{"title":"Classical Fortepiano","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"haydn-piano-sonatas-nos-48-52-7318590009925","title":"Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 48-52","description":"Classical Music","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44624098820330,"sku":"7318590009925","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2263117.jpg?v=1786742054"},{"product_id":"three-square","title":"Three Square","description":"Classical Music","brand":"Athene","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44711164838122,"sku":"5022736000128","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1922182.jpg?v=1786701377"},{"product_id":"haydn-piano-sonatas-nos-59-62-7318590009949","title":"Haydn: Piano Sonatas Nos. 59-62","description":"Classical Music","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44711196066026,"sku":"7318590009949","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/2263119.jpg?v=1786721034"},{"product_id":"cedille-scarlatti-fortepiano-sonatas","title":"SCARLATTI: Fortepiano Sonatas","description":"SCARLATTI: Fortepiano Sonatas","brand":"Cedille","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44711300923626,"sku":"735131904223","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/246846.jpg?v=1786758710"},{"product_id":"beethoven-l-van-the-last-6-piano-sonatas","title":"LAST SIX PIANO SONATAS","description":"Classical Music","brand":"MUSICAL CONCEPTS","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":44936251408618,"sku":"851950001223","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/1128371.jpg?v=1786810217"},{"product_id":"jadin-piano-sonatas-op-4-6","title":"Jadin: Piano Sonatas, Op. 4-6 \/ Toporowski","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew recordings of signature works by a young and tragically short-lived lion of the keyboard in late 18th-century France. This is the most extensive set of records ever dedicated to the music of Hyacinthe Jadin, sure to attract the attention of all aficionados of keyboard rarities, especially as performed by the Polish harpsichordist and pianist Marek Toporowski, with his encyclopedic understanding of Baroque and early-Classical repertoire. Born in Versailles in 1776, Jadin grew up in a musical family and was educated in both the French and German traditions, something unusual at the time. His professional career was brief; he was appointed to the Conservatoire in 1795 as one of its first professors of piano, and fell ill from the tuberculosis that would take his life in 1800. Jadin’s surviving output includes six quartets, four piano concertos, and several violin sonatas. From the evidence of these nine piano sonatas – three for each published opus number – we may hear in Jadin an astonishingly gifted composer whose music foreshadows the Romantic era – even at points the expressive poignancy of Schubert. Writing in major keys, Jadin’s elegant facility belongs to his own Classical age; it is when he ventures into remote minortonalities, such as the F sharp minor Sonata Op.4 No.2, that he seems to look forward to another, more personal age of expression. In all cases, however, Jadin evidently took Haydn as a model, for his themes are unfailingly compact and elegantly conceived for the keyboard, his development sections are likewise concise while enlivened with touches of ingenious modulation between keys. In his booklet essay, introducing Jadin’s life and work, Marek Toporowski makes the case for the composer as a French-born Dussek, an outstandingly original figure and one of the great ‘might-have-beens’ of musical history. His stylish performances on a modern copy of a Walter fortepiano support such a claim, as well as affording much delight in their own right.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012433596650,"sku":"5028421969589","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4211072-2989376.jpg?v=1786640338"},{"product_id":"schubert-sonata-in-a-major-fantasie-in-c-major-rondo-in-b-minor","title":"Schubert: Music for Violin \u0026 Keyboard \/ Mullova, Beatson","description":"\u003cp\u003eViktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson present their first release with Signum Classics. Performed on a period-style fortepiano and gut strings, the works presented on this recording span the final decade of Schubert’s life. Beginning with the Sonata in A of 1817, its lyrical, wistful opening giving way to a Viennese joy and exuberance. Closing with the Rondo in B minor of 1826, thrilling in its heroic journey through an abundance of themes, with twists and turns almost competitively athletic between the two instruments. At the heart of the recording, the Fantasie in C of 1827 – a music unutterably inspired, ravishingly beautiful, a tour de force of color and texture, an unpredictable and unparalleled dreamlike vision of another world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eViktoria Mullova is known internationally as a violinist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity. Her curiosity spans the breadth of musical development from baroque and classical right up to the most contemporary influences from the world of fusion and experimental music. Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as a soloist and chamber musician. Renowned as a sincere musician and intrepid programmer, he champions wider repertoire with particular interest in Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSchubert’s three mature works for violin and piano make an ideal disc-length programme, the Duo Sonata (1817) expanding on the 18th-century models that informed the three ‘sonatinas’ of the previous year, before the full power of the tragic composer’s late music is distilled in the fearsome technical challenges of the B minor Rondo (1826) and C major Fantasy (1827). Viktoria Mullova lavishes her laser-like focus and intense musicality on these works, sometimes eschewing tonal beauty...in favor of fervent expressivity. Mullova remains faithful to her Guadagnini violin, gut-strung and played with a classical bow...blazing commitment and consummate musicianship on display from both players.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e--Gramophone\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Signum Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012435103978,"sku":"635212070628","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4080156-2816794.jpg?v=1786690822"},{"product_id":"burgmuller-schubert-works-for-arpeggione-761203544622","title":"Burgmüller \u0026 Schubert: Works for Arpeggione","description":"\u003cp\u003eFranz Schubert's so-called \"Arpeggione Sonata\" owes its peculiar name to a long-forgotten string instrument that was usually referred to in Vienna in the 1820s as the \"bowed guitar\" or \"guitar-violoncello\". It was an invention of the Viennese instrument maker Georg Stauffer and was quite popular for about a decade. After that, it disappeared into the annals of history. If Schubert had not dedicated his famous sonata to the instrument, the arpeggione would have been long forgotten. But this way, the memory of the instrument was kept alive, albeit often in name only. On this album, we hear the intended instrument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo complement the great \"Arpeggione Sonata\", soloist Lorenz Duftschmid has recorded five Schubert songs in instrumental versions (the poems in question are recited before the instrumental version in each case) as well as three nocturnes by an almost forgotten Romantic from the Rhineland: Friedrich Burgmüller. His \"Trois Nocturnes\", available in  versions, sound most beautiful and full of emotion on arpeggione and guitar, the two instruments so closely related.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012445524202,"sku":"761203544622","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4136097-2896944.jpg?v=1786672205"},{"product_id":"an-afternoon-in-van-swietens-salon","title":"An Afternoon in van Swieten's Salon","description":"An exciting journey through the time: Mozart played on a fortepiano, according to 19th Century performing style, with today sensitivity. Keiko Shichijo introduces us to Baron van Swieten's salon, where Mozart used to play the piano in the early 80s. In this salon Mozart got to know in depth the music of Bach and Haendel. Keiko constructs a clever programme of great masterpieces somehow related to these years and to the new influence Bach excerted on Mozart.","brand":"Challenge Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012455583978,"sku":"608917200041","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4410006-3332406.jpg?v=1786658190"},{"product_id":"around-baermann","title":"Around Baermann","description":"\u003cp\u003eAround Baermann sees historic clarinet specialist Maryse Legault spotlight the early 19th century clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann, who was one of the most important yet overlooked clarinetists in the history of the instrument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Potsdam in 1784, Heinrich Baermann honed his skills under the tutelage of virtuoso clarinetist Josef Beer, who was a key figure in the development of the clarinet and its repertoire. B Baermann went on to tour extensively and significantly impacted the clarinet's role in classical music, particularly in France. Around Baermann is Legault’s tribute to Baermann; a giant in his field and one of the more important developers ofthe clarinet’s style, technique, and repertoire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Leaf Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012462399722,"sku":"3191684102108","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4207047-3140469.jpg?v=1786635704"},{"product_id":"couperin-dynasty-19-cd","title":"Couperin Dynasty","description":"\u003cp\u003eAdmiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, \u003cstrong\u003eLouis Couperin\u003c\/strong\u003e continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times, in its latest revision by Thurston Dart (used for this set), catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. Collectively, they help to place Couperin among the greatest composers of the 17th century alongside Frescobaldi, Chambonnieres, Froberger, and D’Anglebert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough he