Ben Schäfer

Medieval England exerted a strong influence on Johann Simon Mayr, especially during his final proto-Romantic period. Alfredo il Grande was to be one of his last operas, with a narrative that takes us to a land under threat of war with the Vikings. Escaping capture, Alfred the Great travels incognito, ultimately defeating the enemy and rescuing his beloved Alsvita. With its grandiose choruses and sensuous melodies, this opera was conceived on a monumental scale and proved both impressive at its premiere and influential on the next generation of bel canto composers, making a substantial contribution to the development of the melodramma romantico.

Über 20 Jahre haben sie sich nicht mehr gesehen – jetzt treffen sie in einem Radiostreitgespräch wieder aufeinander. Streiten konnten Iris Schubert und Ben Schäfer schon immer gut. Ob als Playmobil spielende Kinder, als friedensbewegte Teenies oder als The Cure hörende 18-Jährige Ende der 80er Jahre: Immer machte der eine dem anderen dabei etwas Wichtiges kaputt. Vor allem Herzensangelegenheiten gingen dabei zu Bruch…

Perry Rhodan ist der Titelheld der gleichnamigen deutschen Science-Fiction-Serie, die seit dem 8. September 1961 ununterbrochen wöchentlich in Form von Heftromanen mit einer Druckauflage von etwa 80.000 Heften bei der Verlagsunion Pabel-Moewig, einer Tochter der Bauer Media Group, erscheint. Bisher sind mehr als 3000 Hefte mit rund 160.000 Seiten erschienen.

Medieval England exerted a strong influence on Johann Simon Mayr, especially during his final proto-Romantic period. Alfredo il Grande was to be one of his last operas, with a narrative that takes us to a land under threat of war with the Vikings. Escaping capture, Alfred the Great travels incognito, ultimately defeating the enemy and rescuing his beloved Alsvita.

Three exquisite serenades, six caressing nocturnes and a meditative lied invite you to celebrate with Mozart the “beautiful night, clearer than the day”. Let's leave the Queen of the Night to her devious or furious sparkle, let's leave Don Juan to his mandolin, but let's enjoy with him the "beautiful night, clearer than the day" that Mozart, this great giver of serenades, celebrates. However, the serenata for instrumental ensemble is defined first of all as outdoor music, less necessarily linked to the night than to places of pleasure, real or fantasized – in Così fan tutte, it's in the garden, the after- noon, let the two fake strangers intone their serenata.

Most music lovers have encountered George Frederick Handel through holiday-time renditions of the Messiah's "Hallelujah" chorus. And many of them know and love that oratorio on Christ's life, death, and resurrection, as well as a few other greatest hits like the orchestral Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music, and perhaps Judas Maccabeus or one of the other English oratorios. Yet his operas, for which he was widely known in his own time, are the province mainly of specialists in Baroque music, and the events of his life, even though they reflected some of the most important musical issues of the day, have never become as familiar as the careers of Bach or Mozart. Perhaps the single word that best describes his life and music is "cosmopolitan": he was a German composer, trained in Italy, who spent most of his life in England.

The ARUNDOSquintett shines with virtuosic expressiveness and rich sounds in the classical formation of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn. With its second CD, "Saga", the ensemble brings to life four varied soundscapes that immediately stimulate the imagination.

The ARUNDOSquintett shines with virtuosic expressiveness and rich sounds in the classical formation of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn. With its second CD, "Saga", the ensemble brings to life four varied soundscapes that immediately stimulate the imagination.