Brahms: Horn Trio & Violin Sonatas Wolfgang Vladar, Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar & Magda Amara

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Horn Trio E-Flat Major, Op. 40:
• 1 I. Andante - Poco più animato 07:08
• 2 II. Scherzo: Allegro - Molto meno allegro - Allegro 07:05
• 3 III. Adagio mesto 06:36
• 4 IV. Finale: Allegro con brio 06:18
• Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen":
• 5 I. Vivace ma non troppo 10:28
• 6 II. Adagio 07:10
• 7 III. Allegro molto moderato 07:19
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108:
• 8 I. Allegro 07:48
• 9 II. Adagio 04:05
• 10 III. Un poco presto e con sentimento 02:45
• 11 IV. Presto agitato 05:37
• Total Runtime 01:12:19

Info for Brahms: Horn Trio & Violin Sonatas

Golden Viennese horn sound, full and at the same time tender piano, and velvet, emotional violin sound and vibrato is the beginning of this recording which opens the gate to the powerful, romantic world of Johannes Brahms' music. Deep feelings and musical thoughts are presented with technical easiness, keeping the musical phrase and expression in the center of the listener's attention. The only idea this recording really shows off are Brahms' words "I speak through my music.” A native Bulgarian, Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar began playing violin at the age of four. Since then she has won numerous national and international violin competitions in Europe and the United States. Wolfgang Vladar studied horn at the Wiener Musikhochshule, and made his debut at age 20 at the Vienna Volksoper. Pianist Magda Amara graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She is laureate of numerous national and international competitions, both as a soloist and chamber musician.

Wolfgang Vladar, violin
Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar, horn
Magda Amara, piano

Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar
A native Bulgarian, Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar began to play the violin at the age of four in Sofia. Later on she finished her studies at the University of Music and Arts in Vienna with Prof. Günter Pichler. She has completed both her Bachelor and Master Degrees in solo violin performance with honors. Kouzmanova-Vladar won many national and international violin com- petitions in Europe and USA like Bela Bartok, Dobrin Petkov, Grand Prix “Alois Kottmann” from the City of Frankfurt, Honour Prize from the University of Music and performing arts Vienna and several others. She has played as a soloist with many different orchestras, like Brandenburger Symphoniker, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Montevideo Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra, Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, Bach Soloists Vienna, Kottmann String Players Frank- furt, New Basel Symphony Orchestra, Recreation Orchestra Graz and others. She gives regularly concerts and teaches on different master classes all over the world. Her discography comprises of more than 15 CDs recorded for different labels in USA, Bulgaria and Austria. The different old, precious instruments she plays – more then 15 different Stradivarius and Guarneri Violins as well as violins from other violin makers – are her passion. Many composers dedicated pieces to Kouzmanova-Vladar, e.g. Periklis Liakakis, Roumen Dimitrov, Peter Richter, Alexander Wagendristel, Florian Meyer, Julia Purgina, Sergio Navata, Roland Freisitzer, Manuela Kerer and Thomas Wally. She is also a member of Kreisler String Trio, Ensemble Quasars, Ensemble of the XX Century, Ensemble Collage and Reconsil, Vienna. Currently Bojidara plays on a violin by Postiglione (1890), kindly given to her from a private sponsor.

Wolfgang Vladar
born in Vienna, studied horn with Josef Veleba, Friedrich Gabler and Roland Berger at the Wiener Musikhochschule. His first engagement was at the age of 20 at the Vienna Volksoper, where he played the solo horn. After 10 years, he changed to the Vienna State Opera and to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, playing the 2nd and later the 3rd horn. Besides his activities as an orchestral musician, Wolf- gang Vladar is a passionate chamber musician. He is also member of the Vienna Virtuosi, the Eichendorff quintet Vienna and the Toyota mas- ter players. Among Wolfgang Vladar’s current chamber music partners are Stefan Vladar, Ernst Kovacic, Michael Schade, Thomas Hampson, the Artis quartet, Rudolf Buchbinder, ensemble Vienna and many more. He is teaching horn at the Vienna Music University, at the IES (Institute of European Studies) and in international master classes, particularly in the USA and Japan. At present, Wolfgang Vladar is one of the most sought-after orchestral and chamber musicians worldwide.

Magda Amara
was born in Moscow, where she graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of Sergei Dorensky. She completed her education with Stefan Vladar at the University of Music in Vienna. Magda Amara is laureate of numerous national and international competi- tions, both as a soloist and chamber musician. She is a regular guest at the most important international stages, such as the Wiener Musikv- erein, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Festspielhaus Baden- Baden, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Tonhalle Zürich, as well as big concert halls in the USA and Russia. The pianist was invited to interna- tional festivals, e.g. the Dvo ákova Praha, Sion Festival, Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, Best of NRW, Neuberger Kulturtage or Attergauer Kultursommer. She worked successfully with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Noord Neder- lands Orkest, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Brno. Since Magda Amara has a particular passion for cham- ber music, she is playing with outstanding musi- cians, such as Julian Rachlin, Dora Schwarzberg, Stefan Vladar and members of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In close cooper- ation with the Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh, two CDs were recorded and many concerts played. In 2016/17, Magda Amara is playing concerts in Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Wiener Musik- verein, in New York, San Francisco and for the first time at the Lucerne Festival. Today she lives and works in Vienna.

Booklet for Brahms: Horn Trio & Violin Sonatas