Ondine Signs Violist David Aaron Carpenter and Announces North American April Releases

[Note: Fact sheets attached as PDFs

Ondine North American News and Releases for April 2009

¬… Signs violist David Aaron Carpenter

¬… Releases world premiere recording of long-lost Hindemith work, the Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29

¬… Releases Bizarre Bazaar featuring clarinetist Kari Kriikku

¬… Releases world premiere recording of Hallgrˆ‚msson's Cello Concerto performed by Truls Mˆ½rk

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ONDINE SIGNS RISING STAR VIOLIST DAVID AARON CARPENTER

Debut recording ’Äì Viola Concertos by Elgar and Schnittke ’Äì will be released internationally in September 2009 and features the Philharmonia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach. A pre-release sample is available at www.ondine.net/davidaaroncarpenter

Ondine is pleased to announce the signing of a recording agreement with 22-year-old violist David Aaron Carpenter, who has recently emerged as one of the world's most promising young talents. The initial agreement calls for four CD releases. Mr. Carpenter, who was the Winner of the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Viola Competition, will be performing in recital at Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall on Monday, April 13, 2009 at 7:30 pm (www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_12771.html).

His debut recording ’Äì to be released in September 2009 ’Äì couples two concertos: a viola arrangement of Sir Edward Elgar's famous Cello Concerto and the Viola Concerto (1985) by Alfred Schnittke. Christoph Eschenbach leads the Philharmonia Orchestra. David Aaron Carpenter adapted much of the Elgar Concerto himself, using the well-known and Elgar-sanctioned arrangement by Lionel Tertis as a basis.

Since making his orchestral debut in 2005 with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, David Aaron Carpenter has been performing with leading musicians and orchestras in the United States and Europe. In 2007, he became the first American and youngest protˆ©gˆ© for The Rolex Mentor and Protˆ©gˆ© Arts Initiative and the protˆ©gˆ© of world-renowned violinist and violist Pinchas Zukerman. He was chosen among an international selection that included every violinist and violist of his generation.

David Aaron Carpenter has been acclaimed as producing, "a seductively rich sound and demonstrating both a forceful interpretive personality and remarkable control of his instrument," (The New York Times) and, "whose beautiful modulated tone makes a striking impression." (The Strad)

Industry veteran Kevin Kleinmann, who brought David Aaron Carpenter to Ondine's attention and serves as Executive Producer for this and future recordings with the artist on Ondine, said, "In my more than thirty years working with classical musicians, I have rarely encountered a more striking talent than David Aaron Carpenter. He combines an incandescent and imaginative musical personality with effortless technique an maturity far beyond his years. His intense musicality and talent brings to my mind such past greats as Michael Rabin and Jacqueline du Prˆ©. Working on the Elgar recording project made me realize how, I David's hands, this Concerto works so well on the viola."

Reijo Kiilunen, Managing Director of Ondine, added, "It is my pleasure to welcome this outstandingly gifted young musician to Ondine and to release his debut recording. I believe that David Aaron Carpenter combines superstar potential with an artistic depth uncommon for his age. The juxtaposition of the concertos by Elgar and Schnittke underlines our label's artistic vision, and we look forward to many further exciting recordings with David in the future."

On signing with Ondine, David Aaron Carpenter said, "I want to express my gratitude to the Rolex Mentor and Protˆ©gˆ© Arts Initiative for making this recording possible. I look forward to my collaboration with Ondine, a company that remains true to its core musical principals. I am fortunate that Ondine aligns its vision with my own to establish the viola as a solo instrument. Making my first recording with Maestro Eschenbach and the Philharmonia Orchestra has been a truly remarkable journey. Performing the Elgar Cello Concerto on viola has definitely been the highlight of my musical career thus far, and I hope that listeners will appreciate this masterpiece interpreted in a new light." Subsequent to the release of his debut album, David Aaron Carpenter will be performing the Schnittke Concerto in Dresden with the Dresden Staatskapelle conducted by Christoph Eschenbach on November 29th and 30th, 2009.

Artist profile at Ondine.net: www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=3.2&oid=4055

Artist profile on The Rolex Mentor & Protˆ©gˆ© Arts Initiative website: www.rolexmentorprotege.com/en/music/david-aaron-carpenter/index.jsp

Video portrait of the artist: www.rolexmentorprotege.com/en/music/david-aaron-carpenter/journalself-portrait.jsp

Video showing the artist working with his mentor Pinchas Zukerman: www.rolexmentorprotege.com/en/music/mentorship-2006-2007/index.jsp

Interview with the artist: www.rolexmentorprotege.com/en/music/mentorship-2006-2007/interviewwith-protege.jsp

Official website of the artist: http://davidaaroncarpenter.com

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PAUL HINDEMITH

KLAVIERMUSIK MIT ORCHESTER,

Op. 29 (for Piano Left Hand)

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING

ANTONˆçN DVO‰òˆÅK

SYMPHONY No. 9 in E minor

Op. 95 "From the New World"

Leon Fleisher, piano

The Curtis SymphonyOrchestra

Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

ODE 1141-2

Release date: April 28, 2009

Ondine is proud to announce the April 28, 2009 release of the first-ever commercial recording of a long-lost major work by Paul Hindemith, the Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29 for piano left-hand and orchestra. The New York Times has called it, "a fantastic work that requires tremendous technique and stamina" (December 2, 2006). The disc also features Antonˆ‚n Dvo‰ôˆ°k's popular Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World").

