Rebekka Hartmann / Salzburg Chamber Soloists / Lavard Skou Larsen OUT OF THE SHADOW

Rebekka Hartmann is the winner of several national and international awards. Her international concert activities brought her together with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Justus Frantz, Salvador Mas Conde, Esa Pekka Salonen, Jukka Pekka Saraste and Enoch zu Guttenberg. Her repertoire comprises the complete spectrum of violin literature from early Baroque to contemporary music and new compositions, of which she has also performed some first recordings and world premieres like works for solo violin by Håkan Larsson and Anders Eliasson. In 2012 Rebekka Hartmann was awarded the ECHO Classic-Prize in the category „Best solo recording of the year” for her CD „Birth of the Violin“(2011, Solo Musica). Rebekka Hartmann performs on an Antonio Stradivarius violin from 1675.

The Salzburg Chamber Soloists have completed four extensive tours of South America to date. For the 250th Mozart Anniversary in 2006, the The Salzburg Chamber Soloists were invited by the city of Salzburg to perform a Best of Mozart concert series. They then continued these celebrations on two extensive tours of the USA and Mexico, visiting cities including Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Indianapolis and Mexico City.

Le Concert de la Loge / Julien Chauvin / Sandrine Piau HAYDN La Reine

It was in 2015 that Julien Chauvin decided to bring back to life one of the most famous orchestras of the late 18th century, Le Concert de la Loge Olympique. Founded in 1783 and owing its lasting famous for having commissioned Joseph Haydn’s ‘Paris’ Symphonies, it gave its first concerts under the high patronage of Marie-Antoinette, hence the subtitle of the fourth ‘Paris’ Symphony: ‘La Reine’. 

Although the name has been slightly changed today, now called Le Concert de la Loge, this ensemble of a variable number of musicians perpetuates the same tradition of excellence as its illustrious namesake. On the programme, of course, the recording of the cycle of these ‘Paris’ Symphonies and, to get the series off to a start, the recording of this famous ‘Reine‘. Taking up the purest tradition of concerts of the ensemble at the time, for each programme, Julien Chauvin combines not only instrumental works by various composers but also vocal pieces (in general, opera arias). 

Thus the fabulous Sandrine Piau, a distinguished guest of this first recording, ideally portrays the gentle Sélène in the world premiere recording of an aria from Giuseppe Sarti’s Didone abbandonata (1762) and offers dazzling virtuosity in Diane’s spectacular aria from Johann Christian Bach’s serenade Endimione. The listener will also (re)discover a little gem by Henri-Joseph Rigel, violist in Le Concert de la Loge Olympique: the Symphony Op. 12 no.4 (1774). With this first release, Julien Chauvin already proves that his orchestra will quickly establish itself and regain its past glory.

Le Concert de la Loge / Julien Chauvin HAYDN L'Ours

The well-known Concert de la Loge, the period-instruments orchestra led by the violinist Julien Chauvin, comes back with the third episode of Haydn’s journey in Paris. His complete Parisian Symphonies recording continues this fall with the number 82 nicknamed “The Bear”. It is coupled with the Symphonie concertante for bassoon, horn, flute and oboe of one of his contemporaries, François Devienne.

This colorful third volume draws a witty and virtuoso panorama of French 18th century music.

Le Concert de la Loge / Julien Chauvin / Justin Taylor HAYDN La Poule

Thanks to Julien Chauvin and his ensemble La Loge, the programs of the Concert Spirituel’s evenings in the late 18^th century Paris come back to life. The so called Haydn’s “symphonies parisiennes” are the core of their musical project which also features contemporary composers, some of them are still unknown.

After “La Reine”, Julien Chauvin and his musicians release “La Poule”, which mischievous doted notes are famous, and Marie-Alexandre Guénin’s Third Symphony. In addition to being a member of the Concert Spirituel’s orchestra as a violinist, Guénin was a teacher and a composer. This score, typical of the Sturm und Drang dramatic gestures, has nothing to envy to the works of his more prominent peers.

The disc ends with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17, K 453 performed by the young and talented Justin Taylor on the fortepiano. His technique allows his sensibility and intelligence to blossom freely so that the soloist can offer a pure moment of delicacy.

Tesla Quartet HAYDN, RAVEL, STRAVINSKY

Our debut album is all about taking a look at the familiar in a new light, a process of reflection. As we approached the 10 year milestone as an ensemble, we found ourselves looking back over the last decade for inspiration. One obvious pillar of our artistic identity has been Joseph Haydn, whose quartets we have performed in every season without fail since the very beginning. And what better place to begin? The C Major Quartet, Op.54 No.2 has become one of our favourites in recent seasons, particularly because, after having already written 41 quartets, Haydn somehow manages to produce a work of sheer brilliance and utter beauty, still toying with the conventions and expectations he himself established for the genre.

Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major has been my favourite quartet since the first time I heard it at a summer music camp as a young teenager, and it’s the piece that motivated me to dedicate my life to string quartets. My colleagues and I all agreed that this work had to be on the album, but how would we relate it to Haydn, who had been dead almost a century before Ravel even conceived of his singular quartet? One of the pioneering Neo-Classicists of the early 20^th Century, Ravel was constantly reaching back through time and bringing old forms into new light. The quartet itself can even be seen as a reflection upon itself, with thematic material from the first movement appearing throughout the whole work, recast in different light, time, and space.

I have always lamented the fact that Ravel only wrote one string quartet, so I began looking through his piano music to see if there were any pieces I could arrange for the quartet. It didn’t take me long to find the elegiac Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn, a short piano piece Ravel composed in homage to Haydn on the centenary of his death in 1809. I found that his Menuet antique, which the composer had later orchestrated himself, worked well as a quartet, as did the diminutive Menuet in C-sharp minor, published posthumously.

How did we make the leap to Stravinsky? His friendship with Ravel and shared Neo-Classical spirit bring their musical kinship to life. But while Ravel seems to delight in the seamless interweaving of past and present, Stravinsky rips the old styles from their ancient roots and thrusts them vigorously into the modern era with a vitality akin to Haydn – just another reminder that there is always more than one view of history.

So rather than starting at the beginning, we find ourselves at the turn of the 20^th Century with Ravel’s String Quartet, reflecting on a genre that has been perhaps the most intimate and personal for all composers since Haydn’s time. As the minuets weave their way through the album, the lines between past and present blur, creating a new time and space to enjoy these wonderful works. (Ross Snyder)

Alisa Weilerstein / Trondheim Soloists TRANSFIGURED NIGHT

Transfigured Night brings together two outstanding composers associated with Vienna: Joseph Haydn and Arnold Schoenberg. The former is often seen as the oldest representative of the “First Viennese School”, whereas the latter founded the “Second Viennese School”, using the classicism of his predecessors to explore new, atonal musical paths into the twentieth century. By combining Haydn’s two cello concertos (in C-major and D-major) and Schoenberg’s symphonic poem Verklärte Nacht – in the 1943 edition for string orchestra – this album sheds a new, fascinating light on both Viennese masters.

The connection between the stylistically contrasting pieces on this album is further enhanced by the inspired playing of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the Trondheim Soloists. For Weilerstein, this album is not only a fascinating exploration of the rich Viennese musical heritage, but just as much a confrontation with the dark history of a city her grandparents had to flee in 1938. Transfigured Night is Weilerstein’s first album as an exclusive PENTATONE artist, as well as the first album recorded with the Trondheim Soloists since her appointment as Artistic Partner of the ensemble in 2017. (PENTATONE)