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Concertos of Josef Guretzky / Richter, Gaborjani, The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen
Chandos · Jan 2017CD$21.99 -
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Netzel: Chamber Portrait / Broman, Crawford-Phillips, Bisholt, Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra
DB Productions · Sep 2021CD$18.99 -
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SaleBrahms, Rihm & Harbison: Double Concertos / Vogler, Wang
Sony Masterworks · Jun 2018CD$12.98$6.49 -
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SaleBach, Corea, Davis, Piazzolla & Vivaldi: Baroque in Blue
Berlin Classics · Jun 2022CD$20.99$10.49 -
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Casella: Complete Music For Cello & Piano / Favalessa, Semeraro
Brilliant Classics · Apr 2014CD$13.99 -
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Massonneau: 3 Duos Concertante, Op. 9
Brilliant Classics
CD
$10.99
$13.99
Save 20%
May 03, 2024
Attractive Classical-era duets for violin
and cello in world-premiere recordings
by a young Italian pair of brothers.
Despite his French name, Louis
Massonneau was a German composer,
born in Kassel in 1766 and dying at the
venerable age of 82 in MecklenburgVorpommern in 1848. His father was
chef to the Landgrave Friedrich II of
Hessen-Kassel, and Louis received his
musical training at the hands of the
court musicians in Kassel, soon
becoming a violinist in the court
orchestra. The Landgrave died when
Massonneau was 19, and the orchestra
disbanded, requiring him to seek his
fortune elsewhere. This he did in a
series of posts, as a concertmaster of
court and theatre orchestras in
Göttingen, Frankfurt, Altona, Dessau,
Hamburg and finally Mecklenburg, where he
settled for good and retired in 1837.
Composing all the while, Massonneau left
behind a fairly substantial catalogue. Almost
completely unknown apart from a trio of
oboe quartets, it includes three symphonies,
twelve symphonies and six violin concertos,
doubtless written with his own talents in
mind. These three Duos Concertante probably
date from Massonneau’s time in Altona, when
he came to know the cellist Martin Calmus.
Required to perform duets for the
entertainment of those attending ‘Musical
Academies’, Massonneau doubtless found a
dearth of such repertoire, and wrote it afresh.
Calmus himself must have been an
accomplished cellist, because both parts
demonstrate a virtuosity and experimental
spirit shared with the better-known music of
their contemporary Boccherini. Each duo is cast
in three movements, skilfully varied in form
from the others, in which lyrical expression is
tempered by a touch of irony. Haydnesque
touches of major-minor ambiguity lend
dramatic tension to the first duo, while a more
balletic spirit and Mozartian melodic charm
brings a quasi-operatic character to the second.
No.3 is the most innovative in its rapid
conversational interplay between violin and
cello and unconventional range of timbre.
Demian and Dylan Baraldi have made this
recording with the cooperation of the Edition
Massonneau, and authoritative booklet notes
from the Edition illuminate the composer’s life
and work.
Wennerberg-Reuter, Stenhammar & Hallen
BIS
SACD
$21.99
Nov 28, 2025
Pianist Peter Friis Johansson has brought together renowned musicians, including violinist Johan Dalene and soprano Sofie Asplund, for a programme that juxtaposes three generations of Swedish composers. The vocal and chamber works performed here testify to the special place these genres occupy in Swedish art music and to the vitality of musical societies in the early twentieth century, which sparked an interest that went far beyond easily digestible music. Andreas Hallen is the oldest of the composers featured here. His Piano Quartet shows great confidence despite being an early work. Like many composers of his generation, Hallen readily incorporates folk elements. Wilhelm Stenhammar produced an important and varied body of work. His Violin Sonata is a work that reflects the ideals of his German education: it is absolute music without any explicit extra-musical narrative content, a 'synthesis of classicism and sensitive poetry', as his first biographer put it. Sara Wennerberg-Reuter is the least-known of the three, and many of her scores remain unpublished. Stockholm's only female organist with a permanent position, she left behind a varied body of work spanning a wide range of styles. She distanced herself from her contemporaries with a musical style that focused on melody, a commodity she felt had by then become scarce.
Horn Trios from Mozart to Piazzolla & Beyond, Vol. 1
Affetto Records
CD
$24.99
Aug 30, 2024
HORN TRIOS from MOZART to PIAZZOLLA and beyond (Volume 1) is the first installment of a 2-volume compendium of horn trios from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries - an amazing "anthology" of original and arranged repertoire for the trio ensemble of horn, violin and piano. This is not the kind of recording project consisting of the obligatory Brahms Trio Op. 40 in the company of two or three other much-recorded works. Presenting a 4-centuries double-disc album with just this First Volume, the artists explore a strikingly-interesting collection of diverse styles and genres, where even the sheer number of different nationalities of the composers (from 12 different countries) brings instant awe. Yes, the Brahms Horn Trio is included, as well as works by Mozart and Piazzolla (as the album's title proclaims), but we also hear trios by composers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Morocco. Presenting no less than 8 world-premiere recordings in just this Volume 1, the album brims with rarities and contrasts, showcasing many works written specifically for these artists. Hornist Howard Wall, whose storied career includes not just his legendary reputation as a long-time member of two of America's most prestigious orchestras - The New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra, but has also produced an impressive discography of chamber and solo discs, brings a symphonic dimension to his own arrangement of Piazzolla's "Oblivion", and an excitingly speedy rendition of the Brahms Trio, as well as breathtaking interpretations of all other works. Violinist Elmira Darvarova is equally "at home" in Mozart (as a former concertmaster of The Metropolitan Opera, where she accompanied the world's greatest singers in a multitude of Mozart operas) and in Piazzolla (having attained a Grammy nomination for one of her many Piazzolla albums), as well as everywhere else, possessing not just an incredibly strong and full tone, but also a magnificent level of sensitivity which fascinates with the limitless range of dynamics and sophisticated phrasing. Pianist Thomas Weaver, whose own horn trio mesmerizes with atmospheric moods (and is narrated by himself, reading Edgar Allan Poe's Stanzas) and whose translucently textured playing has been hailed for his recent album of Hungarian composers recorded together with Elmira Darvarova), shines in each piece with sublime virtuosity and fierce artistic commitment. This is a "not to be missed" album release, anticipating the upcoming Volume 2 which will conclude this terrific project.
