This programme has been nurtured from a selection of pieces inspired by English gardens, including Vaughan Williams’ lovely ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves,’ spreading out towards French and Italian repertoire that evokes pastoral settings of birdsong, fountains and springs, and topped with a light-hearted musical picnic dessert. Along the way we are treated to the exquisite melody of Elgar’s Chanson de matin and the nostalgic atmosphere of William Alwyn’s ‘Naiades.’ Nino Rota’s film music credits include The Godfather, and his sublime and festive Sonata adds a celebratory touch to the personal joy of these performers’ many years of musical friendship. The combination of flute and harp always creates an atmosphere of beauty, with contrasting but complementary sonorities that have been exploited by a multitude of composers over the years. The pastoral theme of this program has been carefully chosen to include music from the Baroque and Romantic eras right up to the contemporary.

As a pianist and cellist Georges Onslow had a particular affinity with chamber music, and his String Quartets are given an almost orchestral quality with their addition of the rich sonorities of a double bass. String Quintet No. 28, with an especially beautiful Adagio with more than a trace of the influence of Mendelssohn, combines Baroque poise with expressive Romantic writing, while String Quartet No. 29 is light-hearted and good-natured, with hints of Schubert in its melancholy lyricism and unexpected key changes. In praising the Elan Quintet’s first volume, a MusicWeb International reviewer declared, “I cannot fault their playing: their tonal quality is ravishing, their ensemble perfect.” The combination of string quartet with double bass has opened up a richness of tone and distinct soundscape that the Elan Quintet has dedicated itself to exploring, celebrating works by renowned composers such as Schubert, Dvorak, and Cambini, working with contemporary artists in creating new works for quintet, and rediscovering neglected masterpieces by composers including Onslow and Bridge.

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REVIEW:

The present two Quintets came from the latter part of Onslow's life, and, placing them in a time-frame, also after the death of Beethoven, yet were still in the style of Mozart. Forget that aspect and simply enjoy the geniality of uncomplicated music making. In both works Onslow calls for a degree of technical expertise, and we thankfully have the young Spanish quintet, Elan, as the hugely talented performers. Add to this a quite superb sound, the instruments perfectly balanced, and I do urge you to discover these ‘World Premiere Recordings’.

– David’s Review Corner (David Denton)

This recording realizes Barthold Kuijken’s long-held desire to restore to Jean-Baptiste Lully, and to French Baroque orchestral works in general, the power and intensity that once held the musical world in thrall. To the grandeur, finesse and diversity of the genre he has brought original source material to inform specific bowing techniques and the use of ornamentation. The result, as with Telemann’s Suite in E minor, which stands firmly in the Lully tradition, and Rameau’s magnificent Suite from Dardanus, evokes the spectacle and splendor of Versailles. Barthold Kuijken is an eminent leader in the field of early music. A virtuoso traverse soloist, teacher and conductor, he has shaped the fields of historical flutes and historically informed performance over the last forty years. Kuijken has widely performed and recorded the repertoire for the Baroque flute and has collaborated with other early music specialists including his brothers Sigiswald and Wieland Kuijken, Frans Bruggen, Gustav Leonhardt, and Paul Dombrecht.

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REVIEW:

This album of Lully-inspired music is worth the full price of admission. The performances deliver both grandeur and finesse, and the recording does them full justice. Two fine sets of notes, from harpsichordist Thomas Gerber and Barthold Kuijken, crown the achievement.

– MusicWeb International

Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata has today become part of the cello repertoire but it was originally written for the arpeggione, a form of bowed guitar invented by the Viennese maker Johann Georg Staufer in 1823. With a unique ethereal sound, this instrument reveals the true beauty of Schubert’s initial conception. The Piano Trio No. 2 was performed at the Vienna Musikverein on the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death – its extremes of urgent drama and sublime bittersweet lyricism are characteristic of Schubert’s artistic surge during his final year.

