In July 1884, MacDowell and his wife, Marian, spent their honeymoon in England, and were both captivated by performances of Shakespeare plays at London's Lyceum Theatre. The young composer started immediately on sketches based on six characters, but completed only two, Hamlet and Ophelia, which were published the following year. MacDowell recycled some of the music from his sketch for Benedick, from Much Ado about Nothing, as the second movement of his Second Piano Concerto. Having lived in Germany from 1885 to 1888, the couple returned to America and Edward reactivated his career as a concert pianist. The Second Concerto was the perfect vehicle to display his virtuosity, and he gave the first performance in New York in 1889. Composed during the same period as the Second Concerto, the Romanze for Cello and Orchestra was written at Wiesbaden in 1887, and MacDowell dedicated it to the virtuoso Bohemian cellist and composer David Popper. The Suite in A minor was the first work MacDowell composed after the couple's move to Boston, and reflects his lifelong love of nature. Set in five movements, it received it's first performance in 1895 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Emil Paur.
Alfred Cortot - The Complete French Recordings, 1942-1943
APR
CD
$19.99Sep 05, 2025
What better way to introduce Alfred Cortot to APR's French Piano School series than by focussing on the few recordings he actually made in France. There's a good case for claiming Cortot as the greatest of twentieth century French pianists and he was certainly the most prolific one to record in the 78-rpm era. He began recording as a soloist in 1919 and continued through to the 1950s, but nearly all his discs were made in the USA and the UK. It was only during World War 2 that he recorded solo repertoire in France and these recordings, originally only released locally, are much less well-known than his London HMVs from the 1930s. Cortot seems to have planned these Paris sessions to be a substantial survey of Chopin's works, including the complete Polonaises and Scherzi which he had not previously recorded, but in the end only the Etudes, Preludes and Waltzes were released. Cortot here is still on top form, the post war decline in his playing not yet evident, and these performances are very much complimentary to his earlier ones. Anyone, knowing of Cortot's 'wrong notes' and doubting his technique only has to listen to these Etudes (all first takes!) to hear virtuoso playing of the highest order, and of course Cortot's unique poetry is never in doubt. Perhaps the Preludes best reveal the soul of our pianist, and this set finds him at his finest. As an appendix we have included another rarity, Cortot's first recording of Chopin's B minor Piano Sonata, made in London in 1931. He was to remake the work in the then new Abbey Road studios in 1933, and it is this later version which has been continuously reissued, but this earlier version is in no way inferior and could be argued to be better in parts than the 1933 version. It is also in very good sound for it's time and we are happy to give it some well-deserved attention.
Cherkassky: The Ambassador Auditorium Recitals, 1981–1989
First Hand Records
CD
$48.99Feb 14, 2025
Shura Cherkassky (1909-1995) was a Russian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. He was one of the last pianists to come from the Golden Age of Pianism, whose playing was characterised by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. Cherkassky early on in his career earned a reputation for spontaneity, creativity, and technical perfection in his playing. His sound was unique and became almost instantly recognisable and was famous for never playing the same piece the same way. In addition to the standard virtuoso repertoire, especially that of Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, Cherkassky also performed works by Hofmann, Hindemith, Morton Gould, Britten, Luciano Berio, Alban Berg, Stockhausen, Boulez and other 20th century/contemporary composers. The stimulus of a live audience always produced a more compelling performance from Cherkassky than he would give in a recording studio. Presented here are all the recital performances, totalling over five hours, which he gave at the Ambassador Auditorium between 1981 and 1989, published for the first time.
Alfred Brendel's least known recordings are the four LPs he made for the US label SPA Records in the early 1950s. Until now, none has been given a full commercial release in the digital era but among them is a recording which is surely one of the most important in Brendel's discography - that of Busoni's 'Fantasia Contrappuntistica', the composer's monumental response to Bach's 'Art of Fugue'. We are delighted to reissue it here with Mr Brendel's blessing, along with his first solo LP, the complete recording of Liszt's 'Weihnachtsbaum'. Both these works were recorded premieres at the time and the pianist was not to return to them again in the studio, so this marks an important addition to his available discography. The booklet contains a note by the pianist himself, written specially for this release, with his reflections on Busoni and the Fantasia Contrappunctistica.
