R E V I E W S

They're at it again. The indefatigable piano duo team of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow have been hard at work unearthing more hidden treasures from the classical repertoire: orchestral and chamber music arranged for piano duet or two pianos. A couple of years ago their first volume of "unauthorised" piano duos of Schubert's music featured The Trout Quintet, sparklingly rendered by this superlative husband and wife team of pianists, who sacrificed none of the character of the music in their interpretation of the transcription.

Now they have dug up a version for piano duet of the great B flat Piano Trio, which captures the spirit, the flavour and the zest of the vast and mighty trio. The arrangement was made by one Josef von Gahy, astonishingly not a professional pianist but a civil servant, though he must have been able to find his way around the keyboard as he was not only a friend but a regular duet partner of Schubert himself. A cracking disc for devotees of this genre, with a stunning transcription of the Arpeggione Sonata which catches all the grace, poise, and refinement of the work, along with its bubbling virtuosity."

-- Michael Tumelty, Glasgow Herald

The history behind this disc is interesting. Joseph von Gahy was not only a lifelong friend of Schubert but also his duet partner. After the composer’s death Gahy set about transcribing several of his partner’s vocal and instrumental works for piano duet. There is no question of the authenticity of the enterprise. Gahy remained faithful to the originals, even to the extent of parts of the phrases being split between the two players. So seamless is the performance of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow that this cannot be detected.

The disc opens with Gahy’s arrangement of the Piano Trio in B flat major. The music is sublime. Exquisite melodies pour out from a composer in full creative flow reminiscent of his Lieder writing. Does it work without the violin and cello parts? On the whole, yes, although I’m not completely convinced about the Scherzo. Goldstone and Clemmow give a masterclass in the art of duet playing. They are completely sensitive to each other’s performance and play as one. After such a stunning opening the problem is that anything else that follows is likely to be an anti-climax – and it is. The Notturno, also written for violin, cello and piano, just doesn’t work as a duet; the Sonata in A major for arpeggione – an instrument long forgotten- and piano is not the composer’s best although there is evidence of his flair for melodic writing. The only work here originally written for piano duet is the so-called “Friendship” Rondo in D major, a nice-enough piece but not in the same league as the Trio. In spite of these reservations the disc is worth buying for that performance alone.

-- Shirley Ratcliffe, International Piano

The Piano Trio, D 898, Notturno D 897 and 'Arpeggione' Sonata D 821 are all original Schubert works and there is certainly nothing amiss to have them labelled unauthorized. So why is this and the previous issue of the 'Trout Quintet' been tagged as such? Josef von Gahy, who was not a professional musician, but a Hungarian civil servant happened to be one of Schubert's closest friends, and his admiration for the composer knew no bounds. They often played together four-hand works and Gahy's fine playing drew words of praise from Schubert many a time.

By the time of the latter's death, their relationship had become an inseparable one. As a humble homage to his great idol, Gahy decided to arrange some of Schubert's pieces for piano duet and this recording embraces three such arrangements plus the 'Friendship' Rondo, D 608, an original Schubert piece for two pianos, composed in honour of his great and dedicated friend.

The Goldstone and Clemmow duo, married since 1989, have etched a name for themselves in such repertoire, and these interpretations are as absorbing and entertaining as the arrangements themselves. While always highlighting the romantic streak of these works, they unfailingly bring to the fore both Schubert's and Gahy's flair for structure and melody.

-- Gerald Fenech, www.classical.net

Classical Music

Classical Music

�Bruckner's last mass is a masterpiece. Rooted in the traditional Austrian mass, it also contains symphonic elements found only in Beethoven's Missa solemnis, although Mahler can be seen on the horizon. Premiered in Vienna in 1872 to immense acclaim, the work is now performed both in the liturgy and in concert, a permanent part of the repertoire. In contrast to the monumental symphonies, here we encounter a very special soundscape, reaching from soft ethereal sounds to jubilant surges

Franz Schubert composed the works on this release at the peak of his career, just before his untimely death at age 31. These works display both his rapture of music making, and his melancholy farewell. These works are presented on a two-disc set, performed by Rachmaninov Trio Moscow. Rachmaninov Trio Moscow is Mikhail Tsinman, Natalia Savinova, and Victor Yampolsky. The group’s interpretation of Russian favorites has already been well received, and they meet the challenge of Schubert’s virtuosity with ease.

