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Franck: Complete Orchestral Works / Liège Royal Philharmonic

Fuga Libera

Available as CD

~~$42.99~~ $32.99

Apr 08, 2022

Orchestral music played a key role in the output of César Franck throughout his career. He accorded an important and innovative place to the symphonic poem, a new genre of the Romantic era: Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne actually dates from 1846, two years before Franz Liszt’s composition of the same name! As a virtuoso pianist himself, Franck also produced a number of concertante works, from early pieces written for his own performance – a few brilliant sets of variations and a youthful concerto – to the famous Symphonic Variations (1885). The Symphony in D minor of 1887 was one of the cornerstones of the renewal of the genre in France, coming between Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony (1886) and Chausson’s Symphony (1899). The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège presents here the first genuinely complete survey of this orchestral and concertante repertory, assembling recordings from recent years and some new productions.

REVIEW:

The year 2022 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of César Franck. His orchestral music is not so often heard these days, so this comprehensive collection of performances from his home-town orchestra is quite timely. It would, however, have proved very welcome at any date for the Liège players not only play very well but also deliver the scores idiomatically and with real conviction. This box set usefully and enjoyably reminds us that there is plenty of pleasurable listening to be explored beyond the D minor symphony.

-- MusicWeb International

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Franck: Complete Orchestral Works / Liège Royal Philharmonic

~~$42.99~~ $32.99
CD

Fuga Libera

Apr 08, 2022

FUG791

FROM THE NEW WORLD

Querstand

Available as CD

$20.99

May 29, 2020

Often universal organs have the problem that they are not particularly well suited to either baroque or symphonic music. However, Daniel Kern's organ at Frauenkirche Dresden is a shining example of a very successful bridge between the different organ traditions. When choosing an instrument for this recording of Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" in Pascal Kaufmann's transcription for four-handed organ, the standard was to have good drawing abilities of the characteristic 8' and 4' basic stops. Thanks to the diversity of the pipe scales, on the one hand in the style of Gottfried and Andreas Silbermann, and on the other hand reminiscent of Cavaillé-Coll (France, 19th Century), there is a sufficiently large selection on the Kern organ. The very dynamic swell pedal with French reed stops and the setterboards with modern standards allow the players to keep the symphony lively with a total of over 400 different registrations. Two more works round off the release at hand: the Humoreske op. 101/7 by Antonín Dvorák in a transcription for (two-handed) organ by Edwin Lemare and "Der Heilige Franziskus von Paula auf den Wogen schreitend" S175 by Franz Liszt, also as four-handed transcription by Pascal Kaufmann - a work that once again illustrates the multifaceted nature of the Kern organ beautifully. The brothers Markus and Pascal Kaufmann come from Lichtenstein (Saxony). Their training pathways included studying together at the Dresden College of Music "Carl Maria von Weber" and the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik in Dresden. Pascal Kaufmann worked as assistant for Frauenkirche organist Samuel Kummer and is currently church musician in Augustusburg (Saxony) while Markus Kaufmann is working as Cathedral organist in Quedlinburg. The recordings for the album at hand were supported by Frauenkirche Foundation.

FROM THE NEW WORLD

$20.99
CD

Querstand

May 29, 2020

VKJK 1908

Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov & Tsfasman: Works for Piano and Orchestra / Chochieva, Steffens, BBC SSO

Naïve

Available as CD

~~$16.99~~ $12.99

Nov 15, 2024

The pianist Zlata Chochieva is well known for creating unexpected associations. In "Chiaroscuro", her first album for naive (V7542, 2022), she had combined the worlds of Scriabin and Mozart, in whom she hears not only the same desire for clarity and weightlessness but also a similar poetic sense of rhetoric. Her next album ("i'm Freien", V7959, 2023), a homage to nature, revealed alongside Ravel's Miroirs and Schumann's Waldszenen a short cycle, so little known and graceful (Petite Histoire), by Felix Draeseke! No wonder she is now offering us, for her first album with orchestra, one of the most obscure works of Russian Romanticism, the Piano Concerto by Rimsky-Korsakov. Written in 1883 in memory of Franz Liszt, whose two opuses in the genre strongly influenced the author of Scheherazade, this Concerto, with it's monothematic structure, built on a Russian folk theme, had greatly impressed Balakirev, who was surprised to hear such an idiomatically written soloist part, from a composer who was not a pianist himself. At the age of fourteen, Zlata Chochieva had played the work under the direction of Mikhail Pletnev, then head of the Russian National Orchestra. This Concerto remains for her a "miracle of taste, poetry and inspiration". Her intelligent and limpid playing is ideally suited to the very delicate lyricism that Rimsky-Korsakov deploys throughout this astonishing score full of numerous and subtle contrasts. At the heart of this recording, where Zlata Chochieva is joined by the musicians of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the German conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens, surges the merciless ardor of Sergei Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto. In a departure from the stormy way in which this formidable score (for the fingers) is generally approached by pianists, Zlata Chochieva prefers a certain sense of phantasmagoria, rightly recalling that Prokofiev, as a spiritual disciple of Alexander Borodin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, enjoyed stories, old Russian fairy tales and legends. After this, we have a total change of atmosphere with the Jazz Suite for piano and orchestra by Alexander Tsfasman which concludes the album. An eminent disciple of Felix Blumenfeld, an incredibly talented pianist, to whom Shostakovich intended piano part of one of his film scores, Tsfasman introduced American jazz to the Soviet Union, and formed the first orchestra dedicated to the genre. In Russia, he premiered Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, a composer for whom he had the deepest admiration. A brilliantly written, comforting and sincere score, his Jazz Suite sometimes evokes the American composer but above all Hollywood and Soviet film scores. Not without a most contagious and mischievous pleasure, Zlata Chochieva and Karl-Heinz Steffens revel in it's ingenuous charms (Snowflakes). 17 July 2024