By the time of the ‘Ottocento’ (19th century), opera was the dominant force in Italian musical culture, with bel canto composers such as Rossini and Donizetti creating a public appetite for opera that eclipsed achievements by Italy’s musical sons in other genres. Some of these composers who focused their energies instead on instrumental music, swimming against the operatic tide, remained in their native land, while others found a home (or were forced to find one) abroad.
Giuseppe Martucci (1856-1909) is one who stayed. A gifted pianist, he bypassed the operatic path and wrote music with a kind of fluent synthesis of Italian lyricism and German, dialectic approach to form that reached an early peak in his Cello Sonata of 1880. Yet Martucci, as a teacher of composition in Bologna and then Naples, urged the teenaged Alfredo Casella (1883-1947) to study abroad.
Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) is among the few composers in this set whose entire career centered in Italy, and he wrote a substantial body of instrumental music.
Before the war and eventual exile, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) succeeded in reinventing an essentially Romantic model (of both form and harmony) for his own time with his Cello Sonata Op. 50 of 1928.
From seven years earlier, Ildebrando Pizzetti’s Sonata of 1921 is a more gloomy, even tortured affair. The Cello Sonata of Francesco Cilea (1866-1950), while unmistakably cast as an ‘operatic’ work from its opening solo, features a protagonist scarcely burdened by the existential angst to be found in comparable works from northern Europe.
Like Cilea, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876–1948) is known for his operas but unlike Cilea’s cello sonata, Wolf-Ferrari’s Op. 30 dates from the final three years of his life and belongs to a mature output of instrumental music.
Virtuoso cellists Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) produced many trifles and showpieces to display his artistry to his adoring public in London. He was most proud of the set of six sonatas included in this set. In 1844 he made his first appearance in the English capital and soon settled there, playing both as a soloist and in one of the first celebrity string quartets.
The Cello Sonata by Mario Pilati (1903-1938) is another product of the fast-moving 1920s, formed in a Romantic tradition but inflected – like the music of Casella, Pizzetti, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco – by contemporary trends in impressionism and futurism.
From the next generation of composers, the Cello Sonata composed in 1948 by Eliodoro Sollim (1926-2000) fluently incorporates the kind of modal harmonies and cross-rhythms adopted by the likes of Bartók and Janáček from the folk traditions of their own cultures.
Organist Lukas Hasler presents Gold, a radiant debut album featuring his own transcriptions and arrangements for organ. What began five years ago with a fascination for Mozart's G major Sonata in Edvard Grieg's two-piano version grew into an artistic journey into the transformative world of transcription. Hasler discovered in the organ an instrument capable not only of recreating orchestral and pianistic textures, but of reshaping them into something entirely new. To capture this vision, he turned to the iconic Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, whose expressive possibilities and glowing acoustics inspired both the selection of repertoire and the album's title. Gold offers a rich spectrum of colours and styles, from the jubilant brilliance of Bach's Sinfonia (in Dupré's vibrant transcription) to the tender intimacy of Schumann's Romance, recorded here for the first time on organ. Hasler brings theatrical flair to Lemare's arrangement of Carmen Fantasy, profound stillness to Beethoven's "Moonlight" Adagio, and symphonic vitality to Bruckner's Nullte Scherzo, while Mozart's G major Sonata - filtered through Grieg's imagination and Hasler's own artistry - bridges Classical clarity and Romantic warmth. Rachmaninoff's stormy Prelude, Lefébure-Wély's sparkling Boléro, and the playful, genre-bending Vienna Calling complete a programme that celebrates invention, personality, and the golden richness of the Viennese organ sound.
Miriam Prandi's deeply personal interpretation of Bach's suites for solo cello reveals a musical personality shaped by freedom and reverence for the work; her phrasing recalls not only the elegance of line in Bach's arias and recitatives but also the intricate figuration of his keyboard works. She naturally embraces certain elements of historically informed performance practice, although she refuses to be confined by it's prescriptions. She allows the music to speak in a way that all today can understand: a way that transcends stylistic labels and so-called modernity and speaks with clarity, conviction, and from the heart.