Ferdinand Ries grew up in the same musical environment that nurtured Beethoven, both counting Ferdinand’s father Franz as one of their teachers and the two of them becoming the closest of friends. Ries was a gifted and prolific composer in every instrumental genre. His Violin Sonatas are based on the Viennese Classical style established by Mozart but with a freshness and originality that includes movements such as the Adagio of the Sonata, Op. 38, No. 3, one of Ries’s loveliest creations. The Sonatas Op. 38, Nos. 1 & 2 can be heard on the 2nd volume of this edition, which was “unreservedly recommended” by Fanfare magazine. Violinist Eric Grossman is a versatile performer hailed for his flawless technique, superb musicianship, and commitment to a wide range of repertoire. Grossman has performed across the US, Europe, Korea, Japan, and Cuba in recital and as soloist under such conductors as Zubin Mehta, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and Michael Gielen.

Alessandro Scarlatti was largely responsible for developing early Neapolitan opera but his son Domenico Journeyed to Lisbon and then to Madrid where he entered the service of the royal family. It was primarily for the Infanta Maria Barbara, who became Queen of Spain in 1746, that Domenico Scarlatti wrote his celebrated single-movement sonatas, some of the greatest pieces in eighteenth-century keyboard repertoire. This volume reveals Scarlatti’s evocations of Spanish dance rhythms, vivid exploration of color, scintillating scales and arpeggios and striking echo effects. Goran Filipec was born in Rijeka in 1981 and showed considerable early musical talent. After completing his studies in Croatia at the Academy Ino Mirkovich he continued at the Cologne Musikhochschule, the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. His concert performances have led him to some of the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, including the Auditorium di Milano, The Mariinsky Theatre, the Budapest Bela Bartok National Concert Hall, and the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris. He is a laureate of several international piano competitions, including the Concorso Internzionale Franz Liszt- Premio Mario Zanfi (Italy), the Concurso de Piano Parnassos (Mexico), the Jose Iturbi International Music Competition (USA) and the Gabala International Piano Competition (Azerbaijan). His Naxos recording of Liszt’s Paganini Studies was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque of the Budapest Ferenc Liszt Society, previous winners of which have included Vladimir Horowitz, Gyorgy Cziffra, Alfred Brendel, Claudio Arrau, Zoltan Kocsis and Maurizio Pollini.

Franz Liszt had an overwhelming impact on the musical life of his time through revolutionary innovations in harmony, form and pianistic technique. Both Liszt and his brilliant musical heir Ferruccio Busoni regarded their compositions as living entities, always suitable for recycling and reshaping to create new works. This program is an illustration of this practice, with Goran Filipec freely extending and varying the cadenzas in the Hungarian Fantasy, while Busoni enhances the emotional states of horror, grotesque comedy and sublime serenity in the Totentanz. Goran Filipec is renowned for his exceptional interpretations of the works of Franz Liszt and the high virtuosity of his Classical and Romantic repertoire. A laureate of several international piano competitions, Filipec has appeared internationally as a recitalist and soloist with symphony orchestras across Europe, the Americas and Japan. He has been invited on multiple occasions to the Mariinsky Theatre Contemporary Piano Faces festival, Progetto Martha Argerich and Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Filipec is co-founder and president of the Société Franz Liszt de Genève, which is devoted to the appreciation and study of the Hungarian composer’s oeuvre.

Leo Weiner's influence as a teacher in Budapest was exceptional and his pupils were some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. But it's only in recent years that his compositions, with their synthesis of German Romantic and Hungarian elements, have been brought to wider appreciation. Like Csongor and Tunde, the symphonic poem Toldi was inspired by a masterpiece of Hungarian literature. Cast in twelve sections, the music follows the epic poetry in a way that seems to notate the text musically, a unique achievement. Weiner considered Toldi one of his most significant compositions, and he also composed two suites from the work.

