The Voce Quartet's first two recordings, devoted to Schubert and then Beethoven, were released to praise from critics such as Telerama and The Strad. This eclectic, innovative quartet is now celebrating it's tenth anniversary by tackling string quintets of Mozart and Brahms. The Brahms quintet, both brilliant and highly moving, recalls some of the composer's best-known themes. Violist Lise Berthaud is called upon to round out the quintet.

Late-Romantic German composer Friedrich Gernsheim was acknowledged by Brahms as a master composer, despite his music falling into obscurity. Gernsheim’s Piano Quintet No. 2, featured on this release, is a fantastic example of the composer’s multi-genre output. The Gernsheim quintet is paired with Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor. Pianist Reiko Uchida performs these works with grace and drama.

A collection of compositions by some of the great piano virtuosos of all time, Evgeni Bozhanov follows in the footsteps of Chopin, Schubert, Debussy, Scriabin and Liszt with this inspirational and personal performance Live in Warsaw. Truly internalizing the music, Bozhanov illustrates that internal conception becomes both more complex and clearer with time, emerging into a statement that is relevant to him.

Even though the merits of Debussy’s music can be appreciated most fully in his orchestral and vocal compositions, works for piano occupy an important place in his output. His pieces for piano solo are mainly small, chamber forms, of which the present CD features three cycles. Pianist Piotr Machnik, prizewinner of numerous national and international piano competitions, has embarked on many foreign recital and concert tours that have taken him to Japan, Turkey, Kuwait and across Europe. He also pursues a teaching career as a member of faculty at Kraków Music Academy, his alma mater, since 2008.

The most fun part of my job is figuring out what to play live. There's an infinite choice of immense, immortal music and I always try and design concert programs a bit like a set list for the audience. For this compilation (of my personal recordings from the last six years) I wanted to carry on in that vein and so I've made it a mix tape - these are the pieces that come up in my head unwarranted at 4am to get me through another rotten night of insomnia. These are the ones that always give me hope and a reason to hang on in there - because if music like this can exist then there is simply no question that the good outweighs the bad. They are my inside tracks. James Rhodes, 2015

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 3 in C, Op. 2/3 1. RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales 1. CHOPIN Nocturne in D?, Op. 27/2 1. Ballade No. 1 in g, Op. 23 1. Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22 2 • Artur Rubinstein (pn) • ICA 5095 (73:00) Live: London 3/17/1963 1 and 10/6/1959 2


If ever there were a pianist who could be considered the aristocrat of the instrument for the 20th century it would surely be Artur Rubinstein, so full of intelligence, nobility, and remarkable simplicity are his interpretations. He was, above all else, a direct communicator of ideas. Throughout his career he always played to the audience, making them feel part of the show, of the whole experience itself; they in turn loved him for it. And though he was not always the most secure technician (in terms of playing the correct notes, not in terms of his overall musical interpretations) he is in especially fine form here.


