This première recording of three orchestral works and one concert piece by Eduard Franck, written during the 1840s, continues the revival of this unjustly neglected composer.

In the history not only of the piano trio but also of Russian chamber music in general, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio Op. 50 forms a monumental milestone in two movements. This masterpiece of 1882 is dedicated to the memory of his friend Nikolai Rubinstein, the founder of the Moscow Conservatory.

In this SACD William Thomas Best (1826-1897), with his arrangements of selected organ works and the Chaconne for Solo Violin by Bach, makes his appearance as a dramatic director: his stage directions in matters of choice of tempo, articulation, registration, selection of manuals and, where appropriate, the use of the swell pedal, enable the great free-standing organ works to appear as dramatic scenas or ballads, while the smaller-scale works and chorale preludes come across as poetry. Carsten Wiebusch dramatises Bach on the new Klais organ in the Christuskirche, Karlsruhe, in a way that is both poetic and powerful.

The recordings of the Bach cantatas presented in this boxed set formed part of a project initiated by the conductor Karl Ristenpart at the RIAS Berlin in 1947. Although he was not able to record the complete cantatas as planned, the existing recordings nonetheless document a Bach ideal which was pioneering in its day: small-scale choral and orchestral forces and a selection of soloists who all went on to become renowned Bach singers, the professionalisation of interpretation in the choir, and a fine balance between rhetorical succinctness and expressive performance.

“Whatever I sing, I have to believe in it.” (Barry McDaniel)The American baritone Barry McDaniel was one of the outstanding singers of the post-war era. As a successful opera singer and Lieder interpreter, he enjoyed a long and eventful career, both in Germany and abroad. Despite numerous...

In the past year audite has, once again, successfully managed to realise its concept of offering both archive and new recordings of the highest quality. Outstanding releases included the first two volumes of our Grieg series with the WDR Sinfonieorchester under the baton of Eivind Aadland, the five...

This recording of works by German, French and British composers, spanning two centuries, demonstrates the manifold abilities of the clarinet and piano as a recital duo. This is the first in a series of recordings that present repertoire for this esteemed instrumental partnership.

The audite series of chamber music for string instruments by Eduard Franck continues with his two String Quintets Op. 15 and Op. 51 which, once again, demonstrate his originality and noblesse as a composer.

Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel embark upon a challenging programme: two masterworks of twentieth century chamber music by Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich whose characteristics could not be more disparate.

With the great demand for the LP version of our internationally successful Furtwängler 12-CD boxed set, audite now presents a selection of recordings in LP format for audiophile vinyl enthusiasts. Containing compositions by Beethoven, Bruckner, Schubert, Brahms and Wagner, the LP boxed set (comprising 14 LPs on 180g vinyl) presents the principal works of the CD boxed set.

This CD boxed set, containing both live and studio recordings, documents the artistic cooperation between Otto Klemperer and the RIAS-Symphony-Orchestra (later known as the Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Berlin) from 1950 until 1958. These recordings illuminate Klemperer’s late performing style, his repertoire and his interpretational ideals. He explored the repertoire of the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries by creating three-dimensional sound, concise rhythms, clearly contoured forms and precise characterisations. Based on the two principal modernist styles in which he specialised, his artistic credo could be termed “objective expressionism”. For this edition, the original tapes from the RIAS archives were made available for the first time, ensuring the best possible technical quality.

Christian Ferras was one of the prominent representatives of the Franco-Belgian violin school. This studio recording was made in 1951 on the occasion of his sensational début with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karl Böhm with Beethoven’s violin concerto. Ferras was also a leading interpreter of Alban Berg’s violin concerto, as is impressively demonstrated by this emotionally charged live recording with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin.

The South German Organ Tradition was a considerable influence on Bach’s œuvre. This recording portrays representative works of the South German composers Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Caspar Kerll, Georg Muffat and Johann Pachelbel alongside compositions of Bach, thus outlining these interrelations. In addition, this SACD realises the historical performance practice of the Magnificat: works by Pachelbel and Bach are newly combined in a traditional performance of the Magnificat including sung and played verses, forming one musical unity.

Two principal works of Schubert’s piano music, two solutions for the great form. They appear as contrary poles: energetic, resolute and boastful in the case of the Wanderer Fantasy whereas the final piano sonata is restrained, elusive and at times faltering. The common elements are in the slow movements. No other Romantic addressed so radically what is brought into focus here: the notion of time. In the Wanderer Fantasy it is reflected as rhythm, as “measured time”. The sonata questions the course of time itself, the elementary medium of life in music. In her interpretation, Hideyo Harada elucidates the contrasts as well as the common undercurrent which forms a link between the works.

Leo Blech was considered one of the greatest conductors of his time before he was forced in 1937 by the Nazis to emigrate, due to his Jewish faith. His artistic partnership with Julian von Károlyi, one of the leading pianists of his generation, is documented on this CD in a live recording from 1950. Both artists, outstanding interpreters of the twentieth century, are unjustly neglected today.

Anton Bruckner’s Third Symphony - the first fully valid example of his extraordinary symphonic idea: a combination of resplendent sounds and church service, as well as demonic romanticism and the comforting belief in heaven.

Edvard Grieg integrated his native dance rhythms as well as the Norwegian language into his music to such an extent that it became a symbol of longing for political independence from Sweden – notably in his songs, the most popular of which have been recorded here by the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln in Grieg’s own arrangement for string orchestra. These are complemented by Grieg’s suite in the “old style”, From Holberg’s Time, a homage to the great poet of the baroque, Ludvig Holberg.

