Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 33 by Benjamin Moser etc.

Various composers

Benjamin Moser etc.

Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr Vol. 33

Price: € 44.95
Format: CD
Label: CAvi
UPC: 4260085534395
Catnr: AVI 8553439
Release date: 06 March 2015
Buy

CD (3 items) ✓ in stock	€ 44.95	Buy

Label
CAvi

UPC
4260085534395

Catalogue number
AVI 8553439

Release date
06 March 2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

For left hand only
In 2014 the world commemorated the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the cataclysmic First World War. The Ruhr Piano Festival thus chose to devote one of its annual focuses to a subject which might be considered adventurous, even for our standards: piano repertoire for the left hand alone. Thousands and thousands of wounded soldiers lost their limbs during the fighting in World War I: among the amputees were musicians such as pianist Paul Wittgenstein. After his release from imprisonment, Wittgenstein commissioned some of the most outstanding composers of his generation to write works for the left hand alone. As a tribute to that legacy, our boxed set of CDs for the year 2014 is largely devoted to left-hand repertoire. On CD 1 you can hear two young pianists who are well known to our Festival audience: Benjamin Moser and Joseph Moog. Each gave his début performance at the Festival some years back, and each of them has left a “musical calling card” in at least one of our previous Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr boxed CD sets. Now we can hear Benjamin Moser performing left-hand works by Alexander Scriabin, Leopold Godowsky and Marc-André Hamelin. For his part, Joseph Moog interprets left-hand piano arrangements made by Paul Wittgenstein himself – of works by Grieg, Schubert and Mendelssohn. Furthermore, you can tell that these two young musicians are part of an exciting new generation of performers: each one has enriched the Festival programme with his own original composition for the left hand: Benjamin Moser propo
ses his arrangement of Brahms’ “Lullaby”, and Joseph Moog weighs in with a “Tribute to Art Tatum”. Last not least, you can hear the 2013 laureate of the Ruhr Piano Festival Prize, Marc-André Hamelin, performing four of Godowsky’s Chopin studies. On CD 2 we present a chamber music work featuring piano left hand. Paul Wittgenstein issued a commission to write such a work to Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The pianist on our recording, Herbert Schuch, has often been invited to perform at the Ruhr Piano Festival. In 2014, along with his chamber music partners Mirijam Contzen, Giovanni Guzzo and Beate Altenburg, he gave an excellent rendition of
Korngold’s Suite op. 23, which is otherwise seldom heard. Each year, the Ruhr Piano Festival organizes lectures and commented recitals, in order to provide audiences with useful and interesting knowledge about featured works and our chosen annual focus themes. .... This time, Mr Levin naturally devotes his lecture to the subject of our annual focus: left-hand piano repertoire. This year, for the first time, we devote CD 3 – our “bonus CD” – to a JazzLine concert. Here, once more, you can relive highlights from the performance of Jacky Terrasson and the Cologne WDR Big Band conducted by Michael Abene when they appeared at Heinrichshütte
Industrial Museum in Hattingen in June 2014.

Artist(s)

Herbert Schuch

Pianist Herbert Schuch has gained a reputation as one of the most interesting musicians of his generation with his strikingly conceived concert programmes and CD recordings.
He has worked with a number of renowned orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Bamberg Symphony, the Dresden Philharmonic and the radio orchestras of hr, MDR, WDR, NDR Hannover und Danish Radio, as well as with the Camerata Salzburg and the Festival Strings Lucerne, with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Valery Gergiev, Jakub Hru° ša, Jun Märkl, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jonathan Nott, Markus Poschner, Michael Sanderling, and Mario Venzago.
Herbert Schuch was born in Timi¸soara, Romania, in 1979. He had his first piano lessons in his native city with Prof. Maria Bodo, before his family moved to Germany in 1988, where he has lived since.
He continued his musical studies with Kurt Hantsch and then with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Recently, Herbert Schuch has been especially influenced by his encounters and work with Alfred Brendel.
As a child, Herbert Schuch also played violin for 10 years and has been an enthusiastic chamber musician ever since, sharing the stage with musicians of the likes of Nicolas Altstaedt, Vilde Frang, Julia Fischer, Maximilian Hornung, Sebastian Manz, and Daniel Müller-Schott.
He also forms a successful piano duo with Gülru Ensari: together, they have recorded three releases for the CAvi-music label, featuring a wide range of repertoire from different periods.
In addition to his performance activities, Herbert Schuch is also involved in the organization Rhapsody in School, founded by Lars Vogt, which promotes classical music education in schools.

