Rudolf Serkin Live, Vol. 2 / Serkin, Rudolf, Boston Symphony
Doremi
CD
$62.99May 13, 2022
A New Yorker review about Rudolf Serkin from 2017 states: “his performances… reflect his sense of titanic struggle to realize the ideas and emotions that he found in the words that he played. He bypassed the surface sheen of ingratiating sounds to render the beauty of that struggle; his piano tone is itself the sound of struggle filled with the meeting of metal and wood and evoking spiritual exaltation through physical and intellectual exertion.” Rudolf Serkin was born in 1903 Bohemia. His musical gifts emerged early, and he made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at 12. His European career extended throughout the 20s and 30s. He first played in the United States in 1933, and three years later appeared with the New York Philharmonic under Toscanini, eventually performing with them over 100 times. Rudolf Serkin became one of the most admired pianists of the 20th century. He performed and recorded extensively with the top international orchestras and conductors. This is the second volume in our Rudolf Serkin Live series.
In her new album, Maria Lettberg takes a musical journey through the countries of the European Union. She has curated a selected work for piano from each of the respective countries, regardless of the period or style. All the major styles of classical music are represented in this collection: from the Renaissance, Baroque and Viennese classical periods to Romanticism, Late Romanticism, Impressionism, 20th-century music, minimalism and neoclassicism. Each piece from the 27 countries has it's own fascinating characteristics, and together they paint a multi-layered picture of the European Union.
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 / Wührer, Davisson, Stuttgart Pro Musica Orchestra
Vox
CD
$19.99May 26, 2023
Friedrich Wührer was appointed Professor at the Vienna Academy of Music at the age of 28 but he did not confine his activities to teaching. He soon became increasingly active as a concert pianist. His concert tours led him to most countries in Europe, and earned him the reputation as one of the finest keyboard artists of his time.
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 7, 8, & 12 / Cascioli
Arcana
CD
$20.99Feb 16, 2024
Beethoven’s music has always lain at the heart of Gianluca Cascioli’s research into interpretation. What distinguishes the present work is above all the choice of instrument: a fortepiano modelled on an 1805 Anton Walter built by Paul McNulty, an instrument equipped with both a moderator and the una corda stop, like the one that Beethoven asked the same builder to make in 1802. The recording is in fact dedicated to works composed and published between the years 1796 and 1802.
The interest in historical performance practices and original sources, which has increasingly become a defining mark of Cascioli’s performances, is another evident characteristic of this new recording, which features, among other things, arpeggiated chords, embellishments, ornamented fermatas and the use of rubato. All decisions on such matters, however, are always firmly founded on the sources, methods and treatises of Beethoven’s own day, as the artist himself explains in the interview included in the liner notes. Cascioli has now arrived at his twelfth recording of works by the great composer – the first for Arcana, after many issued on distinguished labels like Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (200th Anniversary, transcribed by
Idil Biret Archive
Vinyl
$74.99Jan 03, 2025
During the 200th anniversary of the first performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, in 2024, IBA is releasing a commemorative limited edition on LP, Idil Biret's performance of the symphony as transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt, originally recorded for EMI and published in a box set of 6LPs with all nine symphonies in 1986. The Choral Fantasy for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus, considered a precursor to the 9th Symphony, is also included in the set.
Beethoven: Moonlight, Tempest & Waldstein Piano Sonatas
Willowhayne Records - Label
CD
$21.99Aug 02, 2024
Celebrated pianist-composer Julian Jacobson, acclaimed for the colour, vitality and insight he brings to his performances, presents three of Beethoven's most iconic piano sonatas in this recording. Julian is well know for his Beethoven "marathons", performing all 32 of his sonatas from memory in a day, most recently in November 2022 in celebration of his 75th birthday. "It soon became clear that the pianist's mastery of Beethoven's idiom was such he could easily have improvised himself out of any momentary difficulty" was how one critic described one of his marathon performances.
Pianist Helen Davies is the daughter of a Bohemian mother and Anglo-German father and her family has always been acutely aware of their European heritage. Connections was conceived during the COVID-19 UK lockdown in March 2020. Much of the music on this recording was created by German composers, hence the decision to focus on that link, recording music which they felt connected them back to some of their familial roots. Music is an international language, unaffected by boundaries and this is celebrated in this recording. The inclusion of the little Rondo by the British composer Arnold Cooke embodies this continental link: Cooke studied composition with the German composer Paul Hindemith who had a strong influence on his style and whose musical language can be clearly heard in Cooke's short composition. In keeping with the connections theme, Laurence Davies uses a German horn, an Alexander model 103 made in Mainz for this recording.
