Chamber Players

We are proud to present our third production with Pentatone. The Romantic Room is an expansive six-volume set exploring the rich and often overlooked chamber music of Louis Spohr.

First reviews sound really exciting!

(...) This is a box of delights I think, reminding us of Spohr's important place (...) played with infectious enthusiasm (...) discoveries to be made for sure

We are very excited to announce that our next CD with Alpha-Classics is devoted to Cologne born composer Max Bruch and was released in June 2021. It features both Bruch's string quintets as well as his string octet. Our colleagues Sara Etelävuori, Georgeta Iordache and Michael Geismann join us for this marvelous work.

Here are some early reviews:

The performances are transparent and intense, despite slender expression, so that the secondary voices can always be heard alongside the melody instruments. Nevertheless, the result is a coherent ensemble sound that breathes and feels with the music. Thus, their interpretations result in technically sophisticated and also expressively sensitive listening experiences.

We were thrilled by the release of our first CD with Alpha-Classics in January 2020. It features the rare and precious string quintets op.29 and op.104 as well as the short fuge op.137 by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is our own contribution to Beethovens' 250th birthday. We hope you enjoy it!

Here are some reviews:

The WDR Chamber Players make use of this strong music and offer gripping interpretations. With virtuoso freshness and powerful gestures, they fascinate the listener in both quintets as well as in the only two-minute long Fugue op. 137.

In 2020, the second production was released on the Pentatone label, featuring recordings of both Brahms string sextets. Ensemble: Cristian-Paul Suvaiala (violin), Carola Nasdala (violin), Laura Escanilla (viola), Mircea Mocanita (viola), Johannes Wohlmacher (cello), Susanne Eychmüller (cello).

Here some reviews:

(...) The present interpretation proves to be true to the work in its naturalness. The attentive listener can perceive — and at the same time enjoy — the structural characteristics of the compositions. Even in view of an already extensive and distinguished discography, this is a reference recording!

(...) The WDR musicians display a wonderful eagerness to perform: they do not diminish the character of the works; they allow themselves expressiveness, heartfelt joy, charm, and that sense of leisurely strolling that one also finds in Brahms. The fact that all this is accompanied by technical brilliance makes the CD a true stroke of joy.

Our first CD was released in April 2017 for the Pentatone label. It features both string quintets of Johannes Brahms and was awarded with the prestigious Diapason d'Or Award by the french music mag Diapason.

Here some reviews:

Those musicians from the WDR Symphony of Cologne find the charm, the abandonment and the poetry (...).They give an infinite sensuality to the abundant lyricism, finding everywhere refined colours and a dynamic without gravity.

There is something slightly mystical about the string quintet, with its extra layer of harmony added to the more familiar two violins, viola and cello quartet line up. This recording is an eloquent statement of the finest Romantic chamber music.