Cilea-Longo: Chamber Music
Tactus
CD
$21.99
Apr 03, 2026
The publication of the pieces included in this album aims to promote and disseminate a lesser-known chamber music repertoire among national and international concertgoers, a repertoire that undoubtedly deserves cultural and musical appreciation in every era for it's intrinsic originality. The two composers featured in this edition certainly need no introduction: Francesco Cilea, tied to the operatic tradition and bel canto, author of famous operas such as L'Arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur, and Alessandro Longo, the first to revise all 555 of Domenico Scarlatti's harpsichord sonatas, as well as the author of the well-known 12-volume Tecnica Pianistica. Longo was also the founder of the renowned Neapolitan musical journal L'Arte Pianistica. Gianfrancesco Federico on violin, Giuseppe Currao on clarinet, and Ugo Federico on piano guide us through these compositions, which are of great interest for understanding the Italian musical landscape of the early 20th century.
Violoncello & Harpsichord Sonatas, Vol. 1
Solo Musica
CD
$20.99
Oct 25, 2024
This CD is the first of three albums of music by Giovanni Benedetto Platti, on which we plan to record all twelve cello sonatas and the harpsichord sonatas Op. 1. We are delighted to have found in Platti an interesting and little-known composer whose music is fascinating to explore. Giovanni Benedetto Platti is a classic example of one of the many underestimated composers of the 18th century. Today, his name is familiar only to specialists and his music known to but a very few, yet his work is well worth discovering. A factotum at the Wurzburg court, he wrote eminently attractive sonatas and concertos for oboe, cello, harpsichord and flute, as well as larger scale works including an interesting Requiem. The twelve cello sonatas have survived in a manuscript dated 1725 from the collection of Count von Schonborn in Wiesentheid. They all have four movements and are characterised, as so often in Platti, by a compact and stringent compositional style. Hardly any single movement takes up more than a transverse page of the score, and many of the slow movements only half a page. Born in South Tyrol, Alex Jellici studied the cello in his home town of Bolzano, then in Florence, Vienna and Zurich under Luca Fiorentini, Giovanni Gnocchi and Orfeo Mandozzi. Further studies in baroque cello and viola da gamba followed under Martin Zeller at the Zurich University of the Arts. Matias Lanz has been organist at the Winterthur Veltheim Reformed Church since 2013. He has also been active as a tango pianist for several years. In 2022, together with bandoneonist Jens Biedermann, he founded Tango Bodegon, a cuarteto tipico dedicated to the performance of traditional Argentinian tango. He has attended tango masterclasses with Roger Helou, Pablo Estigarribia, Leonardo Ferreyra and Rodolfo Mederos.
Bonelli: Chamber Music
Tactus
CD
$21.99
Jun 07, 2024
The Venetian musician Ettore Bonelli has always been known as a violinist, a teacher and revisor, but less so as a composer. Precisely the conspicuous amount of revisions, over a hundred, (the famous version of the Concerto for Oboe by Benedetto Marcello, in fact, composed by Alessandro Marcello, published by Zanibon in Padua) to which Bonelli mainly dedicated himself after World War ii, had over-shadowed his rich activity of composition which had occupied him since 1918. He had abandoned this for thirty years and had taken it up again only in the '70s. With pieces with a didactic aim dedicated to the violin, oboe, double bass, and the flute- harp duo. This recording promoted by Alessandro Curri (violist, nephew of Ettore Bonelli, and son of the harper Ilde Bonelli) represents a first glance to the composer's chamber music production focused on works for violin and piano and for viola and piano. With Giuliano Fontanella on the violin and pianists Tania Salinaro and Giovanni Dal Missier, this world premiere recording is revealing a solid and decisive craftsmanship, which inherits and reworks the styles in vogue in the first half of the twentieth century in Italy, without excessive experimentalism yet with skilful refinement.
Gubaidulina: Triple Concerto; Rejoice! / Manze, NDR Radiophilharmonie
Orfeo
CD
$20.99
Sep 06, 2024
One of Gubaidulina's special merits is that at the end of the 1970s she discovered the sound characteristics and expressive possibilities of the bayan, a button accordion that had previously only been popular as a folk music instrument in Russia, and established it as an instrument of contemporary music through numerous inspired compositions. She was supported and accompanied in this endeavour by bayan performers such as Friedrich Lips in Moscow and the Swiss Elsbeth Moser, who taught in Hanover. The creation of the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and bayan can be traced back to a suggestion by Elsbeth Moser. For the five movements of the duo composition Rejoice! For violin and cello (1981), Gubaidulina chose various quotations from the writings of the Ukrainian 'travelling philosopher' Grigori Skoworoda (1722-1794), who called for poverty and self-deepening as a prerequisite for finding God. The composer explained: "The theme of my work is the metaphorical representation of the transition to another reality, expressed through the juxtaposition of normal sound and harmonics." Due to the unmistakable religious references it was not possible to premiere the work until 1988 and the premiere took place in Finland.