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Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov & Tsfasman: Works for Piano and Orchestra / Chochieva, Steffens, BBC SSO

~~$16.99~~ $12.99
CD

Naïve

Nov 15, 2024

V8448

Sgambati: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1 / Caporiccio

Piano Classics

Available as CD

$23.99

Apr 22, 2022

Piano Classics presents the first volume in a major new series which promises to become the most comprehensive recorded survey of a central but now little-known figure in 19th-century Italian music. Born in Rome in 1841, Giovanni Sgambati cut an impressive but relatively familiar figure as a prodigious young virtuoso until, as a 21-year-old keyboard lion in the making, he was introduced to Franz Liszt. The encounter changed Sgambati’s life. Liszt, perhaps the single most influential figure in European musical life in the middle of the 19th century, took the young Sgambati under his wing, and his faith was richly repaid. Still in his 20s, Sgambati conducted the Italian premiere of the Dante Symphony and even the premiere of the first (lengthy) part of the Christus oratorio. There is an irony that the single piece through which his name has travelled worldwide is a piano Melodie, a sensuously achieved transcription of the Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice. Guaranteed to hush a rapturous audience into silence, it became the much-loved encore piece for the late Nelson Freire, among others. Too little of Sgambati’s music for his own instrument is known beyond the Melodie. This neglect is being redressed in style by the Italian pianist Gaia Federica Caporiccio, born in Florence in 1988.

The first volume of a projected complete series of Sgambati’s piano works proceeds in mostly chronological fashion. Thus the curtain is drawn back with a flourish in the Gothic, Bachian arpeggios of the Prelude and Fugue Op.6.

Sgambati: Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1 / Caporiccio

$23.99
CD

Piano Classics

Apr 22, 2022

PCL10216

Draeseke: String Quartets, Vol. 1 / Constanze Quartet

CPO

Available as CD

$18.99

Feb 07, 2020

Our first collaborative venture with the Constanze Quartet from Salzburg also marks the production of the first complete recording of the string quartets of Felix Draeseke – a German composer, a representative of the new German school, and a contemporary of Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, and Johannes Brahms. Draeseke’s string quartets are unique in style. In them we often encounter influence from Wagner, even if not in the form of an imitation of Wagnerian compositional style but as a creative continuation of the legacy of Classical composers such as they were transmitted to Draeseke through Wagner. The idea of a “melodic thread” holding the music together while serving as a unifying element is in evidence everywhere in these works. Both quartets impressively demonstrate the words of the Draeseke expert Christoph Schlüren: “Draeseke is primarily lyrical in nature but at the same time has his appealing harshness and explores the dark, introverted expressive worlds with a unique imagination. The far-reaching melos is tailored for contrapuntal suitability, and for German circumstances the rhythm is particularly zestful and highly varied. Stylistically, relations quite obviously exist not only between Draeseke and Beethoven but also between Draeseke and Mendelssohn inasmuch as Draeseke’s highly colorful harmonic language, in part pervaded by surprising modulations, is an individual continuation and development of the New German “progressive” stance proceeding from Wagner and Liszt. Draeseke’s outstanding stature as a string quartet composer rests above all on his entirely original architectonic mastery in a genre in which Beethoven and Schubert created unsurpassable music, but where Draeseke, together with Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and the late Dvorák, proceeding from the experiences of Schumann and Mendelssohn, produced decidedly new music.”

Draeseke: String Quartets, Vol. 1 / Constanze Quartet

$18.99
CD

CPO

Feb 07, 2020

555281-2

Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 3: American Landscapes / Licad

Danacord

Available as CD

$18.99

Nov 02, 2018

Also available in this series by pianist Cecile Licad: Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 1: America's First Sonatas and Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 2: American Nocturnes

Another release in our ongoing series of American Piano Music played by the brilliant pianist, Cecile Licad. This volume, concentrating on music inspired by the American Landscape, features many piano pieces not available in a modern digital recording and is essential to all lovers of piano music. Cecile Licad’s unique natural pianistic talent was recognized early. She began her piano studies at the age of 3 and made her debut as a soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Philippines in her native Manila at 7. When she was 12 she auditioned for Rudolf Serkin and was admitted to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Ms. Licad’s international career was launched in 1981 after she had been awarded the prestigious Leventritt Gold Medal. Since then, Ms. Licad has appeared throughout the world alongside the finest symphonies and in solo recitals.

