account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
Secret Key Masters
Michael Gees, Frans Ehlhart, Marion von Tilzer

Michael Gees / Frans Ehlhart / Marion von Tilzer

Secret Key Masters

Price: € 12.95
Format: SACD hybrid
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917265620
Catnr: CC 72656
Release date: 23 January 2015
Buy
1 SACD hybrid
✓ in stock
€ 12.95
Buy
 
Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917265620
Catalogue number
CC 72656
Release date
23 January 2015

"Interview: "We were in a welcoming living room", says Gees. "That made the difference, then you are at ease and it soon becomes very personal."  And that made a remarkable honest, candid and varied piano plate which also sounds fantastic.   "

Klassieke Zaken, 01-6-2015
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
EN
NL
DE

About the album

March 26, 2014. An extraordinary day, a day on which three pianists that had never met before gathered at Galaxy Studios, by invitation of producer Bert van der Wolf. It was Van der Wolf who instigated this project. Ever since he first experienced the magical sounds of a piano as a three year old, he had been fascinated by the instrument. Never having been able to fully master the instrument himself, he found in these three pianists the perfect tool to realise his dream of being able to return to his childhood and immerse himself in that special soundworld again. Having met each of them on separate occasions, the playing of Michael Gees, Frans Ehlhart, and Marion von Tilzer struck a chord with Van der Wolf. Their approach to music, whether meticulously composed or improvised on the spot, came so close to his own that he took it upon himself approach these three 'Secret Key Masters' to do a project together.

Michael Gees is mostly known as an accompanist of Lieder: he has worked intensively with artists such as Christoph Prégardien and Julia Kleiter. As a soloist he mostly improvises, often starting with a single chord and developing the melodies from there. In contrast, Marion von Tilzer is very much a composer, who has previously written both chamber music and orchestral works. Frans Ehlhart comes from the world of theatre, and as a composer is influenced by jazz, pop, and classical music. Together with soprano Charlotte Margiono, he recorded an album of his own compositions for Challenge Classics, based on poems by South African poet Ingrid Jonker.

After several years of cancelled appointments and lingering intentions, this year the recording sessions finally took place. Gees, Ehlhart, and Von Tilzer each sat down at the beautiful Steinway grand piano in Van der Wolf's studio, each of them playing their own compositions while the others listened.

There was no time limit for the recording sessions, and nothing parcitular had to be achieved. In two days time, over 8 hours of music was recorded. From all this material, Van der Wolf carefully distilled these 14 tracks, which together make up this 77 minutes long album. The producer is over the moon with the results, stating that 'The Secret Key Masters merge into the most wonderful piano recital I can imagine. Time and space become one and there is just music with no stylistic boundary.'
Drie pianisten ontmoeten elkaar voor het eerst: een improvisatie
Bert van der Wolf, onder andere producer en opnametechnicus, bracht voor deze opname drie pianisten in de studio samen: Michael Gees, Frans Ehlhart en Marion von Tilzer. Ze kenden elkaar niet, maar het klikte. In twee dagen tijd speelden ze om de beurt op de Steinway vleugel hun eigen composities en improvisaties. Van der Wolf selecteerde uit de 8 uur durende opname zorgvuldig 14 tracks. Zo ontstond 'Secret Key Masters'. Het mooiste pianoconcert dat hij zich maar kan voorstellen, vindt hijzelf. '77 minuten opwindende pianomuziek. Een even onconventioneel als briljant project.', zoals de Duitse krant WAZ schrijft.

In deze sessie komen de werelden van liedbegeleiding, kamermuziek en theater bijeen. Michael Gees, vooral bekend als begeleider van liederen, werkte intensief samen met artiesten als Christoph Prégardien en Julia Kleiter. Gees improviseert vooral. Vaak start hij met een enkel akkoord, om van daaruit de melodie te creëren. Anders dan Marion von Tilzer, die eerder uitgaat van de compositie en zowel kamermuziek als orkestrale werken heeft geschreven. Franz Ehlhart komt uit de theaterwereld en wordt als componist beïnvloed door jazz, pop en klassieke muziek.
Wir schreiben den 26. März 2014, es ist ein außergewöhnlicher Tag - ein Tag, an dem drei Pianisten, die sich zuvor nie begegnet sind, im Studio versammeln und zusammen dieses Album erschaffen. Die Fäden dazu zieht Produzent Bert van der Wolf, der von den musikalischen Begegnungen mit jedem einzelnen der Pianisten tief berührt war und diesen Zauber der "Geheimen Tastenmeister" festhalten wollte. So also kommen die Welt der Liedbegleitung, Kammermusik und des Theaters zusammen in einer Session, in der es keine Fristen und keine Ziele gab, die eingehalten und erreicht werden mussten. Zeit und Raum werden eins, und der Vielfalt der Musik sind keine Grenzen gesetzt.