Classical Music

Freeman-Attwood's playing is notable for the beauty and freedom of line of his lyrical phrasing.' Gramophone

'He somehow manages to combine ringing clarity with creamy smoothness, pin-point intonation and effortless agility.' International Record Review

'Outstanding playing with a dynamic range of lively dialogue and solo lyricism in virtuoso style.' The Observer

'A multi-talented trumpeter.' BBC Music Magazine


Renowned for his outstanding technical and musical ability, as well as his unique re-workings of chamber repertoire, this latest album from Jonathan Freeman-Attwood introduces some fresh and unusual arrangements of well-known Romantic music for the under-explored medium of trumpet and piano duo.

The choice of Mendelssohn and Schumann, originally written for cello and violin respectively, allows Freeman-Attwood to demonstrate the melodic lyricism of the instrument as well as the thrilling execution a brass instrument can bring to intricate passage-work.

Grieg?s Holberg Suite has attracted arrangers since its composition; the opening Preludium is a brilliant vehicle for the trumpet and piano, fully showcasing the skills of the duo that have honed their skills over three albums.

These new transcriptions are beyond anything previously imagined for trumpet; they expand the boundaries of the trumpet as a solo instrument and deserve to take their place in the standard repertoire for the instrument.

As a trumpet player, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood has performed and recorded both as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles and has attracted plaudits from the press for his solo recordings.

Jonathan broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 3 and is Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

South African born Daniel-Ben Pienaar is an award-winning pianist whose live performances and recordings have won him widespread acclaim: 'a kaleidoscope of colours and textures' (International Piano).


Track Listing:
Edvard Grieg
1. Holberg Suite, Op. 40 - Praeludium
2. Holberg Suite, Op. 40 - Sarabande
3. Holberg Suite, Op. 40 - Gavotte
4. Holberg Suite, Op. 40 - Air
5. Holberg Suite, Op. 40 - Rigaudon

Robert Schumann
6. Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 - Mit leidenschaftlichem Ausdruck
7. Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 - Allegretto
8. Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 - Lebhaft

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
9. Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 - Allegro assai vivace
10. Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 - Allegretto scherzando
11. Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 - Adagio
12. Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58 - Molto allegro e vivace

Karl Pilss
13. Sonata for Trumpet and Piano - Allegro appassionato
14. Sonata for Trumpet and Piano - Adagio, molto cantabile
15. Sonata for Trumpet and Piano - Allegro agitato

Total Timing: 70 minutes

Classical Music

MEYERBEER: Robert le diable

First performed in French at the Paris Opera in 1867, Don Carlo is in many ways an amazingly innovative work. The opera seems to underline Verdi's shift from the Manichean division between good and evil, which had been a clear, structural element of his dramaturgy up to that point in his career. In this opera, Verdi assembles all his mainstay music theatre themes: power, with its honors and burdens; the contrasts of impossible love; the conflict between father and son; and an oppressed people demanding freedom. Verdi radically revised the score in 1883, using an Italian libretto and reducing the opera from five acts to four. The popularity of Don Carlo has grown unremittingly ever since, with today's critics almost unanimously recognizing it as one of Verdi's greatest masterpieces, an opera that continues to reveal new gems. Daniel Oren is fully in control on the podium, ensuring unanimity between orchestra and singers. The Maestro softens teh dark tones of the score, which are well reflected in the visuals, choosing instead to emphasize the various changes of mood.

After the first album with French cello music and the very successful recording of the Haydn Cello Concertos, Harriet Krijgh continues with the pearls of German-romantic cello literature: the recording of Brahms’ cello sonatas.

My colleague Victor Carr Jr. succinctly described what Schumann's three violin sonatas sound like in his review of the splendid Ara Malikian/Serouj Kradjian recording on Hänssler Classics. He rightly noted that these works are infrequently recorded as a cycle, and that alone works to the advantage of this release from violinist Jennifer Koh and her trusty piano partner Reiko Uchida.

Fortunately, their sensitive musicianship and technical aplomb warrant serious consideration. They emphasize intimacy and clarity, favoring tempos that are neither too fast nor too slow for what the music expresses. For example, they toss the A minor sonata finale's toccata-like motives back and forth in a relaxed, lilting manner that generates its own momentum--and needless to say, totally differs from the Kremer/Argerich "shock and awe" approach. The big D minor sonata's largely pizzicato slow movement stands out for the uniform precision with which the artists balance chords in similar registers, although the outer movements' symphonic dimensions benefit more from the slightly faster tempos, wider dynamic compass, and kinetic drive that keep Isabelle Faust and Slike Avenhaus (CPO) at the top of my reference list.