His direct approach to the music can be witnessed from the very beginning of the recital. Rubinstein’s Beethoven was always interesting to me depending on the particular repertoire he was approaching—his recordings of the “Appassionata” Piano Sonata or the Fourth Piano Concerto are some of the pinnacles of the recorded performances that have been bequeathed to us in the 20th century. His Beethoven Third Sonata is good—it is straightforward; he has little fluctuation of tempo (though the forte outburst in the first movement at 0:25 does push it a bit); his articulation is crisp when required, and he brings a fine joie de vivre in this bright, but not always sunny C-Major work. There is something lacking for me, though—a tension, a drama that I find inherent in this work. Everything here is just too smooth. In Rubinstein’s Ravel there is a tinge (but just a tinge!) of the percussive quality of a Prokofiev: One can almost see Rubinstein’s grin as he lets the rest of us in on what he knows to be Ravel’s true intentions in this work. Too often are these waltzes performed in a flowery manner. The pianist’s approach is subtle in his carefully calculated tonal shadings and in his elegant way of always maintaining the sense of the beat, of the dance, which inspired one of this composer’s loveliest creations. Rubinstein is in especially fine form in Chopin—his composer. The D?-Major Nocturne is the crowning jewel in this recital: Once again everything that makes a Rubinstein performance special is in evidence here, from the continuous flow of the accompaniment to the way in which he approaches each and every phrase, from the highly lyrical to the highly ornamented. Anyone who questions Rubinstein’s mechanism needs to behold the ease in which he plays each and every note in the rapid flourishes that pervade this work. Not only are all of the individual notes crystal clear, each also has a beautiful ringing tone. The G-Minor Ballade was one of the pianist’s favorite works and he is in spectacular form here. He captures that wonderful sense of the narrative—not only can he make the piano sing, he can make it speak. Unfortunately there is an issue here. A sound anomaly mars this otherwise fantastic recording at around 8:30. The Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise act as encores, coming from a much earlier recital. Here too Rubinstein’s magical qualities come out in the ease in which he projects the gentleness of the nocturne-like introduction and the elegance of the dance that follows. It is not the most dynamic reading of the Polonaise I know, but it is powerful nonetheless.


The sound throughout the recording is fine given its vintage (other than the aforementioned issue in the Ballade). What is most remarkable about Rubinstein for me is his naturalness—there seems to be not even a strand of the eccentric in his playing. His Chopin will always remain a favorite because of its elegance, its straightforwardness, and its rejection of the picture of the composer as a frail and meek individual. His Chopin is timeless. His Ravel too is fascinating. In his hands the music retains its modern aura. This is one disc that you’ll be sure to want in your collection; I’m all too happy to make it part of mine.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

The violist and conductor, Rudolf Barshai is considered one of the great Russian musicians of the 20th century and his emigration to the West allowed for greater global exposure and marked a second chapter to his creative life. On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his death, this monumental 20 CD box set is a unique homage to the legacy of Barshai featuring never-before-published radio and studio recordings along with live concerts from 1951 to 2012, many of his viola recordings along with his famous Mahler Symphony Nr. 10 with an ending scored by Barshai, and much much more. Also including a 49 page booklet of rare photographs and accompanying essays.

Heinrich von Herzogenberg dedicated these three quartets to Brahms, his friend and musical idol.

The first quartet in G minor is by far the most satisfying. There’s a delightful air of lilting melancholy wafting through the first movement, and although the formal structure is daringly expansive, Herzogenberg manages to mold his wealth of ideas into a reasonably coherent whole. The slow movement is a series of variations on a theme that seems dully predictable at first but is relieved by an accretion of increasingly inventive detail. A tuneful and metrically playful scherzo is followed by a high-spirited, folk-inflected finale that’s only slightly blemished by an overlong coda.

There are charming moments in the two other quartets of the set, though these come fewer and farther between. But just when your patience could begin to wear thin, there’s a delicious dab of instrumental color, or a demonstration of contrapuntal legerdemain that reminds you of Herzogenberg’s worth.

– Gramophone

Simply a wonderful collection of Romantic works written or arranged for flute and piano, performed by top British duo Smith & Rhodes; this collection should appeal to flute connoisseurs and avid music fans but also is absolutely perfect for the casual listener or for accompaniment to an intimate party or soiree.. and definitely has potential to be a good item for the more general public. Most of the tracks were first issued on ASV on a number of albums and have been re-compile into this collection with some new additions.

The two-compositions featured here, the Trio, op. 8 and the Sonata, op. 65, rank among the very few chamber music pieces Chopin left behind. Whilst predominantly piano-focused, those few occasions when Chopin did explore other idioms always prominently featured the cello, so naturally this disc is a feast of musical riches for young cellist Johannes Moser. The needed ability to draw out every emotion and nuance from these works, from the noble to the pathetic, from soaring lyricism to sober solemnity, are known and admired characteristics of Mr. Moser and his esteemed ensemble partners.