Chamber Music & Recitals

The violin works of the leading German composer Wolfgang Rihm encompass almost his entire career and reflect the variety of his stylistic thinking. 'Lichtzwang,' the earliest of his concertos, draws on chorale-like sequences and piercing outbursts alike...

The violin sonatas by Alfred Schnittke extend over his whole career. The First Sonata is among his earliest major pieces while the Second Sonata typifies the confrontational manner of the works that followed.1. I. Andante 2. II. Allegretto 3. III. Largo...

The Violin Concerto is the most intimate of Beethoven's instrumental works. The cadenzas, from the hand of Russian-Canadian Airat Ichmouratov, take pride of place in this interpretation. A clarinetist and conductor in his own right, Ichmouratov connects...

The violin competition of 1971 marked a first in the history of the competition, as it was a woman who won the First Prize, the Israeli Myriam Fried, who led the way for many other female laureates. That year, the public discovered a young woman from...

The viola's dark, velvety sound and it's depth of expression enchanted many composers of the twentieth century (Bart?k, Martinu, Hindemith, Clarke etc.) who made major contributions to the instrument's repertoire. Jitka Hosprova, however, likes to stay...

The viola occupies a special place in the psyche of musicians and composers. It is an instrument of mystery, soulfulness and even of protest and revolt. Rafaell Altino, principal viola of the Odense Symphony Orchestra, presents this exploration of his...

The viola is surely not the most assertive instrument among the string family. It reaches neither the extreme height of the violin nor the rumbling depth and the strength of the cello and contrabass. It's role is more integrating than leading or...

The vihuelist Ariel Abramovich teams up with the legendary soprano Mar?a Cristina Kiehr and the rising star, tenor Jonatan Alvarado, in producing a very special view on Josquin Desprez, with transcriptions of some of the composer's most significant works...

The vihuela is the forerunner of the modern guitar; it had a great fortune in Spain during XVI Century that it is testified by a series of compositions. In this album Paolo Chierici gives us a wonderful anthology of the two composers who are well known...

The Viennese-born Carl Czerny (1791-1857) is best remembered for his countless pedagogical studies - hundreds and hundreds of them. But Czerny's astonishing fecundity - his opus numbers go up to 861, but there is much more music than that - has served to...

The Viennese Court Kapellmeister Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) is regarded in music history as the forefather of modern counterpoint, and his instructional work "Gradus ad parnassum" continues to influence education in this subject to the present day...

The Vienna Boys' Choir is one of the oldest boys' choirs in the world and still a living tradition after more than 500 years. Even Haydn sang there and Schubert also commenced his musical career there. Antonio Salieri was a member of the admissions jury...