GALINA USTVOLSKAYA: CHAMBER MUSIC
NORTHERN FLOWERS
CD
$16.63
Oct 20, 2017
Shostakovich highly appreciated her music, and predicted her worldwide recognition. In his String Quartet No. 5 and in Suite on Words by Michelangelo (No. 9) he used the second theme from the finale of Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano by Ustvolskaya. He wrote in a letter to her, "it's not you that are under my influence, but I'm under yours."
Concertos of Josef Guretzky / Richter, Gaborjani, The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen
Chandos
CD
$21.99
Jan 20, 2017
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen takes its name from the original ensemble that gave London’s first public concerts, from 1678, and which continued to meet well into the middle of the eighteenth century. The members of the group are leading figures on the period instrument scene in the UK and Europe, offering programmes that draw on recent and original research. They have been described on BBC Radio 3 as ‘purveyors of exhilarating and uplifting music.’ The baroque ensemble here commits to record unjustly neglected concertos by Josef Guretzky, rich in Italian-influenced virtuosity and dynamism, yet highly innovative in the contrast of rhythms and forms. The album features the premiere recording of four of Guretzky’s nine cello concertos as well as Guretzky’s only surviving Violin Concerto. They are complemented by a contemporaneous keyboard fugue by another Czech master of the baroque era, Bohuslav Matej Cernohorsky.
American Classics - Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices / Quint, Wolfram
Naxos
CD
$19.99
May 27, 2008
John Corigliano is a man of many talents – composer, teacher, record producer. This enterprising disc showcases both his earlier work (the violin sonata) and a set of variations based on his score for François Girard’s 1997 film The Red Violin. Sensibly, Naxos have paired them with violin vignettes by Virgil Thomson, perhaps best known for his film scores The Plow That Broke the Plains and The River.
The Russian-born violinist Philippe Quint may not be a household name on this side of the Atlantic but he has made quite an impact in his adopted homeland. Apart from winning a slew of prestigious awards he is dedicated to performing American music. He is partnered here by the charismatic pianist William Wolfram, who made an impact of his own with a fine disc of Donizetti opera transcriptions [see review].
Briefly, The Red Violin traces the travels of the eponymous instrument from Italy in the late 1600s to 19th-century England, China during the Cultural Revolution and finally to Canada in the 1990s. The conceit will be familiar to anyone who has read Accordion Crimes by Brokeback author Annie Proulx.
Corigliano won an Academy Award for the original score, which he has reworked as a set of five variations. From the outset it’s clear we are in the presence of a very fine fiddler. Quint produces a lovely warm tone in the elegiac opening to Variation 1, not to mention some scintillating passagework in the ensuing Con bravura. But it’s in the third variation that he really surprises, with an almost throaty sound. He seems perfectly in control at all times, especially in the quick, rhythmically precise writing towards the end of this variation. In Variation 4 he is wonderfully eloquent, too, and the instrument’s upper registers really sing. He also imbues the music with a meditative quality that is most attractive, notably in the final variation. Even in the more agitated passages he bows with great precision and bite, the engineers capturing the weight and character of sound very well indeed.
For anyone looking to sample Corigliano’s work this is an excellent place to start. His music is described as ‘neo-tonal’ but as so often the label doesn’t tell you a great deal about what to expect. Lightweight it may be but this is skilful music adroitly played. Ditto the violin sonata, where Quint is joined by Wolfram, whose first imperious entry is a sign of what’s to follow. Both soloists are warmly recorded, the violin tone nicely balanced by a weighty piano.
Wolfram proves he can play quietly and with feeling in the Andantino, in marked contrast to his jaunty Allegro. They both respond well to this meanderingly beautiful movement. But even here the music has a habit of modulating into something a little wilder before returning to its gentle wanderings. Indeed, there are times when one is reminded of Korngold’s violin concerto. But whatever the echoes it’s delectable stuff and superbly played.
The third movement – Lento – is more austere than anything we’ve heard thus far; Wolfram restrains the violin’s attempts to break free with darker more declamatory music. The tension is never fully resolved – shades of Shostakovich’s piano trios, perhaps – the movement ending in an enigmatic violin fade.
The final Allegro has a rollicking, silent-film quality that conceals writing of some subtlety and skill. Wolfram springs the rhythms with real affection, Quint shooting the musical rapids with ease. It’s a witty and engaging conclusion to a delightful work, helped by playing of rare commitment. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine this performance being easily trumped.
Virgil Thomson, like his contemporary Aaron Copland, belongs to that small group of composers whose work captures the spirit of America, whether in rousing tributes to the Wild West or evocations of its landscapes and rivers. But the works recorded here are altogether more urban – sophisticated, even – dating as they do from Thomson’s years in Paris.
The Three Portraits, arranged for violin and piano by Samuel Dushkin, are charming vignettes. It’s not essential to identify the subjects, who are rendered here with obvious insight. The first is a tipsy barcarolle, the second a haughty tango, both essayed with rhythmic subtlety and an artist’s eye for defining detail. The bird-like third portrait, complete with trills, is for violin alone. Fresh, open, never sly or knowing, these pieces are little gems.
Five Ladies, written in the 1930s but only published in 1983, offers more of the same but this time without the intervention of an arranger. If anything these pieces are more focused, the writing more distinctive than before. They really are the simplest of sketches, a series of telling musical pencil strokes. The soloists echo this disarmingly simple style with playing of lightness and grace.
