Extase is the new concept album by pianist Mario Haring. It is an unusual piano program with special guests that captures the energetic format of a party weekend in Berlin. It draws parallels and reconciles romantic indulgence with the mechanics of the modern age. Virtuosity meets sensitivity and makes for a fantastic and diverse musical journey. This album inspires. It offers the opportunity to open up to complex compositions and to unleash new levels of consciousness, far removed from the mundane, through devotion to music.
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Extase
$21.99
$16.99
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Berlin Classics
Mar 15, 2024
0303269BC
Pilgrimage
Naïve
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$16.99
$12.99
Apr 04, 2025
Trained in Kyiv, his hometown, then in Austria where he lives today, Dmytro Choni - Bronze Medalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn, Gold Medalist at the Santander Paloma O'Shea in 2018 - imagines for his recording debut with naive an ingenious and mischievous dialogue between Paradise and Hell, in direct echo to the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, the essential poet of the late Italian Middle Ages, who was a strong influence on a Romanticism that was looking for it's roots. The luminous pieces, with soothing melodies, will embody Paradise. The first opus of his compatriot Valentyn Silvestrov, whose aesthetic recalls the quiet beauty of Kyiv, the calm Bagatelles open the present journey in elegiac tones, even if here and there, as in the moving Moderato median, some beginnings of a coming anxiety emerge. The terrifying darkness will burst forth from the incipit of Apres une lecture de Dante (Liszt), where Choni becomes the devil himself. In this fantasia quasi sonata, hell is a tragic whirlwind, and the passionate impulses transcribe the unhappy passion of Paolo and Francesca. Then a new, devastating contrast. The centrepiece of the second part of Debussy's Images for piano, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, introduce another Paradise, where Orient meet ancient Greece, both dreamed and fantasised; the French composer captures in the very sounds of the Balinese gamelan our sense of wonder when looking at ancient temples. The culmination point of the program, L'Isle Joyeuse, speaks more of the joy linked to budding love. In this highly virtuosic piece inspired by Watteau (Embarquement pour Cythere, 1718), just as much a fictional reduction of a ballet with orchestra, Debussy achieves a unique sensual energy, truly erotic. Gargoyles (like the grimacing stone figures of the cathedrals) then revive the evil spirits, in a slightly percussive style that evokes Prokofiev and even more the Sonatas of Roger Sessions (1896-1985). The American composer Lowell Liebermann here links together four short, highly expressive pieces, where the sarcasm of the introduction (Presto) or the final Presto feroce coexists with the ether in the Allegro moderato. The gentle limpidity of Silvestrov's Postludium finally ends this program where Dmytro Choni, with his ever-lively and incisive fingers, becomes above all, like Charon on the Styx, a ferryman "between the worlds".
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Pilgrimage
$16.99
$12.99
CD
Naïve
Apr 04, 2025
V8671
Liszt: Complete Piano Music Vol 13 / Jenö Jandó
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Aug 01, 1999
Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 13: Hungarian Rhapsodies, V
Liszt: Complete Piano Music Vol 13 / Jenö Jandó
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Aug 01, 1999
8554481
Reflections - Works for Solo Piano / Kluser
Ars Produktion
Available as
SACD
$23.99
$17.99
Feb 16, 2024
I have always been fascinated by musical settings of literature. This is the background to this project. Transcriptions of literary or musical models are also a favourite topic of discussion with my concert audiences.
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Reflections - Works for Solo Piano / Kluser
$23.99
$17.99
SACD
Ars Produktion
Feb 16, 2024
ARS38362
Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 18: Beethoven Symphonies No
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
Jul 01, 2002
Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 18: Beethoven Symphonies No
Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 18: Beethoven Symphonies No
$19.99
CD
Naxos
Jul 01, 2002
8555354
Virtus
La Dolce Volta
Available as
CD
$20.99
$15.99
Mar 14, 2025
The unsuspected summits of virtuosity Playing fast and loud... Letting the rapidity of your fingers go to your head... Is this really the definition of virtuosity? Virtuosity has it's origins in 'virtue'; a set of moral qualities, before evolving into something purely technical. By choosing works by Brahms, Mozart, and Liszt, Michel Dalberto will take us on the lengthy journey towards an increased understanding of these pieces. The difficulty of performing them is just one of the ways in which the texts take on their full meaning. So that the scores can reveal the full genius of their creator. Their humanity.
