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SaleBrahms, Kahn & Frühling: Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano / Quantum Clarinet Trio
Haenssler Classic · Sep 2023CD$20.99$10.49 -
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SaleWeber: Complete Chamber Music for Clarinet / Bandieri, Fossi, Quartetto Savinio
Brilliant Classics · Mar 2022CD$13.99$10.99 -
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SaleBrahms: Quintets, Op. 34 & 111 / Giltburg, Nikl, Pavel Haas Quartet
Supraphon · May 2022CD$33.99$25.99 -
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SaleWilms: Piano Quartets & Trio / Percan, Fuste, Quintavalle, Euler, G.A.P. Ensemble
Brilliant Classics · Apr 2023CD$13.99$10.99 -
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Stamitz: Quartets for Clarinet / Campbell, Maytan, Swantek, Mahave-Veglia
Audite Musikproduktion · Feb 2013SACD$21.99 -
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Dedication - The Clarinet Chamber Music of Ruth Gipps / Tippett Quartet
SOMM Recordings · Oct 2021CD$20.99 -
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Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht; String Quartet / Fred Sherry String Quartet And Sextet
Naxos · Sep 2013CD$19.99 -
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Violin Recital: Kolisch, Rudolf - SCHUBERT, F. / BARTOK, B.
Music and Arts Programs of America · May 2003CD$64.99 -
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Brahms, Kahn & Frühling: Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano / Quantum Clarinet Trio
Haenssler Classic
CD
$10.49
$20.99
Save 50%
Sep 29, 2023
The human factor determines the path. The Clarinet Trio op. 114 by Johannes Brahms more or less represents the DNA of the Quantum Clarinet Trio, and the piece was one of the driving forces behind the founding of this young chamber ensemble, whose members first met at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg in 2014. At that time, Italian clarinettist Elena Veronesi had been searching for fellow musicians to collaborate in a late work trio, and she found them in the German cellist Johannes Przygodda and Korean pianist Bokyung Kim. What started as a project has now evolved into a permanent ensemble. This great Brahms trio has continued to be a enterprise in which life converges with art.
Cellists, pianists and clarinettists usually come together when a work requires such a constellation, the line-up going their own separate ways once the project is completed. Compared to piano trios or string quartets, these particular instruments unfortunately rarely come together as a fixed ensemble. The Quantum Clarinet Trio is a welcome exception to the rule, making this encounter with one of Brahms' most important works much more than just a "fleeting liaison".
Weber: Complete Chamber Music for Clarinet / Bandieri, Fossi, Quartetto Savinio
Brilliant Classics
CD
$10.99
$13.99
Save 20%
Mar 25, 2022
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) marked the transition from the Classical to the Romantic period. His works, while adhering to the formal style of the Viennese School, abound in dramatic contrasts and glittering instrumental virtuosity. His instrumental works are hugely enjoyable, full of “Spielfreude” and many a good tune. Weber had a special predilection for the clarinet: for him, it was the ideal instrument for expressing the romantic feelings inspired by a trip through the Swiss Alps - where the landscape had a profound effect on his poetic soul. From his friend Heinrich Baermann, the greatest clarinet virtuoso of his time, he learned the technical characteristics of the instrument and he wrote some exquisite works for it: the famous Quintet for clarinet and string quartet Op.34, the Grand Duo Concertant Op. 48 and a set of variations on a theme from the opera Silvana. Here the works are played by Italian master clarinetist Davide Bandieri, who played solo clarinet in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado. For this recording he secured the collaboration of such eminent instrumentalists as pianist Matteo Fossi and the Quartetto Savinio.
Brahms: Quintets, Op. 34 & 111 / Giltburg, Nikl, Pavel Haas Quartet
Supraphon
CD
$25.99
$33.99
Save 25%
May 13, 2022
In every way, a superior Brahms chamber release.
Their recording of the American Quartet and String Quartet No. 13, Op. 106 (Gramophone Award – Recording of the Year), elevated the Pavel Haas Quartet among the finest performers of Antonín Dvorák’s music. This position was subsequently confirmed by a recording of the composer’s quintets, made with the violist Pavel Nikl, a founding member of the ensemble, and the pianist Boris Giltburg, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. The album received the most coveted classical music accolades (Gramophone Chamber Award, BBC Radio 3 Record Review Discs of the Year, Diapason d'Or, etc.). While recording the Dvorák quintets, the logical idea of a Brahms album was born. And now it has come to fruition.
Dvorák was encouraged by and ultimately attained global fame owing to the kind support and friendship of his older colleague Brahms, who in his twenties had been just as generously aided by Clara and Robert Schumann. Brahms' relationship with Clara is probably also behind the Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34. Originally conceived as a string quintet, in the spring of 1864 Brahms transformed it into a sonata for two pianos, yet Clara voiced her doubts about this version’s sound too. The desired contrast and richness of color was ultimately achieved by combining the strings and the piano. Clara Schumann performed the piano part at the private premiere of the quintet, which she referred to as having “symphonic” proportions. This aspect is clearly foregrounded on the present Pavel Haas Quartet recording. Brahms allegedly intended the String Quintet in G major, Op. 111, to be his last piece of music. In this light, it may come across as a reflection of the music he had cherished during his life – from Beethoven, Schubert, the Viennese waltz, his contemporary Wagner, to his beloved Hungarian dance motifs. From Dvorák to Brahms. A spellbinding “symphonic” chamber music sound.
REVIEW:
The group gets big sonorities, propelled but not overwhelmed by the piano in Op. 34 and by the cello that opens the Op. 111 quintet. The group really shines in the turbulent F minor piano quintet, as dark and intense as anything else Brahms ever wrote, and a work that went through several versions before the composer was satisfied with it. One feature of this ensemble is the variety of timbres offered by the individual players, with the rich tone of violist Luosha Fang an ideal foil for the edgier violinists. The players are aided by superb, almost tactile sound from Prague's Domovina Studio. In every way, a superior Brahms chamber release.
-- AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)
Wilms: Piano Quartets & Trio / Percan, Fuste, Quintavalle, Euler, G.A.P. Ensemble
Brilliant Classics
CD
$10.99
$13.99
Save 20%
Apr 21, 2023
Thanks to recordings such as this one, the figure of Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847) is increasingly coming into focus and prominence as a notable contemporary of Beethoven who deserves better than his previous obscurity. In 1807, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung described the Wilms as ‘one of the most ingenious, spirited, and best educated artists’ of his generation: a judgment borne out by the this trio of high-spirited chamber works. Born near Cologne, only two years after and some 60 km distant from Beethoven, Wilms made his career in Amsterdam as both performer (on flute and piano) and composer, inviting further parallels. His tenuous foothold on posterity has depended until recently for being known as the composer of the Dutch national anthem. His style may be more notable for fluency and charm than depth, but this album traverses his own expressive journey from the elegant Classical manners of an early piano trio to the intimations of Romanticism and melancholy in the second of his piano quartets. Though the piano quartets of Wilms have been recorded before, this is the first-ever recording made on instruments of the period, and the inclusion of the piano trio makes it a generous coupling and a perfect introduction to an original voice in European music of the Classical era. Known together as the G.A.P. Ensemble, Emilio Percan, Aymat Fusté and Luca Quintavalle aim to build musical bridges between eras much as Wilms himself did, considered retrospectively. Their previous albums have been enthusiastically reviewed in Gramophone, Diapason and elsewhere. The recording was made in October 2021 in the studios of WDR radio in Cologne, presenting both composer and performers in a warmly attractive light. In 1807, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung described the composer Johann Wilhelm Wilms (1772-1847) as “one of the most ingenious, spirited, and best educated artists” of his generation. Undoubtedly, this contemporary of Beethoven was among the most important composers in the Netherlands during his lifetime. Born in 1772 near Solingen, Germany, Wilms went to Amsterdam in 1791 and made a name for himself as an outstanding improviser on the piano and as a flautist in various orchestras in the city. He increased his fame by performing his own and others' piano concertos (especially with the Felix Meritis Orchestra) and as a teacher of piano and composition. From 1793, thanks to the first publications of his works, he became an appreciated composer beyond the borders of his adopted country, Holland, and his music was also performed in Leipzig, Breslau, and Prague.
Of his two piano quartets the Op.22 is a chamber work in four movements in which the piano plays the role of 'primus inter pares', while Op.30, in three movements, is more appropriately a piano concerto with string trio accompaniment. While still fully adhering to the spirit of the 18th century, especially from a formal point of view, these are works that, in terms of intensified virtuosity and harmonic freedom, can be compared to the compositions and style of composers such as Franz Danzi, Anton Eberl, Jan Ladislav Dussek and Carl Maria von Weber. The period instrument G.A.P. Ensemble consists of Emilio Percan, violin, Oriol Aymat Fusté, violoncello, and Luca Quintavalle, harpsichord/fortepiano. They worked with artists like Viktoria Mullova, Daniel Hope, Cecilia Bartoli, Christophe Rousset, Fabio Biondi, Julia Lezhneva, Raffaella Milanesi and Hille Perl and performed at some of the most renowned concert halls in the world, for example Berliner Philharmonie, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Tokyo Opera City Center Hall and Palau de la Música Barcelona.
Stamitz: Quartets for Clarinet / Campbell, Maytan, Swantek, Mahave-Veglia
Audite Musikproduktion
SACD
$21.99
Feb 26, 2013
Carl Stamitz's Clarinet Quartets Op. 8 and Op. 19 are amongst the earliest compositions for clarinet and string trio and document the increasing significance of the clarinet in the second half of the eighteenth century. These quartets demonstrate Stamitz's profound understanding of the instrument and also allow an illuminating insight into his idiom. With his sensitive interpretations, Arthur Campbell manages to emphasise the cantabile quality of the clarinet, which dominates all the quartets recorded on this SACD.
Arthur Campbell was born in Canada and studied at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA, where he was taught by the renowned clarinetist and pedagogue Robert Marcellus. He has won numerous international and national competitions, including the International Clarinet Competition and the National Music Festival of Canada. An internationally sought-after clarinet virtuoso, Arthur Campbell has toured throughout the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. He regularly presents international master classes at universities, conservatoires and conventions. Arthur Campbell was appointed professor at the Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan, where he has been teaching a class of clarinet students from across the globe.
Arthur Campbell was born in Canada and studied at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA, where he was taught by the renowned clarinetist and pedagogue Robert Marcellus. He has won numerous international and national competitions, including the International Clarinet Competition and the National Music Festival of Canada. An internationally sought-after clarinet virtuoso, Arthur Campbell has toured throughout the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. He regularly presents international master classes at universities, conservatoires and conventions. Arthur Campbell was appointed professor at the Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan, where he has been teaching a class of clarinet students from across the globe.
