Beethoven frequently aroused incomprehension amongst contemporaries with his late quartets, but never more so than with the "Great Fugue" - originally the Quartet Op. 130 finale. +The Quartetto di Cremona have made the monumental Fugue Op. 133 the centerpiece of the third volume of their Complete Beethoven String Quartets recording series, flanked by the Op. 18 and the Op. 59/1. Formed in 2000, the Quartetto di Cremona are internationally renowned for their “extremely mature and lyrical sound" - Strad

The complete Works for Violin and Piano of George Enescu - The Romanian musicians Remus Azoitei and Eduard Stan interpret the Works of Enescu with intuitional understanding for his multifaceted music - Including the famous 3rd sonata op.25 “dans le caractère populaire roumain” - “No need to look any further: this is a first-rate collection." Gramophone Of all of Enescu's works for violin and piano, the 3rd Sonata Op. 25 "dans le caractère roumain populaire" ("in Romanian folk character" ) composed in 1926 is the most famous and stands roughly in the center of his work for these instruments. In addition to the two other sonatas, a dramatic sonata „torso“ in A Minor, the "Impressions d' enfance" and some smaller works have survived. The Ballad, composed in Paris in 1895 by the precocious fourteen year old Enescu begins his work for violin and piano, ending with the nostalgic Andante malinconico of 1951. Two Romanian musicians, violinist Remus Azoitei and pianist Eduard Stan bring this multifaceted music to life with their gorgeous playing- and drawing inspiration - adding a personal touch - with their own intuitive understanding of Romanian culture, just as the master composed them.

Audite’s second SACD release with the Trio Testore sheds light on a special side of Russian chamber music: the personal, passionate works for piano trio, both conceived as dedications and memorials, by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Tchaikovsky composed his only Piano Trio in memory of his mentor and friend Nikolai Rubinstein, paying tribute to Rubinstein's pianistic brilliance in the work's demanding piano part. Rachmaninov took this two-movement work and its fundamentally elegiac character as a model when he composed his First Piano Trio at the age of seventeen.

It is not a well-known fact that the Amadeus Quartet were championed the music of their contemporaries. Accomplished for radio broadcasts, they recorded string quartets written by the major English composers of their time, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett, as well as the Hungarian composers Mátyás Seiber and Béla Bartók. By also recording Henry Purcell's string fantasias, included on this release, they followed references between Britten and the cradle of English chamber music. This edition, Vol. IV, Modernism, will substantially broaden the view of the Amadeus Quartet, demonstrating the inquisitiveness and assuredness with which first violinist Norbert Brainin and his three colleagues explored modern music. This Amadeus Quartet audite series continues to exclusively present performances seeing their initial CD release.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The Musical Offering BWV 1079, is a collection of contrapuntal pieces by J.S. Bach, based on a single musical theme by Frederick the Great. The particular occasion for this version by Helmut Bornefeld (1906-1990) for organ, violin and flute was the imminent dedication of the Schorndorf choir organ in 1975.

BRAHMS: VIOLIN CONCERTO, DOUBL

Classical Music

This release includes one of Joachim Raff's major chamber works, the sonata for Cello and Piano of 1973, in its first recording. All the pieces here underline the importance of melody in Raff's music. This anthology is a treasure trove of lovely tunes, which Raff can spin with Schumannesque urgency and Schubertian charm.

Trumpet player Marco Blaauw has made the further development of the trumpet, it's technique and repertoire, his life's work. He frequently collaborates both with successful contemporary composers and younger composers that deserve to be heard. On this recording, Blaauw presents a fascinating selection of contemporary compositions for trumpet. It includes works by Liza Lim, Rebecca Saunders and the composer of the title track, Carl Ruggles.

Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 52: Schumann: Kreisleriana - Fa

"Rubinstein's readings of the two finest Sonatas are unsurpassed, with a poetic impulse that springs directly from the music and a control of rubato to bring many moments of magic... [T]he addition of the Barcarolle and Berceuse make this reissue all the more desirable." -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs [2003/4 edition]

English Harpsichord Works

LADY MAGGIE’S LILT: MUSIC FROM THE LUTE BOOK OF LADY MARGARET WEMYSS, 1629-1648 • Martin Eastwell (lt) • MMC 104 (62:53)


Uniquely in my experience, this disc contains 45 short pieces, mostly anonymous, a body of work that comprises about half of what has been found in the book of the Scottish Lady Margaret Wemyss, who started a book of music and poems when she was 12. Many of the tunes played here are simple arrangements of Scottish tunes: Martin Eastwell suggests that the book is particularly interesting for the insights it provides into Scottish folk music. Eastwell has added seven preludes of his own devising to groups of pieces he feels hold together. He has also added embellishments to I Never Knew I Loved Thee , and borrowed the last piece, The Flowers of the Forest from another contemporary Scottish book. Flowers was written as an elegy for Lady Margaret. Half of the collection, according to Eastwell, is of French origin: He includes pieces by Gaultier, Lespine, Mesangeau, Dufault, and de Chancy. Many of the pieces, such as The Corbie and the Pigot, are very simple though pretty. There are laments, and sprightly songs like Fair and Louky. The competition here is with a disc by Jakob Lindberg, though that disc only duplicates some of the music found here. Lindberg’s Lady Binnis Lilt is much more folksy and dance-like than is Eastwell’s rendition. There’s something a little wild about Lindberg’s playing. In these small pieces, Eastwell is restrained and lyrical. The disc may not contain towering masterpieces, but it surely is pleasant to listen to.


FANFARE: Michael Ullman

5 CONCERTS FOR ORGAN & ORCHEST

The five musicians Markus Stockhausen, Tara Bouman, Stefano Scodanibbio, Fabrizio Ottaviucci and Mark Nauseef had known each other since the 1980s. A sense of friendship on both personal and artistic levels grew among these musicians, as did the wish to make a recording of their 'Intuitive Music': a music that is fleeting – since it is only intended for the moment – but nevertheless deserves documentation. This is what motivated the present recordings. In February 2008, the five musicians met at Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps. For four days, they played together intuitively, without music or prior discussion. Walter Quintus recorded all these encounters and mixed them very skillfully. Stefano Scodanibbio died on 8 January 2012, much too young, after a long illness. This music is dedicated to him.

Tracklist:
1. Ungone
2. Of Silver Tongue
3. The Fluid Thread
4. Right Bright Night
5. She Cleared the Air
6. Invisible Again

DAS WOHLTEMPERIERTE HORN

V4: BEST OF CLASSICAL GUITAR

Includes work(s) by Carlo Farina, David Pohle, Johann Jacob Löwe, Johann Jakob Walther. Ensemble: Ricercar Consort. Conductor: Pierre Pierlot. Soloist: François Fernandez.

Recorded as part of Carus' prizewinning "Liederprojekt" series, a charity project produced by Carus and Southwest German Radio that contributes profits to childrens' music education in Europe, this 3 CD set is an extraordinary collection of lullabies from Europa, America, Asia, Africa and Australia with selections that are at once deeply familiar to those that will delight with discovery for both the young and young at heart. With an impressive breadth of performers including Peter Schreier, Calmus Ensemble, Christian Gerhaher, Jonas Kaufmann and much more; it could be said this is the ultimate collection of lullabies that would complete any music library.

Various/Copland. CBS Masterworks 42431 [Appalachian Spring (complete ballet in original chamber scoring); Billy the Kid; Lincoln Portrait].

Although it has come to be much better known in Copland’s arrangement for full orchestra, Appalachian Spring was originally composed for a chamber-sized complement of 13 instruments, the maximum that would fit in front of the stage at the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress – where Martha Graham’s company gave the premiere of the ballet in 1944. Many listeners prefer the more vibrant and homespun sound of this original version of Appalachian Spring, with its intimate expressiveness, to the splashiness and color of Copland’s rescoring, as brilliant as it is. Here, Copland conducts a hand-picked group of New York free-lancers in what must be counted a definitive performance; the playing is energetic and expressive, the sentiment deep but not too sweet. Copland’s 1968 account of his Lincoln Portrait, with Henry Fonda as narrator, and 1969 reading of the suite from Billy the Kid round out the disc most satisfactorily. All three recordings are remarkably vivid. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music