Tag: Romantic

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Leaf Music and Karl Stobbe Present “Ysaÿe, J. S. Bach & Paganini: Works for Solo Violin”

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Canadian violinist Karl Stobbe announce the launch ofYsaÿe, J. S. Bach & Paganini: Works for Solo Violin (LM294), available March 22 in digital format.

This is part of a six-album series of violin repertoire to be released individually over the next few years, based on the repertoire of J.S. Bach. Karl Stobbe traces the important relationship between luthiers, players, and composers through this album, through the compositions of three giants in solo violin playing and composition—Bach, Paganini, and Ysaÿe. Recorded on a violin made in 1806 by the French master Nicolas Lupot, Stobbe interprets Bach’s virtuosic B minor Partita, three of Paganini’s most technically treacherous but musically ingenious Caprices, and Ysaÿe’s fourth Solo Sonata—an homage that melds Paganini’s flair with Bach’s profound counterpoint and complexity.  

As a concertmaster, chamber musician, soloist, and performer, Karl Stobbe (www.karlstobbe.com) is recognized as one of Canada’s most accomplished violinists, known for his dedication to violin excellence. Stobbe completed a Master of Music at Indiana University with a minor in Violin Repair and Construction. His passion for the construction and mechanics of the violin is an integral part of his professional musical life and continues to influence his performances and teaching. Noted for his generous, rich sound and long, poignant phrasing, he is described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “an artist with soulful musicianship,” and by London’s Sunday Times as “a master soloist, recalling the golden age of violin playing… producing a breathtaking range of tone colours.” Karl has performed in many of North America’s most famous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, the National Arts Centre, Roy Thompson Hall, Segerstrom Hall, and the Orpheum Theatre. He plays on a violin made in 1806 by French luthier Nicolas Lupot, and a bow made just a few blocks away in1790 by Francois Xavier Tourte.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distribution Presents Anders Muskens and Beethoven’s “Waldstein & Appassionata” Sonatas Performed on an Original Pianoforte

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of two distribution from early music specialist Anders Muskens. The two recordings are all being released on December 1.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has two new recordings released by Leaf Music Distribution. The first, Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas is performed on an original pianoforte (historical piano) by John Broadwood & Sons, made in London in 1806 and restored by Paul Kobald in Amsterdam in 2022. The recording was made at the Nikomedeskirche, Weilheim (Tübingen), Germany, with assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts. Muskens says: “These wonderful historical instruments, when working, can produce that rawness and vitality that Beethoven must have strove for.” Transporting his listeners to another time and place, Anders strives to provide a “completely new perspective of well-known repertoire.”

Listen to Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/am003.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt, peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell). 

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Leaf Music Distribution and Christine Vanderkooy Present: “Schubert Late Piano Works”

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Pianist Christine Vanderkooy presents a new album, Schubert: Late Piano Works, distributed by Leaf Music Distribution. Recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio during Toronto’s lockdown in December of 2020 on “Bertha” the nine-foot New York Steinway, the recording comprises two works composed by Schubert in the twilight of his life: Sonata in C-minor, D. 958 – the first from his late sonata trilogy – and Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946. While these works were long passed over following their creation in 1828, these deeply human compositions have been establishing their place as inimitable masterworks amongst pianists and audiences alike.

Written just a year following the death of his admired Beethoven, Schubert completed “some of his most sophisticated, poetic, and deeply felt works for the piano…permeating the deepest layers of the soul…moving us, sometimes with the masterful shift of just one note or rest, from the desolate to the sublime,” Christine writes in the liner notes.

Praised for her “sensitive and passionate artistic interpretation,” Christine Vanderkooy has performed as a soloist across Canada, the US and Europe. Her previous recording, Schubert and Schumann, enjoyed critical acclaim including a cover story for Tempo magazine. As well as radio play on CBC Radio and stations across the continent. Christine has been frequently invited to adjudicate festivals and competitions and has twice been invited to judge the Canadian JUNO Awards. Her national reputation as a piano pedagogue has led to workshops and masterclasses across the country.

Christine studied and taught at McGill University where she earned a Doctor of Music in Piano Performance. Her major teachers included David McIntyre, Boyd McDonald, Tom Plaunt, Sara Laimon and Marc Durand. She joined the University of Windsor in 2017 as Associate Professor of Music and Education. 

The recording was made possible by funding from the University of Windsor, including a research start-up grant and the Research Stimulus Fund Grant from the Faculty of Education, as well as an SSHRC Exchange Grant.

Listen to Schubert Late Piano Works wherever you stream your music: http://leaf-music.lnk.to/cv2023

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).