ABOUT
URLICHT AUDIOVISUAL - THE LABEL
Repertoire rarities, cutting-edge new music, and a landmark anthology
HOW IT STARTED…
"Are you crazy?"
That was the reaction of not one but two friends in the music business when I told them late in 2011 that I planned to start a record label. “Sales are tanking… the business model is in meltdown… and did I mention the economy is a train wreck?”
Yes, yes, and yes — which is why I felt it was the right time to start Urlicht AudioVisual.
Sales of physical product a decade ago were not doing well — if you were a major label like Sony or EMI (now part of Warner Music). The majority of the items I listened to or purchased were on indie classical labels. And what was true then remains true today: the Indies are are more connected with their audience and know how to deliver the music in physical, digital, and streaming versions. Yes, legacy box sets from the majors are doing okay, but indies rule the roost when it comes to today’s artists and trends in performance.
Urlicht AudioVisual started by championing daring artists with a strong interpretive point of view, and that has not changed
The label launched with recordings by amazing pianist Elisha Abas, whose playing is strongly influenced by Ignaz Friedman, Josef Hofmann, and other great romantic virtuoso pianists, and the New York Piano Quartet, who have plumbed the depths of forgotten chamber works and championed new music.
The ensemble’s violinist, Elmira Darvarova, is an astounding artist in solo, chamber, and concerto repertoire. Her recordings of European Baroque trio sonatas with double bass player Gary Karr and harpsichordist Harmon Lewis broke with the “historically-informed” trend, delivering passionate and gregarious recordings of Handel, Barthélemon, and Cervetto. Most recently, Urlicht AudioVisual released an intense performance of Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Piano with cello legend János Starker – recorded in Bulgaria days before Elmira’s daring escape from behind the Iron Curtain.
Other artists I’ve had the privilege of welcoming to the label include David Amram, Pascal Rogé, and José Serebrier.
Violinist Miranda Cuckson, whose brings astounding insight and depth to the new music she champions, has made five recordings for Urlicht AudioVisual, including the definitive recording of Luigi Nono’s “La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura” for violin and prerecorded sounds, released in Blu-Ray Audio format and included by the New York Times in their “Best of 2014” list.
And in 2024, jazz pianist and composer Ethan Iverson joined our roster with his “Playfair Sonatas” – six sonatas that fuse jazz and pop idioms with classical sonata form, played by violinist Miranda Cuckson, marimbist Makoto Nakura, clarinetist Carol McGonnell, trombonist Mike Lormand, saxophonist Taimur Sullivan, and trumpeter Tim Leopold. It is our best-selling release to date, and in my opinion showcases six significant additions to the repertoire.
By popular demand, Urlicht AudioVisual is reissuing its award-winning “The Music of Gustav Mahler – Issued 78s, 1903-1940”, issued as a limited edition in 2014, for download and streaming in five volumes. It is available for streaming on Naxos Music Library and is also available for download exclusively from Presto Music.
In the planning stages for 2025:
• The world premiere recording of Georg Friedrich Haas’s Violin Concerto No. 2 played by Miranda Cuckson , with Markus Poschner conducting the RSO Wien
• A unique interpretation of Stockhausen’s Tierkreis by Swedish jazz vocalist Sophie Dunér and new music keyboard master Steve Beck
• “Transgressive Counterpoint” – music for clarinet(s) from Stravinsky to Saariaho, played by Carol McGonnell
• New music by Ethan Iverson for piano four-hands