Hindemith wrote this concerto in 1923 for the left-hand pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during the First World War. Wittgenstein never performed it, and it was only upon the death of his widow, in 2002, that the piece was discovered in a farmhouse in Pennsylvania; the work received an acclaimed 2004 world premiere in Berlin, with piano legend Leon Fleisher as soloist and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. Leon Fleisher, who is one of the most prominent specialists of left-hand repertoire, is the soloist on this recording.

Watch the Christoph Eschenbach and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra performing Dvo‰ôˆ°k Symphony No. 9 on YouTube.

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KARI KRIIKKU, CLARINET

BIZARRE BAZAAR

TAPIOLA SINFONIETTA

JAN SˆñDERBLOM, conductor

ODE 1140-2

Release date: April 28, 2009

Hailed by press and public as one of the world's foremost clarinetists, Kari Kriikku is celebrated for his musical inventiveness and fresh attitude towards traditional performance. His versatility covers numerous periods, ranging from Mozart to the contemporary, and has been a muse for composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho and Kimmo Hakola.

Kari Kriikku's passion for traditional folk music shines through in Bizarre Bazaar, his new album release on Ondine. The eclectic programme showcases the diverse use of the clarinet in Jewish klezmer, Portuguese fado, Argentinean tango and Arab music. "I have followed my instincts in gradually bringing together works from various cultures that have impressed me on my travels and then unabashedly adapted those works for concert use," says Kari Kriikku who performs here with the chamber orchestra Tapiola Sinfonietta and additional oud, qanun and laud players. The Finnish press hailed their live performances as "vibrantly energetic and entertaining" (Helsingin Sanomat).

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HAFLIˆêI HALLGRˆçMSSON

CELLO CONCERTO, HERMA

TRULS MˆòRK, CELLO

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

JOHN STORGˆÖRDS, conductor

ODE 1133-2

Release date: April 28, 2009

The celebrated Norwegian cellist Truls Mˆ½rk is known as a tireless champion of the best contemporary music. On this release, he presents the Icelandic composer Hafliˆƒi Hallgrˆ‚msson ’Äì himself a professional cellist ’Äì with his two works for cello and orchestra. Truls Mˆ½rk joins forces with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, one of the finest ensembles of its kind, under the direction of John Storgˆ€rds. This CD includes the first commercial recording of the Cello Concerto, which Hallgrˆ‚msson dedicated to Mˆ½rk in 2003. Since the premiere, he has championed the work in a number of performances across Europe to great acclaim; The Times called it, "a remarkable new addition to the cello repertoire’Ķ one of his [Hallgrˆ‚msson's] finest work to date’Ķ" (Hilary Finch, The Times, 28 January 2004), Scotland's Herald spoke of "a work of haunting beauty" (Michael Tumelty, The Herald, 26 January 2004).

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About Ondine: Ondine was founded more than twenty years ago in Helsinki, Finland, where the company is still based and today offers an extremely eclectic catalogue of both contemporary Finnish music, as well as recordings with major Finnish and international artists.

Ondine's extensive catalogue includes more than four hundred recordings (two hundred and fifty of which are available physically) of artists and ensembles such as conductor and pianist Christoph Eschenbach, conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Leif Segerstam, John Storgˆ€rds and Mikko Franck, orchestras such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the London Sinfonietta, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic, sopranos Karita Mattila and Soile Isokoski, pianist Olli Mustonen, violinist Pekka Kuusisto and clarinettist Kari Kriikku. The label has also had a long and fruitful association with the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, having recorded the premieres of many of his works and garnering many awards along the way.

The roots of Ondine date back to 1985 when founder Reijo Kiilunen released the very first Ondine album under the auspices of the renowned Finnish Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. The label's initial mission was to produce one live album at the Festival each season. The fourth album, however, featured Einojuhani Rautavaara's opera Thomas (ODE 704-2), raising major international attention and opening up the possibility for North American distribution. Kiilunen, who was running the Festival's concert agency and had begun the recording activity part-time, soon decided to devote himself fully to the development of this new business, producing and editing the first 50 releases himself. In 1991, Seppo Siirala joined as producer, and the Helsinki-based company has been expanding steadily since, currently numbering six full-time employees. Today, Ondine continues to uphold its reputation as one of the most respected labels in classical music, and its products have received numerous prizes at the Cannes (MIDEM) Classical Awards, the Gramophone Awards, the BBC Music Magazine Awards and the Classical Internet Awards.

Universal Music Classical and Ondine entered into a distribution agreement that began on January 1, 2008. Both physical and digital distribution in the United States and Canada are covered under the agreement. Universal Music Classical comprises the Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, and ECM labels and is a division of the Universal Music Group. For more information about Ondine, visit www.ondine.net.