Don't force me to choose between Cedille, Hänssler, and CPO in the posthumous A minor, but at least let me acknowledge the additional suppleness and flexibility Uchida brings to the difficult piano part. I also should mention that Koh and Uchida dedicate their fine work on this disc to the memory of pianist Edward Aldwell, a moving and appropriate gesture.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

For over 500 years, the Vienna Boys’ Choir has been a living tradition. Since their beginning, the choir has worked with composers such as Mozart, Schubert, and Bruckner. Capriccio presents this two-disc set of what the choir is best known for - traditional Christmas music.

Un mari à la porte ( A Husband at the Door) is a one-act operetta which was recorded at the Teatro del Maggio in occasion of the 200th anniversary of Offenbach’s birth. Premiered in 1859, this rarely performed work is a most amusing comedy of errors, which is the typical frameset that the composer used to represent and mock the quirks and vices of the French society of his times. The action takes place in Susanne’s bedroom, on her wedding night. She is in company of her friend Rosita, with whom she complains about having just found out about her husband’s bad character, that she decides to punish and leave outside the door. Rosita tries to soothe her naive friend and eventually leaves. While alone, the bride realizes that there’s a man hidden under the bed. It’s Florestan Ducroquet, a young and penniless musician, who had broken into the room falling from the chimney, while escaping from the fury of a jealous husband. Rosita joins the pair in the room as Henry, the groom, is waiting outside the door pleading to come in, yet thinking the two friends are pulling a prank on him. Finally the intruder manages to flee from the window, seconds after having proposed to Rosita. Order is restored and love triumphs over all. This carefree play of allusions and misunderstandings is accompanied by the brilliant music of Offenbach that moves gracefully to the rhythm of dance: polka, mazurka and especially waltz. The strong points of this production are indeed the colorful, flamboyant setting and costumes and the amazing acting ability of all four singers, who have the audience laugh with sheer delight.

Gabriel Faure has frequently been termed “the father of Impressionism.” Why this is so rendered very apparent on this state-of-the-art album featuring interpretations of his two Piano Quartets by the superb Mozart Piano Quartet. With great virtuosity, a fine sense of sound, and an intelligent command of the complex overall structure, the four instrumentalists brighten the performance skies with their musical fireworks. The Parisian music world of Faure’s time was characterized by emancipation from Germany hegemony in chamber music after the traumatic outcome of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and by the beginnings of an original French musical language beyond the opera. Faure’s quartets draw formally on the tradition- and yet breathe a new spirit: church modes and whole-tone scales mark so many a motif, and here and there, along with the “classical” development of the themes, we also encounter entirely new harmonic fields and soundscapes. For instance, the beginning of the Adagio in op. 45 already suggests Ravel’s “La vallee des cloches” from the Miroirs: like a memory, distant bells ring in the piano part, over which the very lonely viola gives its all in a pastoral song of lament- enchanting! The two slow movements belong to the absolute highlights on this release.

This just might be one of the most important releases in the entire Dynamic catalog. Maybe even in all of recording history. For the first time ever, all of Paganini’s works have been collected in one single release, featuring all the best interpreters of the composer’s music: Salvatore Accardo, Massimo Quarta, Leonidas Kavacos, Luigi Alberto Bianchi, Stefan Milenkovic, Franco Mezzena, the Quartetto Paganini, Bin Huang, Luca Fanfoni, and many others. The release also includes historical documents featuring milestone Paganini interpretations by Ruggiero Ricci, Arthur Grumiaux, Yehudi Menhuin, Franco Gulli, Vasa Prihoda, and others. The six concertos, as well as several other works, are performed on Paganini’s 1742 Guarneri del Gesu violin. There is also a section of the release that features rare and newly re-discovered works in their world premiere recordings.

Composed for Venice in 1837, just a year-and-a-half after the fantastic success of Lucia di Lammermoor, Pia de' Tolomei "pleased altogether", in the composer's words. He revised it a couple of times thereafter and it was shown at various theaters as distant as Malta until 1855, after which it disappeared. It takes place in 13th-century Siena: Pia is married to Nello; his cousin Ghino loves her but she refuses his advances. Ghino angrily accuses Pia of adultery with an unknown man, who turns out to be Pia's brother, Rodrigo, and Nello imprisons her. Ghino eventually feels remorse and confesses his deception, but not soon enough to save Pia from being poisoned by Nello.

