Schubert: Liebesbotschaft, D957 No.1 (Love’s message)

This is a specially priced 2CD portrait of the great German tenor, Peter Anders.

These recordings were made at the height of his career and have never been released before. Included are works by Wagner, Strauss, Beethoven, Schumann and Tchaikovsky.

The highly regarded baritone Thomas Oliemans has been acclaimed for his performances of the works of Schubert; “Oliemans gives an astonishing Schubert-recital. Opera Magazine. ”In a recent interview he said “I’ve never been afraid of the great compositions, because they are the reasons for keeping music alive”. He will be making his Royal Opera House debut in 2011.

The highly acclaimed violist Antoine Tamestit releases his third album on Naïve. Dedicated to the music of Franz Schubert, in particular the Arpeggione Sonata, it also features the celebrated French soprano, Sandrine Piau in The Shepherd on the Rock.

Antoine Tamestit has transcribed Schubert’s music for the viola, featuring the multi-award winning Sandrine Piau - recently voted the Singer of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2009. She performs two Schubert lieder: ‘Ich schleiche bang und still herum’ and ‘Der hirt auf dem felsen’. The recording features the Arpeggione Sonata – the only substantial work in existence written for the now extinct string instrument, the arpeggione. After his success in international competitions in Paris, New York, and Munich, Antoine Tamestit won the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in January 2008, which gave him the opportunity to play with the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti at the Lucerne Festival. He has subsequently recorded two albums for Ambroisie/Naïve ‘Bach: Ligeti’ and ‘Shostakovich / Schnittke’.

For Silke Avenhaus the fundamental goal is “to make the piano sing”, listening closely to melodic lines and differentiating them with a wide range of tone colours. Such a conception of timbre ideally fits her personal choice of repertoire including a selection from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words and Liszt’s arrangements of Schubert Lieder.

This is the second release by this highly acclaimed and exceptional pianist. Caroline Fischer has been praised as a “rare talent” and “lioness of the keyboard”. Works included are Rhapsodie Espagnole, Valse Impromptu and Mephisto Waltz No.1.