Hans Winterberg, born in Prague in 1901, studied with Alexander Zemlinsky and Alois Hába. He worked as a conductor, pianist and composer until the annexation of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1939. As the scion of a Jewish family that had lived in Prague for centuries, he survived – after forced labour and deportation to Theresienstadt – through a series of miracles. Winterberg, whose compositional legacy has been rediscovered only recently, combines various influences in his music to create an original and exciting personal style. He takes up stylistic elements of Janáček but is also influenced by the Second Viennese School and French Impressionism. eda records dedicates a focus to this important Czech-Jewish composer, who saw himself as a bridge-builder between the cultures of Eastern and Western Europe.

Following on from its intensive involvement with the group of so-called "Terezín composers", which began in the 1990s, eda records is launching a new series of predominantly first recordings of chamber music and piano works by the Czech-Jewish composer Hans Winterberg.

All compositions were newly edited from the manuscripts for this recording in cooperation between the Exilarte Research Center of the Vienna University of Music and the international music publisher Boosey & Hawkes.

Jonathan Powell has become the world's leading advocate of Hans Winterberg’s piano music, having played all five piano sonatas and many of the composer’s piano pieces live in concert and on the radio. In 2020 he made the first ever recording of Winterberg’s first piano concerto (for the Capriccio label); this will be followed by recordings of the second and third piano concertos.