Charlotte Schmitt

Forgotten, dusty, outdated? Not at all! While many have already written off the pipe organ, it is currently experiencing a revolutionary rediscovery – and beyond church walls. With computer-based controls and unexpected soundscapes, Berlin's AGGREGATE Festival demonstrates what the organ is truly capable of.

Experimental piano meets orchestral big band: Sebastian Sternal and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band break new ground on their album Turning Point. Genre-crossing Sebastian Sternal has written music for the Frankfurt Radio Big Band that sounds almost classical while retaining the freedom of jazz. In each piece, the musicians celebrate the rules of their art at the highest level by breaking them with relish. A feast of sounds for discerning music lovers of all genres.

Xilin Wang is one of China's most important composers. The “Symphony No. 3” was composed in 1989. The four-movement work is considered a "serious meditation" on the ten-year-long inhumane "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" and was written under the impression of the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

We congratulate Ludger Brümmer on winning the Honorary Award of the German Record Critics' Award.

Orbe Rotundo – From Life, Magic and Death - for vocal solos, choir and orchestra is a scenic picture book on the liturgical year based on Latin and medieval texts. The 50-minute work has the same instrumentation as Orff's "Carmina Burana" and is conceived as its sister work and modern update. We spoke with the composer Enjott Schneider about his work.

The percussionist Leonie Klein has dedicated herself to contemporary music and is active both as a soloist and in the ensemble. With her interpretations, she creates completely new worlds of sound. We talked to Leonie Klein about her musical world.

 

It is impossible to imagine the music scene of the past 40 years without the presence of the cellist Julius Berger. Born in Augsburg, he has enriched the music world in myriad ways as a performer, a teacher, and a thinker who explores ideas beyond the “beaten path”. Among other things, he made a significant contribution to the literature of his instrument with his discovery and first recording of Luigi Boccherini's concertos, as well as through his commitment to new music through numerous world premieres.

The Polar Music Prize 2022 is awarded to the Ensemble intercontemporain. The Paris-based Ensemble, founded by Pierre Boulez in 1976, is specialized in the performance of contemporary music. Ensemble intercontemporain is the “Stradivarius of modern music”, according to the jury.

The Polar Music Prize is one of the most important music prizes in the world. It is awarded by the Swedish king and is therefore considered the unofficial "Nobel Prize for Music".

The ceremony will take place in Stockholm on May 24, 2022.

Ondřej Adámek: Nôise for large ensemble
Anthony Cheung: Dystemporal for twenty-three musicians
Johannes Boris Borowski: Fagottkonzert

crossroads
Works for cello solo by Sándor Veress, Ursula Mamlok, Marcel Mihalovici, A. Adnan Saygun and Alberto Ginastera

During the past centuries, the violoncello as a solo instrument has increasingly been entrusted with virtuoso works of strong character. This instrument, like no other, can sing of the different emotional states, describe landscapes, lament hardships, and extend an invitation to dance. The works brought together on this CD bear witness to this.

crossroads – Works for cello solo
Adele Bitter: cello

On the death of the composer Mikis Theodorakis – "I composed knowing that one can overcome the limits of human existence only through imagination, inspiration and intuition." Diversely inspired and inspiring, composer Mikis Theodorakis became an artistic and political folk hero, the sonic synonym of Greece. From his political songs, his megahit, the film music for "Alexis Zorba", but also the countless operas, symphonies, choral works, etc., it is clear how diverse forms his artistic ideas could take. For more than three decades we have had a close collaboration with the composer, which has resulted in countless recordings. At the age of 96, Mikis Theodorakis died yesterday, September 2, 2021 in Athens. His music remains and there are still many surprises to discover in it.

Mikis Theodorakis: An obituary