Josho Stefan

BR-KLASSIK presents the live recording of a concert performance of Hindemith's opera "Cardillac" from the Prinzregententheater in Munich on October 13, 2013, in memory of the great conductor Stefan Soltész. Soltész died unexpectedly on July 22, 2022 - exactly one year ago - after collapsing while conducting Richard Strauss' "Die schweigsame Frau" at the Munich National Theatre. The Hungarian-born Austrian conductor was General Music Director of the Essen Philharmonic and Artistic Director of the Essen Aalto Music Theatre from 1997 to 2013. Both institutions were decisively shaped by him and received several awards during his era. He was a welcome guest conductor with the orchestras in Munich. In addition to the standard works from Mozart to Strauss, an important focus of his opera repertoire was classical modernism.

The Thomaskantor position in Leipzig was one of the most important jobs for musicians in Germany in the 18th century; several important musicians applied to succeed Johann Kuhnau after his death in 1722. In the recruitment process, the Leipzig city council was able to choose from the most famous personalities of the time. The first choice was Georg Philipp Telemann, who declined however, after he had obtained a decent salary increase at his Hamburg post.

20 years ago, at the beginning of his career, the young baritone Bo Skovhus made his first recording of Schubert’s “Schöne Müllerin”. Now, as a famous opera and Lied interpreter he presents a new production of all 3 Schubert Cycles: “I’m very thankful to do this again. As a young men you do not reflect so much what happen. Now, when I’m older, I understand much more about. Especially for this cycle it’s important to have another point of view.” (Bo Skovhus) Stefan Vladar, the famous Viennese pianist and his partner on the piano, shows us the virtuosity of the piano part in a new different light.

The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and conductor Carlo Montanaro present a powerful interpretation of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, together with a cast of soloists including Melody Moore (Tosca), Ștefan Pop (Cavaradossi) and Lester Lynch (Scarpia). Tosca has been an audience favourite from the onset. Premiered in 1900, it marks the beginning of twentieth- century opera, in which sex, violence and the uncanny abysses of the human psyche would be explored, inspiring composers to expand the musical means of expression in all thinkable ways.

A new Naxos recording offering two of Hofmann's oboe concerti and two concerti for oboe and harpsichord proves that the prolific Viennese composer could write nice tunes and develop them with spiffy efficiency. Both technical bravura and the expressive colours of the oboe are well explored in these conventional but vivacious three-movement concerti. Stefan Schilli (principal oboe of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), Jeno Jando (harpsichord) and the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia under Bela Drahos play with superb panache and discipline; the sound engineering is wonderfully transparent and detailed notes are included.

An album full of original compositions by the renowned pianist and composer Stefan Dickerson. These extraordinary ensemble of tracks clearly showcases the artist's amazing talent in all genres. His approach to creating soulfulness mixed with jazz is evidence of pure talent. Stefan allows his listeners a great justice by giving them a glimpse into his motivations and inspiration that will continue to keep music alive and relevant for years to come.