Horn Trios Felix Klieser, Herbert Schuch & Andrej Bielow

• Frédéric Nicolas Duvernoy (1765 - 1838):
• 1 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano No. 1 in C Minor: I. Adagio - Cantabile 03:30
• 2 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano No. 1 in C Minor: II. Allegretto 03:43
• 3 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano No. 2 in F Major: I. Adagio - Larghetto - Maestoso - Allegro 03:11
• 4 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano No. 2 in F Major: II. Moderato 03:50
• 5 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano No. 2 in F Major: III. Adagio - Allegro 04:04
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897):
• 6 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano in E-Flat Major, Op. 40: I. Andante 07:39
• 7 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano in E-Flat Major, Op. 40: II. Scherzo. Allegro 07:06
• 8 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano in E-Flat Major, Op. 40: III. Adagio Mesto 06:43
• 9 Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano in E-Flat Major, Op. 40: IV. Finale. Allegro con Brio 06:14
• Charles Koechlin (1867 - 1950):
• 10 Quatre petites pièces, Op. 32: I. Andante 02:57
• 11 Quatre petites pièces, Op. 32: II. Très Modéré 02:06
• 12 Quatre petites pièces, Op. 32: III. Allegretto quasi Andantino 02:13
• 13 Quatre petites pièces, Op. 32: IV. Scherzando 01:03
• Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951):
• 14 Serenade, Op. 73: Andante Sostenuto 10:42
• Total Runtime 01:05:01

Info for Horn Trios

Felix Klieser first began to take a serious interest in the "Horn Trio" of Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) at the age of thirteen. Back then he was just a junior student at the College of Music and Drama in Hanover. He bought several different recordings of the work, including one featuring the hornist Peter Damm, whom he was later to meet at a master class in Dresden.

"I picked up quickly that Felix was extraordinarily talented. He was able to elicit from the horn a soft, warm sound, a distinctly Romantic horn tone," says the former horn-player of the Dresden Staatskapelle in high praise of Klieser in the booklet text to the young musician’s new album entitled "Horn Trios", released on the Berlin Classics label on September 29, 2017.

"The Brahms Trio is the pride of the horn literature," according to Peter Damm, a view he shares with Felix Klieser. That led him to seek out other such works, perhaps even unknown literature from the horn trio genre. He came across the French composer Frédéric Nicolas Duvernoy (1765–1838), who was hornist at the Paris Opera, Fauré pupil Charles Koechlin (1867–1950) and the Mannheim-born Robert Kahn (1865–1951) who was hounded by the Nazis. The result is a programme of works spanning nearly 100 years of development of the horn trio, which bring Felix Klieser a further step towards his goal: to place the horn centre stage as a colourful and profoundly Romantic instrument. "I am pleased to take you on a new journey through the world of the horn," he begins his personal foreword to the album booklet.

Such a plan requires the right chamber music partners, whom Felix Klieser has happily found: at the piano sits the outstanding and sensitive Herbert Schuch, while the violin is played by the Ukrainian ARD competition winner Andrej Bielow.

"It was a wonderful experience for us to learn these pieces, some of them quite new to us, thereby expanding the scope of the chamber music genre in an exciting way," enthuses Felix Klieser. The three musicians have known each other for years. Before playing together in a range of different formations, Felix Klieser even took courses as a young student with his two colleagues, 10 and 12 years his senior.

"Horn Trios" is Felix Klieser’s third recording. His debut album "Reveries" (2013) featuring Romantic music for horn and piano earned him an ECHO Klassik award as "Newcomer of the Year". In 2015, he released the CD "Horn Concertos" with works by Joseph Haydn and his younger brother Michael and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, recorded with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn under Ruben Gazarian. That same year, he received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

His book entitled "Fussnoten – Ein Hornist ohne Arme erobert die Welt" (“footnotes – a horn-player without arms conquers the world”, 2014, published by Patmos) has since been translated into Japanese and Chinese, to accompany his tours to those countries.

This new recording confirms to all those who recognised his talent at a young age and encouraged him and believed in him, that Felix Klieser is an exceptional artist. The young student has now risen to be a master of his instrument.

Felix Klieser, horn
Andrej Bielow, violin
Herbert Schuch, piano

Felix Klieser
is an exceptional artist in several aspects. At the age of 4 he expressed the wish to play the horn. At the age of 17, Felix Klieser enrolled in Prof. Markus Maskuniitty’s class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. In 2013 Felix Klieser presented his debut album “Reveries” which was released by Berlin Classics. The recording demonstrates Felix Klieser’s incredible musicality as well as his brilliant technique and command of his instrument. In 2014 Felix Klieser received the ECHO Klassik for young artist of the year. Also his book about his fascinating live was published. In 2016 Felix Klieser received the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. In April 2015 his new CD with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn and Rubin Gazarian was released by Berlin Classics, features Felix Klieser playing Horn concerts from Michael and Joseph Haydn and W.A. Mozart. With this CD he demonstrates the rare ability to play “deep” and “high” Horn pieces.

Herbert Schuch
was born in Temesvar (Romania) in 1979. After starting with piano lessons at an early age in his home town, he emigrated with his family to Germany in 1988, where he still resides. He continued his musical studies with Kurt Hantsch and Prof. Karl-Heinz Kämmerling at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In the recent past Herbert Schuch has been particularly influenced by his encounters and work with Alfred Brendel. Herbert Schuch is recognized as one of the most interesting musicians of his generation by virtue of his sophisticated programs and recordings. In 2013 he received the ECHO Klassik award for his recording of Viktor Ullmann’s Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, together with the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Olari Elts. In 2012 he was already awarded with an ECHO Klassik in the category “Chamber Music Recording Of The Year” for his CD featuring quintets for piano and winds by Beethoven and Mozart.

Andrej Bielow
Born in 1981 in the Ukraine, Andrej Bielow has developed as one of the leading Ukrainian musicians of his generation. He received his fi first violin lessons at the age of five and in 1993 attended the special music boarding school in Kiev. Having recognized his talent, Prof. Michael Kusnetsov took the eleven-year-old boy into his family and guided his further musical education. Already at an early age, Andrej started to perform at carefully selected concerts in Europe and USA. At the age of 15, Andrej settled in Germany to study with Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn at the University of Music and Drama in Hannover. Further study followed with Gerard Poulet in Paris, Herman Krebbers, Ida Haendel, Ana Chumachenko and more recently Alfred Brendel. Andrej Bielow has devoted much of his career to chamber music, of which he is a passionate advocate. He has appeared at the following Festvals: Schleswig-Holstein, Klavierfestival Ruhr, Rheingau, Kuhmo, Young Euro Classic Berlin, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Ryedale, Macau and many others.

Booklet for Horn Trios