{"title":"Chandos Sale Summer 2026","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eOver\u003cspan\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e400 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003etitles from\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChandos\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eare on sale now on \u003cem\u003eArkivMusic\u003c\/em\u003e!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChandos \u003c\/strong\u003eRecords is one of the world’s premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Discover titles from \u003cstrong\u003eBrahms\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eRachmaninoff\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eStrauss \u003c\/strong\u003eand more; as well as performances from the\u003cem\u003e BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia of London, Arcadia Quartet\u003c\/em\u003e and more!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eShop the sale before it ends\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e9:00am ET, Tuesday, July 28th, 2026.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"greene-jephtha","title":"Greene: Jephtha","description":"The passage of time has perhaps been unkind to the English composer Maurice Greene. By 1730 he was one of the most senior musicians in England: Organist at St Paul's Cathedral, Organist and Composer to the Chapel Royal, and Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge. When he was appointed Master of the King's Music, in 1735, he held every significant appointment in the Kingdom. Of course, the overwhelming presence of Handel in London at the time most certainly played a significant part in Greene's relative obscurity. His second attempt at oratorio, Jephtha, in 1737, marks the first successful foray by an Englishman in this genre. Brimming with attractively varied airs and choruses, powerfully emotive accompanied recitatives, and spirited orchestral movements, it is an engaging work. Taken from the Book of Judges, chapter 11, the account of Jephtha tells the story of a fearless Israelite warrior recalled from exile to fight for his people, a man not only of great valour but, as it transpires - thanks to an impulsive and fateful pledge - of profound honour, too, destined to assume his place as their worthy ruler. Christian Curnyn directs his Early Opera Company forces with a dazzling cast of soloists: Andrew Staples takes the part of Jephtha, joined by Mary Bevan, Michael Mofidian, and Jeremy Budd.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012443066602,"sku":"0095115040829","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4404946-3329235_dad091a3-a500-48e1-ade4-39a017b22a71.jpg?v=1778223399"},{"product_id":"fasch-orchestral-works-vol-4","title":"Fasch: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4","description":"This volume of modern premieres of works by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 - 1758) was recorded in concert, the programme opening the 2023 International Fasch Festival, in Zerbst, the city in which he was Capellmeister to the princely court. Tempesta di Mare has had an ongoing love affair with the orchestral music of Fasch that goes back to 2007, when the band received images of manuscript part books for several as-yet unpublished orchestral works held at the Dresden Library. They have been investigating, discovering, and performing works by Fasch every season since then, and recording those that have not already been recorded - this album is the fourth volume of such discoveries. One of the things that fascinate Tempesta di Mare about the music of Fasch, which goes beyond the craftsmanship, expressivity, inventiveness, and wit, is his very distinctive voice. Plenty of other central European composers of his time were content if their music could sound like that of Vivaldi, Corelli, or Telemann. Those influences remain clearly present in his music, but Fasch does not sound like any of them - nor, for that matter, like Bach, Handel, or any other of his contemporaries familiar to us.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012444999914,"sku":"095115082928","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4375861-3271933.jpg?v=1778211992"},{"product_id":"schubert-string-quintet-van-der-heijden-brodsky-quartet","title":"Schubert: String Quintet \/ van der Heijden, Brodsky Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003eCelebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2022, the Brodsky Quartet has performed more than 3000 concerts on the major concert stages of the world and has released more than seventy recordings. A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore have propelled the group in many artistic directions and continue to ensure it not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence. As they comment in their booklet note: ‘It seems fitting to mark the milestone by recording this epic and most celebrated of chamber works, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major, a piece which we have lived with since childhood, and which we have played with a long line of illustrious cellists. One of our earliest performances took place with Terence Weil, our mentor at college, at his retirement concert, just as we were starting out on our professional journey. Now the wonderful young Laura van der Heijden, who comes to this recording with a maturity which belies her years, represents with respect to us a similar age gap, proving that age is insignificant where there is a meeting of musical minds. Now we look forward to whatever our sixth decade might bring.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eIn this exceptional interpretation of Schubert’s C major Quintet, there are plenty of moments where the players individually or collectively make something happen – a tiny inflection in the phrasing here, an applied touch of color there. Yet nothing is overdone, and the music always flows as it wants to\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012447162602,"sku":"095115197820","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4129360-3140383.jpg?v=1778207562"},{"product_id":"arnold-clarinet-concerto-orchestral-works-collins-gamba-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Arnold: Clarinet Concerto \u0026 Orchestral Works \/ Collins, Gumba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eRumon Gamba leads the BBC Philharmonic in this collection of lesser-known pieces by the British composer Sir Malcolm Arnold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn 1921, Arnold was inspired by Louis Armstrong to take up the trumpet at the age of twelve. Following study at the Royal College of Music, in London, he became Principal Trumpet of the London Philharmonic, in 1943 – a post he held (bar one season at the BBC Symphony Orchestra) until he moved to composing full time, in 1948.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArnold was active in many genres, writing nine symphonies, two operas, five ballets, and more than 100 film scores, including The Bridge on the River Kwai for which he won an Oscar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis album features music from across his compositional career, from Larch Trees (1943) to the Philharmonic Concerto (1976) – both works written for the London Philharmonic. His Divertimento was written for the newly formed National Youth Orchestra, whilst the BBC commissioned the Commonwealth Christmas Overture for the twenty-fifth anniversary of King George VI’s first Christmas Broadcast, in 1932. The Clarinet Concerto No. 1, expertly performed here by Michael Collins, was written for Frederick (‘Jack’) Thurston who gave the première, in 1949, at the Edinburgh Festival. The album concludes with Philip Lane’s orchestration of The Padstow Lifeboat, originally composed for brass band to celebrate the launch of a new lifeboat in Padstow in 1968.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat better way to start the New Year than with a bumper disc of Malcolm Arnold at his most entertaining.  The program of this recording has been somewhat dictated by music missing from the extensive Chandos catalogue of the composer, so the result is something of a seeming hotch-potch albeit a very engaging one. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConductor Rumon Gamba and the ever-reliable BBC Philharmonic are old hands at Arnold and this style of repertoire which they play with genuine flair and engagement throughout.  While none of the repertoire is new to the catalogue, four of the works are receiving only their second commercial recordings, and, with one exception, all the other recordings of these works are over twenty years old.  Furthermore, most of those older recordings appear to be out of print.  So even if this new disc were not as fine as it is, it would pretty much have the field to itself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most recorded work on this disc is the Clarinet Concerto No. 1 Op.20.  The soloist here is Michael Collins, who recorded it as part of the Conifer survey back in 1988. Collins’ playing is simply superb; expressive and humorous, articulate, virtuosic.  Conductor Ramon Gamba is most imaginative with his phrasing and attention to dynamics and accentuation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Divertimento No. 2 Op.24\/75 is a great example of unaffected, unbuttoned Arnold.  The flair and brio of this present recording is undeniable and affords great listening pleasure. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNear the other end of Arnold’s compositional career is the Philharmonic Concerto, Op.120 written in 1976.  This is Arnold at one of his very darkest times rather desperately trying to make out that everything is just fine while the music tells a different story.  Again this new performance is simply excellent – unflinchingly muscular and dynamic with an aggressive edge that seems wholly, if somewhat uncomfortably, appropriate.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe disc ends with a collective sigh of relief – the utterly brilliant Padstow Lifeboat in its orchestral transcription by Phillip Lane.  The original Brass Band version is incomparable and utterly “right” but Lane’s orchestration is a delight. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo an uplifting conclusion to a disc guaranteed to raise spirits in the dank winter months with performances and recordings to match or supplant any in the catalogue.  Recording dates show sessions split by the pandemic but the sound and playing is superbly consistent.  A top-notch Chandos release to start the year right down to the cover photograph of the RNLB James and Catherine Macfarlane – the eponymous Padstow Lifeboat itself. Certainly a disc to show the range and quality of Arnold’s mercurial genius in all its glory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012448342250,"sku":"095115215227","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4160716-2933864.jpg?v=1778231801"},{"product_id":"sancan-a-musical-tribute-yan-pascal-tortelier-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Sancan: A Musical Tribute \/ Bavouzet, Tortelier, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eWithout question born a little too late in a century of huge upheavals, Pierre Sancan has almost completely disappeared from our memories. He nevertheless occupied a place at the heart of the history of French music in the second half of the twentieth century: composer, pianist, teacher, and an extremely endearing personality, as one will discover on this disc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis program of the Piano concerto, orchestral works, works for solo piano, and the flute Sonatine (played by Adam Walker) serves as a personal tribute to Sancan from both pianist and conductor, and will hopefully help to raise awareness of this gifted composer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012449325290,"sku":"095115215425","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4201659-2975984.jpg?v=1778234089"},{"product_id":"gipps-orchestral-works-vol-2-095115216125","title":"Gipps: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 \/ Gamba, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eRuth Gipps (1921 – 1999) was born in the English seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea. Encouraged as a child by an ambitious pianist mother, she appeared locally as a prodigy pianist. She was accepted by the Royal College of Music in 1937, at the age of sixteen, having won the Caird Scholarship. She quickly matured, both as composer and pianist. She studied with Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob, and later the oboe with Leon Goossens. During the Second World War she gained a position as oboist with the City of Birmingham Orchestra and devoted a great deal of her time to composing. Three of the works on this album were composed during the war: the Oboe Concerto, the tone poem Death on the Pale Horse, and the overture Chanticleer (derived from an opera which, sadly, she never completed). The manuscript of the Third Symphony is dated 1 November 1965 and the work was first heard when Gipps introduced it with her London Repertoire Orchestra, on 19 March 1966. Its first professional performance took place on 29 October 1969, Gipps directing the BBC Scottish Orchestra, but it has since gone largely unheard, until now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eEach of this foursome, the bulk from the 1940s, offers pungent and individual delights...Throughout the album the BBC Philharmonic plays with bright colours, a sharp attack and swaggering energy – just what this dip into Gipps deserves.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe BBC Philharmonic sound as though they relished communing with the music throughout, and Chandos’s sound is first rate. Warmly recommended.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012450570474,"sku":"095115216125","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4129361-2896373.jpg?v=1778207572"},{"product_id":"coates-orchestral-works-vol-3-john-wilson-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Coates: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 \/ Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Wilson’s third volume of the music of Eric Coates combines some of the composer’s larger-scale works with miniatures and two marches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Cinderella Phantasy frames the well-known fairy-tale from Cinderella’s perspective, glossing over the more brutal elements of the original, with some notably descriptive writing for the dream sequences, the ball and of course the happy ending.