Artist(s)

Michael Gees (piano)

'Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but  shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes...
more
"Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes on to win the Steinway Competition at age eight and receives a scholarship at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
The child prodigy is hailed as “Westphalian Mozart“, takes up studies at the conservatories in Detmold and Vienna and it seems as if he is fast on his way to become an internationally acclaimed pianist. Were it not for the gifted child’s longing to explore the world of sound on his own terms, to playfully experience his self like the great masters’ music, to invent their music all over again, note for note instead of limiting himself to a technical practice regimen. Michael Gees flees the pressure of a predetermined competitional career at the age of fifteen, leaves school, conservatory and home behind, supports himself through odd jobs, works as archeological assistant and, in the process, for the duration of two full years, becomes a sailor.
Chance leads him back to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, where he resumes his compositional studies and eventually graduates. He now develops first rate pianistic chops on his own, composes a number of works, gains international renown as lied accompanist of extraordinary proportions with Christoph Prégardien and also appears in concerts globally; in Paris, London, New York and Tokio. All the while, he nurses and feeds his preference for combining the performance of music of past masters with living inspiration, thereby creating remarkable performances with his instrument.
In 1989, Gees founds “forum kunstvereint“ in his adopted hometown of Gelsenkirchen; the Consol Theater, also installed by him, opens its doors in 2001 on the confines of the former mining area Consolidation. There, music, dance and theatre projects take shape, where children, youths and adults alike are incited and encouraged to discover and realize their own artistic impulses. A steady number of CDs have been released from 1996 onward on forum kunstvereint, CPO and EMI, showcasing Michael Gees’ range.
Since 2008 Michael Gees is associated to the Netherlands label Challenge Classics. The 2009 release of the Schöne Müllerin with Christoph Prégardien won the MIDEM Classical Award and became Recording of the Year. Michael Gees works on solo-recitals which enjoy breaking with tradition, on modernized lied-renditions, melodramas and stage music.

less

Marion von Tilzer (piano)