Three years after their album of works by J.S. Bach (FUG 792), flautist Toshiyuki Shibata and keyboard player Anthony Romaniuk now record works not only by Bach but also by his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann, "the most original and innovative" of the lineage, according to Shibata. Both musicians were trained in historically informed interpretation in Belgium and admit their fascination for Art Nouveau, stating that it harmoniously combines tradition and innovation; they have also been influenced by other musical traditions, including jazz and contemporary music: "Preludes and improvisation were essential elements of music-making in the 18th century - for us it's natural to add preludes and postludes to our performances," says Shibata, who plays three traversos, copies of instruments by after Buffardin, Eigentopf and Quantz; Romaniuk plays a Flemish harpsichord and a Silbermann fortepiano. Their programme includes improvised preludes, a bold ending to BWV 1032/I and an original extra movement - a Gigue from BWV 997 with influences from several genres woven into it's bass line, honouring both tradition and invention.
In June 1878 Johannes Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann: "The A minor Concerto by Viotti is my very special passion. It is a splendid piece with a remarkable freedom of invention: it sounds as if he were fantasizing, and everything has been designed and executed with such mastery …" Already during his lifetime Viotti was regarded as one of the most brilliant violin virtuosos, and his violin concertos also enjoyed special renown. As a composer Viotti brings in the schemes of the Italian School but also weaves in romantic motifs far ahaead of their times.
For her new recording, entitled Or (light), cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton has devised a two-part narrative, "a series of freeze frames, like incursions into time": first, Couperin's Les leçons de ténèbres or the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. Prophecies are created in the time before. Before destruction and tears: "We hear the prophet's song of lamentation, although the possibility that this might not come to pass still exists." Then comes "our time": "Vivaldi's dramatic power brings us face to face with the present. He says, 'It's here now.'" Sonia has chosen several excerpts from his operas and from two violin concertos. She transcribed most of the pieces in this programme for solo cello or two cellos, two voices that she plays herself. She also imagined bridges to other lights, those of Mahut's percussion and Marius Atherton's electric guitar and MS20 synthesiser.
Parallels - Late Romantic & Contemporary Organ Music / Ffinch
Divine Art
CD
$20.99Mar 01, 2024
Parallels is meticulously curated album that explores the organ’s remarkable breadth and sonority. Featuring three monumental organ works and delightful arrangements of English classics, the collection is a testament to the grandeur and versatility of the instrument.
Florence Price's Suite No. 1, makes its debut commercial recording. This substantial and captivating composition draws inspiration from spirituals, hymns, and pentatonic themes, showcasing a harmonious fusion of jazz influences. The rhythmic drive and themes in the final Toccato pay homage to the engaging Rubrics by Dan Locklair, creating a seamless connection between the featured works. The album's title, Parallels, reflects Florence Price's artistic vision, aiming to convey a heritage through the past while being influenced by contemporary contacts. This intention is beautifully realised in Suite No. 1, where the chromatic harmony reminiscent of Suite Gothique meets the rhythmic vitality of Rubrics. As a nod to the present day, the album includes Alexander's own arrangement of Coldplay's hit single Paradise, seamlessly blending modernity with Price's timeless compositions. Parallels is not just an album; it's a transformative auditory experience that invites listeners to explore the intersections of tradition and innovation on the Harrison and Harrison organ. The past converges with the present in perfect harmony.
The surprise appearances of music not typically associated with the organ successfully adds an element of excitement and discovery. The album also features splendid organ arrangements of English staples like Elgar's Chanson de Matin and Pomp and Circumstance, further showcasing the instrument's versatility. "Parallels" is an invitation to discover the intersections of tradition and innovation, a celebration of timeless compositions, and a showcase of the capabilities of Cheltenham College Chapel’s Harrison and Harrison organ. This album also celebrates the 150th anniversary of Gustav Holst’s birth with the inclusion of Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity fromThe Planets Op. 32 arranged by Thomas Trotter.