wrote religious works as well as chamber music, harpsichord music forms the lion’s share of Louis’s nephew \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"expandableItem\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFrançois Couperin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e’s output: 235 pieces in all, most of them published in the four volumes (or Livres) of Pièces de Clavecin, divided into 27 ordres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike the better-known Jacques Duphly and Claude Balbastre, \u003cstrong\u003eArmand-Louis Couperin\u003c\/strong\u003e belongs to the last generation of French harpsichord composers. The modesty and success which profited Armand-Louis handsomely during his lifetime rather dimmed the light of his creative legacy. He published little during his own lifetime. One of only a few opuses, the magnificent volume of Pièces de clavecin deserves consideration alongside the viol fantazias of Purcell and the Lachrymae of Dowland, examples of lateness in music, where the fruit has ripened beyond high summer, yet there is much of interest in these pieces, beyond their historical value at the end of a distinguished family line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArmand-Louis’s son, \u003cstrong\u003eGervais-\u003cspan class=\"expandableItem\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFrançois Couperin\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, studied with his father then replaced him at the Sainte-Chapelle organ. His keyboard compositions reveal a profound understanding of the delicate nuances and expressive capabilities of the harpsichord, characterized by elegance, refinement and meticulous attention to ornamentation. Yet Gervais-François was also a virtuoso on the new instrument of his day, the fortepiano, and this set features his music performed on that keyboard of greatly expanded expressivity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eREVIEW\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrilliant Classics’ Couperin Dynasty collection usefully gathers together François’s four dazzling books of harpsichord pieces (Michael Borgstede), Massimo Berghella playing harpsichord suites by Louis (historically the first important member of the Couperin family), harpsichord pieces by Armand-Louis (cousin of François) played by Yago Mahugo and catchy, vivacious fortepiano music by Gervais-François (a son of Armand-Louis and a contemporary of Beethoven) adeptly performed by Simone Pierini. The range of music on offer stretches from Gervais-François’s feisty variations to François’s majestic Passacaille, one of the finest masterpieces in the genre. It’s a musical feast to relish, more varied than you might expect. Excellent sound, too, and informative notes by Michael Borgstede, Peter Quantrill, Brigida Cristallo and Massimo Berghella.\u003cp\u003e— Gramophone \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012463153386,"sku":"5028421970516","price":48.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4281846-3124880.jpg?v=1786639572"},{"product_id":"brilliant-jadin-sonatas-piano-with-violin","title":"Jadin: Sonatas for Piano with Violin","description":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to Marek Toporowski, the French composer Hyacinthe Jadin (1776–1800) authored ‘the greatest masterpieces of the French literature for the fortepiano from the time of the Revolution.’ Despite dying in poverty from tuberculosis at the age of 25, Jadin accomplished much in his brief life, composing both orchestral and chamber music with a bias towards his own instrument, the piano. This includes concertos and the sonatas featured in this collection, which also offer an optional violin accompaniment. Although several published collections have not survived or been recovered, including a further 12 sonatas for the keyboard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a previous album on Brilliant Classics, Toporowski produced a definitive modern recording of Jadin’s Sonatas Opp. 4-6 (96958). In the present collection, he presents Opp. 1 and 3, along with Jadin’s trio of Op.1 string quartets in the composer’s own arrangement for piano and violin. Toporowski finds a pre-Romantic sensibility in this music, with tantalizing anticipations of Schubert, Weber, and even Mendelssohn in Jadin’s heightened language of expression, which ventures far beyond the conventional forms of his contemporaries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn important point of reference for Jadin was nonetheless the music of Haydn. The Op.1 String Quartets, as played here in the composer’s transcription, are dedicated to Haydn and contain very obvious references to this composer’s style, particularly to his refined modulations. Jadin was also active in Paris while Jan Ladislav Dussek was living in the French capital. As a later co-creator of the London school of piano playing, Dussek seems also to have had a great influence on the young virtuoso. There are salient points of comparison between these sonatas, whether played solo on piano or with their optional violin part, and with the sonatas for the same forces written by Dussek and recently recorded for Brilliant Classics by Petra Somlai, Julia Huber, and Miriam Altmann.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJadin’s music has never previously been documented in so comprehensive and stylish a manner as in this evolving series from Marek Toporowski, and the quartets receive their first recording in this arrangement, which will appeal to all collectors of Classical-era curios.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012469182698,"sku":"5028421970653","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4313763-3141846.jpg?v=1786814863"},{"product_id":"ferrari-duets-for-harp-and-piano","title":"Ferrari: Duets for Harp and Piano \/ Perrucci, Mazzoli","description":"Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari studied in Naples before finding esteem in the Parisian musical world of the late 1780s. Fleeing the Revolution he settled in London. His compositions divide equally between vocal and chamber music, but also include two piano concertos. His Four Duets for Piano and Harp reveal clearly the main features of his art: easy melodic grace founded on his studies with Paisiello, high musical quality, formal balance, and a veneration of Haydn and Mozart. Intended for professionals and amateurs alike, slow movements are expressive and rondos full of vigor. In this recording original instruments are used to do full justice to the period timbre of Ferrari’s dialogues between fortepiano and harp.","brand":"Dynamic","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012476555498,"sku":"8007144079536","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4085545-2827733.jpg?v=1786640307"},{"product_id":"schubert-sonata-in-b-flat-major-d-960-drei-klavierstucke-d-946","title":"Schubert: Sonata in B flat Major D 960; Drei Klavierstucke D 946 \/ Ayako Ito","description":"\u003cp\u003eAyako Ito: “Nowadays, in concert halls, we generally see a single type of piano that normally has 88 keys and is normally black. Things were quite different in the Vienna of the 19th century: the piano had fewer keys, was decorated with wooden inlay and had no steel subframe. All this made them sound quite different. Conrad Graf was one of the finest builders of pianofortes in Vienna in the period from 1820-40. And Franz Schubert was living in the same city.We can revive a rich, warm, singing, powerful and even orchestral sound on Graf's pianofortes. His pianos feature the Viennese action or “Prellzungenmechanik”, with their hammers built up from many layers of leather. These hammers allow the performer to impart subtle nuances and dynamic contrasts. Of course, the pianos are straight-strung. The player can alter the tonal color using four pedals, with one of the pedals specific to the pianoforte being the moderator. When the moderator pedal is depressed, a strip of cashmere slips between the hammers and the strings. Christopher Clarke (1947) built the instrument used for this recording in 2000, as a facsimile of Conrad Graf's pianoforte no. 995. Clarke's pianoforte always inspires me. I find it a miraculous instrument. The utter precision of the mechanism lets us explore the finest gradations and introduce the most subtle nuances – singing, speaking or whispering. It is a mechanism that demands a high technical mastery from the player.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAyako Ito approaches the masterpiece \u003c\/span\u003eD960\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e with romantic fervour, trusting the less powerful, more refined, tone of the fortepiano will provide authentic period sound compensation. Her opening theme isn’t as soft as \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003epp,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e but smoother and more swinging than the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMolto moderato\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e marking suggests. The deep bass disturbance at the end of its first full statement (tr. 1, 0:24) is more threatening than the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003epp\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e marking. The clarity of Ito’s running quavers in the ‘tenor’ part enhances the tense atmosphere, yet the third part of the first theme (0:58), more pleading, moves through quiet insistence. The second theme (2:06), is in the tenor part against the ‘soprano’ descant, with Ito’s sensitive balance the latter’s creaminess like a loving companion. The dancing three-quaver groups in triplets which eventually result skip buoyantly. The phrase of resolution terminating these (4:04) deserves more breadth, but the extraordinary exposition ‘first time’ codetta (4:55), like hobgoblins arriving, Ito makes boldly gawky.