The string quartets of Debussy and Ravel, composed within a decade of each other, make a natural pairing. The Arod Quartet, celebrating it's 10th anniversary in 2023, sets these two belle époque masterpieces in a present-day context with a third work: Al Asr, by the young French composer Benjamin Attahir. The scope of this Erato release is further expanded with a DVD documentary about the Arod Quartet, entitled Ménage à quatre and directed by Bruno Monsaingeon. His first experience of the Arod Quartet was a revelation: "Had I ever heard such sheer strength of attack, such dramatic power, such a variety of sonic colour or dramatic range - all combined with such prodigious delicacy of phrasing?" It was in 2017 that the Arod Quartet gave the premiere of Benjamin Attahir's Al Asr, a substantial work which takes poetic inspiration from the Muslim afternoon prayer and the intense heat of the moment midway between noon and sunset. "Al Asr is dedicated to my wonderful friends in the Quatuor Arod," says Attahir. "They have brought it to life in a way I would never have dared to dream."

This was something I'd had in mind for a long time..." says pianist Alexandre Tharaud, "to put together an album for the sheer pleasure of it, in collaboration with dear friends and paying tribute to the wonders of the piano duet repertoire." The aptly named 4 Hands offers 18 tracks, each just a few minutes in length, each featuring Tharaud sharing a piano keyboard with a different partner. The repertoire ranges wide - from Bach to Glass by way of such composers as Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Fauré, Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, and Piazzolla. 15 of Tharaud's fellow performers are celebrated pianists - among them the late Nicholas Angelich, Mariam Batsashvili, Bertrand Chamayou, David Fray, Víkingur Ólafsson, and Beatrice Rana. The other three, all stars in their musical fields, are shown in a new, pianistic light: cellist Gautier Capuçon, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and singer-songwriter Juliette. "The piano duet is one of life's miracles," continues Tharaud. "First and foremost, it is the most intimate way of playing chamber music... It was a joy to record this album... If hearing these pieces prompts people to buy some sheet music and enjoy playing duets together - just as we did in the recording studio - then I will have achieved my aim.

Leif Ove Andsnes is a leading pianist of his time, known for his exceptional musicianship and subtil touch, his considerable technical flair being unfailingly put at the service of his interpretations. He was a pioneer for being the first home-trained superstar pianist to have emerged from Norway. This box is the story of a 20-year partnership that has yielded a rich seam of recorded treasures, first for Virgin and then for EMI. Running through this cornucopia of 34 albums (36 CDs), we find recurring themes: Grieg (Andsnes even recorded some Lyric Pieces on the composer's own piano at Troldhaugen), Nordic music in general, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Schubert.

Kyung Wha Chung - Beau Soir (Faur�, Franck, Debussy, Elgar, works for violin & piano) The centrepiece of this French-themed recital by Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner is the splendid violin sonata by C�sar Franck. It is a work long associated with Chung, described by the Financial Times as "one of the greatest violinists of the last half-century". Newer to Chung's repertoire is Faur�'s Sonata No 1. As she told Strings magazine, each of the works constitutes "a whole portrait of life itself," and she drew a comparison with Monet's paintings: "The reflection of light has endless possibility. The same thing applies to the texture and the sound when you're playing. There are millions of sounds."

Debussy Centenary Premieres (3CD) ARTIST: Claude Debussy - Debussy Centenary Discoveries offers new insights into a captivating, inventive and influential musical genius. Each recording on these 3-CDs is in some way a first: Chanson des brises and Diane aux bois make their debut appearance in any form; the unfinished opera La Chute de la Maison Usher is heard just as Debussy left it; the Chansons de Charles d'Orl�ans appear in their original version, while Debussy's transcriptions of his own Jeux and Khamma, and of works by Schumann, Raff and Saint-Sa�ns, are also new to the catalogue. Pianists Philippe Cassard and Jean-Pierre Armengaud are among the musicians who lead this fascinating voyage of discovery

Today one of the most highly respected string quartets, the Belcea were established in 1994 at the Royal College of Music in London and studied with the Chilingirian, the Amadeus, and later the Alban Berg quartets. Today one of the most highly respected string quartets, the Belcea were established in 1994 at the Royal College of Music in London and studied with the Chilingirian, the Amadeus, and later the Alban Berg quartets. They recorded for EMI Classics across nearly a decade, between 2000 and 2009, bringing about tremendous versions of quartets by Schubert, Britten, Bartók, and Mozart, to name a few.

