20th Century (1900–1970)
Modernism, serialism, neoclassicism. Stravinsky, Bartók, Shostakovich, Britten.
2959 products
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au Bucher / Cotillard, Gallais, Soustrot
Jeanne d’Arc au Bucher, written by the Swiss composer Arthur Honegger in 1938, is a fascinating oratorio. The text by Paul Claudel is constructed like a flashback, in which Joan looks back over her life just before she dies.
Marion Cotillard plays Joan with intensity and sincerity. The last moments of the martyr’s life, illustrated by the evocative and innovative music of Honegger, resound like a heartrending cry. With an exceptional cast of performers, this live recording offers a gripping new version of one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century music.
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REVIEWS:
Cotillard movingly captures Jeanne's wildly contrasting moods while Xavier Gallas is consoling yet determined in supporting her. Most impressive of all, though, are the searing choral contributions that are convincing in their heartfelt gallic fervor, from an oppressed people, via baying crowd to angelic host.
– BBC Music Magazine
Cotillard marvelously captures Jeanne's innocence, toughness and terrifying doubts; Gallais is compassionate, tender, and at times tellingly fierce. The impact is immeasurably heightened on DVD by our being able to see both the sorrowing beauty of Gallais's face and the extraordinary way Cotillard's eyes let us know exactly what is going on in Jeanne's mind and soul.
– Gramophone
Idil Biret: Archive Edition, Vol. 19
In November 1949, at the age of eight, Idil Biret entered the studios of ORTF (Radiodiffusion Television Francaise) in Paris and made her first recordings; these were works by Couperin, Bach, Beethoven and Debussy. In the following decades she made nearly 100 LPs and CDs, released on ten record labels (Pretoria, Vega, Decca, Atlantic/Finnadar, Pantheon, EMI, Naxos, Marco Polo, Alpha, BMP) and many recordings for radio and television stations around the world. These included the complete piano works of Brahms, Chopin and Rachmaninov as well as the Sonatas of Boulez and the Etudes of Ligeti. The Idil Biret Archive (IBA) is now bringing together her past and present recording; as the copyrights are obtained, old recordings no longer available commercially are being released together with her new recordings. The transcriptions by Liszt of Beethoven's Symphonies, originally recorded for EMI, and the newly recorded 32 Sonatas and all the Piano Concertos of Beethoven were released by IBA and also made available in a box set. All the Piano Concertos of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Grieg and the nine LPs recorded for Atlantic/Finnadar in New York which include works by Boulez, Webern, Berg, Ravel and Stravinsky were also released. Among the recent new releases are Liszt's Etudes and the piano transcription of Berlioz's Harold en Italie, Schumann's Carnaval, Fantasie and other works, all five Piano Concertos of Hindemith and, in the Archive Edition, the early LPs made in France for Pretoria (Schumann, Brahms), Vega (Bartok, Prokofiev, Brahms, Beethoven) and Decca (Rachmaninov). IBA is distributed worldwide by Naxos.
Honegger, Liebermann, & Strauss / Brogli-Sacher, Lübeck Philharmonic
Debussy: Clair de Lune, Deux Arabesques and Other Works
Martinů: String Trio / Ensemble Calliopée
Distler, H.: Piano Works
Debussy: Orchestral Works
Stefan Wolpe, Vol. 8: Music for 2 Pianos / Quattro Mani
Stefan Wolpe’s escape from Nazi Germany was fraught with uncertainty and danger. During the months following Hitler’s rise to power Wolpe went into hiding, while completing one of his most compelling works- the March and Variations (1932-33), a work of Beethovenian power, scored for two pianos. The piece was largely been forgotten until Quattro Mani’s revival of it, and their sensational premiere recording on Bridge's Music of Stefan Wolpe, Vol. 8. Wolpe’s ballet score, The Man from Midian (1942) a work based on the Old Testament, is centered around the story of Moses, and is the other major work on this release. The virtuoso piano duo team, Quattro Mani (Susan Grace & Steven Beck), has worked with many of today’s leading composers, and is devoted to the expansion of the repertoire for duo piano. QM’s new Wolpe release is the duo’s 14th album for Bridge Records.
Braunfels: Orchestral Works / Bühl, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
"Slightly the audience remember that I'm - as a descendant of writing tonal music - still alive and continue composing." (Walter Braunfels, 1946) Walter Braunfels is a composer whose music died twice: Once when the Nazis declared his music "degenerate art". Then again when post-war Germany had little use for the various schools of tonal music; when the arbiters of taste considered any form of romantic music - almost the whole pre-war aesthetic - to be tainted. This 9th release of Capriccio's Braunfels Edition shows us also an open-minded composer who experimented with Jazz elements in his Divertimento for radio-orchestra in 1929.
REVIEWS:
This is light and delightful music, far from offering even the hint of banality or boredom. The music of Walter Braunfels can hardly be stylistically determined, as he is said to have references to all the great composers around him, though Braunfels always kept his music on his personal path. Conductor Gregor Bühl is among some who are again paying attention to this composer. He gives this positively upbeat music the affection and care that makes its special character shine, modeling both the clean craftsmanship and the warmth of the music’s content. The airiness, as in Ariel’s singing, becomes just as clear as the heart beating in the Serenade, without any unnecessary display of individual compositional elements.
