Franz Peter Schubert

Reiko Fujisawa studied at the Musashino University of Music in Tokyo before moving to London in order to study further with Martino Tirimo, Bejamin Kaplin and Yonty Solomon. She has since established herself as an exciting and formidable virtuoso performer with recital and concert appearances throughout the UK, including the South Bank, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall. Her first disc for Quartz admirably demonstrates her skilful use of the keyboard.

For his solo debut on disc, William Berger has devised an ingenious sequence of 17 songs describing a sleepless night experienced by a man who reflects on his love for an unnamed woman.

From Viennese classicism to fin-de-siècle Romanticism, shadowy English pastoral to the contemporary worlds of Richard Rodney Bennett and Raymond Yiu, this wide-ranging programme is brought to nuanced life by this outstanding young baritone. The indefatigable Iain Burnside provides lucid and imaginative accompaniment. Together, their performances vividly capture the full gamut of nocturnal emotions.

A graduate and Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Berger is a former member of the Young Singers Programme at English National Opera. Recent engagements include singing Aeneas to Susan Graham's Dido, on tour in California, and his recital debut at the Lucerne International Festival.

Pianist Iain Burnside has forged a worldwide reputation through his commitment to song repertoire and his collaborations with leading international singers.

This recording of Schubert lieder features many of his most popular works in the genre including Die Forelle (The Trout), Erlkönig (The Earl King), Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden), and the title track An Die Musik (To Music). The bass-baritone soloist is the noted Bach specialist Klaus Mertens, and the fortepiano is played by Ton Koopman’s wife and regular musical partner Tini Mathot.

The German bass-baritone Klaus Mertens has made a name for himself as one of the most prominent and sought-after interpreters of the Baroque oratorio, and has recorded the great vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach with numerous conductors. A soloist on more than 140 CDs and DVDs, he was a regular collaborator on the critically-acclaimed complete recording of Bach Cantatas by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He has also recorded Schubert’s great song-cycle Wintereisse for Challenge.

The keyboard player Tini Mathot enjoys a close collaboration with her husband and former teacher, Ton Koopman. Together they give recitals and perform in chamber music projects in the major concert halls of Europe, the United States and Japan. Tini Mathot regularly appears as a soloist together with Ton Koopman in concertos for two (or more) harpsichords and orchestra, and alongside him has recorded double concertos by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, J.F. Reichardt and C. Schaffrath with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

Very few great conductors were able to polarise the concert scene like the Romanian-born Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996). He hated marketing in all of its forms, and with the exception of Wilhelm Furtwängler, was disparaging of his more famous fellow conductors, including Herbert von Karajan and Arturo Toscanini. He also loathed going into the studio, so most recordings illustrating his astounding talents as a conductor are of concert performances.

The recordings featured in this 10-CD set were made between 1945 and 1963, and are mainly live broadcasts given with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Berlin and Cologne, and a number of Italian radio orchestras. The repertoire ranges widely - from the English baroque of Purcell through Viennese Classicism of Mozart to Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Strauss. The compilation also features several popular works from the 20th century (Ravel, Gershwin and Samuel Barber for instance), plus music by Reinhard Schwarz-Schilling and Harald Genzmer associated with the German avant-garde. The least-known pieces are undoubtedly orchestral works of Heinz Thiessen (1887-1971), Celibidache’s composition teacher, to whom a full disc is devoted.

One of the most important and influential clarinet players of his generation, the German virtuoso Dieter Klöcker, who died in 2011, was responsible for numerous recording sessions and radio productions. His chamber ensemble, Consortium Classicum, boasted an excellent line-up and thanks to its originality and high artistic standards went on to gain recognition all over the world. He cultivated a love of the so-called “little masters” and used his talent to promote their music. This 4-CD set features rarely-heard musical gems written by the likes of Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Theodor Baron von Schacht, Johann Christoph Vogel and Johann Georg Heinrich Backofen in addition to well-known pieces by Mozart and Schubert.

Bryn Terfel is one of Britain’s best-loved singers, as comfortable in popular musical repertoire as he is in the great roles of opera. Ahead of his curated BrynFest appearances at London’s Southbank Centre, and his career-defining role as Wotan in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House this autumn, Deutsche Grammophon is proud to release this 2CD career retrospective.

This CD includes all of Schubert’s early works for violin and piano.

Süßmuth and Zichner have been performing together for more than ten years in the Aperto Quartet.

They are renowned chamber musicians and also perform with the Vogler Quartett and Petersen Quartett.

Dianne Baar began playing the piano at the age of three.

She was awarded Austrian citizenship in honour of her outstanding musical performances.

She performs in the the Lichental Trio which won the Gradus ad Parnassum competition in 2011.