Challenge Classics
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Perfectly Free
$16.99CDChallenge Classics
Mar 20, 2026CC 720054 -
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James Macmillan: Magnificat
Echoes of a Hidden Legacy
Suonate per violino e violone o cimbalo, Op. 7, Vol. 2
Romanticismo Italiano (SACD)
Perfectly Free
Krufft: Sonatas For Bassoon And Fortepiano / Wouter Verschuren, Kathryn Cok
The name of Nikolaus von Krufft (1779–1818) might have been better known had he lived past the age of 39. As it happened, it simply wasn’t to be. He apparently succumbed to exhaustion while burning the candle at both ends. By day Krufft was a civil servant, and by night a composer. His musical legacy is small, and includes sonatas for violin, bassoon, and horn, plus a set of 24 preludes and fugues for piano after Sebastian Bach. Krufft’s Lieder are his most significant accomplishments, comprising his most influential body of work, which exerted a large influence on Franz Schubert.
The sonatas recorded here date from 1807 and 1818, respectively, and are certainly among the most difficult works from the era, surpassing the technical demands made on the soloist by Mozart in his Bassoon Concerto. Krufft places the instruments on equal footing, challenging not only the bassoonist but also the fortepianist with leaps of more than two-and-one-half octaves and dazzlingly brilliant runs. Both sonatas, though written in the early years of Romanticism, and clearly Classical in tone, owe more to the ghosts of Haydn and Mozart than to the youthful and muscular works of Beethoven.
The performances turned in here are about as good as one could want with virtuosic, elegant, and seamless playing from both participants. The light tone of Wouter Verschuren’s 1810 Cuvillier bassoon is nicely matched by the sparkling character of Gerard Tuinman’s 2007 copy of an 1805 Walther and Sohn fortepiano played by Kathryn Cok; and the recorded sound faithfully reproduces the unique tonal qualities of each of the instruments.
For the most part, the appeal of this compact disc will probably be limited, but those who are bitten by the bug certainly won’t be disappointed.
FANFARE: Michael Carter
V2: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
Mendelssohn, Janacek & Schumann: Sonatas for Violin & Piano / Lamsma, Kulek
"Absolutely stunning." - Chicago Tribune
"Brilliant... polished, expressive, and intense." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 / Van Zweden, Netherlands Philharmonic
This release, containing all nine of Bruckner’s symphonies, is one of Challenge Classics’ greatest achievements so far. The quality of the performances- by both conductor and orchestra- and of the recordings makes this Bruckner’s complete survey a primary reference for anyone interested in such repertoire. Each one of these symphony recordings has received positive press. Of the Seventh: “Conductor and orchestra bring out the structural and thematic complexity of the final movement, in a fine end to another very strong and recommended performance.” (Classical Net Review) Of the Third: “This is a resplendent addition to an important cycle in the making.” (Gramophone) And of the Sixth: “Exceptional engineering achieved by Challenge Classics, with natural-sounding timbres and an extremely realistic sense of acoustic space.” (International Record Review) Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in the past decade to become one of today’s most sought-after conductors. He has been Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and Music Director of the Honk Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012. Earlier this year he was announced as the next Music Director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
DU BOUT DES YEUX
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 / Vriend, Netherlands Symphony
For about 150 years it was believed that Schubert composed his Ninth Symphony in 1828, not long before his death but, musical scholarship being a continuous process, this theory was later disproved. It was discovered late in the 20th century that in fact he composed most of this work three years earlier and revised it in 1826 and 1827. Following a period of poor health, 1825 was a better year for Schubert, while his finances were also improved. Schubert never heard a single performance of many of his works, including this great symphony. When it was rehearsed in 1827 at the Gesellschaftder Musikfreunde in Vienna, the string-players complained that passages in which a rhythmic figure is obsessively repeated, especially in the finale, were unplayable. In May 1824 Schubert attended the first performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Beethoven revolutionized symphonic form, expanding its expressive range enormously, his Ninth Symphony in particular being conceived on a much grander scale than any previous symphony. Schubert was just one of many composers influenced by Beethoven’s achievements. Many scholars have suggested the various ways in which Schubert was influenced by Beethoven, but the most extraordinary aspect of Schubert's mature music is its complete individuality. The compositional techniques, the handling of tonality and structure, and the orchestral sound of these two contemporaries have very little in common. Schubert’s own profound originality is all the more striking for its emergence at a time when Beethoven's impact on the development of the symphony was so revolutionary and far-reaching.
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies & Concertos / de Vriend, Netherlands Symphony
The present release is a set with which Challenge Classics intends to make its contribution to the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. It is a unique and completely original collection in the panorama of today’s discography, as it contains the complete corpus of the symphonies, as well as all the works for (instrumental) soloist and orchestra, i.e. all the concertos. All the works recorded here are directed by a single conductor, Jan Willem de Vriend, at the head of a single orchestra, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. It is clear that this aspect provides a unity, an organic force and therefore an authority that other collections featuring different directors cannot boast. Finally, all the recordings presented here were curated by Bert van der Wolf of Northstar Recording, one of the most innovative and capable sound engineers of the classic milieu.