Dedication - The Clarinet Chamber Music of Ruth Gipps / Tippett Quartet
SOMM Recordings
CD
$20.99
Oct 01, 2021
| SOMM Recordings celebrates the centenary of the birth of Ruth Gipps with Dedication, featuring five premiere recordings of chamber works inspired by her clarinetist-husband, Robert Baker, most of which were recently broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week. Based on a Scottish legend, the early The Kelpie of Corrievreckan (Op.5b) is an evocative miniature for clarinet and piano revelling in Gipps’ facility for locating a human dimension within a tragic fantasy; the Op.23 E-flat Rhapsody for clarinet and string quartet described by Robert Matthew- Walker in his informative booklet notes adroitly placing Gipps’ music within the wider context of her career and personal life, as “a fluent, masterfully eloquent composition”. The Op.51 Prelude for Bass Clarinet is a heartfelt soliloquy with a series of dance-like variations at its heart. Two substantial works include the Quintet for Oboe, Clarinet and String Trio, Op.16 – a completion exercise for Gipps’ degree course at Durham University boasting an imaginative intertwining of the individual voices, and the Cobbett Prize-winning Clarinet Sonata composed at a single sitting. “I heard it in my mind and wrote it down as fast as I could scribble”, Gipps later recalled. Making their debuts on SOMM, clarinettist Peter Cigleris, oboist Gareth Hulse and pianist Duncan Honeybourne are joined by the Tippett Quartet, whose coupling of music by William Alwyn and Doreen Carwithen (SOMMCD 0194) was admired by The Strad for its “radiant insight and affection... beguiling lustre and allure”. SOMM’s coupling of Gipps’ Piano Concerto with works by Dora Bright (SOMMCD 273) was universally acclaimed, International Piano declaring it “a treat for fans of English music... unmissable”, MusicWeb International haiing it as “simply outstanding... really impressive”, with BBC Music Magazine remarking that Gipps’ Concerto “seizes one immediately with her distinctive personality and voice”. |
V 25: AURYN SERIES - PIANO QUA
TACET Musikproduktion
CD
$23.99
Nov 16, 2009
The Steinway used by TACET makes the three composers seem like contemporaries - that's how present and delicate this sound is. It fully meets the highest standards. How wonderful it is the way the grand piabno learns to sing under Mahler's and Reinecke's touch. It is for this reason, above all, that it is worth hearing this recording, even if one already knows the recording of the three composers from other productions: The sound speaks for itself. 4009850017905 TCET179.2 19548012 .00 23.99 .24 TACET RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/15/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/4/2/7/1997249.jpg 1 1 N
SCHUMANN / AURYN QUARTET AURYN SERIES 25: PIANO QUARTET OP. 47 & PIANO This coupling of Schumann's two most popular piano chamber pieces is in every way a winner" (Fanfare)
Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht; String Quartet / Fred Sherry String Quartet And Sextet
Naxos
CD
$19.99
Sep 24, 2013
SCHOENBERG Verklärte Nacht 1. String Quartet No. 1. Four Canons • Fred Sherry Str Qrt & 1 Sxt • NAXOS 8.557534 (77:33)
Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht is sometimes paired on records with his String Trio, op. 45, an excellent work but one from a much later period, when the composer had already become firmly entrenched in his 12-tone rut. Here, it is very sensibly coupled with the First String Quartet of 1904–05, an excellent work which, though atonal in places, still has many features akin to his late tonal period. Indeed, there is much in the Quartet that, although unmistakably Schoenbergian, might have been influenced to some extent by the experiments of Bartók. I also found it fascinating that both of these early works were premiered by Arnold Rosé’s famous string quartet (obviously with two extra players in the case of Verklärte Nacht ) at the instigation of Gustav Mahler.
One of the features of this First Quartet which is so different from later Schoenberg is its strong rhythmic sense. Yes, there are indeed passages where the rhythm becomes fragmented and even somewhat obscured, but by and large the music is propelled by an almost ferocious forward momentum, quite different from the rhythmically ambiguous and amorphous music of his maturity. The liner notes indicate some of the varied emotions that the composer attributed to the first movement:
(1) a) Revolt, Defiance; b) Longing; c) Rapture.
(2) a) Dejection; Despair; Fear of being engulfed; unaccustomed feelings of love, desire to be wholly absorbed.
b) Comfort, Relief (She and He).
c) New outbreak; Dejection, Despair; and
d) Transition to
(3) Struggle of all the motives with the determination to begin a new life,
e) Mild disagreement.
Well, that’s quite an emotional gamut to run, and I find it a little strange … well, OK, really strange … that a composer who plunges headlong emotionally into “Revolt, Defiance, Dejection, Despair” ends up the movement with “mild disagreement”! But hey, that was Arnie Schoenberg, a bit of an odd duck to say the least.
The Fred Sherry Quartet plays this music with incredible energy and passionate emotional commitment, which is really the only way to play Schoenberg. I’ve always found it a bit odd that a composer so closely identified with what you would certainly identify as a cerebral reorganization of music (the 12-tone system) was normally a composer of extremely strong emotions in music. There is scarcely a Schoenberg score, with the possible exception of Pierrot Lunaire (which was, after all, a special case and a bit of a one-off), that does not suck the listener into the vortex of extremely strong emotions. I must, however, be honest and say that, to my ears the somewhat jumbled juxtaposition of themes in the last movement left a bad impression on me.
Verklärte Nacht, like the composer’s early orchestral score Pelleas und Melisande, is so well known nowadays—and generally well-liked—that it seems incredible that it should have caused such a scandal when it was first premiered, in 1903. However, as the composer himself admitted, it soon became very successful, and ironically it was used as a club to hit the composer over the head with when his more outré pieces became known. Here the Sherry Quartet is expanded with the addition of second violist Yura Lee and second cellist Michael Nicolas. Their treatment of this score is rather more abrasive, less plush than one hears, for instance, from the Juilliard String Quartet with special guests Walter Trampler and Yo-Yo Ma on Sony Classical, where the late Romantic elements of the score are emphasized. Here, one hears the harshness of some of the dissonances much more clearly because the playing, for the most part, has a very sharp profile with strongly-accented rhythms. It’s so rare to hear an original interpretation of this piece, however, that one listens eagerly to every change of key and color in this performance; the end result is remarkable and rewarding, particularly in the extraordinarily dark colors they are able to produce in it.
The Four Canons are really excellent music, and are hereby recommended to those who feel that Schoenberg completely “abandoned” his earlier compositional style once he turned to the 12-tone system. The CD box insert denotes that they were composed between 1905 and 1949, but that apparently applies to the complete group of 30 Canons from which these were selected; the four given here were all completed during his mature period: Canon XIX in March 1934, Canon XXV in 1938, Canon XXVII in June 1943, and Canon XXVIII in March 1945. The music, despite its modernist harmonic touches, is quite understandable in terms of its construction and development. In other words, it is still rather accessible when compared to such works as Moses und Aron or A Survivor from Warsaw. I really enjoyed these pieces and the Sherry Quartet’s performances of them.
