Der Süiegel 2018

A member of the Mannheim school, Ignaz Holzbauer (1711–1783) was a composer of symphonies, concertos, operas and chamber music who wrote in the style of the Sturm and Drang movement. In his penultimate opera "Tod der Dido" [The Death of Dido] (1779), Ignaz Holzbauer presented himself not only as a master of fine musical word interpretation, but also as an imaginative music dramatist. While the original Italian version underlined his position as one of the leading opera composers of the time, the German version which he wrote a year later additionally emphasizes his position as a pioneer of the German National Opera. Frieder Bernius therefore chose this version for a production performed at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1997, which is now being released here for the first time.

This album is violinist Arabella Steinbacher’s tribute to the favourite composer of her family household. The music of Richard Strauss has played a crucial role throughout her life. As great Strauss lovers, her parents named her after the main character of Strauss’ opera Arabella, and the family house was filled with Strauss melodies, often sung live by famous singers accompanied by Steinbacher’s father, who was a solo- répétiteur at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Did you perhaps also think that the Art of Fugue was a mathematical-abstract work, possibly something cumbersome, an unfinished “cycle of death”? Banish that from your mind…

Datashock are a folksy communal style krautrock collective formed in 2003 and based in Saarlouis. Datashock have no set line up, members can come and go from album to album. The sound of Datashock is often very loose, ranging from tripped out acid freak folk, muddy and murky electronic experiments and repetitive ritualistic jams.