Ulfert Smidt - Prelude Aria Et Final / Vingt-Quatre Pieces Pour - SUPER-AUDIO CD [Super Audio CD (SACD)]

Australia seems to have produced more than it's fair share of pianists in the early days of recording, with Percy Grainger, William Murdoch and Eileen Joyce all being mainstays of the 78rpm catalogue. To their ranks we should add Una Bourne, signed to the most prestigious tag of all - HMV, and a stalwart of the acoustic period of recording. Bourne had early success as a prodigy and travelled to Europe to study, but it was being asked to tour with Nellie Melba which established her career. Later, as well as playing as a soloist she played and recorded much chamber music. She excelled in what we might now call 'salon music' and character pieces, as can be seem from her recorded repertoire. Both Grieg and Chaminade were specialties. She favored fast tempos and played with brilliance and charm in repertoire, much of which has now been neglected. In 1939 Bourne abandoned her international career and retired to teach in Australia. She has been all but forgotten and this is the first time almost any of her recordings have been reissued. They give a fascinating snapshot of musical taste and playing in the early 20th century, a time when classical music and popular were much closer bedfellows.

Lueders - Et Apres Cesar Franck [SUPER-AUDIO CD] Hybrid SACD date 05/01/2014

A double stroke of luck the Sauer organ in the InchGlockeInch concert hall in Bremen has survived almost unchanged since 1928, despite all attempts to adapt the instrument to contemporary taste and fashion. The original pitch of 435 Hz has also been preserved - actually too low for ensemble playing today. However, the Franz Kuhn Trombone Quartet led by the enterprising Juan Gonzáles Martínez can fall back on an original trombone set from the 1920s. With this and together with organist Lea Suter, the four gentlemen bring remarkable literature from the heyday of virtuoso trombone playing to life in an authentic way. A wonderful addition to the first organ recital on the previous album. For a long time, cantabile playing in particular was denied the trombone. It was the then acclaimed virtuoso Paul Weschke who was the first professor in Germany to revolutionize trombone playing. Weschke added instructions for innovative playing techniques to his numerous transcriptions; thus legato became possible without producing a glissando - an indispensable prerequisite for vocal playing. Together with the romantic trombone instrument developed by Franz Kuhn, Weschke's pioneering playing techniques produce an immensely colorful sound that harmonizes most advantageously with the warmth of the Sauer organ in Bremen's InchGlockeInch. This can be experienced excellently in the arrangements from Rossini to Reger, which were found in Weschke's extensive archive and are performed by Martínez and Suter with style and admirable esprit. The trombone quartets by Arno Hansen and August Hänsel are an ideal complement to the virtuoso program, allowing us to immerse ourselves in a world of sound long thought to be past. In the carefully balanced and spatially impressive recording, it can be grasped with the ears - just like the dimensions of this special organ in one of the most beautiful concert