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Three Men is to some extent autobiographical, as Coates explores his love of his native Nottinghamshire countryside, his love for London and his love of the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Three Elizabeths is a suite of portraits of three great figures in English History – Queen Elizabeth I; Elizabeth of Glamis (then the Queen Consort, now remembered as the Queen Mother), and Princess Elizabeth (who of course became Queen Elizabeth II).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLost Love is a wistful Romance written in 1939, while the much later Sweet Seventeen is a beautiful waltz, inspired by Eric and his wife Phyliss’ love of dancing. In fact, the title refers to his first date with Phyllis, at the Blenheim Restaurant, the day before her seventeenth birthday. Two marches complete the program – the Television March was commissioned by the BBC (just three weeks before the date of broadcast!) for the resumption of television broadcasting in 1946. The Dam Busters March was used as the main title for Michael Anderson’s 1955 film and is arguably the composer’s most widely known work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe Dam Busters march became the biggest and final hit of Coates’s career. John Wilson’s way with it – letting that tune glide in almost imperceptibly, relishing the moment when the violins decorate it, like sprinkling icing on a cake – typifies his approach.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012451586282,"sku":"095115216422","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4207016-3140385.jpg?v=1778206484"},{"product_id":"weinberg-dawn-symphony-no-12-storgards-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Weinberg: Dawn; Symphony No. 12 \/ Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery five years the Soviet Union celebrated the anniversary of the October 1917 Revolution with large-scale public events, to which the country’s leading artists were expected to contribute. Mieczyslaw Weinberg, like his friend Shostakovich, enjoyed mixed fortunes with his efforts. The symphonic poem Dawn (Zarya), Op. 60, dedicated to the fortieth anniversary of the Revolution, seems to have remained unperformed during his lifetime, despite its ideologically irreproachable content. Its première was finally given in the BBC studios in Manchester, on 15 May 2019, by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Shostakovich died, on 9 August 1975, it had been five years since Weinberg composed his last symphony. To commemorate his friend and mentor (whom he regarded as the greatest symphonist of his age) Weinberg decided on a full-scale, four movement, non-programmatic work as his personal tribute. Symphony No. 12, written between December 1975 and February 1976 is the longest of Weinberg’s purely instrumental symphonies. Kirill Kondrashin was due to conduct the première, but his last-minute insistence on large-scale cuts and changes to the score was taken by Weinberg as a great insult, and ended their relationship. The first performance was finally given as a radio broadcast on 13 October 1979, (probably) by the USSR TV and Radio Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012452864234,"sku":"0095115216521","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4248039-3183133.jpg?v=1778220548"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concerto-no-22-k482-no-23-k488-vol-6","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 6 - K. 482 \u0026 488; Impresario Overture \/ Bavouzet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDescribed by BBC Music Magazine as ‘Mozart music-making of altogether superior quality’, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s acclaimed Mozart Concertos series reaches Vol. 6. Along with Concerto No. 24, K. 491, the two concertos presented here were composed in Vienna in the winter of 1785 – 86, at a time when Mozart was working on Le nozze di Figaro. He was at the height of his fame as composer, virtuoso pianist, and teacher. These three concertos were all written for his own use in the concerts of that winter, and remained unpublished during his lifetime. Der Schauspieldirektor (The Impresario) was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II for an important state visit and performed at Schönbrunn palace on 7 February 1786. The Overture highlights Mozart’s innate ability as an orchestrator, and serves as a demonstration piece for Gábor Takács-Nagy and the wonderful musicians of Manchester Camerata.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGábor Takács-Nagy elicits incisive yet vocally orientated phrasing from The Manchester Camerata, giving the impression that the marvellous string, wind and brass sections are reacting and responding to one another, while the timpani strokes make consistently palpable yet never overwhelming impact. The point and refinement of Bavouzet’s elegant phrasing exemplifies Mozart’s famous description of how certain passages should ‘flow like oil’… The engineering’s spacious yet clear concert-hall realism further factors into my enthusiastic recommendation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Gramophone (Jed Distler)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012453781738,"sku":"095115216620","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4069296-2811229.jpg?v=1778239222"},{"product_id":"rachmaninoff-brahms-ravel-musical-remembrances-piano-trios","title":"Musical Remembrances - Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Ravel: Piano Trios \/ Neave Trio","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA 2023 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Chamber Performance!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHailed by the magazine BBC Music for its ‘generous and warm-hearted, utterly beguiling playing’, the Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of its generation. It has been praised by WQXR Radio in New York City for its ‘bright and radiant music making’, described by The Strad as having ‘elegant phrasing and deft control of textures’, and praised by The New York Times for its ‘excellent performances’. Here, the trio presents a program of music connected by the theme of Remembrance.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRachmaninoff’s early first piano trio was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s trio in A minor, and shows illuminating glimpses of the mature composer to come. The elegiac mood of Rachmaninoff’s work is matched by that of Brahms’s first trio – again an early composition – which was inspired by the composer’s (unrequited) feelings for Clara Schumann.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRavel’s only piano trio was composed in 1914, as France was being drawn into the horrors of the first world war. Ravel draws extensively on the rhythms and forms of his native Basque musical traditions, while the title of the second movement, ‘Pantoum’, refers to a form of traditional Malaysian poetry which typically deals with two separate themes in alternation, a feature to which Ravel responds with a series of contrasting themes and textures.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012456927466,"sku":"095115216729","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4080205-2964580.jpg?v=1778239217"},{"product_id":"strauss-schumann-weber-owen-wilson-bbc-philharmonic","title":"Strauss, Schumann \u0026 Weber: Works for Horn \/ Owen, Wilson, BBC Philharmonic","description":"\u003cp\u003eRegarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, Martin Owen appears as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. Currently principal horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he has previously served as principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and as solo horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWeber’s Concertino was written for the old, valveless ‘natural horn’; its limited range of notes (tied to the harmonic series) was extended mechanically with additional tubing (‘crooks’) and, more artfully, by virtuoso players bending notes, and varied hand stopping. The technical demands of the Concertino are testament to the extraordinary facility of the hornists of the period. The first Horn Concerto by Richard Strauss, written at the age of nineteen, whilst a student, is widely considered his first uncontested masterpiece. Although the influence of Brahms and Schumann are evident, his own compositional voice is unmistakable. Strauss would continue to write significant parts for horn in all of his orchestral scores (possibly an influence of his father, who was a virtuoso hornist), but the second Concerto was not composed until 1942 – some sixty years later. The style is much more neo-classical, even ‘Mozartian’. Schumann’s riotous Concertstück for four horns opens the programme, and features three more outstanding soloists: Christopher Parkes (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia of London), Alec Frank-Gemmill (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), and Sarah Willis (Berliner Philharmoniker).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012457615594,"sku":"0095115216828","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4226831-3132087.jpg?v=1778201991"},{"product_id":"befreit-a-soul-surrendered-whately-middleton","title":"Befreit – A Soul Surrendered \/ Whately, Middleton","description":"\u003cp\u003eMezzo-soprano Kitty Whately trained at Chetham’s School of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the International Opera School of the Royal College of Music. Having won both the Kathleen Ferrier Award and Royal Overseas League Award in the same year, she attended the prestigious Academy of the Verbier Festival. She writes of this project: ‘It has been my great pleasure to record with Joseph once again. We have long shared a mutual passion for early-twentieth-century-romantic Lieder and talked of making a disc including songs by Mahler and Strauss. The opportunity to discover and research lesser-known composers from their era has been thrilling and fascinating. As the world endured the pandemic, we all experienced fear and danger and loss in a way that most of our generation never did before, on such a global scale. Joseph and I felt drawn to reflect on grief, mortality, and bereavement.’ The two lesser-known composers featured in the recording are Johanna Müller-Hermann (who studied with several of the most prominent teachers in Vienna – Josef Labor, Guido Adler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Josef Bohuslav Foerster, Franz Schmidt) and Margarete Schweikert, who’s upbringing and life in Karlsruhe and studies with Joseph Haas in Stuttgart could hardly provide a greater contrast – clearly audible in their music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCONTENTS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: Wie eine Vollmondnacht, Op. 20 No. 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: Der letzte abend, Op. 2 No. 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrauss, R\u003c\/strong\u003e: Befreit, Op. 39 No. 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrauss, R\u003c\/strong\u003e: Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Wolke I\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Totenhausen\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Zusammen sterben\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrauss, R\u003c\/strong\u003e: Auf ein Kind, Op. 47 No. 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrauss, R\u003c\/strong\u003e: Rückleben, Op. 47 No. 3\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStrauss, R\u003c\/strong\u003e: Morgen, Op. 27 No. 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: Die Stille Stadt, Op. 4 No. 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: Herbst, Op. 20 No. 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: In Memoriam, Op. 28 No. 5\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Unser Haus\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Die Entschlafenen\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMahler\u003c\/strong\u003e: Kindertotenlieder\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMüller-Hermann\u003c\/strong\u003e: Widmung, Op. 20 No. 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSchweikert\u003c\/strong\u003e: Einem Vorangegangenen\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThroughout Whately and Middleton prove highly persuasive guides; the pianist bringing the accompaniments vividly to life and the mezzo fully committed to the works and impressive, in particular, in getting the texts across.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012459122922,"sku":"095115217726","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4169954-2947520.jpg?v=1778208191"},{"product_id":"mozart-the-piano-quartets-dego-ridout-heijden-colli","title":"Mozart: The Piano Quartets","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing a highly successful series of concerts in the summer of 2022, Francesca Dego, Timothy Ridout, Laura van der Heijden, and Federico Colli headed into the studio to record Mozart’s Piano Quartets. Whilst he may not have been the first composer to add a viola to the popular piano trio, Mozart was certainly the first to do so with such outstanding success.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his piano quartets, the strings become an equal partner to the piano, rather than mere accompaniment – much as in his piano concertos. This link is reinforced by his choice of form – unlike his string quartets, the piano quartets have three movements rather than four: a full-bodied movement in sonata form, a lighter central slow movement in a related key, and a rondo finale. Both works were composed during the three-year period, from February 1784 to December 1786, in which Mozart wrote twelve piano concertos. The first quartet is written in the key of G minor – rarely used by Mozart – and the overall mood is quite dark, almost disturbing. The second quartet, in E flat major, is by contrast much sunnier in atmosphere. Consequently, the two works together make for a very satisfying program.