Description

Love Songs is a dialogue about love and its reflections, created by four very close friends, the pianists Diana Ketler and Konstantin Lifschitz, violinist Andrej Bielow and violist Razvan Popovici.
In this programme of some of their favourite Romantic duets the musicians journey through the subliminal passion, bucolic nostalgia and gentle irony of Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer,as well as the intimacy and warmth of his songs Wir Wandelten and Wie Melodien zieht es mir. Then they continue with the exuberant admiration for the universe in Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances, the ecstatic desire of Suk’s Love Song, and, finally, the spiritual adoration of nature in Dvorak’s Silent Woods and In the Spinning Room.
Diana and Konstantin became friends in their student years at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since then they musical paths crossed many times due to their inner connection, friendship and shared aesthetic interests.
Diana was described by György Ligeti as “a pianist with an unusual musical intelligence”, while the Onaku No Tomo, Tokyo, wrote about her “profoundly lyrical sound and perfectly refined technique”. Her passion for chamber music has led her to found the Ensemble Raro, which the New York Concert Review called “one of the best, most versatile young groups before the public”. She also started the Chiemgauer Musikfrühling Chamber Music Festival in Bavaria, where she is the artistic director. Diana is a Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Konstantin is one of the most celebrated performers of his generation. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calls him “a phenomenon”. He has an exceptionally vast solo and chamber music repertoire. His many Bach recordings, starting with the legendary Golberg Variations, which the New York Times has called “the most powerful pianistic interpretation since Glen Gould”, continue to fascinate both critics and listeners. Konstantin is a Professor of Piano at the Music Academy in Lucerne.

Description

The title of this SAXISMTANGO album is “Pasión poética” – poetic passion. The cosmopolitan ensemble’s passion is the tango, which the three musicians grew up with in Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

The group adds saxophones and clarinets to the traditional tango instruments bandoneón, guitar, piano and double bass. That creates a unique instrumental sound which largely bears the stylistic stamp of Marcelo Nisinman’s composition and arrangements. Tango songs authentically interpreted by the singer Marcela Arroyo represent another focal point in the album.

Marcelo Nisinman’s comments on his composition INSECTS & HUMANS TANGO (2010):

“The idea came to me one day as I was looking at an anthill at my feet. I realized that there is no major difference between them (the ants) and me, a simple human being.

“Where is the anthill? Below what do I see it? Or could we be part of a greater sub-anthill? Perhaps the only difference between what we call ants and people is the symbolism.

“And the insects began to dance, and music came into my mind, a new tango …”

Description

Vibrant young cellist YuJeong Lee is emerging as a dynamic presence on the international concert stage and is one of the most sought-out Korean cellists of her generation. Ms. Lee’s warm, lush tone, tremendous musical sensitivity and adventurous performances have earned plaudits from audiences, critics, competition juries alike. Having started playing the cello at the age of nine, YuJeong Lee pursued her musical studies internationally at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (entering at the age of 15), Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, and graduated from The Juilliard School by completing her professional studies where she was a recipient of the Genevieve Hustead scholarship.

Rostock, one of the original members of the Hansaetic League, is the largest city in northeast Germany and the cultural and economic center of the region. Its geographical position as one of the largest harbors on the Baltic Sea has made it a crossroads for centuries.  Scandinavian, Russian and Baltic cultures have met there and intermingled with the traditions of Continental Europe.  Rostock is the home of north Germany’s oldest university, founded in 1418.

Born in 1978 in Vienna, the pianist and conductor Florian Krumpöck is designated General Music Director designate and Principal Conductor of the North German Philharmonic Orchestra and the municipal theatre in Rostock. “Forget Lang Lang and Arcadi Volodos. There are highly virtuosic masters of the keyboard in Austria too.” That was the considered opinion of the daily newspaper “die Presse” on the solo debut of this pianist at the Vienna Konzerthaus venue. The son of a cellist and an art historian was taking piano lessons at an early age with some of the most celebrated pianists of the day, such as Rudolf Buchbinder, Gerhard Oppitz and Elisabeth Leonskaja. The great Daniel Barenboim, after hearing Florian Krumpöck play, declared him simply “a wonderful pianist” and was instrumental in launching his very promising international career.