A master, masterfully played

Even 14 years after the Ramée label was founded, every CD is still a feast for the eyes and ears. Specializing in early music (in this case defined as up to just over the turn of the 19th century), Ramée does not focus on quantity, but rather brings to light many rarities from the depths of music history in consistently outstanding interpretations, which are then played again and again with lasting enthusiasm.

These treasures also include the chamber music of Franz Xaver Sterkel (1750-1817) - a composer who was widely known as a pianist during his lifetime, whose numerous sonatas and piano trios were held in high esteem by enthusiasts and yet (like so many of his generation) was forgotten far too quickly with the rise of musical romanticism. In addition to an artistic journey through Italy, it was of course not Vienna, Berlin, Paris or London that were the stations of his work, but rather Mainz, Regensburg, Aschaffenburg and Würzburg - places where Sterkel played a decisive role in establishing a lively musical life, but where he also remained true to himself despite the stylistic changes that he was well aware of: Sterkel thus despised the supposedly "unworthy arts", instead seeking "noble simplicity", "pure rhythm" and "harmony and melody" (1808).

This selection of sonatas, which appeared in print between 1785 and 1817, demonstrates that he succeeded in doing so in a remarkably unique language. They combine refreshing inventiveness with a pronounced sense of chamber music dramaturgy (both tonally and harmonically). Els Biesemans (fortepiano) and Meret Lüthi (violin) show just how much creative scope there is in their perfectly executed interpretation. They make it fascinatingly clear what Sterkel's works really contain.