The pianist Pierre Solot here rediscovers the works of Ernesto Lecuona: their roots lie in many cultures and blend romantic virtuosity, Cuban dances, passionate avowals, evocations of distant lands, and the last decadent traces of 19th-century Vienna.   The Cuban-born Ernesto Lecuona (1895-1963), a composer and virtuoso pianist, was acclaimed by both George Gershwin and Maurice Ravel when he toured Europe and the United States, following in the footsteps of the 19th-century piano virtuosi who, driven by their passion, set concert halls and audiences aflame. These were pianists whose charismatic wizardry transformed the piano into an orchestra that could not only set the world ablaze and make it dance, but also evoke solitude and lovelorn exile.

The Pacific Quintet have gone beyond the standard classical repertoire and have selected pieces that represent their diversity. Its musicians were born and raised all over the globe — Japan, Honduras, South Korea, Germany, and Ukraine/Turkey — and here present music from their home countries, transcending all differences of culture, language, and tradition. Two pieces, one by the Honduran composer Jorge Santos and the other by the South Korean female composer Soeui Lee, were commissioned especially for this album, which also includes Fazil Say’s quintet Alevi dedeler raki masasinda and a medley of Japanese folk songs; Hanns Eisler’s Divertimento represents Germany, the Pacific Quintet’s home base. The album ends with an arrangement of music from West Side Story and pays homage to Leonard Bernstein, the founder of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo where the players first met. As this project shows, they are truly United in music.

This studio recording of Alexander Glazunov's Raymonda was captured in October 2022. The arrangement was created for the ENB's 2022 production, with a score specially adapted and edited by Gavin Sutherland and Lars Payne. The lavish orchestral adaptation retains the best of the composer's original score, updating it to match the dramatic new narrative devised by Tamara Rojo.

Fazil Say's gifts as a ground-breaking pianist are allied to the breadth of his compositions. The Violin Concerto No. 2 was composed in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown during which Say was enchanted by the colours and textures of sunrises while walking on the beach, inspiring this atmospheric work. Leopards is a vivid piece for string sextet that utilises Say's unique melodies and rhythms. The Sonata for Solo Violin is an expressive tribute to the noted Turkish violist, Rusen Gunes, while String Quartet 'Divorce' relates the experience of separation and the failure of a relationship with the language of music.

The six piano sonatas by Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro document the evolution of his creative and formal development, from twelve-tone technique to Brazilian nationalism. The sonatas are performed by the composer's son, Alessandro Santoro.

With 37 confirmed trio sonatas to his credit, Giuseppe Tartini is the most important Italian composer of his generation for this type of repertoire. It may seem odd therefore that these works have been so sorely neglected; indeed, as of 2022 only around 20 per cent of the repertoire had been recorded and a critical edition had yet to be published. This state of affairs was largely due to confusion regarding sources, with many divergent interpretations and uncertainties regarding the dates of the handwritten scores. Some order has been brought to this originally chaotic situation by the research carried out by Juan Mariano Porta from 2018 to 2022 as part of his doctoral studies, the result of which was the inclusion of the trio sonatas in the upcoming publications of the Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giuseppe Tartini, with advance materials made available to the Il Demetrio ensemble for recording. Giuseppe Tartini dedicated almost all his energy to his chosen instrument, the violin. His established corpus of works currently numbers 200 sonatas for violin and bass, 150 violin concertos, 37 trio sonatas, a handful of concertos for other instruments, and a small number of quartet sonatas and vocal compositions. Production of the trio sonatas began in the composer's late-mature years, and their style would seem to correspond to Tartini's final compositional period, described as a Drang nach absoluter Musik [urge for absolute music], which began around 1750 without a clear line of demarcation from what came before and continued until the composer's death. The trend was towards simplicity, partly deriving from Tartini's desire to put his theoretical speculations into practice. The trio sonatas no longer feature the virtuoso passages of earlier works. They present a binary form with regular phrasing. Their harmonic rhythm is slow, with the violins mainly proceeding in parallel triplets. The function of the bass is relegated one of harmonic support. This recording contains the sonatas G1, D1, d1 A1, A2, A3, A6, and a1, which date to Tartini's final compositional sub-period. They are little-known pieces, most of them hitherto unpublished.

Florentine, born Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1786), was considered one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his day. Periods of residence in London, Dusseldorf, Venice, and Dresden brought the eccentric musician international fame. Amongst his extensive output,  his Sonate Accademiche Op. 2 (London/Florence 1744) for violin and basso continuo are the best known today. The character of the Sonate Accademiche is defined by a peculiar combination of the intellectual, the virtuosic, and the highly expressive. Despite the technically demanding writing for the violin, Veracini's masterfully idiomatic approach to his own instrument means the virtuosity flows with a natural ease and playfulness.