Marion von Tilzer (A/NL) started playing the piano at the age of eight. At fourteen she met her principal teacher, the American pianist Suzanne Bradbury, with whom she has studied in Germany and Mallorca, Spain for several years. In 1989 she came to Holland to study classical piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory a.o. with Ludmilla Baslawskaya. Since then she has been based in Holland. For almost ten years Marion has been traveling to India regularly to study Indian music and give concerts with the renown Indian Khayal singer Neela Bhagwat. Over the years Marion developed a unique way of combining Indian and western classical music. In 2008 she was commissioned to write two pieces for Orchestra by the German Radio Symphony Orchestra...
more
Marion von Tilzer (A/NL) started playing the piano at the age of eight. At fourteen she met her principal teacher, the American pianist Suzanne Bradbury, with whom she has studied in Germany and Mallorca, Spain for several years. In 1989 she came to Holland to study classical piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory a.o. with Ludmilla Baslawskaya. Since then she has been based in Holland.
For almost ten years Marion has been traveling to India regularly to study Indian music and give concerts with the renown Indian Khayal singer Neela Bhagwat. Over the years Marion developed a unique way of combining Indian and western classical music.
In 2008 she was commissioned to write two pieces for Orchestra by the German Radio Symphony Orchestra of the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne). In both works she creates a combination of Indian music and instruments with the western orchestra. One of the pieces (Kisagotami Ouverture for Orchestra) received an Honorable Mention from the Theodore Front Prize for Chamber and Orchestral music from the International Alliance of Women in Music in 2010.
Other commissions include a piece for the City of Amsterdam, which was premiered at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 2007, new work for the Amstel Saxophone Quartet, premiered in 2009. Marion's latest Album 'Kirvani Revisted' with her new chamber ensemble was released on the Dutch label Challenge Records (2008). She appeared on the Dutch VPRO TV program 'Vrije Geluiden' with her ensemble in May 2009. Her latest piece 'The Blue Planet – Homage to Mother Earth', a commission for the Amsterdam venue The Orgelpark for string trio, organ, sarangi and tabla was premiered in January 2010. Her long year collaborator Frank Händeler created the choreography for this piece (danced by Indian dancer Kalpana Raghuraman). She has also been performing regularly with her solo piano program called 'Song for Good Luck', a program where storytelling is interwoven with her piano pieces.
Music for film and dance Music for 13 part television documentary 'Van Weelden over Water' (2010, Dutch Television) Music for 'Lou Bioux – The Feast of the Fabulous Bull" a film by Second Skin Production, Jascha de Wilde Commercial music for a new Nike clip (2008) 'Prima Materia', a short silent film by Daan Noppen (2006) 'Deseased', short silent film by Benjamin Winfield (2007) 'Groeten van de Afsluitdijk' by the Dutch documentary maker John Appel (2001) 'April's Dancing' by Irish animator Una Gildea (2000).
'Earthlinks' a music/theater piece directed by Felix de Rooy and choreographed by Elshout & Händeler.
Marion has composed and played the music live for this show which toured in Jan/Feb 2004. 'Sirenade' a dance theater piece by Elshout & Händeler for the Oerol Festival in Holland for which Marion wrote and played the music live in the dunes (June 2004), tour with 'Sirenade' July 2005. She has also written the music for the new piece 'Gemini' of Elshout&Händeler (2005). Another collaboration was with Elshout's most recent piece 'L – the woman who challenged God' at the Over 't IJ Festival in 2007. In July 2008 she collaborated making the music live with the Brazilian percussionist Bira Reis in Salvador de Bahia for the dance theater performance "Metamorphosis' by Frank Händeler.
Other activities in the past till present In 1999 Marion founded the group 'Aros', a six-piece new-Jazz band together with the Canadian saxophonist/composer Rob Armus. They performed regularly in Holland, Vienna, and Canada (International Vancouver Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival in June 2002, Bimhuis, North Sea Jazz Festival, Holland in 2004). To promote their album 'Train Song' Aros toured in Canada again in November 2003.
Since 2002 Marion has had concerts with the Indian classical singer Neela Bhagwat in Holland (2002-2004) and in Bombay (2003, 2005 at the National Center for the Arts).
In 2003/04 she has been performing throughout Holland with 'AhimsA' with the Indian singer Sandhya Sanjana and the Dutch tabla player Heiko Dijker. A great deal of these groups' repertoires has been composed and arranged by Marion.
As a pianist she has performed contemporary music with the Canadian soprano Janice Jackson throughout Holland (1997/98) and with Yannis Kyriakides' electro/acoustic group 'Circadian' she played concerts throughout Holland, in Cyprus, England (Aldeburgh Festival, The Ocean in London, The Tate Gallery, Cambridge), in Norway (Ultima Festival, Oslo), Belgium (Gent), Slovenia (Lublijana Festival for contemporary Art), in Athens and at Williams Forsythe's Festival at the Frankfurt Ballet in 2003.

less

Composer(s)

Michael Gees (piano)

'Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but  shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes...
more
"Throughout the evening Gees played as if he had composed the pieces himself and was therefore extremely vigilant to make sure the performance was carried out according to his inner ear. His eyes were not those of an artist intent on reproduction, but shone rather a lambent look of passion, just as one might imagine the composer as the creator.“ N. Campogrande Michael Gees’ biography certainly justifies the term: exceptional. Few others can claim to have a career already behind them at the tender age of fifteen: Born in 1953 into a world of sound and music, both parents are singers, the piano is his favourite toy at age three. Formal piano lessons follow at age five, and the young musician subsequently goes on to win the Steinway Competition at age eight and receives a scholarship at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
The child prodigy is hailed as “Westphalian Mozart“, takes up studies at the conservatories in Detmold and Vienna and it seems as if he is fast on his way to become an internationally acclaimed pianist. Were it not for the gifted child’s longing to explore the world of sound on his own terms, to playfully experience his self like the great masters’ music, to invent their music all over again, note for note instead of limiting himself to a technical practice regimen. Michael Gees flees the pressure of a predetermined competitional career at the age of fifteen, leaves school, conservatory and home behind, supports himself through odd jobs, works as archeological assistant and, in the process, for the duration of two full years, becomes a sailor.
Chance leads him back to the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, where he resumes his compositional studies and eventually graduates. He now develops first rate pianistic chops on his own, composes a number of works, gains international renown as lied accompanist of extraordinary proportions with Christoph Prégardien and also appears in concerts globally; in Paris, London, New York and Tokio. All the while, he nurses and feeds his preference for combining the performance of music of past masters with living inspiration, thereby creating remarkable performances with his instrument.
In 1989, Gees founds “forum kunstvereint“ in his adopted hometown of Gelsenkirchen; the Consol Theater, also installed by him, opens its doors in 2001 on the confines of the former mining area Consolidation. There, music, dance and theatre projects take shape, where children, youths and adults alike are incited and encouraged to discover and realize their own artistic impulses. A steady number of CDs have been released from 1996 onward on forum kunstvereint, CPO and EMI, showcasing Michael Gees’ range.
Since 2008 Michael Gees is associated to the Netherlands label Challenge Classics. The 2009 release of the Schöne Müllerin with Christoph Prégardien won the MIDEM Classical Award and became Recording of the Year. Michael Gees works on solo-recitals which enjoy breaking with tradition, on modernized lied-renditions, melodramas and stage music.