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere’s no real star: this is real chamber music. And yet, first among equals, Colli’s piano is the center of gravity, setting the tone with quiet grace when he’s foregrounded, and sounding characterful and eloquent even when he’s in the background; he never has to push his way through...this is chamber-music playing that really has something to say, and it’s never complacent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e— The Guardian (UK)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012459942122,"sku":"0095115217924","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4226832-3132681.jpg?v=1778201997"},{"product_id":"weinberg-string-quartets-vol-3-0095115218020","title":"Weinberg: String Quartets, Vol. 3 \/ Arcadia Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs with the previous volumes in their survey of the quartets of Weinberg, the Arcadia Quartet have selected a pair of works from contrasting stylistic periods of the composer’s output. The Fourth Quartet was composed in 1945, shortly after Weinberg had moved to Moscow. The Quartet presents an abstract, psychologically universal picture – a testimony both to the composer’s artistic maturity and to the affinity that Weinberg had discovered with Shostakovich. The Sixteenth Quartet was composed between 1 January and 15 February 1981. It carries a dedication to Weinberg’s sister, Ester, who had perished following the Nazi invasion of Poland and would have been sixty that year. Typical of his later compositional style, the writing is more muscular, harmonically complex, and intense.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012460663018,"sku":"0095115218020","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4190953-3139261.jpg?v=1778260147"},{"product_id":"mendelson-bacewicz-chamber-works","title":"J. Mendelson \u0026 Bacewicz: Chamber Works \/ Silesian Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe award-winning Silesian quartet present a new album featuring two composers from Warsaw – Joachim Mendelson and Graznya Bacewicz. After completing his music studies in Warsaw and Berlin, Joachim Mendelson moved to Paris in 1929, where he joined the Association des Jeunes Musiciens Polonais, a society founded in 1926 to facilitate the study, publication, and promotion of the works of young Polish composers. Bacewicz also received support from the Association, and from Paderewski, and studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. The associations’ aims included re-establishing a national musical life at the highest level back in Poland (after more than a century of joint occupation by Russia, Prussia, and Austria), and both composers returned to Warsaw and worked there until 1939. Mendelson taught at the Institute of Music, and Bacewicz became leader of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and continued her career and a composer and soloist. Mendelson was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto until 1943 when he was murdered by the Gestapo. Five of his works survive, thanks to the French publisher Max Eschig, including the quartet and quintet recorded here. Both Bacewicz works on this recording were rejected by the composer, and never included in her catalogue of works. It is extremely lucky that the manuscripts have survived, preserved at the National Library in Warsaw. Half a century after her death the Royal String Quartet prepared performing scores and gave the first performances.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012461318378,"sku":"0095115218129","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4220712-3006228.jpg?v=1778215859"},{"product_id":"rubbra-the-jade-mountain-ridout-finch-burnside","title":"Rubbra: The Jade Mountain \/ Crowe, Barnett-Jones, Farnsworth, Finch, Ridout, Burnside","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhilst the English composer Edmund Rubbra is best known for his symphonic output, he composed a good deal of vocal music, and wrote songs throughout his compositional life. Rubbra studied with Cyril Scott and Gustav Holst, and was a great friend of his contemporary Gerald Finzi. The songs are notable for their variation in accompaniment (less than half are set for piano, the rest for harp, string quartet, string orchestra, or full orchestra). This album contains all his published songs with piano and harp accompaniment, and includes the first and last songs of the composer’s output. Lucy Crowe, Claire Barnett-Jones, and Marcus Farnsworth are the three singers on the album, Catrin Finch (harp) and Iain Burnside (piano) the accompanists. Timothy Ridout (viola) joins for the Two Sonnets by William Alabaster, Op. 87.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCONTENTS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Rosa Mundi, Op. 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Cradle Song, Op. 8 No. 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Nod\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Orpheus with his Lute, Op. 8 No. 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Who is Silvia? Op. 8 No. 3\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Out in the dark, Op. 13 No. 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: It was a lover, Op. 13 No. 3\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: The Night, Op. 14\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Rune of Hospitality\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: A Duan of Barra\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: A Widow Bird Sate Mourning, Op. 28\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: A Prayer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Songs (2), Op. 22\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: In Dark Weather, Op. 33\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Invocation to Spring, Op. 17 No. 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Two Sonnets by William Alabaster\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Songs (2), Op. 4\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: A Hymn to the Virgin, Op. 13 No. 2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: The Jade Mountain, Op. 116\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Nocturne, Op. 54\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Salve, Regina, Op. 119\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: No Swan So Fine, Op. 91\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Fly Envious Time, Op. 148\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Psalms (3), Op. 61\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRubbra\u003c\/strong\u003e: Dear Liza, Op. 7\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eSoprano Lucy Crowe and baritone Marcus Farnsworth sing with tonal beauty, clear diction, and great sensitivity for the music and text. Pianist Iain Burnside is a marvelous collaborator, as are harpist Catrin Finch and violist Timothy Ridout. The booklet includes complete song texts and superb liner notes by Jonathan Clinch. [Rubbra] his songs are the product of a thoughtful and sensitive composer, and well worth exploration.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- Fanfare\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012462072042,"sku":"095115218228","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4182402-2968380.jpg?v=1778206196"},{"product_id":"haydn-piano-sonatas-vol-10","title":"Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10 \/ Bavouzet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Bavouzet’s Haydn is unmatched in its zest and its wit. But it is also substantial, informed and deeply rewarding.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e--The \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eon Bavouzet's Haydn Sonatas cycle, 2022\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHis multi-award-winning recordings and dazzling concert performances have long established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation. This latest album – the tenth – in his cycle of the complete Haydn sonatas is built around the Grand Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 50, a late work the first movement of which is one of the most highly developed that Haydn ever conceived for the keyboard. Bavouzet has surrounded this with less well-known works: Two very early sonatas (Nos. 3 \u0026amp; 4) provide a stark contrast to the later works (Nos. 28 \u0026amp; 45). The album ends with the \u003cem\u003eArietta con 12 Variazioni\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBavouzet notes: ‘The Variations in E flat major and the Sonata in A major, Hob. XVI: 30, were for me the marvelous revelations of this program. In the E flat major Variations (the lovely theme of which Mozart borrowed in his Sonata, KV 282!). The chief question was to know whether to repeat the theme at the end, as certain editions recommend. After several experiments, I finally opted for a solution perhaps a little anachronistic, by construing the entire last variation as a long, gradual crescendo which takes us from the somber and serious atmosphere of the preceding variation towards the brilliant light of the unadorned chords that conclude this magnificent cycle.’\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere’s one masterpiece on this CD: Sonata 60. From Jean-Efflam Bavouzet comes an almost furtively soft beginning to the first theme, a pondering pause, then loud arpeggiated affirmation, jubilation unleashed as ideas crowd in on one another and repeat gleefully. Second prize on this CD goes to Sonata 45, composed 20 years earlier, Haydn’s only piano sonata played without a break. As in previous volumes, Bavouzet mixes sonatas from various periods, backtracking 14 years earlier for Sonatas 3 and 4. So you experience the learning curve through which Haydn achieved his mature works. In Sonata 3, despite its relative simplicity, Bavouzet brings elegance and chipper, assertive bounce to the opening \u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAllegro\u003c\/em\u003e and you’ll relish his extra ornamentation in the repeat of the Scherzo’s final strain. In Sonata 4 his neatness and propriety in the opening movement is delightfully offset by the impropriety of repeats’ extra ornamentation[.]\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e--\u003cem\u003eMusicWeb International \u003c\/em\u003e(Michael Greenhalgh)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012463677674,"sku":"095115219126","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4057329-2816349.jpg?v=1778240207"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-vol-7-bavouzet","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 7 - K. 491 \u0026 503; Marriage of Figaro Overture \/ Bavouzet","description":"\u003cp\u003eVolume 7 of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s Mozart piano concerto features two of the late concertos – nos. 24 and 25 - coupled with a spirited reading of the Marriage of Figaro overture from Gábor Takács-Nagy and the Manchester Camerata. Concerto no. 24 was written whilst he was busily composing the Marriage of Figaro between October 1785 and the premier in Vienna in May 1786. One of only two of his piano concertos in a minor key, there are many unusual features in this extraordinary work, including the deliberately ambivalent tonality of the opening melody, which uses all 12 tones of the scale (a pre-echo of serialism??!). Concerto no. 25 was probably first performed in Vienna in December 1876, and was certainly a success as there were many repeated performances in the following years (including one by Beethoven in 1795). Recorded in Manchester’s Stoller Hall, Bavouzet plays a Yamaha CFX nine-foot Concert Grand Piano.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBavouzet uses a modern concert grand, with the orchestra avoiding excessive vibrato but otherwise playing in today’s mellow-toned instrumental style. The superlative collective result shows that period performance issues need not be an overriding concern, if the feeling for the idiom itself is so engagingly right.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012464267498,"sku":"095115219225","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4169955-2947493.jpg?v=1778238419"},{"product_id":"haydn-piano-sonatas-vol-11-0095115219324","title":"Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 11 \/ Bavouzet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Bavouzet’s Haydn is unmatched in its zest and its wit. But it is also substantial, informed and deeply rewarding.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e--The \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eon Bavouzet's Haydn Sonatas cycle, 2022\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean-Efflam Bavouzet’s survey of Haydn’s piano sonatas reaches its conclusion with this 11th and final volume. As with the previous releases, the acclaimed pianist has included repertoire from different periods of Haydn’s career to create a recital of interest in its own right, as well as the completion of the series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean-Efflam notes: ‘It has been eleven years since the launch of this project to present Haydn’s sonatas, not in their chronological order, but as collections juxtaposing works from different periods. The program for this final album was actually the first one to be devised: I wanted to place side by side the very first and the very last sonata. Then the idea of fleshing out the sonata cycle with other major pieces began at volume four, with the addition of the famous \u003cem\u003eVariations in F minor\u003c\/em\u003e, and finally this last volume is made up of as many sonatas as other types of works. The complete series is thus able to offer music lovers all the sonatas identified to date, together with the other major keyboard works.