I have devoted this most recent recording to dance. The pieces that I perform here are all linked to the art of dance from different eras and different cultures. Throughout history and in most people's perception, dance has always been a source of entertainment and joy, but it can also represent more sombre occasions, with pomp and grandeur. The Chaconne, for example, has become both tragic and sublime over time and today it's rhythm has mellowed! Chopin's Mazurkas can be rustic and folkloric, haunting or lyrical, even dramatic. In short, dance can express diametric opposites and unite those opposites at the same time. That's why I also want to pay homage to Shiva's dance, for this god, the symbol of destruction, illusion and ignorance, destroys in order to awaken human beings and lead them to create a new world. Shiva's divine dance, Tandava Nritya, is regarded by Hinduism as the origin of the cycle of creation, preservation and devastation. Vagharshapat Dance is based upon a melody from 'Yerangi' found in "Six Dances for Piano" (1906) by the legendary Armenian composer Komitas (1869?935). Vagharshapat is the location of Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the fourth largest city in Armenia located 11 miles west of Yerevan. My recording ends with Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", in an arrangement of my own. The duality of this piece's character is obvious, as while the sabers suggest the idea of death, the dance becomes a 'living dance? one that enchants us or, a dance that comes alive. I hope that the current times of wars, destruction and social upheaval will soon be replaced by peace and the joy that comes with it, and I hope that this recording brings a form of respite and quietude and with it lightness, joy and happiness. Vardan Mamikonian "Vardan Mamikonian demonstrates a technique that combines power and poetry... and flashes of interpretive genius." New York Times Vardan Mamikonian has come to the attention of the international press and public thanks to his prestigious technique and extraordinary musicality. He has performed in the United States with such renowned orchestras as the Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, Pacific, Houston and National Symphonies, as well as with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He is a guest at major international festivals such as Verbier and St. Moritz in Switzerland, Ravinia in the USA, La Roque d'Antheron in France, the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival in Germany, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. He gives recitals in some of the world's most prestigious music venues: Musikverein Vienna, Carnegie Hall New York, Theatre des Champs-elysees Paris, Herkulessaal Munich, Wigmore Hall London, Tonhalle Zurich, Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco and Kennedy Center Washington, to name but a few. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians, Vardan Mamikonian began studying piano at the Spendiarian School of Music in his hometown, under Arkui Haroutunian. He continued his studies at the Moscow Central Music School and the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Valery Kastelsky, one of the last proteges of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. He then went on to perfect his skills at the Piano Academy in Imola, Italy, under the guidance of Lazar Berman. In 1991, Vardan moved to Paris, and in 1992, he won the World Music Masters Competition in Monte Carlo, reserved exclusively for winners of international competitions. Vardan Mamikonian has taken part in numerous recordings for radio and television, as well as for the German label Orfeo. Several of his recordings have been praised by the international press.
The German radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk Kultur, the German Music Council, and GENUIN once again jointly present the debut CD of a promising young musician: organist Aurel Dawidiuk is the winner of the 2022 German Music Competition in the organ category. His stellar career, however, goes far beyond that, as Dawidiuk is also celebrating his first international successes as a pianist and conductor. Exploring the theme of B-A-C-H in his organ debut, the major organ works assembled here span three centuries and include music by Johann Sebastian Bach himself, Johann Krebs, Franz Liszt, Zsigmond Szathmáry, and Max Reger – a rich diversity of music covering a wide range of styles!
The critically acclaimed Invencia Piano Duo make their Divine Art debut with Dualities, a dazzling album that expands the possibilities of the piano duet and duo repertoire. Drawing on their virtuosity and innovative spirit, the duo explores works that transcend the boundaries of traditional solo piano, delivering arrangements that demand the synergy of four hands. Highlights of the album include Andrey Kasparov's stunning arrangements of Liszt's Totentanz, Ravel's La valse, Scriabin's Vers la flamme, and Albeniz's Triana. These beloved solo pieces are reimagined with breathtaking scope and texture, demonstrating the Invencia Piano Duo's interpretive depth. The album also features two original compositions by Kasparov: Fantasy on Lutheran Chorales and Cadenza for LvB. These works showcase the duo's mastery of both performance and composition, taking full advantage of the dynamic and expressive potential of four-hand piano playing. Founded by Andrey Kasparov and Oksana Lutsyshyn, the Invencia Piano Duo bring a wealth of experience and accolades to their performances. Educated at the Moscow State Conservatory and later at Indiana University's School of Music, the duo has won international recognition for their compelling interpretations and bold programming. Both artists are esteemed faculty members at Old Dominion University in Virginia and serve as artistic co-directors of the Norfolk Chamber Consort. Their individual achievements are equally impressive. Lutsyshyn, a prizewinner at the William Kapell International Piano Competition, made her Carnegie Hall debut following her success. Kasparov, winner of the Albert Roussel Prize, has premiered significant works such as Bartok's revised Piano Concerto No. 3 and earned recognition as a composer of published and recorded works. The Invencia Piano Duo's discography includes a celebrated four-volume series of Florent Schmitt's piano duet works on Grand Piano Records, as well as albums for Albany and Naxos. With Dualities, they continue to push artistic boundaries, presenting an arresting collection that redefines the piano duo repertoire. This album is an essential addition for lovers of virtuosic piano music, blending brilliance, originality, and deep musicality in a singular listening experience.
