Edition Klavierfestival Ruhr Vol. 41 by Various Artists

Robert Schumann, York Höller

Various Artists

Edition Klavierfestival Ruhr Vol. 41

Price: € 22.95
Format: CD
Label: CAvi
UPC: 4260085535194
Catnr: AVI 8553519
Release date: 20 January 2023
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Label
CAvi

UPC
4260085535194

Catalogue number
AVI 8553519

Release date
20 January 2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

ROBERT SCHUMANN PUR

YÖRK HÖLLER – World Premiere

This year, once again, we invited a series of young talented pianists to perform their debut at the Ruhr Piano Festival. Two of them, Elena Fischer-Dieskau and Giorgi Gigashvili, are featured on the first CD of the current Vol. 41 boxed set, and they both centered their recital programmes around the great Romantic composer Robert Schumann. Our first CD thus consists of “pure Schumann.”

I was particularly thrilled that this year we were able to ensure the world premiere performance of the great York Höller’s Double Concerto for Cello, Piano and Orchestra, a work commissioned by the Ruhr Piano Festival.

Pianist Martin Helmchen and cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker set out with the Double Concerto on a highly successful maiden voyage at the Stadthalle Mühlheim with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Poppen.

That major musical event was supplemented two days later with a portrait recital by Hanni Liang, featuring piano works by York Höller from three decades of his oeuvre. Thus, our second CD offers you a fascinating overview of the output of this particularly appealing composer.

As always, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all participating artists for having agreed to participate in.
(Excerpt from the Forword of the Booklet by Franz Xaver Ohnesorg)

ROBERT SCHUMANN PUR

YÖRK HÖLLER - Uraufführung

Auch in diesem Jahr luden wir eine Reihe junger Pianisten zu ihrem Debüt beim Klavier-Festival Ruhr ein. Zwei unserer Debütanten, Elena Fischer-Dieskau und Giorgi Gigashvili, können Sie auf der ersten CD unserer CD-Box Vol. 41 kennenlernen. Beide stellten den großen romantischen Komponisten Robert Schumann in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Programme, und so erleben Sie auf der ersten CD „Schumann pur“.

Ganz besonders habe ich mich gefreut, dass wir 2022 die Uraufführung des von uns in Auftrag gegebenen Doppelkonzertes für Violoncello, Klavier und Orchester des großen York Höller realisieren konnten. Martin Helmchen und die Cellistin Marie-Elisabeth Hecker hoben dieses Werk mit dem Kölner Kammerorchester unter Christoph Poppen in der Stadthalle Mülheim überaus erfolgreich aus der Taufe.

Ergänzt wurde dieses Ereignis nur zwei Tage später durch ein Porträtkonzert, bei dem Hanni Liang Klavierwerke York Höllers aus drei Jahrzehnten vorstellte. Auf der zweiten CD können Sie somit einen hochinteressanten Einblick in das Schaffen dieses faszinierenden Komponisten gewinnen.

(Auszug aus dem Vorwort zum Booklet von Indendant Franz Xaver Ohnesorg)

Artist(s)

Marie-Elisabeth Hecker

Marie-Elisabeth Hecker attended the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau before the distinguished German cellist Peter Bruns became her principal teacher. She continued her studies with Heinrich Schiff and subsequently took part in masterclasses with eminent figures such as Anner Bylsma, Bernard Greenhouse, Frans Helmerson, Gary Hoffman, and Steven Isserlis. In 2001, she won the Special Prize at the Dotzauer Competition for Young Cellists in Dresden, as well as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Prize in 2009.
She made her international breakthrough with her sensational success at the 8th Rostropovich Competition in Paris in 2005, where she became the first contestant in the event's history to win first prize as well as two special prizes. She has been a guest with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonie, the Filarmonica della Scala (Milan), the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Frankfurt HR Radio Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra in Saint Petersburg, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National de France, the Berlin Staatskapelle, and the Wiener Symphoniker – under the baton of eminent conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, Marek Janowski, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagano, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Thielemann, and Christoph von Dohnányi. Especially with her husband, the pianist Martin Helmchen, she appears in recitals all over the world. She also regularly performs chamber music concerts in various formations with Veronika Eberle, Christian Tetzlaff, Stephen Waarts, Carolin Widmann, and the Apollon Musagète Quartet.
Marie-Elisabeth Hecker was appointed a professor at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden in August 2017. In cooperation with Music Road Rwanda, she regularly travels to Rwanda in order to support a local music school with concerts and educational projects. Marie-Elisabeth Hecker is supported by the Kronberg Academy. 2022 was the year of her début performance at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Martin Helmchen (piano)