This selection of French music for horn and piano from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reveals the increasing variety in sound which the horn was able to produce thanks to the invention of valves.

Edvard Grieg was the voice of Norway in the nineteenth century, ringing out across the whole of Europe. His Symphonic Dances Op. 64 use authentic melodies and rhythms from the Norwegian mountains, whilst Grieg’s incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt is characterised by more diverse writing. From the world-famous string line in Morning Mood to the wild chase in the Hall of the Mountain King, Grieg demonstrates every facet of his orchestral skills.

Composed in 1847, Robert Schumann’s Piano Trios Op. 63 and Op. 80 are consummate examples of the genre. The Swiss Piano Trio proves that these are unjustly neglected masterpieces of nineteenth century chamber music.

Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996) directed the Berlin Philharmonic for seven years after the war as vicegerent for Furt­wängler who had been banned from conducting. This period is documented by live and studio recordings of the RIAS Berlin. For this edition the original tapes from the RIAS archives...

This re-release presents toccatas written in the “stylus phantasticus” alongside variations on songs. These works by Bruhns, Buxtehude, Bach, Böhm and Sweelinck, covering one and a half centuries, offer a fascinating insight into the North German baroque organ tradition. The carefully chosen...

Following the successful release of the complete Shostakovich String Quartets in single volumes, audite now presents the boxed set of all five discs in CD-format.

Fritz Wunderlich sings Stravinsky – a rare combination! Not only is the combination of singer and work an unusual one, but the work itself also is – and has always been – a rarely performed part of Stravinsky’s œuvre.The part of Eumolpius – Greek for “he who sings beautifully” – in...

This anthology of Ferenc Fricsay’s splendid Bartók recordings for the RIAS Berlin documents a summit meeting of famous Hungarian soloists: the pianists Géza Anda, Andor Foldes, Louis Kentner and the violinist Tibor Varga. Fricsay’s time-tested and congenial vocal soloist, once again, is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios of 1839 and 1845 are, along with the piano trios of Beethoven and Schubert, pinnacles of the genre in the nineteenth century.

“Blowing one’s own trumpet” Looking at the choice of artists and marketing strategies of some former major labels, one could be under the impression that promotion has become more important than the real music business: art. But if blowing your own trumpet also means drawing attention to...

Erica Morini was one of the great violinists of the twentieth century. One of her bravura pieces was the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto which can be heard here as an exciting live recording made in 1952 with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra Berlin and Ferenc Fricsay. Morini was a versatile musician, mastering both virtuoso pieces and baroque sonatas, as can be heard on the extraordinary RIAS recordings with Michael Raucheisen.

The string quartets by Leoš Janáček are documents of his creative independence and his love. Originally, Janáček composed the viola part of the second string quartet for viola d’amore. For practical reasons, however, he had to adapt the work for conventional viola. For this recording, Gunter Teuffel and the Mandelring Quartet have reconstructed the original version, offering the second string quartet in both versions, for viola and viola d’amore.

The complete RIAS recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Knappertsbusch between 1950 and 1952 represent a living document of musical history. For the first time, the original recording tapes from the RIAS archives have been made available, which means that these CDs offer the highest possible technical quality. They include a variety of symphonic works and “light music”, two core themes in Hans Knappertsbusch‘s repertoire.

The 1956 RIAS recordings of Solomon, made shortly before the tragic end of his career, are benchmark interpretations even today thanks to their sonorous lucidity and structural transparency.

Trombone and organ through the centuries: 400 years of stylistic variety from baroque to modern times.

Even in the twilight of her illustrious career, which lasted over three decades, Kirsten Flagstad was still in command of her incomparably rich voice.

This live recording of a concert given by Backhaus during the last year of his life in Berlin features four great Beethoven piano sonatas and demonstrates the merits of his clear and – in the most positive sense of the word – classicist interpretational approach.

Robert Schumann composed, almost in a frenzy, his two works for strings and piano during the “chamber music year” of 1842. The quintet Op. 44 and the quartet Op. 47, high lights of nineteenth century chamber music, are works of exuberant energy and romantic internalisation. The piano part which Schumann intended for his newly wedded wife, Clara, is played by Claire-Marie Le Guay on this recording with the Mandelring Quartett.

Two months before his death in 1828, Franz Schubert wrote three final piano sonatas which form the high point of his piano oeuvre. Above all, the A major Sonata, D 959 is characteristic of Schubert’s highly individual handling of sonata form. Figured themes, episodic extensions, but also rhythmic...

As part of this [four-part] edition of previously unreleased radio recordings from across Fischer-Dieskau’s entire career, these interpretations of Beethoven, Mahler and Schumann demonstrate his unrivalled synthesis of intelligence and expression.

As part of this [four-part] edition of previously unreleased radio recordings from across Fischer-Dieskau’s entire career, these interpretations of songs with piano accompaniment by Hindemith, and sacred songs with organ accompaniment by Reger and Sutermeister provide valuable insights into the range of his repertoire.

As part of this [four-part] edition of previously unreleased radio recordings from across Fischer-Dieskau’s entire career, this concert recording made in Berlin in 1971 of songs by Mahler displays the singer’s sensitivity and precision in his congenial artistic partnership with Daniel Barenboim.

As part of this [four-part] edition of previously unreleased radio recordings from across Fischer-Dieskau’s entire career, this concert recording – made in Berlin in 1972 with Tamás Vásáry as his partner at the piano – demonstrates the significance attributed to Brahms’ songs within Fischer-Dieskau’s musical cosmos.