Genuin

They like to think big: with ""Insights,"" the highly acclaimed recording of Arnold Schönberg's complete string quartets for the GENUIN label, the Asasello Quartet has created a monument for itself and laid the foundation for an even larger project. For the several-part album and concert cycle ""Orbit Schönberg,"" the Asasello Quartet has now commissioned works from the renowned composers Lisa Streich, Márton Illés and Viera Janárceková. Each of these works complements and reacts in a unique way to a string quartet by Schönberg as well as that of a Schönberg predecessor (Beethoven, Brahms, Reger). The exceptional ensemble records the fascinating result on its new GENUIN album ""Insights to-morrow.

Mit einer gelungenen Verbindung der Gegensätze von Gefühl und Verstand beschäftigten sich im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert nicht nur französischen Philosophen und Kunsttheoretiker, sondern auch Komponisten dieser Zeit. Um jene Pole barocker Musik und ihre Spiegelungen in der zeitgenössischen Moderne kreist diese Produktion der russischen Pianistin und Cembalistin Alexandra Ivanova, die damit ihr Genuin-Debüt bestreitet. Ihre Die mutige Gegenüberstellung von zeitgenössischer und Alter Musik kombiniert aufschlussreich französische Cembalomusik des Barock mit Werken der lettischen Komponistin Anita Mieze (*1980). Und siehe da: Plötzlich erscheint Neues vertraut und Altes aufregend neu.Listening to Alexandra Ivanova's debut CD with GENUIN, we are able to experience the very essence of the harpsichord! The Russian pianist and harpsichordist presents herself in a juxtaposition of contemporary and early music that creates exciting reflections: the new seems familiar, while old seems excitingly new. Ivanova combines Couperin, Rameau, Duphly, and Royer with works by the Latvian composer Anita Mieze, born in 1980. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the associations between feeling and reason not only occupied the minds of French philosophers but also of great musicians: This extraordinarily sonorous CD revolves around these poles of baroque music and how they are reflected in modernity.

The star tenor Daniel Behle sings for the first time here in a Genuin production. Together with the orchestra of the Kammeroper München, he interprets two of the most beautiful song cycles ever, namely Franz Schubert's Schwanengesang and Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe. In both cycles, Alexander Krampe transforms the original piano accompaniment into an exciting orchestral arrangement. This is best supported by the sonorous and supple voice of Daniel Behle: from the delicate weaving of Schubert's Liebesbotschaft to the pale surfaces of his Doppelgänger to the cutting rhythms of Schumann's Die alten, bösen Lieder.

“Jewels from five centuries” aptly describes this collection, featuring small pieces of great music, that the a cappella group Octavians presents on this Genuin recording: canzones, motets, folk songs, and pop songs to which the winners of the 2017 A Cappella Contest Leipzig give their own unique coloring. The spectrum ranges from an old Spanish hymn of praise to motherly love to lieder by Franz Schubert and celebrated songs of our time by Paul Simon and Sting. The charm exuded by the internationally successful gentlemen is fully the match of their vocal skills: a uniform sound, infectious groove, and sparkling clean intonation are the hallmarks of the Octavians – truly a “deluxe boy band”!

On their new GENUIN release, the internationally award-winning flutist Atsuko Koga and her fellow musicians Georgiy Lomakov (cello) and Radoslaw Kurek (piano) bring together music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Fauré, and Charles Martin Loeffler. The trio's airy, free sound with its unusual combination of instruments is a perfect match for the three works, which represent the piano trio genre in completely different ways: Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio as an amusing and witty play on stereotypes of its time, Fauré's late work as a detached and intimate meditation, and finally Loeffler's misty impressionistic poems an absolute discovery!

The internationally sought-after cellist Michael Heupel and his pianist Mario Häring, who has also won several awards, enter into an exciting dialogue with the past. On their new GENUIN CD, they present works related to early music. Gaspar Cassado composes a sonata in the "old Spanish style," and Igor Stravinsky sets off into the world of commedia dell'arte. Zoltán Kodály explores Johann Sebastian Bach, and Alfred Schnittke serves up sugar-sweet, baroque-inspired gems, holding up at times a miniature distorting mirror. A virtuosically played, inspiring collection that transcends the past and future.

For the 75th anniversary of the Detmold University of Music, Genuin is presenting a collection of lovingly restored recordings from the 1970s and 80s. As we gradually leaf through the booklet and listen through all these performances, we are treated to a veritable cornucopia: highly personal recordings by great musicians who played a significant role in shaping not only the history of the Detmold Institute, but also that of German post-war music history. The deeply stirring interpretations include works by Reger, Schoenberg, Brahms, and Beethoven, performed by Tibor Varga, André Navarra, Helmut Winschermann and many others!

The very young violinist Lucie Bartholomäi from the Ore Mountains presents an extraordinary debut recital. For her first production with Genuin, she plays works written exclusively by great female composers. In addition to the romantic music of Amy Beach, Louise Farrenc, and Clara Schumann, the program includes sparkling miniatures by Rebecca Clarke. Bartholomäi and her piano partner Verena Louis devote themselves to this too seldom performed repertoire with great attention to detail, chamber music intimacy, and richness of color. A real voyage of discovery!