Alexander Ffinch has established himself as a renowned organist with performances spanning the UK, Europe, USA, and Asia. Notable for his role as the College Organist at Cheltenham College since 2004, Alexander oversees daily organ performances in the College Chapel and accompanies choirs while maintaining an active schedule as a recitalist, featuring prominently in events like the Cheltenham International Music Festival and BBC Radio 3 broadcasts. His 2019 album, "Transformations" (DDA 25193), received critical acclaim.
Unlike his namesake Harry, Cypriani Potter did not learn his craft at Hogwarts, but with renowned British composers and then put the finishing touches to his music in Vienna - above all with Ludwig van Beethoven, who undoubtedly taught him some particularly effective tricks. In any case, there is an unmistakable magic in his works: at times it is delightful melodies, at others dramatic energy build-ups or rhythmically urgent episodes that give his music such an appeal that it is worth recording all of his surviving symphonies (nine, after all) and garnishing them with a few smaller pieces - in the present program, for example, with the Overture to Shakespeare's Tempest and with the original Concertante for piano and four strings on the popular theme La Follia, which Potter animates to a veritable outburst of temperament.
Helmut Lachenmann, who celebrates his 90th birthday in the music year of 2025, has composed several milestones in contemporary classical music. Sir Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra are dedicating themselves to some of these exceptional works. In his tuba concerto Harmonica, Helmut Lachenmann explores the limits of sound - with music that oscillates between eruption and silence, by means of "strictly constructed denial" (Lachenmann) and by deliberately disrupting the familiar, and eludes socially preformed listening expectations. This appeal to the audience's self-awareness remains as relevant as ever. The soloist is Stefan Tischler, principal tuba player of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the live recording with the BRSO conducted by Sir Simon Rattle was made on March 22, 2025. Klangschatten - mein Saitenspiel by Helmut Lachenmann deals with the "verso" of sound, it's suppressed and "unwelcome" components. The spectrum here ranges from toneless or muffled sounds to differently coloured noise and clear tones. Lachenmann himself described the piece as " an offer of expressive intensity that reflects the bourgeois longing for beauty and seeks to fulfil it, that is, to overcome it." The work was performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Matthias Herrmann on May 23, 2025 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Helmut Lachenmann, born in Stuttgart in 1935, is one of the most renowned German composers of contemporary music. He studied piano, music theory and counterpoint in Stuttgart and composition with Luigi Nono in Venice. The first public performances of his works took place in 1962 at the Venice Biennale and at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. He taught composition in Hanover (1976-1981) and in Stuttgart (1981-1999), and has given numerous master classes in Germany and abroad. His works are performed by internationally renowned players and orchestras all over the world. Helmut Lachenmann has received numerous awards, including the German Music Authors' Prize of GEMA (2015) for his lifetime achievements and, most recently, for his compositional work, the 'President of the French Republic Prize' from the Academie Charles Cros (2025).
de Falla, Mussorgsky, Ravel & Scriabin: Intrigues of the Dar
Channel Classics
CD
$20.99Sep 06, 2024
Anna Fedorova explores the Intrigues of the Darkness in these programmatic and extremely virtuosic works for solo piano. The journey from darkness to light begins with Scriabin's terrifying "Black Mass" Sonata. The work represents a satanic ritual that is possessed by the spectre of the Mephistophelian Liszt. de Falla's Suite from El Amor brujo conjures a mysterious world, full of magic, rituals and ghost visitations. Ravel described his Gaspard de la nuit as "romantic and of transcendent virtuosity". These highly evocative pieces are based on Aloysius Bertrand's prose poems depicting scenes of a hanged man sighing on the gallows and a devilish dwarf. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition portrays many scenes of darkness but emerges into light with the Great Gate of Kiev, in which triumphant episodes alternate with moments of religious contemplation.