-----

REVIEWS:

It is not hard to find the overt romanticism of Franz Liszt and Joachim Raff in William Mason’s beautiful filigree ‘Silver Spring’ op.6. This was composed around 1850. The liner notes point out that the work is full of ‘delicate bravura figuration and cadenza-like flourishes.’ Mason’s piano music was at the ‘top end’ of the then fashionable salon pieces. It is stunningly played here by Cecile Licad.

Still's A Deserted Plantation utilizes all the devices of jazz and blues. The work is moving and exhilarating at the same time. It is resourcefully played here by Cecile Licad.

– MusicWeb International

This third volume of Cecile Licad’s ‘Anthology of American Piano Music’ is a model of imaginative program-building. On the whole, Licad’s caring and intelligent performances and the savvy program selection by David Dubal and executive producer Thomas Nickelsen augur well for future volumes.

– Gramophone

Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 3: American Landscapes / Licad

$18.99
CD

Danacord

Nov 02, 2018

DACOCD800

Schumann: Piano Works

Piano Classics

Available as CD

$21.99

Nov 01, 2019

'Domenico Codispoti plays with a warmth and fervor worthy of Cortot himself,' according to the veteran Gramophone piano critic Bryce Morrison. 'His sonority, too, has an Arrau-like fullness and richness.' Born in 1975, Codispoti has a growing discography of Romantic-era music including the piano works of Cesar Franck on Piano Classics (PCL0052): a 'most distinguished and enterprising recital' according to Gramophone, in which 'Codispoti gives us an impetus and virtuosity to set pulses racing.' Now he turns his attention to music from the other end of the Romantic era, composed by a figure even more significant in the history of the piano and pianists, Clara Wieck Schumann. A leading pianist of her day, the wife of one great composer and the intimate friend of another, Clara was also mother to eight children, a serious composer and a hugely influential teacher during the course of a career in the public eye spanning over 60 years. We may view Clara now as a strikingly independent woman, a woman of her time yet one who worked tirelessly against the grain of assumption and prejudice. It is right, therefore, that her art should be so celebrated 200 years after her birth in Leipzig. Her gifts as a creator that were much admired at the time, not only by her husband but by Franz Liszt, the greatest virtuoso of his day. It was Liszt who had created the modern concept of the solo piano recital in 1840, but he retired from performance soon afterwards, and Clara was the one who created the image of the modern pianist. On this new album, Codispoti performs a prodigiously accomplished set of Soirees Musicales, Op.6, published while Clara was still a teenager; the strikingly mature trio of Romances written before she turned 20; a G minor Sonata dating from the time just before and after her marriage to Robert; and finally the Variations on a theme by Robert which she composed to celebrate her husband's 42nd birthday in 1853. Thus, unlike many previous compilations of her music, Codispoti surveys her output in the round, and allows us to hear it mature even as she found herself given fewer and fewer opportunities to exercise her own creative gifts. With performances of tremendous sweep and conviction it makes for a highly persuasive introduction to Clara's music.

Schumann: Piano Works

$21.99
CD

Piano Classics

Nov 01, 2019

PCL10193

VIVUM - YOJO CHRISTEN PLAYS GERSHWIN HUMMEL &

EUROARTS

Available as CD

$17.42

Sep 15, 2023

When Yojo Christen plays the piano, his eyes light up and you realise that for him there is nothing more beautiful, nothing more significant in this world. The love story between the pianist and music started early, because as soon as Yojo could walk, he was drawn to the fascinating black grand piano in his family's living room. Yojo was taught early on by his stepfather, the successful concert pianist and composer Franz Hummel. In his youth, Hummel himself was a student of the famous Mozarteum piano professor Hans Ehlers, who in turn was a grand-disciple of Franz Liszt through his studies with Moriz Rosenthal and placed great value on teaching his students all of Liszt's secrets and playing techniques. Yojo on this CD Recording "For this CD, I have chosen a musical composition that deviates from the usual conventions. George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", a very original homage to early American jazz, is followed by a contemporary work. It is Franz Hummel's second piano concerto with the title, "War and Peace", to which he asked me to contribute the finale. From my composition IRINI (Peace), for which I won the second and audience prizes at the International Diabelli Composition Competition in Munich at the age of 18, I created an orchestral version especially for this purpose: the third movement of the piano concerto. In 2016, I premiered the work with the Regensburg Philharmonic under Tetsuro Ban, whose recording I may publish here with the orchestra's permission. The musicians masterfully realized the truly difficult score with great dedication and profound skill. As a third stylistic variant, I have given room to my desire for romanticism and recorded the four Impromptus op. 90 by Franz Schubert. I would like to present these natural, naive-philosophical gems, whose profound simplicity can move one to tears, to Schubert lovers as well as to the pop-trained ear.

