It might be easy to overlook this new CPO disc of all Weber’s overtures. But it would be a mistake to do so, for what we have here is a recording that will have you tapping your toe along to this glorious music afresh. What makes the disc so enjoyable, perhaps, is the fact that each overture feels carefully characterized.

British conductor Howard Griffiths brings thrillingly vibrant and lucid playing from Cologne’s WDR Sinfonieorchester, which is captured in brilliantly clear and realistic sound by West German Radio’s engineers.

Griffiths imbues each work with real urgency, which the orchestra match with virtuosity across the board. Nor is he ever afraid to broaden the tempo and take his time when it’s required. The wind-playing is characterful, with a twinkle in the eye of the oboe solos and a mixture of liveliness and mellifluousness from the principal clarinet. The brass-playing is also especially fine throughout.

– Gramophone

The fourteen works for piano and orchestra of Ferdinand Ries stand alongside those of Hummel as the finest and most important of their kind from the early decades of the 19th century. Intensely lyrical and yet displaying at times a rugged Beethovenian grandeur, Ries’s eight concertos are works of impressive musical stature. In this fifth and final recording we encounter the first and last of his published concertos and the virtuosic Rondeau brillant, Op. 144. “Sparkling performances... the recording is first rate.” (Penguin Guide on Vol. 3, 8.570440).

Classical Music

Classical Music

The last ten years of Mozart' life, spent in Vienna, coincided with the growing development and popularity of the clarinet. In particular, Mozart found inspiration in the playing of the Stadler brothers, resulting in his Clarinet Concerto.

Classical Music

Christopher Tyler Nickel's contemporary classical compositions pack a bracing and emotional punch. His award-winning works for the concert hall, stage and screen have been heard in over 160 countries by audiences in the tens of thousands. His experience as an oboist instills a confidence to compose with an exhilarating freedom to explore the vast expressive range of the instrument, from lyrical and plaintive to acerbic and brittle. The world-premiere recordings of these three concertos for oboe and it's lower-pitched siblings the oboe d'amore and bass oboe receive dazzling performances by Mary Lynch, principal oboe of the Seattle Symphony, and Harrison Linsey, oboist with the Washington D.C.-based National Symphony Orchestra. Grammy Award-winning David Sabee, a tireless advocate of contemporary classical music, conducts the Seattle-based Northwest Sinfonia.

HAYDN: String Quartets Op. 50, Nos. 4 - 6, 'Prussian'

Includes symphony(-ies) by Franz Xaver Richter. Ensemble: Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Aapo Häkkinen.

Jenó Jandó's Naxos survey of Beethoven's Bagatelles and dances for solo piano reaches Volume 3. Jandó's adroit and stylish readings have much to commend them, especially in their technical agility and clarity of execution. The greater part of this release is given over to the 12 Minuets--not normally the kind of music that lends itself usefully to cyclical hearing. But in these performances Jandó manages to get away from any repetitiveness and predictability, a potential danger in genre pieces, particularly when heard en masse. That he characterises each so effectively comes down to taut rhythms and clinical exactitude in matters of dynamics and articulation.



The disc opens with six more substantial items, including the two Op. 51 Rondos, the A major Rondo WoO 49, the so-called "Andante favori" (Andante in F WoO 57), and the famous "Rage over a lost penny", otherwise the Rondo a Capriccio in G Op. 129. Again, Jandó's performances are enjoyable and illuminating. Note for example how he highlights contrasts of mood and dynamics so effectively in the last of these works, sharpening the acerbity of its more fevered passages through a clarity of attack that owes more to keyboard articulation than to the pedal--commendable, given his brisk tempo. The two Op. 51 Rondos are also more tersely etched and rigorous than you'll often hear, so I'm inclined to rate Jandó's accounts more highly than Brendel's here. Another welcome addition to a useful budget series.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