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFive stars \u0026amp; editor's choice\u003c\/strong\u003e |\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eJust when I thought it couldn’t get any better, this last volume hits new heights. --\u003cem\u003eGramophone\u003c\/em\u003e (Michelle Assay)\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e---\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-author\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003eThis album concludes Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s epic and scintillating cycle of the complete Haydn Piano Sonatas. Sandwiched between the first and last sonatas – the former delightfully without a hint of angst, the latter richly expressive and exploratory – lies a wealth of contrasts…As on previous occasions [Bavouzet] makes it difficult to imagine Haydn presented with greater gusto, precision and charms[.] --\u003cem\u003eInternational Piano\u003c\/em\u003e (Bryce Morrison)\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e---\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA project that began in 2011 is completed; what a journey it has been. Bavouzet’s gifts of insightful exposition and revelation are matched by the wisdom of his curation… A triumph. --The Sunday \u003cem\u003eTimes \u003c\/em\u003e(Dan Cairns)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-stars stars0\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012464988394,"sku":"0095115219324","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4112389-2877017.jpg?v=1778250783"},{"product_id":"mendelssohn-the-string-quintets-timothy-ridout-doric-string-quartet","title":"Mendelssohn: The String Quintets \/ Ridout, Doric String Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eGramophone \u003c\/em\u003eEditor's Choice\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Following their acclaimed recordings of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, here they are joined by leading violist Timothy Ridout for this album of his two string quintets. Mendelssohn's two String Quintets were written at the beginning and end of his short but remarkable compositional life. No 1 was written in 1826, shortly before the Overture to 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', when Mendelssohn was just seventeen. No.2 was written in 1845, when he was thirty-six, a year before the premier of Elijah and just two years before his death.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis recording shows these quintets are one of [Mendelssohn’s] finest achievements, full of lyricism and power…with almost Beethovenian profundity. The energy of the players' account of Op. 87 is pretty irresistible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e-- The Guardian (UK)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMinutely attentive to Mendelssohn’s detailed dynamic and phrase markings, they yield to none in polish and precision. True to form, they characterize with gusto.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e--\u003c\/em\u003e Gramophone (\u003cstrong\u003eEditor's Choice\u003c\/strong\u003e, 4\/2022)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012465709290,"sku":"095115221822","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4057330-2799472.jpg?v=1778250853"},{"product_id":"rocking-horse-road","title":"Rocking Horse Road \/ Dankworth, Broadsky Quartet","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eRocking Horse Road is the debut recording of Jacqui Dankworth and the Brodsky quartet, bearing witness to a musical relationship that stretches back almost two decades. Jacqui Dankworth is one of the most highly regarded and celebrated vocalists in the UK. The Sunday Times called her ‘One of our finest singers, regardless of category’, whilst the Guardian noted she ‘exhibits a subtle control of dynamics and a voluptuous tonal richness that seems to make almost any material sound special’. Formed in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have given more than 3,000 concerts around the world, and recorded over 70 albums, covering both the core classical repertoire and collaborations with a wide range of artists from all walks of musical life. The album covers a wide range of material that this partnership has gathered and honed over the years: compositions by Harvey Brough, David Gordon, Charlie Wood and Jacqui Dankworth herself sit alongside arrangements of songs by Björk, Sting, Diana Krall and Elvis Costello.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012466462954,"sku":"095115221921","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4046063-2796653_58f9219d-e4d1-48a3-a4ed-1014aa1e9d4c.jpg?v=1778227115"},{"product_id":"debussy-piano-duets-louis-lortie-helene-mercier","title":"Debussy: Piano Duets \/ Lortie, Mercier","description":"\u003cp\u003eRegular duet and two-piano partners Hélène Mercier and Louis Lortie have returned to the studio for this all-Debussy program. The album features duets written by the composer himself -such as the \u003cem\u003ePetite Suite\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eSix Épigraphes antiques\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eMarche écossaise sur un thème Populaire\u003c\/em\u003e; as well as a number of arrangements of his solo piano pieces (the \u003cem\u003ePremière Arabesque\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLa Fille aux cheveux de lin\u003c\/em\u003e and the \"Slavic\" \u003cem\u003eBallade\u003c\/em\u003e). The album ends with André Caplet’s monumental arrangement of Debussy’s best known orchestral work, \u003cem\u003eLa Mer\u003c\/em\u003e. Stripped of its orchestration, this two-piano version allows the listener to more easily appreciate Debussy’s ground-breaking harmonic innovation. The album was recorded in the concert hall at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, using a pair of Bösendorfer 280 VC grand pianos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRegular duet and two-piano partners Hélène Mercier and Louis Lortie present this all-Debussy program, starting and ending on the water. The duo characterize Debussy’s impressionism well with playing that is sensitive and charming. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album ends with André Caplet’s monumental arrangement of Debussy’s best known orchestral work, \u003ci\u003eLa Mer\u003c\/i\u003e. Stripped of its orchestration, this two-piano version allows the listener to more easily appreciate Debussy’s ground-breaking harmonic innovation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Cumbria Times (Andrew Palmer)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe playing by the two distinguished pianists is faultless, distinctly outlining the notes with a clarity of separation; the recording in the superb acoustic of the Snape Maltings captures the sound ideally; the presentation of the booklet, with extensive and informative notes in three languages by Roger Nichols, is excellent; and the music itself, I need hardly add, is marvelous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost frustratingly then, is that Debussy’s masterpiece for the two-piano repertoire, his late \u003cem\u003eEn blanc et noir\u003c\/em\u003e, is missing. That, however, is not to say that the purchaser of this very full disc is under-compensated. Nevertheless, there might be something to be said for letting us hear Debussy’s music in two-piano and piano-duet arrangements, especially those published during his lifetime, even when we may suspect that reasons of commercial necessity may have prompted their original issue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012467970282,"sku":"0095115222829","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4118964-2881309.jpg?v=1778248466"},{"product_id":"golden-oldies-more-favourite-encores-095115223024","title":"Golden Oldies – More Favourite Encores \/ Brodsky Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince its formation in 1972 the Brodsky Quartet has performed more than 3000 concerts on the major concert stages of the world and has released more than seventy recordings. A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore have propelled the group in many artistic directions and continue to ensure it not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cellist, Jacqueline Thomas, writes: ‘The Brodsky Quartet celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2022. Looking back, I find it wonderful that ten- and twelve-year-olds were already infused with passion and with a belief in the longevity that is now playing out. Two of us remain from the beginning; one joined as we turned professional, forty years ago, and our new fourth member has trodden her own similar path in the endlessly fulfilling life that is the string quartet. It has become something of a tradition that we release a compilation disc once every ten years, and so now, in our Golden Anniversary year, we have assembled a playlist from past and new arrangements, taking inspiration from the old days and even revamping some of our childhood efforts.’\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012468691178,"sku":"095115223024","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4182403-3140389.jpg?v=1778206201"},{"product_id":"mozart-violin-sonatas-kv301-kv303-kv305-kv454","title":"Mozart: Violin Sonatas \/ Dego, Leonardi","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFollowing her critically acclaimed recording of Mozart Concertos with Sir Roger Norrington and the RSNO, Francesca Dego turns to a selection of his Sonatas with her long-term recital partner Francesca Leonardi. Dego commented ‘Francesca and I have been playing together for seventeen years, more than half my life and the totality of my career. To work as a duo on a regular basis means reaching common interpretative solutions, ones that sum up each player’s qualities, and creates a great sense of mutual responsibility. What you do together somehow feels naturally complete. We decided to build this album around our very favorite Sonata, KV 454 in B flat major, which we had been performing for many years and in which Mozart’s simplicity and flamboyance coexist in perfect harmony.’\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“… the balance between Dego and Leonardi is impeccable, along with the sense of two musicians singing from the same hymn sheet…If you’re looking for unfailingly tasteful and refined playing, then Dego and Leonardi neatly tick that box…”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-author\"\u003e– Gramophone (Charlotte Gardner)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-stars stars0\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e“…The approach is modern-instrument with period awareness, the youthful playfulness of much of this music well caught…Dego and Leonardi’s polished and deeply considered performances of all four sonatas provide 70 minutes of unvarnished pleasure.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-author\"\u003e– The Strad (David Threasher)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-stars stars0\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-text\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e“…There is an infectious delight in give-and-take between piano and violin throughout …an exquisite recital.”\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"review-author\"\u003e– BBC \u003cem\u003eMusic\u003c\/em\u003e magazine (Julian Haylock)\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012469444842,"sku":"095115223222","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4057331-2867080.jpg?v=1778243362"},{"product_id":"mozart-works-for-solo-piano-vol-1","title":"Mozart: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 1 \/ Colli","description":"\u003cp\u003ePraised by Gramophone as ‘one of the more original thinkers of his generation’, the Italian pianist Federico Colli is internationally recognized for his highly imaginative and philosophical interpretations and impeccable technique. This album is the first instalment of a new, intensely personal project for the pianist: an exploration of selected piano works by Mozart. It was the discovery (at the age of around six) of Mozart’s music that caught the imagination of the young Federico and inspired him to study music, and it was winning the International Piano Competition Mozart, in Salzburg, that launched his career as a pianist. His approach has been to immerse himself completely in Mozart’s own experience at the composition of each piece: where was Mozart living, what was he doing, what were his motivations behind each composition? Only after in-depth study of biographies of Mozart, his (and others’) letters, the historical, social, and political background, the Zeitgeist, the cultural atmosphere surrounding each work, does Colli then approach the scores and start the process of building his interpretations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcclaim:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The opening sound we hear on Federico Colli’s album tells us that this idiosyncratic pianist’s first installment in a Mozart series is going to be particularly adventurous… The willing listener just needs to follow where Colli goes.” --\u003cem\u003eTimes \u003c\/em\u003eof London\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012470198506,"sku":"095115223321","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4080207-3140390.jpg?v=1778243262"},{"product_id":"boulanger-chaminade-smyth-tailleferre-a-room-of-her-own-neave-trio","title":"A Room Of Her Own \/ Neave Trio","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a follow-up to its extremely successful album Her Voice, the Neave Trio on A Room of Her Own once again champions the works of female composers. The only non-French composer on the album is Ethel Smyth whose Piano Trio, one of her earliest works, was composed in 1880. Like many of her works from this era, it shows a clear nod to the Austro-German influences of her studies in Leipzig, particularly of Brahms. Cecile Chaminade was born just a year before Smyth, and her First Piano Trio was written in the same year as Smyth’s. The Paris première was very well received by the critics, and the Trio was published a year later. Germaine Tailleferre’s Piano Trio began life in 1916 – 17 as a work in three movements, and then gathered dust for over sixty years, until a commission from France’s Ministère de la Culture, in 1978, enabled Tailleferre to revive and re-imagine it. By then in her mid-eighties, Tailleferre replaced the original second movement and added a fourth. The Trio is an excellent example of her compositional style – a voice that remained consistent though her long compositional career. Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps and D’un soir triste are perhaps now better known in their orchestral versions: this recording proves that the two pieces work equally well at either scale. As they are among the last compositions of her short life (she died of chronic illness at twenty-four), we are left to imagine what she might have written had she lived longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThese chamber works are still not in the mainstream. The Neave Trio put their case eloquently.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- The Guardian (U.K.)