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The Spirit Of Turtle [Longbox]
Various composers

Various artists

The Spirit Of Turtle [Longbox]

Price: € 49.95
Format: SACD
Label: Turtle Records
UPC: 0608917553826
Catnr: TRSA 75538
Release date: 11 March 2014
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Label
Turtle Records
UPC
0608917553826
Catalogue number
TRSA 75538
Release date
11 March 2014

""The capability of the human brain remains fantasticly intriguing and it is especially this aspect that I want to convey in all my recordings""

Music Emotion, 02-12-2013
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About the album

17 YEARS OF NORTHSTAR RECORDING EXCELLENCE CAPTURED IN ‘THE SPIRIT OF TURTLE’

Click here for the video of North Star Recording

... Pioneering engineer Bert van der Wolf launches new a collection of personal highlights from his ground-breaking career
Bert van der Wolf of NorthStar Recording Services, has long been recognised as a pioneer of High Resolution recording. His 25 year career spans all genres, encompasses breakthrough technical innovations and is steeped in awards. In this new production, available on Super Audio CD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray and 24/192 Studio Master, he presents 14 tracks that represent his vision of the depth, detail and emotion of true High Resolution musical recording.

Bert has been making High Resolution recordings since 1996. Starting initially with the 24/96 formats, then moving on to 24/192 and Direct Stream Digital (DSD). He engineered the world's first 24/192 recordings in 1996. As a technical consultant he was responsible for the assembly and delivery of the first prototype eight-channel DSD recorders to Philips. Hundreds of the first Super Audio CD releases that appeared in the early 2000's were made using these systems.

This passion for excellence, true ‘high end’ performance and sense of innovation, is brought to life with the launch of The Spirit of Turtle. The new collection features fully re-mastered recordings of some of the most innovative and moving music in the world. The fourteen tracks have been selected personally by Bert from the NorthStar archive and represent some of the seminal moments from his recording career.

From Beethoven’s “5th”, Allegro con brio, to Maarten Ornstein’s Quicksie from Jungle Boldie, what unites the pieces is the pure experience that they offer.

17 Jahre NorthStar Recording - Vortrefflichkeit eingefangen auf 'The Spirit Of Turtle'
Tonmeister-Pionier Bert van der Wolf veröffentlicht eine Sammlung seiner persönlichen Highlights seiner unglaublichen Karriere

Bert van der Wolf von NorthStar Recording Services gilt schon seit langem als einer der Pinoiere der High-Resolution-Recordings. In den 25 Jahren seiner Karriere hat er mit Musikern aller Genres zusammengearbeitet, bahnbrechende technische Innovationen herbeigeführt, was mit zahlreichen Auszeichnungen honoriert wurde.

Bert arbeitet bereits seit 1996 mit High-Resolution-Recordings: Angefangen mit 24/96 Formaten, weiter zu 24/192 und Direct Stream Digital (DSD). Er war Tonmeister der ersten 24/192-Aufnahmen weltweit. Als Technischer Berater war er verantwortlich für die Aufstellung und Lieferung des ersten Prototyps des Acht-Kanal-DSD-Recorders für Philips. Hunderte der ersten Super Audio CDs, die in den frühen 2000er Jahren veröffentlicht wurden, verwendeten dieses System.

Diese Leidenschaft für Vortrefflichkeit, wahrhaftige "high-end"-Aufnahmen und sein Gesprür für Innovation finden Sie auf "The Spirit Of Turtle". Diese neue Zusammenstellung beinhaltet komplett re-masterte Aufnahmen der höchst-innovativer und bewegender Musik aller Zeiten. Die 14 Tracks wurden von Bert van der Wolf persönlich aus dem NorthStar Archiv ausgesucht und repräsentieren einige der bahnbrechensten Momente seiner Karriere.

erhältlich auf SACD, Pure Audio BluRay und 24/192 StudioMaster

Artist(s)

Jaap van Zweden

Born in Amsterdam in 1960, Jaap Van Zweden began his musical career as a violinist, becoming at nineteen the youngest ever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.  In 1997, van Zweden made his decision to conduct full time, played his last concert as a violinist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and was named the chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra where he remained until 2003. In 2000, he added the music directorship of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague to his credits, a post he held until 2005. Jaap van Zweden began his third season as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September 2010. His commitment to the orchestra was recently extended through the 2015-2016 season. Under his...
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Born in Amsterdam in 1960, Jaap Van Zweden began his musical career as a violinist, becoming at nineteen the youngest ever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1997, van Zweden made his decision to conduct full time, played his last concert as a violinist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and was named the chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra where he remained until 2003. In 2000, he added the music directorship of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague to his credits, a post he held until 2005.
Jaap van Zweden began his third season as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September 2010. His commitment to the orchestra was recently extended through the 2015-2016 season. Under his direction, the orchestra is enhancing its programming and community outreach, continuing to champion new composers, and raising its national profile with an annual residency in Vail, CO and a 2011 appearance at Carnegie Hall in the inaugural Spring for Music Festival. Concurrently with his post in Dallas, van Zweden’s other titled positions include chief conductor and artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (2005-2012), and chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra of Belgium (2008-2012).
Under van Zweden’s leadership, the DSO has established an ongoing residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival through the summer of 2012, and debuted five world premiere works over two seasons as part of the DSO’s Texas Instruments Classical Series. Throughout the past seasons, the orchestra, under van Zweden's leadership, has received lavish praise from notable media including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Musical America, The Financial Times, BBC Music Magazine, The Dallas Morning News and many others. In a December 2009 article in The LA Times, Mark Swed named van Zweden one of the”Faces to Watch“ in 2010, noting van Zweden “knows how to generate tense, tactile excitement in all kinds of music.” Van Zweden has also become a highly sought-after guest artist since the DSO introduced him to US audiences in 2007. During the 2010-2011 season, van Zweden debuts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Paulo Symphony, Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic. He makes his much-anticipated fourth guest appearance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and returns to guest conduct with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
He also has guested with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capital de Toulouse, Munich Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic, among others.