"The Belcea Quartet throw every fibre of their beings into the most vivid projection of the masterpieces they undertake." - The Independent "These recordings form a crucial part of our life as a quartet and we hope that over the ensuing years they haven't lost their freshness and sense of adventure." - Krzysztof Chorzelski, violist of the Belcea Quartet

His exceptional touch and sense of phrasing, his deep and personal understanding of the most varied repertoires, or even the legendary trio he formed together with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, made Alfred Cortot the greatest pianist of his time. Master of many disciples, notably the brilliant Dinu Lipatti, Samson François and Clara Haskil, Cortot also had a lasting influence on the Russian piano school through Samuil Feinberg and Heinrich Neuhaus, the latter himself being the revered teacher of Sviatoslav Richter.

All of the recordings in this set had undergone careful sound restoration in 2012, in order to respect as closely as possible the original sound. The remastering was carried out under the expert control of Mr. Guthrie Luke, a former disciple of Alfred Cortot who attended many recording sessions by Cortot. These recordings do not represent a "complete" edition: the many rolls engraved by the artist for Duo-Art, Aeolian and Pleyela labels have not been reproduced here, most of them doubling the 78-RPM repertoire. The first recordings are acoustic; and the ones with an electric microphone appeared as early as 1926.

The first artistical cooperation and joined album release of Spanish violinist Francisco Fullana and German pianist Matthias Kirschnereit. They perform masterpieces of the Violin sonata repertoire by Claude Debussy, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Sonata dedicated to Sarasate) and Leos Janacek. Francisco Fullana, winner of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, performed with Sir Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Alondra de la Parra and many more. Matthias Kirschnereit is the grand seigneur of German pianists, who still has recorded more than 50 albums in his 35-year career.

Piano works by two great French composers; Contemporary composer Philippe Manoury, and Claude Debussy.

The renowned Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo celebrates it's 30th anniversary in 2025. The duo has been honoured with numerous international awards and recordings. With the recording of all of Debussy's works in three volumes for piano duo, the Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo is now appearing on the Oehms label. The programme includes both well-known and lesser-known works, some of which are versions of orchestral works such as the famous Trois Nocturnes. The recording was made in co-operation with WDR Broadcast.

French-Hungarian pianist Suzana Bartal joins Sebastien Rouland and the Saarlandische Staatsorchester in this release of two warhorses of the Romantic repertoire, Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor and Camille Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor. Although not successful at it's premiere with the composer at the piano, Saint-Saens' 2nd went on to be beloved by the public, and is probably the most played of his 5 concertos for piano. Very few pieces of music are as iconic as the only concerto Grieg ever completed: his famous Piano Concerto in A minor. Liszt famously sight read and lavished praise on it when it was written in 1870, and it has been a perennial favourite since then.

This is the new recording we have been waiting for. Three years after Brahms (ALPHA792), the Belcea Quartet returns in a new formation: Suyeon Kang, their new second violin, joined the quartet in 2023. Today the Belcea Quartet presents a new recording of the Debussy Quartet - which they had previously recorded on their very first album 25 years ago - and two quartets by Karol Szymanowski, a composer they are particularly fond of and who possesses a unique and immediately identifiable musical language. The first quartet was composed in 1917 but the Russian Revolution intervened; it's premiere finally took place in 1924. Szymanowski - then a world-renowned composer and a leading figure in the reconstruction of musical life in the young Polish Republic - wrote his second quartet ten years after the first in 1927; it was premiered in Warsaw two years later.

The renowned Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo celebrates it's 30th anniversary in 2025. The duo has been honoured with numerous international awards and recordings. With the recording of all of Debussy's works in three volumes for piano duo, the Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo is now appearing on the Oehms label. The programme includes both well-known and lesser-known works, some of which are versions of orchestral works such as the famous La Mer. The recording was made in co-operation with WDR Broadcast.

