Michael Kaulartz, Carl-Sönje Montag, Johann Blanchard - Almenräder & Heckel: Pioneers of the Bassoon (2026) [Hi-Res]

It is impossible to imagine the modern bassoon without him: almost 200 years ago, Carl Almenräder, together with Johann Adam Heckel, founded the instrument-making workshop that continues to dominate the global bassoon market unchallenged to this day.

Almenräder’s skill on the instrument, his refined sense of tone, and Heckel’s precision craftsmanship laid the foundations for the success that Almenräder carried out into the world as a travelling virtuoso with his own compositions.

Michael Kaulartz and Carl Sönje Montag present Almenräder’s duets in an impressively agile, virtuosic and yet surprisingly rich and varied manner.

Virtuosity was not something Almenräder was born with – he made his first attempts as a self-taught musician on a worm-eaten bassoon from his parents’ attic. As early as the age of thirteen, he was already working to improve the instrument; later, he earned a little extra to make ends meet by making reeds. Was it these experiences that led him to his first thoughts of creating a bassoon for small children’s hands?

The two bassoon parts in the Duets Opus 8 & 10 are composed as absolute equals. The slow middle movements deserve particular attention, such as the expressive Funeral March from Op. 10 No. 2 or the moving Adagio from Op. 8 No. 2. The virtuosity in the outer movements is further heightened by the Variations Op. 4, for which Kaulartz enlists the sound-sensitive piano accompaniment of Johann Blanchard.

Kaulartz and Blanchard save a very special gem for the encore: The sole composition by Wilhelm Hermann Heckel, the grandson of Johann Adam, was written in 1946, the centenary of Almenräders’ death, and is entitled Meine Gedanken (My Thoughts). It reveals the company director as a sensitive, emotional and contemplative figure who is fully aware of the exceptional quality of his instrument – a rare and valuable discovery."