As a final word, I must ask why an album by the Fred Sherry Quartet and Sextet is identified on the packaging as being part of the Robert Craft Collection . I certainly understand Craft’s recent connection with Naxos and appreciate the fact that they have bought and reissued several of his recordings from the 1990s in addition to putting out new ones, but since he didn’t conduct the Sextet in this performance of Verklärte Nacht, why is it part of “his” collection? Why not, more sensibly, The Schoenberg Collection ? Inquiring minds want to know!
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Boccherini: Cello Concerto, G. 480 & Chamber Works
Zig-Zag Territoires
CD
$20.99
May 26, 2015
This Zig-Zag Territoires release, a second collaboration between the label and cellist Marco Ceccato (the first, Vivaldi, highly praised), focusing on Luigi Boccherini, illustrates two important aspects of output. The two quintets and the divertimento feature the combination of the string quartet - of which Boccherini was, in a way, a co-founder with Haydn - with guitar and flute respectively; on the other, the cello, of which he was a leading exponent. His use of the guitar and flute's sound capabilities is always a delight; the Cello Concerto in G major a summary of virtuosity and lyricism.
Violin Recital: Kolisch, Rudolf - SCHUBERT, F. / BARTOK, B.
Music and Arts Programs of America
CD
$64.99
May 01, 2003
In Honor of Rudolf Kolisch (1896-1978) is Music & Arts' six-disc tribute to a key figure in twentieth century music whose name is invoked in a number of historic contexts, yet whose actual recorded work remains almost unknown. Rudolf Kolisch was the leader of the Kolisch String Quartet, the "house band" at Arnold Schoenberg's ISCM conferences in the 1920s and a group that formed the first line of defense in the avant-garde musical movements in Europe before the rise of Nazi Germany. As the Kolisch also recorded a fair amount of standard quartet literature, this set is limited mainly to this and Kolisch's other groups' recordings of the Second Vienna School and Bart k, although the Kolisch Quartet recording of the Schubert Octet in F, performed with additional guest players, from the Library of Congress in 1940 is included as a bonus. The program opens with an extraordinary and audacious series of private recordings, made on a United Artists soundstage in Hollywood under the aegis of Alfred Newman, of all four of Schoenberg's string quartets dating from late 1936 and early 1937. The Fourth Quartet hadn't even premiered yet - this would occur the day after recording, on January 8, 1937, at UCLA. from this same session are included some of Schoenberg's spoken comments, in which he offers thanks to Newman and United Artists, and even addresses the "friends" of his music that belong to the future, presumably not yet born. These recordings have been issued a number of times, despite their "p-r-r-rivate" (pace Schoenberg) provenance, and unfortunately little can be done to rescue them from their noisy and somewhat dim audio perspective. They have never been dealt with, in a sonic sense, with more proficiency than here. From an interpretive standpoint, this Kolisch performance of the String Quartet No. 1 in D minor remains one of the best made, simply because the group has a thorough understanding of the Viennese milieu in which the quartet was conceived and does not try to make it sound more "modern" than it is. from there we jump ahead to 1950 and the Pro Arte Quartet of the University of Wisconsin, a pre-existing group that Kolisch took over in 1945 and retrofitted for performances of contemporary quartet literature. We get a second shot at the Third Schoenberg quartet with this group, and the performance is tighter and even more intense than that with the Kolisch Quartet, not to mention heard in excellent mono sound taken from a Dial LP. for some reason the sonic perspective is a little more cramped in Berg's Lyric Suite and some of the other Dials, but it is still astonishing to realize that in hearing the Berg you are listening to a performance led by the same person who premiered this now standard work at a 1927 ISCM Festival. The tempi observed here are faster than in most performances - indeed, the pace of the Allegro misterioso is downright dizzying. The three discs that follow are an embarrassment of riches: Kolisch heard in a rare context as soloist, playing the Schoenberg concerto at the University of Wisconsin, the Bart k Sonata for solo violin, and Schoenberg's Fantasy, Op. 47, with his colleague Gunnar Johansen. With the Pro Arte Quartet, further Dial recordings are heard - the Webern Opp. 5 and 9, Schoenberg's early String Quartet in D of 1897, and Bart k's Fifth Quartet Apart from the purely historical value of the recordings, and their highly variable sound quality, what is Kolisch like? In his time, all of this music was unfamiliar, and in the twenty-first century nearly all of it is familiar - in a sense some of it has reached a point of perfection that approaches fossilization. Kolisch certainly isn't looking to make his Schoenberg or Bart k warm and cozy, and he doesn't have a problem dealing with it as "difficult" music; after hearing his Bart K Sonata for solo violin, some might wonder if Kolisch is not making it a bit more diff.
