Genuin

As a servant to his craft, Heinz Rögner was influenced by the musical traditions of his hometown of Leipzig. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death, Genuin together with MDR, is dedicating a significant box set to the great conductor, featuring concert recordings from the Gewandhaus from 1994 to 2001. Originally from a humble background, the musician worked predominantly in Berlin and Leipzig but was also exceptionally well-known and popular in Japan. This box provides us with superb recordings of Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner, as well as Reger's Mozart Variations and Gershwin's An American in Paris. The MDR Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Chamber Philharmonic perform at their best!

Passions, emotions, affects: they are at the heart of the study of harpsichord music of the "Grand Siècle" in France, which produced composers such as Louis Couperin, Henry Du Mont and Jean-Henri D'Anglebert. In his first Genuin solo album, the young, first-rate harpsichordist Andreas Gilger relies on the perfect combination of a high-quality copy of a historical instrument and a room of ideal dimensions. In the Golden Hall of the Castle of Oettingen, he plays vibrant, passionate, surprising music of the 17th century, including a Suite by Jean-Nicolas Geoffroy, recorded for the first time. This is differentiated and rhetorically lucid harpsichord playing, which brings out the modernity and topicality of this music!

World premiere recordings are brought together on this new GENUIN CD featuring works by the composer Christian Ridil: Renowned musicians from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, play in formations ranging from brass quintet to flute and percussion to the exquisite combination of (chromatic) harmonica and harpsichord. The works of the Goethe University Frankfurt's former university music director are characterized by stylistic diversity, wit, charm, and virtuosity and yet bear Ridil's clear signature.

It is often said that Elliott Carter is the most European of all American composers. Without a doubt, the New York-born composer is one of the most interesting personalities of the New Music scene in the USA. His wide-ranging compositional output is complex, filled with philosophical and poetic allusions that range from orchestral and chamber music, solo instrumental and vocal pieces to his first opera, which he first wrote at the age of 90. He wrote his compositions from his head, without using any instruments, and many of his works were only heard at the premiere. For his 100th birthday, the Sonatina for oboe and harpsichord was premiered by Heinz Holliger and Peter Salomon and has now been recorded for the first time on GENUIN. With this recording, the Swiss Chamber Soloists honors the rich oeuvre of Elliot Carter – music that is full of elegance and transparency.

The Trio Then-Bergh (violin), Wen-Sinn Yang (cello), and Michael Schäfer (piano) provide a cross-section of the golden age of Russian music in their new Genuin recording. These three exceptional musicians play masterpieces compiled and arranged by the composer Alexander Krein in the first half of the 20th century. Krein is a masterful arranger who makes the soul of each piece shine in the trio version. Works by Tchaikovsky (for example, from his String Serenade and The Seasons) and Rimsky-Korsakov (from The Golden Cockerel) are presented here, as well as wonderfully sentimental salon music from Glière to Tcherepnin.

Dorothee Eberhardt's fifth portrait on Genuin is made up of new and recent works for unusual instrument combinations. First-class ensembles and musicians such as the Monet Quintet, the Trio Tricolor (Korbinian Altenberger, violin, Christoph Eß, horn, and Boris Kusnezow, piano), Zoltán Kovács (clarinet) Axel Gremmelspacher (piano), and Catherina Lendle (violin) take part.

Dorothee Eberhardt's fifth portrait on Genuin is made up of new and recent works for unusual instrument combinations. First-class ensembles and musicians such as the Monet Quintet, the Trio Tricolor (Korbinian Altenberger, violin, Christoph Eß, horn, and Boris Kusnezow, piano), Zoltán Kovács (clarinet) Axel Gremmelspacher (piano), and Catherina Lendle (violin) take part.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed timeless music for solo instruments and invented his own musical worlds for violin, violoncello, flute wonderful, pure architectural beauty. For his GENUIN CD, the saxophonist Arno Bornkamp has arranged solo sonatas by Bach, choosing a different register for each work by using the baritone, soprano and alto saxophones. The symbiosis between instrument and music seems ideal, and, guided by the principles of historical performance practice, the co-founder of the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet plays with great ease and flow.

What could be more French than the silvery sound, dreamy arpeggios, and airy elegance of the flute? All the works on Atsuko Koga's new Genuin recording were composed in France and represent more than a century of flute history. All are also directly or indirectly connected to the tradition-rich Paris Conservatoire, where Eugène Bozza, André Caplet, and Gabriel Fauré studied and taught, as well as our two contemporaries, Fuminori Tanada and Rika Suzuki from Japan. The highly virtuosic pieces of these latter two composers – recorded here in world premiere recordings – were written for Atsuko Koga. They are as much a testament to her skill as the other Impressionist and early modern works.

Musical love letters, dedicated to the muses of their authors: the young Austrian harpist Elisabeth Plank, selected by the Wiener Konzerthaus as a "great talent" for the past two seasons, has collected more than a dozen of them for her new Genuin recording. In doing so, she focuses on the private sides of well-known and lesser-known composers. The recording includes three premiere recordings of works by Gustav Mahler, Alfred Zamara, and Elias Parish Alvars. The emotional scope of the works ranging from Sergei Prokofiev to Jan Dussek extends from fleeting impressions to deeply moving laments of love – presented in finely balanced interpretations with sparkling, richly colored harp tone and flawless phrasing. Genuine repertory discoveries!