This was Kyung-Wha Chung's first recording, made when she was 22, just after her sensational London debut in the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the same orchestra and conductor. It is splendid. Only a young, radiantly talented player could make these two tired warhorses sound so fresh and vital; only a consummately masterful one could sail through their daunting technical difficulties with such easy virtuosity and perfection. Her tone is flawlessly beautiful, varied in color and inflection; she puts her technical resources entirely at the service of the music, giving every note meaning and honestly felt expression without exaggeration or sentimentality. The Tchaikovsky has charm, humor, sparkle; the slow movement is dreamy, wistful, and unmuted but subdued and inward. The Sibelius is dark and bleak but full-blooded, passionate, and intense. The orchestra sounds and plays better in the Sibelius.

Arthaus presents the Vienna State Opera’s outstandingly cast new production of Werther on DVD. The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan – the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez, took the title role. Although he had already secured an international reputation through his performances in leading opera houses all over the world, this was his first appearance in the premiere of a production in Vienna. His Charlotte, on this occasion the young Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, joined the Vienna State Opera in 2003.

The ensemble Les Escapades presents seven magnificent sacred concertos in first recordings.
Georg Christoph Strattner (c. 1644-1704) received his first training from his cousin Samuel Capricornus, who took him from Pressburg (Bratislava) to Stuttgart, where he was employed as a chapel boy. Strattner took up his first major post at the age of 21 as Kapellmeister at the court of the Margrave of Baden-Durlach, who was having a new residence built. In 1682 he was appointed to the highly remunerated post of music director in the city of Frankfurt am Main, where he was responsible for church music at the main Protestant church.

Wenn man den Namen Franz Danzi erwähnt, erntet man sogar in kulturell informierten Kreisen wahrscheinlich nur ein gleichgültiges Achselzucken oder verständnislose Blicke. Sogar unter Fagottisten, die eigentlich besonders dankbar für seine reichen Beiträge zu unserem Repertoire sein sollten, trifft man öfter auf ein leicht gelangweiltes Gähnen als auf die enthusiastische Schwärmerei, die Mozart oder Weber hervorrufen würden. Dies war mit Sicherheit zu Danzis Lebzeiten nie der Fall; er wurde von seinen Zeitgenossen einstimmig bewundert und als vollendete und einflussreiche Persönlichkeit der Musik hoch geschätzt.

A precursor in this field as in so many others, Telemann gave the viola its very first masterpieces, immediately establishing it as a solo instrument in its own right. Alongside Sabine Fehlandt and the musicians of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Antoine Tamestit pays splendid tribute to this pioneering music, which blends melodic charm and contrapuntal rigour into an organic whole.

Julius Röntgen was born on 9 May 1855 in Leipzig, the son of Dutch violinist Engelbert Röntgen, leader of the Gewandhausorchester there, and German pianist Pauline Klengel. He started composing at an early age and took the stage with his own works in Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Leipzig as a child prodigy. At the age of fifteen he was introduced to Franz Liszt, who invited him to one of his famous soirees after he played two of his own compositions to him.

Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) stands apart from the legions of Brahms imitators and conservative late Romantics for one thing: melody. It seeps from every theme and cadence. Everything I've heard from his pen is overflowing with inventive tunefulness. It is no wonder he enjoyed a close friendship with another great melodist of his day, Edvard Grieg. Röntgen's enormous output includes 14 cello sonatas, many of which were dedicated to and performed by Pablo Casals.

"Cold Blue Music has an unofficial “stable” of composers and performers names that come up on multiple releases. And why not? Every record label needs an identity. Composer Jim Fox is the man behind Cold Blue Music, and that position serves as a kind of bully pulpit for his own music. Again, why not? I like Cold Blue Music a lot, and one of the things I like about it is its advocacy for the specially priced CD single.