VIVUM - YOJO CHRISTEN PLAYS GERSHWIN HUMMEL &

$17.42
CD

EUROARTS

Sep 15, 2023

ERAR211877.2

Piatti: 12 Capricci for Cello Solo / Tarantino

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

$13.99

Jan 21, 2022

Alfredo Carlo Piatti began a precocious and distinguished career as a cellist in his native Bergamo, as well as in Turin and Milan. He left Italy at 21 to seek his fortune and on his travels met Franz Liszt, who gave him an Amati cello, and Felix Mendelssohn, who conducted one of his first concerts in London. In early 1847, having performed across Europe and with considerable experience under his belt, he settled permanently in London. After enjoying an illustrious half-century among the upper echelons of London’s musical elite, he returned to Italy in 1898 and spent his final years living with his daughter and editing his body of compositions. On his death in 1901, he bequeathed the Fondo Piatti-Lochis to the city of Bergamo, a precious collection of manuscript and print editions of his entire oeuvre, containing around 60 instrumental pieces, a similar number of short vocal compositions and around 40 transcriptions and reworkings of music by major composers of the past. It includes the first edition (produced by Piatti himself) and two autograph manuscripts of his 12 Caprices Op.25. Both manuscripts bear the same date: ‘London, 26 June 1865’. The Caprices became Piatti’s best-known compositions, and they have been recorded and performed by cellists all over the world, who find them difficult to master but also undoubtedly an extremely interesting challenge. Within them, Piatti explores the full technical and expressive potential of his instrument. The left hand is forced into possible and seemingly impossible positions, often giving the impression of flying rapidly and lightly over the strings, while the right hand adroitly manages the bow, testing out all the various ways of generating sounds and traversing all pitches and tonal colors.

Piatti: 12 Capricci for Cello Solo / Tarantino

$13.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Jan 21, 2022

BRI96471

LISZT: PIANO CONCERTOS + TOTENTANZ

WARNER CLASSICS

Available as CD

$17.49

Dec 27, 2024

Yoav Levanon's second album is dedicated to Franz Liszt. It features Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, Totentanz and also an original piece composed by Yoav Levanon called "Silent Love alla Liszt". He recorded with the Luzerner SInfonieorchester, conducted by Michael Sanderling. Reviewers consider him as a major talent. Diapason: ".an authentic musician, who has everything to become one of the major pianists of this century". BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE: "Levanon is undaunted by Liszt's Sonata, giving a performance of heroic sweep. A powerful player, the 18-year-old is nimble and articulate in the virtuoso passages, dramatic with the rhetorical flourishes, tender and lyrical when required. "

LISZT: PIANO CONCERTOS + TOTENTANZ

$17.49
CD

WARNER CLASSICS

Dec 27, 2024

WCL242397.2

Classical Oboe / Lajos Lencses, Budapest Strings, Et Al

Haenssler Classic

Available as CD

$5.99

Oct 16, 2006

CLASSICAL OBOE • Lajos Lencsés (ob); Budapest Str; 1 Franz Liszt CO; 2 Auer Qrt; 3 Miwako Nagatomi (vn); 4 Vidor Nagy (va); 4 Dieter Brachmann (vc) 4 • HÄNSSLER 99.277 (66:57)

MOZART Adagio and Allegro, K 594. 1 DITTERSDORF Symphony in F: Adagio non molto. 2 Andantino in G. 2 HAYDN Divertimentos: No. 1 in D; 3 No. 2 in A. 3 VANHAL Quartet in C, op. 7/6 4

It’s been nearly a half century since I had the privilege of witnessing Igor Stravinsky conduct Les noces with Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, and Roger Sessions playing the four pianos. It was a rare assemblage of celebrated composers as performers, but not an unprecedented one. Josef Haydn is known to have invited Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (second violin), Johann Baptist Vanhal (cello), and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (on his favorite stringed instrument, the viola) to play string quartets with him. Foss and Sessions may have been the Dittersdorf and Vanhal of their time (and vice versa), but I doubt that either Barber or Copland—in their wildest dreams—would have equated themselves with Haydn and Mozart.

This historical footnote is the hook on which Lajos Lencsés, one of our most prolific and imaginative oboe virtuosos, has hung this compilation of mostly recycled odds and ends. Alert readers will notice the array of assisting artists on the disc. Only the Mozart was newly recorded, but the mixture of sources does not intrude. Little, if any, of the program is quite as advertised. The Adagio and Allegro is a transcription of a piece for mechanical organ. Haydn’s divertimentos, composed for his princely employer, were originally scored for baryton trio. The Dittersdorf pieces are slow movements from two of his Six Symphonies after Ovid’s Metamorphoses . I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that the Vanhal contribution was originally a string quartet. No matter. Appropriating music written for another instrument, quite acceptable in Classical Vienna, is hardly unheard of today, and it creates possibilities for programming that would not otherwise exist. Lencsés makes the most of those possibilities. Fanciers of the oboe with a hankering for something a little out of the ordinary (but not too much so) should enjoy this disc.

FANFARE: George Chien

Classical Oboe / Lajos Lencses, Budapest Strings, Et Al

$5.99
CD

Haenssler Classic

Oct 16, 2006

98277

Piatti: Music for Cello and Piano; 2 Songs

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

$13.99

Sep 07, 2018

Born in Bergamo in 1822, Carlo Alfredo Piatti was to the cello what Nicolò Paganini was to the violin: a musician who extended the possibilities of his instrument in performance and who inspired countless composers to do the same in writing for it. His remarkable talent was immediately evident, to the extent that by 1843 he was already travelling throughout Europe on concert tours, accompanied by his father. It was Franz Liszt who described him as ‘a Paganini of the Cello’, presenting him with an Amati instrument as a token of his admiration. Piatti’s concert-tours culminated in a visit to London, where he settled in 1846.