less

Joseph Moog

Born in 1987 in Ludwigshafen, Joseph Moog started sitting down regularly at the piano when he was four. At the age of ten he was accepted as a young student at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, before going on to study in Würzburg and Hannover. Moog has a fine sense for combining repertoire. He places well-loved pieces alongside rare niche findings, searching for new insight and thereby throwing a different light on familiar music – for instance, when he places shining gems of the Late Baroque period such as Domenico Scarlatti’s brief sonatas alongside piano transcriptions and arrangements from the 19th century, or when, instead of pairing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Schumann Concerto, he chooses to feature Moritz Moszkowski instead: a true discovery. Moog has twice won the International Classical Music Award (ICMA); in 2009 he was selected as a Young Steinway Artist. He has garnered further international prizes such as the 2015 Gramophone Classical Music Award as Young Artist of the Year, followed by a 2016 Grammy nomination. Moog is featured in several instances on CDs of the Edition Ruhr Piano Festival: for instance, on Vol. 35 with Max Reger’s Telemann Variations. Volume 32 includes an entire CD performed by Moog, with works by Liszt, Debussy, and others. He guested at the Ruhr Piano Festival for the 5th time in 2017.

less

Marc-André Hamelin

Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin is hailed by critics worldwide as a unique performer, combining refined musicianship and technical aplomb in one artistic personality. For many years he has been forging through piano territory that was previously almost unknown, performing and recording the music of Ives, Kapustin, Grainger, Roslavets, Godowsky, Reger, Villa-Lobos, Szymanowski and Shechedrin. Recently he has been also recording well-known masterpieces by Haydn, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Chopin. His own impressive solo piano compositions provide further evidence of his outstanding technical abilities, his knowledge of musical styles and his readiness to tread new paths. Hamelin has appeared with many of the world’s most renowned orchestras. He records exclusively for Hyperion, which has released more than 50 of his albums. Hamelin has been nominated nine times for the Grammy Award, and has received a number of further international prizes. In 2013 Marc-André Hamelin was awarded the annual Prize of the Ruhr Piano Festival, where he performed for the first time in 1997.HERBERT SCHUCHBorn in 1979 in the Romanian town of Temesvar (Timisoara), Herbert Schuch emigrated with his family in 1988 to Germany, where he has lived ever since. He was trained by great professors such as the late Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at Salzburg Mozarteum, and Alfred Brendel is one of his mentors. The international music scene opened its doors to him when he won three important competitions within the space of one year (including the Vienna International Beethoven Competition) in 2005. Schuch was thus invited to perform at Salzburg Festival, then at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2006. Apart from having appeared with conductors of the likes of Pierre Boulez, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jonathan Nott, Schuch has recorded seven CDs to date for the OehmsClassics label. Moreover, recordings of his performances at the Ruhr Piano Festival can be found in Vols. 14 and 18 of the Edition Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Herbert Schuch volunteers for “Rhapsody in School”, an organisation founded by Lars Vogt with the goal of kindling greater interest among schoolchildren for classical music. 2014 marked the seventh time Schuch was invited to perform at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

less

Robert Levin

Robert Levin studied with Stefan Wolpe in New York and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Upon graduation he was invited by Rudolf Serkin to head the theory department of the Curtis Institute of Music; Levin was also Resident Director of the Conservatoire Américain in Fontainebleau from 1979 to 1986 before taking up a professorship in the piano department of Freiburg Musikhochschule. He is President of the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, and currently Dwight P. Robinson, Jr. Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. As a result of intense study of the original sources, Levin has published scholarly and musically well-informed completions of a number of works left unfinished by Mozart: for instance, the Requiem and the Mass in C Minor. He has performed worldwide and has made a number of recordings, including complete cycles of the Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos. Robert Levin is one of those rare double musical talents who are truly capable of combining theory and practice. More than just a piano-playing musicologist or a theorizing instrumentalist, Levin invariably merges virtuoso aplomb with well-informed scholarship in performances that captivate audiences far and wide. That has also clearly been the case in the great number of concerts, recitals and lectures Levin has given at the Ruhr Piano Festival ever since his first appearance here in 2006.

less

Mirijam Contzen

Mirijam Contzen’s talent was discovered by Tibor Varga, the legendary Hungarian violinist, who taught her from the age of seven. When she was sixteen she won the International Tibor Varga Violin Competition; then, in 2001, she was singled out by the prestigious German ECHO Klassik Prize as Best Young Artist of the Year. Contzen has made solo appearances with orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the BBC and Helsinki Philharmonics, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music plays an essential role in Mirijam Contzen’s musical activities. She co-founded the Serafino Quartet and has performed in a variety of ensembles in the company of Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Natalia Gutman, Clemens Hagen, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Stephen Kovacevich,...

less

Benjamin Moser

Pianist Benjamin Moser gave his début performance at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 2011, and is now performing here for the sixth time in 2018. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich under the guidance of Michael Schäfer, and at Berlin University of the Arts with Klaus Hellwig. Benjamin Moser attracted international attention in June 2007 as a prizewinner in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where he was awarded the prize for the best interpretation of Tchaikovsky, as well as the Audience Prize. In January of that year he also won First Prize in the International Young Concert Artists Audition in New York, which gave rise to a number of recital performances in Paris, Washington...