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Invencia Piano Duo - Dualities
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$14.99
CD
Divine Art
Mar 07, 2025
DDX21122
Ferruccio Busoni & His Muses
Bridge Records
Available as
CD
$16.99
$12.99
Jan 03, 2025
Ferruccio Busoni's most significant musical role models include Bach, Mozart, and Liszt. These three muses informed his mature compositional style, which melded Bachian counterpoint, Mozartian clarity, and Lisztian virtuosity alongside Busoni's penchant for experimentation. The music on Jiayan Sun's new album reveals the diverse ways Busoni responded to these muses, ranging from transcription and arrangement to original composition. Pianist Jiayan Sun, was praised by the New York Times for his "revelatory" performances, and by the Toronto Star for his "technically flawless, poetically inspired and immensely assured playing".
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Ferruccio Busoni & His Muses
$16.99
$12.99
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Bridge Records
Jan 03, 2025
BCD9610
Cloches et Carillons / Roelcke
Toccata
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CD
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$15.99
Sep 16, 2022
The piano is perhaps better suited than any other instrument to evoke the sound of bells – evening bells, bells of farewell and of joy, funereal bells, bells with spiritual overtones – and late-Romantic and twentieth-century French and Russian composers in particular have responded to the challenge of capturing those sonorities at the keyboard. This recital explores three centuries of pianistic tintinnabulation, and its ability to capture atmosphere and emotion. In her work, Irmela Roelcke combines concerts with teaching, practicing with reflecting and communicating music. She develops innovative concepts and dramaturgically profiled programs.
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Cloches et Carillons / Roelcke
$20.99
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CD
Toccata
Sep 16, 2022
TOCN0020
Jaëll: Pièces Pour Piano / Goergen
Haenssler Classic
Available as
CD
$20.99
$10.49
Mar 01, 2024
Discovery: In 1870, Marie Jaëll takes composition lessons with César Franck and Camille Saint-Saëns at the Paris Conservatoire. Franz Liszt became her advisor and supporter. He publishes her works and plays them in concert, writing: "A man's name above her music, and she would be on all pianos".
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Jaëll: Pièces Pour Piano / Goergen
$20.99
$10.49
CD
Haenssler Classic
Mar 01, 2024
HC24004
Shostakovich & Liszt / Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Ondine
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CD
$18.99
$14.99
Nov 13, 2015
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's fourth release on Ondine features a program of rarely recorded sonnets by Dmitri Shostakovich and Franz Liszt. Hvorostovsky is accompanied by his longtime duo partner, the Estonian pianist Ivari Ilja. Shostakovich's sonnets, considered one of the achievements of contemporary Russian vocal music, were composed as his health worsened and are filled with ruminations on mortality. Liszt's sonnets are based on love poems by the Italian Renaissance writer Petrarch. Both Hvorostovsky and Ilja brin great empathy to these compositions, matching the contemplative nature of both with quietly powerful and confident performances.
REVIEW:
Hvorostovsky offers searching readings of Shostakovich's rugged, jagged songs which are full of resignation and bittersweet regret, of loss and separation. There are few things finer than Hvorostovsky in full flight and Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets allow him the chance to open up the Italianate warmth in his baritone, with impassioned accounts, especially of Sonnet 47.
– Gramophone
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Shostakovich & Liszt / Dmitri Hvorostovsky
$18.99
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CD
Ondine
Nov 13, 2015
ODE 1277-2
Liszt: Études D’Exécution Transcendante
Brilliant Classics
Available as
CD
$13.99
Jan 01, 2020
Liszt: Études D’Exécution Transcendante
Liszt: Études D’Exécution Transcendante
$13.99
CD
Brilliant Classics
Jan 01, 2020
BRI94250
Gál: Chamber Music with Piano
CPO
Available as
CD
$18.99
$13.99
Oct 21, 2022
The program of this album offers a varied selection of chamber music with piano written by Hans Gál between 1922 and 1940. Among these, the main work on the album is undoubtedly the Piano Quartet written for the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein. The work consists of four substantial movements, and each of the movements is uniquely melodic; moreover, there are strong contrasts between the two light and airy movements II and IV on the one hand, and the dignified opening movement and delicate Adagio on the other. Richness and variety characterize this most productive period of composer Hans Gál. The rest of the program is of a decidedly lighter character than the Piano Quartet and shows Gál at his most fluid and melodic.