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012470919402,"sku":"095115223826","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4289985-3147681.jpg?v=1778218871"},{"product_id":"coleridge-taylor-nonet-piano-trio-piano-quintet-kaleidoscope-chamber-collective","title":"Coleridge-Taylor: Nonet, Piano Trio, Piano Quintet \/ Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSamuel Coleridge-Taylor is best known for his cantata Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, which brought him international success as well as propelling his career at home in the UK – success which was remarkable in stuffy late-Victorian England because of his mixed race and humble origins. Born out of wedlock to Daniel Taylor, a medical student from Sierra Leone, and Alice Holmans, Samuel was brought up by his mother and step-father, George Evans, a railway worker, in Croydon, south London. The three pieces recorded here were all composed during his time as a student at the Royal College of Music. They were destined to remain unpublished during his lifetime, and indeed for some ninety years following his untimely death from pneumonia at the age of only thirty-seven. Performing editions were eventually prepared from the surviving manuscripts – which had remained in the RCM’s archive – in the early 2000s, offering modern performers and audiences the chance for the first time to savour exactly how precocious the creative talents of the teenage Coleridge-Taylor had been. The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective has consulted the manuscripts and corrected numerous inaccuracies in these editions. Described by The Arts Desk as ‘a sparky, shape-shifting ensemble of starry young musicians’, the Collective has been thrilling audiences with its charismatic programming and outstanding musicianship.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis disc is a delight from first to last… For anyone interested in rare British chamber music this is warmly recommended.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat a glorious disc this is! From beginning to end the music just flows in an unending stream of pleasure. There is such skill and maturity in every aspect of the writing…These works could not hope for better performances[.]\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- British Music Society\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe music’s youthful joie de vivre is matched by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective’s warmth, enthusiasm and finesse … Elena Urioste is an ever-eloquent first violin, Tom Poster’s silvery pianism glistens and flows as if effortless, and all of their colleagues match them with a spontaneous, collegial and well-balanced playing, making the whole more than the sun of its already excellent parts.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- BBC \u003cem\u003eMusic \u003c\/em\u003eMagazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e[The] Piano Quintet and Nonet in particular are assured, determinedly structured and richly scored statements, abundant in melody and a gutsy inner harmonic strength…The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective…clearly love performing this music [and] take the listener on joyful and impassioned journey – great players cherishing special music for a new generation to discover[.]\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- International Piano\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012473114858,"sku":"0095115224229","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4092639-2854278.jpg?v=1778239231"},{"product_id":"alberto-hemsi-chamber-works-arc-ensemble","title":"Hemsi: Chamber Works \/ ARC Ensemble","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlberto Hemsi was born in 1898 in Turgutlu (also known as Cassaba), in Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Although there had been a Jewish presence in Anatolia for more than 2000 years, the population expanded considerably following the Alhambra Decree of 1492, with the arrival of Sephardim from Spain and Portugal. It then dwindled precipitously with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of Nazism, the creation of the state of Israel, and the escalation of anti-Semitism in the Arab world. Having completed his training at the conservatory in Milan, Hemsi returned to Anatolia determined to collect and notate as much traditional Sephardic music as he possibly could.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fascination with national folk music had taken root throughout Europe – Bartók and Kodály in Hungary, Dvorák and Smetana in Bohemia, and Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst in England being the most familiar examples. Because his research was not defined by political or geographical boundaries, Hemsi was compelled to survey the myriad communities spread throughout the vast Sephardic diaspora. He was as fascinated by this musical heritage as he was concerned about its survival but, like so many composers, he also understood how traditional melodies, together with the various performance styles and conventions that supported them, could provide inspiration and nourishment for his own music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eDespite Hemsi’s nomadic existence, the works on this disc reflect the composer’s lifelong fascination for Sephardic folk music which he assiduously collected and transcribed, as well as a keen absorption of other exotic idioms. The net result is a sequence of attractive and atmospheric works that cover similar ground.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHemsi is probably best known for his set of Coplas Seferdies, Sephardi songs published in numerous volumes, but his chamber music is well worth getting to know. The earliest piece in this disc is the innocuous-sounding Méditation for cello and piano (Tom Wiebe and Kevin Ahfat), written at some point before 1931, and couched in the ‘Armenian style’. Pianistically it evokes the cimbalom or, as the notes remind us, to be specific, the Greek santouri, a hammered dulcimer. The slow intense dialogue between the two instruments seems almost deliberately imitative of, or a shadowy second cousin of, Bruch’s Kol nidrei. In 1942 he wrote the Pilpúl Sonata for violin and piano (Emily Kruspe and Ahfat). It’s cast in a standard three-movement format and encodes plenty of Sephardic material, not least in the fleet and pithy first movement, and also in the call-and-response central one, a kind of cantorial recitative that takes the violin high in a way somewhat reminiscent of Bloch. There’s fine drama in the driving finale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following year – or thereabouts, as dating can’t be sure – Hemsi wrote an intriguing Quintet in G for Viola (Steven Dann) and string quartet. It signals a slight compositional shift in Hemsi’s thinking, being somewhat more conventional in structure and effect. His relish for insouciant dance patterns and folkloric inflections, though, is most obvious in the Burlesca second movement but the most paradoxical movement is the slow one, a Berceuse, that exudes flowing lyricism which, whilst hardly expressively deep, opens up a channel of lightly flecked impressionism: Hemsi looking backwards and sideways simultaneously. For the finale there’s a Greek dance, bright and brisk and over quickly and triumphantly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTre arie antiche (c.1945) are derived from the Coplas Seferdies and are brief three-minute (or so) studies. The first is fast, the central panel more gauzy and withdrawn, and the final piece extremely catchy. Which leaves the 1956 Danze nuziali greche, Op 37 rewritten from piano originals for cello and piano and dedicated in the piano original to Gina Bachauer. These three nuptial dances cover some expressive ground. The first is a fast and exciting panel honoring the mother-in-law, the second is the bride with her slow and expressively ‘sung’ lyricism, thoughtful, tactile and with Semitic cadences, and the final panel is the godfather – loquacious, big-boned, and excitable. It works beautifully for the cello, for which instrument Hemsi clearly had a real affinity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are comprehensive, astute notes and an excellently judged recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is another fine reclamation from the ARC Ensemble, some of whose members I’ve mentioned by name but all of whom play with considerable enthusiasm and technical accomplishment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012473901290,"sku":"095115224328","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4129362-3140392.jpg?v=1778243278"},{"product_id":"haydn-complete-piano-trios-vol-1-fischer-one-bar-wonder-095115224427","title":"Haydn: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 1 \/ Trio Gaspard","description":"\u003cp\u003eFounded in 2010, Trio Gaspard has become one of the most sought-after piano trios of its generation, whose members are praised for their unique and fresh approach to the score. The Trio is regularly invited to perform at leading concert halls throughout the world. It has an impressive history of international festival appearances, and each member also continues to pursue a successful solo career. Haydn has been central to the Trio’s repertoire since its inception, to the extent that it is rare for them to perform a program that does not include his music. For this survey of the complete Haydn Trios, pianist Nicholas Rimmer notes: ‘we have decided to record the trios neither chronologically nor in the groups in which they were first published. Instead, we have aimed to create an interesting and contrasted ‘program’ of trios for each volume, so that it can be listened to in a single, satisfying sitting. In addition, we have asked a composer to write a short work inspired by one of the trios from each volume, and we are excited by the contemporary perspectives on Haydn that these composers open up for us. This first album features a work by our good friend, the percussionist and composer Johannes Fischer. We hope that the listener will share in this rich journey – spanning forty years of Haydn’s life and more than forty brilliant works of music. Amazingly, each of these trios is unique enough to warrant individual attention and repeated listening.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe Trio Gaspard’s project to record the complete Haydn trios for Chandos gets off to a good start with five great works from the mid-1780s and mid-1790s. The Gaspard players like to keep the music sounding lively and spontaneous, and although their improvised runs and ornaments are discreet, this may not be to everyone’s taste.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012474720490,"sku":"095115224427","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4105737-2947658.jpg?v=1778250826"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-vol-8-k-537-595-overtures-bavouzet","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 8 - K. 537 \u0026 595; Overtures \/ Bavouzet","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eVolume 8 of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s survey of Mozart’s piano concertos with Gábor Takács-Nagy and Manchester Camerata features two late concertos – Nos 26 and 27 – along with the overtures to Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), and La clemenza di Tito. Concerto No. 26, the ‘Coronation’, was completed in 1788, premièred in Dresden, and then played at the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor, in Frankfurt, on 15 October 1790. As Mozart did not prepare the score for publication, large sections of the left hand were left blank in the manuscript score. It’s not known who created the part for the first printed edition, although this has been widely accepted ever since. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has created his own version for this recording. Mozart premièred his final piano concerto, No. 27, in Vienna on 4 March 1791, in his last public performance. The album was recorded in Manchester’s Stoller Hall, Bavouzet playing a Yamaha CFX nine-foot Concert Grand Piano.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012476326122,"sku":"0095115224625","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4246189-3271934.jpg?v=1778238517"},{"product_id":"bridge-britten-works-for-viola-beatson-clement-connolly","title":"Bridge \u0026 Britten: Works for Viola \/ Beatson, Clément, Connolly","description":"\u003cp\u003eHélène Clément, violist with the Doric String Quartet, is the current holder of the viola previously owned by both Bridge and Britten. Her ambition, quickly formed once she first played this instrument, has been to create a testament to both composers and the instrument that binds them all together. This recording, where Hélène is joined by pianist Alasdair Beatson and Dame Sarah Connolly, is the realization of that ambition. Hélène writes: ‘Frank Bridge owned and played the beautiful viola made by Francesco Giussani, in Italy, in 1843. Benjamin Britten was Frank Bridge’s most beloved pupil, and Bridge gave him the viola as a parting gift when Britten had to embark on a ship’s journey to the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War. The composers were never to see each other again. To record the viola repertoire of both composers, producing the very sound that they would have had in their ears, the sound that inspired their love for the instrument and its special language, became a priority for me.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eThe soul of this beautifully constructed recital is the luminous variety Hélène Clément extracts from the 1843 Giussani viola owned by Frank Bridge and passed on to his favorite pupil, Benjamin Britten. The anguished overlapping of mezzo and viola at the climax of ‘Where is it that our soul doth go?’ is one of many revelations on the disc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012477178090,"sku":"0095115224724","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4112390-2871800.jpg?v=1778229935"},{"product_id":"from-brighton-to-brooklyn","title":"From Brighton to Brooklyn \/ Urioste, Poster","description":"\u003cp\u003eE\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003elena Urioste is a musician, yogi, writer, and entrepreneur, while Tom Poster is a musician whose skills and passions extend well beyond the conventional role of the concert pianist; they are musical and (now married) life partners. From Brighton to Brooklyn is an exploration and celebration of their British and American backgrounds and mutual fascination with music from each-other’s home country. They comment: ‘All the pieces by English and American composers on this recording deserve to be heard far more often than they are: none would be considered core repertoire, yet every one of them captivates through its composer’s distinctive voice. Some of the pieces have been known to one or both of us for many years; others we discovered only when we were dreaming up this recording. With the exception of Coleridge-Taylor’s soaring, impassioned Ballade, this is a collection of miniatures and character pieces. Some, such as the works by Beach and Bridge, transport us to a world of elegant salons; others, such as the pieces by Britten and Schoenfeld, are colorfully virtuosic and certainly gave us a shot of adrenaline in the recording studio! Bridge’s Heart’s Ease, with which the album closes, perfectly encapsulates a more general tendency among our chosen pieces to convey the listener to another world, using relatively few notes, and it has become a particular favorite of ours. We hope that you, too, will discover some new treasures here.’