less

Marion von Tilzer (piano)

Marion von Tilzer (A/NL) started playing the piano at the age of eight. At fourteen she met her principal teacher, the American pianist Suzanne Bradbury, with whom she has studied in Germany and Mallorca, Spain for several years. In 1989 she came to Holland to study classical piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory a.o. with Ludmilla Baslawskaya. Since then she has been based in Holland. For almost ten years Marion has been traveling to India regularly to study Indian music and give concerts with the renown Indian Khayal singer Neela Bhagwat. Over the years Marion developed a unique way of combining Indian and western classical music. In 2008 she was commissioned to write two pieces for Orchestra by the German Radio Symphony Orchestra...
more
Marion von Tilzer (A/NL) started playing the piano at the age of eight. At fourteen she met her principal teacher, the American pianist Suzanne Bradbury, with whom she has studied in Germany and Mallorca, Spain for several years. In 1989 she came to Holland to study classical piano at the Amsterdam Conservatory a.o. with Ludmilla Baslawskaya. Since then she has been based in Holland.
For almost ten years Marion has been traveling to India regularly to study Indian music and give concerts with the renown Indian Khayal singer Neela Bhagwat. Over the years Marion developed a unique way of combining Indian and western classical music.
In 2008 she was commissioned to write two pieces for Orchestra by the German Radio Symphony Orchestra of the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne). In both works she creates a combination of Indian music and instruments with the western orchestra. One of the pieces (Kisagotami Ouverture for Orchestra) received an Honorable Mention from the Theodore Front Prize for Chamber and Orchestral music from the International Alliance of Women in Music in 2010.
Other commissions include a piece for the City of Amsterdam, which was premiered at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 2007, new work for the Amstel Saxophone Quartet, premiered in 2009. Marion's latest Album 'Kirvani Revisted' with her new chamber ensemble was released on the Dutch label Challenge Records (2008). She appeared on the Dutch VPRO TV program 'Vrije Geluiden' with her ensemble in May 2009. Her latest piece 'The Blue Planet – Homage to Mother Earth', a commission for the Amsterdam venue The Orgelpark for string trio, organ, sarangi and tabla was premiered in January 2010. Her long year collaborator Frank Händeler created the choreography for this piece (danced by Indian dancer Kalpana Raghuraman). She has also been performing regularly with her solo piano program called 'Song for Good Luck', a program where storytelling is interwoven with her piano pieces.
Music for film and dance Music for 13 part television documentary 'Van Weelden over Water' (2010, Dutch Television) Music for 'Lou Bioux – The Feast of the Fabulous Bull" a film by Second Skin Production, Jascha de Wilde Commercial music for a new Nike clip (2008) 'Prima Materia', a short silent film by Daan Noppen (2006) 'Deseased', short silent film by Benjamin Winfield (2007) 'Groeten van de Afsluitdijk' by the Dutch documentary maker John Appel (2001) 'April's Dancing' by Irish animator Una Gildea (2000).
'Earthlinks' a music/theater piece directed by Felix de Rooy and choreographed by Elshout & Händeler.
Marion has composed and played the music live for this show which toured in Jan/Feb 2004. 'Sirenade' a dance theater piece by Elshout & Händeler for the Oerol Festival in Holland for which Marion wrote and played the music live in the dunes (June 2004), tour with 'Sirenade' July 2005. She has also written the music for the new piece 'Gemini' of Elshout&Händeler (2005). Another collaboration was with Elshout's most recent piece 'L – the woman who challenged God' at the Over 't IJ Festival in 2007. In July 2008 she collaborated making the music live with the Brazilian percussionist Bira Reis in Salvador de Bahia for the dance theater performance "Metamorphosis' by Frank Händeler.
Other activities in the past till present In 1999 Marion founded the group 'Aros', a six-piece new-Jazz band together with the Canadian saxophonist/composer Rob Armus. They performed regularly in Holland, Vienna, and Canada (International Vancouver Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival in June 2002, Bimhuis, North Sea Jazz Festival, Holland in 2004). To promote their album 'Train Song' Aros toured in Canada again in November 2003.
Since 2002 Marion has had concerts with the Indian classical singer Neela Bhagwat in Holland (2002-2004) and in Bombay (2003, 2005 at the National Center for the Arts).
In 2003/04 she has been performing throughout Holland with 'AhimsA' with the Indian singer Sandhya Sanjana and the Dutch tabla player Heiko Dijker. A great deal of these groups' repertoires has been composed and arranged by Marion.
As a pianist she has performed contemporary music with the Canadian soprano Janice Jackson throughout Holland (1997/98) and with Yannis Kyriakides' electro/acoustic group 'Circadian' she played concerts throughout Holland, in Cyprus, England (Aldeburgh Festival, The Ocean in London, The Tate Gallery, Cambridge), in Norway (Ultima Festival, Oslo), Belgium (Gent), Slovenia (Lublijana Festival for contemporary Art), in Athens and at Williams Forsythe's Festival at the Frankfurt Ballet in 2003.