The Eight Portraits, written between 1928 and 1940, give Quint another chance to demonstrate his skills. At first they can seem a little dry, almost like a set of practice pieces, but Quint individualises each of them with a range of mood and colour that is most impressive. That said, the material is overstretched at times. Minor caveats aside this really is playing of a high order, self-possessed yet never self-regarding.
Such fine performances of rarely heard works are what make the American Classics series indispensable. Indeed, this is one of the most consistently satisfying projects in the entire Naxos catalogue. And while this disc doesn’t qualify as mould-breaking or profound, it’s well worth hearing.
-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International
The Russian-born violinist Philippe Quint may not be a household name on this side of the Atlantic but he has made quite an impact in his adopted homeland. Apart from winning a slew of prestigious awards he is dedicated to performing American music. He is partnered here by the charismatic pianist William Wolfram, who made an impact of his own with a fine disc of Donizetti opera transcriptions [see review].
Briefly, The Red Violin traces the travels of the eponymous instrument from Italy in the late 1600s to 19th-century England, China during the Cultural Revolution and finally to Canada in the 1990s. The conceit will be familiar to anyone who has read Accordion Crimes by Brokeback author Annie Proulx.
Corigliano won an Academy Award for the original score, which he has reworked as a set of five variations. From the outset it’s clear we are in the presence of a very fine fiddler. Quint produces a lovely warm tone in the elegiac opening to Variation 1, not to mention some scintillating passagework in the ensuing Con bravura. But it’s in the third variation that he really surprises, with an almost throaty sound. He seems perfectly in control at all times, especially in the quick, rhythmically precise writing towards the end of this variation. In Variation 4 he is wonderfully eloquent, too, and the instrument’s upper registers really sing. He also imbues the music with a meditative quality that is most attractive, notably in the final variation. Even in the more agitated passages he bows with great precision and bite, the engineers capturing the weight and character of sound very well indeed.
For anyone looking to sample Corigliano’s work this is an excellent place to start. His music is described as ‘neo-tonal’ but as so often the label doesn’t tell you a great deal about what to expect. Lightweight it may be but this is skilful music adroitly played. Ditto the violin sonata, where Quint is joined by Wolfram, whose first imperious entry is a sign of what’s to follow. Both soloists are warmly recorded, the violin tone nicely balanced by a weighty piano.
Wolfram proves he can play quietly and with feeling in the Andantino, in marked contrast to his jaunty Allegro. They both respond well to this meanderingly beautiful movement. But even here the music has a habit of modulating into something a little wilder before returning to its gentle wanderings. Indeed, there are times when one is reminded of Korngold’s violin concerto. But whatever the echoes it’s delectable stuff and superbly played.
The third movement – Lento – is more austere than anything we’ve heard thus far; Wolfram restrains the violin’s attempts to break free with darker more declamatory music. The tension is never fully resolved – shades of Shostakovich’s piano trios, perhaps – the movement ending in an enigmatic violin fade.
The final Allegro has a rollicking, silent-film quality that conceals writing of some subtlety and skill. Wolfram springs the rhythms with real affection, Quint shooting the musical rapids with ease. It’s a witty and engaging conclusion to a delightful work, helped by playing of rare commitment. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine this performance being easily trumped.
Virgil Thomson, like his contemporary Aaron Copland, belongs to that small group of composers whose work captures the spirit of America, whether in rousing tributes to the Wild West or evocations of its landscapes and rivers. But the works recorded here are altogether more urban – sophisticated, even – dating as they do from Thomson’s years in Paris.
The Three Portraits, arranged for violin and piano by Samuel Dushkin, are charming vignettes. It’s not essential to identify the subjects, who are rendered here with obvious insight. The first is a tipsy barcarolle, the second a haughty tango, both essayed with rhythmic subtlety and an artist’s eye for defining detail. The bird-like third portrait, complete with trills, is for violin alone. Fresh, open, never sly or knowing, these pieces are little gems.
Five Ladies, written in the 1930s but only published in 1983, offers more of the same but this time without the intervention of an arranger. If anything these pieces are more focused, the writing more distinctive than before. They really are the simplest of sketches, a series of telling musical pencil strokes. The soloists echo this disarmingly simple style with playing of lightness and grace.
The Eight Portraits, written between 1928 and 1940, give Quint another chance to demonstrate his skills. At first they can seem a little dry, almost like a set of practice pieces, but Quint individualises each of them with a range of mood and colour that is most impressive. That said, the material is overstretched at times. Minor caveats aside this really is playing of a high order, self-possessed yet never self-regarding.
Such fine performances of rarely heard works are what make the American Classics series indispensable. Indeed, this is one of the most consistently satisfying projects in the entire Naxos catalogue. And while this disc doesn’t qualify as mould-breaking or profound, it’s well worth hearing.
-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International
Netzel: Chamber Portrait / Broman, Crawford-Phillips, Bisholt, Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra
DB Productions
CD
$18.99
Sep 03, 2021
“Art is a field that has always been open to women, and where they have also accomplished a great deal. It can not be denied that whilst women have had success in the performing arts their achievements in the creative arts have not been so illustrious. As for Swedish women in particular they have won great acclaim abroad but always as performers. Consequently many people rush to the assumption that women do not have the ability to create significant works of art. Objectively, there is no evidence to suggest this is true or false with regard to the field of music. On the other hand, it should be assumed that a woman, given the same conditions as a man, can create equally impressive works of art. All efforts in this area should be met with respect even by those who have been skeptical to previous attempts. Amongst those, who have seriously dedicatedly applied themselves to redressing this imbalance in Swedish music, Laura Netzel holds a special position.” (F. Herman) Laura Netzel (1839-1927) is yet another Swedish composer of forgotten treasures. Malin Broman and Simon Crawford-Phillips are back with their third album on dB Productions, this time along with soprano Sabina Bisholt and the Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra. This chamber music album present never before recorded works for violin & strings, violin & piano, and selected songs and piano pieces by this remarkable composer, just waiting to be discovered by a broader public.