Legendary Treasures - Piano Trios / Gilels, Kogan, Et Al
Doremi
CD
$101.99
Aug 07, 2007
BEETHOVEN Piano Trios: in B?, “Archduke”; 1 in E?, WoO 38. 1 MOZART Piano Trios: in B?, K 254; 1 in G, K 564. 1 HAYDN Piano Trios: 1 in D, Hob XV:16; in g, Hob XV:19. TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Trio in a, op. 50. 1 SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio in e, op. 67. 1 SAINT-SAËNS Piano Trio in F, op. 18. 1 SCHUMANN Piano Trio in d, op. 63. 1 BORODIN Piano Trio, in D. 2 FAURÉ Piano Quartet, op. 15. 3 BRAHMS Trio for Piano, Violin, and Horn, op. 40 4 • Emil Gilels (pn); 1,2,3,4 Leonid Kogan (vn); 1,3,4 Mstislav Rostropovich (vc); 1,3 Dmitry Tziganov (vn); 2 Sergei Shirinsky (vc); 2 Rudolf Barshai (va); 3 Yakov Shapiro (hn) 4 • DOREMI 7921 (5 CDs: 344:47)
This impressive five-CD set from DOREMI presents a fascinating portrait of a splendid Soviet-era ensemble, whose members—pianist Emil Gilels, violinist Leonid Kogan, and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich—collaborated for more than a decade beginning in 1949. They are joined by violist Rudolf Barshai (with whom Kogan and Rostropovich formed a String Trio during the 1950s) in the first Fauré Quartet, and the horn-player Yakov Shapiro joins Gilels and Kogan in the Brahms Trio. The Borodin Trio that rounds out the set features Gilels with two of his earlier chamber music partners, violinist Dmitry Tziganov and cellist Sergei Shirinsky, both members of the Beethoven Quartet.
The least of these performances are very good and the best of them nothing short of brilliant. The “Archduke” Trio must be one of the finest on record. In the first movement development, the juxtaposition of string pizzicatos with the piano’s trills creates an uncanny, otherworldly atmosphere. When the recapitulation finally arrives, it seems not just a satisfying homecoming, but a deliverance from the outer realms of abstraction. The ensemble finesse in the Scherzo is breathtaking, while the spiritual depths of the unique Andante cantabile are plumbed with grace and reverence. The same sort of Apollonian approach that makes this reading of the “Archduke” so successful is applied to the Tchaikovsky trio, with stunning results. Even some of the most celebrated performances of this difficult work (the Rubinstein/Heifetz/Piatigorsky, RCA 63025 among them) narrowly skirt the maudlin. Here, however, the three Russians bring a sincerity and simplicity to Tchaikovsky’s every gesture, allowing his elegy for Nicolas Rubinstein to speak with eloquence, at once dignified, restrained, and heartfelt.
In the Schumann Trio, Gilels, Kogan, and Rostropovich achieve a prodigy of imaginative interpretation, all within the context of the most sophisticated and refined ensemble-playing. It is hard to imagine a more compelling conception of this impassioned score. They also approach Shostakovich’s eerily atmospheric Second Trio with the utmost conviction. The hectic second movement is a kinesthetic tour de force , while the finale’s unconventional oriental textures are deftly maneuvered to great effect.
Predictably, the Haydn and Mozart readings are less satisfactory. Generalizations are always dangerous, but perhaps it is not inaccurate to say that, prior to the inevitable cross-pollination with the West occurring during later decades through travel and recordings, Soviet musicians approached Haydn and Mozart with a prettified delicacy. The results can often sound mannered, if not downright bloodless, and light years away from what we consider appropriate late-18th century style today. One case in point is the weepy vibrato Kogan employs in the sustained passages of the plaintive Andante opening of the Haydn G-Minor Trio; another is the flaccid Allegretto of the Mozart G-Major Trio, where phrase shapes are obliterated by an anachronistic effort to achieve the late-19th century ideal of the “long line.” Despite these reservations, even the 18th-century repertoire is of historical interest: this is the way this music was played behind the Iron Curtain in the years following WW II.
The sound of these recordings is consistent with the technological resources of Melodiya (the original issuing label) during the 1950s. Most were studio recordings, but some were live performances. One can discern the improvement of equipment and recording techniques between the earliest of the performances (the Tchaikovsky Trio, 1950) and the latest (the Shostakovich, 1959). Though the sound is flattened-out relative to modern standards, balances are superb, and no detail seems lost. The accompanying leaflet contains thumbnail bios of the principal artists as well as the works and timings, but no information on the matrices (beyond photographic reproductions of the record labels) or the transfer process. All in all, fascinating performances of representative repertoire by master musicians. Highly recommended.
FANFARE: Patrick Rucker
SAARIAHO & SHOSTAKOVICH
RUBICON
CD
$19.99
Nov 28, 2025
Shostakovich regarded his 3rd String Quartet as one of his best works and initially gave each of the movements titles such as 'blithe ignorance of the future cataclysm' and 'Forces of war unleased', but then withdrew the titles shortly after completing the work. Why he did this we don't know, maybe he was wary of the Soviet authorities reading unpatriotic meanings into them. Whatever the reasons, the 3rd is a powerful statement containing the composer's dry humor, with a good dash of sarcasm, the sinister and the passionate. Saariaho's Terra Memoria, her 2nd String Quartet, bears the subtitle 'for those departed.' The composer said that "we continue to remember those who are no longer with us. Their life is complete, nothing will be added... our experiences of being with them, different aspects of their personality, certain memories haunt our dreams, some remain clear flashes which we can relive."
Pleyel: Preußische Quartette 10-12 / Pleyel Quartett Köln
CPO
CD
$9.49
$18.99
Save 50%
Oct 22, 2021
When Ignaz Pleyel concluded his work on the last of his twelve “Prussian Quartets,” he had already garnered a great deal of experience as a composer of string quartets. His unmistakable musical voice had brought him countless admirers – including, not least, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who enthusiastically wrote of the Quartets op. 1 in a letter to his father. The dedicatory preface suggests that Pleyel had composed all of its pieces in Italy. He described them as “musically profound,” thereby indicating that Haydn’s Quartets op. 20 may have been their immediate model. The fugue movements in the Quartets Benton 328 and 330 are fascinating. Although Pleyel claimed that he had written them in the Italian style, Mozart was not fooled here: in their refined elegance he recognized the unique signature of Pleyel’s teacher Joseph Haydn. Nevertheless, the pupil had succeeded in writing a brilliant series of quartets in keeping with his own ideas and combining the clarity of the Italian style with the wealth of technical imagination characterizing the Viennese style.
