Bach

Béla Bartók’s monumental Mikrokosmos, containing 153 mainly short “progressive” piano pieces composed between 1932 and 1939, is both a very special piano method and a collection of wonderfully original performance pieces (the series actually contains almost the complete piano music by Bartók from the 1930s). Finally, it is also a detailed introduction to different aspects of his compositional style.

For the past several years, Isabelle Faust has been exploring Johann Sebastian Bach’s music for the violin. First came her recording of the solo Sonatas and Partitas, which earned widespread acclaim. It was followed by the sonatas for violin and harpsichord, violin concertos and transcriptions, and the Brandenburg Concertos - each reading marked by equal freshness, an unfailing sense of rediscovery, precision, and generosity. Isabelle Faust here regales us with a treasure that reveals a thrilling story.

Of the Franco-Belgian school, Arthur Grumiaux is considered to have been one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century. In his relatively short life his achievements were superb. He brought to performances guaranteed technical command, faithfulness to the composer's intent, and sensitivity toward the intricate delineations of musical structure. His fame was built upon extraordinary violin concerto performances and chamber-music appearances with his own Grumiaux Trio. Grumiaux was born in Villers-Perwin, Belgium, in 1921, to a working-class family, and it was his grandfather who urged him to begin music studies at the age of 4. He trained on violin and piano with the Fernand Quintet at the Charleroi Conservatory, where he took first prize at the age of 11.

A small orchestra specializing in music of the Baroque and Classical eras, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields became one of the most popular ensembles in the entire field of classical music, making albums that topped classical charts and even made an impact in pop. The group's seamless sound was identified in the minds of many listeners with that of Baroque music itself. The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (the name has been spelled both with and without the hyphens, and with and without the period after "St") was formed in 1958 by violinist Neville Marriner, who was interested in exploring the then largely new field of Baroque music with a group of other musicians. Performing without a conductor until market forces dictated that Marriner take the post, the group played its first concert on November 13, 1959, at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and took its name from that venue.

Over 35 years after their legendary first recording of Bach’s famous Christmas Oratorio, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, announce their upcoming album featuring a new reading of the masterpiece. It was recorded at the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London on two evenings in December 2022.

Catrin Finch won the 2000 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, as well as the Princeton University Concerts Prize and the Orchestra New England Soloist Prize. She was also awarded First Prize at the 1999 Lily Laskine International Harp Competition in France, and the Victor Salvi Foundation has provided her with generous sponsorship, including her debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2000, a new Salvi "Aurora" Harp, and a CD. Other honors include the Marisa Robles Harp Prize at the 1999 Royal Overseas League Music Competition in London, and prizes in the Wales National Eisteddfod Festival and World Harp Festival Competitions. Most recently, she won the 2004 Echo Klassik award for Best Crossover Artist in Germany and was nominated for the Classical Brit Awards in the category of Young British Classical Performer, resulting in an appearance on ITV with Bryn Terfel.

Helmut Walcha gilt als Instanz der Bach-Interpretation – kein anderer Organist seit Erfindung der Schallplatte erzielte durch sein Bachspiel eine derart nachhaltige Breitenwirkung. Zum Gedenken an seinen 30. Todestag erscheinen erstmals alle Aufnahmen auf Archiv Produktion, Deutsche Grammophon und Philips in dieser Edition. Diese umfasst das Bachsche Orgelwerk in einer Mono- (1947-52) und einer Stereofassung (1956-71), das Wohltemperierte Clavier, die Violinsonaten mit Henryk Szeryng und Walcha am Cembalo, sowie Orgelwerke norddeutscher Prägung von Bruhns, Scheidt, Buxtehude und Sweelinck. Erstmals findet sich eine frühe Walcha-Aufnahme mit dem Thomanerchor Leipzig von 1927.