Unlike the only published piano duet arrangement by Max Reger, which has serious performance limitations, Eleonor Bindman’s new transcription of the Brandenburg Concertos highlights their polyphony, imagining how Bach might have distributed the score if he had created four-part inventions for piano duet. With an equal partnership between the two instrumentalists, using the modern piano’s full potential to convey the unique scoring and character of each work, the concertos are ordered to create an engaging listening sequence. Both Eleonor Bindman and Jenny Lin receive critical accolades wherever they perform. The Poughkeepsie Journal write of Bindman: “…a strong pianist who attacks her work with great vitality and emotion. She is extremely expressive and mesmerizes her audience with her flair and technique.” Gramophone magazine hailed Lin as “an exceptionally sensitive pianist,” while The Washington Post labeled her as “…surely one of the most interesting pianists in America right now…”

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REVIEWS:

Beyond mere curiosities, these transcriptions allow for familiar works to be experienced in new and valid ways. Pianists Bindman and Lin make a great case for them.

– Fanfare

Only pianists of the highest caliber could deliver these performances. Nothing seemed out of place, and the phrasing and dynamic shaping of the lines were exceptional. This is a fresh look at some of Bach’s greatest works in piano arrangements that work quite well.

– American Record Guide

Sandor Balassa’s distinguished reputation in his native Hungary and beyond rests in numerous operas and orchestral works. But here, the sheer diversity of his piano music equally provides ‘a feeling of richness, inspires a sense of adventure, and touches our hearts.’ His sophisticated, lyrical style is heard in education Sonatinas, adaptations of works both virtuoso and visionary originally for harp, cimbalom and harpsichord, and even include a Gallop in ¾ time, justified by the composer as being about a three-legged horse. István Kassai graduated as a pianist from the Budapest Academy of Music in 1982 studying in the class of Pál Kadosa. In 1984 he pursued a second diploma at the Conservatoire Européen de Musique under the close supervision of professor Yvonne Lefébure. He also undertook several master courses, including one led by György Cziffra, who had a great impact on Kassai’s artistic development. During his career, Kassai has won several first prizes in international competitions such as the International Piano Competition for Young Artists in 1972 in Czechoslovakia, the Piano Competition organised by Hungarian Radio in 1979, and the Paris International Debussy Piano Competition in 1982. Moreover, Kassai’s artistic talent has been acknowledged by such prestigious awards as the ARTISJUS Prize in 1976, the Chevillion-Bonnaud Prize of the Fondation de France in 1986, the Nívó Prize of Hungarian Radio in 1990, the ‘Ferenc Liszt’ Prize in 2001 and the Leó Weiner Memorial Prize in 2010.

Acclaimed dancer-choreographer Akram Khan 'speaks tremendously of tremendous things' (Financial Times) and this new Giselle reimagines the classic narrative ballet for the 21st Century. Giselle had become a former garment factory migrant worker, Albrecht, a member of the wealthy factory-owning class. An abandoned 'ghost factory' haunted by the memory of female migrant workers, many of them victims of industrial accidents, replaces the traditional glade of Act II. There, Giselle's desire to break the cycle of violence will lead her to reconciliation with Albrecht and his release from the retributive justice of the Wilis. "Giselle has been transformed for the ENB by Akram Khan into the ballet event of the year. Staggeringly beautiful and utterly devastating, it is an electrifying triumph which any dance or theatre fan must not miss." (The Daily Express)

This is a live recording of a piano recital the great virtuoso Jorge Bolet gave 1988, in Schwetzingen (Germany), two years before his death. The performed works are by composers Jorge Bolet favoured most. This is a re-release of a SWR bestseller. When the first Schwetzingen Festival was held in 1952, even the optimists among the founders could not imagine that this was the beginning of a success story that would make it one of the major German festivals of the post war era. The "Schwetzingen script" of the fifties, "Comission new things, rediscover the old, give up and coming youngsters a chance," still holds today and is as modern as it was back then. Because it was founded by the Suddeutscher Rundfunk public broadcasting company and kept going after it's merger into Sudwestrundfunk, this festival has been documented as no other. From the very first day on, every musical event was recorded and broadcast. Thus the Schwetzingen Festival became in time the biggest classical radio festival in the world, with nearly 550 broadcasts on all continents. The list of performers and ensembles reads like an artists' "Who's Who" of recent decades. For the "Schwetzingen Festival Edition," we are opening up the archives and allowing you to enjoy some of the greatest moments in music.

At his recital in Schwetzingen in 1962, Wilhelm Kempff confirmed his unique ability to connect exploratory, dreamful piano music in a repertoire with a broad radius and to give it clear gradations in all matters of style. In the process, he did not take this opportunity in Schwetzingen to follow a programmatic routine related to season and career, as is common in the risk-free assortment of works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert preferred by concert organizers. For the beginning of the series of pieces is likely to surprise even those familiar with Kempff's as a performer of wide-ranging sections of the piano repertoire. Rarely heard miniatures by Jean Philippe Rameau and Francois Couperin, forgotten by most practicing soloists, piano teachers and also the students following in their musical wake, show Kempff to be a musical acrobat and mystic of colors even on French territory.

This album presents two major orchestral works by Claude Debussy – Images and La Mer – alongside the delightful Danses for harp and orchestra. The French conductor Sylvain Cambreling highlights all the charm of these colorful scores. French-born conductor Sylvain Cambreling is a musician with big ideas. A thought-provoking, colorful and dramatic artist, he has a flair for grabbing the attention of audiences, yet his originality is rooted in thorough knowledge of musicology. As the Chief Conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, and Principal Guest Conductor of Klangforum Wien, he has offered ample proof of his gifts for imaginative programme-planning and persuasive championship of contemporary music.

Mothers are powerful muses. They represent a whole spectrum of attributes, both mythic and personal: they can be forces of nature and nurturing, guidance and inspiration, patience and strength, and of course, love: profound, fierce, unconditional. This album features musical compositions that pay tribute to the diverse aspects of motherhood, from the sacred “Ave Maria” to the saucy “Mrs. Robinson,” and everything in between. Motherhood, perhaps the prototype of creation, has compelled us to utilize our full creative potentialities as arrangers and interpreters. Queens and saints, homemakers and lawmakers, scientists and artists, goddesses and mortals: the rich complexity of motherhood inspires this musical tribute. Describe as “the most dynamic duo of this generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “rock stars of the classical music world” (Miami Herald), “exhilarating” (Gramophone), and “the very model of complete 21st century musicians” (The Washington Post), Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe are revolutionizing the piano duo experience for the 21st century. Together they aim to make classical music a relevant and powerful force around the world through their adrenalized performances, original compositions, notorious music videos, and more.

This album gives an interesting overview of Ravel's orchestral output, with a mixed programme of works from different periods of his career. The outstanding soloists are soprano Arleen Aug�r and violinist Pina Carmirelli; conductor Ernest Bour presents wonderfully nuanced performances. Some of Ravel's most famous pieces are featured, including a beautiful interpretation of his song cycle Sheherazade, which tells the story of the narrator of The Arabian Nights. Another notable inclusion is Daphnis et Chloe Suites 1 and 2. Daphnis et Chloe began as a one act ballet by Ravel, and was later adapted by the composer into the two Suites heard here. This album is part of a new re-release series (Century Classics) consisting of SWR music bestsellers. The series is competitively priced, optically highly attractive and contains acclaimed SWR recordings mostly of the SWR orchestras and their chief conductors.