HER COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE RECORDINGS
WARNER CLASSICS
CD
$34.41
Apr 15, 2022
Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) became a figure on the basis of a handful of recordings. The meteoric career of this distinguished ambassadress of the Hungarian violin school in no way foretold her posthumous idolisation. Her historic recordings of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and stunning readings of Schubert's complete works for violin and piano, together with a few first-class concerto discs, make up a legacy. At last, it is available and remastered in high definition from the original tapes.
Alkan & Farrenc: French Cello Sonatas, Vol. 3
Brilliant Classics
CD
$9.99
$12.99
Save 25%
Mar 21, 2025
This third instalment in Brilliant Classics' French Cello Sonatas series features the phenomenal composer Louise Farrenc (1804-1875), who is enjoying a much deserved revival amid contemporary focus on women composers, and the enigmatic and formidable Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888), renowned for his complex compositional language and extreme piano virtuosity. Farrenc was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and a teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a wide variety of piano music. Her Cello Sonata in B-flat, Op.46, in three movements, was one of her last compositions (1859). The treatment of the two instruments, especially the piano, with it's extensive use of tremolo, broken octaves and scale passages, indicates inspiration taken from Beethoven's cello sonatas as a model. The opening movement, Allegro moderato, glides along effortlessly. A lovely Andante sostenuto, full of ornamentation serves as the middle movement. The finale is a lively Allegro. The work of French composer and virtuoso pianist Charles-Valentin Alkan possesses a unique blend of complexity, innovation and emotional depth, positioning him as one of the most distinctive Romantic composers. Known for his formidable technique and reclusive nature, Alkan's compositions were marked by their technical demands and unorthodox structures, attracting both admiration and mystique. His Cello Sonata in E, Op.47 stands out as an example of his flair for blending instrumental colour and thematic development. Composed in 1856 (three years before Farrenc's), this piece is an intriguing exploration of the cello's expressive range, juxtaposed with the piano's virtuosic potential. It is structured in four movements, each showcasing the composer's penchant for unexpected turns and rich harmonies. The first movement introduces a lyrical yet intricate dialogue between cello and piano, establishing an interplay that continues throughout the sonata. The third movement, marked Adagio, highlights Alkan's capacity for profound, almost spiritual expressiveness, contrasting the vigorous and playful nature of the final Allegretto. This combination of heartfelt emotion and formidable technical demands makes the work a true test for performers. Though not as frequently performed as mainstream Romantic sonatas, Alkan's Cello Sonata has been rediscovered for it's inventive composition and serves as a testament to his ingenuity and the depth of his often-overlooked musical legacy. Other information: - Recorded 2024 in Moscow - Booklet in English contains liner notes and profiles of the artists - This third CD in a unique series of "French Cello Sonatas" presents two works from the Romantic period, the cello sonatas by Louise Farrenc and Charles-Valentin Alkan. - The sonata by Alkan is a bold, substantial work in rich romantic idiom. Alkan's superhuman pianism is reflected in the challenging piano part. The works of female composer Louise Farrenc receive more and more recognition nowadays. Her Cello Sonata is a full blooded romantic work, a gem in the genre. - Marina Tarasova is one of the most renowned cellists of today: 'Her playing is generous in tone, full-blooded in expression, passionate and confident, evidently fired by love for and commitment to the music.' Gramophone. She is winner of international competitions in Prague, Florence, Paris, and a laureate of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow. She began playing the cello at the age of six and studied at the Gnessin School with Alexander Fedorchenko and at the Moscow Conservatoire with Natalia Shakhovskaya. Her vast repertoire spans the 17th century to the present day. She has worked with many renowned musicians, such as Mikhail Pletnev, Mariss Jansons, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kurt Masur, Eduard Grach and Yuri Bashmet. - Marina Tarasova's piano partner is the excellent Ivan Sokolov. - The first volume of French Cello Sonatas (BC96566) presented works by Gabriel Piernei (1863-1937), Eidouard Lalo (1823-1892) and Charles Koechlin (1867-1959); the second volume... Vincent D'Indy (1851-1931), Leon Boellmann (1862-1897) and Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) (BC 96821).