According to Berlioz, Spontini was – after Gluck – the greatest genius of French music to pave the way for the Romantic era. And it may well be that the little-known Olympie, premiered in 1819 and subsequently revived in 1826 under the modified title Olimpie, had a greater influence than we have hitherto imagined on the massive upheaval that was to set French opera on the path of the modern ‘grand opéra’. From start to finish, this finely polished score, with its astonishing orchestration, is full of spectacular effects that clearly look forward to Les Troyens of Berlioz. The omnipresence of a huge chorus, the valiant vocal writing for Antigonus, the pathos of the role of Statira (conceived for Caroline Branchu, then at the peak of her career): all the ingredients were there to make a powerful impact on listeners such as Berlioz, who was moved to tears. Here, undoubtedly, is one of the first epic canvases of the nineteenth century.

Edition Luigi Boccherini: String Quartets - String Quintets

Edition Luigi Boccherini: Guitar Quintets

SPOHR: String Quintets Nos. 5 and 6

SPOHR: String Quintets Nos. 3 and 4

This program, three Mozart Divertimentos and the searching C minor wind Serenade K. 388, balances light-hearted entertainment-genre works against the darkly passionate utterances of the latter. The Oslo players favor rapid, agile tempos in the lively Allegro of K. 227 and in the zestful finale (Presto) of K. 252. Their direct and forceful style, highlighted by pointed articulation and tonguing, seems ideal. The recording picks up some key-noise, especially in running passages--an annoyance for some, heightened realism and immediacy for others. This brisk, punchy approach gives unexpected rigor to the minuets, but also contributes to a highly imaginative account of the stylish variations that (unusually) open the F major Divertimento K. 253. The two bassoons, who have important roles here, are excellent.


In the C minor Serenade, the closely focused sonics significantly bolster the urgent, impulsive manner of the performance. After the incisive unison start, the first movement is thrusting and dramatic, with dynamics carefully observed and maximal contrast attained in the radiant second subject, highlighted by superb phrasing from the first oboe. The Andante is capably done, but more coolly than in the performance by Consortium Classicum on EMI, where there's more individuality and distinctiveness from denser-toned clarinets and softer-edged horns.


The Oslo recording, with its clearer perspectives, makes canonic writing in the vehement Minuet terse and austere-sounding, but you may prefer Consortium Classicum's more genial and imaginative characterizations of the finale's variations. Finally, the Oslo winds' lively, bustling account of the last variation, in bright tonic major, is quicker and also more brilliant, completing a fine budget release. [6/11/2002]
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

This is DOREMI's 11th volume featuring rare recordings by David Oistrakh (1908-1974), the most loved and admired violinist of all time. Here he is with the great pianist Lev Oborin (1907-1974). Oborin was the 1st prize winner of the first Chopin competition in Warsaw (1927). Aram Khachaturian dedicated to him his famous piano concerto of 1936. Oborin began his close artistic collaboration with Oistrakh in 1935. Their long association in concerts and recordings, as duo partners and in the David Oistrakh Trio, lasted throughout their lives. The complete set of Beethoven violin sonatas presented here is a set of LIVE PERFORMANCES given by David Oistrakh and Lev Oborin in Paris in 1962. It is not the studio recording of the Beethoven sonatas they made in the same year and which was released by Philips and other labels. This live set is marked by its superior, highly intense music making and a magic appeal that makes it clearly preferable to the one made in the studio.

Written towards the end of his life, Cimarosa’s Dixit Dominus of 1797 numbers among his greatest compositions. A sacred composition on a large scale, it features three soloists, a four-part choir, and an orchestra including four pairs of wind instruments. The sequencing of the solo and choir parts employs a compositional-technical method that had proved itself for more than 150 years for the setting of sacred works based on verses.

Domenico Cimarosa contributed significantly to the development of the opera during the second half of the eighteenth century. He was held in great esteem by his contemporaries, above all by Haydn and Mozart, not only because of his eighty operas but also his sacred works endowing the traditional church style with his trademark grace and sweetness of tone.