\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUrioste and Poster link lighter, salon-type pieces by the Americans Amy Beach and Florence Price and the Britons Frank Bridge and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to music that draws on vernacular sources. Primary among these are Copland's early and heavily jazz-flavored Two Pieces of 1926, which are not often heard and fit in beautifully here. The players draw in a later work imbued with Gershwin's spirit, the Four Souvenirs of Paul Schoenfield. Britten's Suite adds a just slightly harder edge, and the program concludes with Bridge's beautifully lyrical Heart's Ease. Urioste and Poster never try to make more of this music than is actually there, and what is actually there is considerable charm and a fresh concept that no one should disvalue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012478030058,"sku":"095115224823","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4037985-2810338.jpg?v=1778268601"},{"product_id":"vladigerov-slavic-roots-tabakova-piano-works","title":"Vladigerov, Tabakova: Slavic Roots - Piano Works \/ Staneva","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAwarded the title Young Steinway Artist in 2020, the Bulgarian pianist Marina Staneva received the 2019 Sam Hutchings Piano Prize and was a 2018 Britten-Pears Young Artist. She has been praised for her serious talent, outstanding musicianship, extraordinary instinctive artistry, and fine technical command. For this her début recording, she presents works by two contrasting Bulgarian composers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePancho Vladigerov was arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time. He was one of the first successfully to combine idioms of Bulgarian folk music and classical music. He was also among the founding members of the Bulgarian Contemporary Music Society (1933), which later became the Union of Bulgarian Composers. The British-Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova studied composition under Simon Bainbridge, Diana Burrell, Robert Keeley, and Andrew Schultz. Her composition \u003cem\u003ePraise\u003c\/em\u003e was sung at St Paul's Cathedral to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and she has received commissions from the Royal Philharmonic Society, BBC Radio 3, Cheltenham Music Festival, Britten Sinfonia, Three Choirs Festival, Wigmore Hall, and, in 2014, the PRS Foundation's first UK New Music Biennial.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012478849258,"sku":"095115225127","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4069297-2810011.jpg?v=1778243372"},{"product_id":"v1-songs-without-words","title":"Mendelssohn: V1: Songs without Words \/ Donohoe","description":"P\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eeter Donohoe CBE is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique. On this first volume of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, he writes: ‘When I first became conscious of my desire to be a musician, Mendelssohn meant more to me, personally, than almost any other composer – he certainly ranked alongside Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. My choice of program for the present recording is based around a large selection from the Lieder ohne Worte, which I preface with the Rondo capriccioso, Op. 14 and the three wonderful Fantaisies ou Caprices. The Rondo capriccioso and Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices are exquisite examples of the extraordinary facility of Mendelssohn (implicitly as a pianist, but also as a composer), of his originality and inspiration, at an age that allows us, in my view, to place him in the same group of wonderfully natural and prodigious composers as Haydn and Mozart. It is always a pleasure to play these works, and they go to the heart of why I became a musician in the first place.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012479701226,"sku":"095115225226","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4037986-3207678.jpg?v=1778268587"},{"product_id":"grieg-lyric-pieces-vol-1-peter-donohoe","title":"Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Vol. 1 \/ Peter Donohoe","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf Chopin ‘invented’ the Mazurka, then surely by the same token Grieg ‘invented’ the Lyric Piece. Over his lifetime he published ten volumes of Lyric Pieces, containing 66 individual works.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Bergen, Grieg studied in Leipzig and became established as Norway’s leading composer, successfully synthesizing Norwegian folk music with the forms and conventions of the German tradition. While he was internationally acclaimed for his Piano Concerto and the incidental music to Peer Gynt, the vast majority of his output lies not in large-scale works, but in smaller, more intimate forms, especially songs and, of course, his Lyric Pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Donohoe writes: ‘as a teenager I expanded my knowledge of the music of Grieg to include many solo piano pieces as well as the better-known orchestral works. I was beguiled by his style, and the reason remains somewhat intangible. Although one is able to identify the originality of Grieg as a composer – the Norwegian folk element in his music, his natural gift for memorable melodic lines, his occasional diversions into unique and extraordinarily forward-looking harmonies, and, to some degree, his emotional naïveté – there is a unique, unidentifiable kernel in his output that defies analysis, as is true of the work of all the great composers... All these works are pristine examples of his diverse and original style – Norwegian with a Germanic flavour – and it has been a huge and satisfying pleasure to return to them to create this and future recordings.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eDonohoe, with a devotion to Grieg’s music dating back to his early years, clearly has the measure of this repertoire. He gets inside the gentler pieces, such as ‘Melancholy’ and ‘Summer Evening’, with beautifully poised playing. Grieg in his more overtly national mood, as in the famous and virtuoso ‘Halling’, is presented with infectious enjoyment and the simpler pieces are never patronized.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012481306858,"sku":"0095115225424","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4092640-2854286.jpg?v=1778243154"},{"product_id":"fanny-felix-mendelssohn-piano-sextet-piano-quartet-piano-trio-0095115225622","title":"Fanny \u0026 Felix Mendelssohn: Chamber Music with Piano \/ Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective","description":"\u003cp\u003eFanny Mendelssohn Hensel, born four years before her brother Felix, was an accomplished pianist and a prolific composer. When she died of a stroke aged just 42, she left around 460 pieces of music, some 250 of which are songs. The difficulties of making a career in her own era (Her supportive father would not allow her to publish or work as a ‘professional’ composer) have condemned much of her work to obscurity: a situation that is now rapidly being reversed with more concerts and recordings of works by women composers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere the award-winning Kaleidoscope Collective champion her Piano Trio and Piano Quartet, alongside Felix Mendelssohn’s under-performed Piano Sextet. Fanny composed her Piano Quartet whilst a student, aged 17. In contrast, the Piano Trio was her last chamber work, written in her final year. Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Sextet was also an early work, written in just a few short weeks in the spring of 1824. For some reason he never published the work (perhaps because of the unusual scoring) hence it became his Op. 110 when published posthumously in 1868.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012482093290,"sku":"0095115225622","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4112391-2873083_5947b3b5-ec5e-4d8d-8e21-108b1ee0fe10.jpg?v=1778240234"},{"product_id":"amarcord-dun-tango","title":"Piazzolla, Gardel, et al.: Amarcord d'un Tango \/ Albonetti, Bonaventura, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMarco Albonetti writes: ‘”Amarcord” signifies memory, the nostalgic re-enactment of the past. Here, it evokes the idea of joining two instruments, the saxophone and the bandoneón, both of which were invented in the middle of the nineteenth century. The bandoneón, created as a more agile substitute for the organ in the world of sacred music in Germany, was brought by German immigrants to Buenos Aires, where it became central to the tango, a music enlivened by rhythmic ideas from Africa and inextricably linked to dance. The saxophone – the central character of an adventure story which originated in Belgium, from which the instrument travelled to America where it discovered its promised land – executes the mellow melodies of the tango with a lightness, a pliancy, and a tone that further intensify the feelings running through them. \u003cem\u003eAmarcord d’un Tango\u003c\/em\u003e was created to offer the listener a brief journey through the history of the tango. Composed in 1903, Villoldo’s El choclo is one of the oldest examples of the genre. The well-known melodic tangos \"Por una cabeza\" and \"Sus ojos se cerraron\" are by the great singer Carlos Gardel, who died tragically in a plane accident, in 1935. I include a homage to Astor Piazzolla, on the thirtieth anniversary of his death. The album opens with his \u003cem\u003eTriunfal\u003c\/em\u003e, the piece that, thanks to Nadia Boulanger, created awareness and spurred the metamorphosis of Piazzolla’s “nuevo tango”. It represents the ideal point of embarkation.’\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012482814186,"sku":"095115225929","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4069298-2811225.jpg?v=1778268626"},{"product_id":"mosaic-voices-letter-to-kamilla-music-in-jewish-memory","title":"Letter to Kamilla – Music in Jewish Memory \/ Mosaic Voices","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMosaic Voices are the Resident Choir at the New West End Synagogue, in London. The synagogue, designed in 1877 by the Scottish architect George Audsley, is a masterpiece of Victorian architecture, known for its beautiful choral acoustic. A great deal of the material on this album is therefore music sung by Mosaic Voices, in Hebrew, during religious services and festivals, of which this music forms a functional element. Ochila la’El, El Melech Yoshev, and Avinu Malkeinu are key musical works that form part of the New Year festival liturgy. Shomer Yisrael is sung during the little-known, but beautiful, midnight service of Selichot, which is part of the penitential prayers of the Hebrew month of Elul leading up to the New Year. Tree of Life, Generation to Generation, Yis’mechu, Ein Keloheinu, Uv’nucho Yomar, and Veh’al Kulam are pieces that the ensemble regularly sings at weekly Shabbat services, and form part of the liturgy for those services. The Musical Director, Michael Etherton, writes: ‘Exactly eighty years ago, my great grandmother Kamilla wrote a letter to her children. It was 1942. Fortunately, her children had escaped Nazi-occupied Austria, but Kamilla had not been so lucky. She endured four terrifying years of brutality and unimaginable suffering. The letter to her children was the last thing she wrote before being sent to Auschwitz, where she died. She did not know if her letter would ever reach her children. Eighty years later, my vocal ensemble, Mosaic Voices, is writing back to her in the form of an album of Jewish songs. We want Kamilla to know that, although she, her husband, and her sister, Minka, lost their lives in the Holocaust, all her children survived, and lived their lives successfully and happily in Britain, as proud Jewish people. Hitler’s mission failed. Her touching letter, which Kamilla wrote in German, has been set to music as one of the songs on this album (Letter from Kamilla). The other tracks that we have chosen to record celebrate the diversity, mysticism, and beauty of the music that Jewish people have brought to the world over time.’\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012484518122,"sku":"0095115226124","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4041634-3207680.jpg?v=1778268633"},{"product_id":"neeme-jarvi-in-concert-estonian-national-symphony-orchestra","title":"Neeme Järvi in Concert \/ Estonian National Symphony Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe legendary conductor Neeme Järvi celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday in the summer of 2022, in Tallinn, giving a series of concerts with his beloved Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. This album serves not just as a commemoration of those wonderful concerts, but also as a personal calling card for this remarkable musician. The concert overture Polonia, published in 1836, may well have been inspired by Wagner’s encounters with defeated Polish nationalists in Leipzig in 1832. Wagner wrote several concert overtures during this period – whilst plans for his revolutionary operatic output were developing – including Christoph Columbus and Rule Britannia!!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMax Reger composed the Serenade in G major in 1905 – 06; it demonstrates the style and talent of this too-little-heard composer. Brahms set Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin, in two movements with chorus, but then added a third, an orchestral postlude. Ave verum corpus, possibly Mozart’s best-known setting for chorus, rounds off the program.