BEETHOVEN AROUND THE WORLD
ERATO
Vinyl
$35.49
Sep 25, 2020
Beethoven's 16 string quartets occupy a place of honour in the chamber repertoire and, like his nine symphonies and 32 piano sonatas, trace his progression through his creative life. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, and Quatuor Ebene is recognising this with an extensive tour, entitled Beethoven Around the World, which runs from Spring 2019 to December 2020. Over that period the French ensemble will give over 120 concerts in a total of 21 countries on six continents, focusing on complete cycles of the quartets from February 2020. Beethoven Around the World encompasses live recordings for Erato, building a complete cycle, made in seven of the world's great cities: Vienna (at the Konzerthaus); Philadelphia (Kimmel Center); Tokyo (Suntory Hall); Sao Paulo (Sala Sao Paulo); Melbourne (Melbourne Recital Centre); Nairobi, and, with the support of UNESCO, Paris (Philharmonie de Paris). Speaking of the ongoing tour, the members of Quatuor Ebene say: "This is where Beethoven goes global. The quartets are 16 masterpieces that form an eternally modern artistic canon of unparalleled breadth and depth - they translate the purest humanity into music. In themselves they represent an odyssey, a round-the-world voyage." The players believe that the composer's music "transcends all linguistic, geographical and political borders... Both modern and timeless, it is universal. It cannot be readily classified as Classical or Romantic, as German, or even as Western, but it is music that expresses itself freely and which addresses the audiences of the future rather than it's own time... It can seem complex at first, but everything becomes clear as it's essence emerges." The ensemble also emphasises that: "The quartet as a genre gives individual players the chance to shine, yet is simultaneously predicated on collaboration and Concord: it shows democracy in action. It's emotional and intellectual power is considerable, yet it is also universally accessible as it embodies underlying ideals - enlightenment, fraternity and humanism, as typified by Goethe and by Schiller in his Ode to Joy [the inspiration for the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony]. At the same time it is informed by Kant's ideas on morality, goodwill and the categorical imperative, all of which were gaining currency in Beethoven's time. It also reflects the German philosopher's view of our relationship with the natural world, which has such resonance for the environmental issues of today." Appropriately, the tour will be associated with a carbon offset programme devoted to reforestation.
V 15: WELTE MIGNON MYSTERY (MA
TACET Musikproduktion
CD
$23.99
Jan 15, 2010
In previous issues I've praised the Abegg Trio's radiant performances of Beethoven's piano trios. This convenient set of the Mendelssohn's works in this form - two by Felix and one by Fanny, composed the year after her brother's second trio - elicits comparable enthusiasm, thanks to the brilliance of the renditions, individually and collectively... The recorded sound is first-rate therein and throughout the two more familiar scores as well. As previously noted, too, a B�sendorfer Imperial piano, played with some restraint by Gerrit Zitterbart and admirably balanced in this CD, adds a measure of richness not often encountered among other practitioners of the art of piano-trio playing. That said, this Tacet CD sports an attractive lineup as well, and although there are many fine recorded performances of both of Felix's piano trios, these merit inclusion among the very best, due to the Abegg's superior playing, seasoned interpretations, and the splendid recorded sound. High. 4009850008101 TCET81.2 19542409 .00 23.99 .24 TACET RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 05/01/1999 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/5/2/7/1997250.jpg 0 1 N
MOZART / VEREBICS KOMM LIEBER MAI: MOZART LIEDER With bright jubilation, with polished lines and wonderfully formed; elegant and yet with warm expression; the intonation is a clear as a bell; or to put it in a nutshell: Ibolya Verebics sings the Mozart lieder in perfectly natural way and is thus the ideal performer.... She is accompanied discreetly and competently by her fellow Hungarian Csaba Vegve�ri. (Neue Westfe�lische) 4009850001607 TCET16.2 07217395 .00 23.99 .25 TACET RECORDS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 05/23/2000 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/6/2/7/1997262.jpg 8 1 N
GUARNIERI / NESCHLING / SAO PAULO SO SYMPHONY 1 / ABERTURA FESTIVA / SYMPHONY 4 7318590012901 BIS1290.2 09656277 .00 21.99 .25 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/21/2003 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/8/3/3/2263383.jpg 0 1 N
SIBELIUS / KUUSISTO / YLONEN / GRASBECK COMPLETE PIANO TRIOS 2 7318590012925 BIS1292.2 10063897 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/29/2004 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/8/3/3/2263385.jpg 0 1 N
TAKEMITSU / DUKES / BEZALY / OGAWA / OTAKA STRING AROUND AUTUMN 7318590013007 BIS1300.2 08993250 .00 21.99 .23 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 11/26/2002 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/9/3/3/2263390.jpg 18 1 N
HAYDN / BRAUTIGAM SEVEN LAST WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR ON THE CROSS 7318590013250 BIS1325.2 10063941 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/29/2004 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/1/4/3/2263410.jpg 2 1 N
BACH / SUZUKI / BACH COLLEGIUM JAPAN COMPLETE CANTATAS 23 7318590013311 BIS1331.2 09833135 .00 21.99 .26 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 02/24/2004 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/1/4/3/2263416.jpg 3 1 N
BEETHOVEN / BRAUTIGAM COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO PIANO 1 7318599913629 BIS1362SACD 10500989 .00 21.99 .21 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/25/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/4/4/3/2263440.jpg 3 1 N