These idiomatic piano transcriptions of Khachaturian's ballet scores and incidental music are performed by Armenian music specialist Mikael Ayrapetyan. Includes the famous 'Sabre Dance' and 'Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia'.

Every 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.

When 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.

The accordion surely is an evocative instrument, its mere timbre conjuring mellow images of the Italian Riviera or cobbled Parisian streets. One would expect it to be quite out of place in the relatively formal environment of the classical concert hall – and be sorely mistaken, as far as Richard Galliano is concerned. The versatile French composer and accordion virtuoso sets out to elegantly shatter expectations – and his new album MADREPERLA proves him right.

MADREPERLA’s brilliance stems not only from the sheer audacity of juxtaposing the accordion with a full orchestra, nor from the fact that it succeeds spectacularly in doing so. What’s most intoxicating is Galliano’s fusion of symphonic writing with eclectic styles of dance – the pavane, the mazurka, the milonga, the forro, the waltz – whose particular zest, allure and elan pour forth torrentially from these compositions. A triumph.

Quatuor Diotima celebrates Pierre Boulez' centenary with a recording of his Livre pour quatuor, containing the world-premiere of the piece's fourth movement, which the composer conceived in close cooperation with the members of Diotima, and was completed by Philippe Manoury after his death. This recording adds a fascinating chapter to Boulez's "work in progress", and is a fitting successor to the quartet's acclaimed Ligeti recording from 2023. Quatuor Diotima is one of the most in-demand chamber ensembles in the world today, and has worked in close collaboration with several of the greatest composers of the late twentieth century. Reflected in the mirror of today's music, the quartet projects a new light onto the masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries. The quartet returns to PENTATONE after their acclaimed Metamorphosis Ligeti (2023) and Bruckner & Klose String Quartets (2024), which was awarded a Jahrespreis der Schallplattenkritik.

Leonard Bernstein conducted regularly in Munich from the 1980s onwards. It was then that he learned to appreciate and love the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in particular. In October 1976, Bernstein appeared with an all-Beethoven programme, and in 1983 he began a series of annual concerts with the orchestra. In November of that year, he rehearsed Robert Schumann's Second Symphony and his own Divertimento (1980), which were performed in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. This BR-KLASSIK CD presents the live recording of that concert event. Bernstein commendably championed Robert Schumann's Second Symphony - a work from 1845 that was repeatedly perceived as still immature and in need of improvement, and which Schumann himself confessed to having written in poor health. The critic Joachim Kaiser picked up on both facts in his concert review for the Suddeutsche Zeitung: "So what did Bernstein do differently to silence this scholarly talk, at least for all those who were lucky enough to listen to his Schumann? (...) Bernstein believed not only in Schumann's melodies - not difficult in itself - but also, and fervently, in the work's great symphonic developmental arcs. And because he was able to inspire the musicians of the superbly organised Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in such a natural, free and yet highly differentiated way, the power of Schumann emerged!" Bernstein's Divertimento, composed in 1980 for the 100th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, consists of eight miniatures developed from the semitone B-C. It begins with a fanfare and progresses through a waltz, a mazurka, a samba and a blues to a Radetzky-like march. The music is jazz-like, full of happy syncopation, unusual time signatures and dance-like verve. Bernstein also draws on memories of his first concerts - popular programmes that he attended as a child with his father in Boston's Symphony Hall.

John Wilson brings us a double helping of Wild’s exquisite solo piano distillations following the Gershwin–Wild Virtuoso Etudes that featured on his AVIE Records debut (AV2458): ‘This album gives listeners a chance to hear singing – an art form at once simple and complex – carried in a different; very deftly crafted musical vehicle; that of Earl Wild’s skill as a transcriber.’

REVIEWS:

If the second solo album by young American pianist John Wilson had a title, it might well be “Virtuoso,” for that description permeates his musical selections as well as his dynamic interpretations. Wilson follows in the footsteps of previous pianistic giants Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, and Earl Wild, all of whom have contributions on this new release – indeed the pedigree of these composer–arranger–pianists runs through Wilson’s musical DNA. Wild’s renowned re–workings of Gershwin’s music for the stage is represented here by the Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, alongside Gershwin’s own Three Preludes for solo piano. Wild also turned his hand to solo piano arrangements of Rachmaninoff’s soulful songs for which Wilson feels a close affinity thanks to his frequent collaborations with singers.

