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The Bayerisches Staatsorchester under Kent Nagano has released a new recording on Farao classics together with the Audi Youth Choir Academy (Jugendchorakademie).

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Die Erste Walpurgisnacht op.60
Johannes Brahms: Nänie op. 82
Robert Schumann: Der Königssohn op. 116
Simone Schröder, alto
Burkhard Fritz, tenor
Detlef Roth, bariton
Franz-Josef Selig, bass
Audi Jugendchorakademie
Bayerisches Staatsorchester


The CD fills a gap in the repertoire: Schumann’s work „Der Königssohn“ had not been recorded until recently. Mendelssohn’s dramatically and musically exhuberant ballad “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” is based on the corresponding text by Johann Wolfgang Goethe and leads the listener back to the time of Christianisation in Germany. In Brahm’s “Nänie” – meaning “lament” – both ensembles show their musicianship with long build-ups of musical tension and varying shades of colour.

The Audi Youth Choir Academy was founded in 2007 and has become a model project in supporting young musicians. It offers young talents between 16 and 27 challenging musical work in the choir, professional singing lessons and the opportunity to gain experience on stage before a sizable audience.

Kent Nagano, who finds it very important to pass on musical traditions, skills and music know-how to the next generation, was impressed by the co-operation: “I’m very enthusiastic! The Audi Youth choir is something very special for these young people, they have a fantastic passion for music, wonderful voices and are prepared to really practice with each other. I think this is not only artistically great, but also socially very, very important.”