​Here you can read the complete review:

Das Klavierduo Takahashi / Lehmann überzeugt auf dieser CD nicht nur mit seinem Spiel, sondern überrascht mit einem sehr anspruchsvollen Programm, das Transkriptionen bietet, welche die Komponisten selbst von ihren Werken angefertigt haben. Das Duo verzichtet hier auf jegliche salonhafte Musik und meidet auch die ausgetrampelten Pfade, die man mit Schuberts f-Moll-Fantasie oder Brahms "Ungarischen Tänzen" so gern zu beschreiten pflegt. Es scheint fast, dass die Interpreten sich bewusst vom herkömmlichen Repertoire abgewendet haben, um dem Duo-Musizieren eine intellektuelle Strenge und musikalische Würde zu geben.

Die ausgewählten Werke jedenfalls sind zentrale Epochenmusik: Beethovens "Große Fuge" op. 134 ist nicht nur ein komplexes Opus aus des Komponisten Spätwerk, sondern beschwört den polyphonen Geist Bachs herauf, Schumanns zweite Sinfonie verweist in ihrer romantischen Hochblüte wiederum auf Beethoven, und Schönbergs Kammersinfonie op. 9 bezieht sich gleichermaßen auf die von Beethoven und Schumann geschaffenen Kompositionsprinzipien und öffnet den Weg in die Moderne.

Diese Dichte und gegenseitige Bezugnahme in der Programmauswahl korrespondiert eindringlich mit dem hervorragend aufeinander abgestimmten Spiel des 2009 gegründeten Duos. Norie Takahashi und Björn Lehmann, beide Schüler von Klaus Hellwig in Berlin, durchdringen die unterschiedlichen Sphären mit geistiger wie manueller Intensität, und es gelingt ihnen, den jeweiligen Werkcharakter von Beethovens Sprödigkeit über Schumanns Enthusiasmus bis Schönbergs experimenteller Wucht unter dem Mikroskop der Klavierfassungen klar hervortreten zu lassen.

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​In May audite releases the follow-up album of the PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann with works and transcriptions  for piano duo. For a preview watch the video with impressions and interviews from the recording session.

​The PianoDuo Takahashi|Lehmann combines intellectual programming with passionate expressivity. Original and adaptation - the lines are blurred: in his Concerto for Two Pianos, Stravinsky has the performers appear both as virtuoso soloists and representatives of an imagined orchestra. The composer's arrangement of Le Sacre for four hands is a masterpiece in its own right. Herrmann's Hausmusik turns the relationship between original and arrangement completely upside down, whilst the music which drove Nancarrow to compose for player pianos has been retranslated for four hands by Mikhashoff.

​After 16 years of collaboration which has been fulfilling both artistically and personally, viola player Roland Glassl has decided to shift his focus to other areas of his musical life from the start of the 2015/16 season. As a new partner the quartet has found Andreas Willwohl who possesses all necessary qualities to continue the collaboration in a positive manner and, at the same time, will enrich the quartet with fresh input.
 
Andreas Willwohl was principal viola with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2012, and in 2011 was appointed professor at the Nuremberg Musikhochschule. Born in Erfurt, he studied in Weimar and Berlin with Alfred Lipka. He received important musical stimulus from Christoph Poppen and Kim Kashkashian and, as a member of the Faust Quartet, further support from Eberhard Feltz, the Amadeus Quartet, the Alban Berg Quartet and the La Salle Quartet. He has won prizes at numerous national and international competitions including the Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition in Weimar, the Charles Hennen Competition in Heerlen (Netherlands) and the Concours International de Bordeaux. Andreas Willwohl brings with him 14 years' experience of quartet playing as well as an extensive knowledge of the repertoire.
 
The Mandelring Quartet looks forward to the coming years with the prospect of exciting projects such as the CD recording of the string quintets and sextets of Johannes Brahms, in which both viola players will be taking part. The two will also be heard together in the context of a Mendelssohn Cycle in the Radialsystem, Berlin, on 13 and 14 November, in a concert that includes the composer's string quintets. Highlights in the diary for the near future include the HAMBACHERMusikFEST, the quartet's festival in Neustadt/Weinstrasse from 3 to 7 June, and appearances at the Festival du Luberon (France) on 16 and 18 August.