Samson Francois was considered an enfant terrible, eccentric and flamboyant; his life and demeanor were rather provocative and subjectivist. This release offers the rare occasion to hear the French virtuoso in a live recording from 1960, containing virtuosity milestones of the piano repertoire, such as Chopin Piano Sonata no.2 and Sergey Prokofiev Piano Sonata no.7 as well as delicate miniatures by Mendelssohn and Debussy. In 1943, be reaching the age of 20, Samson Fran�ois won the Long-Thibaud Competition and thereafter embarked on a career, one of international scale once World War II had ended. Even during the war, Jacques Thibaud brought Fran�ois to the attention of Walter Legge, the English recording producer turned wartime concert organiser; Fran�ois was soon flown to England for an extended tour of factories and camps. From 1945 he toured regularly in Europe, and in 1947 he made his first appearances in the USA. He subsequently played all over the globe, including Communist China in 1964. Concentrating on the Romantic piano literature, and especially the French repertoire, he was acclaimed for his performances of Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Fr�d�ric Chopin, as well as Gabriel Faur�, Debussy, and Ravel.

Kirill Kondrashin was one of the most prominent Russian conductors in the generation following Mravinsky. He was born in Moscow in 1914 into a family of musicians, studied at the Moscow conservatory under Boris Khaikin, went to Leningrad in 1936 to be the conductor of the Maly Theater and to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1943. At the same time, he was conducting various Russian concert orchestras. In 1956 he left the Bolshoi Theater to devote himself entirely to the concert podium. He became the preferred partner of such great soloists as Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrach, Sviatoslav Richter, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Tully Potter called him “probably the best concert accompanist of the twentieth century.” After Kondrashin’s work had increasingly shifted out of the country, he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1978 and became permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra along with Bernard Haitink. From his home in Amsterdam, he kept up with his duties as guest conductor, including many at various West German radio stations. His concerts left a deep impression in Munich, and Kondrashin succeeded Rafael Kubelik as new Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1982. Before he was able to take over his new position, however, Kondrashin died of a heart attach shortly after a concert in Amsterdam in March 1981.

This release features Mahler’s First Symphony in a historically informed performance that features a large, modern orchestra and includes the Blumine movement, which was part of the original version of the symphony, the one preferred by the conductor, Sir Roger Norrington. With the inclusion of the Blumine, the listener can appreciate the return of pastoral motifs in the finale movement. Mahler’s First symphony, sometimes titled “Titan,” was written mostly in February and March of 1888, incorporating music that had been written much earlier. The first performance wasn’t well received, but after several revisions over the following years the work has become a staple in symphonic repertoire. Originally, Mahler called the work a “Symphonic Poem in two parts.” But finally he began to refer to the work as a symphony.

“He is not only a virtuoso pianist, but has more or less mastered nearly all orchestral instruments. That puts him in a position to provide the individual members of the orchestra with helpful advice, which-nowadays- hardly any conductor is able to do. As these qualities go along with striving for the ideal, a rare capacity for enthusiasm as well as with an iron will he does not hesitate to impose, Hans Rosbaud is an inestimable and somehow indispensable institution.” (Bernhard Sekles, Rosbaud’s former professor of composition) This release is the fourth from SWR Classic focusing on the work of German conductor Hans Rosbaud. It features, on seven albums, all the Haydn recordings Rosbaud did, including his only stereo recording of a Haydn symphony with the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as the concertos.

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REVIEW:

Everything in this set combines elegance, vigour, warmth, and an unobtrusive sense of style. Performance standards are consistently high and the mono recordings (only the Farewell is in stereo) have been very cleanly transferred.

– Gramophone

The present release contains Hector Berlioz's complete concert overtures, including the one written for his early opera Les francs-juges, superbly performed by the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg directed by the French conductor Sylvain Cambreling. French composer Hector Berlioz wrote a number of overtures, many of which remain concert staples. They include not only overtures intended to introduce operas, but also independent concert overtures. The album opens with one of the most popular overtures, Waverly, Op. 1. Composed in 1828, it was inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly novels. Also included are Le Carnaval romain, Op. 9, a standalone overture intended for concert performance made up of material from the opera Benvenuto Cellini, Le Corsaire, Op. 21, and others. This album is part of a new re-release series (Century Classics) consisting of SWR music bestsellers. The series is competitively priced, optically highly attractive and contains acclaimed SWR recordings mostly of the SWR orchestras and their chief conductors.