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe quality of choral singing of the Latvian State Choir is rightly celebrated, and this is a beautifully shaped performance [of the \u003cem\u003eSchicksalslied\u003c\/em\u003e], with vocal warmth and blend, and the orchestral postlude bringing a radiant conclusion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- BBC \u003cem\u003eMusic \u003c\/em\u003eMagazine\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a marvellous recording...Although Brahms’s Schicksalslied enjoys numerous recordings, Järvi’s is distinguished by the radiance and depth of the first and last sections as well as the vehemence of the central allegro.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Gramophone\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs well as being a thoroughly attractive concert conducted with characteristic élan by Chandos star conductor Neeme Järvi, this program represents for collectors a very useful way of acquiring a variety of pieces, some unfamiliar, some less so… this is a very tempting disc.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- CDChoice.co.uk\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012485173482,"sku":"095115226223","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4164110-3140394.jpg?v=1778250675"},{"product_id":"mozart-violin-concertos-dego-norrington-royal-scottish-national-orchestra","title":"Mozart: Violin Concertos nos. 1, 2 \u0026 5 \/ Dego, Norrington, Royal Scottish National Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing their critically acclaimed first volume of Mozart’s violin concertos (CHAN 20234), Francesca Dego and Sir Roger Norrington complete the set, once again with outstanding support from a reduced Royal Scottish National Orchestra. This cycle not only represents the first time Sir Roger has recorded these concertos, but the present album is also his final recording project. All five concertos were written before Mozart was twenty; nevertheless, his rapid development as a composer is evident in the progression from the first to the fifth, which has an unusual Adagio section within the first movement, an extensive slow movement, and of course the extensive ‘Turkish’ episode in the final movement (probably based on Hungarian folk music). Whilst given on modern instruments with metal strings, these are performances immersed in Norrington’s lifetime of experience in period performance practice. As The Sunday Times noted of the first album: ‘Pairing the veteran Mozartian Norrington – a pioneer of historical performance practice – with the young Italian-American soloist Dego proves inspiring in what promises to be one of the freshest of recent cycles of the Mozart concertos.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDego’s finespun tone, exquisite timing and enchanting musical inquisitiveness, not to mention her delightfully spontaneous decorating of musical lines, combine to create an uplifting sense of the music being composed as it goes along…[Norrington] could hardly have wished for a finer recorded swansong than this Mozart series.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- BBC \u003cem\u003eMusic \u003c\/em\u003eMagazine (Julian Haylock)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis recording is characterized by excellently balanced interpretations. They are characterized by a light-hearted and fluid gesture… Francesca Dego also finds an exciting approach to Mozart… she scores here with a creative approach, tonal freshness and noblesse. The orchestra from Scotland, conducted by Roger Norrington, soars, with the violins in oppositional seating as in Mozart’s day, to intense music-making that doesn’t overpower, creating a fitting complement to the solo mood.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- Pizzicato (Uwe Krusch)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012486123754,"sku":"0095115226322","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4118965-2904900.jpg?v=1778243117"},{"product_id":"joseph-jongen-preludes-for-piano-ivan-ilic","title":"Jongen: Preludes for Piano \/ Ivan Ilić","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in Liège, Belgium, in 1873, Joseph Jongen showed an outstanding precocity for music from a very early age, and was admitted to the Liège Conservatoire at the extraordinarily young age of seven. He won a First Prize for fugue in 1895 and honors diplomas in piano and organ the next year. In 1897, he won the Belgian Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel to Italy, Germany, and France, where he experienced the music of Brahms and Richard Strauss, Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel, all of which would exert an influence on the young composer. Although he composed in numerous genres, including the symphony and concerto, as well as chamber music, instrumental pieces, and choral works, it is his output for the organ for which he is now best known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Serbian-American pianist Ivan Ilić helps to redress the balance with this new recording of two of Jongen’s substantial sets of Préludes for piano. The 13 Préludes, Op. 69 are expansive in nature and extremely poetic – each bears an evocative title. They are dedicated to Émile Bosquet who gave their première, in 1923. The 24 Petits Préludes dans tous les tons were begun in 1940 and (like Bach’s preludes and fugues) circle through each and every key, major and minor. Arranged in twelve pairs, the minor key following the major on the same tonic note, these works reflect Jongen’s affinity for (and mastery of) their free form, as well as demonstrating his mature compositional style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reputation of Belgian composer, organist, and educator Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) basically rests upon one work, his Symphonie concertante for organ and orchestra. However, he composed prolifically in many genres. His solo piano works fall between Franck’s burnished chromaticism and young Scriabin’s sensuous textures while flirting with Debussy and Ravel. Such a style works best when served up in small doses, such as in the Preludes Op. 69.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJongen may not be a memorable tunesmith, and his phraseology tends to be square, but his exquisite harmonic sense and idiomatic, well-crafted handling of the keyboard more than compensates. In the Op. 60 group, you have, on one hand, Eau tranquille’s gently persistent double notes that contrast to Appassionato’s hammered-out chords that step right out of the finale of Scriabin’s Third sonata.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 24 Petits Preludes in all of the major and minor keys are less ambitious technically and more conservative, even academic in style. The purity of the contrapuntal writing in slower pieces like Preludes Nos. 10 and 20 smacks of organ technique, while No. 22’s imitative writing suggests a Passepied from a Bach suite in slightly updated modern dress. The pieces fuse charm and seriousness in equal portions, and say what they need to say without overstaying their welcome.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe music’s workmanship mirrors Ivan Ilić’s caringly detailed interpretations. For example, he shapes No. 18’s cascading patterns into cogent melodic arcs, while imparting subtle shadings of timbre to No. 11’s unassumingly beautiful chords. He scales Op. 69 No. 13’s dynamics with care, ensuring that the motoric build-ups do not get too loud too soon, and thereby generating steady momentum. Tempo choices similarly appear to be judicious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile one might prefer Diane Andersen’s gaunter and more scintillating reading of Papillons noirs (Op. 69 No. 11) in her complete Jongen piano music cycle for the Pavane label, Ilić’s deliberation better allows you to absorb the harmonic motion, together with extra breathing room for the dancing right-hand triplets. In short, Ilić’s mindful virtuosity serves the music first and foremost throughout this highly recommendable and well-engineered release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- ClassicsToday.com\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012486942954,"sku":"095115226421","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4160717-2928381.jpg?v=1778208206"},{"product_id":"shadow-dances-british-works-for-flute-adam-walker-huw-watkins","title":"Shadow Dances - British Works for Flute \/ Walker, Watkins","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor his second album for Chandos, the flute virtuoso Adam Walker explores the music of British composers with pianist Huw Watkins. Vaughan Williams’s Suite de ballet was commissioned by the French flute virtuoso Louis Fleury (who had given the première of Debussy’s Syrinx). The work uses eighteenth-century French dance forms, a common practice in ‘neo-classical’ composition. Bax’s Four Pieces rescue music from an abandoned ballet originally conceived for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Sir Lennox Berkeley’s Sonatina was originally written for treble recorder; James Galway’s championship of the piece made it a staple of the flute repertoire. Howard Fergusson’s Three Sketches were composed intermittently over a period of twenty years. The theme of the third piece is a Hindu melody, ‘Koyalinya bole ambuvan’ (Cuckoos sing in the mango tree). Sonatas by York Bowen and William Alwyn complete this varied and engaging program.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003eSeventy-seven minutes of British music for flute and piano might at first glance seem like 40 minutes too much. But that ’s without taking on board the nimble and dazzling skills of flautist Adam Walker, or the individual strengths of the works presented...a new pleasure is never far away in this most accomplished recital, full of the sounds of spring.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"c-product-review--quote\"\u003e-- BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012487663850,"sku":"095115226520","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4201660-3140395.jpg?v=1778206465"},{"product_id":"mendelssohn-songs-without-words-vol-2-0095115226728","title":"Mendelssohn: Songs without Words, Vol. 2 \/ Donohoe","description":"\u003cp\u003eLieder ohne Worte – Songs without Words – seems to be a description invented by Mendelssohn himself for these short, lyrical and descriptive piano pieces which he composed so prolifically. Indeed, it is arguable that these works define his pianistic output in the same way that the Mazurka defines Chopin’s. Publishing them in sets of six, Mendelssohn composed Lieder ohne Worte throughout his career – they proved a type of composition to which he had a lifetime attraction. For the first volume, rather than approaching them chronologically or as complete sets, Peter Donohoe selected pieces to build a satisfying programme. Here he does the same with all the pieces that remain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition, the album features three free-standing significant works. The 17 Variations serieuses, from 1841, is one of Mendelssohn’s largest solo piano works, and was published in an album to raise funds for a monument to Beethoven. The Phantasie on ‘The Last Rose of Summer’ is a much earlier work, based on the Irish folk melody that – with added words by the Irish poet Thomas Moore – took Europe by storm in the early 1800s. The album concludes with Rachmaninoff’s piano transcription of the Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012488417514,"sku":"0095115226728","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4190954-2968351.jpg?v=1778259067"},{"product_id":"gerhard-don-quixote-complete-ballet-suite-from-alegrias","title":"Gerhard: Don Quixote (Complete Ballet); Suite from Alegrias;","description":"The Catalan Roberto Gerhard studied piano with Granados, and was the only Spanish composer to study with Arnold Schoenberg. It was, however, over twenty years before he committed himself to writing twelve-tone music. In the interim, his output brought a new focus and precision (owing more to Stravinsky and Bartok) to the Spanish style. All the works on this album were composed in that period. Dating from the early 1940s, his ballet Alegrias was originally conceived for two pianos, but soon evolved into the four-movement suite heard here. The flamenco-inspired movements are linked in pairs, and show Gerhard's brilliance and humour in equal measure. During this same period Gerhard decided to mark the centenary of his first teacher, Felipe Pedrell (who had also taught Albeniz, Granados, and de Falla), with a three-movement symphony, Homenaje a Pedrell (CHAN 9693). Gerhard failed to secure a performance of the work, but in 1954 was invited to re-work the final movement for a BBC Symphony Orchestra concert, which became Pedrelliana. Gerhard's ballet on episodes from Cervantes's Don Quixote evolved for almost a decade, from a work for chamber orchestra, for a touring company (abandoned because of the war), via a version for radio and an expanded orchestral suite, to the work recorded here, in it's full and final orchestration for performances at the Royal Opera House in 1950, choreographed by Ninette de Valois. Robert Helpmann danced the title role and Margot Fonteyn Dulcinea.","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012489203946,"sku":"095115226827","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4353027-3201824.jpg?v=1778213995"},{"product_id":"haydn-complete-piano-trios-vol-2-095115227022","title":"Haydn: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 2 \/ Trio Gaspard","description":"\u003cp\u003eDescribed by Gramophone as ‘an album of joyous, imaginative music-making that whets the appetite for future instalments’, the first volume of the Trio Gaspard’s Haydn cycle was enthusiastically received by buyers and critics alike. As with that first volume, the Trio have designed a programme that works in its own right, and features trios from all periods of Haydn’s career. Three later works (nos. 33, 35 and 45) were all composed in 1794\/5 contrast with the early trio no. 7 from 1760, whilst the trio no. 21 comes from the composer’s middle period, composed in 1784\/5. The Gaspard choose to end the programme with another contemporary work reflective of the programme – in this instance For Gaspard by cellist-composer Leonid Gorokhov. Composed in two movements (as were several of Haydn’s trios) Hidden D (a play on words for the ‘Haydn D’ cello concerto) reworks numerous themes from that piece, among many others!