One of the formal weaknesses of the opera is that Rodrigo is a mezzo-soprano role, and that type of travesty never quite works; but even elsewhere, the fact that Pia is so passive, added to generally formulaic writing, keeps the opera from being a winner. Still, there are some fine Donizettian tunes and scenes, and it's worth hearing.

This live performance finds a remarkably committed cast struggling uphill against Donizetti's lack of true inspiration, but the singers turn out a satisfying experience in the end. The star is Patrizia Ciofi as Pia. She delivers a specific, focused reading, beautifully sung and filled with as much textual and tonal nuance as the score allows. Her voice has gained body in the middle and the top still gleams. Ghino is sung by tenor Dario Schmunck, and he exhibits a fine, ringing tenor and good Donizettian style; his opening aria and cabaletta and the second half of his duet with Nello are exciting, vigorous parts of the score, and he tears into them well. Baritone Andrew Schroeder has a nice snarl as Nello, but aside from the cabaletta to his duet with Ghino he has pretty ordinary music. Rodrigo is given similarly uninteresting music, and Laura Polverelli sings it well enough. The chorus sings with as much involvement as the cast, which is saying a great deal, and the orchestra plays with verve under Paolo Arrivabeni. Recommended for Donizetti completists.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Italian/English libretto included.

The greatest of the late 19th century Italian opera composers, Verdi's works featured realistic storylines and political issues of the day. Here are selections from over a dozen operas (La Traviata, Aida, Otello, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Un Ballo in Maschera, Falstaff, La Forza del Destino) and from his solemn Requiem Mass. Dramatic and inspiring!

Also available on standard DVD

With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s advocacy of artistic and personal freedom, Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera. Returning to it years after initial production debacles, Berlioz stated that he would ‘never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity, nor such a variety of ideas.’ The plot revolves around Cellini’s wooing of Teresa, a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance, excitement, violence, comedy and spectacle; the perfect stage for Terry Gilliam’s stylishly colorful and larger than life directing.

-----

DETAILS:

Format: NTSC
Language: French
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Dubbed: None
Region: All Regions
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Run Time: 180 minutes

MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition. GLINKA The Lark. TCHAIKOVSKY Romances: in f; in F. Waltzes: in A?; in f?. Nocturne in F • Anna Shelest (pn) • SHELEST 47553 (66:32)


The spate of new recordings of Pictures at an Exhibition continues unabated, there having been eight new recordings of the piano original added to my archive since I wrote my first Fanfare review of Michael Seewann’s traversal of the work in November of 2010. That averages out to two new piano versions per month. It would seem fair to state that Pictures has achieved “rite of passage” status among up-and-coming pianists, as well as among down-and-going pianists, and even middle-and-stagnating pianists.


Ukrainian-born Anna Shelest is definitely in the “up-and-coming” group. She was the youngest-ever prizewinner of the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition at the tender age of 11. Since then, she has studied with Jerome Lowenthal, won a lot of contests (Bradshaw-Buono, Louisiana International, Kawai American, Corpus Christi International, etc.), soloed with a lot of orchestras, and received a lot of critical acclaim (a “female reincarnation of Liszt,” a “piano lioness,” etc.), to which I shall add some of my own, although it will be a slightly qualified rave.


Shelest’s approach to Pictures is bold and extroverted. At one time I might have dared to say “masculine,” but I suppose in this day and age, I couldn’t get by with such a characterization. Because of the nature of this work, such an approach is appropriate most of the time. Her rendition of “Byd?o,” to cite one example, really induces the listener to hear oxen lumbering and straining under their burdens. Similarly, in “Great Gate,” her extroverted playing reinforces the grandeur of the movement as the apotheosis of the entire suite. I also very much like her rhythmic license in “Goldenberg” and forceful dispatch of the final eighth notes in measures 22 and 23, serving to show Goldenberg’s utter disdain for his poor cousin Schmuÿle. “Gnomus” is filled with wonderful dynamic contrasts, just the way it should be. The more delicate sections, such as the second promenade or “Il vecchio castello,” are subtly nuanced in a most effective way. Her slight hesitations here and there in the theme of “Tuilleries” suggest the impetuousness of youth. These and dozens of other touches combine to make this a superior reading of the work.


