Conrad Ansorge: String Quartets 1 & 2 - Cello Sonata op. 24 Peter Hörr, Oliver Triendl & Orpheus Quartet

• Conrad Ansorge (1862 - 1930): String Quartet No. 1 in A flat major op. 13 “Vigilien”:
• 1 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 1 in A flat major op. 13 “Vigilien”: Andante sostenuto ed espressivo 04:44
• 2 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 1 in A flat major op. 13 “Vigilien”: Allegro non troppo ma energico 03:52
• 3 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 1 in A flat major op. 13 “Vigilien”: Adagio ma non troppo 06:33
• 4 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 1 in A flat major op. 13 “Vigilien”: Moderato maestoso 07:27
• String Quartet No. 2 in A major op. 20:
• 5 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 2 in A major op. 20: Allegretto 05:52
• 6 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 2 in A major op. 20: Non troppo Adagio 07:01
• 7 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 2 in A major op. 20: Innig und zart (Allegretto) 04:47
• 8 Ansorge: String Quartet No. 2 in A major op. 20: Maestoso (Breit, aber nicht schleppend) 07:30
• Cello Sonata in D minor op. 24:
• 9 Ansorge: Cello Sonata in D minor op. 24: Andante quasi Recitativo – Quasi Allegro 11:59
• 10 Ansorge: Cello Sonata in D minor op. 24: Poco Adagio, dolente 05:31
• 11 Ansorge: Cello Sonata in D minor op. 24: Nicht schnell, aber leidenschaftlich (Allegretto non troppo, ma appassionato) 05:57
• Total Runtime 01:11:13

Info for Conrad Ansorge: String Quartets 1 & 2 - Cello Sonata op. 24

Conrad Ansorge is one of those shadowy figures in music history whose name drifts through the biographies of far more famous musicians without ever quite emerging into the spotlight. He appears among the last pupils of Franz Liszt, surfaces as the teacher of Selim Palmgren and Wilhelm Furtwängler, and may even be remembered as the pianist once described as a "metaphysician of the piano." Yet anyone wishing to explore his own music will find remarkably little. At present, only two or three of his works are represented in the catalog, which means that this recording of the two string quartets and the cello sonata effectively doubles the available Ansorge discography. Here we encounter an extraordinary musical rhetorician whose roots lie unmistakably in Beethoven's late quartets. Expansive, emotionally charged recitatives, intricate counterpoint, intimate lyricism, distinctive formal designs, and striking sonorities combine to create an irresistible musical pull—one that invites repeated listening and leaves a lasting impression.

Peter Hörr, cello
Oliver Triendl, piano
Orpheus String Quartet

Peter Hörr
Cellist and Conductor Peter Hoerr is regarded as one of the most versatile and sought-after German artists of his generation. An early interest in ancient music led him to seminal studies with Heinrich Schiff and Christophe Coin at the Basel Music Academy, and he has striven ever since to bring a new, historically informed approach to his interpretation of the classical orchestral repertoire.

Prize winner at the 1989 Scheveningen International Cello Competition, Peter Hoerr has subsequently appeared as cellist at many of the finest venues and festivals around the world, including Lincoln Center, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lucerne Festival, South Bank Centre, Ravinia, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Berlin Philharmonie, Ludwigsburg Festival, Wigmore Hall and Seoul Arts Center.

Peter Hoerr was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Hofkapelle Weimar in 2009. His first recording as soloist/conductor with the Hofkapelle for MDG was a great success, winning an ECHO Klassik Award. Today, the Hofkapelle Weimar is renowned as one of the finest exponents of romantic music on period instruments, and for its unique sound. In the 17/18 season, the Hofkapelle will tour South America (including concerts at the Fundación Beethoven in Santiago de Chile, as well as in Argentina and Brazil), and Japan. The ensemble records exclusively for MDG.

As international guest conductor, Peter Hoerr led the Kobe City Chamber Orchestra on its debut tour of major German halls (including Konzerthaus Berlin and R. Schumann-Saal Düsseldorf) in October 2011. The same year, he made his North American debut conducting at the Woodstock Mozart Festival. Hoerr is also guest conductor of the Berliner Camerata, another young and vibrant orchestra, which tours internationally and runs its own series at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Zürich Tonhalle.

Peter Hoerr is a founding member of the award-winning Mozart Piano Quartet. He also enjoys collaborations with such eminent artists as Menahem Pressler, Jörg Widmann, Isabelle van Keulen, Michael Collins, Lena Neudauer, Erich Höbarth and Florian Uhlig.

Oliver Triendl
One can hardly imagine a more devoted champion of neglected and rarely played composers than pianist Oliver Triendl. His tireless commitment – primarily to romantic and contemporary music – is reflected in more than 100 CD recordings. The scope of his repertoire is surely unique, comprising some 90 piano concertos and hundreds of chamber music pieces. In many cases, he was the first to present these works on stage or to commit them to disc.