-- WFMT

Schuberts Divertissement sur des motifs originaux francais D 823 und Moscheles' Sonate in h-Moll fur Klavier vierhandig - sind anspruchsvolle vierhandige Klavierkompositionen, die virtuose Elemente mit melodischem Reichtum verbinden. Zudem zeigen sie eine Affinitat zur franzosischen Musiktradition.

Leading British critic Stephen Johnson called Poul Ruders "The Richard Strauss of the computer-aged orchestra", and indeed the Ruders six symphonies, collected here for the first time, sparkle with vivid color and brilliant orchestral virtuosity. Ruders is best known for his score to the opera "The Handmaid's Tale", based on Margaret Atwood's dystopian American tale, produced by opera companies throughout Europe and North America.

Spanish pianists Juan Lago and Belén Navarro present in this album a repertoire that has featured prominently in their concerts over the past decade: works by non-Spanish composers inspired by Spanish popular music. Thanks to the piano-a truly universal instrument-Debussy, Ravel, Chabrier, and Rimsky-Korsakov not only developed their early compositional voices, but also found a vehicle through which their orchestral masterpieces could be adapted and performed beyond the concert hall. Through their own arrangements or those by trusted collaborators, these works have reached intimate settings and private homes around the world. The keyboard's orchestral richness-especially in four-hand performance-and it's ability to imitate or evoke the timbral variety of an orchestra allow the Lago-Navarro Duo to showcase their artistry and technical command in a beloved and familiar repertoire, deeply ingrained in the collective musical memory of the Spanish people. In this album, Ibéria, Rapsodie espagnole, España, and Capriccio espagnol are brought together in a fresh concert format, allowing the musical echoes of Spain to resound with renewed brilliance. Belén Navarro & Juan Lago Piano Duo The well-established Lago-Navarro piano duo-formed in 1997 by Spanish pianists Juan Lago and Belén Navarro-presents in this album a repertoire that has featured prominently in their concerts over the past decade: works by non-Spanish composers inspired by Spanish popular music.

A vibrant collection of chamber works spanning different periods of Alberto Ginastera's career, written for piano with strings or voice. Rooted in the rhythms and colors of traditional Argentine music yet infused with the bold spirit of cosmopolitan modernism, these pieces strike a compelling balance between heritage and innovation. Inspired by the lifelong passion of acclaimed Kraków pianist Andrzej Pikul for Argentina's most celebrated composer, this album highlights the expressive range, technical brilliance, and imaginative power of Ginastera's music, offering each performer a chance to shine with virtuosity and creative flair.

Movses Pogossian and his colleagues in the Armenian Music Project continue their tireless advocacy for the music of Armenia with this ambitious 4-CD collection, Stanzas in August. At the heart of the release are two sub-collections devoted entirely to the music of Ashot Zohrabyan and Koharik Gazarossian, two consequential composers who shaped Armenian music far beyond their own oeuvres. The other discs include lesser-known works by Aram Khachaturian, Tigran Mansurian, and Ghazaros Saryan, as well as premieres of piano miniatures by Artur Avanesov, and premieres by Vahram Sargsyan and Aram Hovhannisyan.

The theme of the album "The Lovers" by the Duo Edlbauer Kuzo (Andrea Edlbauer, saxophone and Oksana Kuzo, piano) revolves around love, lovers, and the relationships between people-the states in which we live together and alone. The music transports listeners into various emotional moods and allows them to experience a diversity of feelings and forms of expression. This album features a combination of works already cherished by connoisseurs of the saxophone-piano repertoire, such as Robert Muczynski's sonata or Astor Piazzolla's "Grand Tango" in an arrangement for saxophone and piano, as well as completely new pieces composed for the duo. These new works are characterized by a musical language that touches immediately and captures listeners' hearts, such as "The Moment You Lost Your Love" by the young Austrian composer Viola Hammer, the atmospheric music "Monody" by Austria-based composer Theodor Burkali, and the passionate, temperamental, and multifaceted title work "The Lovers" by American composer Steve Bryant. Also featured are the Three Bagatelles for Piano by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov and the Cantilena by Theodor Burkali.

Abel Selaocoe, the innovative South African cellist, composer and vocalist, announces the release of his second album, Hymns of Bantu on Warner Classics on 21st February 2025. Abel follows the acclaimed release of his 2022 debut Where Is Home (Hae ke Kae) with a remarkable new body of work celebrating his South African heritage, and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Following on the acclaimed 'Where is Home' and 'Hymns of Bantu', two genre-defying albums, 'Four Spirits' is also drawn from Abel's South African roots and seeks to create a communal experience with the audience through cello concerto, percussion, singing & improvisation. His first solo cello concerto and, formally speaking, a concerto cast in four movements - each movement takes an essential aspect of township life: ancestors, children, faith and community. Selaocoe positions himself as chief storyteller, combining cello improvising with lyrics in the Southern Sotho and Zulu languages.

