Classical Music

Alongside the many works of Beethoven that are staples of the concert repertoire there are a number of piano pieces that have not received as much attention as their more famous siblings and remain infrequently performed. This recording (with the notable exception of "F�r Elise") is dedicated to these works. Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 20th-century composers. A regular guest soloist with leading symphony orchestras in the United States and abroad, he appears in the most prestigious concert series and music festivals all over the world.

This is the first publication of Rhapsody as an authorized Performing Edition. Pianist John York meticulously edited the work whilst for the first-time having access to the full color manuscript (held by the Library of Congress) showing all the intricate markings and comments by Clarke, Mukle and Hess. Significant contributions were also made by cellists Lionel Handy and Raphael Wallfish. Christopher Johnson, Clark's executor, has overseen the entire project and provided invaluable supporting documents in the form of diary entries and correspondence from the time of Rhapsodies first performance. Christopher's stewardship of this partnership has delivered the definitive publication of arguably the most important cello work of the 20th century.

Classical Music

Classical Music

David Gordon Trio Speaks Latin

SCHIPA: IN OPERA & SONG

Classical Music

Classical Music

Previous instalments in this long-running survey of Augusta Read Thomas's oeuvre have ranged far and wide within a catalogue that spans some 30 years to date. In contrast, we here explore a variety of works of more immediately recent vintage (the earliest work here dates from 2018), and between them fill out a vividly coloured snapshot of Thomas' irrepressible compositional persona as it stands at present. Many of her long-standing preoccupations are to be found in this collection: the love of dance which propels the music into a tirelessly evolving voyage in both rhythmic and narrative terms, the iridescent, bell-saturated sonic environment that fills her musical landscapes with light and clarity, the sense of jazz auras acting as guiding spirits propelling the music on its course with its restless, hocketing rhythms and penetrating harmonic flavours, a celebration and understanding of instrumental virtuosity, the overall sense of her music engaged in a deep-seated interaction between the present and the past. © Paul Pellay

Nadia Anjuman (1980-2005) was an Afghan poet writing during a period of turmoil. In 1995, when the Taliban captured Herat, her birthplace, women’s liberties were drastically reduced. A gifted student, Nadia faced a future with no hope of education. With other women she attended an underground educational circle called the Golden Needle Sewing School. Meeting under the guise of learning how to sew, the meetings were in fact discussions on literature with Herat professors. The project was dangerous: If caught, the punishment could be imprisonment, torture or hanging. Nadia was 21 when the Taliban was ousted. While earning her degree in literature she published her first book of poetry. She married into a family who believed that, since she was a woman, writing brought disgrace on their reputation. Yet she continued to write. At the age of 25 she was beaten to death by her husband.

The five poems I chose are wide-ranging and cover extremes of emotion: from love; to delight in being a poet; to despair at her lack of freedom; and even contemplation of suicide. The opening poem Turmoil, is an astonishing volte face, starting with a song of love for the solitude and beauty of the night, then a yearning to be free of earth’s constraints and to be united with God. It concludes with a passionate plea for the power of her own poetry to save her. The music starts hesitantly, unsure – the motif seems afraid to go any further, although it will become the unifying motif of the whole song. The angular outbursts give way to softer, more lyrical vocal and string lines as spring is evoked, with a solo viola emerging from the group and connecting the singer with the songs she once sang. The music surges at her hope to “leave this solitude and sing with joy”. At full intensity, surrounded by shimmering strings, the soprano affirms the poet’s determination to cry out her truth.

- Richard Blackford

In his music, if not in his life, Schubert was able to reconcile his innermost longings with the realities of life, to overcome the fear of death and restore the “lost paradise” of innocence and beauty. Very few artists have expressed their inner world, their vision of heaven, with such lucidity and conviction. Schubert composed an incredible amount of music during the last year of his life, as if knowing that he was running out of time. These works represent the pinnacle of his creativity, summing up his exploration of different musical forms, genres, and manner of writing. Among his finest compositions from this period are two sets of Impromptus and the Musical Moments that are included in this recording. [Vladimir Feltsman]

Fernândez’ work can be divided into three periods, the first (1918-22) is influenced by French Impressionism, the second (1923-38) is marked by the systematic use of folklore, particularly amerindian rhythms and harmonies, rather than ‘popular’ urban melodies. Finally (1939-48) was a period of increasing introspection and the development of a more universally recognised language. [Adrian Farmer]

David Ponsford is an organist, harpsichordist, musicologist and conductor, and an authority on keyboard music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He was extremely fortunate to be able to study organ with Peter Hurford, Lionel Rogg and Piet Kee, and harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert and Gustav Leonhardt. Since 2021, he has taught organ and harpsichord & organ continuo at the Royal Academy of Music, London. The present CD is volume 8 in the series ‘French Organ Music from the Golden Age’, performed by David Ponsford on French historic organs.

Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949) and Bedrich Smetana (1824-84) hold special places in music history as ardent nationalist composers and creators of significant stage works. Pfitzner’s operas and incidental music culminated in his Palestrina (1917) and Smetana established a canon of eight nationalist operas, incorporating traditional Czech dance and song into much of his mature oeuvre. Both composers also spread their net widely into other musical genres, contributing significantly, if not extensively, to the chamber music repertory. Although written over forty years apart, these two piano trios share notable common ground. Both were written during troubled times for their creators and count among their composer’s first mature artistic achievements; moreover, both resort to motivic recall or transformation between movements with the intention of realising structural unity and both received hostile critical receptions. [Robin Stowell]