Ah, such pleasing, dreamy music! You can almost see fluffy, feathery clouds drifting across a bright blue sky looking down on a lily-covered pasture. Picturesque? You bet. This is atmospheric music, pure and simple. Beauty of sound is given such a priority that concerns of form and structure seem irrelevant, though it's readily apparent that the four-movement Fantasy Sonata for harp and viola is a most substantial and seriously crafted work. The Sonata for flute and harp unavoidably conjures up images of Pan, while the Quintet, with its briefly dark and disturbing moments, shows evidence of having been composed in the wake of the First World War. However, it is the Elegiac Trio that presents Bax's real response to those events, particularly the death of his friend, Irish poet Padraig Pearse. Yet, there is no rage in this music; on the contrary, it inhabits a similar sound world to Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp, which was composed six months earlier. Throughout all these works, Alison Nicholls draws exquisitely beautiful sounds from her harp, playing with the imagination so essential to the music's expressive character. She is handsomely partnered by Mobius, an ensemble of seven young musicians from four different countries. Their commitment and enthusiasm are evident from the first note to the last on this vividly recorded program. [10/17/2000] --Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com

A native of Brooklyn, New York, the composer, clarinetist, conductor, actor, film director and educator Stanley Walden has written orchestral, chamber and solo works, as well as operas and musicals including Oh! Calcutta! This disc of chamber and in.

Ave Maria

Classical Music

DVORAK: String Quartet in G major / String Quintet in E-Flat

Classical Music

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

Classical Music

BEETHOVEN: KLAVIERKONZERTE 1-4

Classical Music

Founded in 2005, the Escher String Quartet is still a young ensemble as string quartets go. It has nevertheless become established as one of the most exciting quartets around, both in its home country, the U.S.A., and elsewhere, recently being shortlisted for a BBC Music Magazine Award. With their début disc on BIS, the Eschers launch a three-disc cycle of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, including the unnumbered String Quartet in E flat major and – on coming instalments – the four pieces for string quartet Op.81.

Reviews:

This is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner; extrovert and eloquent. Rich tone, good balance and a particularly noteworthy expressiveness from the first violin, Adam Barnett-Hart, who offers that rare ability not only to sing but also to speak through the instrument.

– BBC Music Magazine

The Escher are fervent advocates of the E flat Quartet, imbuing the slow movement with a luxuriant warmth. There's no doubting the players' musicianship or technical ability, which are caught with admirable immediacy.

–Gramophone

The Eschers sound warm, relaxed and responsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances. They lavish full, red-blooded tone on the slow movement of the genial Quartet No 1, and in the restless Quartet No 4 they keep the momentum striving forward, with first violinist Adam Barnett-Hart spinning long, seamless phrases.

– Guardian (UK)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

MARTINU: Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 1

A 2012 live recording of Baldassarre Galuppi's "Il Filosofo di Campagna". Born on an island in the Venice lagoon, Galuppi was an intensely prolific and highly esteemed composer of the Venetian Baroque era. His works included sacred music, sacred and profane cantatas, instrumental works, oratorios and operas, many of which are comic. Among the latter, of particular importance are those born of his collaboration with Carlo Goldoni. The deeply 'Venetian' aspects of Goldoni and Galuppi together created a body of 18th century comic opera of which Il Filosofo di Campagna (The Country Philosopher) is arguably Galuppi's best known. With the Ensemble Barocco della Filarmonica del Veneto led by Fabrizio da Ros and a pan-European cast of young singers mount a lively production.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers.

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Baltimore Consort.

What greater gift can there be for a recorder player, than Handel's Sonatas for recorder and basso continuo? Having loved the masterpiece since she came across it in her studies, Muriel Rochat Rienth simply hoped that someday, she would have the opportunity to record this opus magnum.

Guitarist David Leisner, a featured Azica solo recording artist, commissioned "Facts of Life" from American composer David Del Tredici for this recording, and in addition delivers the world premiere recording of Osvaldo Golijov's "Fish Tale" with flutist Tara Helen O'Connor. David's arrangement of the JS Bach "Lute Suite" BWV 997, included here, was one of the inspirations for Mr. Del Tredici's "Facts of Life". Mr. Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performer, a distinguished composer and a master teacher. Recent appearances have taken him around the USA, Puerto Rico, Oceania, Europe, Japan and Mexico. He also serves as Artistic Director of the Guitar Plus series in New York, a series that features chamber music with guitar.

CORELLI, VIVALDI, ETC: MUSIC F

Charles Wuorinen' staggeringly prolific output has been remarkably consistent yet tremendously varied.