– Pizzicato
That Divertimento is the real discovery here: an absolutely delicious bon-bon evocatively scored for a small orchestra including two saxophones, used with effortless freshness and not a shred of fin-de-siècle decadence (fun though that can be). Both the Serenade and Ariel’s Song date from 1910, fairly early in Braunfels’ career, and if they lack the individuality we find in his more ambitious later pieces, they certainly fall gratefully on the ear and deliver exactly what they promise – a bit of light relaxation. The “song,” by the way, is a lyrical orchestral piece, and not a not a vocal work. The Don Gil prelude offers six minutes of comic opera fun. Apparently the opera itself, composed in 1921-23, was a failure, but from such failures have come many appealing concert works, and here is one. As with previous releases in this series, the fine performances under conductor Gregor Bühl have all of the conviction and commitment of a true believer in the cause, and the sonics are excellent. This disc will appeal to music lovers of all ages. Strongly recommended.
– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas / Donohoe
Les Ballets Russes, Vol. 5
Unanswered Love
RACHMANINOV: Moments Musicaux, Op. 16 / MUSSORGSKY: Pictures
A BERNSTEIN STORY
Mélodies of Francis Poulenc
Tcherepnin: Piano Music, Vol. 5
Satie: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 4 (New Salabert Edition)
Rachmaninoff: Complete Solo Piano Works / Fiorentino
Recorded live in September 1987, this release features Fiorentino’s legendary complete survey of Rachmaninov’s solo piano works. “…an utterly mindblowing release of the complete Rachmaninoff solo piano music by Italian master pianist Sergio Fiorentino, to whom the piano world owes a huge debt of gratitude for coaxing the master out of retirement and ensuring that his last decade of concerts was recorded. In this set, we find in absolutely stunning sound quality Fiorentino’s masterful traversals of Rachmaninoff’s solo works, the golden sheen of his sound and refinement of his nuancing as captivating as his passionate and intelligent interpretations.” (The Piano Files)
John Tavener: Song For Athene, Svyati, Etc / Robinson, Et Al
Dohnanyi: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Matiakh, Gulbadamova, German State Philharmonic
American Works for Cello & Piano
After four volumes exploring 20th century British works for cello and piano, the Watkins brothers come together again turning their attention across the Atlantic ocean and the American contribution to this repertoire spanning four decades of seminal compositional activity in the United States. The inspired performances of the Welsh sibling duo, both highly acclaimed in their musical endeavors further illustrate the confluence of the unique American influences with the development of early 20th century classical repertoire.
Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 2 / Skride, Aadland, West German Radio Symphony
For her eighth album on Orfeo, Baiba Skride presents a programme of works by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. In addition to his own instrument, the piano, the violin remained the most important instrument for Bartók throughout his life. This is probably due to the fact that, with its subtle versatility and traditional associations, the violin was eminently suited to his folk music transcriptions and adaptations. This new recording demonstrates Baiba Skride’s facility in conveying this special Hungarian atmosphere. She’s supported by the WDR Sinfonieorchester under Norwegian conductor Elvind Aadland. Baiba Skride (born 1981) is a Latvian classical violinist. She was the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Contest in 2001, and has performed around the world, including alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Revelations in Song
Martinu: Songs, Vol. 3 - The Rose
This recording focuses on three of Martinu’s song-cycles, and a selection of individual songs from an early period in his life that sheds fascinating light on his enthusiasm for song composition. Songs On One Page and Songs On Two Pages were written during his American exile, both utilising traditional and folk texts in compact but expressive ways. Set to Japanese lyric poetry, Niponari is one of his most important early compositions, revealing a transition from late-Romanticism to impressionism. Of Volume 2 in this series (8.572310) BBC Music Magazine wrote: ‘Some excellent songs here, in radiant performances’.
LESSING, Kolja: Violin Music From Israel
Malipiero: Fantasie di ogni giorno, Passacaglie & Concerti
Mahler: Songs (Arranged by Schoenberg) / Falletta, Virginia Philharmonic
Arnold Schoenberg founded the Society for Private Musical Performances in 1918 to perform contemporary music from "Mahler to the present". Mahler had been an early supporter of Schoenberg's music, and Schoenberg repaid the favor by arranging Mahler's orchestral works for chamber ensemble and including them at the society's concerts. The colorful Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen are given a feel of great intimacy in this form, while the lighter scoring of Das Lied von der Erde has the advantage of clarifying instrumental textures, its magical effects capturing "the finite nature of earthly things".
Debussy: Etudes; Children's Corner / Karis
This recording presents two of Claude Debussy's enduring masterpieces- the Children's Corner suite (1908), and his brilliant- Études (Books 1 & 2) (1915), played by the American pianist, Aleck Karis. Aleck Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe and in China. As the pianist of the new music ensemble Speculum Musicae he has participated in over a hundred premieres and performed at major American and European festivals. His appearances with orchestra have ranged from concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin to those of Stravinsky, Messiaen and Carter. His five solo discs on Bridge Records include Aleck Karis performs Schumann, Carter, Chopin; Aleck Karis: Mozart Recital; Stravinsky: Music for Piano 1911-1942; John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes; and Karis Plays Webern, Wolpe & Feldman. His two albums on Romeo Records are Piano Music of Philip Glass and Late Piano Music of Frederic Chopin. He is a Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego, and Associate Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities.
