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.

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.

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

Pianist Paolo Giacometti presents a fascinating new recording of music by Maurice Ravel that compares the music's sound when played on modern and authentic instruments. Although trained on modern pianos, Giacometti has long been a proponent of period keyboards, having performed on romantic grand pianos by +�rard and Pleyel and older ones by Graf and Streicher. Giacometti's desire to share the interpretive revelations he gained from playing these pianos was the inspiration for this unique project, which features Ravel's Sonatine, Gaspard de la Nuit, Menuet antique and Le Tombeau de Couperin. The 'new' instrument used for the recording is a Steinway. 'New' is in inverted commas because the Steinway grand has hardly changed since the late nineteenth century. The authentic instrument on this CD is an +�rard - one of the most celebrated makers of the nineteenth century. Ravel frequently gave his recitals on a Steinway, while at home he used an Erard when composing.

Classical Music

Born in Chengdu, China, violinist Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London. The recipient of prizes at the Hanover International, Queen Elisabeth and Yehudi Menuhin International violin competitions, Feng was also awarded first prize in the 2006 International Paganini Competition. Now based in Berlin and performing worldwide, Feng is developing an international reputation as an artist of great lyricism and tremendous bravura. This second volume in his series of works for solo violin features works by Bartok, Prokofiev and, Hindemith.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Iv�n Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra have recorded a series of exceptional audiophile recordings for Channel Classics, focusing on orchestral works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This is their first foray into the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, and the choice of the "Symphony No. 7 in E major" is sure to be popular, since this is a perennial favorite with audiences. Fischer's approach is straightforward and uncontroversial, and he observes tempos that are only a shade slower than usual, while applying a healthy amount of rubato to give the pacing some welcome flexibility. The DSD recording and the hybrid SACD format contribute greatly to the recording's success, giving the orchestra's sonorities clear separation in the multichannel reproduction and creating dimensions that are breathtaking in their spaciousness.

Classical Music