In the mid-1800s, musical life in the British capital was full of energy and opportunity. When Verdi learnt that it would be Piatti leading the cellos in the first performances of his new opera, I Masnadieri, he wrote a Prelude consisting of a cello solo with an orchestral accompaniment, which he dedicated to the great cellist. In his own compositions Piatti reconciled virtuoso figurations with a highly lyrical approach to melody which is on show here in two of the songs he wrote for English audiences: O Swallow, Swallow (to a text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson) and La Sera (‘I love the hour of the dying day’), an evening-time, sentimental ballad incorporating a cello solo clearly modelled on the opening of Rossini’s William Tell Overture and astutely calculated to tug at the heartstrings of his well-to-do patrons, who would also want to perform such songs themselves. However, the bulk of Piatti’s music was designed to show his own skill as a cellist to best advantage. This he triumphantly did with the stupendously virtuosic Capriccio Op.22 on a theme from Pacini’s Niobe. The better-known Capricci Op.25 are not included here; instead, the opportunity has been taken by Andrea Noferini to record some of Piatti’s lesser-known, standalone pieces such as the attractive Op.1 L’abbandono, and Notturno Op.20.

Piatti: Music for Cello and Piano; 2 Songs

$13.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Sep 07, 2018

BRI94975

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2: Germany / Wallisch

Grand Piano

Available as CD

$19.99

Nov 13, 2020

Also available: 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1 and 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 3

The first volume in this series traced the inter-war craze for carefree dance music in Austria and the Czech Lands (see GP813). This latest album focuses on Germany where jazz-influenced music flourished from the mid-1920s onwards even in the face of some social, political and racial opposition. Cabarets and dancehalls rejected this nationalist resistance and the Weimar Republic rejoiced in a cross-pollination of symphonic jazz and Kunstjazz – a fusion of dance and classical elements. The many previously unrecorded pieces here chart the progress of this vigorous musical rejuvenation. GOTTLIEB WALLISCH has performed on stage at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals: Carnegie Hall New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, and the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg. Conductors with whom he has performed as a soloist include Sir Neville Marriner, Dennis Russell Davies, Kirill Petrenko, Martin Haselboeck and Bruno Weil. Orchestras he has performed with include the Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra Budapest and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. He has made numerous recordings for record labels, including Naxos. Gottlieb Wallisch is a Steinway Artist.

REVIEW:

One of the year’s most surprising and consistently charming recording projects continues to gather steam. The second volume of the pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s “20th Century Foxtrots” compendium follows up on the sprightly success of the initial set.

In Wallisch’s latest batch of performances there are once again some discoveries from lesser-known artists. (Multi-movement works by Leopold Mittmann and Walter Niemann are a delight to encounter.) The new album kicks off with a spirited performance of a Paul Hindemith fox trot. And this edition also includes the world premiere recording of a piano arrangement of a “Tango” by Kurt Weill.

– New York Times (Seth Colter Walls)