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Eric Vloeimans

Eric Vloeimans (Huizen, 1963) is an improvising trumpeter and composer who regards the term ‘jazz’ as too limiting to describe his music. His work is characterized by melodic and lyrical power, and a distinctive, individual sound that is called velvety or whispering in the more subdued pieces. From 2006/2007 Eric Vloeimans has been active with two much-praised formations: the chamber jazz trio Fugimundi (Anton Goudsmit guitar, Harmen Fraanje piano) and the electric band Gatecrash, in which rock and funk elements can be traced (Jeroen van Vliet keyboards, Gulli Gudmundsson bass, Jasper van Hulten drums). With the latter group, he employs electronic effects in his trumpet playing for the first time. In addition, he continues to develop other projects, such as the band...
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Eric Vloeimans (Huizen, 1963) is an improvising trumpeter and composer who regards the term ‘jazz’ as too limiting to describe his music. His work is characterized by melodic and lyrical power, and a distinctive, individual sound that is called velvety or whispering in the more subdued pieces.
From 2006/2007 Eric Vloeimans has been active with two much-praised formations: the chamber jazz trio Fugimundi (Anton Goudsmit guitar, Harmen Fraanje piano) and the electric band Gatecrash, in which rock and funk elements can be traced (Jeroen van Vliet keyboards, Gulli Gudmundsson bass, Jasper van Hulten drums). With the latter group, he employs electronic effects in his trumpet playing for the first time.
In addition, he continues to develop other projects, such as the band Oliver’s Cinema with accordion player Tuur Florizoone and cellist Jörg Brinkmann (CD available from August 2013, and a US tour in October 2014)) , and a duo with pianist Florian Weber, with a CD release : Live at the Concertgebouw in 2011.
His broad range of interests has led Vloeimans to collaborate with artists from other musical worlds. In the pop music area, these include Fay Lovsky, Doe Maar, Spinvis, Jan Akkerman and trumpeter Kyteman (Colin Benders). Where world music is concerned, Vloeimans was involved in projects with flamenco guitarist Eric Vaarzon Morel, Latin pianist Ramon Valle, and the fado-inspired Pessoa of Fernando Lameirinhas.
Vloeimans has performed as a soloist with classical ensembles such as the Matangi Quartet, the Calefax Reed Quintet, the Metropole Orchestra, the Gelderland Orchestra, the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, the Holland Baroque Society, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
2011 saw the premiere of his first trumpet concerto, Evensong, with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, orchestrated by Martin Fondse, and recorded for CD with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.
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Marc van Roon

Marc van Roon (born 1967 in The Hague) is a Dutch jazz pianist. He combines music performance with his work as a creative facilitator for leaders, groups and organizations in change and learning processes applying the art of improvisation as the main source of inspiration. He has composed songs and orchestra pieces for dance companies and various music ensembles and produced several CDs for other artists and his own ensembles. Van Roon has collaborated with Dave Liebman, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano, Billy Hart, Santi Di Briano, Tony Lakatos, Michael Moore, The Netherlands Dans Theatre and Dutch jazz artists Ernst Reijseger, Tony Overwater, Wim Kegel, Jesse van Ruller, Susanne Abbuehl, Fay Claassen, Eric Vloeimans and Tineke Postma. Van Roon began classical...
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Marc van Roon (born 1967 in The Hague) is a Dutch jazz pianist. He combines music performance with his work as a creative facilitator for leaders, groups and organizations in change and learning processes applying the art of improvisation as the main source of inspiration. He has composed songs and orchestra pieces for dance companies and various music ensembles and produced several CDs for other artists and his own ensembles.
Van Roon has collaborated with Dave Liebman, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano, Billy Hart, Santi Di Briano, Tony Lakatos, Michael Moore, The Netherlands Dans Theatre and Dutch jazz artists Ernst Reijseger, Tony Overwater, Wim Kegel, Jesse van Ruller, Susanne Abbuehl, Fay Claassen, Eric Vloeimans and Tineke Postma.
Van Roon began classical piano lessons at the age of ten. His interest in jazz and improvisation was sparked at a young age by his father Wouter van Roon, a professional jazz pianist. He studied music privately until the age of sixteen when he enrolled in the music program at the Royal Music Conservatory in The Hague. He studied with pianists Frans Elsen, Rob van Kreeveld, Geoffrey Douglas Madge and Lanny Kho. He graduated in 1991 and left for a post conservatorial study to New York City. There he studied with jazz pianists Barry Harris and Richie Beirach. He returned to the Netherlands in 1993 started his own trio and continued to collaborate with other musicians. At the same time he co-founded the creative artistic consultancy group Art in Rhythm with drummer/percussionist Joshua Samson. Thereafter he started to give lecture based learning experiences for audiences around the world.

