Magda Nuss

WDR BigBand lead trombonist and bassist meet world-class pianists, double bass, trombone and piano - which sounds unusual at first, creates space, swings and carries you away - in a chamber music atmosphere…

Frederic Rzewski was one of the essential contemporary US composers whose death anniversary is approaching for the first time. The German pianist Benyamin Nuss presents three of the most famous works on his new CD "UNITE!". Nuss starts the album with the four movements of the "North American Ballads" and takes you directly into the composer's sound universe. These pieces tell of the nation's workers, the downtrodden and oppressed, and illustrate Rzewski's view of the United States of his time.

Mia Brentano’s Hidden Sea. 20 songs for 2 pianos. That’s the title of a CD released in 2018 by a hitherto unknown newcomer, containing works made available for the first time. The album was surprisingly successful, and in the USA, the classic magazine Fanfare rated it as one of the best albums of the year. The catchy music from the “no-man’s-land between classical, jazz, pop and minimal music” seems to have struck a chord, especially as it was played by two wonderful young pianists who could easily handle the virtuoso pieces.

Works that pay homage to spring have been brought together by Malwina Sosnowski (violin) and Benyamin Nuss (piano) on their new GENUIN CD: departure, a new beginning, an exuberance of emotions. On it, the perspective shifts between Japan and Europe. Beethoven’s euphoric "Spring Sonata" is juxtaposed with rarely performed French repertoire by Germaine Tailleferre and Lili Boulanger, as well as a world premiere recording by Masashi Hamauzu and an elegy dedicated to the victims of Fukushima by Benyamin Nuss himself. The interpretative verve and freshness of the two internationally successful musicians match the richness of color and nuance found in the selected music.