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2: Germany / Wallisch

$19.99
CD

Grand Piano

Nov 13, 2020

GP814

S4: MOZART IN THE JUNGLE

Sony Masterworks

Available as CD

$11.98

Feb 16, 2018

MOZART IN THE JUNGLE SEASON 4AMAZON ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 16, 2018Including Works By David Majzlin, Nico Muhly, Laura Karpman and Caroline ShawSony Music proudly announces the release of the Mozart in the Jungle Season 4 Soundtrack from the Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning hit series. Based on the critically acclaimed memoir Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs & Classical Music by Blair Tindall, the Amazon Original Mozart in the Jungle draws back the curtain at the New York Symphony, where artistic dedication and creativity collide with romance and relationships.Starring Gael García Bernal (Neruda) and Lola Kirke (Gemini), Mozart in the Jungle continues the story of the talented musicians who perform and live with passion under the baton of its spirited conductor, Rodrigo. Along with Bernal and Kirke, Mozart in the Jungle also stars Saffron Burrows (Night of the Lotus), Malcolm McDowell (American Satan), Bernadette Peters (Smash), and Hannah Dunne (Caring). Season four includes guest stars Debra Monk, Masi Oka, Michael Emerson, and John Cameron Mitchell. In the upcoming season, new melodies arise as Rodrigo and Hailey take their relationship public. Hailey struggles to prove herself as a conductor, while Rodrigo fights to keep his inspiration alive. Thomas joins a start-up orchestra in Brooklyn that challenges Gloria.The fourth season features works by Emmy®-nominated composer and music producer David Majzlin, Nico Muhly, GRAMMY award and four-time Emmy-award winner Laura Karpman, as well as original works by composer and conductor Caroline Shaw, the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music who also makes a cameo this season, among others.TRACKLIST1 Ludwig van Beethoven (arr: Laura Karpman)Thomas's Egmont for Harley, Hubcaps and OrchestraThe Hollywood Studio Orchestra2 David MajzlinAn Important Woman David Majzlin Quintet3 Anna Amalia von Sachsen-Weimar-EisenachErwin Und Elmire: Entr'acte Weimar StaatskapellePeter Gulke, conductor4 Isabella Leonarda12 Sonatas, Op. 16, Sonata Quarta: II. Presto Capella Strumentale Del Duomo Di Novara5 Nico MuhlyÉtude 3 Nadia Sirota, viola6 Ralph Vaughan WilliamsSongs of Travel: 4. Youth and Love Bryn Terfel, bass baritoneMalcolm Martineau, piano7 Maurice RavelMiroirs, M.43: IV. Alborada del gracioso Dallas Symphony OrchestraEduardo Mata, conductor8 Franz Liszt (arr: Laura Karpman)Thomas's Prometheus for Piano, Tibetan Bowls and OrchestraThe Hollywood Studio Orchestra 9 Giuseppe VerdiOverture to La forza del destinoOrchestra Filarmonica della ScalaRiccardo Muti, conductor10 Fanny Mendelssohn-HenselDie Nonne Paul Cantelon, piano11 Isabella Leonarda (arr: Dylan Neely)Sonata Prima: VI. Vivace The Hailey Rutledge Ensemble12 Caroline ShawEntr'acte (On the Sidewalk) The Hailey Rutledge EnsembleCaroline Shaw, conductor13 Georg Philipp Telemann (arr: Dylan Neely)Fantasia No. 2 for Oboe & Violin: I. Grave Keiko Tokunaga, violinArthur Sato, oboe14 Caroline ShawHi The Hailey Rutledge EnsembleCaroline Shaw, conductor15 Thomas Adès Asyla, III: Ecstasio London Symphony OrchestraThomas Adés, conductor

S4: MOZART IN THE JUNGLE

$11.98
CD

Sony Masterworks

Feb 16, 2018

19075821002

Rubinstein: Cello Sonatas

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

$12.99

Jan 30, 2026

Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894) was a towering figure in 19th-century music: a virtuoso pianist, conductor, composer, and educator whose influence extended well beyond his own works. Born in Russia, Rubinstein gained international fame as a pianist of almost legendary ability, rivaled only by Franz Liszt. He was also instrumental in establishing a Russian school of music, founding the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, where he trained a new generation of composers and performers. As a composer, Rubinstein was remarkably prolific, writing symphonies, operas, chamber music, and countless works for piano. While his style is rooted in the German Romantic tradition, particularly Mendelssohn and Schumann, Rubinstein's music often reflects his own expansive temperament, with a combination of lyrical expressiveness and dramatic power. Among his chamber works, the two cello sonatas hold a special place. The Cello Sonata No.1 in D major, Op.18 (1852) reflects the youthful Rubinstein's energy and lyricism. Written in three movements, it showcases both the cello's singing qualities and the pianist's virtuosity. The writing is full of warmth, charm, and soaring Romantic melodies, though some critics have noted it's more traditional, German-influenced character. Still, it demonstrates Rubinstein's gift for crafting heartfelt, expressive music that gave performers a chance to shine. More ambitious is the Cello Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.39 (1857), composed only five years later but revealing greater maturity and depth. Structured in four movements, it has a broader scope and darker, more dramatic character. The interplay between cello and piano is more intricate, with the instruments treated as equal partners. It's passionate themes, stormy climaxes, and lyrical slow movement make it a more compelling work, often considered Rubinstein's finest chamber composition. Though not as frequently performed today as works by Brahms or Chopin, Rubinstein's cello sonatas remain valuable contributions to the Romantic repertoire, offering a glimpse into the artistry of a composer who bridged Russian and European traditions. Played with passion and tenderness by Matilda Colliard and Stefano Ligoratti.

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Rubinstein: Cello Sonatas

$12.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Jan 30, 2026

BRI97641

Sudda: Piano Works

Grand Piano

Available as CD

$19.99

Oct 11, 2024

Faik Bey Franz Della Sudda was Liszt's pupil from Turkey. Affectionately nicknamed 'Der Pasha' by Liszt, Della Sudda had a growing reputation among the musical press and society's elite for brilliant pianism and lyrically picturesque compositions. Prize-winning Turkish pianist, Zeynep Ucbasaran, performs this programme of all world premiere recordings.

Sudda: Piano Works

$19.99
CD

Grand Piano

Oct 11, 2024

GP923

Mercadante: Music for Solo Flute / Trapani

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

~~$13.99~~ $6.99

Jul 28, 2023

Operatic, early-Romantic fantasias for solo flute by one of the great names of Italian opera. Laura Trapani’s previous album for Brilliant Classics brought wider renown for the sparkling flute-writing of Beethoven’s pupil Ferdinand Ries (96132). Now the Ferrara-based flautist turns her attention south to another overlooked figure of the early 19th century, Saverio Mercadante.