less

Press

Interview: "We were in a welcoming living room", says Gees. "That made the difference, then you are at ease and it soon becomes very personal."  And that made a remarkable honest, candid and varied piano plate which also sounds fantastic.   
Klassieke Zaken, 01-6-2015

"Gees switches in diverse styles effortlessly between minimal, new baroque, and rachmaninov."   
NRC Handelsblad, 04-5-2015

"Michael Gees has with his music as much fun as the singers. The listener has fun too. A wonderful cd!"  
Opera Magazine, 21-4-2015

Interview De Volkrant: MIchael Gees
De Volkskrant, 13-3-2015

An unconventional as well as brilliant project. The result of the recording summarized into 77 exciting minutes of music. A real personal tip.
WAZ, 08-1-2015

Play album Play album

Often bought together with..

Franz Schubert
The Complete Symphonies Vol. 2 Symphony No.1, D.82 / Symphony No.3 D.200 / Symphony No.8 D.759
Residentie Orkest The Hague / Jan Willem de Vriend
Ástor Piazzolla
Ángeles y Diablos
Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble
Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons
Jaap van Zweden
Norbert von Hannenheim
Works for viola & piano
Aida-Carmen Soanea
Various composers
Schöne Welt, wo bist Du?
Julia Kleiter / Michael Gees
Robert Zuidam
McGonagall-Lieder
Katrien Baerts / Pianoduo Post & Mulder / Asko|Schönberg / Oliver Knussen

You might also like..

Franz Schubert
Song Cycles - Die schöne Müllerin / Schwanengesang / Winterreise
Christoph Prégardien / Andreas Staier / Michael Gees
Various composers
Father & Son (re-issue)
Christoph & Julian Prégardien
Michael Gees, Bella Adamova
Blooming
Michael Gees / Bella Adamova
Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner
Dichterliebe Op. 48 / Lenau-Lieder und Requiem Op. 90 / Wesendonck Lieder
Christoph Prégardien / Michael Gees
Various composers
A Matter of Heart
Olivier Darbellay / Christoph Prégardien / Michael Gees
Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach - Mendelssohn - Metamorphosis
Michael Gees
Various composers
The Spirit Of Turtle [Longbox]
Various artists
Franz Schubert
Winterreise (BluRay)
Christoph Prégardien / Michael Gees
Robert Schumann
Beyond Schumann
Michael Gees
Franz Schubert
Winterreise (DVD)
Christoph Prégardien / Michael Gees
Various composers
Schöne Welt, wo bist Du?
Julia Kleiter / Michael Gees