Zimmermann Bernd

While she made her much-lauded ECM debut with a thought-provoking account of Schumann’s violin sonatas last year, German violinist Carolin Widmann’s reputation as a pioneering interpreter of contemporary music is spreading continiously. “The new record brings me back to my roots”, says Widmann. Teaming up with Simon Lepper, one of Britain’s foremost lied accompanists and a particularly fine chamber musician, she now presents a most varied spectrum of 20th century duo literature. “For more than a year we worked on the repertoire selection.

Conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, Andris Nelsons presents a concert night which concentrates every conceivable passion: Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Trumpet Concerto “Nobody knows de trouble I see” performed with “technical perfection” (Kronenzeitung) by “the fantastic Håkan Hardenberger” (Salzburger Nachrichten) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”. “Nelsons proved to be delicate but hearty when interpreting Mahler.” (Wiener Zeitung) The conductor led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to “enticingly beautiful sounds” (Die Presse). “High praise goes to the vocal soloists Ekaterina Gubanova, Lucy Crowe and the Bavarian Broadcasting choir.” (Salzburger Nachrichten) “Standing ovation”! (Kurier)

This new release by the award-winning Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu is dedicated to the music of Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970), a leading figure in the music of post-Second World War Germany. This album includes a rendering of the composer’s magnificent violin concerto featuring star violinist Leila Josefowicz, orchestral score Photoptosis, as well as the first CD recording of Die Soldaten Vocal Symphony based on an opera that is widely considered as one of the greatest German operas of the 20th century.

The legendary DG Avantgarde vinyl series (1968-1971) is turning 55! In order to celebrate this occasion, the series is now released on 21 CDs for the first time. The Avantgarde series serves as a historical document for a time of radical change in musical thinking and the breaking of artistic boundaries. The question "What is music?" confronted many of the composers and musicians involved in the series, and the anti-authoritarian spirit of the 1960s and 1970s was a palpable influence. Deutsche Grammophon's Avantgarde Series reflects all the currents that thus arose, without aesthetic demarcations and across genres and instrumentations: large orchestral works stand alongside chamber music and solo forms, electronic music and improvisations.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Monologues" initiate a dialog between composers and works full of creative power and musical joy. Inspired by this, the piano duo Neeb developed their debut program, which - expanded by the sonic possibilities of the percussion - conjures up the world of the "spontaneous, associative, dreamlike and even trance-like" (B. A. Z.).

Phantasy of Spring from violinist Carolin Widmann and pianist Simon Lepper perfectly captures the spirit of ECM. An uncompromising programme of Morton Feldman, Bernd Alois Zimmerman, Arnold Schonberg and Iannis Xenakis gets excellent notes by the composer Raiiner Peters and sleeve artwork which is flagrantly out of focus even by ECM's standards. Phantasy of Spring alone will give more musical nourishment than the entire autumn release schedules of some of the larger labels.