Wolfgang Birtel

The concertos by Oskar Rieding (1840-1918) are among the 'classics' of the teaching literature. In particular, the Concerto in B minor is one of the most frequently played student concertos for violin...

Born in the village of Brand in the Upper Palatinate, Max Reger (1873 1916) was taught by the renowned music theoretician Hugo Riemann. After finishing his studies and working as a freelance performer...

Karol Szymanowski (1882-1932) is regarded as one of the most important Polish composers since Chopin. He received his formative musical training in Warsaw where he lived for many years and was also di...

This edition of the Violin Concerto in A minor is tailored to today's common style of violin playing as well as historically informed performance practice. Two violin parts are arranged, according to...

'Alt Wiener Tanzweisen' [Old Viennesse dance tunes] are pretty miniatures, vibrant and catchy (the second one with a slightly elegiac colouring), but all have melodic charm and musical elegance. And w...

'Alt Wiener Tanzweisen' [Old Viennesse dance tunes] are pretty miniatures, vibrant and catchy (the second one with a slightly elegiac colouring), but all have melodic charm and musical elegance. And w...

'Alt Wiener Tanzweisen' [Old Viennesse dance tunes] are pretty miniatures, vibrant and catchy (the second one with a slightly elegiac colouring), but all have melodic charm and musical elegance. And w...

Originally composed for piano solo, Rubinstein's 'Melody' Op. 3/1 is the best-known work written by the Russian composer. Thanks to the simple, yet tender melody and its expressive harmony, the name o...

A 'Last Night of the Proms' without this march - unthinkable! 'Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1' with its middle section, the hymn-like 'Land of Hope and Glory' by Edward Elgar (1857-1934),...

The 19th century was not only the era of great forms, monumental symphonies and melodious sonatas, no, the Romantic composers proved to be versatile and highly imaginative on the field of little music...

A wedding without a famous wedding march - unimaginable! Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus' from 'Lohengrin' and Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' from the incidental music of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' vie for th...

The music world became aware of Erik Satie (1866-1925) with a bang: when his ballet 'Parade' was premiered on May 18, 1817, it caused a scandal. The production, which also involved Sergei Djagilew wit...

Gabriel Fauré was one of the most important French composers at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century: he won the hearts of the public especially with songs and piano music. In the 187...

Wer kennt es nicht, das Lied 'Guantanamera'? Auf eine Melodie des kubanischen Musikstils Guajira und einen Text des dortigen Nationalhelden José Martí zurückgehend, wurde sie von José Fernández Díaz i...

Wer kennt es nicht, das Lied 'Guantanamera'? Auf eine Melodie des kubanischen Musikstils Guajira und einen Text des dortigen Nationalhelden José Martí zurückgehend, wurde sie von José Fernández Díaz i...

Peter Ludwig ist als Pianist, Komponist, Arrangeur und Kabarettist ein bayrisches Multitalent. Er schreibt Filmmusik, Chansons, Kammermusik, Klaviermusik und vor allem: wunderschöne, inspirierte Tango...

La Cumparsita possibly is the best-known tango in the world.This arrangement for string quartet is sure to be the highlight of an entertaining evening or as an easy but thrilling concert encore.

The tremolo study 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra' composed in 1896 is, without doubt, the most famous piece by the Spanish composer and guitarist Francisco Tárrega, bringing back memories of the fortified...

Overcoming the boundaries between 'serious' and entertaining music was what mattered to the musician Eduard Pütz (1911-2000). His compositions therefore include stylistic features of jazz and pop musi...

There is hardly a violinist who has not dealt with some or even all 42 'Kreutzer etudes' sometime or other: Études ou caprices form part of the standard repertoire. Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831) has n...

Camillo Sivori galt zu seiner Zeit als Wunderkind. Er begann das Geigenspiel bereits im Alter von 2 Jahren. Später wurde er der einzige Schüler von Niccolò Paganini. Seine 12 Etude-Caprices für Violin...

The studies by Charles Dancla (1817-1907) are more than mere technical exercises. They demand a special sense of tone, an elegant, softly flowing and swinging way of playing. They challenge the violin...

Who would have thought that the ragtime was to undergo such a renaissance! But more than 50 years after the death of its main representative Scott Joplin the film 'The Sting' made this once popular mu...