Following the departure (of his own accord) of it's founder Damien Guillon, Le Banquet Céleste has reinvented itself as a collective of musicians and singers, all committed to continuing to explore the Baroque repertoire with the stylistic rigour that has established the ensemble's reputation. For this first recording by the "new" Banquet, Bach is in the spotlight, with Cantatas BWV 85 and 115 featuring violoncello piccolo obbligato: "Smaller in size, the violoncello piccolo has a truly special timbre that can be grave and passionate, but also wiry and sensitive. In the arias where it engages in concertante dialogue with the vocal soloist, it most often embodies the voice of tenderness and consolation, and the confident promise of the hereafter," writes musicologist Corinne Schneider. The Sixth Suite for Cello, BWV 1012, completes the programme: "Radiant and joyful, it sounds like a deliverance, in perfect accord with the themes developed in these two cantatas," she concludes. Céline Scheen, Alexander Chance, Thomas Hobbs and Benoît Arnould are the vocal soloists, and Julien Barre plays the piccolo cello.
Musica viva KALITZKE AND FERRARI Johannes Kalitzke: Zeitkapsel - Totentanz fur großes Orchester ("Time Capsule - Dance of Death for large orchestra") Luc Ferrari: Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation ("A Story of Pleasure and Desolation") On November 10, 2023, Johannes Kalitzke presented himself in a double role as conductor and composer ("the one makes you want the other") in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz with the world premiere of his Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra ("Time Capsule - Dance of Death for large orchestra"), commissioned by musica viva, as well as with Luc Ferrari's Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation, a sonic search for "new sensuality". - Both compositions can be experienced in this CD live recording of the musica viva concert. Johannes Kalitzke (born 1959) is a renowned German conductor and composer. Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra was commissioned by Bavarian Radio's musica viva in 2022-2023. The world premiere documented on this CD took place on November 10, 2023 in Munich. Sebastian Schottke was responsible for the sound direction. Representing time capsules in the material sense, the orchestral piece contains musical artifacts from different times and cultures that were rediscovered at a later date and that characterise the sonic context of the piece, above all the first ever acoustic recording in history: a recording of sound waves on wax paper from 1860. Fragments of it can be heard at the end of the piece, like a revelation. Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation for orchestra by Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was written in 1979-1981 as a Radio France commission for the Orchestre National de France, and was premiered in Paris in 1982 by that orchestra under the direction of Michael Luig. Orchestral music is not necessarily what one associates with the name Luc Ferrari. The composer, who died young, became known primarily as an exponent of musique concrete, opening up new creative paths in his use of tape technology. His sonic quest leads from the promising opening movement Harmonie du diable to the double-edged nature of pleasure (Plaisir-Desir), only to fail brilliantly with the "rupture of all logic" in the final Ronde de la desolation. ? Johannes Kalitzke conducts the world premiere of his orchestral piece Zeitkapsel - Totentanz for large orchestra; live recording from the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz as part of Bavarian Radio's musica viva concert series ? He also conducts the impressive and rarely performed orchestral piece Histoire du Plaisir et de la Desolation by the French composer and sound artist Luc Ferrari ? The conductor and composer Kalitzke conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
Following her acclaimed debut Diaries, pianist Tiffany Poon returns with Nature, an album that explores the evocative power of French music in capturing the beauty of the natural world from the delicate shimmer of water to the quiet mysteries of the forest and the animals found within. Nature, which Tiffany recorded at legendary Provence recording studio Miraval Studios (Pink Floyd, Sade, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) with producer Damien Quintard, brings together works by French composers across centuries, united by an instinctual admiration for the world around them. Guided by intuition and deep personal connection, Tiffany's curated selection featuring pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Rameau and Daquin, moves beyond the structured rigor of Germanic tradition into the fluid, sensuous soundscapes of the French repertoire. Inspired by Rameau's belief that music is rooted in nature itself, she curates a program reflecting her love of animals, woods, and water - translating them into vivid musical expressions. Nature is a testament to music's ability to mirror the natural world, inviting listeners to embrace it's beauty with instinct and abandon.
A re-release of his critically accalaimed recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach´s Secular Cantatas. Recordings from 1994 - 2000, part of the project The Complete Bach on 172 CDs. hänssler CLASSIC is proud to present Helmuth Rilling's landmark recording of the Secular Cantatas in a new collector's edition. Rilling was the first conductor to ever record the complete Bach cantatas and still, 25 years after they were first released in celebration of the Bach tercentennial in 1985, they remain the standard by which all other interpretations are judged. This box set includes timeless performances featuring many of Europe's finest singers at the height of their careers.