This is the only available official recording of Karel Ancerl conducting Josef Suk’s Asrael. Asrael is central to Josef Suk’s oeuvre and an outstanding work in the Czech music repertoire. The prominent standing of the conductor Karel Ancerl is due mainly to his success in establishing the Czech Philharmonic as one of the world’s most eminent and successful orchestras in only a few years’ time. Under his great predecessor Vaclav Talich, the most significant Czech conductor of the twentieth century, the orchestra was able to flourish primarily in its home country, yet under Ancerl it became, despite the restrictions of the Cold War, an orchestra that was celebrated everywhere, whose 1959 world tour went down in history as the longest and most extensive ever up to that time. A stirring intepretation of the Südwestfunk-Orchestra of Baden-Baden, digitally remastered from the SWR original tapes!

REVIEW:

Firstly, it is doubtful the orchestra was familiar with either score prior to this recording. Secondly, it appears that this was the conductor’s first engagement with them—though, unsurprisingly, he was invited back in 1969. To achieve such committed, marvellously played and eloquent performances of unfamiliar repertoire when conductor and orchestra had no prior relationship is a remarkable achievement.

The sound is pretty impressive, wearing its five decades lightly. It presents a very realistic aural picture of Ančerl’s interpretations. N,o one buying this disc will be disappointed on sonic grounds. What you will definitely get if you buy this disc is a memorable performance of a great Czech symphony. This an important release and a major addition to the Ančerl discography.

This is the fifth and last installment of the complete Debussy Piano Works with the pianist Michael Korstick. The first four volumes were highly acclaimed by critics worldwide, a new dimension of Debussy cycles has been achieved. The booklet text is written by the Debussy expert Prof. Robert Orledge. Michael Korstick received his first piano lessons at the age of 9 and was first prize winner of the "Jugend musiziert" competition in Cologne at the age of 11. After graduating from high school he entered the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Cologne as a student of Jürgen Tröster, and in 1974 he became a student of Hans Leygraf in Hanover. In the same year he took master classes from the Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva and subsequently worked with her on several occasions. He made his formal concert début in Cologne in 1975, performing Beethoven's sonatas op.106 and op.111. Michael Korstick has made more than 50 CD recordings so far, among them most notably Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas (the complete edition was released in 2012). He has been the recipient of Germany's Echo Klassik prize in 2005, the MIDEM Classical Award Cannes in 2009, as well as of six "Awards of the German Record Critics", most recently in November 2014.

Friederich Kuhlau was among the most important early Romantic composers in Denmark, becoming known as the ‘Danish Beethoven’ for his popular works for flute. The etude-like Piano Sonata, Op. 127 reveals a deep expressiveness reminiscent of Chopin’s studies, while the sophisticated Piano Sonata, Op. 8a shows Kuhlau’s contemplative, darker side before closing with typical virtuoso esprit. The charm and elegance of the Sonatina, Op. 21 No. 1 has delighted piano students for generations. Jens Luhr was born in the same town as Friedrich Kuhlau, Uelzen, in northern Germany. There at the local music school, Luhr played- along with many other young piano students- the Kuhlau Sonatinas. He went on to study at the prestigious conservatories of music in Hannover, Wurzburg, Basle, and Leipzig. Luhr is known as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as being an interpreter of contemporary music, playing or taking part in several premieres. In 2012 and 2014 he won second prize at the International Music Competition of France in the highest category for pianists.

“Something wicked this way comes…” Returning home from battle, the victorious Macbeth meets three witches on the heath. Driven by their disturbing prophecies, he sets out on the path to murder. This contemporary production of Shakespeare’s darkest psychological thriller marks both Christopher Eccleston’s RSC debut and the return of Niamh Cusack to the Company. This recording was produced live from Stratford-Upon-Avon. "Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack make a gripping central couple." (The Stage 5 Stars) "Urgent and wonderfully sinister." (Evening Standard 4 Stars)