Born in 1982 in Berlin, Martin Helmchen began his conservatory studies in the class of Galina Iwanzowa at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin; he pursued his studies under the guidance of Arie Vardi at Hanover University of Music, Theater and Media. Alfred Brendel and William Grant Naboré have also been his mentors. His career took off when he won the Clara Haskil Competition in 2001.
Since 2010, Helmchen has been Associate Professor for chamber music at the renowned Kronberg Academy. In 2020, his complete recording of the Beethoven piano concertos on the Alpha Classics label with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester conducted by Andrew Manze won the prestigious Gramophone Music Award. As a soloist, Martin Helmchen has concertized with a number of well-known orchestras including the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Wiener Symphoniker, Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Helmchen collaborates on a regular basis with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Manfred Honeck, Bernhard Haitink, Jakub Hr °uˇsa, Klaus Mäkelä, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Andrew Manze, Kazuki Yamada, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sakari Oramo, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Michael Sanderling, and David Zinman.
His passion for chamber music was kindled to a great extent by his early collaborations with cellist Boris Pergamenschikow. Helmchen now performs regularly with his wife Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, with Frank Peter Zimmermann, Julian Prégardien, Antje Weithaas, and Carolin Widmann. The year 2022 marked his 6th performance at the Ruhr Piano F estival.

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Hanni Liang (piano)

Born in Bielefeld in 1993, Hanni Liang received her first piano lessons at the age of eight. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in music and an additional degree in media management at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, there under the significant influence of Bernd Goetzke. She then pursued her studies with Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre. She has received scholarships from the German National Academic Foundation, the Carl Bechstein Foundation, and the Gesellschaft Westfälische Kulturarbeit.
Her 2018 début at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie was followed by a number of acclaimed national and international performances at Ludwigsburg Castle Concerts, at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, and at the Würzburg Mozart Festival, apart from appearing in Saint Petersburg and Beijing. She has received decisive musical influence from Maria João Pires. All these artistic experiences and encounters, along with her long-standing collaboration with composer Manfred Trojahn (leading to several world premieres) have reinforced her vision of seeking to encourage a more harmonious co-existence among human beings of all backgrounds through music.
Thus, apart from her solo appearances, Hanni Liang curates a number of artistic social projects that function on a participative basis and focus on a subject of social interest. This has led to collaborations with “Fridays for Future,” with sociologist Harald Welzer, and with concert poet Timo Brunke; furthermore, she has felt inspired to team up with TONALi, the Hamburg art project, to ensure the formation of the TONALiSTEN collective. In 2022, Hanni Liang presented a project for the fourth time at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Elena Fischer-Dieskau (piano)

Elena Fischer-Dieskau started playing the piano when she was six years old. She studied in the class of Vladimir Krainev at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, as well as at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore with legendary pianist and teacher Leon Fleisher, under whose supervision she obtained her Graduate Performance Diploma.
With a French mother, Elena partly grew up in France, where she attended the Paris Conservatoire as a child. There she met Russian pianist Rena Shereshevskaya, who became her mentor. During her studies she was supported by the German Foundation “PE Forderungen”, as well as by the Leon Fleisher Fund in Baltimore. During her undergraduate studies, Elena Fischer-Dieskau was chosen to play the role of a pianist on the big screen in the French drama film Tout est pardonné (“All is Forgiven”) by Mia Hansen Løve, performing music by Schumann and Beethoven on screen.
Elena Fischer-Dieskau appears worldwide in major classical music venues and festivals. Thus, she has already been invited to perform at Edinburgh Festival and at the Festival International de Colmar (France), at Perth Concert Hall, at the Cidade das Artes as well as the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, for the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society, at the Lisztomanias Festival in Chateauroux, and at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris. 2022 marked her début appearance at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Giorgi Gigashvili (piano)

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2000, Giorgi Gigashvili took his first piano lessons without ever thinking about becoming a professional pianist. Instead, his passion was singing and arranging Georgian folk tunes and pop songs. He did however continue his formal musical training at the Paliashvili Central Music School for Gifted Children and at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, under the guidance of Revaz Tavadze.
His pianistic career’s turning point came about in April 2019 when he won the 1st Prize at the Vigo International Piano Competition, where Martha Argerich chaired the jury with Nelson Freire at her side. Some months later Gigashvili also won the Third Prize and the Audience Prize at the 62nd Busoni International Piano Competition. The year 2021 brought further stimulus, confirming his vocation as a Classical pianist: the Hortense Anda-Bührle Advancement Prize at the 15th Géza Anda Competition in Zurich, which brought him an invitation to perform at the KlavierOlymp in the German town of Bad Kissingen, where Gigashvili went on to win 1st Prize and the Audience Prize.
That same year he relocated in Geneva, where he entered the piano class of Nelson Goerner. Gigashvili is supported by Martha Argerich for his studies in Geneva, by the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation, and by the Géza Anda Foundation. 2022 was the year he first performed at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Kölner Kammerorchester