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn the development (10:19) Ito prefers cool examination rather than shock, its \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eff\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e climax of the dancing triplets underplayed (11:27). But she builds the tension and dynamic well to the fruition of the third theme (12:18), the most tender and memorable. Ito makes the second theme recap (16:08) more delicate and sensitive. Her coda (19:22) is tranquil yet flowing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe opening of the slow movement juxtaposes a left-hand four note rising figure and melancholic right-hand melody. Ito makes the first and final notes of the left-hand figure very clear as bell peals three octaves apart. In this C sharp minor funeral Ito is sorrowful yet smoothly dignified, her equipoise between the hands arguably overmuch easing the pain of bereavement. The central section in A major (tr. 2, 2:59) remembers the loved one and clarifies a relationship, its theme beginning in rich ‘baritone’ register, the soprano repeat (3:26) adding varied semiquaver runs. From Ito it feels like both parties confirm shared sadness. At the return to the opening (5:36) the left-hand has an additional four-note motif, three semiquavers and a quaver, for me like funeral carriage wheels biting into the road. Ito makes it a clear, inescapable presence. The decrescendo after the melody’s climax finds the left-hand unheeding the pathos of the melody briefly in C major (6:30); yet after the next melodic climax comes a blessing, the coda (7:55) easing calmly into C sharp major.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIto’s finale’s rondo theme begins a bit stiff in marking out the rhythm; her second strain (tr. 4, 0:21) is catchier and first episode (1:24) blends calm tone with confident movement, the relationship between melody and accompaniment grippingly maintained, until a sudden silence and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eff\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e shock (2:36) of catastrophe, especially when the melodic outburst goes into descant register.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBest of \u003c\/span\u003eD946\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThree piano pieces,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e is for me the first. It’s in E flat minor with urgent first strain to its right-hand cyclical theme. The second (tr. 5, 0:15) adds more rhythm, then a melody picked out from the first notes of the three-quaver groupings (0:19). The return of the first strain is in E flat major (0:50), the touch more rhythm a vehicle for Ito screaming a scrunched appoggiatura at the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003efz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e climax. The central section second theme (2:54) is in B major, festooned with turns and phrase-ending arpeggios, Ito revealing it as leisurely and affectionate. Its second strain (4:13) adds glissando-like up-and-down [32nd notes], the return of the first more luxurious in chording and close more rhetorical. To this vibrant, varied piece Ito brings considerable gusto.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e--\u003cem\u003eMusicWeb International\u003c\/em\u003e (Michael Greenhalgh)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Challenge Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012500967658,"sku":"608917289220","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4069303-2817961.jpg?v=1786663958"},{"product_id":"mozart-en-famille-608917290226","title":"Mozart en famille: Music for Violin, Viola \u0026 Piano \/ Sigiswald, Sara \u0026 Marie Kuijken","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis recording of Mozart chamber music can be listened to as a pleasant private concert \"en famille\". The choice of the works is dictated solely by the specific instruments played by the three family members: violin, viola and keyboard. This is not a usual instrumentation in the chamber music repertoire, yet it is this combination that has given rise to a pleasantly varied program - thanks to Mozart's inexhaustible genius! This cleverly thought out program features four pieces with different instrumentations and moods in order to elicit a constant interest and pleasure from the listener. The Kuijkens Trio plays with their unmistakable understanding, tenderness, and tone color; a constant delight throughout the album.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Challenge Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012504735978,"sku":"608917290226","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4112395-3207703.jpg?v=1786633087"},{"product_id":"forkel-four-piano-concertos","title":"Forkel: Four Piano Concertos","description":"When the name Johann Nikolaus Forkel (1749-1818) is mentioned today, we think above all of the first life story of the great Johann Sebastian Bach, which we owe to the industrious, witty man from Upper Franconia. Experts also recognize him as the \"founder of musicology as a modern academic discipline\", which, according to a widespread prejudice, would be associated with a lack of any creativity of his own. But far from it: Forkel, who was a professor in Gottingen for many years, left behind an impressive oeuvre, including the four piano concertos recorded here for the first time, which, although they are entirely within the classical genre, contain a great deal of delightful music that is expressively touching in the slow movements. Tobias Koch, one of the outstanding specialists for historical keyboard instruments, and the Kolner Akademie under Michael Alexander Willens perform.","brand":"CPO","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012508012778,"sku":"0761203556328","price":36.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4384336-3298143.jpg?v=1786708600"},{"product_id":"bach-sonatas-for-viola-da-gamba-bwv-1027-1029","title":"Bach: Sonatas for viola da gamba, BWV 1027-1029 \/ Sofronitsky","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAny attempt at dating J.S. Bach’s three sonatas for viola da gamba and obligato harpsichord (BWV 1027 – 1029) is a very complex issue. According to the most recent research, Bach’s gamba sonatas are dated 1736 – 41, and therefore could have been written for Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787). Here the Viola da gamba Sonatas are performed by two musicians who have a wide experience and deep knowledge of period instruments and late Baroque performing practice. They focused their attention on the instruments to play. Sergej Istomin chose a viol built by Jacob Stainer in 1655, whose sound is especially brilliant and resonant. Sofronitzky very unusually decided to play these late pieces by Bach on a Silbermann fortepiano copy, built by Paul McNulty. A new instrument at that time, the fortepiano was approved and appreciated by Johann Sebastian Bach during his visit to Gottfried Silbermann in 1747. Paul McNulty’s copy of Silbermann’s 1749 instrument represents the final stage of the builder’s development, seventeen years after the first fortepiano he had built following a description of Christofori’s original design. 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Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known by her artistic pseudonym Mel Bonis (21 January 1858 – 18 March 1937), was a Romantic composer in the late years of the 19 c. and first half of the 20c.. Sheila Arnold and Sandrine Cantoreggi initiated this album and discovered not only a piece - Soir - never played or was registered before, but kept her choice also mainly to their own instruments Violin and Fortepiano (on a Bluethner Fortepiano 1871). Two Trios (one with Cello, the other with flute) embrace the program of small short pieces for Violin and Fortepiano, highlighting in particular the larger Violin Sonata, Op. 112.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CAvi-music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012538093802,"sku":"4260085535347","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4275106-3125425.jpg?v=1786662292"},{"product_id":"dussek-complete-piano-sonatas-sonatinas-10-cd","title":"Dussek: Complete Piano Sonatas \u0026 Sonatinas on Period Instruments","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohann Ladislaus Dussek (1760–1812) was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the foremost keyboard performers and composers of his age. Over a span of three decades, Dussek completed nearly 300 compositions, most of which involve a keyboard instrument. 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The distance between cities as far apart as London and Vienna resulted in two distinct schools of piano building: the “English” and the “Viennese.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe formidable array of both English and Viennese fortepianos played on this recording (see info below) provides listeners with a parallel journey, alongside through Dussek’s music, exploring the great tonal variety that existed amongst fortepianos in the composer’s day, with each instrument’s unique qualities matched to the differing characters of Dussek’s works.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012548153578,"sku":"5028421955032","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4412828-3337363.jpg?v=1786690710"},{"product_id":"female-composers-6","title":"Female Composers","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat would it mean to 'compose like a woman'? The present collection answers the question, in a literal sense, while undoing the premise on which the question was asked in the first place. In social and historical terms, it means enjoying privileges of upbringing, education, and\/or wealth that were historically denied to the vast majority of women. It means, on the part of the women represented here, a single-minded determination in pursuit of their vocation, helping them to overcome prejudice and sexism in a cultural, social and political milieu that has consistently denied women the opportunity to find and express their own voice in music. Only with movements of emancipation in the last century, and much more rapidly in the last 50 years, has this situation begun to be addressed and corrected. What composing like a woman does not mean - as the music in this collection makes clear - is a definable set of qualities or characteristics to the music itself which would distinguish the work of female composers from the music composed by men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis remarkable set gathers many individual recordings of music by women composers, which Brilliant Classics has quietly yet actively championed in their catalogue for decades, uniting it with exciting new outings, so that a comprehensive historical picture of the highly varied struggles and successes of women composers through the ages to our present time are chronicled and celebrated.