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Christoph Prégardien

Born 1956 in Limburg, Germany, Christoph Prégardien began his musical education as a choirboy. He then studied singing with Martin Gründler and Karlheinz Jarius in Frankfurt, Carla Castellani in Milan, Alois Treml in Stuttgart and attended Hartmut Höll’s lieder-class. Widely regarded as among the foremost lyric tenors, Christoph Prégardien frequently collaborates with conductors such as Barenboim, Chailly, Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Luisi, Metzmacher, Nagano, Sawallisch and Thielemann. His repertory spans a wide range from the great Baroque, Classical and Romantic Oratorios to 20th century works by Britten, Killmayer, Rihm, Stravinsky. Recognized as an eminent recitalist, Christoph Prégardien is regularly welcomed at the major recital venues of Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Zurich, Vienna, Barcelona and Geneva, as well as during his...
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Born 1956 in Limburg, Germany, Christoph Prégardien began his musical education as a choirboy. He then studied singing with Martin Gründler and Karlheinz Jarius in Frankfurt, Carla Castellani in Milan, Alois Treml in Stuttgart and attended Hartmut Höll’s lieder-class.
Widely regarded as among the foremost lyric tenors, Christoph Prégardien frequently collaborates with conductors such as Barenboim, Chailly, Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Luisi, Metzmacher, Nagano, Sawallisch and Thielemann. His repertory spans a wide range from the great Baroque, Classical and Romantic Oratorios to 20th century works by Britten, Killmayer, Rihm, Stravinsky.
Recognized as an eminent recitalist, Christoph Prégardien is regularly welcomed at the major recital venues of Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Zurich, Vienna, Barcelona and Geneva, as well as during his concert tours throughout Italy, Japan and North America.
A longstanding collaboration unites him with his favourite piano partners Michael Gees and Andreas Staier. Soloist of choice for renowned orchestras, he performed with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Gewand-hausorchester Leipzig, London Philharmonia, Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonie de Radio France, the Montreal, Boston, St. Louis and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras.
An important part of his repertory has been recorded by labels such as BMG, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, Sony, Erato, Challenge Classics and Teldec. He is represented on more than a hundred and twenty titles, including nearly all of his active repertoire. His recordings of German Romantic Lied repertory have been highly acclaimed by the public and press and have received international awards including the prestigious Orphée d’Or of the Académie du Disque Lyrique-Prix Georg Solti, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Edison Award, Cannes Classical Award and Diapason d’Or.
As an opera singer, Christoph Prégardien has made stage appearences in major European houses, performing leading roles as Tamino (Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Seviglia), Fenton (Falstaff) and Monteverdi’s Ulisse. In Spring 2005, Christoph Prégardien sang the leading part in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” at the Paris National Opera conducted by Sylvain Cambreling.
An important aspect in the musical life of Christoph Prégardien is his intensive and varied educational work. From 2000 to 2005 Christoph Prégardien was in charge of a vocal class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich. Since the autumn of 2004, he is a professor at the Musikhochschule Köln. In a new combination of DVD and book, released in the serie “Schott Master Class”, he presents for the first time questions of singing technique and interpretation in word and picture. Film examples accompagny him during his lessons with masterclass students.
Christoph Prégardien now has a long-term cooperation with Challenge Classics. The first production on our label, released in February 2008, was Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin” with pianist Michael Gees. In the fall of 2008 “Schwanengesang” with pianist Andreas Staier followed and “Die schöne Müllerin” was awarded the Midem ‘Record of the Year’ 2009 at MIDEM, the world’s largest music industry trade fair. The duo Christoph Prégardien/Michael Gees also received the MIDEM ‘Vocal Recitals’ Award 2009. Throughout 2008 the recording received critical acclaim from many national and international magazines (Gramophone, Editor’s Choice & „Best of 2008“ among others).

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Michael Gees

'Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but  shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes...
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"Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes on to win the Steinway Competition at age eight and receives a scholarship at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
The child prodigy is hailed as “Westphalian Mozart“, takes up studies at the conservatories in Detmold and Vienna and it seems as if he is fast on his way to become an internationally acclaimed pianist. Were it not for the gifted child’s longing to explore the world of sound on his own terms, to playfully experience his self like the great masters’ music, to invent their music all over again, note for note instead of limiting himself to a technical practice regimen. Michael Gees flees the pressure of a predetermined competitional career at the age of fifteen, leaves school, conservatory and home behind, supports himself through odd jobs, works as archeological assistant and, in the process, for the duration of two full years, becomes a sailor.
Chance leads him back to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, where he resumes his compositional studies and eventually graduates. He now develops first rate pianistic chops on his own, composes a number of works, gains international renown as lied accompanist of extraordinary proportions with Christoph Prégardien and also appears in concerts globally; in Paris, London, New York and Tokio. All the while, he nurses and feeds his preference for combining the performance of music of past masters with living inspiration, thereby creating remarkable performances with his instrument.
In 1989, Gees founds “forum kunstvereint“ in his adopted hometown of Gelsenkirchen; the Consol Theater, also installed by him, opens its doors in 2001 on the confines of the former mining area Consolidation. There, music, dance and theatre projects take shape, where children, youths and adults alike are incited and encouraged to discover and realize their own artistic impulses. A steady number of CDs have been released from 1996 onward on forum kunstvereint, CPO and EMI, showcasing Michael Gees’ range.
Since 2008 Michael Gees is associated to the Netherlands label Challenge Classics. The 2009 release of the Schöne Müllerin with Christoph Prégardien won the MIDEM Classical Award and became Recording of the Year. Michael Gees works on solo-recitals which enjoy breaking with tradition, on modernized lied-renditions, melodramas and stage music.

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Dean Peer

Dean Peer is internationally recognized for his use of bass harmonics as well his ability to produce a wide variety of sounds, chords of harmonics and the underlying rhythmic pulse while floating melodies on top.  He has recorded with artists like Prairie Prince (The Tubes), Grammy Awarded Paul McCandles & Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Bill Douglas, Ty Burhoe, and many others. Born in Burlington Vermont, raised in Boulder Colorado. Dean resides in Austin Texas, Dean started playing music in High School with friend Bret Mann playing High School dances and private parties. While learning to play he was influenced by the Bass players of the day i.e. Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. In High school he was in All state Orchestra and studied on a...
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Dean Peer is internationally recognized for his use of bass harmonics as well his ability to produce a wide variety of sounds, chords of harmonics and the underlying rhythmic pulse while floating melodies on top. He has recorded with artists like Prairie Prince (The Tubes), Grammy Awarded Paul McCandles & Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Bill Douglas, Ty Burhoe, and many others.

Born in Burlington Vermont, raised in Boulder Colorado. Dean resides in Austin Texas, Dean started playing music in High School with friend Bret Mann playing High School dances and private parties. While learning to play he was influenced by the Bass players of the day i.e. Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. In High school he was in All state Orchestra and studied on a Music scholarship to the University of Northern Colorado and the the University of Colorado at Denver. After grduating in 1982 Dean also studied at the fledgling Naropa University in Boulder Colorado, where great artists and thinkers like Allen Ginsber and Bill Douglas taught, He later went on to record with Bill Douglas on the Hearts of space label, and was featured on the radio program "Music from the hearts of space" by Stephen Hill.
According to Bass player magazine Dean's book Bass Harmonics: new concepts and techniques is "the book on Bass Harmonics".

