Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Florilegium is one of Britain's finest period instrument ensembles. Since their formation in 1991, they have established a reputation for stylish and exciting interpretations, from intimate chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral repertoire. This two disc collection features eleven of the twenty-four works from Telemann's Essercizii Musici. This selection of solo sonatas and trio sonatas offers the listener an insight into the different styles and instrumental combinations that make up Telemann's unique soundscape and ensure his music is immediately recognizable.

Ballades, sonnets, poems - in earlier days, these were the genres one could mainly encounter in literature or folklore. That is, until Chopin, Liszt and Scriabin introduced them to classical music. On her album Storyteller, pianist Anna Fedorova focuses on these three composers, how they explored the poetic genres, and how their compositions reflected the actual pieces of literature that inspired them.

Classical Music

The Symphony No. 2 of Johannes Brahms was composed in the summer of 1877. It's cheery and almost pastoral mood often invite comparisons with Beethoven's sixth symphony. On this SACD from Channel Classics featuring Iv�n Fischer leading his Budapest Festival Orchestra, Brahms's 'pastoral' symphony is paired with two overtures. The Tragic Overture offers a somber contrast to the sunny mood of the symphony, while the Academic Festival Overture ends the program on a positive and uplifting note.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Violinist Ning Feng performs the Complete Mozart Violin Concertos with the Kammerakademie Potsdam on Channel Classics Records. These 5 concertos were written because Mozart's father, Leopold, was frustrated at the thought of Wolfgang, on his travels, neglecting the violin as a possible source of income, as Mozart could himself play the violin beautifully, and he wrote brilliantly for the instrument. Composed mainly in 1775, these concertos display the theatrical twists and turns that were by now second nature to the 19-year-old composer, with his thoughts and dreams perpetually fixed on opera and the drama.

South African/Dutch clarinettist Maria du Toit and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Arjan Tien release 'Clarinet Colours' on Channel Classics. Exploring the contemporary clarinet repertoire of South African composers reveals a sound world of striking colour and contrast. Often described as the "Rainbow Nation," South Africa embodies a complex tapestry of cultures, languages, and histories, bound together by resilience and renewal. This album mirrors that spirit, showcasing the clarinet's remarkable versatility while tracing a wide spectrum of expressive colour and energy. The concertos by leading South African composers David Earl, Roelof Temmingh and Conrad Asman were written for, or dedicated to Maria du Toit.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The choral music of Johannes Brahms spans much of his career as a composer. It's influences range from folk music to contrapuntal masterworks of the Renaissance and Baroque. Musicology has in it's infancy in the Romantic period, and Brahms was fascinated with 'old' music, especially the works of Bach. This illuminating selection of a cappella choral music features the supreme talents of the Swedish Radio Choir led by Peter Dijkstra.

Rosanne Philippens is considered one of the most promising violin talents in the Netherlands. Her open and communicative style of performance won her first prizes at competitions including the Dutch National Violin Competition in 2009 and the Freiburg International Violin Competition in 2014. This release from Channel Classics focuses on Polish and Russian works inspired by myths and legends. Philippens is joined by pianist Julien Quentin as well as the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest led by Xian Zhang in performances of Szymanowski's Mythes and Violin Concerto and Stravinsky's Chanson Russe and L'Oiseau de Feu.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Born in 1959, Arnaud Petit studied with Luciano Berio. In addition to composing, he has taught at IRCAM, Stanford University and the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris. Petit's oeuvre includes opera, vocal, orchestral and chamber music as well as film soundtracks. Concertino Nervoso, the major work on this disc, is based on the dramatic potential of percussion. In it, a solo percussionist, played here by Fabrice Marandola, acts as a kind of deus ex machina. Pairing the soloist with electronics, Concertino Nervoso explores an imaginary link between percussion and various sound worlds, between live performance and it's computer double.