Future Releases

Schubert's "Die schöne Müllerin" – at first glance a series of cheerful songs, which on closer listening reveals an ostensibly ideal world with dark undertones. Peter Schreier has always been a master of the great art song genre, for whom a beautiful tone, clear articulation, and sensitive and intelligent interpretation have always been paramount.

This recording marks the artistic peak of two choral legends of the past century: Rudolf Mauersberger, who was choral director at the Dresden Kreuzchor, and his brother Erhard, who held that post at the Thomanerchor in Leipzig. Here, they join forces with their choirs and some renowned soloists in Bach's St Matthew Passion.

This concert recording represents a real stroke of luck, for which we have to thank a conductor – Herbert Kegel – who championed music during the GDR era that was not viewed as "politically correct". This 1975 recording of Parsifal, featuring snappy tempos and devoid of the usual mystique surrounding Wagner, is an interpretation which seems to have evolved well ahead of its time.

Otmar Suitner's Mozart interpretations during his years in Berlin are legendary. This recording of Die Entführung demonstrates that the Austrian conductor was already well aware, when he worked in Dresden, of how to portray Mozart's dramatic verve and his psychological sensitivity: this is a real gem, recorded in the Lukaskirche in Dresden, where so many recordings with Suitner were made.

The fifteen Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber form a fascinating cyclical work. The use of fourteen different violin tunings (scordaturas), deviating from the instrument’s normal tuning in fifths, makes the sonata cycle unique in the history of the violin. Each sonata is prefaced by a copperplate medallion depicting an event from the life of Mary and her son Jesus.

Biber took the pictures from a Rosary Brotherhood document (included with the generously documented CD) and they formed part of the neatly handwritten dedication to prince archbishop Maximilian Gandolph Count of Kuenburg (in office from 1668 to 1687). Biber was acknowledged as a gifted violinist and composer in his own lifetime. Born in northern Bohemia in 1644, he moved to Salzburg, where he was court kapellmeister, composing quantities of secular and sacred works. Kaiser Leopold I elevated Biber to the nobility in 1690. In his petition for noble rank, Biber referred to having given proof of his ability in Linz and Lambach with Violino soli for the emperor, with whom 'his playing had graciously found favour. Annegret Siedel, artistic director of the Bell’arte Salzburg ensemble, which specializes in early music from Salzburg, has recorded the Mystery Sonatas on nine different violins of the 17th and 18th centuries. She succeeds in wonderfully bringing out the sacred character of the music, particularly in its meditative passages, without falling short of the music’s high technical demands.

With Richard Wagner's bicentenary coming up on May 22, there are all kinds of sounds in the air and words to be read about the great Romantic music dramatist. But where among all this Wagneriana are we to find the truly original messages? Some of them are to be encountered right here, because when GERMAN BRASS tackles Wagner, expectations are always high. The brass ensemble is justly regarded as one of the world's finest, consisting of the best musicians from Germany's leading orchestras (including Bayreuth's!), so this is a special event, music made, played and recorded with total commitment.We still come back to the question: Wagner for brass – how is that going to sound? It seems a bold idea at first sight, but as soon as you hear it, it turns out to be a stroke of genius: Wagner was no stranger to fullbodied brass sound, and the musicians of GERMAN BRASS succeed brilliantly in coaxing the complex timbres of Wagner's mixed sounds from their instruments. This is due as much to their virtuosity as to the creative arrangements of their artistic director Matthias Höfs. The verve of the "Ride of the Valkyries" will astound the listener as much as the alternating blocks of sound at the start of the "Pilgrims' Chorus" from Tannhäuser, where original and arrangement seem to keep changing places. Familiar passages come over as well known and yet subtly different – a stimulating experience!

Dresden has always been a place for celebration, both in the golden Baroque era and today. Recently, Hartmut Haenchen, who was born in the Saxon city on the River Elbe, celebrate his 70th birthday in an atmosphere of sympathetic public approval. The Berlin Classics label has already released many of his recordings – quite a number of them made with his Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra, which he has been directing for over thirty years. The tradition is continued in honour of his birthday with the present recording that centres round a suitably festive theme.

Dresden was also the place where the composer Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729) worked as Kapellmeister at the court of August the Strong, Elector of Saxony. Heinichen composed the Serenata "La Gara degli Dei" (the contest of the gods) for celebrations to mark the marriage of August's son Friedrich August II and Maria Josepha, daughter of Emperor Joseph of Austria. The great political significance of this new union between the houses of Saxony and Habsburg explains the expansive dimensions of the celebrations, which lasted nearly a month! Each god was assigned a day of the week and Heinichen's open-air serenade was not simply a homage to the royal couple sung by the various gods, but simultaneously a preamble and introduction to the entire programme of events to mark the happy occasion.

The original manuscript is kept at the SLUB (Saxon State and University Library) in Dresden, and Hartmut Haenchen, who had already edited this particular work as a fifteen-year-old, performed it with distinguished soloists and his chamber orchestra on November 23, 2003 at the Konzerthaus in Berlin. The 27-piece orchestra faithfully followed the original score thanks to copies of the original copperplate manuscript.

The recording of this event by Deutschlandradio Kultur is now presented for the first time as a premiere recording on CD. The originality and inspired nature of this music, which was considered avantgarde in its time, is still able to astound listeners to this day. This is without doubt an exceptional and outstanding work by the Dresden master of the Baroque, which is well worth discovering.

Alongside the song texts with explanations, the booklet contains an introduction to the work plus input from Hartmut Haenchen about his work with his chamber orchestra. The result is a suitably tasteful CD to mark a special occasion!

The city of Prague was a cultural hotspot in the 1920s and 30s. From 1918 to 1935 the country's president was the European-minded and remarkably liberal philosopher Thomas Masaryk, and his successor Edvard Benes was a kindred spirit.

The three population groups, enriched by emigrants from Russia, the Ukraine, Germany and Austria, competed with one another but also inspired each other. This was the Prague in which the composers on this CD were involved. In their music we hear the old and the new, tradition and renewal, but above all, imagination and talent.

When the border between East and West opened up in 1991, their music had hardly been heard in the West for some fifty years, having been suppressed first by the Nazis and then by suffocating communist rule. With the exception of Ullmann, even today these composers have hardly reached our concert halls.

An essential album for all new parents!

Lullabies – The New Born Collection features the world’s best-loved lullabies, including favourites by Brahms, Schubert and Schumann, as well as music by star composers of today; Karl Jenkins, Eric Whitacre and Paul Mealor - the young composer of choral music for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011.

Born on the West Wales coast and a native Welsh-speaker, Catrin Finch is the former official harpist to His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales. Hailed as “The Queen of Harps”, she delights audiences with performances around the world.

14CD/2DVD

Christian Thielemann’s reading of Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2011 was universally hailed as one of the greatest Wagnerian events of the last half-century and is now being released as a beautiful box set containing 14 CDs of the four Ring operas and 2 DVDs featuring introductory films to each opera.

With the Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and an outstanding cast of today’s leading dramatic singers, these performances set the standard for Wagner interpretation in the 21st Century.

The 4 documentary films were directed by acclaimed producer Eric Schulz, complementing the audio recordings, providing an introduction, commentary and analysis by experts, including conductor Christian Thielemann. They will also be broadcast by the German/Austrian TV channel 3Sat in April – one feature per week starting on 4th April.

Booklet contains synopses in German, English and French and libretti in German and English.