In 2023, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra – the oldest chamber music orchestra in Germany – will be celebrating its 100th anniversary; it was founded in 1923 with the idea of achieving interpretations appropriate to each work. During its earliest years it performed under the baton of Hermann Abendroth. In 1963, Erich Kraack turned the leadership of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra over to Helmut Müller- Brühl. In the autumn of 1964, Müller-Brühl took the Orchestra and pianist Wilhelm Kempff on a muchacclaimed tour of Switzerland, marking the beginning of the Orchestra’s collaboration with many renowned soloists. Helmut Müller-Brühl opened up a new venue for the musicians – as a resident orchestra, they performed opera and concerts at the Brühl Palace Concerts, an institution he directed artistically for more than three...

In 2023, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra – the oldest chamber music orchestra in Germany – will be celebrating its 100th anniversary; it was founded in 1923 with the idea of achieving interpretations appropriate to each work. During its earliest years it performed under the baton of Hermann Abendroth.
In 1963, Erich Kraack turned the leadership of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra over to Helmut Müller- Brühl. In the autumn of 1964, Müller-Brühl took the Orchestra and pianist Wilhelm Kempff on a muchacclaimed tour of Switzerland, marking the beginning of the Orchestra’s collaboration with many renowned soloists.
Helmut Müller-Brühl opened up a new venue for the musicians – as a resident orchestra, they performed opera and concerts at the Brühl Palace Concerts, an institution he directed artistically for more than three decades. Ever since 1988, the Kölner Kammerorchester has been presenting its own concert series, “Das Meisterwerk”, at the Cologne Philharmonie. The orchestra performed for the 17th time at the Ruhr Piano F estival in 2022.

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Christoph Poppen (conductor)

Over the years, Christoph Poppen has held a number of significant Directorships in Germany. From 1995 to 2006, he was Artistic Director of the Münchener Kammerorchester. In August 2006, he was appointed Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, and from 2007 until 2011 he was the Music Director of the newly formed Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern: thus, following the fusion of those two orchestras, he ensured that they grew to form a homogeneous artistic unit. In the 2022/23 season, Christoph Poppen continues his highly successful collaborations with the Kölner Kammerorchester in his role as Principal Conductor and as Principal Guest Conductor of both Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Israel Chamber Orchestra, respectively. He has been invited to perform as Guest Conductor with distinguished orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Detroit and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Camerata Salzburg.
Christoph Poppen has been Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, and later at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he was President from 1996 through 2000. From 2001 to 2005, Christoph Poppen was Artistic Director of the renowned ARD International Music Competition.
Since 2003, he has held a post as professor for Violin and Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. In 2019, he founded the International Academy for Music, Arts and Science in the Portuguese town of Marvão, where he had previously founded the Festival Internacional de Música, now a highly successful and award-winning annual musical event. Between 2020 and 2022 he was also Artistic Director of the Classic Revolution Festival in Seoul. Starting with the 2021/22 academic year, he has been appointed Chair Professor of Violin at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. The year 2022 marked the third occasion upon which he conducted the Kölner Kammerorchester at the Ruhr Piano Festival.

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Composer(s)

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 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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York Höller

York Höller was born 1944 in Leverkusen. He studied composition (with Zimmermann and Eimert), piano (Alfons Kontarsky) and orchestral conducting in Cologne, as well as musicology and philosophy. He also owes important impul- ses to the Darmstadt Summer Courses, particularly Boulez’s analysis seminars. In 1971 Stockhausen invited him to the Electronic Studio of the West German Radio (WDR). During the following years, Höller attained international renown with compositions that melted instrumental- vocal and computer-generated sounds. From the mid 1960s, he worked at IRCAM, and it was also in Paris that his opera The Master and Margarita (after Bulgakov) was premiered in 1989. From 1991 to 1999 he was artistic director of the new WDR Studio for Electronic Music. He was appointed Professor of Composition at the “Hanns Eisler” College in Berlin, as well as at the Cologne College of Music. Höller has received numerous international commissions, scholarships (Cité des Arts, Villa Massimo), and awards (Bernd Alois Zimmermann Prize of the City of Cologne, Promotion Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Prize of the International Composers’ Forum of the UNESCO, Rolf Liebermann Prize for Opera Composers, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition), and has been invited to give lectures and courses in Europe and America. In 1986 he was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. He is a member of the Academies of the Arts in Berlin and Hamburg. In his compositions, Höller explores serial, aleatoric and stochastic methods, and takes up impulses from philosophy and information science. His concept of “Gestalt composition”, which also owes to Asian or medieval music, serves as the basis of a highly personal musical language that combines subjective impulse and rational control, construction and sensuousness of sound.

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