Dean has four albums with original music:

The latest recording released in 2010, AIRBORNE, is a bass and drum duet featuring Bret Mann on percussion. Avguide.com reviewed AIRBORNE, calling Dean “a remarkable solo artist on his chosen instrument, with a dazzling array of playing techniques at his disposal. . . seemingly limitless chops, and—most importantly—a wealth of inventive musical ideas to express.” AIRBORNE has been on a top 40 radio success in the US and Canada and was nominated for an annual ZMR award for 2010, a must buy in the 2011 Absolute Sound buyers guide and featured in Stereophile magazine multiple times since its release in 2010.

Stereophile Magazine wrote of Peer’s third release,Think… It’s All Good, “On first listen you want more, and the more you turn up the volume, the more there is to hear.”

His 1994 album, Travelogue, was called “one of the best records of the year” by Jazz Times, and features contributions on saxophones by Paul McCandless.
His album UCROSS, released in 1991, was the first completely solo electric bass album in worldwide distribution. It was hailed by Stereophile magazine as an audiophile classic, and Bass Player magazine called UCROSS an extravaganza of ringing notes, chords and clusters, rating the bass performance an “A”.

Lately he's been touring globally with his percussionist Bret Mann and is the midst of a new recording project.


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Maarten Ornstein

Meet Maarten Ornstein. He plays reeds, and is a composer. Of today’s music. This music. In his own words: “This is what I do.” Ornstein is known for his work as an improvisor. After all, lots of roles fit this Dutchman who as a soloist joined forces with Audible Lifestream, SfeQ, The Schönberg Ensemble, The Houdini’s, The Ebony Band, various ensembles led by Tony Overwater, and the Martin Fondse Oktemble. He is also composer and arranger for The New Cool Collective Big Band and some of the aforementioned groups. Previously, he recorded with most of them all and many others. As an instrumentalist Ornstein integrates lyrical fluidity and imagination with maximum control on his reed instruments - mostly clarinet, bass clarinet...
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Meet Maarten Ornstein. He plays reeds, and is a composer.
Of today’s music. This music. In his own words: “This is what I do.” Ornstein is known for his work as an improvisor. After all, lots of roles fit this Dutchman who as a soloist joined forces with Audible Lifestream, SfeQ, The Schönberg Ensemble, The Houdini’s, The Ebony Band, various ensembles led by Tony Overwater, and the Martin Fondse Oktemble. He is also composer and arranger for The New Cool Collective Big Band and some of the aforementioned groups. Previously, he recorded with most of them all and many others. As an instrumentalist Ornstein integrates lyrical fluidity and imagination with maximum control on his reed instruments - mostly clarinet, bass clarinet and tarogato (a sort of wooden soprano saxophone of Romanian and Hungarian origin). Both as a player and composer/ arranger he is in command of his notes, and, while he’s on them, controls your state of mind too. Therefore Turtle Records is very proud to present Ornstein’s first. His first solo recording and his first recorded composed contemporary music that is. “I just wrote down what I like”, he states. Ornstein likes the combined sound of bassoon, various clarinets and the nowadays very rare C melody saxophones, sometimes united with percussion and the human voice. Do not call it classical, neo classical, jazz, worldmusic or worse: modern music. With his W.A.R.P. Ensemble Ornstein plays music that is all written down, yet very alive, and integrates various style elements of the here and now. It’s hip, and it’s serious. It’s of today, and it’s timeless. It challenges the listener, and it is a pure joy to listen to.

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Wim Kegel

Wim Kegel (8 December 1967) is one of the most prominent drummers of the Netherlands. He has developed a unique style that combines traditional jazz drumming with a progressive, contemporary and personal approach.  Wim started playing drums at the age of six. After studying with his Father Nico Kegel and his first drum teacher, Paul van der Vossen, at age 15 Wim moved on to the Royal Conservatory, in The Hague, where he enrolled in the School for Dance and Music, a special course for young talents. Wim carried on at the conservatory for his Masters in performing jazz. He studied with drum teacher Henk van den Berg, but also with Ack van Rooyen and Frans Elsen. He graduated with honours in...
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Wim Kegel (8 December 1967) is one of the most prominent drummers of the Netherlands. He has developed a unique style that combines traditional jazz drumming with a progressive, contemporary and personal approach. Wim started playing drums at the age of six. After studying with his Father Nico Kegel and his first drum teacher, Paul van der Vossen, at age 15 Wim moved on to the Royal Conservatory, in The Hague, where he enrolled in the School for Dance and Music, a special course for young talents. Wim carried on at the conservatory for his Masters in performing jazz. He studied with drum teacher Henk van den Berg, but also with Ack van Rooyen and Frans Elsen. He graduated with honours in 1991. In 1994 and 1996 Wim was able to go to New York and Boston on a grant from the Dutch Fund for Stage Arts (Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten), where he studied with his idols Joe Morello, Bob Moses and Jamey Haddad. The latter introduced him to the frame drum and its accompanying techniques which have remained important for the rest of his career.
With the group Supreme Headquarters Wim Kegel won the 1st prize at the N.O.S Jazzcontest for the best group in 1989. The CD O.P. on which he played with Tony Overwater, Maarten Ornstein, Ack van Rooyen and Ernst Reijseger won the Edison Award in 2001. Over the years Wim has recorded over forty CDs with national and international musicians such as David Liebman, Bob and Chuck Findley, Ron Mc Croby, David Schnitter, Jeroen Manders, Willem van Manen's Contraband, Marc van Roon, Hans Mantel, the group Special Delivery, Tilmar Junius, and the Down Town Jazz Band.
Wim has also appeared in concert with Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny (North Sea Jazz Festival 2004), Bob Berg, Sunny Murray, Bob Brookmeyer, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Ferdinand Povel, George Duke (radio show for Radio Netherlands Worldwide) and many more.
Wim Kegel has performed throughout Europe starting in his teens, and later around the world, especially the Middle and Far East, India, the United States, North Africa and Australia.
His latest project is the Wim Kegel – Marc van Roon Duo which plays a wide range of contemporary jazz music. They recorded their first album drumwise for Challenge Records on their Buzz label, with worldwide distribution. Its release date is April 2015. (www.wimkegel.nl) Other Projects: Braskiri, a group with Bert Lochs on the trumpet and flugelhorn, German pianist Dirk Balthaus, Norwegian tuba player Steffen Granley, and Wim Kegel on drums.
This group just recorded its first album for the German record label Berthold Records. Release date: May/June 2015. (www.braskiri.nl) Ack van Rooyen/Jeroen Manders Quintet with Marc van Roon, Erik Robaard and Wim Kegel. The CD To the Ends of the Earth came out last year for the German Label, Mons Records. Performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2015.
Ellington Suites with the Calefax Reed Quintet featuring Tony Overwater on bass and Wim Kegel on drums. Next concerts April/May 2016.
Jungle Boldie, with Maarten Ornstein on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Tony Overwater on bass and Wim Kegel on drums. A trio that has been together for over twenty five years and works on a project base. Their last recording was Jungle Boldie which appeared on the label Turtle Records.
Over the past fourteen years Wim has worked as a drum teacher in Almere and Utrecht. He has been a guest teacher at several conservatories in the Netherlands and runs his own music/drum school Drumwise.
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Tuur Florizoone

