On 9th February 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered the Piano Concerto No.14 in E flat major in his personal catalogue of works, and exactly 13 months later he completed his 21st concerto, in C major. In little over a year he had composed seven piano concertos – all of them highly individual works exploring the relationship between solo instrument and orchestra in different ways, as the two concertos recorded here demonstrate. The E flat major concerto is written for piano and strings, with ad libitum parts for oboes and horns, and can according to Mozart's own instructions be performed with just a string quartet accompaniment. As might be expected there is a chamber music quality to the work, with the piano closely integrated into the ensemble. In complete contrast, Piano Concerto No.21 is written for a much larger orchestra, with flute and pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani as well as strings. It is one of Mozart's most popular, but also most technically challenging concertos – when commenting on the score, his father Leopold noted that it was 'astonishingly difficult'. Largely because of its slow movement theme (famously used in the film Elvira Madigan), the C major Concerto has become perhaps Mozart’s most widely known. Separating the two concertos on this disc is the concert aria Ch'io mi scordi di te? (‘That I forget you?’) for soprano and orchestra with an obbligato piano part. Mozart composed the work in 1786 for the English soprano Nancy Storace and himself, possibly as a farewell gift to Storace, who was returning to London after a stay in Vienna during which she had sung the role of Susanna in the first production of The Marriage of Figaro. Another internationally acclaimed English soprano, Carolyn Sampson, joins Ronald Brautigam and the Kölner Akademie on this the seventh instalment of a series which goes from strength to strength: its predecessor (BIS-2044) was recently made an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, as well as an 'IRR Outstanding' in International Record Guide.

Rondo of the Waves' is the title of the fifty-first volume of the BIS Sibelius recorded edition. This is a particularly engaging disc because of its brim full of splendid music while simultaneoulsy presenting a succession of previously unheard scores that will be of particular interest to anyone who enjoys the music of the great Finnish composer. The 'Waves' of the title are those of Sibelius' famous tone poem 'The Oceantides', described by one famous critic as the 'finest evocation of the sea which has ever been produced in music'. The tone poem that we know today had a long period of gestation, starting life as part of an orchestral suite and then undergoing two complete metamorphoses before evolving into the masterpiece that we know. Clearly Sibelius was fascinated with his original material and, in two preliminary versions of the tone poem he conducted some very striking experiments with it, producing music that is more extravagantly impressionistic and kaleidoscopic than anthing else he wrote. These important scores have lain forgotten since they were first produced and were performed for the first time in the autumn of last year by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä. Subsequent to their first public airing they were recorded by the same forces and are now available on disc for the first time - together with another 40 minutes worth of previously unrecorded orchestral scores by the master's hand. As well as the original materials, the disc also contains a fine performance of the final version of 'The Oceantides', lifted from last year's highly acclaimed 'Sibelius Tone Poems' (BIS CD1225)

Mainly known today for his violin concerto, during his lifetime the Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark was praised for the quality of his instrumentation, his skilful use of folk music and his own Jewish heritage, and his evident gift for melody. The author of several operas, among them The Queen of Sheba, Goldmark wrote music in most genres, and although largely self-taught he was sought out as a teacher of composition by Sibelius, among others. Composed in 1875, his ‘Rustic Wedding’ Symphony was his most popular orchestral work. At the first performance the audience hailed it as a triumph, and Goldmark’s friend Brahms said about it: ‘clear-cut and faultless, it sprang into being a finished thing, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter.’ The five-movement symphony has sometimes been described as a suite of tone poems, including a wedding march with variations depicting the wedding guests, a nuptial song and a bucolic wedding dance. Even though the work is now a rarity in concert, conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham and Leonard Bernstein demonstrated their belief in it by performing it on many occasions. Composed some ten years later, Goldmark’s E flat major symphony, Op.35, is far less well-known. Although its form is more traditional than that of its predecessor, it is similar in mood – bucolic and high-spirited – and provides rich opportunities to sample Goldmark’s skill as an orchestrator and musical colourist. Performing these unjustly neglected works is the Singapore Symphony Orchestra – a band which under its principal conductor Lan Shui has impressed reviewers in repertoire as diverse as Debussy’s La Mer (‘an unequivocally world-class performance’, BBC Music Magazine), Zhou Long (‘utterly compulsive… orchestral playing of the highest calibre’, International Record Review) and Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony (‘a moving, completely satisfying performance’, allmusic.com).