Brahms, Rihm & Harbison: Double Concertos / Vogler, Wang
Sony Masterworks
CD
$6.49
$12.98
Save 50%
Jun 15, 2018
The cellist Jan Vogler, who lives in New York and Dresden, has recorded three Double concertos for violin, cello and orchestra with his wife, the outstanding violinist Mira Wang, with the renowned Royal Scottish National Orchestra under direction of Peter Oundjian. Brahms' famous Double concerto captivates with wonderfully sweeping melodies, romantic sounds, eloquent solos and great orchestral sound. The English press wrote about one of the previous concerts: "Vogler, in particular, treated his solo sections like an operatic recitative, even in the faster Vivace sections of the finale, and Wang, his wife, matched him both in virtuosity and in beauty of tone. The highlight, however, was the opening of the slow movement, which produced sensational legato tone, soloists and orchestra slotting into one another like concentric circles, and creating a sound like molten chocolate.” The American composer John Harbison (born 1938), whose cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma has already caused a sensation, composed the Double concerto for the Boston Symphony Orchestra commissioned by the Friends of the Dresden Festival. The highly praised world premiere with Jan Vogler and Mira Wang took place on April 8th 2010 in Boston under the direction of Carlos Kalmar. Now this colorful, dynamic work full of glittering virtuosity can be heard for the first time in a recording. The German composer Wolfgang Rihm (born 1953) is considered one of the most important composers of our time. His "Duo Concerto", performed at Carnegie Hall in New York by Jan Vogler and Mira Wang with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2015, completes this fascinating new recording of three Double concerts with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Pettersson: Seven Sonatas For Two Violins / Duo Gelland
BIS
CD
$21.99
Feb 01, 2000
Allan Pettersson is best known, even notorious in some circles, for having composed some of the bleakest symphonic music of the post-war era, especially those works cast in a single, uninterrupted movement filling a vast, grim canvass. Among his earliest mature compositions, however, stands this remarkable cycle of seven sonatas for two violins, all written in 1951. These are compact works ranging from three-and-a-half to 13 minutes in length. Each foam at the mouth with nervous, creative energy and relentless virtuosic demands. Folk-related themes plus fingerprint ostinatos and repeated notes morph into twisted images in a room full of fun house mirrors. Shrieking glissandos and stabbing pizzicatos spruce up Pettersson's visionary string deployment, which often gives the illusion of more than a mere pair of fiddlers. For the most part, Martin and Cecilia Gelland bring out the music's unbridled, daring aspects to more cogent effect than the Grünfarb/Mannberg violin duo that pioneered the sonatas in the late 1970s on the Caprice label. Some listeners, though, may prefer the earlier duo's suaver and steadier opening in the First Sonata. A group of violin/piano miniatures fills out the disc. These early, brooding character pieces are both somber and fragile, and are sensitively played by Martin Gelland and pianist Lennart Wallin. There's little to choose between Wallin's stark reading of Petterson's 1945 Lamento and Volker Banfield's slightly more animated, flowing version on CPO. Alexander Keuk's clear and useful annotations will appeal to curious Pettersson neophytes. If you've never encountered Pettersson's uncompromising brand of modernism, the sonatas for two violins are the best place to start. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
Saariaho: Works for Cello / Gutkowska
DUX
CD
$21.99
Jul 15, 2022
Joanna Gutowska writes: “The album Kaija Saariaho – Works for Cello has been inspired by Saariaho’s extremely rich musical language, which significantly influenced my artistic development and inspired me to further exploration of colors. The album largely refers to my doctoral dissertation ‘Kaija Saariaho’s cello works as an example of new qualities of sound and expression,’ in which I focused on identifying the key factors that contributed to the development of her original musical language. It mainly focuses on the composer’s small instrumental works (Petals for cello and electronics [1988], Spins and Spells for solo cello [1996], Mirrors for cello and flute [1997], Neiges for eight cellos [1998], Sept Papillons for cello solo (2000), and Light and Matter for violin, piano and cello [2014]).”
Pas de deux
Oehms Classics
CD
$19.99
Jul 18, 2025
Five significant 20th-century compositions for violin and cello. Works by Xenakis, Ravel and Honegger reflect the composers' French roots, while a diverse, forward-looking harmonic language contrasts with such traditional forms as the sonata and passacaglia, the latter in Norwegian Johan Halvorsen's Passacaglia for Violin and Cello after Georg Friedrich Handel; Austro-Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff's Duo for Violin and Cello completes the programme. Manuel Lipstein has already released his first solo album, Roots, on OehmsClassics.
Faure: Cello Sonatas / Ben-Sasson, Sternfield
Naxos
CD
$19.99
Feb 23, 2010
FAURÉ Music for Cello and Piano • Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson (vc); Allan Sternfield (pn) • NAXOS 8570545 (70:06)
Sicilienne, op. 78. Sonata No. 2, op. 117. Après un rêve, op. 7/1. Elégie, op. 24. Romance, op. 69. Berceuse, op. 16. Papillon, op. 77. Sérénade, op. 98. Sonata No. 1, op. 109. Pavane, op. 50
A blurb on the back cover of this album states that “Fauré’s musical language bridged a gap between 19th-century Romanticism and the music that appeared with the new century.” Sounds like something I’ve said before, even having gone so far as to say that Fauré is the missing link between Brahms and Debussy. Whether one chooses to accept that argument or not, it cannot be denied that Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924), a disciple of Saint-Saëns and an admirer of Schumann, Liszt, and Wagner, had, by the turn of the 20th century, largely fashioned a personal style based on the teachings of Gustave Lefèvre, as set forth in his book Traité d’harmonie , published in 1889. In it Lefèvre advances the idea that chords of the seventh and ninth are not dissonant, ergo, they do not require resolution; and that the third of the scale may freely alternate between major and minor within a “composite” scale that incorporates both modes. These ideas were of course embraced by the likes of Walter Piston and Roger Sessions in their own updated 20th-century treatises on harmony. And one hasn’t far to travel from the unresolved sevenths and ninths of Lefèvre and Fauré to the chromatically altered seventh, ninth, 11th, and bi-tonal chords, and the whole-tone and pentatonic scales of Debussy.
Most of the works on this disc are early to middle Fauré, and thus closer in content and style to the romantic aesthetic than they are to the composer’s later efforts. And three of the pieces are arrangements of works originally written for other media. The famous Après un rêve of 1870, presented here in a transcription by Pablo Casals, was conceived as a mélodie for voice and piano. The 1878–79 Berceuse was a violin and piano piece. And the ubiquitous 1887 Pavane , given here in an arrangement by Henri Büsser, was an orchestral work with choral parts later added.