This new album continues to build the brand Piano Book, following the unprecedented success of the original released in 2019. A collection of the most popular short pieces for piano known, taught and played by players and piano lovers of all ages everywhere. Including iconic classical pieces, works by contemporary composers including soundtracks, gaming and anime, as well as unique arrangements. The album reflects Lang Lang's love of the piano, the joy of music making and his wish to inspire others, which he does through activities including Lang Lang Foundation. 2 LP set features 27 tracks. Packaged in gatefold jacket with printed insert.

Lang Lang - "Piano Book 2". This new album continues to build the brand Piano Book, following the unprecedented success of the original released in 2019. A collection of the most popular short pieces for piano known, taught and played by players and piano lovers of all ages everywhere. Including iconic classical pieces, works by contemporary composers including soundtracks, gaming and anime, as well as unique arrangements. The album reflects Lang Lang's love of the piano, the joy of music making and his wish to inspire others, which he does through activities including Lang Lang Foundation. SCORE EDITION 2 CD set with digital download featuring sheet music of every piece on the album, plus bonus tutorials with Lang Lang. 2 CD Score Edition.

Lang Lang - "Piano Book 2". This new album continues to build the brand Piano Book, following the unprecedented success of the original released in 2019. A collection of the most popular short pieces for piano known, taught and played by players and piano lovers of all ages everywhere. Including iconic classical pieces, works by contemporary composers including soundtracks, gaming and anime, as well as unique arrangements. The album reflects Lang Lang's love of the piano, the joy of music making and his wish to inspire others, which he does through activities including Lang Lang Foundation. 2 CD Digipak.

Vinyl LP pressing. South African cellist Abel Selaocoe makes his debut on Warner Classics with Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae). It's dual title, in English and Sesotho, reflects the album's diverse program which draws from vibrant European and African influences: pieces inspired by South African and Tanzanian musical tradition share a space with works by J.S. Bach and Giovanni Benedetto Platti, some of which are renewed with instrumental and lyrical improvisations. The title of the album holds multifaceted significance for the Manchester-based musician: "Home is the place that empowers you; it's not only a geographical place but in people as well, where you can live a life of empowerment and not of oppression. I've learned to find my different homes through the cello." Abel Selaocoe represents Africa on the move.

Abel Selaocoe, the innovative South African cellist, composer and vocalist, announces the release of his second album, Hymns of Bantu on Warner Classics on 21st February 2025. Abel follows the acclaimed release of his 2022 debut Where Is Home (Hae ke Kae) with a remarkable new body of work celebrating his South African heritage, and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Christina Pluhar collaborates with star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and her ensemble L'Arpeggiata for a great program of French Baroque music: de Visee, Antoine Boesset, Etienne Mouline, Michel Lambert, and many more.

Unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time is how Gramophone magazine has described Martha Argerich. Her relationship with the label goes back to 1965 and her victory at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Over several decades it has produced a rich catalogue of live and studio recordings, embracing a repertoire that spans three centuries, a diversity of genres, and collaborations with such figures as Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Itzhak Perlman. The complete recordings for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics are featured in this box. Martha Argerich is a pianist of transcendent gifts and her special joy in musical collaboration is the key to the second part of this collection: the complete live recordings made at Switzerland's Lugano Festival between 2002 and 2016 and released by EMI Classics and Warner Classics. Argerich is heard in solo works and concertos, but above all in intimate partnership with fellow instrumentalists, performers she sees as her musical "family". This new boxset puts together in 46CDs all the recordings made by Martha Argerich for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics, from 1965 to 2020.

Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition and famous for his distinctive mix of "feline agility and lightness of touch" (New York Times), breaks new ground with the supposedly well known. Following his enormous success with WAVES, a tribute to French composers and nature themes, The Seasons now focuses on Tchaikovsky's and Liu's relationship with music. "For me, this is a moment to explore some personal emotion," the pianist says of his latest album, which envelops the Russian composer's intimate and profoundly poetic language with musical breathing space.

2 LP, Limited Edition. Luxurious 180 g heavyweight vinyl pressings from OPTIMAL. This release includes a voucher with a unique code to download the digital audio files (MP3) of the full album for free. Works by Chopin, Tan Dun, Haydn, Liszt, Schubert, Schumann. "An awesome new recording of the most spectacular recital I've ever seen" (Gregory Krischling, Entertainment Weekly)