LONDON BAROQUE / LAURIN STRAVAGANZE NAPOLETANE 7318590013953 BIS1395.2 10344415 .00 21.99 .25 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 10/26/2004 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/6/4/3/2263464.jpg 7 1 N
DEBUSSY / OGAWA PIANO MUSIC 5 7318590014059 BIS1405.2 15831521 .00 21.99 .22 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 06/28/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/7/4/3/2263471.jpg 5 1 N
AMODEI / ZAMBONI / STORAGE / KIRKBY / LINDBERG SU L'ORE CHE L'AURORA 7318590014158 BIS1415.2 09940031 .00 21.99 .22 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/27/2004 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/8/4/3/2263481.jpg 6 1 N
SCHOENBERG / BERG / PONTINEN CHAMBER MUSIC III 7318590014172 BIS1417.2 11235552 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 11/29/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/8/4/3/2263483.jpg 3 1 N
LINDBERG / SUND / MANDEAL / BASQUE NAT'L ORCH COMPOSER'S PORTRAIT 7318590014288 BIS1428.2 10777688 .00 21.99 .20 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/31/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/9/4/3/2263494.jpg 2 1 N
BACH / ARNOLD / BOZZA / LINDBERG / LINKOLA FOLIATIONS: STOCKHOLM CHAMBER BRASS 7318590014387 BIS1438.2 14794438 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 11/24/2009 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/0/5/3/2263504.jpg 9 1 N
LOVE BADE ME WELCOME / VARIOUS LOVE BADE ME WELCOME / VARIOUS 7318590014462 BIS1446.2 11238553 .00 21.99 .20 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 11/29/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/1/5/3/2263510.jpg 3 1 N
SKALKOTTAS / CATHARIOU / SAMALTANOS 16 MELODIES & PIANO MUSIC 7318590014646 BIS1464.2 10907627 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 07/26/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/2/5/3/2263528.jpg 3 1 N
AHO / TOMASSON / LINDBERG / BEZALY / VANSKA CONCERTOS FOR FLUTE & ORCHESTRA 7318590014998 BIS1499.2 10907719 .00 21.99 .26 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 07/26/2005 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/5/5/3/2263552.jpg 3 1 N
BRITTEN / EMPORER QUARTET STRING QUARTETS 7318599915401 BIS1540SACD 15167484 .00 21.99 .42 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 07/27/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/8/5/3/2263587.jpg 2 1 N
SKALKOTTAS / RAMOU BALLET MUSIC FOR PIANO 7318590015643 BIS1564.2 12107551 .00 21.99 .26 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL BALLET 02/27/2007 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/0/6/3/2263605.jpg 1 1 N
DVORAK / TOGNETTI / NORDIC CHAMBER ORCH / LINDBERG VIOLIN CONCERTO 7318590017081 BIS1708.2 15008053 .00 21.99 .23 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/27/2010 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/9/0/7/3/2263709.jpg 9 1 N
DOWLAND / PURCELL / KIRKBY / LINDBERG ORPHEUS IN ENGLAND: SONGS & LUTE MUSIC 7318590017258 BIS1725.2 15429681 .00 21.99 .24 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/25/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/2/7/3/2263722.jpg 1 1 N
HEIKKILA / LAHTI SYM ORCH / PERKO SIITA TUNTEE JOULUN: FINNISH CHRISTMAS 7318590017470 BIS1747.2 14154782 .00 21.99 .20 BIS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS / CHANUKKAH 11/25/2008 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/3/7/3/2263735.jpg 15 1 N
MATTEI / MOZART / RPO / RENES GREAT BARITONE ARIAS 7318599917498 BIS1749SACD 15699268 .00 21.99 .24 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/26/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/7/3/7/3/2263737.jpg 0 1 N
BRAHMS / SWEDISH CHAMBER ORCH / DAUSGAARD SYM 1 IN C MIN OP 68 / LIEBESLIEDER-WALZER OP 52 7318599917566 BIS1756SACD 19855165 .00 21.99 .23 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/22/2013 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/4/7/3/2263744.jpg 4 1 N
BEETHOVEN / ZIMMERMANN / TAMESTIT / POLTERA STRING TRIOS 7318599918570 BIS1857SACD 16239999 .00 21.99 .24 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 12/13/2011 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/1/8/3/2263815.jpg 4 1 N
DVORAK / MPO / FLOR SYMPHONY NO. 7 7318599918969 BIS1896SACD 16547643 .00 21.99 .21 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/24/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/4/8/3/2263848.jpg 1 1 N
GLIERE / KOMSI / LAHTI SYM ORCH COLORATURA 7318599919621 BIS1962SACD 19357218 .00 21.99 .24 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 10/30/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/6/8/3/2263864.jpg 2 1 N
PETTERSSON / NORRKOPING SYM ORCH / LINDBERG SYMPHONY NO 6 7318599919805 BIS1980SACD 19161853 .00 21.99 .25 BIS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/25/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/7/8/3/2263875.jpg 3 1 N
LOCKWOOD,FRANCIS / LOCKWOOD,DIDIER BROTHERS Didier and Francis Lockwood have been fixtures of the French jazz scene for thirty years, but their Brothers album, originally recorded for the Ames label in 2008, featured them together for the first time. Francis Lockwood's piano and the violin of his brother Didier function together in perfect alchemy here, the only instruments present on the recording. The result is an intimate, delicate dive into a universe of their own design where their talents, complicity and connivance are shaped by the closeness of their relation as brothers. 3448960259224 FRAS592.2 25892741 .00 20.99 .25 FREMEAUX & ASSOC. FR COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/11/2014 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/4/8/8/6/2276884.jpg 5 1 N
MAHLER / HAASS / GRIEG / REINECKE WELTE-MIGNON MYSTERY 15: MAHLER & REINECKE & GRIEG The Steinway used by TACET makes the three composers seem like contemporaries - that's how present and delicate this sound is. It fully meets the highest standards. How wonderful it is the way the grand piabno learns to sing under Mahler's and Reinecke's touch. It is for this reason, above all, that it is worth hearing this recording, even if one already knows the recording of the three composers from other productions: The sound speaks for itself.