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

CHRISTMAS Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â?Â? LUND CHAMBER CHOIR, LUND CATHEDRAL BOYS CHOIR, CANTORES CATHEDRALES, BOHLIN, dir. NU STIGE JUBLETS TONÂ?Â?Â?Â?Swedish choirs present seasonal carols and folk songs along withworks by LEISRING, LILJEFORS, NORDQVIST, EKLOF, VOGLER, HANDEL, OLSSON, TORLIND, HERNTH-GRIPPE, LUNDEN, PRAETORIUS, PALM, TEGNER,BOHLIN, WADE, NIELSEN, SANDSTROM, and GRUBER.

Composed between 1940 and 1944, Kaikhosru Sorabji’s 100 Transcendental Studies has a total duration of at least seven hours, making it by far the largest collection of concert études in the repertoire. Most of the pieces, in particular in the beginning of the cycle, are typical studies in the sense that essentially a single technical or structural idea is explored. But later on Sorabji inserts pieces that are on a much larger scale, and three examples of this are to be found on the present disc, the fourth in Fredik Ullén’s traversal of the set. The disc opens with En forme de Valse (No.63), a 17 minute waltz in which Sorabji envelops his melodies with a jungle of serpentine embellishments, covering the entire keyboard. The closing study, No.71 has a duration of 13 minutes, and was dubbed Aria by Sorabji, even though the piece in reality is highly polyphonic with a multitude of cantilenas, and with rhythmic structures that are sometimes remarkably complex. The most expansive piece, however, is No.69, with a playing time of close to 26 minutes. Throughout this study, La punta d’organo, the note A appears as a pedal point. In the opening, it is heard as a softly tolling bell under falling chordal motives, without doubt an allusion to Ravel's Le Gibet from Gaspard de la Nuit. But the piece grows into a vast, trance-like meditation, with the ever-present A appearing in different registers. All the studies in the cycle have had to wait for decades before their first performance – No.69 was premièred as late as 2014 – and Fredrik Ullén is a true pioneer of this repertoire, both live and on disc. His endeavours have been duly acclaimed, for instance in BBC Music Magazine (‘Ullén… expounds Sorabji's studies with utter textural clarity and jaw-dropping virtuosity.’) and the German magazine Fono Forum (‘Ullén negotiates the music of Sorabji with stunning mastery.’)

Each new volume of J.S. Bach's church cantatas continues to attract accolades from the musical press. The excellence of the Bach Collegium Japan led by their inspirational director Masaaki Suzuki and with a line-up of some of the best and most experienced vocal soloists are know entities. Everyone is pretty much in agreement: the cantatas have been entrusted to the best possible interpreters who take endless pains in preparing the recordings and still manage to convey the frisson of a live performance. Perhaps what makes these recordings so special is the fact that the listener is constantly astounded at the quality of the music itself. We still nourish a romantic view of genius and think of a musical masterpiece as the product of a great and painful labour. Yet Bach produced a whole succession of masterpieces, week after week, in order to fulfil his obligations as Cantor of the Thomas Church in Leipzig. The present disc is a fine example of Bach's development of the Church Cantata. The three cantatas are for 'ordinary' Sundays in the liturgical year - 11th, 13th and 16th Sundays after Trinity. They were written in Bach's second year as Thomas cantor in 1724. And they excellently demonstrate Bach's desire to make use of the post-Reformation hymnbook in his liturgical works. Whereas the earlier cantatas had been based on the gospel of the day on which they were to be sung, Bach now began to concentrate on illuminating various familiar hymns - possibly in an attempt to involve the congregation more closely in the service. This is the 24th volume of our cycle of Bach cantatas. It seems almost as though the recordings have an addictive quality for demand continues to increase! The present volume is in the best traditions of the series, featuring Cantata veterans Yukari Nonoshita, Robin Blaze, Gerd Türk, Peter Kooij and a wealth of striking music. Another must from the Bach Collegium Japan and BIS..

C.P.E. BACH SPANYI; CONCERTO ARMONICO; ABRAHAM COMP. KEYBOARD CONCERTOS, VOL. 19-CTO. IN G MAJOR; CTO. IN C MAJOR; CTO. IN G MAJOR; CTO. IN D MAJOR