Nevertheless, Shelest falters in a few places: Her “Ballet of Unhatched Chicks,” with her bold approach, sounds more like a ballet of fully-grown chickens. It’s deftly played, but just too heavy-handed. Parts of “Gnomus,” particularly the trilled section beginning in measure 72, don’t sound menacing enough to me. Shelest uses a measured tremolo in “Cum mortuis” rather than the unmeasured one employed by a majority of pianists. The 32nd-note markings of the passage can legitimately be interpreted either way, but a fast, unmeasured tremolo produces more mystery in the piece. In “Limoges,” she omits the sforzandi in measures 2 and 4, and other similar places, a failing since these markings emphasize the animated and breathless nature of the gossip that is being portrayed in this picture.


Perhaps the thing that caught me most by surprise in Shelest’s rendition comes in measure 21 of “Catacombs.” In some editions, there is no tie in the low A between that and the preceding measure (it is in the autograph), but Shelest not only foregoes the tie, but changes the bass pitch to G, which is a reading not in any of the 10 different editions I own. This doesn’t sound bad, but mind you, it is what a composer possessed with less genius than Mussorgsky would have done, as the G then matches the chord above it. By sustaining the A through that measure and two beats of the following one, Mussorgsky maintains suspense that is finally relieved in very dramatic fashion on beat 3 of measure 22.


These and a few other things are all relatively minor shortcomings, to be sure, but cumulatively prevent me from ranking this version in the very top echelon of recordings of Pictures. Still, it is certainly worth hearing by Pictures enthusiasts.


I admit that I’m considerably easier to please on any piano piece outside of Pictures at an Exhibition, and Shelest pleases me very much in the other Russian pieces on this disc. The bold and assertive treatment she brings to Mussorgsky is not heard in these other pieces, where it would be much less appropriate. The very Lisztian Lark by Glinka, arranged by Balakirev, is a good case in point. Its delicate opening calls for tender restraint, which is exactly what Shelest provides. Later, in its cadenza-like flourishes, she ramps up the drama, but only according to the demands of the music. Likewise, her delineation of the style of the lyric opening of Tchaikovsky’s Romance in F Minor against the trepak-like middle section sounds exactly right, as does her minimal pedaling in his Waltz in A?. Shelest is in her element in the rhapsodic Romance in F Major, bringing improvisatory-like freedom to her conception of the piece. In the very unwaltz-like Waltz in F?-Minor, with its lyrical question and staccato answer, the listener is brought into the dialogue that is going on in the piece. Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne in F Major is constructed upon gentle repeated chords, to which Shelest brings just the right amount of separation, again exercising caution in her pedaling.


This is, then, a most satisfying recital, with decent recorded piano sound. There are no notes provided about the music, but only about the performer, an indication (among others) that the CD is self-published to promote the artist. I have no issue, however, with a young woman possessing talent—and lots of it—making her talent known and accessible to others. I’m not sure where else it may be found, but this CD is easily available through Shelest’s website, annashelest.com.


FANFARE: David DeBoor Canfield

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

Also available on standard CD

This unique programme is the first time that all the ballet music from Verdi’s operas has been brought together in a singe recording. Although The Four Seasons from I vespri siciliani (The Sicilian Vespers) and the ballet scenes from Aida and Otello have survived, substantial pieces from Il trovatore and Don Carlo are more often cut, while the ballet from Jérusalem is all but unknown. José Serebrier’s recordings with the Bournemouth Symphony have resulted in some great successes with unusual repertoire. This release will be of interest both to opera enthusiasts and to those eager to explore Verdi’s neglected and relatively small body of concert music.

R E V I E W:



VERDI Complete Ballet Music from the Operas • José Serebrier, cond; Bournemouth SO • NAXOS 8.57218-19 (2 CDs: 115:22); NAXOS NBD0027 (Blu-ray audio: 115:22)


This pair of discs includes ballet music from Otello, Macbeth, Jérusalem, Don Carlo, Aida, Il trovatore , and I vespri Siciliani —much of it music we don’t get to hear in performances of these operas. The most direct competition for this set is the four-disc Chandos series featuring all of this music plus all the preludes and overtures, with the BBC Philharmonic under Edward Downes. If you have those discs, this would probably be a needless duplication. But comparing the performances demonstrates Serebrier to be the more interpretively interesting conductor. Downes’s performances are more than competent, and he does hold one’s interest throughout what is not always first-rate music. I reviewed the Downes recordings as they were released, in Fanfare 20:5, 21:6, and 23:5.


Serebrier, however, brings to the music a greater variety of color, more rhythmic energy, and a wider range of ideas about phrasing. The vitality of his rhythm is perhaps the most significant difference, and it can be heard everywhere, in slow or fast music. The extra lilt he brings, for example, to the waltz right after the introduction of the Don Carlo ballet brings a smile to the listener.