Mercadante learnt the flute as a child and became a virtuoso on the instrument during his training in Naples while learning the craft of an opera composer which would bring him fame across Europe. One of his earliest successes for the stage was a ballet based on the legend of a magic flute - unrelated to Mozart’s masonic tale - and from the 1820s onwards, audiences flocked to Mercadante’s lyric dramas for their pacy drama, memorable tunes and arias that displayed the great singers of the age to best advantage. His Capricci also date from this early stage of his career. Comparable to the more celebrated caprices for violin by his elder contemporary Paganini, they are technical studies which stretch the technique of the most accomplished flautists, and they dazzle the ear with their lightning runs, filigree figurations and flourishes. The Capricci have received recordings from celebrated flautists, whereas the later Arie Variate have been relatively overlooked, and this release marks only their second recording, and the first to be made for CD. They are fantasies on popular operatic arias in the style of the piano potpourris and paraphrases which would be raised to an art-form by Franz Liszt a generation later. The chosen themes are mostly drawn from operas of the late 1810s such as Rossini’s Armida and Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra, but they range from Mozart’s Don Giovanni to Mercadante’s own Gabriella di Vergy of 1828. Laura Trapani thus restores to the catalogue a shining example of early Romantic instrumental virtuosity.

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Mercadante: Music for Solo Flute / Trapani

~~$13.99~~ $6.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Jul 28, 2023

BRI96511

Imagination / Raphaela Gromes

Sony Masterworks

Available as CD

~~$11.98~~ $8.99

Oct 08, 2021

Raphaela Gromes has received acclaim for her highly virtuoso, brilliant and passionately expressive cello playing. What also distinguishes this exceptional musician is her enjoyment of the musical treasure hunt. With her last Sony Classical releases, she delighted critics and audiences with world premiere recordings of pieces by Richard Strauss and Julius Klengel. Her "Offenbach" album received the Opus Klassik Award 2020. For her new album “Imagination”, Raphaela chose imaginative music, music based on stories, on fairy tales. The wide selection includes a waltz from Tchaikovsky's ballet music "Sleeping Beauty," a "Fairy Tale Narration" by Robert Schumann, the "Evening Prayer" from Humperdinck's popular fairy tale opera "Hansel and Gretel", Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" and other dreamy, magical and highly poetic pieces by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and Franz Liszt (1811-1886). "Imagination" also presents less-known works by David Popper, Paul Juon, and rarities like "Märchenstunde" by the composer Margarete Schweikert, and "Forgotten Fairy Tales" by the New Yorker Edward McDowell.

Most of the pieces are newly arranged by Raphaela's duo-partner Julian Riem for violoncello and piano, but also for piano trio and for complementary harp and saxophone quartet. Raphaela Gromes recorded the arrangements with Julian Riem and musician friends such as Daniels Dodds (violin), Arcis Saxophone Quartet and Anaïs Gaudemard (harp). Raphaela Gromes came up with the idea for this album during a hike in the spring of 2020 - when she came across a particularly enchanted place in a forest at dusk. "The sky was reflected in the pond, and the backlighting caused a magic glow to emerge around the reeds and flowers, as if elves and fairies were floating in the light above the water", Gromes says: "The "Dance of the Elves" by David Popper came into my mind. I was immediately inspired and full of energy, and when I got home, I immediately went in search of more music that would take me into the world of magic and fantasy." The album ends with "The Shire" from "Lord of the Rings" and "Leia's theme" from Star Wars are both recorded in a new cover version for cello and piano.

On Sale

Imagination / Raphaela Gromes

~~$11.98~~ $8.99
CD

Sony Masterworks

Oct 08, 2021

19439913882

Urspruch: Complete Piano Works / Markovina

Haenssler Classic

Available as CD

$32.99

Nov 03, 2017

First of all, this is a composer, pianist and conductor who has wrongly been marginalized from contemporary awareness. He was born in Frankfurt on February 17, 1850, and died there on January 11, 1907. These dates show him to be an artist of an era characterized by a multidimensional intellectual climate and a psychological outlook that harked back to traditional values on the one hand whilst holding out revolutionary prospects on the other. As an artist, Urspruch was respected by his contemporaries and well established on the music scene. He began teaching at Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory at just 28 years of age, at a time when Clara Schumann was teaching there too. The director there was Joachim Raff, who was also his teacher. After Raff’s death in 1882, Urspruch moved to the newly founded Raff Conservatory and taught there for the rest of his life. He dedicated his piano concerto to Raff. His works encompass many genres, from piano pieces through song cycles, chamber music, symphonies, choral works and his comic opera Das Unmoglichste von allem, which was premiered in 1897. His life was centered around his family. His close personal friendship with Franz Liszt brought him a level of support that went far beyond the usual kind of appreciation shown by the more famous and older composer.