Although in the Low Countries the accordion is often still associated with corniness and banal hi-jinx, in other cultures it has been a fully respected instrument with a great expressive range for many years. Especially in the hands of a composer and improviser with imagination and taste, such as one of Belgium’s most beloved musicians, Tuur Florizoone. This has everything to do with his broad knowledge and interests, his charisma and tangible joy in performing, and his gift for touching the heart of the music as well as that of the listeners. Florizoone (1978) has had classical piano lessons and studied jazz piano and composition at the conservatory. He gained some of his practical experience in Brazil, such as at the...
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Although in the Low Countries the accordion is often still associated with corniness and banal hi-jinx, in other cultures it has been a fully respected instrument with a great expressive range for many years. Especially in the hands of a composer and improviser with imagination and taste, such as one of Belgium’s most beloved musicians, Tuur Florizoone. This has everything to do with his broad knowledge and interests, his charisma and tangible joy in performing, and his gift for touching the heart of the music as well as that of the listeners.
Florizoone (1978) has had classical piano lessons and studied jazz piano and composition at the conservatory. He gained some of his practical experience in Brazil, such as at the workshops of the great percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, and by accompanying circus, dance and theatre shows. He collaborated with heavyweights from the worlds of jazz (Philip Catherine, Garrett List), pop music (Stijn Meuris, Thé Lau), classical music (Claron McFadden, the Brussels Philharmonic) and the folk and world music scene (Luka Bloom, Carlos Nuñes). He demonstrated his mastery of mood and atmosphere, based on simple, directly appealing material, in film soundtracks such as Aanrijding in Moscou – which won him the public prize at the WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS 2008 – and L’Amour des Moules. As an improviser, he’s at his best in open situations with a lot of freedom and interaction, like in the group Tricycle, the collective trio Massot/Florizoone/Horbaczewski, and in a duo with diatonic accordionist Didier Laloy.

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Jörg Brinkmann

Young, classically trained string players with big, wide open ears have greatly enriched Dutch improvised music in the past years. One of them is the German cellist Jörg Brinkmann (1976), who has studied at the Arnhem conservatory. Just like the members of the ZAPP! string quartet, whom he frequently plays with, he get his inspiration from anywhere; for him the ‘jazz’ label is also too limiting. Brinkmann is equally capable of making essential contributions to pop bands, theatre orchestras or chamber music ensembles. Building on the technical innovations of improvising jazz musicians, he can deploy his cello as a (rhythm) guitar, or as a bass that lays down funk accents or swings in four-four time. When he colors the sound...
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Young, classically trained string players with big, wide open ears have greatly enriched Dutch improvised music in the past years. One of them is the German cellist Jörg Brinkmann (1976), who has studied at the Arnhem conservatory. Just like the members of the ZAPP! string quartet, whom he frequently plays with, he get his inspiration from anywhere; for him the ‘jazz’ label is also too limiting. Brinkmann is equally capable of making essential contributions to pop bands, theatre orchestras or chamber music ensembles. Building on the technical innovations of improvising jazz musicians, he can deploy his cello as a (rhythm) guitar, or as a bass that lays down funk accents or swings in four-four time. When he colors the sound of his instrument with electronics, it’s done in a subtle and tasteful way. In his playing and his compositions a perfect fusion takes place of structure and personal variations, of cleanly bowed lyricism and lively rhythms, in which he doesn’t shy away from unusual time signatures either.
His musical character is faithfully expressed in his own trio with pianist Oliver Maas and percussionist Dirk-Peter Kölsch, with whom he recorded the album Ha! for ACT. In addition, he’s worked with Martin Fondse’s Starvinsky Orkestar, Michiel Braam’s Bik Bent Braam and many other adventurous jazz soloists.

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Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system...
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The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system were transformed into two: the present Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. In 2006, these two orchestras, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Metropole Orchestra joined the Dutch public broadcasting organisation NPO.
The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been conducted by great names such as Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona and Edo de Waart. Jaap van Zweden was named its chief conductor in September 2005. The orchestra has also worked with numerous famed guest conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Antál Dorati, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur and Valery Gergiev. Soon after its founding, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic found itself foremost in Dutch musical life in the number of performances and the diversity of its repertoire, with a predilection for Dutch and contemporary works in its programming. It has honed another facet of its striking profile with a great many opera concertante performances. The orchestra has an extensive discography, ranging from legendary LPs recorded in the 1970s under such conductors as Leopold Stokowski and Antal Doráti to Jean Fournet’s much-lauded renderings of French repertoire. Under Edo de Waart, not only did it release its legendary Wagner interpretations, but also the complete orchestral works of Rachmaninov. CDs with work by contemporary composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Klas Torstensson, Jan van Vlijmen and Stravinsky have garnered prizes and much acclaim.