25-year-old rising American violinist Karisa Chiu, noted for her "easy virtuosity... humor, nuance... [and] playful[ness]" (Cleveland Classical), and renowned Chinese-American pianist Zhu Wang ("a thoughtful, sensitive performer" -New York Times) unite for Chiu's debut album, HOME. Influenced by her Chicago upbringing, pandemic discoveries, and Korean and Chinese family roots, the recording reflects on the various interpretations of "home" in Chiu's life, with works by Jean Sibelius, Claude Debussy, Augusta Read Thomas, Cyril Scott, and Gabriel Faure. A finalist in Cedille Records' inaugural Emerging Artist Competition in 2021, Chiu earned her Bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and her Master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. She is the first new solo violinist to record for Cedille in 20 years. Although raised in a Swedish-speaking family, Jean Sibelius chose to root his artistic identity in Finnish culture. Written between 1915 and 1918, his Five Pieces blend Finnish folk influences with the elegance of salon music, reflecting a personal and creative claim of Finland as home. Composed in wartime exile and performed at his final public appearance, Debussy's Violin Sonata (1916-1917) is both a farewell and a return. Intended as part of a larger French sonata cycle, the work reaches toward distant tonalities and Iberian influences, yet remains anchored in a deeply personal language - a reflection on home as something both fragile and enduring. A lyrical, chant-inspired solo for violin, Thomas' Incantation unfolds with patience and quiet intensity. Chiu first encountered the work years before recording it, eventually collaborating with Thomas during her time as composer-in-residence at Curtis. With Thomas's deep ties to Chicago, the piece became a personal emblem of home - bridging Chiu's roots in the Windy City and a new sense of belonging at Curtis. In Kreisler's arrangement of Cyril Scott's dreamy Lotus Land, Chiu's violin floats above Zhu Wang's shimmering textures, rich with whole-tone and pentatonic color. Inspired by Tennyson's The Lotos-Eaters, the piece offers a brief, sensual escape, where lyricism and stillness evoke a world apart. Discovered by Chiu during the pandemic - a strange yet meaningful chapter in her life - the work recalls a fleeting but formative anchor amid uncertainty. Faure's Violin Sonata No. 1 balances classical structure with sweeping emotion and introspective calm - a work of youthful maturity. Chiu performed it during a return trip to Korea with her mother, reconnecting with family and cultural roots. The sonata evokes not only Faure's early voice but also a powerful emotional link to memory and belonging.

SOMM Recordings marks the 150th Anniversary of the great French-American conductor Pierre Monteux (1875-1964) with his live performances of Claude Debussy's Images pour orchestre and Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. These 1961 broadcasts, featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, have been superbly remastered by Lani Spahr, whose critically acclaimed audio restorations for SOMM have received high praise from Gramophone, BBC Radio 3, and The Sunday Times, amongst many others. While Monteux was born 150 years ago this past April, his death came 61 years ago-still within the lifetime of many present-day music lovers. He was, therefore, a link with the musical past, and enjoyed professional relationships with both the composers on this recording. By the early 1910s, Monteux had a reputation as the leading French conductor of the younger generation, and Debussy chose him to prepare the world premiere of Images pour orchestre, which Debussy himself conducted in January 1913. Debussy's colourful orchestration of his original piano work opens with "Gigues," inspired loosely by English and Scottish folk-tunes. At the heart of Images is "Iberia," of which Manuel de Falla said, "There is more real Spain in 'Iberia' than in all of Albeniz's work." The more veiled final movement, "Rondes de printemps," ultimately brings Images to a superb full-orchestra climax. Monteux's first conducting position was with Paris's Colonne Orchestra, which Sergei Diaghilev engaged for the 1910 season of the Ballets Russes, and Monteux came into contact with Stravinsky's music when he played viola in the company's premiere of The Firebird. At the request of Stravinsky, he conducted the premiere of Petrushka in 1911, and he led the famously riotous first performance of The Rite of Spring in 1913. When Monteux was conscripted into the army during World War I, Diaghilev persuaded the French government to discharge him so that he could direct the Ballets Russes on a North American tour. The success of this tour led to Monteux's five-year tenure as chief conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His successor there was the Russian maestro Serge Koussevitzky who, in 1931, commissioned a number of leading composers-including Stravinsky-to write commemorative works marking the 50th anniversary of the BSO. Stravinsky's offering was his Symphony of Psalms for chorus and orchestra. Composed in a Neo-classical style with a nod to Bach's oratorios, it is one of the great choral works of the 20th century, creating a unique, ritualistic atmosphere in the setting of three psalm texts in Latin. These live recordings from late in Monteux's life, demonstrating his profound and personal insights into the works of Debussy and Stravinsky, are paired with a Pierre Monteux tribute from violinist Alex Nifosi.