Hartmann, Weinberg, Shostakovich: Wartime Consolations

Bruckner: Symphony No. 1
Alle Lust will Ewigkeit
Bach: Goldberg Variations / Minnaar
| We at Challenge are proud to present a new account of the Goldberg Variations by critically acclaimed young pianist Hannes Minnaar. His rendition of the Goldbergs sums up all the features of a ‘contemporary’ interpretation at the highest degree: Transparent, detailed, and crystal-clear phrasing: each and all notes are discernible. A supreme – but not artificial nor mannered – control and care of tone and sound: touch, color and timbre are all fruit of a clearly deep insight and work. A smooth flow of the discourse: a solid overall concept of the work structure and a plain, simple (never emphasized) ‘singing’ of the melodic line. (Even when he takes a very slow tempo – as in the famous Variation no. 25, about 30% slower than usual – he always sustains the melody, that means it is not the tempo that makes the melody living, but the capacity to make it flow, to ‘connect’ sounds and silences). These Goldbergs are not told as a narrative: it is not a dramatic tale, but the architectural structure is well visible. It is not a story, it is a three-dimensional visual art work. Northern Star gave Minnaar the sound that perfectly matches his concept of the work. The rest is made by the unique Chris Maene piano. A ‘Goldberg’ for the 21st Century. |
LOVE!
V5: COMPLETE WORKS PIANO TRIO
Den Bosch Choirbooks, Vol. 1 / Pratensis
Music clearly fascinated the great Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516); his sketches and paintings are peppered with closely observed depictions of music-making and musical instruments. Bosch, a native of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Duchy of Brabant, was a life-long brother of the city’s Brotherhood of Our Illustrious Lady, a large and prestigious organization for which sacred music was an essential and highly-valued part of its devotional life. Every Wednesday Bosch could gather with his Confraternity brothers in their opulent chapel in the church of St. John the Evangelist to celebrate a votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin. This recording aims to capture a sense of the devotional soundscape that Bosch experienced throughout his life as a member of this music-loving Marian brotherhood. Instead of the frightening cacophony conjured by the artist’s vision of Hell, we encounter here the joy and serenity of the weekly Marian votive Mass liturgy. We have chosen the Missa Cum jocunditate by Pierre de la Rue(c.1452-1518), who was not only the most renowned composer of the Habsburg-Burgundian court but also an external member of the brotherhood from the early 1490s until his death in 1518. Indeed, La Rue may well have had occasion to meet Bosch during these years. Cappella Pratensis sings from the original notation, reading from scale copies of the confraternity’s manuscripts of plainsong and polyphony, and adopts the Brabant pronunciation of Latin those singers surely employed. They also read together from one large music book, like the men portrayed in the Singers in the Egg sketch attributed to Bosch.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonatas nos. 3, 23 & 30
VIOLIN CONCERTO SERENADE
Mouton: V2: Den Bosch Choirbooks / Cappella Pratensis
| At the dawn of the Renaissance the southern Dutch city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, with its abundance of churches and monasteries, was also referred to as “Little Rome”. Central to this religious scene was the Brotherhood of Our Illustrious Lady (Illustre Lieve Vrouwe Broederschap), founded in 1318. This devotional organization, which counted among its members the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch, invested considerably in recruiting and employing the best singers and organists for its chapel, which performed a wide variety of polyphonic music. No fewer than nine choir books with this repertoire are still preserved by the confraternity. After centuries of silence, this magnificent collection is finally sounding once again. With the five-year project The Den Bosch Choirbooks (2020-24), Cappella Pratensis, itself based in ’s-Hertogenbosch, is giving these manuscripts the attention they deserve. The project includes numerous concerts, workshops, publications, lectures and a series of five albums. This recording thus invites listeners to imagine themselves among the confraternity members gathered in their chapel in the church of St John the Evangelist in ’s-Hertogenbosch on a sunny spring day. It is May 6, the great feast of St John Before the Latin Gate that commemorates the attempted martyrdom of the Evangelist in 92 AD. |
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No 2; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto / Sanderling, Roth, LSO
– MusicWeb International
Piazzolla: Complete Tango! / Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble
A series of high-quality concerts launched the success story of the Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble, which has since become well established on international concert stages and festivals. The subsequent recording of three successful albums testifies to the success story, the vast repertoire, and the versatility of the ensemble. From the very beginning, the Isabelle van Keulen Ensemble has been dazzling its audiences through its depth of musical expression, its technical brilliance, and the simultaneous mixture of melancholy and severity which is so typical of the Tango Nuevo, pairing great joy in playing with intimacy.
Jeths: Ritratto / Paterson, Amsterdam Sinfonietta
“I wish to be a living work of art,” reads the famous comment made by Luisa Casati, the extravagant marchesa who drew everyone's attention to herself as a high society personality in the early 20th century and who inspired a number of leading artists to take up their writing pens, paintbrushes and cameras: Casati was the most prolifically portrayed woman of her age. She was both Muse and Maecenas who gathered an extensive coterie of famous artists around herself – an egregious set of people, some of whom were also her lovers. She led a split existence. On the one hand, she turned herself into a living work of art and organized grotesque parties as the backdrops to her own performances; on the other hand, she commissioned artists to immortalize her as a “piece of art” – and artists were queuing up at her door as she had enormous wealth at her fingertips to realize these whims. In the opera, Casati’s biography is compressed into a single party evening at her Venetian palazzo. Over seven scenes, we see a melange of events from the heroine’s life that actually occurred over many decades, to which the creators then added their own dreamed-up plot. Jeths’s palette as a composer has become ever richer and more dramatic as the years have passed. His spectrum ranges from attention to sound and color to a subtle use of harmonic tension. His musical language was originally more atonal, but he has always flirted with tonality. And now more than ever, his notes are at the service of the text, the theatrical impression and the beauty of the human voice. In his music, Jeths employs multiple references to existing music.