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REVIEW:

Urspruch wrote some memorable and interesting music and really deserves to be heard more often and I am very glad that someone has taken up the mantle of playing his works. Ana-Marija Markovina is more than capable of dealing with the sometimes extreme technical demands which this composer makes of his performer plus she is able to play with a lovely singing tone where required. She can also cope excellently with the rapid changing moods in this music and does not overplay the sometimes amazing technical demands. The superb recorded sound helps the clarity of the notes and the beauty in the music stand out. She clearly enjoys playing these works and always seems to be aware of what the music is about. I should also point out her disc of Hugo Wolf Piano music (on the Genuin label, number 87091) is well worth seeking out – his piano transcription / fantasies on works by Wagner are fascinating! I unreservedly recommend this set to all lovers of virtuoso piano music who also have an interest in the more neglected corners of the repertoire. I really wish that Urspruch had written more solo piano music so that there would be more for Ana Marija-Markovina to record.

– MusicWeb International

Urspruch: Complete Piano Works / Markovina

$32.99
CD

Haenssler Classic

Nov 03, 2017

HC16015

Caetani & Fano: Violin Sonatas

Brilliant Classics

Available as CD

$14.99

Nov 21, 2025

Roffredo Caetani (1871-1961) prince of Bassiano, last duke of Sermoneta, composer and patron of the arts, developed a marked musical talent from an early age. A decisive factor in this respect was certainly the influence of his father, a close friend of Franz Liszt, who in turn would be an exceptional godfather and, later, teacher to Roffredo. Caetani completed his Sonata for Violin and Piano in 1898, and the work was first performed by the great Turinese violinist Teresina Tua and pianist Francesco Bajardi. The Sonata's three movements are decidedly broad and there is a particular evocation of the Baroque in the Adagio and Finale, as in Ferruccio Busoni's Second Sonata for violin and piano in E minor, Op.36. The first movement begins with a brief, slow and expressive introduction, almost enigmatic, somewhat reminiscent of the great Sonatas of the classical period (such as Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata), and then it gives way, in an almost impetuous manner, to the Allegro, full of themes following one on another, urged on by a pressing rhythm. In the Adagio, counterpoint is much more than a technique, it becomes an expressive tool. Written in ABA ternary form, the central part of which has a faster tempo (Più andante), the second movement consists of a combination of elegiac chants entrusted to the violin with chromatic counterpoint to the piano. The Finale of the Sonata is a three-voice fugue whose theme is developed from the very first notes of the movement and whose character is incisive and brilliant. Guido Alberto Fano (1875-1961) was an Italian composer, conductor and pianist of Jewish origin, a survivor of the Holocaust. He began his musical studies with Vittorio Orefice, later undertaking piano studies under Cesare Pollini. In 1894, he was invited by Giuseppe Martucci to be his piano and composition student at Bologna, where Fano graduated in 1897. Fano's Fantasia Sonata for violin and piano in D minor, composed in 1893, is one of the Paduan composer's first chamber works. It was later revised by the composer in 1941, during the dark period of his escape from Nazi persecution. The first movement - Contemplativo e sognante - is characterised by a plaintive thematic motif, emphasised by repeated crescendos and diminuendos in the middle of each bar, as if evoking a Jewish folk song. In the second movement, Andante sostenuto, baroque writing of an intimate and spiritual character is evoked. The piano is entrusted with an elaborate counterpoint with written flourishes that support and incorporate the violin line. The third movement, Misterioso e moderatamente mosso (added in the version of 1941) is nothing but a perpetual motion entrusted to the violin taking it's cue from the piano part of the Allegro molto (third movement version of 1893). The Finale, Allegro molto (added in the version of 1941), is a natural continuation, but it transfers the virtuosic character to the piano. The violin is then free to develop the cantabile and passionate theme set out in the first movement, reversing it's first three notes. - Recorded May 2024, Polla (Salerno), Italy - Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by Ludovica Del Bagno and a profile of the duo - Mauro Tortorelli plays a Giovanni Guidanti violin (Bologna, 1730) - The violin sonatas of Roffredo Caetani and Guido Alberto Fano, though lesser-known in the broader canon of chamber music, reflect the rich cultural and musical milieu of early 20th-century Italy. Both composers were deeply rooted in the Romantic tradition while also responding to the stylistic shifts of their time, and their violin sonatas reveal a blend of lyricism, structural clarity, and expressive depth. - Roffredo Caetani (1871-1961), a nobleman, composer, and pupil of Franz Liszt, brought a refined sensibility to his music. His Violin Sonata, composed in the early 20th century, is characterized by lush textures and a lively dialogue between violin and piano, offering glimpses of impressionistic color amid the Brahmsian density. - Guido Alberto Fano (1875-1961), a pianist, conductor, and close associate of Giuseppe Martucci, likewise embraced a Romantic idiom deeply influenced by the Germanic tradition. His Violin Sonata is notable for it's dramatic scope and contrapuntal rigor. Fano weaves complex motivic development with a keen sense of melodic invention, balancing virtuosity and lyricism. The piano part often assumes an orchestral role, supporting and sometimes challenging the violin in a vibrant interplay. - Played by the Gran Duo Italiano: Mauro Tortorelli and Angela Meluso, whose highly important and valuable discography for Brilliant Classics includes works by Saint-Saens, Santorsola, D'Ambrosio, Santoliquido, Sevcik, Auer, Milhaud, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and others.

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Caetani & Fano: Violin Sonatas

$14.99
CD

Brilliant Classics

Nov 21, 2025

BRI97378

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