Placing the remaining numbers, originally for cello, in chronological order, we have the Elégie (1883), the Romance (1894), Papillon (1894), Sicilienne (1898), the Sérénade (1908), the First Sonata (1917), and the Second Sonata (1921). While Fauré’s output did not cease in the decade between the 1898 Sicilienne and the 1908 Sérénade , it’s interesting to note that his 1898 incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande was quite possibly his final doffing of his 19th-century Romantic hat. There’s no questioning that the next few years were a time of reexamination for Fauré. Surely, he must have heard Debussy’s opera based on the same play that was premiered in 1902, and possibly even Schoenberg’s exactly contemporaneous tone poem on the subject. And though I doubt that Sibelius would have been known in France at this early date, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Fauré may even have heard the Finnish composer’s 1905 incidental music of the same title. Whatever the extent of Fauré’s exposure to these various stimuli may have been, changes in his compositional style and technique become evident with his 1906 song cycle La Chanson d’Eve , op. 95.
Both of the cello sonatas belong to Fauré’s late period, the second of the two being among his last works. While still conforming to a Classical three-movement fast-slow-fast pattern, the harmonic language is now freer and the melodic treatment more fluid, giving a sense that the music is “through-composed.” With the exception of an 1888 Petite pièce in G Major, op. 49, which has been lost, the current Naxos disc, as far as I know, gives us all of Fauré’s original works for cello, plus the three aforementioned arrangements.
German-born, prize-winning cellist Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson studied with Pierre Fournier and Sergiu Celibidache. She is today an Israeli citizen, and principal cellist and frequent soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Her discography, at least according to Naxos’s brief bio, includes the Bach suites for solo cello, but I was not able to find it, or any other of her recordings, listed. Allan Sternfield is a “made in the U.S.A.” product, having studied at Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music. He was subsequently coached by Leon Fleisher and Wilhelm Kempff.
Naxos has here entered into competition with itself, for another fine release on the same label with Maria Kliegel and Nina Tichman, minus the Pavane , contains exactly the same program. Such duplication seems odd, especially since both discs seem to have been recorded only a year and a half apart. The current Joost/Sternfield CD, just released, was recorded mid 2007; the Kliegel/Tichman, released in 2008, was recorded late in 2005. It’s a head-scratcher to be sure. Be that as it may, a comparison between the two reveals little difference, certainly not enough to warrant purchasing Joost/Sternfield if you already have Kliegel/Tichman. J&S offer an extra with the inclusion of the Pavane , a piece you’re already bound to have in its original orchestral version. In general, though not in every single case, J&S are a bit slower in their tempo choices than K&T in the short pieces, and considerably so in the two sonatas. This may impart a somewhat more nostalgic feeling to J&S’s readings, which can, at times, suggest a salon atmosphere. But in terms of technical execution, tone production, and intonation, I would be happy with either recording.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
Bach, Corea, Davis, Piazzolla & Vivaldi: Baroque in Blue
Berlin Classics
CD
$10.49
$20.99
Save 50%
Jun 03, 2022
Eckart Runge and Jacques Ammon, who with their last album "Revolutionary Icons" already explored the field of tension between Beethoven and the rock/pop heroes Jimi Hendrix, Amy Winehouse and David Bowie, now devote themselves to the baroque and jazz. A closer look reveals how many connections there are despite the 200 yeas in between and what bridges ca be built between the two styles: "Walking basso continuo", the joy of the spontaneous and the high art of improvisation. From Vivaldi to Amanti, from bach to Miles Davis and from Gluck to George Gershwin - an outstanding potpourri of the highest musical quality on cello and piano.
Casella: Complete Music For Cello & Piano / Favalessa, Semeraro
Brilliant Classics
CD
$13.99
Apr 29, 2014
Casella was, if it isn’t a contradiction in terms, a kind of neoclassical Romantic; of sufficient pianistic skill that he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13 and thus perhaps escaped from the pressure to plough the furrow of operatic verismo already so well tilled by his countrymen. Instead he made his mark as a composer of abstract, instrumental music such as these two cello sonatas.
The First Sonata, like his other youthful compositions, reveals various stylistic influences: there are hints of Debussy, Mahler and Strauss, as well as traces of what Casella had learnt from Fauré. Even in these early works, however, the composer’s own personality comes across clearly in the search for what was new and hitherto unexplored ground. The Second Sonata reveals a change in compositional approach. In fact, it bears witness to his interest in a style that he defined as ‘baroque in its monumentality’. With its four movements it is more extensive, with dynamics based on deep contrasts between passages that are passionate and vigorous, and others in which the atmosphere is quietly intimate. The same rhythmic energy returns in the Tarantella, composed in 1929 along with the Notturno for violin and piano, transcribed by Luigi Silva in 1931, and ultimately reworked by Casella for cello and orchestra in 1934.
Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro are young Italian musicians who regularly play together in a fruitful artistic partnership that has won them international recognition and numerous awards.
Other information:
- Recorded in 2013.
- The music of Alfredo Casella is experiencing a true revival: labels like Chandos and Naxos issue his large scale orchestral works to great critical and public acclaim, and this new recording presents his wonderful works for cello and piano.
- Casella’s musical language is often called “Neoclassical”: clear structures, open and strong melodic lines, vibrant and sharply edged rhythms, music of great vitality and power.
- The cello sonatas receive a passionate and convincing performance by two young Italians, Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro, a duo already for many years, having won several international prizes at chamber music competitions.
- Booklet includes notes on the music by Maria Semeraro.