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The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the very best orchestras in the world. Time and time again, critics have lauded its unique sound, which clearly stands out among thousands of others. The RCO’s string section has been called ‘velvety’, the sound of the brass ‘golden’, the timbre of the woodwinds ‘distinctly personal’ and the percussion have an international reputation. While the exceptional acoustics of the Concertgebouw, play an important role in this respect, the influence exerted on the orchestra by its chief conductors, of whom there have been only seven since the orchestra was founded in 1888, is also important. As is that of the musicians themselves.  RCO Amsterdam is made up of 120 players hailing from over 20 countries. Despite its...
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The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the very best orchestras in the world. Time and time again, critics have lauded its unique sound, which clearly stands out among thousands of others. The RCO’s string section has been called ‘velvety’, the sound of the brass ‘golden’, the timbre of the woodwinds ‘distinctly personal’ and the percussion have an international reputation.

While the exceptional acoustics of the Concertgebouw, play an important role in this respect, the influence exerted on the orchestra by its chief conductors, of whom there have been only seven since the orchestra was founded in 1888, is also important. As is that of the musicians themselves. RCO Amsterdam is made up of 120 players hailing from over 20 countries. Despite its size, the orchestra actually functions more like a chamber orchestra.This requires both a high individual calibre and a great sense of mutual trust and confidence. The atmosphere onstage, the orchestra’s roots in Amsterdam and the organisational structure

all converge to create exactly the right circumstances for exceptional music-making. The musicians are allowed to shine, yet still share responsibility for the collective. They also share the aim of achieving and delivering the highest level of quality at every performance, an ambition that goes far beyond simply playing all the notes perfectly. This is how magic is made and a concert becomes a truly unforgettable experience.


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Mario Venzago (conductor)

Composer(s)

Marc van Roon

Marc van Roon (born 1967 in The Hague) is a Dutch jazz pianist. He combines music performance with his work as a creative facilitator for leaders, groups and organizations in change and learning processes applying the art of improvisation as the main source of inspiration. He has composed songs and orchestra pieces for dance companies and various music ensembles and produced several CDs for other artists and his own ensembles. Van Roon has collaborated with Dave Liebman, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano, Billy Hart, Santi Di Briano, Tony Lakatos, Michael Moore, The Netherlands Dans Theatre and Dutch jazz artists Ernst Reijseger, Tony Overwater, Wim Kegel, Jesse van Ruller, Susanne Abbuehl, Fay Claassen, Eric Vloeimans and Tineke Postma. Van Roon began classical...
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Marc van Roon (born 1967 in The Hague) is a Dutch jazz pianist. He combines music performance with his work as a creative facilitator for leaders, groups and organizations in change and learning processes applying the art of improvisation as the main source of inspiration. He has composed songs and orchestra pieces for dance companies and various music ensembles and produced several CDs for other artists and his own ensembles.
Van Roon has collaborated with Dave Liebman, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, Charlie Mariano, Billy Hart, Santi Di Briano, Tony Lakatos, Michael Moore, The Netherlands Dans Theatre and Dutch jazz artists Ernst Reijseger, Tony Overwater, Wim Kegel, Jesse van Ruller, Susanne Abbuehl, Fay Claassen, Eric Vloeimans and Tineke Postma.
Van Roon began classical piano lessons at the age of ten. His interest in jazz and improvisation was sparked at a young age by his father Wouter van Roon, a professional jazz pianist. He studied music privately until the age of sixteen when he enrolled in the music program at the Royal Music Conservatory in The Hague. He studied with pianists Frans Elsen, Rob van Kreeveld, Geoffrey Douglas Madge and Lanny Kho. He graduated in 1991 and left for a post conservatorial study to New York City. There he studied with jazz pianists Barry Harris and Richie Beirach. He returned to the Netherlands in 1993 started his own trio and continued to collaborate with other musicians. At the same time he co-founded the creative artistic consultancy group Art in Rhythm with drummer/percussionist Joshua Samson. Thereafter he started to give lecture based learning experiences for audiences around the world.

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Dean Peer

Dean Peer is internationally recognized for his use of bass harmonics as well his ability to produce a wide variety of sounds, chords of harmonics and the underlying rhythmic pulse while floating melodies on top.  He has recorded with artists like Prairie Prince (The Tubes), Grammy Awarded Paul McCandles & Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Bill Douglas, Ty Burhoe, and many others. Born in Burlington Vermont, raised in Boulder Colorado. Dean resides in Austin Texas, Dean started playing music in High School with friend Bret Mann playing High School dances and private parties. While learning to play he was influenced by the Bass players of the day i.e. Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. In High school he was in All state Orchestra and studied on a...
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Dean Peer is internationally recognized for his use of bass harmonics as well his ability to produce a wide variety of sounds, chords of harmonics and the underlying rhythmic pulse while floating melodies on top. He has recorded with artists like Prairie Prince (The Tubes), Grammy Awarded Paul McCandles & Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Bill Douglas, Ty Burhoe, and many others.

Born in Burlington Vermont, raised in Boulder Colorado. Dean resides in Austin Texas, Dean started playing music in High School with friend Bret Mann playing High School dances and private parties. While learning to play he was influenced by the Bass players of the day i.e. Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. In High school he was in All state Orchestra and studied on a Music scholarship to the University of Northern Colorado and the the University of Colorado at Denver. After grduating in 1982 Dean also studied at the fledgling Naropa University in Boulder Colorado, where great artists and thinkers like Allen Ginsber and Bill Douglas taught, He later went on to record with Bill Douglas on the Hearts of space label, and was featured on the radio program "Music from the hearts of space" by Stephen Hill.
According to Bass player magazine Dean's book Bass Harmonics: new concepts and techniques is "the book on Bass Harmonics".

