This album features Antonin Dvorak´s most famous work, his Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’ in a passionate and inspired performance by the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Volker Hartung.

Performed at Kölner Philharmonie in Germany, this recording will you give you a wealth of listening pleasure!

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist.Telemann was one of the most prolific major composers of all time: his all-encompassing oeuvre comprises more than 3,000 compositions, half of which have been lost, and most of which have not been performed since the 18th century. This album consists of some of his most beautiful works: The rarely performed concerto for 2 flutes, violin, cello and orchestra, the sonata for trumpet and strings and the fabulous suite in A minor for flute and orchestra played by the soloists of the Cologne New Philharmonic under the direction of Volker Hartung.

This album contains three of Mozart’s greatest masterpieces, the late Symphonies No.38 (Prague Symphony), No.40 in G minor, and No.41 (Jupiter). The KV 550 Symphony is one of Mozart’s best-known works.

This album consists of Johann Sebstian Bach’s Baroque Concertos for Violin & Oboe, the Double Concerto for 2 Violins, the Concerto in A minor and the Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor in exciting performances by soloists of the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Volker Hartung.

On this album, Volker Hartung conducts his Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra and its soloists in beautiful highlights of 19th Century Serenade music. Josef Suk (1874 – 1935) was a Czech composer, Antonín Dvořák’s son-in-law, and a well-known violinist. He began his oeuvre with chamber music and, in wonderful sounding Dvořák tradition, with a four-movement string serenade op. 6, Several sources report that the avowed railway enthusiast Dvořák had encouraged his then-future son-in-law Suk to write down locomotive numbers at train stations. Dvořák Suk is also said to have passed tests on his knowledge of locomotive engineering to get Dvorak’s approval to marry his daughter! Jules Massenet gained notoriety through the violin solo “Meditation, “which is part of the oriental influenced opera “Thaïs. ” This solo is considered a famous encore in concerts and is often part of classical editions on specific topics.

For more than 20 years, the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra has been presenting its audience with a cheerful and at the same time reflective program from the rich repertoire of the Strauss dynasty and its contemporaries at the turn of the year. Under its umbrella, a unique platform has emerged that gives young professionals the ever-less-rare opportunity to participate in exceptional concert projects beyond the limits of their studies and professional life.

Smetana was a musician of great talent who, in self-imposed exile from his native Bohemia, taught music and composition in Göteberg, Sweden. Like other Bohemian artists and musicians in the mid of the 19th century, Smetana longed for the day when his native land would be free from the oppression of its Austrian masters. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire granted political sovereignty to Bohemia, Smetana and other Czech composers could finally return to their home- land to create a national cultural identity for the self-governing provinces.

Volker Hartung is regarded as one of the most colorful personalities in the music scene today. His unmistakable conducting style, great musical sensitivity and skill in handling orchestras as well as soloists make his Concerts unforgettable events, which he enhances with his witty and famously entertaining announcements to the works performed. His several decades of experience as an independent manager of ensembles have taught him how to form orchestras and to make them financially and artistically viable in the face of various obstacles.

The concert overture Carnival (Czech: Karneval, koncertní ouvertura), Op. 92, B. 169, was written by Antonín Dvořák in 1891. It is part of a “Nature, Life and Love” trilogy of overtures written by Dvořák, forming the second “Life” part. The other two parts of the trilogy are In Nature’s Realm, Op. 91 (“Nature”) and Othello, Op. 93 (“Love”).

Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) is by far the best-known organ work of European art music. It is traditionally attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach, even if his authorship was occasionally doubted. The composition consists of three sections: a toccata, i.e. a prelude (prelude) of fast runs and full-grip chords, and a subsequent four-part fugue, which in turn leads to a final section called “Recitativo,” which again takes up the quasi-improvisational character of the beginning. Clear motivic and harmonious references connect all parts.

The Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1972. It is composed of graduates of the most important German Rhineland Conservatories. They are superbly gifted young players who, once they have finished their studies, wish to experience the reality of a practical musical life playing chamber music and symphonic repertory at the highest level before entering their careers as soloists or as members of some philharmonic orchestra.