As a soloist Triendl has performed together with many renowned orchestras. The list includes the Bamberg and Munich Symphonies, Munich Radio Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radio Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Weimar, German Radio Philharmonic, German State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate, Munich, Southwest German, Stuttgart, Württemberg and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestras, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, Tonkunstler Orchestra Vienna, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Czech State Philharmonic, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Polish Chamber Philharmonic, Georgian Chamber Orchestra, St.Petersburg Camerata, Zagreb Soloists and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

The avid chamber musician has concertized with fellow musicians such as Christian Altenburger, Wolfgang Boettcher, Thomas Brandis, Eduard Brunner, Ana Chumachenko, David Geringas, Clemens Hagen, Frans Helmerson, Hervé Joulain, Isabelle van Keulen, Rainer Kussmaul, François Leleux, Lorin Maazel, Marie Luise Neunecker, Paul Meyer, Sabine and Wolfgang Meyer, Pascal Moraguès, Charles Neidich, Arto Noras, Raphaël Oleg, Gustav Rivinius, Benjamin Schmid, Hagai Shaham, Christian Tetzlaff, Radovan Vlatković, Jan Vogler and Antje Weithaas. He performed with Apollon musagète, Artis, Atrium, Auryn, Carmina, Danel, Gringolts, Keller, Leipzig, Mandelring, Meta4, Minguet, Pražák, Schumann, Sine Nomine, Škampa, Talich and Vogler String Quartets as well as with excellent artists of the younger generation like Nicolas Altstaedt, Claudio Bohórquez, Mirijam Contzen, James Ehnes, Liza Ferschtman, David Grimal, Ilya Gringolts, Alina Ibragimova, Sharon Kam, Henning Kraggerud, Pekka Kuusisto, Johannes Moser, Daniel Müller-Schott, Alina Pogostkina, Christian Poltéra, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Baiba Skride, Valeriy Sokolov, Carolin and Jörg Widmann.

Triendl, a native of Mallersdorf, Bavaria, where he was born in 1970, and a prizewinner at many national and international competitions, studied under Rainer Fuchs, Karl-Heinz Diehl, Eckart Besch, Gerhard Oppitz and Oleg Maisenberg. He has concertized with success at festivals and in many of Europe’s major music centers as well as in North and South America, South Africa, Russia and Asia.

Orpheus String Quartet Since their debut at the Wigmore Hall, London, in 1994 the Dusseldorf-based Orpheus Quartet has been a regular guest to this wonderful chamber music hall, renowned for its uncompromizing standards of performance. The Quartet's concert of 28 May 2000 inspired The Strad magazine to another admiring retrospective, rounding off in the same breath: "One had to marvel at the Orpheus Quartet's sense of timbre, at its unified view of the music and its ability to create both textural variety and impetus."

The Orpheus Quartet spends a lot of time commissioning and playing contemporary music and looks very seriously at all possibilities to broaden the standard repertoire with interesting and forgotten compositions. This has given them an exceptionally wide scope. Not surprisingly. their recordings have been greeted with international acclaim. In January 1993 the Quartet was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque de l'Academie Charles Gros for their interpretation of Malipiero's eight String Quartets, a world premiere recording. The disc of Schubert's Quintet in C major with Pieter Wispelwey, cello, was awarded a Diapason d'Or (1994).

The Orpheus Quartet, a truly international ensemble (French - Dutch - Rumanian), was founded in 1987 by Charles-André Linale (violin), Emilian Piedicuta (violin), Emile Cantor (viola) and Laurentiu Sbarcea (violoncello). Wherever they concertize, audiences and press alike are impressed by the intensity and musical expression of their interpretations. Furthermore, they won in fact every competition they participated in: the Valentino Bucchi International Chamber Music Competition in Rome (1988). the Karl Klingler Competition in Munich (1990) and the first International Chamber Music Competition of Japan, held in Osaka (1993). The result of this were many invitations from all over Europe, The United States and Japan.

After their much praised US debut in 1999, successive tours in april 2000 and november 2001 have been accomplished to great public acclaim. In october 2002 an US tour took place. In the 2000-2001 season the Orpheus Quartet has performed as much as six times in London, four alone in Wigmorehall where they a.o. gave a very successful Schubert-weekend. They made 2 tours with different pianists, one with Homero Francesch (Italy and Germany) and two with their long time friend Menahem Pressler. (Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA and Canada). The Orpheus Quartet gave the opening and closure concertin the Ticino Musica festival (Ascona-Locarno) in summer 2001 and were immediately reinvited for the summer 2002.

Ever since their foundation the Orpheus Quartet has given much of their time to teach and apart from their regular classes in Mainz, Essen, Wuppertal, Aachen and Utrecht, the members of the quartet always give master classes during the Summer in countries such as Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland.

Further informations about each member of the ensemble and current concert-dates can be found at the homepage of the Orpheus Quartet.

Booklet for Conrad Ansorge: String Quartets 1 & 2 - Cello Sonata op. 24