It is a rather widespread opinion that the genesis of musical compositions intended to positively impress the listener's soul is often connected to an initial illumination that expands within a creative process that is per se rather ordinary. It is that creative spark constituting the generating principle which, as it unfolds, gives form and narrative cohesion to the sound archetype. This is the premise underlying the album by the duo Cardinali-Redorici, the realisation of a project that presents itself as a refined exploration of soundscapes delineated by the poietic encounter between viola and piano, through a dialogue aimed at capturing the most varied emotional nuances. In the panorama of string instruments, the viola is characterised by a highly suggestive timbral eloquence stemming from the range of frequencies within which it moves - an extension that makes it possible to perceive, at opposite extremes, sensations of both a lyrical luminosity typical of the violin and dark tones attributable to the gravitas of the cello. This contributes to making this medium ideal for translating into sound an expressiveness of musical thought drawing it's quintessence from a persistent search for intimacy, oscillating between lightness and depth. In this sense, the listener of InCanto Notturno is projected into an intense and exciting sound journey - ranging from the exploration of affections ascribable to a certain romantic lyricism to the stylistic refinement typical of Impressionism -, also reaching suggestive incursions into less beaten territories of the repertoire with the proposal of rarely performed compositions.

Daniel Barenboim - "Claude Debussy" One of the most important artists of our time, Daniel Barenboim releases a collection of beloved Debussy pieces in time for the French composer's centenary, including Estampes, Suite bergamasque and Preludes, L.117.

LA MER NOCTURNES

PRELUDES (LP)

Seong-Jin Cho - "Debussy (Images I & II; Suite Bergamasque; Children's Corner)" With "a poetic sensibility that evokes the fantastical sound world of the early Romantics" (San Francisco Chronicle), 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho explores the music of Claude Debussy as the 100th anniversary of the composer's death approaches. Seong-Jin Cho's third album on Deutsche Grammophon features Debussy's most popular works and cycles, such as Images I & II, Suite Bergamasque and Children's Corner.

The 1885 Erard piano used in this recording of Debussy’s Preludes Book II stands out for the distinct character of its sonorities in different registers (a mellifluous middle register, a twangy bass, and so forth), plus its capacity to produce a wide variety of sustain effects from the pedal. I also suspect that the keyboard action is light and responsive. Certainly Alexander Melnikov exploits the instrument to his artistic advantage, and Debussy benefits as a result.

In Brouillards, for example, the slurred staccato left-hand chords and right-hand arpeggios sound as if they’re originating from two different instruments. Given the relatively short decay of the Erard’s sustain pedal compared to modern concert grands, Melnikov’s pedaling through harmonic changes in Feuilles mortes (and elsewhere) never sounds muddy. Melnikov’s strict adherence to the dotted rhythm of La puerta del Vino’s left-hand ostinato is too rigid and unyielding for what this lilting and sexy music implies, in contrast to his spot-on timing of Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses’ capricious tempo shifts and gorgeous chains of trills. He also nails the quirky lilt of General Lavine’s cakewalk to idiomatic perfection.

Ondine shimmers in alluring half-tints, relieved, however by the occasional spiky accent. My only quibble concerning Hommage à Pickwick is that Melnikov begins the dotted-rhythm sequence at measure 31 too loud, and retains a steady tempo instead of following Debussy’s request to gradually get faster. But what beautifully controlled diminuendos in the plaintive melodic lines in Canope’s last measures, and what magically agile alternating thirds in No. 11, not to mention Feux d’artifice’s supple and sparkling runs.