The First Sonata, like his other youthful compositions, reveals various stylistic influences: there are hints of Debussy, Mahler and Strauss, as well as traces of what Casella had learnt from Fauré. Even in these early works, however, the composer’s own personality comes across clearly in the search for what was new and hitherto unexplored ground. The Second Sonata reveals a change in compositional approach. In fact, it bears witness to his interest in a style that he defined as ‘baroque in its monumentality’. With its four movements it is more extensive, with dynamics based on deep contrasts between passages that are passionate and vigorous, and others in which the atmosphere is quietly intimate. The same rhythmic energy returns in the Tarantella, composed in 1929 along with the Notturno for violin and piano, transcribed by Luigi Silva in 1931, and ultimately reworked by Casella for cello and orchestra in 1934.
Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro are young Italian musicians who regularly play together in a fruitful artistic partnership that has won them international recognition and numerous awards.
Other information:
- Recorded in 2013.
- The music of Alfredo Casella is experiencing a true revival: labels like Chandos and Naxos issue his large scale orchestral works to great critical and public acclaim, and this new recording presents his wonderful works for cello and piano.
- Casella’s musical language is often called “Neoclassical”: clear structures, open and strong melodic lines, vibrant and sharply edged rhythms, music of great vitality and power.
- The cello sonatas receive a passionate and convincing performance by two young Italians, Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro, a duo already for many years, having won several international prizes at chamber music competitions.
- Booklet includes notes on the music by Maria Semeraro.
A Violin's Life, Vol. 3
Avie Records
CD
$19.99
Jun 02, 2023
Frank Almond’s life is intertwined with that of his violin, the “Lipin´ski” Strad, an exceptional instrument named for the famed 19th-century Polish violinist Karol Lipin´ski and first owned by legendary 18th-century Italian composer-violinist Giuseppe Tartini, represented on A Violin’s Life, Volume 3 by his Sonata Prima in D, Op. 2, a trio sonata in all but name. The masterful Piano Trio in E flat by 19th-century Swedish virtuosa Amanda Meier connects with the instrument that had passed on to her future father-in-law Engelbert Ro¨ntgen. Another great Nordic composer, Edvard Grieg, opens the album with his great Sonata No. 3 in C minor.
The legend of the Lipin´ski Strad went viral in 2014 when, following a concert, walking towards his car, Frank Almond was tasered by an assailant and the prized instrument was stolen. An FBI pursuit resulted in the recovery of the instrument within weeks. International media ensued on the BBC, NPR, and a feature in Vanity Fair. An award-winning documentary film “Plucked” premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Frank Almond’s critically acclaimed and chart-topping recordings of A Violin’s Life are now a trilogy. The “Lipin´ski” Strad lives on.
Ries: Complete Flute Quartets
Brilliant Classics
CD
$11.99
$14.99
Save 20%
Apr 18, 2025
Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) is still best known for the early period in his career when he studied with Beethoven and then became his secretary; copying scores and handling correspondence for a composer whose relationship with the outside world only became more unpredictable with the onset of deafness. However, Ries (like his master, born in Bonn) fled Vienna in 1807 and thereafter embarked on a well-travelled career - in Paris, then Vienna again, venturing as far as St Petersburg and London, before settling in Frankfurt. Within a prolific output, he wrote 30 separate works scored for a solo flute, almost all of which date from his period in London (1813-24), where he won a reputation as a piano teacher to the well-to-do while producing his own music for London's vibrant concert life. The three Quartets Op.145 for flute, violin, viola and cello were composed in 1814-15 and published in 1826, while the trio of Quartets WoO35 belong to Ries's later period in Germany. Ries dedicated Op.145 to Charles Aders, a wealthy amateur flautist, who likely commissioned him; there is no sign of the composer 'writing down' to accommodate any limitations in his dedicatee's playing, from the poignant and tumultuous emotions that pervade Quartet No.2, and the vibrant spirit of the finales, such as the Allegro all'espagnola of Quartet No.1. As Ginevra Petrucci remarks in her booklet essay, 'Ries masterfully balances diversity of form with captivating expression. The writing's density and variety are remarkable, marked by thematic abundance, rich modulations, rhythmic contrasts, and variations.' This is true even more of the later Quartets WoO35, which were probably written with the flautist Anton Bernhard Furstenau in mind. The expression is notably more refined and Romantic in spirit than the earlier set, sometimes softer-edged, often with more sophisticated dialogue between flute and strings, 'bearing a near-Beethovenian character.' Italian born, Ginevra Petrucci graduated from Stony Brook and Yale. Based in New York, she performs across the US while continuing to return to Europe for projects such as this recording. She is joined here by Trio David, a trio of Italian musicians who came together in 2020 and since then have given concerts across Italy as well as recording the string trios of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari for Brilliant Classics. - Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) was born in Bonn and moved to Vienna in 1801, where his life became closely related to that of Ludwig van Beethoven (also a native of Bonn.). Ries studied piano with him, copied his scores and was the interpreter of several new works, notably the premiere of the Third Piano Concerto. Ries also wrote the first biography of Beethoven, an invaluable source of first-hand information. - Ries' style inevitably is modelled on that of his master Beethoven, he was however strong enough to stand on his own. His compositions include symphonies, violin and piano concertos, three operas, and numerous chamber works, reflecting a style that bridges classicism and early romanticism. - Ries' Flute Quartets stand out for their concertante qualities. The flute shines in brilliant passages, while the themes and developments are shared by all four instruments. The expressive individuality of these pieces, with original and consistent dialogue between the protagonists, places them among the best in the genre, after Mozart's works. - Played by Italian flutist Ginevra Petrucci, who already brilliantly recorded chamber works for her instrument by Beethoven (BC 96494), Kuhlau (BC 94769), Briccialdi (BC 95767), Haydn (BC 94620) and Muczynski (BC 95433).