less

Giovanni Guzzo

Born in Venezuela to parents of Italian and Venezuelan heritage, young violinist Giovanni Guzzo is rapidly rising as one of the leading performers of his generation. He continues to captivate audiences around the world with his unique and passionate approach to his performances. Following his solo debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, critics described him as a wonderfully “magnetic” and “commanding” performer. Having started his musical studies with the piano at the age of five, and violin at the age of six under the tutelage of Emil Friedman and Luis Miguel Gonzales in Venezuela, he became the youngest violinist to win 1st prize at the XII National Violin Competition “Juan Bautista Plaza”, at only 12 years of age. Following this success, he relocated to Europe to become a protégé of the renowned French virtuoso violinist Maurice Hasson at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he was granted a scholarship at the early age of 16 and from where he graduated with the highest honours. A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Giovanni has worked closely with some of today’s leading musicians such as Maxim Vengerov, Martha Argerich, Joshua Bell, Martin Fröst, Daniel Hope, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gábor Takács- Nagy, the Maggini and Takacs quartets, Gerhard Schulz, Mats Lidström, to name but a few. His talent has been recognised with numerous awards including Her Majesty the Queen’s commendation for Excellence, Gold medal at the Marlow Music Festival 2006, HRH Princess Alice’s Prize, the PROMIS award given by the London.

less

Beate Altenburg

Born in 1975 in Cologne, Beate Altenburg studied cello with Irene Güdel in Detmold and with Christoph Richter at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. After her concert diploma she went on to perfect her abilities under the tutelage of Colin Carr in London at the Royal Academy of Music, where she obtained her Masters degree with honours. Altenburg has actively participated in masterclasses imparted by Steven Isserlis and other great cellists, and she has collaborated with composers such as Peteris Vasks and Peter Maxwell Davies. In 1998 she won the nation-wide Conservatory Competition at Folkwang University, and in 1999 she was a laureate of the International André Navarra Cello Competition in Toulouse. At the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy...

less

Jacky Terrasson

Jacques-Laurent Terrasson was born in 1965 in Berlin of an American mother and a French father. The family moved to Paris, where Jacky took classical piano lessons from the age of five. In his mother’s LP collection he discovered Billie Holiday and Miles Davis albums when he was twelve, and before long he was trying his hand at jazz, guided by recordings of Bud Powell, Bill Evans and Thelonius Monk. After studying classical piano in school, he went to Boston and enrolled at the renowned Berklee College of Music to specialize in jazz. After his diploma he stayed on in the US, jamming in clubs in New York City. In 1993 he won the renowned Thelonius Monk Competition; one year later, he landed a contract with the prestigious Blue Note label, for which he recorded a total of ten albums, including three with his trio. Terrasson has been on the roster of prizewinning productions featuring Michael Brecker, Cassandra Wilson and Stefon Harris, and he has collaborated on further recording projects with Charles Aznavour, Dianne Reeves and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Jacky Terrasson performed for the first time at the Ruhr Piano Festival in 1999.

less

WDR Big Band Köln

As an ensemble pertaining to the WDR radio and television broadcasting entity, the Cologne WDR Big Band fulfils a mission as regional cultural ambassador – specifically in order to bring jazz music and similar styles closer to audiences all across North-Rhine Westphalia. The orchestra’s profile foresees the elaboration of variegated programmes featuring the widest possible spectrum of styles. With its international roster of members, this orchestra is also firmly rooted in European tradition, particularly in European jazz. Each member is a consummate soloist with an unmistakable timbre, thereby creating an orchestral sound with brilliant projection in the concert hall. In collaboration with internationally renowned guest conductors, composers, arrangers and soloists, the WDR Big Band puts together an annual series of concert projects covering a wide spectrum. Live performances take place not only within the WDR broadcasting territory, but also in the rest of Germany and abroad, thus increasing the big band’s outreach and notoriety. The WDR Big Band’s programme covers the entire jazz spectrum, including all styles of music related to jazz, from tradition to the avant-garde.

less

Micheal Abene (conductor)

Michael Abene is a renowned pianist, composer and arranger. He has been the Chefdirigent (chief composer and arranger) of the WDR Big Band since 2003. Abene’s arrangements are performed by big bands and orchestras worldwide. His career takes him regularly across the globe, delighting audiences in concert performances; he has made arrangements for artists such as Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Patti Austin, Mike Stern, Gary Burton, Dave Liebman, saxophonist Bill Evans, Kurt Elling, Eddie Daniels and Tom Harrell. After having taught for several years at the Manhattan School of Music, Michael Abene now holds the Chair of Jazz Ensemble Conductor at the KUG Jazz Institute in Graz, Austria.

less