​Read the full length review here:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Vol. IV. Quartett F-Dur op. 18/1, Quartett cis-Moll op. 131; Quartetto di Cremona; 1 SACD Audite, 92683, 03/2014 (67'45)
Rezension von Guy Engels

Der mögliche Einbruch bleibt aus. Das 'Quartetto di Cremona' hat den langen Atem, weicht nicht von seiner kompromisslosen, aufwühlenden, packenden Lektüre der Beethoven-Quartette ab. Diesmal haben die vier Musiker das frühe F-Dur-Quartett und das späte cis-Moll-Quartett miteinander konfrontiert. Die zeitliche, vor allem aber die künstlerische Distanz zwischen Opus 18 und Opus 131 ist nicht zu überhören. Dennoch bleibt ihnen eines gemein: die Beethovensche Unrast, die fiebrige Romantik, die emotionale Unwucht. In Opus 18 mag das wohl noch etwas klassisch ummantelt sein. Vor allem der lyrische 2. Satz enthält manche Reminiszenzen an Haydn. Aber auch da setzt das 'Quartetto di Cremona' immer wieder Ausrufezeichen, bricht aus dem wiegenden, wohlgeformten Duktus aus - wie ein Ausbruch aus einem wohlbehüteten Leben, ein Aufbruch zu neuen Ufern. Das Spiel der Cremoneser bleibt immer griffig, zupackend - auch im leichtfüßig und transparent vorgetragenen Schlussallegro.

Opus 131 unterscheidet sich vom Frühwerk schon allein durch die reifere Anlage, durch Beethovens tiefes Durchdringen musikalischer Gedanken, mit denen die Interpreten vollauf im Einklang sind. Dem brillanten Klang im Andante stellen sie in den schnellen Ecksätzen ein vulkanisches Aufbäumen entgegen, ein emotionales Beben, bei dem sich die tiefen Streicher im 7. Satz an einem seelischen Abgrund bewegen. Dem Sog dieser Interpretationen kann man sich kaum entziehen.

Restlessness, feverish romanticism and emotional force characterize the Beethoven performances by Quartetto di Cremona. The four Italians are deeply penetrating the composer's musical thoughts and several times kind of an emotional quake brings the music into ebullition.

​​The video gives impressions of the recording session with Martin Neu (organ) and the ensemble officium (chorals) for Tientos y Glosas. The production presents Iberian Organ and Choral Music from the Siglo de oro, the Spanish Golden Age. Recorded at the organ of San Hipólito Church in Córdoba the works are played on an organ that comes as close as possible to the sound aesthetics of the period during which they were composed.

The Golden Age (Siglo de oro) of Spain began during the rule of Emperor Charles V (1516-1556). Spain's political and economic power also led to an artistic and cultural heyday. The most important musicians of this period included Francisco Correa de Arauxo and Manuel Rodrigues Coelho. During this period, the most important genre in keyboard music was the Tiento. Originally an imitative form, it became a symbol of baroque freedom in the hands of Correa de Arauxo, thanks to his creativity in the use of harmony, rhythm and the art of ornamentation. The art of diminution of a work (Glosas) - the dissolution of the composition in smaller note values - is impressively shown by Correa, too.

The organ of San Hipólito Church in Córdoba was built by Joseph Corchado in 1735. Over the course of the centuries, the organ was subjected to various alterations, but no fundamental changes were made in its structure and disposition. In 2006 the entire instrument was subjected to a complete restoration. The main concern of this careful restoration was to preserve the character and aesthetic of this unique instrument and to restore its originally tuning and temperament. The works recorded here are thus played on an organ that comes as close as possible to the sound aesthetics of the period during which they were composed. The alternating choral singing is interwoven with the sound of the organ, revealing aspects of the vocal writing style of the epoch.  

Release date of the production (Germany) is July 3rd 2015.

​The quarterly and annual awards of the German Record Critics' Award (PdSK) are sought-after prices in the German music scene. The winners of the quarterly awards are included in the Quarterly Critics' Choice ("Bestenliste") of the German Record Critics' Award. The lists recommend new releases which merit special attention for the quality of interpretation and for their value to the repertoire. These lists provide a candid picture of new releases which, in the jury's opinion, are of outstanding importance when judged on purely artistic and audiophile grounds.

​Read the newspaper review from the Lippische Landeszeitung here: