Aurelia Velten

A pupil of Mozart, Johann Nepomuk Hummel was one of the most admired pianists of his era. His career began in Vienna at the time when Beethoven had just moved there. Like the latter, he belonged to that generation of composers whose output may be categorised somewhere between Classicism and burgeoning Romanticism. In addition to an extensive catalogue of original compositions, including piano works of high quality, Hummel also made numerous arrangements for chamber forces of orchestral compositions. Among these were the piano concertos of his teacher Mozart and the symphonies of his friend Beethoven, all of which he transcribed for piano, flute, violin and cello. The Romanian pianist Aurelia Visovan offers this particularly original programme for her album as winner of the 2019 Bruges MA Festival competition.

Acclaimed composer, artist, and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith returns to Ghostly International with Let’s Turn it Into Sound, her most ambitious, intuitive, and inviting work to date. Though ambient and modern new age circles have embraced Smith’s catalog, Let’s Turn it Into Sound favours a more baroque and robust form of avant-pop. The music bursts with vertiginous vocal harmonies and detailed sound design, forming a truly unique sonic vision.

On her most accessible album yet, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith draws out the organic qualities of her Buchla modular synth. But The Kid sparks a bodily pleasure alongside her music’s cerebral delights.

Peter Lichtenthal, born Wolfgang Mayer in 1779 in Bratislava, was not only a physician, but also a composer and author, including of two Mozart biographies, to which high authenticity can be attributed due to his acquaintance with Constanze Mozart and his two sons Carl and Franz. As a great admirer of the genius Mozart, he created numerous transcriptions of Mozart’s works. On its first CD of a two-part series by the title “Doktor Lichtenthals MOZART”, which is now released, the Pandolfis Consort presents piano works by W.A. Mozart in arrangements by Lichtenthal. On period instruments, the Consort takes over the function of the entire orchestra as a string quartet in the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra no.20 in D minor, K466, featuring the Romanian pianist Aurelia Vişovan on the likewise historic fortepiano. The Fantasy for Piano no.4 in C minor, K475, and the Piano Sonata no.14 in C minor, K457, also included on the CD, were extended by Peter Lichtenthal with a cello part, which is interpreted by Günter Schagerl.