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012490055914,"sku":"095115227022","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4169759-3140396.jpg?v=1778250632"},{"product_id":"berlin-stories-trio-gaspard","title":"Berlin Stories \/ Trio Gaspard","description":"\u003cp\u003eBerlin Stories is the first in a new series of recordings by the Trio Gaspard, based on different cultural capitals and composers associated with them. The album features three composers who lived and worked in Berlin for a period of their lives – for different reasons and in varying circumstances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMendelssohn’s grandfather, Moses, was a philosopher and leader of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, establishing a pre-eminent position for the family in Berlin, and creating the opportunities for both Felix and Fanny to realize their musical potential. The second piano trio is a perfects example of Mendelssohn’s style, combining a total mastery of classical structure and counterpoint with romantic sensibility. Moscow-born, but of Swiss parentage, Paul Juon came to Berlin in 1894 to study composition at the city’s foremost Conservatory, and remained in the city until he retired to Switzerland in 1934. Litaniae, his fourth piano trio, is unlike anything else in the piano trio repertoire. It is cast as a single movement and resembles Richard Strauss’s tone poems in scale and ambition. Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, arrived in Berlin in 1921, and stayed until 1933. He studied composition with a number of leading tutors, before spending 5 years studying with Arnold Schoenberg. His eight variations exemplify his ability to combine serial composition with his native folk music. All the members of Trio Gaspard have lived or still live in Berlin and Berlin Stories expresses their love and admiration for this endlessly fascinating and invigorating metropolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe playing in Mendelssohn’s Second Piano Trio is of quicksilver clarity but the musicians are equally alive to its stormy turbulence. Trio Gaspard highlights the surging, epic qualities in Juon’s Litaniae, and is fully committed to the piece’s almost unabating intensity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- The Strad\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012490776810,"sku":"095115227121","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4211078-2990342.jpg?v=1778234093"},{"product_id":"coleridge-taylor-martin-smetana-suk-rooted","title":"Rooted — Music of Smetana, Suk, Martin, and Coleridge-Taylor \/ Neave Trio","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Neave Trio's program Rooted features a range of works based on folk music. Smetana's distinctive nationalistic style was largely based on the inclusion of bohemian rhythmic and melodic elements, and he was acclaimed in his native Bohemia as the father of Czech music. His Trio in G minor was composed in 1855 as a response to the death of his four-year old daughter and shows the influence of Liszt. Josef Suk was a favorite pupil of Dvorak's, and his early Piano Trio, whilst shorter in length and less intense than Smetana's, is embedded in that Czech tradition. Also deeply influenced by Dvorak, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was inspired by his African heritage, as well, and his Twenty-Four Negro Melodies for Piano was a prime example of his research. He subsequently arranged five of these pieces into the suite for piano trio that we hear on this album. The program concludes with Frank Martin's Trio from 1925, which is based on traditional Irish melodies. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eREVIEWS\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese four chamber works explore music of a definitive national identity. The members of the ensemble brandish their considerable skills in the service of otherwise neglected composers and scores, with astonishing brilliance in their recorded sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e— Audiophile Audition\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe program's characteristically eclectic mix of works nurtures the Trio's well-upholstered warmth, attention to detail, and compelling rapport.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e— BBC Music Magazine\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012491563242,"sku":"095115227220","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4344119-3201825.jpg?v=1778236418"},{"product_id":"path-to-the-moon-095115227428","title":"Path to the Moon \/ van der Heijden, Coleman","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe performers write: ‘Selecting the repertoire for our album Path to the Moon, we wanted to explore a number of possibilities for binding together a programme. To place different works alongside one another is a wonderful way of bringing out new and unusual qualities in each piece. William T. Horton’s fantastic image The Path to the Moon immediately inspired a flurry of ideas, including works on the subjects of both night and the moon, as well as pieces which invoke the exploratory nature of humankind’s voyage to the moon. Britten wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano only two years after the first object made by humans had touched the surface of the moon, in 1959. Humans throughout history and from all cultures have been drawn to and taken inspiration from the moon and we have tried to reflect this in our eclectic choice of song repertoire: from Toru Takemitsu to Nina Simone and from Lili Boulanger to Florence Price. As we hope you will hear on this album, Walker’s Cello Sonata rings with echoes of the sound-worlds of blues and jazz and is infused with a beautiful lyricism. 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The performers write: ‘The three sonatas on this album were all published during the decade 1916–26, a musical period to which we often find ourselves drawn, when the world – and the artistic landscape – was changing beyond recognition.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Fauré lamented that his Second Sonata never achieved anything like the popularity of his First; having fallen under the Second Sonata’s spell, we wanted to help to right this continuing imbalance.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Mel Bonis wrote more than 300 pieces, and all those we have explored so far have been wonderful. Her only violin sonata is a rhapsodic work with a Greek folk melody at its heart, which we were enraptured by the moment we encountered it.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Reynaldo Hahn is generally better known to singers than to instrumentalists, though his chamber music is as exquisite as his songs. 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The programme opens with Paisajes (Landscapes), written in 1942, 1947, and 1960. The first two pieces are dedicated to the Catalan pianist Carmen Bravo, whom Mompou met after his return from Paris to Barcelona in 1942, and subsequently married. Mompou’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin were started in 1938, but completed in 1957 upon a commission from the Royal Ballet in London for a successor to The House of Birds (a 1955 ballet which used piano pieces by Mompou orchestrated by John Lanchbery). The Chopin ballet was never produced, but the piano variations remain. The twelve Cançons i danses (Songs and Dances) were composed between 1921 and 1962, and the form for each is broadly similar: a slow ‘cançó’ (song) followed by a more animated ‘dansa’ (dance), but the pattern sometimes varies, and these pieces are anything but formulaic. Mompou intended to provide ‘a contrast between lyricism and rhythm, to avoid one collection of songs and another of dances’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eThe Bulgarian pianist Marina Staneva is taking quite a large risk, but certainly not an unwelcome one, by choosing the music of Federico Mompou for her second Chandos solo recording. The programme is well selected: the poetic \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003ePaisajes\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e, showing the most Debussyan side of Mompou’s music, are followed by the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eVariations sur un thème de Chopin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e, which manages to transform that composer’s brief A major Prelude into 12 imaginative miniatures. Finally the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eCançons i danses\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e, written between 1921 and 1962 (Mompou, born in 1893, died as recently as 1987), bring a chance to delve into a wealth of subtly evoked atmospheres and nuanced states of mind.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003carticle id=\"sprylab_purple_content\" _ngcontent-purplestorefront-c1960323246=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"entry-content\" _ngcontent-purplestorefront-c1960323246=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"purple-inner-container purple-content-body-inner\" _ngcontent-purplestorefront-c1960323246=\"\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMompou has a small but strong cult following among piano fanatics; others who have championed him include such luminaries as Stephen Hough and Arcadi Volodos. Staneva, trained in Sofia and more recently in London, nevertheless holds her own with considerable flair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe draws a deep, cushioned sound from the piano and seemingly does not see any need to sacrifice thoughtfulness for plain brilliance. She brings out the dance elements that almost always lurk in the background of the Catalonian composer’s writing, whether originating in folk music or jazz, and performs with a sincerity, spaciousness, affection for the music and quiet confidence that make me eager to hear what she will do next. All of this, additionally, makes her a strong advocate for a composer who can sometimes divide his audience with that timeless yet elusive style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- BBC \u003cem\u003eMusic \u003c\/em\u003eMagazine (Jessica Duchen)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the pandemic Marina Staneva was introduced to, and fell in love with, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eVariations sur un thème de Chopin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand has chosen to record it alongside two other collections; the twelve\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003esongs and dances\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand the three\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003elandscapes\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eVariations sur un thème de Chopin...\u003c\/em\u003eare an extended tribute with jazz influences that Staneva notes in the booklet and delicious harmonies; the first variation with its additional sevenths, ninths and other inner passing notes is very much in the style of his waltz arrangement. Like Godowsky in his arrangements of the études he honours Chopin’s affection for the mazurka and waltz – variations five and nine – and even offers a simple hymn-like version of the central melody of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003efantaisie-impromptu\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eas a foil to the intense\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eEvocation\u003c\/em\u003e, variation ten, which also alludes to his own\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCançons i danses\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eno.6.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e[In the] \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCançons i danses...\u003c\/em\u003eStaneva captures Mompou’s widely contrasting moods with ease, from the fragility of the third with its Catalan Christmas carol to the vigour of the sixth’s\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ecreole\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edance.  If Stephen Hough is a little more rhythmically flexible in the small selection he recorded, there is nonetheless plenty of charm in Staneva’s playing – number seven a case in point with its dance played as a duet between a shy and slightly halting young man and his winsome partner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI was taken with Staneva’s playing in her début CD\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSlavic\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eRoots, with piano music by Pancho Vladigerov on Chandos and equally so here. Her tone is rich and even and if her playing is occasionally a just a little forthright she clearly enjoys the subtleties of Mompou’s writing and his sudden harmonic twist and turns; his multi-layered and often quite delicate textures are balanced beautifully.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- MusicWeb International\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSample the Variations sur une thème de Chopin, whose 12 variations have an unusual structure: the music takes on chromatic accretions and then, in the later ones, resolves to a new tonal clarity independent of the original material (from the Chopin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7). Staneva holds this dynamic confidently in hand. She is equally effective in the 13 Cançons i Danses pieces in which a tuneful passage is paired with a dance in consistently inventive ways. Staneva catches the faint jazz influences in some of these pieces, and she lets the fundamental simplicity of Mompou\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e's music speak for itself. The album is beautifully and idiomatically recorded at Potton Hall in Suffolk, and it serves notice of a major emerging talent.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e-- AllMusic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e","brand":"Chandos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012493922538,"sku":"0095115227626","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4248040-3183135.jpg?v=1778237340"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/collections\/3_7_5064092b-de31-45db-9efb-18c4c9a0e1d6.png?v=1781540304","url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/chandos-sale-summer-2026.oembed","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}