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther information:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Recordings date from 1994-2024\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- Booklet in English contains liner notes by Peter Quantrill\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- The revival of interest in female classical composers reflects a growing recognition of their overlooked contributions to music history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor centuries, women composers were marginalized, their works overshadowed by their male counterparts. However, recent efforts by musicians, scholars, and institutions have brought these composers into the spotlight, highlighting the richness and diversity of their compositions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- This renewed focus stems from a broader movement toward inclusivity in the arts, challenging traditional narratives that have historically excluded women. The rise of feminist musicology has also played a key role, offering fresh perspectives on these composers' lives and works.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- This comprehensive box set offers a wide spectrum of works by female composers, from the Medieval mystic Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179), through the Renaissance Isabella Leonarda (baptized 1620-1704), Francesca Caccini (1587-1640) und Barbara Strozzi (baptized 1619-1677), traversing the Baroque and Classical eras, and arriving in the contemporary field, with composers such as Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) and Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- A long due homage to the art and voice of female composers, spanning nearly a thousand years!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012551921898,"sku":"5028421974347","price":53.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4392362-3320943.jpg?v=1786658442"},{"product_id":"brilliant-myslivecek-complete-keyboard-works","title":"Myslivecek: Complete Keyboard Works","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe new focus on Bohemian classicism in\n\u003cbr\u003ethe second half of the 18th century,\n\u003cbr\u003emanifested in recent recordings and articles\n\u003cbr\u003ein professional journals, has amply\n\u003cbr\u003edemonstrated the calibre of these\n\u003cbr\u003ecomposers and the quality of their music.\n\u003cbr\u003eAmong them, Josef Mysliveček enjoyed\n\u003cbr\u003econsiderable fame during his lifetime. He\n\u003cbr\u003ewas known to such important figures as the\n\u003cbr\u003esoprano Caterina Gabrielli and was a friend\n\u003cbr\u003eof Mozart’s, who esteemed him.\n\u003cbr\u003eMysliveček’s like many of his\n\u003cbr\u003econtemporaries strove for musical success\n\u003cbr\u003eand economic independence through opera\n\u003cbr\u003ecomposition, a career that was high-profile\n\u003cbr\u003ebut also challenging in the late 18th\n\u003cbr\u003ecentury. And he did not consider the\n\u003cbr\u003efortepiano to be as important a vehicle of\n\u003cbr\u003eexpression, unlike Mozart, as can be seen in\n\u003cbr\u003ehis meagre solo keyboard output.\n\u003cbr\u003eThe Six Divertimenti are single-movement\n\u003cbr\u003ecompositions, and while probably\n\u003cbr\u003eintended as didactic, they are not sterile\n\u003cbr\u003eexercises for amateurs but exquisite\n\u003cbr\u003epieces that satisfy the most discerning\n\u003cbr\u003epalates. 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Prior to taking up his post in Milan the young composer worked in Piedmont and Veneto as a private music teacher to the aristocracy, and in their salons he met various foreigners on tours of Italy and was exposed to musical tastes from the rest of Europe. His early musical output reveals a composer attentive and receptive to the sophisticated international musical production he encountered in cosmopolitan centers such as Venice. His work draws notably on C.P.E. Bach’s Empfindsamer stil, or sensitive style, which Asioli employed expertly to express the refined and shifting aesthetics of the Mediterranean. The \u003cem\u003eCello Sonata\u003c\/em\u003e dates from 1786, during that pre-Milan period when Asioli divided his time between Venice and Turin. 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Dussek, like Beethoven, seized on such technological innovation and produced music of new turbulence such as the C minor Sonata Op. 35 No. 3. The sonata’s opening Allegro bursts with vitality and violence, which becomes all the more vivid when played on a piano from Dussek’s time, straining to contain the music’s expressive reach, as it is here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe instrument used on this album is a 1798 fortepiano from the firm of Longman-Clementi. Accordingly, the touch and sound correspond more closely than any other piano previously used on recordings of this repertoire. Dussek lived in London during the 1790s and worked closely with the manufacturer John Broadwood to extend the range of keyboard instruments. The English fortepiano lent itself naturally to the harmonic fullness of Dussek's preferred textures, and in reverse, the instrument's characteristic sound and touch inspired and shaped the development of Dussek's compositional style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOp. 69 No. 3 belongs to a collection of sonatas which Dussek composed with an optional violin part. Nos. 1 and 2 in the set have already received historically informed recordings in a separate Brilliant Classics project, with Julia Huber and Miriam Altmann, but this series presents the piano-only version which all the same contains the full argument of the sonata. In partnership with Bart van Oort, Petra Somlai contributed to Volume 9 in this series, which was welcomed in Fanfare magazine with glowing praise: ‘Both musicians have the requisite technique, and their execution of Dussek’s virtuoso writing is impressive… Both artists play with sensitivity and attractive tone. The recorded sound is fine, with admirable warmth and detail.’\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012559196394,"sku":"5028421959818","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4313756-3133448.jpg?v=1786646058"},{"product_id":"beethoven-sonatas-op-2","title":"Beethoven: Sonatas, Op. 2","description":"I do not believe that there is a 'right' and a 'wrong' instrument on which to perform Beethoven's Sonatas Opus 2. What matters is the musical result. It depends on the alchemy that is created between the performer and the instrument. I extensively tried various modern copies of fortepianos from 1795 - 1800, trying to get closer to the sound and expressive world of early Beethoven. However, with the opportunity of having a Graf fortepiano (No. 429) in my studio, restored in 2023, I was able to prepare this recording on that instrument, playing it regularly for a year and achieving a kind of familiarity with it's action and timbral response that I have grown fond of - Roberto Prosseda.","brand":"Challenge Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012560900330,"sku":"608917298024","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4371511-3238052.jpg?v=1786665681"},{"product_id":"beethoven-violin-sonatas-3-9","title":"Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 3 \u0026 9","description":"A re-release of Beethoven's Sonatas Nos. 3 \u0026amp; 9 (Kreutzer) from celebrated violinist Viktoria Mullova and her duo partner for this recording, Kristian Bezuidenhout. The pair bring a tension-filled account of these works, displaying their energetic and spontaneous take on what's considered one of Beethoven's most challenging works.","brand":"Signum Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012574531818,"sku":"635212093023","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4467092-3467521.jpg?v=1786662253"},{"product_id":"wilms-the-piano-concertos-vol-1","title":"Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 \/ Brautigam, Willens, Cologne Academy","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBorn in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centers as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas Wilms composed several symphonies and solo concertos (for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and cello) as well as piano concertos for his own use, five of which were published between 1799 and 1820. (Two more have been lost.) He also appeared regularly as soloist in concertos by other composers. But already during his lifetime Wilms began to retreat from the public eye, whether because of setbacks in his private life or because he was disillusioned with the superficial tastes of the Amsterdam audiences. By the time of his death in 1847, he was remembered almost exclusively as the composer of the then national anthem. In time for the 250th anniversary of Wilms’ birth, Ronald Brautigam has edited the five extant piano concertos by ‘the Dutch Beethoven’ and presents the first three here, with nos 4 and 5 to follow in a second volume. As on a number of previous, highly acclaimed releases, he is supported by the Kölner Akademie and Michael Alexander Willens.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012577054954,"sku":"7318599925042","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4092623-2836838.jpg?v=1786694397"},{"product_id":"wilms-the-piano-concertos-vol-2-7318599925240","title":"Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 \/ Brautigam, Willens, Kölner Akademie","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centers as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas, Wilms composed several symphonies and concertos, among them piano concertos for his own use. But already during his lifetime Wilms began to retreat from the public eye and by the time of his death in 1847, he was remembered almost exclusively as the composer of the then national anthem. In time for the 250th anniversary of Wilms’ birth, Ronald Brautigam has edited the five extant piano concertos by ‘the Dutch Beethoven’. A first volume (BIS-2504) with the three earlier concertos has been released, earning a five star review in BBC Music Magazine for ‘performances of lightness and transparency, matched by the recording’s clarity.’ On this second and final instalment, with Concertos Nos 4 and 5, Ronald Brautigam again receives spirited support from the Kölner Akademie and Michael Alexander Willens.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012584624362,"sku":"7318599925240","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4140629-2907301.jpg?v=1786635936"},{"product_id":"cherubini-six-sonatas-for-fortepiano-5028421962467","title":"Cherubini: Six Sonatas for Fortepiano \/ Pierini","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the second half of 18th century, keyboard music in Tuscany was flourishing. Many composers wrote music for both the fortepiano and the harpsichord: the former, which was invented just before the turn of the 18th century in Florence by harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731), rose to an incredible degree of popularity in the last decades of the century at the expense of the latter, which experienced the last moments of its glorious history. At any rate, it was by no means uncommon that composers published music intended to be played on either instrument, as almost all keyboard pieces written in Tuscany during the 1780s were explicitly addressed per il clavicembalo o fortepiano (for the harpsichord or piano).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Florence-born composer Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842) published his Sei Sonate per il Cimbalo around 1780; they are currently believed to be the first published work by the composer, although he had written operas and religious music prior to the publication of this work. The style of these sonatas is not too far from the musical fashion of the time: they all consist of two movements, the first in sonata-form, the second a rondò where the second theme is typically characterized by highly virtuosic writing. All six sonatas follow this strict formal code, however, Cherubini manages to create a surprising variety in the themes and their development. Each sonata could, in fact, depict a different stock character from the commedia dell’Arte, with their strict formal codification employed in a theatrical way thanks to the perfect balance of ideas set out each time. Even the bass seems to be adjusted depending on the mood of the theme – Cherubini employs Murky bass, Alberti bass and even counterpoint. The harmonic closeness between the key signatures of each sonata gives further cohesion to the whole set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter careful consideration, Simone El Oufir Pierini found the fortepiano to be the best instrument to play these works on, although in the printed edition it was explicitly said that they should be played on the harpsichord. The piano, a new instrument, was highly favoured by the new Tuscan court, and the potential of this new instrument was sought out with keen interest by composers. The employment of the fortepiano for these sonatas hopefully sheds new light on these pieces, written by one of the most influential composers of the time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012587639018,"sku":"5028421962467","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4169744-3141743.jpg?v=1786684115"},{"product_id":"de-montgeroult-complete-piano-sonatas-simone-pierini","title":"Montgeroult: Complete Piano Sonatas \/ Pierini","description":"\u003cp\u003eMadame Hélène de Montgeroult (1764–1836) lived in a time when significant historical events were shaping France and Europe. Montgeroult's musical oeuvre is distinguished by its interpretive versatility. The collection of nine sonatas presented here spans from 1795 to 1811. The three sonatas that make up her Op. 1 are three distinct pieces, each with its own mood. The Op. 2 set was engraved in Paris in 1800, with reprints issued in the ensuing years testament to its success at the time. It can be seen as an expansion of Op. 1's stylistic language, sharing the same compositional features, but greater in length. With the last three sonatas, Op. 5, published by Érard in 1811, Montgeroult rose to mastery. These sonatas are considerably longer and more complex in their formal structure than their predecessors. Overall, the three sonatas in the Op. 5 set expand the form while retaining a Classical-like structure, comparable to later Clementi sonatas or those of other composers of the time, and forecasting the later experimentations of the Romantic generation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012588359914,"sku":"5028421962474","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4412834-3337370.jpg?v=1786682863"},{"product_id":"schubert-fortepiano-sonatas","title":"Schubert: Fortepiano Sonatas \/ Yasuyo","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis is the second volume of Franz Schubert’s Sonatas for Fortepiano in which Yasuyo Yano chooses two of the greatest sonatas: No. 19 in C Minor and No. 7 in E-flat Major. The Sonata in C minor, D. 958 is characteristic of Schubert’s feeling of retreat. Towards the end, the movement rushes ever more quietly towards silence, before two brute final chords conclude this grandiose sonata. The Sonata in E-flat major, D. 568, begins with a thoughtfully cautious Unsiono. This rapturous mood is soon interrupted by a brisk transition, only to culminate in a swaying waltz-sweetness composed with supple chromaticism. The themes and their lively interplay always reveal a melancholy mood. Yasuyo Yano tells of her encounter with the Fortepiano: “In Venice, in 2001, I played the complete Mozart sonatas for violin and piano together with the violinist Giuliano Carmignola. Andrea Marcon, another eminent Italian musician, told me after one of these concerts that I should consider playing Fortepiano. I took his advice, and I am today still thankful for it, because working with the Fortepiano has opened up entirely new dimensions for me. On the one hand, the Fortepiano enables me to imagine and hear how the music must have sounded back in those days, and on the other hand, the Fortepiano is quite different to modern pianos, offering a large spectrum for creative leeway with a rich palette of sound colors, a wide range of dynamics and the delicate response of the keyboard to touch. I had not expected all of this! But it was quite a long journey to master the instrument so that I was able to reveal these characteristics – a journey with a wonderful reward as it has lead me to Schubert.“\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"IBS Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012592128234,"sku":"8436597700313","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4096166-2844416.jpg?v=1786649440"},{"product_id":"dussek-25-violin-sonatas-vol-1-5028421963853","title":"Dussek: Violin Sonatas, Vol. 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe start of an exciting new project: the recording of the complete violin sonatas by Dussek!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohann Ladislaus Dussek (1760-1812) was born in rural Bohemia. He led a restless life, travelling Europe as a keyboard virtuoso and settling in several European capitals, notably Paris and London, where he became a fashionable pianist and teacher. His close connection to piano manufacturer Broadwood resulted in important innovations, notably the extension of the keyboard to 6 octaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDussek’s style is rich, harmonically expressive and pianistically challenging, Classicism on the brink of Early Romanticism. Carl Friedrich Cramer writes in the “Magazin der Musik” in 1783: \"These sonatas are the only ones of their kind. Rich in new thoughts and traces of the author's great musical genius. Very brilliant, and appropriate to the instrument. The accompaniment of the violin is so artificially combined with the piano part that both instruments are kept in constant attention; so that these sonatas require a violin player who is just as skilled as a piano player.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlayed by Julia Huber (violin), a prizewinner of the Locatelli Competition Amsterdam, and concertmaster of L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra Linz and La Stagione Frankfurt. Miriam Altmann studied piano, fortepiano and harpsichord, she specializes in the Early Classical repertoire and recorded works by Gyrowetz. Both musicians play period instruments.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012603826410,"sku":"5028421963853","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4105728-3141752.jpg?v=1786676691"},{"product_id":"haydn-music-for-2-hands-4-ivanova","title":"Haydn: Music for 2 Hands \u0026 4","description":"\u003cp\u003eHaydn’s creative imagination was stimulated by eminent Italian composers such as Porpora and Scarlatti and by his contemporary C.P.E. Bach, whose piano sonatas Haydn had performed. Through Georg Wagenseil, an important figure in Viennese music for the piano, he also absorbed a new sense of musical form. Together, these influences generated Haydn’s own individual language, as shown in the Sonata in C major with its elegance and wit. The Andante con variazioni in F minor shows further refinement and development in the composer’s command of variation form. Alexandra Ivanova performs on fortepianos from Haydn’s era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Naxos","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012612673770,"sku":"730099146630","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4375402-3271991.jpg?v=1786709385"},{"product_id":"hummel-schubert-la-contemplazione-8436597700658","title":"Hummel \u0026 Schubert: La Contemplazione \/ Orzaiz","description":"\u003cp\u003eLa contemplazione offers a glimpse into “Viennese Classicism” through two authors who, while almost antagonistic, were also complementary and contemporary: Hummel and Schubert. In the late 1820s, European music was at a fascinating crossroads: the musical style that had dominated the old continent since 1780 (commonly known as “Viennese Classicism”) was in crisis and entering its final phase. At a time when tradition and innovation coexisted, emerging expressive needs pushed composers to seek alternatives to classical canons. La