There are fine, comprehensive notes to accompany the disc, and Naxos’s recorded sound is well balanced and clear, if a bit closer-in than the Chandos. While not all of this music is at Verdi’s most inspired level, none of it is unworthy of our attention. Second-rate Verdi is still better than most composers’ gems! Serebrier’s colorful, charming, and highly committed performances, and the Bournemouth Symphony’s excellent playing, make this a highly recommendable disc.


FANFARE: Henry Fogel

VERDI: Lombardi alla prima crociata (I)

Pierre Rode’s concertos represent the full flowering of the French violin school, the origins of which can be traced back to his teacher Viotti’s arrival in Paris in 1782. Bold and youthful, the First Violin Concerto contrasts with the more pastoral and introspective moods of the Fifth Violin Concerto, while the Ninth was written during the composer’s stay in Russia. All three works share Rode’s signature finales which ‘sparkle with gracefulness, piquancy and impishness’. Performed using painstakingly prepared new editions, this is the third of five volumes containing all thirteen of Rode’s Violin Concertos.

Review:
Make no mistake, Friedmann Eichhorn is one of the most remarkably gifted violinists of our time, a fact made clear by this cycle of Pierre Rode’s concertos. Born in Bordeaux in 1774, Rode’s life as a touring virtuoso violinist was of mixed fortunes, eventually dying in obscurity at the age of fifty-six. As a composer he wrote almost exclusively for the violin, including thirteen concertos, though all budding students of the instrument will recognise his name for his pieces to develop technique. The Seventh concerto found a place in the repertoire well into the early 20th century, but all others had already been long forgotten. Yet this disc is full of those audience pleasing melodies that you will find in Paganini’s popular concertos, the mix of lyric attractions, with outrageous demonstrations of virtuosity made all the more demanding by Rode’s mercurial decoration of the melody. All three works on the present release require extensive use of spiccato, and I have never heard such micro-second accuracy as Eichhorn achieves, each note sparkling like a perfectly cut diamond. Then for aspiring virtuosos, just try that at Eichhorn’s pianissimos and then you will have perfect bow control. Never sounding hurried, his tempos are still electrifying, and just to add a final degree of brilliance, Eichhorn provides more technical hurdles with his own cadenzas that are perfectly in keeping with Rode’s style.

-- David Denton, Naxos

Performing on early 19th-century pianos from the Frederick Historic Piano Collection, competition prizewinners Dmitry Rachmanov, a Juilliard graduate, and Cullan Bryant, a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, explore the interrelationships between the keyboard music of Beethoven and his principal teachers in this fascinating double-album of rarities for piano four-hands, culminating in a revelatory account of the Great Fugue in Beethoven’s own keyboard arrangement. The distinctive sonorities of these highly esteemed period instruments transport the listener back to the time when Beethoven, his teachers or his own pupils, may have performed this music themselves for the first time.

John Philip Sousa's music lives on through this superb recording. Performed by the esteemed United States Marine Band, this is an historic compilation that includes such favorites as "The Stars and Stripes Forever," "Semper Fidelis," and "The Washington Post." Equally welcome are such lesser-known works as "The Bride Elect," "Jack Tar," and "Man Behind the Gun," which offer a glimpse into the music not so familiar to casual Sousa listeners.
Under the leadership of Colonel Albert Schoepper, the performances are detailed and filled with nuances exemplified by the clarity of "The President's Own." The musicality and responsiveness of this ensemble is extremely noteworthy, as Schoepper's renditions provide a rich, well-balanced equilibrium between the wind, brass, and percussion. The unified dynamic control of the group sounds effortless, as does their interpretation and handling of Sousa's relentless, almost whimsical phrasings. These supercharged performances truly illustrate the unparalleled tradition of the Marine Band's playing of Sousa's music. Simply put, there is no better way to experience the music of the original "March King."

Mercadante: Flute Concertos Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 6 / Theme and V

Originally released in 2007, Artur Pizarro and Vita Panomariovaite’s ‘Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Duos’ has been re-issued as part of Linn’s ECHO series. These two talented pianists bring to bear their skill and virtuosity in three colorful arrangements encompassing Rimsky-Korsakov’s most popular music for orchestra, Scheherazade, Sadko and Capriccio Espagnol. Mr. Pizarro’s prize-winning performance at the Leeds Piano Competition marked the beginning of his international concert career. “…wonderful… very effective, evocative and exhilarating performances.” (Int’l Record Review)