Henryk Szeryng: The Unreleased Berlin Studio Recordings
The Lost Recordings
CD
$26.99May 20, 2022
The first release on any format of Szeryng's recording in Berlin during the years 1962-1963* at which time Szeryng was at the peak of his technical and intellectual capacities. All tracks have been remastered from the original Berlin radio tapes using Phoenix Mastering, a unique restoration process developed over 2 years by The Lost Recordings and Devialet teams.
Henryk Szeryng: "Johann Sebastian Bach's work is a Bible. Bach is the ultimate goal; this is where everything starts and everything ends. His music brings you closer to your own spirit," What could more eloquently express the violinist's relationship with Bach, developed from an early age? Szeryng keep up his intimate association of Bach throughout his life. Szeryng's deft finger work brings out the full brilliance of the Partita's clarity and joy. His energy, his attacks, his remarkably precise bowing and generous timbre once more bear testimony to the depth and intensity of his lifelong attachment to Bach.
Throughout the innumerable meanderings of this Sonata for Violin and Piano in which Franck breathes new life into the genre, Henryk Szeryng has wrought a miracle. With his natural, dynamic interpretation, the warmth of his emotion-filled timbre, and the ringing clarity of his articulation and intonations, he does perfect justice to a work that is constantly balancing between sensual melodies and formal experimentation.
Henryk Szeryng masters the most demanding technical difficulties while rendering the subtlest effects of Ravel's writing. His generous timbre and pure phrasing, which have led some to compare him to "pure essence of rose", are superb in this highlight of the repertoire. Ravel, entranced by the flights of tzigane music, has bequeathed us one of his most captivating works. Szeryng's performance makes his intimacy with Beethoven manifest. The energy of his interpretation of the sonata nevertheless captures the finest details of the drama of the works.
* CD2, Track 9 recorded 1982. All tracks remastered 2022.
After listening for a while (to orchestral music on the radio) Idil would detect the main melody and then play it on the piano with one finger. Afterwards, when she reached the age of four, she would play these with two hands and with the correct harmony. Bach preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier, for example, which even the talented musicians took considerable time to study and memorise, were mastered by Idil in only a few days after listening once or twice, after which she would play these without a single wrong note. (Leman Biret, 1988)
The present collection commemorates the long-standing cooperation between Gary Bertini, born in today’s Republic of Moldova, and the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, beginning in 1978 with Hector Berlioz’ 'Symphonie fantastique'. Their last recording featured on this box was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor, performed in 1996 in Tokyo. Bertini conducted several Israeli orchestras for many years. Even though he had never wanted to set foot in Germany, he was convinced to travel to Hamburg by the offer to conduct the 1971 premiere of the opera Ashmedai by Josef Tal. He later became chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, then director and highest-ranking conductor at the Frankfurt opera and in 1998 went on to serve as artistic director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
With his second disc Cristian Sandrin enters a ruthless competition: Beethoven's last three Sonatas. He does it with his modesty and humility - and with his individual (if not unique) sensibility and vision. A new version of these masterpieces that is not a standard addition to the catalogue, but a very personal view of a mature artist. Under the sister label Antarctica, Cristian already released a concept disc with music by Enescu, Scott and Ravel - Correpsondances - unanimously acclaimed by international specialized media.
For their latest project on BIS, the Wigmore Soloists perform two works with unusual instrumentation: Beethoven’s and Berwald’s septets for violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon and horn.
If the young Beethoven did not aspire to profundity in his own Septet, he nevertheless managed to create a fine balance between light-heartedness and substance. In the tradition of serenade, this work in six movements represents Beethoven at his most warmhearted and relaxed, yet his compositional craft and subtlety are typically sharp. As the septet achieved such fame during his lifetime, Beethoven eventually became irritated by its popularity, which he said overshadowed more mature works.
Best known for his symphonies, Swedish composer Franz Berwald also composed a septet that is in no way imitative of Beethoven’s. Berwald had his own voice and his own musical expression, and his artful handling of the wind instruments deserves praises. Thanks to its attractive transparency, Berwald’s Septet consistently exudes freshness thanks to its endearing musical humor and ranks as the finest of his chamber compositions.
REVIEW:
I know the Wigmore Soloists from their very fine 2021 recording of an undisputed masterpiece, Schubert’s Octet. Here they navigate the tricky line between popular and erudite music, and come up with the perfect compromise. Their Beethoven Septet is, quite properly, not treated as the Eroica, but neither is it tossed off with little regard for its true merits. The result is, I think, as fine a Beethoven Septet as I’ve heard.