Dean has four albums with original music:

The latest recording released in 2010, AIRBORNE, is a bass and drum duet featuring Bret Mann on percussion. Avguide.com reviewed AIRBORNE, calling Dean “a remarkable solo artist on his chosen instrument, with a dazzling array of playing techniques at his disposal. . . seemingly limitless chops, and—most importantly—a wealth of inventive musical ideas to express.” AIRBORNE has been on a top 40 radio success in the US and Canada and was nominated for an annual ZMR award for 2010, a must buy in the 2011 Absolute Sound buyers guide and featured in Stereophile magazine multiple times since its release in 2010.

Stereophile Magazine wrote of Peer’s third release,Think… It’s All Good, “On first listen you want more, and the more you turn up the volume, the more there is to hear.”

His 1994 album, Travelogue, was called “one of the best records of the year” by Jazz Times, and features contributions on saxophones by Paul McCandless.
His album UCROSS, released in 1991, was the first completely solo electric bass album in worldwide distribution. It was hailed by Stereophile magazine as an audiophile classic, and Bass Player magazine called UCROSS an extravaganza of ringing notes, chords and clusters, rating the bass performance an “A”.

Lately he's been touring globally with his percussionist Bret Mann and is the midst of a new recording project.


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Maarten Ornstein

Meet Maarten Ornstein. He plays reeds, and is a composer. Of today’s music. This music. In his own words: “This is what I do.” Ornstein is known for his work as an improvisor. After all, lots of roles fit this Dutchman who as a soloist joined forces with Audible Lifestream, SfeQ, The Schönberg Ensemble, The Houdini’s, The Ebony Band, various ensembles led by Tony Overwater, and the Martin Fondse Oktemble. He is also composer and arranger for The New Cool Collective Big Band and some of the aforementioned groups. Previously, he recorded with most of them all and many others. As an instrumentalist Ornstein integrates lyrical fluidity and imagination with maximum control on his reed instruments - mostly clarinet, bass clarinet...
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Meet Maarten Ornstein. He plays reeds, and is a composer.
Of today’s music. This music. In his own words: “This is what I do.” Ornstein is known for his work as an improvisor. After all, lots of roles fit this Dutchman who as a soloist joined forces with Audible Lifestream, SfeQ, The Schönberg Ensemble, The Houdini’s, The Ebony Band, various ensembles led by Tony Overwater, and the Martin Fondse Oktemble. He is also composer and arranger for The New Cool Collective Big Band and some of the aforementioned groups. Previously, he recorded with most of them all and many others. As an instrumentalist Ornstein integrates lyrical fluidity and imagination with maximum control on his reed instruments - mostly clarinet, bass clarinet and tarogato (a sort of wooden soprano saxophone of Romanian and Hungarian origin). Both as a player and composer/ arranger he is in command of his notes, and, while he’s on them, controls your state of mind too. Therefore Turtle Records is very proud to present Ornstein’s first. His first solo recording and his first recorded composed contemporary music that is. “I just wrote down what I like”, he states. Ornstein likes the combined sound of bassoon, various clarinets and the nowadays very rare C melody saxophones, sometimes united with percussion and the human voice. Do not call it classical, neo classical, jazz, worldmusic or worse: modern music. With his W.A.R.P. Ensemble Ornstein plays music that is all written down, yet very alive, and integrates various style elements of the here and now. It’s hip, and it’s serious. It’s of today, and it’s timeless. It challenges the listener, and it is a pure joy to listen to.

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Rob van Bavel

Graduated in 1987 at the Rotterdam Conservatory with the highest possible mark (A with distinction). He won several awards, a.o. the second prize at the first 'Thelonious Monk Jazzpiano Competition' (Washington D.C.), soloist awards in Germany/Belgium, the Wessel Ilcken Award (Holland) and the Dutch Grammy (Edison) for the cd 'Rob van Bavel trio'. He made many cd's as a sideman and as leader: Rob van Bavel Octet and Rob van Bavel Trio. Some cd's released by RVB Productions, a.o. 'Duo Rob van Bavel/Marc van Rooij LIVE'. Nowadays working as a teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts) and the Amsterdam Conservatory (Conservatorium van Amsterdam). Of course also performing (inter-)nationally with several groups, such as The Ghost, The King And I. Van Bavel played...
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Graduated in 1987 at the Rotterdam Conservatory with the highest possible mark (A with distinction). He won several awards, a.o. the second prize at the first "Thelonious Monk Jazzpiano Competition" (Washington D.C.), soloist awards in Germany/Belgium, the Wessel Ilcken Award (Holland) and the Dutch Grammy (Edison) for the cd "Rob van Bavel trio".
He made many cd's as a sideman and as leader: Rob van Bavel Octet and Rob van Bavel Trio. Some cd's released by RVB Productions, a.o. "Duo Rob van Bavel/Marc van Rooij LIVE".
Nowadays working as a teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts) and the Amsterdam Conservatory (Conservatorium van Amsterdam). Of course also performing (inter-)nationally with several groups, such as The Ghost, The King And I. Van Bavel played with Woody Shaw, Randy Brecker, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffin, Bob Mintzer, Wynton Marsalis, Gary Willis a.o.

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Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. Together with Mozart and Haydn, he was part of the First Viennese School.    Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob...
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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include nine symphonies, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. Together with Mozart and Haydn, he was part of the First Viennese School. Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven displayed his musical talents at an early age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven and by composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn, and gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose; many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life.

