there is in the German style of this art: roundly shaped clear phrases, deliberately designed shadings of dynamics, precise articulation an a homogeneous balance of well-cultured voices. These caracteristics are symptomatic, regardless of whether they are singing a Mendelssohn motet or a modern psalm setting, light in presentation but studded with thoroughly rehearsed effects.

The Jerusalem Post

Review

***** Excellent and highly recommended

This a-cappella-recording contains an interesting collection of historical and contemporary choral works, excellently interpreted by the highly honored Maulbronn Chamber Choir, under the direction of Jürgen Budday. This project is incredibly exciting, contains a lot of new sounds and is absolutely diversified. This release is an absolute recommendation for all lovers of choral music.

'MichaelJG' at Barnes & Noble

Review

What a juicy sound this choir makes at full throttle!

This Liebe & Leid program was recorded at Maulbronn Monastery in Germany, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a very resonant space. It's in those echoes, in fact, that the charm of the release resides. This is a pretty good choir, to be sure; and a joyful noise is made in varied repertoire stretching from Robert Lucas de Pearsall's sumptuous "Great God of Love", to Eric Whitacre's tingly "Nox Aurumque", to Jaako Mantyjarvi's absorbing account of a true-to-life maritime disaster that took place on the Baltic.
What's more exciting, though, than any technical nuance or interpretive wrinkle is the high-octane sound of the Maulbronn singers performing in their very own sacred space. That's the draw, pure and simple. Texts and translations are available and necessary because the reverb cancels out some of the diction. But what a juicy sound this choir makes at full throttle!

Philip Greenfield - American Record Guide, April 2015

Review

Featured on Spotify

This release is featured in the editorial playlist on Spotify​:
COMPOSER WEEKLY: SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM

Spotify Editorial

String Quartets by Veress & BeethovenString Quartets by Veress & Beethoven
Veress & Beethoven
String Quartets
The Orpheus Quartet plays
Sandor Veress: String Quartet No. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2 "Rasumovsky Quartet No. 2"
Franz Schubert: Stringquartet in C minor, D 703
Charles-André Linale - 1st Violin · Emilian Piedicuta - 2nd Violin
Emile Cantor - Viola · Laurentiu Sbarcea - Cello
A concert recording from the German
Unesco World Heitage Site Maulbronn Monastery
DDD · c. 60 Minutes
CD
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A terrific performance...

A terrific performance and the equally rare chance to hear one of Europe's most thoughtful Ensembles. Sándor Veress has been overshadowed by his Hungarian compatriots, but on the rare occasions when I encounter his music I always find it worth hearing. His First Quartet, premiered in Prague in 1935 but written four years earlier, is demonstrably from the same soil as Bartók and Kodály, but quite individual. Its first movement is in slow-fast-slow form, after which comes an Andante and finally a highly rhythmic Vivo. The German based Orpheus Quartet gives a terrific performance to end this concert, recorded live in the convent at Maulbronn... The disc is worth pursuing for the rare Veress and the equally rare chance to hear one of Europe´s most thoughtful ensembles. Since the disc was made, the Orpheus has changed its second violinist and we have had the appalling news of the death of leader Charles-André Linale.

Tully Potter, The Strad UK

Review

***** A real feeling of being in the concert

I first heard the Orpheus Quartet in Spain and have collected their studio recordings. I was eager to hear them again, and K&K's series of live concert recordings from Maulbronn has given me an opportunity to hear how they were playing two years on. However, whilst writing this review, I am saddened to learn from the Orpheus Quartet website that their leader, Charles-André Linale, was killed in a car crash last month. Chamber music is given in the lay refectory, and reverberation is long during pauses after Beethoven's sf chords, but you soon get used to that, and it is more than compensated for by the bloom on the sound - you have a real feeling of being there with the audience. The Orpheus four have exactly the right feeling for the not-easy Schubert Quartettsatz and Beethoven's Op. 59/2, which can be a long haul; with all repeats, it was gripping from beginning to end. In this June 2002 concert their novelty was a quartet by Sandor Veress, an excellent composer heard infrequently in UK. Without any studio editing, the accuracy of these performances is remarkable and testifies to the good health of this top string quartet in what, it transpires, will have been one of their last recorded concerts with their multinational founder members; the exceptional performance of the Beethoven a worthy memorial for Charles-André Linale.

Andy Smith on Amazon.com

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