Olga Pashchenko joins Melnikov for Debussy’s own four- hand arrangement of La Mer, in a scrupulously synchronized performance full of bristling detail and colorful allure. Low-lying tremolos that can sound muddy and boring on a modern piano emerge more texturally varied and transparent on the Erard, while Melnikov and Pashchenko deftly accommodate each other in regard to balancing foreground and background material, yielding far less cluttered and monochrome results than is often the case in recordings of symphonic repertoire arranged for piano duet. Highly recommended.

– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)

With mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena and pianist Mitsuko Uchida, two world stars join hands on L'extase, a collection of songs by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen. Debussy was Messiaen's life-long idol, and their songs are equally colourful, sumptuous, sensual, and occasionally exotic. The album derives it's name from the sultry song 'C'est l'extase langoureuse' from Debussy's Ariettes oubliees, and this song cycle is combined with his Chansons de Bilitis and Cinq poemes des Baudelaires, while Messiaen is represented by the second book of his Poemes pour Mi, a declaration of love for his first wife Claire Delbos. This recording demonstrates the profound affinity of both performers with French music, as well as their congeniality as musical partners. With L'extase, star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena presents the seventh album of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented Il giardino dei sospiri, Soiree (both 2019), Nostalgia (2021), Folk Songs (2023), the title role in Handel's Alcina and Czech Songs (both 2024). One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Gyorgy Kurtag. She makes her PENTATONE debut.

Classical Music

The renowned Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo celebrates it's 30th anniversary in 2025. The duo has been honoured with numerous international awards and recordings. With the recording of all of Debussy's works in three volumes for piano duo, the Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo is now appearing on the Oehms label. The programme includes both well-known and lesser-known works, some of which are versions of orchestral works such as the famous Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune. The recording was made in co-operation with WDR Broadcast.

Trained in Kyiv, his hometown, then in Austria where he lives today, Dmytro Choni - Bronze Medalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn, Gold Medalist at the Santander Paloma O'Shea in 2018 - imagines for his recording debut with naive an ingenious and mischievous dialogue between Paradise and Hell, in direct echo to the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, the essential poet of the late Italian Middle Ages, who was a strong influence on a Romanticism that was looking for it's roots. The luminous pieces, with soothing melodies, will embody Paradise. The first opus of his compatriot Valentyn Silvestrov, whose aesthetic recalls the quiet beauty of Kyiv, the calm Bagatelles open the present journey in elegiac tones, even if here and there, as in the moving Moderato median, some beginnings of a coming anxiety emerge. The terrifying darkness will burst forth from the incipit of Apres une lecture de Dante (Liszt), where Choni becomes the devil himself. In this fantasia quasi sonata, hell is a tragic whirlwind, and the passionate impulses transcribe the unhappy passion of Paolo and Francesca. Then a new, devastating contrast. The centrepiece of the second part of Debussy's Images for piano, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, introduce another Paradise, where Orient meet ancient Greece, both dreamed and fantasised; the French composer captures in the very sounds of the Balinese gamelan our sense of wonder when looking at ancient temples. The culmination point of the program, L'Isle Joyeuse, speaks more of the joy linked to budding love. In this highly virtuosic piece inspired by Watteau (Embarquement pour Cythere, 1718), just as much a fictional reduction of a ballet with orchestra, Debussy achieves a unique sensual energy, truly erotic. Gargoyles (like the grimacing stone figures of the cathedrals) then revive the evil spirits, in a slightly percussive style that evokes Prokofiev and even more the Sonatas of Roger Sessions (1896-1985). The American composer Lowell Liebermann here links together four short, highly expressive pieces, where the sarcasm of the introduction (Presto) or the final Presto feroce coexists with the ether in the Allegro moderato. The gentle limpidity of Silvestrov's Postludium finally ends this program where Dmytro Choni, with his ever-lively and incisive fingers, becomes above all, like Charon on the Styx, a ferryman "between the worlds".