Iskandar Widjaja MERCY

Just 32 years young and already an old hand in the music business: Iskandar Widjaja felt called to music all his life. Now the violinist has released his new album "Mercy" at Neue Meister!

With this project, the artist marks a new stage in his life and makes this clear with his selection of works. The repertoire ranges from Bach and Arvo Pärt to Max Richter and Yiruma. Even before the album was released, the string player gave the first insights into his "baby".

Beginning with an interpretation of Yiruma's "The River Flows In You", Widjaja leads the listener to Arvo Pärt's "Spiegel im Spiegel". With "Sound Synthesis" by Giordano Franchetti, a unique sound construct unfolds.

The core of the recording is Max Richter's "Mercy". Already interpreted several times, Iskandar Widjaja succeeds in creating a memorable interpretation with a unique character.

What at first glance doesn't seem to fit into the scheme, blends seamlessly into the concept when listened to. Johann Sebastian Bach's "Erbarme dich, mein Gott" has been rearranged by the violinist and tailor-made for his "baby".

"Mercy" is a remarkable recording with character. Consistent in itself and with an unexpected selection of works. We are more than curious what Iskandar Widjaja will do next.

Anne Akiko Meyers MIRROR IN MIRROR

Superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is one of today’s most in-demand classical performers. A Billboard Top Selling Classical Instrumentalist of the Year, she is beloved by audiences around the world, with a reputation for groundbreaking recital programmes and ground-breaking commissions. Mirror in Mirror marks her 37th studio album and is one of her most personal projects to date.

With the exception of Ravel, Anne collaborated with all of the composers and arrangers on this album. Several of the works were written for her. The music is reflective and spiritual, and weaves a beautiful story. Philip Glass’ Metamorphosis II is heard in an arrangement commissioned by Anne. The original work inspired Fratres by Arvo Pärt, whose Spiegel im Speigel (Mirror in Mirror) provides the album’s title. John Corigliano’s Lullaby for Natalie was written to commemorate the birth of Anne’s first daughter. Anne has commissioned numerous works by Jakob Ciupinski who combines acoustic instruments with electronics in Edo Lullaby – a modern setting of a traditional Japanese melody that Anne recalls from her childhood – and Wreck of the Umbria which conjures the composer’s dive and discovery of the ship off the coast of Sudan. Ciupinski contributes electronics to Ravel’s Tzigane, re-creating the sound of the original version’s lutheal. The album is capped by another Anne commission – the premiere recording of Morten Lauridsen’s own arrangement for violin and orchestra of his most famous choral composition, O Magnum Mysterium.

Patrick Messina / Henri Demarquette / Fabrizio Chiovetta KALEIDOSCOPIC

On Kaleidoscopic, clarinetist Patrick Messina, cellist Henri Demarquette and pianist Fabrizio Chiovetta explore 20th century minimalist chamber works. Featuring Rääts's Kaleidoscopic Etudes Op.97, Górecki's ''Lerchenmusik'' Recitatives and Ariosos Op.53 and the world premiere recording of Pärt's Mozart-Adagio, this release illuminates fascinating connnections between classicism and modernism.

Vanessa Wagner LISZT, PÄRT

Liszt liked to introduce himself as « half Franciscan, half Gypsy», allowing sensual pleasures to mingle with a profound mystical feeling. With Poetic and Religious Harmonies, inspired by a volume of poetry by Lamartine, the title seems to encapsulate the composer’s passions: literature and spirituality.

In this work, Liszt, the greatest virtuoso of his time and the inventor of the recital, enhances all expressive and technical possibilities of the piano, elevating his favourite instrument to the rank of the ambassador of romanticism.