Franz Berwald’s Septet seems like the perfect pairing for Beethoven’s Septet, since it was written in 1828, the year after Beethoven’s death. But this is, I believe, only the second time the two works have appeared together on one disc; the other was in a 2017 CD from the Uppsala Chamber Soloists. That was a well-played recording, especially the Berwald, but it’s completely outmatched by the new Wigmore Soloists disc. Everything about this new BIS recording is perfectly judged, from the splendid, authentic, joyful performance to the always impeccable BIS engineering, and the fine liner notes by Philip Borg-Wheeler. Very highly recommended.
Moritz Winkelmann, pianist and former student of the legendary Leon Fleisher, has set out to record all of Beethoven's piano sonatas and release them on Berlin Classics. This first album includes some of the most famous and popular sonatas such as the "Moonlight", "Waldstein" and "Pathetique" sonatas. Through his studies with Leon Fleisher, a pedagogical tradition links him directly to Beethoven. His playing is characterized by a fascinating and tremendous expressiveness, delighting critics and listeners alike. One can't get any closer to Beethoven than on these recordings.
With the three piano trios published in 1795, Op. 1, Ludwig van Beethoven took a genre still largely associated with salon music and raised it up to rival the string quartet. In these works Beethoven saw the true start of his creative journey. Likely to have been composed (at least in a preliminary version) before his move from his native Bonn to Haydn and Mozart's Vienna, the Trio in E flat major, Op. 1 No. 1, reveals a composer who, while still drawing inspiration from his illustrious elders, begins to display his own witty personality marked by impish, sometimes tigerish playfulness. Composed about fifteen years later, the two Op. 70 trios 'raise the genre to a level from which the later piano trio literature could move forward' in the words of Beethoven specialist Lewis Lockwood. Indeed, they clearly made a mark on the later trios of Schumann, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The first of them, played here, is the more significant. It's nickname, 'Ghost', refers to it's unsettling central movement characterized by 'horror' writing, displaying a range of chilling effects. The recording concludes with an arrangement by the trio's cellist, Isang Enders, of a catchy and eloquently simple Ukrainian Cossack tune from a collection of Beethoven's folk song arrangements that Schubert would no doubt have loved.
Eroica/Erard - Music of Beethoven, Haydn & Gluck on Piano / Montebugnoli
Evil Penguin
CD
$18.99Feb 09, 2024
The performance is inspired by a significant historical moment, where Beethoven played the"Eroica" Symphony on his Erard Frères piano, evoking the idea of a musical experience so powerful that "Heaven and Earth must shake." Luca Montebugnoli has created a brand-new arrangement of this iconic symphony, tailored for a replica of Beethoven's Erard piano. This unique arrangement offers a fresh perspective on a classical masterpiece.The event contributes to the revival of the often overlooked art of piano arrangement. It showcases the skill of adapting orchestral works for solo piano performance, breathing new life into this artistic tradition.
Since it's foundation in 2005, the Vorarlberg baroque orchestra Concerto Stella Matutina has firmly established itself as one of Austria's leading original sound ensembles. The group is a regular guest at the Kulturbuhne Ambach, where this live recording was made in 2024. In addition to Beethoven's 2nd Symphony, three concert arias by Mozart for bass voice were performed, which, in contrast to the concert arias for soprano, are unfortunately heard far too rarely in concert. The aria Per questa bella mano KV 612 also surprises with a solo double bass.
The German Music Competition has helped many great musicians launch their careers: German violinist Anne Luisa Kramb won the competition in 2022 and is now releasing the debut CD accompanying her victory on GENUIN. This release offers a cross-section of her work and documents the high musical skill of the young musician. The track list includes a solo sonata by Paul Hindemith, Ludwig van Beethoven's famous "Spring Sonata," Henryk Wieniawski's devilishly heavy and melodic "Faust Fantasy" after Gounod, and a waltz sequence from "Der Rosenkavalier", ravishingly arranged by Czech violinist Váša Príhoda. The equal piano partner of Anne Luisa Kramb, who has won several international awards, is Jeonghwan Kim.
A foretaste of the artistic mastery of Beethoven's late work: the "Diabelli Variations" are the last major piano work to embody the pinnacle of Beethoven's variation oeuvre and are considered one of the most extensive and important compositions of this art form. Parallel to the release of the first of a total of three CD boxes with Alfredo Perl's new complete recording of all of Beethoven's piano works, the "Diabelli Variations" are available exclusively on LP.
By popular demand, this Berlin Classics recording is reissued on Vinyl. Featured on it are Beethoven’s Concerto in D Major, originally written for the violin, and Concertante Variations by lesser-known composer Franz Schmidt played by virtuoso pianist Ragna Schirmer and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. Beethovens Concerto in D Major is a testament to his mastery of crafting music and his profound understanding of melody, harmony, and orchestration. Schmidt’s Concertante Variations are a masterpiece of late Romantic variation writing that not only allows the pianist ample scope for virtuosic display but is also remarkable for its sophisticated formal conception.
