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Organ Triptychon

'Throughout the program, she demonstrates a technique abounding in virtuosic flair, enabling her to achieve eminently musical performances that enjoy a fine balance between rhythmic control and freedom. Here are superb playing, three excellent instruments, and rewarding music, familiar and new, proving that organ culture is alive and well in Finland.' - The American Organist, Nov 2009 Organ works by three composers and three different kinds of organ form an entirety: the CD "Organ Triptychon". All three composers have a great interest in the organ and a close collaboration with organists in common. Alexander Winterberger (1834 - 1914) and Franz Liszt (1811-1886) have worked together on many organ compositions of Liszt. Prelude and fugue on B-A-C-H is dedicated to Mr. Winterberger, who premiered it in 1856. The relationship between Max Reger (1873-1916) and Karl Straube (1873-1950) was many-faceted but also very successful. Straube premiered numerous organ works of Reger including Fantasy and fugue on B-A-C-H op. 46, which was composed at the turn of the century. The collaboration between Susanne Kujala and her composer husband Veli Kujala has lead until now to four new organ compositions. This CD includes the first two compositions, Azul and Triptychos, which were both composed and premiered in 2004. The organs on this CD have one thing in common: they are all located in the capital of Finland and are part of the astoundingly versatile organ landscape of Helsinki. The Walcker organ of St. John's was built in 1891 and has been remodified radically many times over the course of time. In 2005 the organ was restored to reproduce it's original sound. Helsinki Cathedral has behind the historical case an interesting organ from 1960s. The aesthetics of the sound reflect the Scandinavian organ reform movement of that time. The organ of Kallio church from 1995 is built in the style of the most successful organ builder of French romantic period, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (1811-1899). Veli Kujala's Azul is possible to play on many different kinds of organ, even baroque temperaments of organs do not prevent performing it. From countless possible organs suitable for Azul the composer chose the organ of Kallio. As a special feature in this CD are organ transcriptions of two piano works by Franz Liszt. Angelus! Prière aux anges gardiens (Angelus! Prayer to the Guardian angels) is the opening piece of Années de pèlerinage: troisième année (Years of Pilgrimage: third year). It was transcribed for organ by Karl Straube. The organ transcription of Liszt's concert etude Gnomenreigen (Dance of the Gnomes) is meant to be a virtuosic encore for the program of "Organ Triptychon". The program in this CD also generally reflects the philosophy of German-born interpreter. Susanne Kujala has contemporary music much at heart, particularly new music of her adopted country Finland. However, she does not want to see contemporary music separated into it's own circles apart from everyday concert life. She rather integrates it into each of her concert programs. Susanne Kujala (b. 1976 in Berlin) studied organ at the Sibelius-Academy (Helsinki, Finland) with Markku Hietaharju and gained her Master of Music -degree in May 2006 with highest honors. Her debut concert on the organ of the Finlandia-Hall in Helsinki in February 2007 got extraordinarily positive reception in the Finnish media. Susanne Kujala has received one-year-grant from DAAD in 1999-2000 and grant from the Wihuri Foundation in 2003. She has attended master classes of Bine Bryndorf, Francesco di Lernia, Olli Porthan and Ludger Lohmann. Kujala has received many prizes in national and international competitions. One of her most important activities is the collaboration with composers and she has commissioned and premiered many works by Kalevi Aho, Friedrich Goldmann, Sampo Haapamäki, Osmo Honkanen, Sami Klemola, Veli Kujala, Ere Lievonen, Uljas Pulkkis, Vesa Valkama and Helmut Zapf. She has played recitals in Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and in the USA. Currently she is attaining her artistic Doctor of Music degree in the Sibelius-Academy on the theme "Collaboration between composer and organist".

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Années de Pèlerinage I

Michael Korstick (Pno)

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Liszt: Annees de Pelerinage I-Suisse