New: supplemented and completed! "The recordings are of the highest quality throughout! The different interpretations are also convincing, original sound ensembles underline the mastery of Bach's son! A must for every music lover!" "The CPE Bach Edition brings together beautiful music played by outstanding musicians. Ideal for anyone who wants to get to know the work of this composer at an affordable price."

The Austrian cultural daily drehpunktkultur said the following in reference to Vol. 1 of CPO’s complete Michael Haydn wind concerto edition - “An all-around inspiring CD that makes one eager to hear the continuation!” In these works that make up Vol. 2 one can again hear the joy of experimentation, musical sense of humor and rich imagination typical of the composer. Characteristic features include the invention of beautiful melodies of cantabile character as well as passages of the highest virtuosity and technical difficulty. Wolfgang Brunner leads the Salzburg Hofmusik and soloists.

Face2Face compares the Beethoven string quartets with string quartets by avant-garde composers, demonstrating how far ahead of his time Beethoven was. The second album of this series contains Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet op. 18/6, Rudolf Kelterborn's String Quartet no. 6 (2001), and Ludwig van Beethoven's "Harfenquartett" op. 74. The Amaryllis Quartett won 1st prize at the 6th International Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne (2011).

I had the priceless opportunity of speaking with Nikolaus Harnoncourt about the keyboard concertos of C. P. E. Bach. His enormous insight, paired with an unpretentious attitude, and his always palpable enthusiasm for the music, impressed me deeply. In the end he said to me, in order to quash immediately all doubt about recording the Bach keyboard concertos on a modern piano: "Do that, do that absolutely; and if you can manage to get something rolling with it, I will be the first to congratulate you." What generosity, but also what a responsibility!" Michael Rische

SPOHR: Music for Violin and Harp, Vol. 1

It is surely proof of great dedication that an American-born Swedish conductor would, in the mid-1970s, go behind the Iron Curtain in order to take up a post as principal conductor of an orchestra. Both the conductor and orchestra have fond memories of Herbert Blomstedt's Dresden years, from 1975 to 1985. The recordings of all of Beethoven's symphonies conducted by Blomstedt are proof of an intensive and artistically outstanding collaboration.

In their second Boccherini release, the Karski Quartet and cellist Raphaël Feye again present four string quintets, including two world premiere recordings. Composed for the unusual combination of two cellos, these pieces showcase Boccherini's versatility, moving from Mediterranean warmth to the elegance of Viennese classicism. The album successfully combines historical awareness with contemporary depth, providing a refined and compelling portrayal of the composer.

With her new album Mozartiana, award-winning violinist Clarissa Bevilacqua presents a fascinating musical tribute and, at the same time, opens up new perspectives on a timeless genius. Clarissa Bevilacqua, who studied at the renowned Mozarteum Salzburg and won both first prize and the audience prize at the Mozart International Competition 2020, combines past and present in a captivating musical dialogue on Mozartiana. In addition to masterpieces such as F. X. Mozart's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Beethoven's 12 Variations on "Le nozze di Figaro", and Schnittke's Moz-Art for ensemble, the album features contemporary compositions written especially for this album by Felix Willeitner, Sophia Jani, Jorge Bosso, and Giovanni Sollima-all of which are world premiere recordings. As founder and artistic director of DYNAMIKfest Salzburg, Bevilacqua once again demonstrates her passionate commitment to combining classical and modern music. Mozartiana is not only a tribute to Mozart-it is a living commitment to artistic curiosity, diversity, and musical dialogue across the centuries.

Zofia Neugebauer, born in Poland in 1994, played at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. She was principal flutist in renowned orchestras such as the Lucerne and Basel Symphony Orchestras and performed with renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta. In 2018, the Mozart Society Dortmund accepted Neugebauer into it's scholarship program, where she discovered her love for Mozart. Together with the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra Essen, directed by Johannes Klumpp, she now presents Mozart's Flute Concertos and two newly written cadenzas on her album Il Vento non Scritto.