contemplazione offers a glimpse into this period through two authors who, while almost antagonistic, were also complementary and contemporary: Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) and Franz Schubert (1797-1828). About the Instrument: Fortepiano Graf 1826\/1827 (Edwin Beunk collection)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn an environment of fierce competition among various piano manufacturing houses, Conrad Graf emerged as the reference brand in Vienna, even being named the official constructor of the empire. Graf built the piano used in this recording in 1826 or 1827 with a range of six and a half octaves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"IBS Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012617031914,"sku":"8436597700658","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4282246-3144756.jpg?v=1786633147"},{"product_id":"beethoven-piano-concertos-nos-3-4","title":"Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 \u0026 4","description":"What is lost in terms of orchestral colors is gained in clarity of texture, chamber-music like dialogue and perhaps more importantly an occasion to showcase aspects of string playing (articulation, portamento) as described by the likes of Louis Spohr, who closely worked with Beethoven. It is also the perfect medium to accompany the wonderful instruments generously put at our disposal by Robert A. Brown. Often discussed and a subject of many controversies when tackling the Baroque repertoire, the debate regarding temperament is often cut short in Classical and Early Romantic performance. We do know of Beethoven's preference for Kirnberger III, which we have used for the Fourth Concerto, whilst Young proved a better fit for the tonal discrepancies in the Third Concerto.","brand":"IBS Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012625486058,"sku":"8436597700771","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4365508-3222267.jpg?v=1786666005"},{"product_id":"schubert-impromptus-opp-90-142-brautigam","title":"Schubert: Impromptus, Opp. 90 \u0026 142 \/ Brautigam","description":"\u003cp\u003eRonald Brautigam performs some of Franz Schubert’s most profound and beloved works: the eight Impromptus. Schubert’s name has become closely associated with this genre, often characterized by a lyrical melody and a free-flowing structure, with a sense of spontaneity. With it, Schubert seems to have found an ideal setting for the expression of his genius. The Impromptus, D 899, are reminiscent of a four-movement sonata. The first begins theatrically, before giving way to a funeral march of sorts, in which the melody is harmonised, amplified and constantly renewed. In the second, everything appears light and fluid. In the third, Schubert offers us one of his most inspired songs with one of his most beautiful melodies. The fourth takes us back to the waterworks of a fairy-tale park. The Impromptus, D 935, were published after Schubert’s death. The first is a great rhapsodic poem in which expression reaches into the deepest recesses of the Schubertian soul. The second demonstrates how Schubert manages to rise high with simple material. The third impromptu is a series of variations on ‘Rosamunde’, one of the composer’s most famous themes. The fourth is a lightning-fast scherzando – a free and whimsical piece that ideally concludes this disc.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012627845354,"sku":"7318599926148","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4235463-3143319.jpg?v=1786654331"},{"product_id":"cramer-10-piano-sonatas","title":"Cramer: 10 Piano Sonatas","description":"The most comprehensive set on record of the sonatas by a pivotal figure in the English Classical piano school, including several first recordings. Johann Baptiste Cramer (1771-1858) was identified by the influential pedagogue Edward Dannreuther as 'one of the fathers of the church of pianoforte playing'. Born in Germany, he moved as a child to London with his family - his father Wilhelm was a violinist and conductor - and took lessons with a notable emigre of a previous generation, Muzio Clementi. Cramer came to follow in his teacher's footsteps, as both a pianist and a publisher. At one stage, his books of studies were scarcely less popular than the examples of Carl Czerny. He spent a good deal of time on the Continent, including in Vienna, where he won the friendship and admiration of Beethoven. In turn, Cramer became the English publisher of the composer's Fifth Piano Concerto, and was probably responsible for it's lasting nickname as the 'Emperor'. Cramer's own music is scantily represented on record by a few albums of studies, a concerto here and a sonata there. But as Simone Pierini demonstrates, Cramer's sonatas exhibit impressive variety, chronicling both his development as a composer and the technical evolution of the piano in the late-Classical and early-Romantic eras. He composed as many as 200 sonatas between 1790 and 1830, and Pierini presents a representative selection. They belong to the world of Clementi and Dussek but also Beethoven and Chopin in their elegant minuets, their minor-mode expressions of pathos and their virtuosic flourishes written to show off the skill but also the musicianship of any executant. Anyone with an interest in early-Romantic piano music will find Cramer's sonatas a delightful discovery. No stranger to the Brilliant Classics catalogue, Simone Pierini plays them on three fortepianos of the period, by Conrad Graf, Joseph Hasselman and Matthias Muller. He also contributes a full and illuminating booklet essay on Cramer's life and work. '[Pierini] plays with tremendous energy and conviction... A major addition to the catalogue.' Fanfare (de Montgeroult, 96247) 'His playing offers crisp clarity of texture and ornament... this is an interesting composer well worth adding to the fellowship of clavecinistes.' Gramophone (Le Bret, 96930).","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012628041962,"sku":"5028421964621","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4392344-3307340.jpg?v=1786686928"},{"product_id":"trennung-songs-of-separation","title":"Trennung - Songs of Separation \/ Sampson, Bezuidenhout","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn the early 19th century, while Haydn and Mozart remained revered, many of their once admired contemporaries quickly fell into oblivion and with them much delightful, finely crafted music. In a recital centered on songs of parting, Carolyn Sampson and Kristian Bezuidenhout seek to make some amends to this. They open with August Bernhard Valentin Herbing's Montan und Lalage, a miniature opera for one singer, with the keyboard-as-orchestra providing the scenery and stage action. Giving Bezuidenhout's fortepiano the recognition it deserves, the program also includes no less than two songs dedicated to the instrument, by composers we rarely hear of today: Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer and Christian Michael Wolff. But even though Mozart and Haydn are still household names, it isn’t on account of their solo songs, which makes the performers’ decision to also throw light on their less familiar work a welcome one. The program features four songs each by them, including Mozart’s Lied der Trennung (Song of Parting), which has lent its name to the entire program, as well as Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos, a dramatic cantata in which the Cretan princess Ariadne expresses her love of the Greek hero Theseus … and her agony when he sails off, leaving her alone on the island of Naxos.\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\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"ctl00_MainContent_gvReviews_cell8_12_ASPxPopupControl1_ASPxLabel2\" class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003eThis a program cleverly designed, as they so often are today. The theme is separation, but the opening extensive song is by August Bernhard Valentin Herbing, a long narrative to be balanced by Joseph Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos at the other end. In between are other songs by composers both familiar and not: 4 by Mozart, 3 other ones by Haydn, interspersed with 2 by Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer and one by Christian Michael Wolff. It should be noted that the Haydn songs, apart from Arianna, aren’t from his late English settings, but are German-language pieces written a couple of decades earlier. Sampson is a “known quantity”, a pure and well-controlled soprano whose home is more or less exactly where she is here: late 18th- and early 19th Century lieder. Bezuidenhout (on loan to BIS from Harmonia Mundi) is a firstclass fortepianist, quite capable of pushing his instrument past its reasonable limits, as he does at the end of Arianna. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"dxeBase_PlasticBlue\"\u003e-- American Record Guide\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012635185386,"sku":"7318599926230","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4057312-2795313.jpg?v=1786828157"},{"product_id":"schubert-piano-sonatas-vol-3","title":"Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3","description":"Third volume of Franz Schubert's complete piano sonatas, performed by Japanese fortepianist Yasuyo Yano, professor at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. Recorder in Swizerland with a Christopher Clarke fortepiano.  Yasuyo Yano, was born in Tokyo. Her teachers were Midori Matsubara, then Sergio Perticaroli and Carla Giudici at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Yasuyo Yano has also received precious advice from other famous pianists, such as Jacques Rouvier, Dang Thai Son and Paul Badura-Skoda. Yasuyo Yano now lives in Switzerland where she teaches the piano, Fortepiano and chamber music at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She gives solo recitals and is also a chamber music performer, both on the Fortepiano and the modern piano. Yasuyo Yano tells of her encounter with the Fortepiano: \"In Venice, in 2001, I played the complete Mozart sonatas for violin and piano together with the violinist Giuliano Carmignola. Andrea Marcon, another eminent Italian musician, told me after one of these concerts that I should consider playing Fortepiano. I took his advice and I am today still thankful for it, because working with the Fortepiano has opened up entirely new dimensions for me. On the one hand, the Fortepiano enables me to imagine and hear how the music must have sounded back in those days, and on the other hand, the Fortepiano is quite different to modern pianos, offering a large spectrum for creative leeway with a rich palette of sound colors, a wide range of dynamics and the delicate response of the keyboard to touch. I had not expected all of this! But it was quite a long journey to master the instrument so that I was able to reveal these characteristics - a journey with a wonderful reward as it has lead me to Schubert.