In 1835, the Countess Marie d'Agout and her lover, the young Franz Liszt, stole away from Paris separately, rendezvoused in Basel, and for the next four years traveled together throughout Italy and Switzerland. The Countess had left behind a husband and children and the relationship between her and Liszt was considered quite scandalous. While d'Agout would recount much of their time together in her memoirs, Liszt captured the scenic and romantic journey through a number of compositions first published under the title Album d'un Voyageur in 1842, then later revised and published under the title Années de pèlerinage (the Years of Pilgrimage) in 1855. Liszt and d'Agout had settled in Geneva, where they had three children together, including Cosima, the future wife of Richard Wagner. The first of three volumes, Annees de Pelerinage-Suisse is a collection of nine works depicting Swiss scenes. One can imagine the final ordering of these works to be descriptive of their tumultuous physical, and emotional journey, from it's epic introduction in the almost operatic "prelude" of the first work, to the tender, transcendental tolling of Geneva's church bells in the final piece (which was initially dedicated to their new born daughter, Blandine). Liszt prefaces many of these works with literary quotations, and the first published edition included drawings by Kretschmer of the scenes depicted by each piece. Chapelle de Guillaume Tell (the Chapel of William Tell), is a grand reference to the national hero of Switzerland. It bears the motto "One for All, All for one." Au lac de Wallenstadt (By the lake of Wallenstadt) is a gentle, pastoral, portrayal of one of Switzerland's large, mountain valley lakes. Marie d'Agoult recounted their visit, writing in her memoirs: "Franz wrote there for me a melancholy harmony, imitative of the sigh of the waves and the cadence of oars, which I have never been able to hear without weeping." Liszt prefaced the work with a quotation from Byron's Childe Harold: ...thy contrasted lake, With the wild world I dwell in, is a thing Which warns me, with it's stillness, to forsake Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring. Pastorale is a depiction of a village festival, with shepherd songs and dancing rhythms. Au bord d'un source (By the side of a spring) may not refer to a specific place, but it is a vibrant depiction of a babbling brook. The quote from Schiller reads: In murmuring coolness begins the play of young Nature. Orage! May, perhaps, be considered another of Liszt's "water" pieces, if one wishes to include the violent torrents of an Alpine storm. From Byron: But where of ye, O tempsts! Is the goal? Are ye like those within the human breast? Or do ye find, at length, like eagles, some high nest? Vallée d'Obermann (The Valley of Obermann) Considerably longer than any other work in the set, this piece evokes turmoil and despair that, ultimately, provides a poignancy to the works which follow. A lengthy quotation from Senancour's melancholy novel prefaces this work, part of which reads: Vast consciousness of Nature everywhere overwhelming and impenetrable, universal passion, indifference, advanced wisdom, voluptuous abandon, all the desires and all the profound torments that a human heart can hold, I have felt them all, suffered them all on that memorable night. I have made a sinister step towards the age of enfeeblement, I have eaten up ten years of my life. Eglogue is a work that feels fresh and inspired after the wrenching emotions of Vallee d'Obermann. It is a pastoral work that charmingly depicts dawn as described in Childe Harold: The morn is up again, the dewy morn With breath all incense and with cheek all bloom, Laughing the cloud away with cheerful scorn And living as if earth contain'd no tomb! Le mal du pays provides a needed pivot, as if the charm and ease of Eglogue could not be sustained. Utilizing Alpine shepherd's songs, Le mal du pays is an atmospheric work full of nostalgia, homesickness and melancholy. Les Cloches de Genève (The Bells of Geneva) is a tender Nocturne, dedicated to the daughter of d'Agout and Liszt who was born in that city. With it's gentle beginning, this work provides a feeling of contentment and joy that has been evasive throughout the set. It is easy to imagine that Liszt must have felt a sense of belonging in Geneva, where he and d'Agout were to make their home for several years. Quoting again from Childe Harold: I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me.

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Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage - Troisième Année

In making this CD album of "Années de Pèlerinage." I was hoping to complete the three-part series by featuring three talented young Japanese artists in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of F. Listz's birth. The First Year was played by Reiko Kuwahara, and the Second Year is currently being recorded with a young male artist. As for the Third Year, since people who will pick up this CD may know more about it, I will not dare to explain about the music, but I believe that this piece, which was published as one of F. Listz's later compositions, expresses parts related to "unavoidable" events in life to everyone such as birth, fate, destiny, respect, and death through the instinct of a musician. This is a familiar but very significant and difficult theme. The problem is: Whom should I choose as a player for this difficult theme? This was my major concern. I believed that the best person might be a player who can tell people how to be a human through music. The player who immediately came to my mind was Eriko Ogura. To tell the truth, I have a special story about her and this CD that I wanted to tell everyone someday. The audio source for the audition that she used when she applied for my firm (which was the recording from her concert held just before her application) was not necessarily suitable for an audition. However, strangely enough, the audio didn't immediately make me feel like failing her. This should apply to everything, but when a person tries to achieve something, the result can be often vary by such conditions as the physical condition and mood. The audio source that happened to be delivered to me was affected by a certain condition, which I came to know about later, but a creation fostered through a long period of experience, which will never disappoint expectations. I had no reason to pass her, but at the same time, I had no reason to fail her, either. In the end, I hired her because I had no reason to fail her, but came to learn that she was a truly talented player when she played before my eyes. She happened to be a player who was honest about an aspect of music as a human creation. In 2012, after having been active in both Japan and Europe, she will move to France again to set the basis of her playing. I am proud of myself as a producer for recording her performance of this piece, which is coincidentally nicknamed "France," at the climax of her first active period in Japan. Listening to her audio source from that time again, I can't help feeling a quirk of fate that linked her to this CD. The sound made me look forward to recording her performance during her next temporary return to Japan. Toshiyuki Suzuki. (DPIC Entertainment. General Producer)

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Price: 31.54 EUR excl. shipping

Années de Pelerinage, 3 Audio-CDs

Liszts umfangreichste Sammlung Années de Pèlerinage hat ihn sein ganzes Leben lang begleitet, ausgehend von dem Verhältnis mit der Gräfin Marie d'Agoult bis ins hohe Alter. Er hat diese Stücke, die sich anfangs direkt auf sein Liebesabenteuer bezogen, später immer wieder umgearbeitet. Man kann mit Recht sagen, dass er mit diesen Werken eine persönliche Bilanz zieht. Nur selten wird die Sammlung komplett aufgenommen, noch seltener samt dem Anhang aus den 1860er Jahren, Veneziae Napoli.

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Price: 29.14 EUR excl. shipping

Werke für Klavier

Diese Sammlung (1997-2000) enthält die wichtigsten Einspielungen von Alfredo Perl mit Klavierwerken von Liszt: Die "Études d'exécution transcendante", Highlights der "Années de pèlerinage" (darunter die drei Petrarca-Sonette), die Klaviersonate in h-Moll, die Ballade Nr.2 in h-Moll, den Mephisto-Walzer und zahlreiche andere Werke. Besondere Highlights sind die Einspielungen der beiden Klavierkonzerte mit dem BBC Symphony Orchester unter Yakov Kreizberg.

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Price: 22.87 EUR excl. shipping