Susanne Großmann

Five years after Sundfør redefined her career with the folk-inspired, emotionally-effervescent album Music for People In Trouble, the Norwegian musician, artist and producer delves even deeper into her personal mythology on the soul-bearing blómi. Meaning “to bloom'' in Norse, blómi takes very unique aspects of Susanne’s life story, like the academic work of her grandfather who is a linguist specialising in Semitic languages, and her own life-changing experiences as a new mother, to weave together a colourful tapestry unlike anything she has released to date.

Born in Stuttgart to Greek parents, Greek mythology and philosophy form the foundation of Ektoras Tartanis' world view and also his intellectual background.

The fascinating and elusive figure of the Monk of Salzburg, whose actual name we will probably never know, has been enriched by a further work. A Passion setting that can be linked to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus and which the Enssle-Lamprecht duo sensually and poetically brings to life with their incomparable virtuosity and an astonishing arsenal of medieval instruments.

Born in Stuttgart to Greek parents, Greek mythology and philosophy form the foundation of Ektoras Tartanis' world view and also his intellectual background.

The music of Clara Schumann for solo piano on this four-disc set by Susanne Grützmann falls roughly into two types – bravura and poetic – which generally follows a chronological path through Schumann's life, or at least the portion during which she did compose (she stopped after the death of Robert). It might have been more helpful to have the works arranged on the four discs in chronological order or at least split into the two groups. Many of Clara's early works were created to please her audience and show off her skills as a pianist, which were impressive even at the age of 11. Those very first pieces are grouped together on the final disc, and after hearing the other three (and following them with a Romance written the year before Robert Schumann died), there is a discernible difference in maturity and complexity of composition, but the smattering of interesting harmonies, variations in structure, and mood changes tell you that this is no ordinary pre-teen. Of the later works, her best pieces are the short, character pieces that are very similar in nature to those of her husband. Her sonata doesn't quite gel into a full, large work, presenting itself more as a sonata allegro and rondo with two character pieces in between.

Als die Bilder tönen lernten und die stummen Mimen Stimmen bekamen, da entstanden die Filmschlager!

A guide to contentment and optimism: these are the gems from Georg Philipp Telemann's Moral Cantatas that mezzo-soprano Susanne Langner has collected on her GENUIN album.