\"","brand":"IBS Classical","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012636528874,"sku":"8436597700931","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4420780-3383654.jpg?v=1786687527"},{"product_id":"schubert-sonatas-for-violin-fortepiano-op-137","title":"Schubert: Sonatas for Violin \u0026 Fortepiano, Op. 137","description":"Schubert's three Sonatas for Violin and Fortepiano, Op. 137, may nod to Mozart in their delicacy, but their spirit is firmly rooted in the early Romantic imagination. Written in 1816, they seem to inhabit the intimate world of Lieder, where song-like melodies and expressive dialogues between violin and piano take centre stage. Violinist Peter Hanson and fortepianist Andrew Arthur bring these works to life on period instruments, revealing the subtle textures and nuanced interplay that modern pianos often obscure. Hanson's phrasing echoes the expressive lyricism of Schubert's vocal writing, while Arthur's fortepiano-modelled on an early 19th-century Walther \u0026amp; Sohn-illuminates the sonatas' delicate, shifting colours. This recording invites us to experience Schubert's Sonatas as a cycle, as they may have been heard in a Viennese salon: a journey from charm to melancholy, from innocence to reflection, all shaped by the ephemeral beauty of song.","brand":"Resonus Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012642885866,"sku":"5060262794012","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4433254-3412866.jpg?v=1786683767"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-nos-21-24-5060340150150","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 21 \u0026 24 \/ Levin, Egarr, Academy of Ancient Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcademy of Ancient Music (AAM) resumes a celebrated project to record Mozart’s complete Piano Concertos, with this ninth volume released after an extraordinary 20-year wait. Together with renowned scholar-pianist Robert Levin, AAM presents Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 21 in C Major K467, perhaps one of Mozart’s most well-known Piano Concertos and featured in films The Spy Who Loved Me and Elvira Madigan, and No. 24 in C Minor K491, described by Mozart scholar Alexander Hyatt King as ‘not only the most sublime of the whole series but also one of the greatest pianoforte concertos ever composed’. AAM’s founder Christopher Hogwood and Robert Levin came together in 1993 to record Mozart’s complete works for keyboard and orchestra for the first time ever on period instruments. Only eight albums out of a total of 13 were recorded, with the most recent released in 2001. This release marks the renewal of this landmark project and will be followed by the four final albums of the series later in 2023 and 2024.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Academy of Ancient Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012654616810,"sku":"5060340150150","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4179693-2957075.jpg?v=1786636258"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-nos-7-10-levin-ya-fei-chuang-academy-of-ancient-music","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 7 \u0026 10 \/ Levin, Ya-Fei Chuang, Academy of Ancient Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcademy of Ancient Music (AAM) continues an acclaimed project to record Mozart’s complete works for keyboard and orchestra, with this eleventh volume of the series. Renowned pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang join Laurence Cummings and AAM to present Mozart’s Concertos Nos. 7 and 10, the former of which is recorded here in Mozart’s own arrangement for two pianos. Also included is the Concerto Movement for Piano, Violin, and Orchestra, completed by Robert Levin. This hardback CD package is accompanied by comprehensive notes commissioned specially for the album.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Academy of Ancient Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012656222442,"sku":"5060340150174","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4405867-3329932.jpg?v=1786690355"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-nos-6-7-8-academy-of-ancient-music","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 6-8 \/ Cummings, Levin, Academy of Ancient Music","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcademy of Ancient Music (AAM) releases the penultimate volume of an acclaimed project to record Mozart’s complete works for keyboard and orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis volume includes Mozart’s Concerto No. 7 for Three Pianos and Orchestra, performed here uniquely on three different types of keyboard instruments: by Robert Levin (tangent piano), Ya-Fei Chuang (fortepiano) and Laurence Cummings (harpsichord).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt follows the release of the same concerto in Mozart’s own arrangement for two keyboards (Vol. 11) and is joined on this album by two other Piano Concertos composed in Salzburg in the early months of 1776.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe hardback CD package is accompanied by comprehensive notes commissioned specially for the album.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Academy of Ancient Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012657205482,"sku":"5060340150181","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4405868-3329933.jpg?v=1786669130"},{"product_id":"mozart-piano-concertos-nos-25-28","title":"Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 25 \u0026 27 \/ Alder, Levin, Egarr, AAM","description":"Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) releases the final volume of an acclaimed project to record Mozart's complete works for keyboard and orchestra.     Fittingly, this final instalment includes three works that in various ways are valedictory: K595 is Mozart's last completed keyboard concert, while K503 is the last concerto of his Viennese years. Louise Alder joins AAM and Robert Levin in an aria for solo soprano, solo keyboard and orchestra; Ch'io mi scordi di te? is a farewell to one of Mozart's favourite singers, Nancy Storace.    The hardback CD package is accompanied by comprehensive notes commissioned specially for the album.","brand":"Academy of Ancient Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012658417898,"sku":"5060340150204","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4338984-3184704.jpg?v=1786713468"},{"product_id":"dussek-violin-sonatas-vol-3-altmann-huber","title":"Dussek: Violin Sonatas, Vol. 3 \/ Huber, Altmann","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the course of his long and eventful career, Dussek composed 38 violin sonatas – or rather sonatas for the keyboard, accompanied by the violin – and the partnership of Julia Huber and Miriam Altmann is acquiring impressive credentials and critical praise as they gradually uncover them for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is one excellent disc,’ noted the Fanfare reviewer of Volume 1 (96385). ‘Julia Huber and fortepianist Miriam Altmann give wonderful renditions. Each plays off of each other, with clarity, technical acumen, and a good sense of phrasing… You ought to have this as an integral part of any collection of chamber music of the period.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVolume 2 (96588) was received with equal enthusiasm: ‘This is an outstanding continuation of the series… done with style and verve by Julia Huber and Mariam Altmann… Well worth getting.’ Volume 3 presents a contrast of sonatas from the beginning and near the end of Dussek’s life. Even the early Op. 4, No. 3 Sonata, however, shares the qualities of the mature Dussek noted by one contemporary reviewer: ‘Dussek's strength in composition lies in the idiosyncrasy, the novelty, the striking, brilliant quality of his rich invention, and, as far as the development is concerned, in the fire and the intimacy which his works seldom lack.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFire and intimacy: what else would we expect from a wide-ranging opening movement subtitled ‘L’amante disperato’ (The forlorn lover), with playing indications such as Amoroso and Lamentabile and dynamic indications from triple piano to triple forte?The sonata’s argument is concentrated in the piano part, with the violin marked as ‘ad libitum’, whereas the two Sonatas Op.69 show more of a partnership, albeit still led from the keyboard in the manner of works in the same genre bv Mozart and (until the ‘Kreutzer’) Beethoven.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth Op. 69 Sonatas take the listener on a gripping narrative through typically bravura piano writing and unexpected turns of incident. No.2 is unusually structured in two expansive halves, while the quick outer movements of No.1 are separated by a songful Adagio subtitled ‘Les soupirs’ (The Sighs’) no doubt for the appreciation of Dussek’s French audience.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012661989610,"sku":"5028421965918","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4412845-3337382.jpg?v=1786671336"},{"product_id":"ridderstolpe-untold-tales","title":"Ridderstolpe: Untold Tales","description":"Caroline Ridderstolpe's music remained virtually unknown for almost 200 years, until Anna Paradiso rediscovered it as part of her research into nineteenth-century Swedish salon music. Born in Berlin, Ridderstolpe received an extensive musical education that included singing, instrument-playing and composition. After her marriage to a member of the Swedish aristocracy, she settled in Sweden, participated in the salons held at the royal court and socialised with some of the finest musicians, writers and painters of her time.     