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Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten is one most important British composers from the second half of the twentieth century. Remarkably, he focused on opera, a dying genre, at least in its current form. Britten's contributions however, among which Peter Grimes, The Rape of Lucretia, Gloriana, The Turn of the Screw, and Death in Venice, managed to remain core repertoire for opera companies to this day. Many of these productions included a role for his artistic partner and life companion Peter Pears. Britten also wrote a number of lieder for this tenor, among which his Serenade for tenor, horn and string orchestra. Yet, Britten excelled in many more genres. He wasn't even 20 years old when he composed his brilliant Phantasy for hobo quartet and his friendship with...
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Benjamin Britten is one most important British composers from the second half of the twentieth century. Remarkably, he focused on opera, a dying genre, at least in its current form. Britten's contributions however, among which Peter Grimes, The Rape of Lucretia, Gloriana, The Turn of the Screw, and Death in Venice, managed to remain core repertoire for opera companies to this day. Many of these productions included a role for his artistic partner and life companion Peter Pears. Britten also wrote a number of lieder for this tenor, among which his Serenade for tenor, horn and string orchestra. Yet, Britten excelled in many more genres. He wasn't even 20 years old when he composed his brilliant Phantasy for hobo quartet and his friendship with the legendary cellist Rostropovich led to a Cello sonata, three Suites for cello solo and a Symphony for Cello and orchestra in the 1960s.

Britten never became Master of the Queen's Music, yet he surely had feeling for public sentiments. For example, as a pacifist, he taught his people about world peace through his War Requiem from 1962. Britten was an excellent interpreter of his own work, just like Bartók and Stravinsky. Many of his recordings have been matched, but never exceeded.


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Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Works such as Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in...
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Robert Schumann was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Works such as Carnaval, Symphonic Studies, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, and the Fantasie in C are among his most famous. His writings about music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.
In 1840, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara, against the wishes of her father, following a long and acrimonious legal battle, which found in favour of Clara and Robert. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert career as a pianist, the earnings from which, before her marriage, formed a substantial part of her father's fortune.
Schumann suffered from a mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833 as a severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating with phases of ‘exaltation’ and increasingly also delusional ideas of being poisoned or threatened with metallic items. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was admitted to a mental asylum, at his own request, in Endenich near Bonn. Diagnosed with "psychotic melancholia", Schumann died two years later in 1856 without having recovered from his mental illness.

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Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer is such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the 'Three Bs' of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.   Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become...
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Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer is such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.
Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.
Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Within his meticulous structures is embedded, however, a highly romantic nature.

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George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer, who is mostly known due to his combinations of classical and popular music genres. George Gershwin grew up in a poor neighbourhood in New York. His parents were Russian immigrants who had trouble making ends meet. They did, however, decide to purchase an old piano so Ira Gershwin could study to become a musician. Yet, it turned out not Ira, but his younger brother George showed remarkable talent. Ira applied himself to writing song lyrics and together the Gershwin brothers became absolute greats in the world of 20th century musicals. Nowadays, George's compositions are still relevant, as is evidenced by the many performances of his Rhapsody in Blue from 1924. But the best example is the ageless Summtertime,...
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George Gershwin was an American composer, who is mostly known due to his combinations of classical and popular music genres.

George Gershwin grew up in a poor neighbourhood in New York. His parents were Russian immigrants who had trouble making ends meet. They did, however, decide to purchase an old piano so Ira Gershwin could study to become a musician. Yet, it turned out not Ira, but his younger brother George showed remarkable talent. Ira applied himself to writing song lyrics and together the Gershwin brothers became absolute greats in the world of 20th century musicals. Nowadays, George's compositions are still relevant, as is evidenced by the many performances of his Rhapsody in Blue from 1924. But the best example is the ageless Summtertime, which has been covered a countless number of times by a countless number of artists.


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Tuur Florizoone

Although in the Low Countries the accordion is often still associated with corniness and banal hi-jinx, in other cultures it has been a fully respected instrument with a great expressive range for many years. Especially in the hands of a composer and improviser with imagination and taste, such as one of Belgium’s most beloved musicians, Tuur Florizoone. This has everything to do with his broad knowledge and interests, his charisma and tangible joy in performing, and his gift for touching the heart of the music as well as that of the listeners. Florizoone (1978) has had classical piano lessons and studied jazz piano and composition at the conservatory. He gained some of his practical experience in Brazil, such as at the...
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Although in the Low Countries the accordion is often still associated with corniness and banal hi-jinx, in other cultures it has been a fully respected instrument with a great expressive range for many years. Especially in the hands of a composer and improviser with imagination and taste, such as one of Belgium’s most beloved musicians, Tuur Florizoone. This has everything to do with his broad knowledge and interests, his charisma and tangible joy in performing, and his gift for touching the heart of the music as well as that of the listeners.
Florizoone (1978) has had classical piano lessons and studied jazz piano and composition at the conservatory. He gained some of his practical experience in Brazil, such as at the workshops of the great percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, and by accompanying circus, dance and theatre shows. He collaborated with heavyweights from the worlds of jazz (Philip Catherine, Garrett List), pop music (Stijn Meuris, Thé Lau), classical music (Claron McFadden, the Brussels Philharmonic) and the folk and world music scene (Luka Bloom, Carlos Nuñes). He demonstrated his mastery of mood and atmosphere, based on simple, directly appealing material, in film soundtracks such as Aanrijding in Moscou – which won him the public prize at the WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARDS 2008 – and L’Amour des Moules. As an improviser, he’s at his best in open situations with a lot of freedom and interaction, like in the group Tricycle, the collective trio Massot/Florizoone/Horbaczewski, and in a duo with diatonic accordionist Didier Laloy.

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Press

"The capability of the human brain remains fantasticly intriguing and it is especially this aspect that I want to convey in all my recordings"
Music Emotion, 02-12-2013

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Videos

Northstar Recording

Often bought together with..

Franz Schubert
Poetisches Tagebuch
Christoph Prégardien / Julius Drake
Quantum Stories
Marc van Roon Trio
Robert Schumann, Wilhelm Kielwasser, Gustav Mahler
Wanderer
Christoph Prégardien / Ensemble Kontraste

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