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Gál: Chamber Music with Piano
$18.99
$13.99
CD
CPO
Oct 21, 2022
555276-2
Bach, Liszt, Vasks: Triptychon / Apkalana
Berlin Classics
Available as
CD
$26.99
$20.99
Sep 24, 2021
Having garnered the ultimate accolades from a host of arts review pages for her premiere recording on the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie’s organ and on the double organ of the Taiwanese Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, concert organist Iveta Apkalna now presents her third release on the Berlin Classics label as a triple album. Triptychon spans three centuries and three religious confessions on one single organ: Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt and Peteris Vasks can be heard on this, the first release of a recording played in Neubrandenburg’s Concert Church on the organ which she helped to develop and inaugurated. Apkalna opens the first altar panel with three works by her compatriot and personal friend: alongside Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks is the best known and most often played Baltic composer. “Latvia is Peteris Vasks and Peteris Vasks is Latvia,” explains the organist. “I hear the landscape of Latvia in his music, the far horizons of our flat country, the meadows and forests, birdsong and the sea. Peteris Vasks is undoubtedly a truly Latvian character, though he also breathes the ‘global air’. Otherwise people all around the world would not love his music.” Johann Sebastian Bach is at the heart of Iveta Apkalna’s triptych – just as he is central to the career of any organist. For her, his Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major BWV564, the Trio Sonata in D minor BWV527 and the six Schübler Chorales BWV645–650 represent the greatest possible stylistic, compositional and tonal variety backed up by personal motives. Franz Liszt, who achieved worldwide fame as a travelling virtuoso and visionary composer, was also a formidable organist who, towards the end of his career, took holy orders. His oeuvre too is close to Iveta Apkalna’s heart.
t was billed as a battle of titans. Franz Liszt had invited the leading pianists of his time to compose variations on Bellini's "March of the Huguenots." The international keyboard stars Chopin, Thalberg, Pixis, Czerny, and Herz had agreed to compete, but they never actually performed together in Princess Beliojoso's Paris salon. Claudius Tanski has now recreated this event with his master pupils. Unlike Liszt 175 years ago, he collaborates on equal terms with this circle of brilliant young stars emulating their immortal models with sovereignty and grandeur.
Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Beach et al: Amoroso - Duos for Guitar & Cello / Peña Comas, Lancelle
Ars Produktion
Available as
CD
$20.99
$15.99
Oct 21, 2022
It is difficult to imagine a more touching sound than the gentle voice of a cello accompanied by the sweet tones of a Spanish guitar. In fact, for Nicole Peña Comas and Damien Lancelle, these two instruments sound so amorous together that they require an entire album to express all facets of love: passion, tenderness and lust, the burning desire of new lovers and affection for friends and family. Masterpieces by Tchaikovsky, Liszt or Robert Schumann as well as undiscovered treasures by August Nölck or Amy Beach have been selected and arranged for cello and guitar because they all set love to music.
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Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Beach et al: Amoroso - Duos for Guitar & Cello / Peña Comas, Lancelle
$20.99
$15.99
CD
Ars Produktion
Oct 21, 2022
ARS38620
Elmas: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Ayrapetyan
Grand Piano
Available as
CD
$19.99
$9.99
Oct 14, 2022
Armenian pianist and composer Stephan Elmas was a child prodigy who met Franz Liszt and became closely acquainted with Rubinstein and Massenet. Elmas’s life was darkened by illness and the tragedy of his homeland, but his music reflects the ease and facility of his technique, harking back to the Romanticism of Chopin, Liszt and Schumann, rather than the challenging times in which he lived, and with a quality of craftsmanship that gives his music a magnetic attractiveness. Mikael Ayrapetyan continues his acclaimed exploration of rediscovered Armenian piano repertoire with the first in this series of Elmas’s complete works for piano.
REVIEWS:
All in all, this was a highly enjoyable recital…What Elmas, and in turn Ayrapetyan, prove throughout this recital is that there is still quite a bit to say in these styles and musical language.
-- Fanfare
this first volume in a complete series is to be welcomed. Mikael Ayrapetan’s performances bring this music to life and make for a very enjoyable collection. This volume places the Seven Nocturnes together with a number of Ballades, Barcarolles and Romance in Eb Major.
-- Lark Reviews
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Elmas: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Ayrapetyan
$19.99
$9.99
CD
Grand Piano
Oct 14, 2022
GP914
Hungarian Pictures / Salaputia Brass
Oehms Classics
Available as
CD
$19.99
$14.99
Aug 19, 2022
When we consider the great musical nations of the world, Hungary perhaps does not come to mind first. But the more we think about it, the higher the country rises in such a ranking. For Salaputia Brass, Hungary has played a leading role since the 20th century. It has established itself not only as a goldmine for instrumentalists, but has also produced many (contemporary) compositions for the developing genre of brass chamber music. This album brings together an overview of contemporary Hungarian music.
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