Ridderstolpe mainly composed songs and pieces for solo piano that belong to the genre of salon music which, far from being mediocre as is sometimes claimed, actually allows greater intimacy with the listeners. Ridderstolpe's songs are often based on poems by Swedish writers and represent a perfect union of text and music. According to Anna Paradiso, Caroline Ridderstolpe's music has a kind of sadness and depth that could be described as 'modern', reminiscent of the lieder of Beethoven, Schubert and the Schumanns.     In keeping with the soundscape of Ridderstolpe's era, the music is performed here by Anna Paradiso on an original square piano whose particularity and charm lie not in the evenness of all the notes as one might expect from a modern instrument, but rather in the independent beauty of each string. This instrument is combined with the expressive voice of the eminent mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarstrom. By giving once more a voice to Caroline Ridderstolpe's music, the performers wish to cast new light on women's power over their own creativity and therefore over their own lives.","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012668838122,"sku":"7318599926759","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4362727-3219470_6d3c30c0-9f3c-4a5a-8d2d-a532cdd2d472.jpg?v=1786662093"},{"product_id":"boccherini-complete-violin-sonatas-vol-1","title":"Boccherini: Complete Violin Sonatas, Vol. 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe start of a major new series on Brilliant Classics – historically informed accounts of the violin sonatas by a Classical-era master of Rococo charm and invention.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuigi Boccherini, still in his mid-20s, dedicated his Op. 5 violin sonatas to the Parisian keyboard soloist Mme. Brillon de Jouy. As a result, the keyboard is more than an equal partner with the most showy writing, in the style of the sonatas ‘for piano and violin’ by both Mozart and Beethoven. Boccherini himself thought well enough of these works to draw from them many times throughout his career. Movements from these sonatas appear in reworked guises in other chamber works and symphonies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other sonatas here came into being later in Boccherini’s career as arrangements of other works by Boccherini made by publishers eager to capitalise on the fame and industry of a composer renowned throughout Europe for his attractive melodic fluency Several of them are transcriptions of his cello sonatas, though whether the arrangements were made by the composer himself remains a mystery. Other sonatas were skilfully put together from his many string quintets; they made Boccherini’s music accessible to those who could not perform the ensemble works in their original versions. Brilliant Classics has produced the largest ever collection of Boccherini’s works on record with its 37CD edition, which won stunning reviews in the international press. This new set of violin sonatas becomes a vital addition to the Boccherini library of collectors. Each new album by the period-instrument violinist Igor Ruhadze has likewise attracted critical praise, not least in his regular partnership with the Russian-born pianist and harpsichordist Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya. Their recording of F.Geminiani Violin Sonatas op.1 received warm critical praise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Six Sonatas Op. 5 for harpsichord with violin accompaniment, published in Paris in 1768, constitute the only authentic examples intended by Boccherini for this instrumental combination. The keyboard style, highly idiomatic with its scales, triplets and broken octaves, the pre-Romantic atmosphere of the slow movements as well as the quality of the melodic and rhythmic elements, excited Europe. If Boccherini did not entrust anything else to this instrumental combination, then editors remedied this by generating several transcriptions. It is this unprecedented wealth that Brilliant intends to explore here – other volumes are expected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pianoforte of Alexandra Nepomnyaschchaya does not dethrone, in Opus 5, that of Franco Angeleri (Tactus, 1990) who followed the autograph manuscript of Parma in the company of Enrico Gatti. The chiseled refinement like the incisive dynamic of the touch, the expressive restraint of the violin expressed in the two Italians an unequaled feeling and sharing. Among the newcomers, the seduction is more demonstrative, the contrasts more accentuated, the sensuality and the feeling more showy, as in the Allegro maestoso of No. 6 or the Allegro molto of No. 5. Above all, the Andante of No. 4, just whispered by Angeleri and Gatti, gains an indescribable beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe movements of trios, quartets and quintets reduced by Mlle. Le Jeune (Vénier, Paris, 1782) are a happy surprise. The distribution of voices is skillful. The infinite delicacy of the Andante sostenuto of Sonata G 51 is truly worthy of Boccherini. Certainly, the Amoroso of the G 52 and the Allegro con spirito of the G 53 have charm. No repeat being forgotten, some movements seem a little long. Sometimes a simple foil to the pianoforte, Igor Ruhadze takes his revenge in the Six Sonatas for violin and basso continuo (La Chevardière, Paris, 1775). The Sonatas for cello and basso continuo G 20 are the most emblematic of Boccherini. It is magnificent in places (Largo de la no 5) but above all exotic (no 6, after the famous G 4). The violin, with sober and clear diction, is supported by a balanced bass entrusted to the cello continuo and the harpsichord. Looking forward to the sequel!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Diapason\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012669231338,"sku":"5028421966120","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4196583-2969827.jpg?v=1786679696"},{"product_id":"beethoven-haydn-mozart-confidenze","title":"Beethoven, Haydn \u0026 Mozart: Confidenze","description":"After two albums devoted to Italian music from the 17th and 18th centuries (BIS-2585 and BIS-2645), male soprano Nicolo Balducci now offers us a recital devoted to the greatest representatives of Viennese Classicism - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - in the company of the fortepianist Anna Paradiso, whom we recently heard in a recording devoted to the work of Caroline Ridderstolpe together with mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarstrom (BIS-2675).    The vocal compositions gathered here, which include such rarities as two songs in French by Beethoven, are performed by a male soprano - in many cases the first time they have been recorded by this voice type. This original approach by the two performers makes it possible 'to explore unusual nuances, both in the interpretation and in the \"soundscape\" of this music, and to find new angles of inspiration in our interpretations' (Balducci).     The combination of high voice and fortepiano emphasises the link between sound and words, with a dimension closer to chamber music, inspired by the specific timbre of the instruments. 'One of the fascinating aspects of the pieces on this recording is the power of their rhetorical expression', writes Paradiso.     Balducci and Paradiso invite us here to be entertained and moved and to discover 'glimpses of intimate connections and shared secrets'.","brand":"BIS","offers":[{"title":"SACD","offer_id":46012680044778,"sku":"7318599926957","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4365209-3225903.jpg?v=1786661752"},{"product_id":"schumann-1838","title":"Schumann 1838","description":"What does it mean for Schumann's Kreisleriana to be Romantic? Is it the violent contrasts, the mercurial shifts in mood, the fragmentary architecture, the raw and unfiltered expression? Is it the breathtaking lyricism? Or is it the spectre of the tormented kapellmeister Kreisler haunting this work that dissolves the boundaries between music, literature, and psychological portraiture? Acclaimed virtuoso Paolo Giacometti brings both poetry and psychoanalysis to Kreisleriana and Kinderszenen, performing them on a resplendent 1838 E´rard born in the very year these works first saw the light.","brand":"Evil Penguin","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012692725994,"sku":"608917726022","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4454985-3445199.jpg?v=1786673296"},{"product_id":"onslow-piano-quintets-nepomuk-fortepiano-quintet","title":"Onslow: Piano Quintets \/ Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Piano Quintets, opp. 70 and 76, are substantial and full bodied dramatic works in classical style.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeorge Onslow’s grandfather was the first Earl of Onslow. Onslow’s father had been forced to leave England after a family scandal, continuing his life as a nobleman in France. George was born there and grew up in the magnificent castle of Chalendrat in Clermont-Ferrand, where he followed his father as lord of the manor. At the age of 22 he discovered the operas of Mehul and decided then that music was his vocation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnslow’s musical style was very different from that of his colleagues and contemporaries. With his strict classical style, he was unique in Paris, concentrating on instrumental works, primarily chamber music. Schumann described Onslow’s quartets as worthy successors to those by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. This recording combines two Piano Quintets, the opus 70 and 76, substantial and full bodied dramatic works in classical style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFounded 1999, the Nepomok Fortepiano Quintet play on original instruments, the piano an exceptionally fine period instrument from the famous Edwin Beunk collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliant Classics","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":46012702916842,"sku":"5028421967202","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0614\/3423\/3066\/files\/4136061-2901670.jpg?v=1786676368"}],"url":"https:\/\/arkivmusic.com\/collections\/classical-fortepiano.oembed?page=3","provider":"ArkivMusic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}