MEMENTO
WARNER CLASSICS
CD
$17.28
Sep 18, 2020
The album features two string quartets which thematically deal with the subject of death. Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden, No. 14 in D Minor', a key piece in chamber music repertoire, dates from 1824. Mendelssohn's 'String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80' was composed in 1847. He composed the piece as an homage to his beloved sister Fanny who had died on 17 May 1847 and it bore the title 'Requiem for Fanny'. Vision String Quartet have won awards in numerous competitions, have studied with members of the Artemis Quartet and the Alban Berg Quartet. They are known for their excellent interpretations and for their innovative concert formats, working with choreographers, light designers, etc.
Beethoven: Complete Works For Solo Piano, Vol. 14 / Brautigam
BIS
SACD
$21.99
Jan 08, 2016
Ludwig van Beethoven’s first printed work was a set of variations, published in 1783 when he was only twelve years old and his final keyboard composition was the massive set of thirty-three variations on a theme by Anton Diabelli, composed almost four decades later. Not counting the several movements in variation form included in the sonatas, his twenty-one sets of piano variations thus trace a line of development in his production, parallel to those formed by the 32 piano sonatas or the 16 string quartets. On this the 14th volume in his acclaimed traversal of Beethoven's keyboard music, Ronald Brautigam performs five sets, composed between 1802 and 1809. In three of these Beethoven uses themes of his own, including the Ruins of Athens Variations, Op.76, nick-named after the play for which Beethoven later wrote incidental music, reusing the martial theme in a 'Turkish march'. The two remaining sets both use English themes Beethoven’s choice of God save the King and Rule Britannia may well reflect his often expressed respect for that country – as well as his interest in the English market for sheet music. As the final part of the programme, Brautigam includes a selection of smaller pieces, most of them of an earlier date than the preceding variations. Some of these are probably student pieces, in particular the Preludes Op.39 and WoO 55 and the Fugue in C major, fruits of the counterpoint exercises Beethoven was assigned by his first teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe, and by Johann Albrechtsberger. Six dances close a disc that offers many opportunities to glimpse another Beethoven than the composer we all believe we know.
Misericordia
Azica Records
CD
$18.99
Aug 16, 2019
Internationally renowned flutist Carol Winsenc joins forces with the Escher String Quartet, Tanya Dusevic Witek also on flute, and pianists Stephen Gosling and Emile Naoumoff to present this dynamic recording of the compositions of Yuko Uébayashi. The opening piece, Misericordia pour flûte et quatuor à cordes was composed for Carol Wincenc. Hailed "Queen of the Flute" (New York Magazine) at the outset of her, now, brilliant 48 year career, flutist Carol Wincenc was First Prize Winner of the (sole) Walter W. Naumburg Solo Flute Competition, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the National Flute Association, the National Society of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Music, and Distinguished Alumni Awards from Manhattan School of Music and the Brevard Music Center. During the past two seasons she performed, recorded and gave masterclasses as an exclusive Burkart Flutes Artist in Beijing, Shenyang, Seoul, Warsaw, Prague, Venice, Nice, and Thessoloniki.
Adorations
Delos
CD
$20.99
Apr 03, 2026
Winner of the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023, the Isidore String Quartet makes it's recording debut on Delos. Formed at The Juilliard School and coached with members of the Juilliard String Quartet past and present-the name Isidore comes from the legendary violinist Isidore Cohen, one of the Juilliard Quartet's early members-the quartet is rapidly making a name for itself on the international concert scene. The album Adorations is a celebration of chamber music at it's essence: a tapestry of joy, human connection, and the enduring resonance of lives intertwined. Each work on the album reflects a unique form of adoration, offering it's own expression of wonder, reverence, and the profound beauty of shared musical experience. Comprising Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in C major, Op. 20, and Felix Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 44, the recital also features Samuel Barber's celebrated Molto adagio and Florence Price's Adoration.
Pathways to Healing: Music of Beethoven & Mendelssohn
Centaur Records
CD
$18.99
Feb 03, 2017
The two pieces chosen for this new recording are based around a central theme: healing. Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 was written after Beethoven had recovered from a serious illness which he, at the time, worried would be fatal. He had been afflicted during the entire winter of 1824-25, and headed the third movement with the words “Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart” (Holy song of thanksgiving of a convalescent to the Deity, in the Lydian Mode). The Mendelssohn quartet is inspired by a different kind of healing, and was composed a few months after the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. It is heavily inspired by Beethoven’s late works, and is one of the most significant examples of cyclic form in music. The DaPonte Quartet is based in Maine, and has a mission to connect audiences to composers and their influences by bringing to life the human context of each score’s creation.
Shostakovich: The 2 Violin Sonatas & Rare Chamber Works
First Hand Records
CD
$21.99
Jan 01, 2016
First Hand Records presents violinist Sasha Rozhdestvensky in the world premiere commercial recording of Shostakovich's unfinished Violin Sonata. This recording includes an extra 28 bars of a development section found in Shostakovich's original manuscript that does not appear in the published score, and is completed by an eleven-bar coda written by conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky. The work is coupled with the Violin Sonata Op. 43. The program also contains world premiere commercial recordings of Shostakovich's Andantino from the String Quartet No.4, his piano duet arrangement of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and his chamber transcription of Gaetano Braga's La Serenata.
Arensky: Piano Quintet
Tudor
CD
$21.99
Aug 14, 2015
Undeservedly overshadowed by his two string quartets and piano trios, the small pieces for violin or cello and piano are among the best of their genre from the “Moscow School”, differing mainly by having partly salonesque titles and a more intimate expression. The Quintet in D major Op. 51 (1900) for piano, two violins, viola and cello exemplifies the 40-year-old composer’s mature style, its cyclic elements and formal density heralding a new departure. The priority given to the piano and the variation movement suggest the influence of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor Op. 50.
Johann Joseph Abert - Ein musikalisches Portrat
Ars Produktion
CD
$18.99
Jul 04, 2025
This CD uses early and late songs, three excerpts from the successful opera Astorga, a piano arrangement of the best-known orchestral work Columbus, the only two organ pieces and excerpts from his String Quartet Op. 25 to create a comprehensive panorama of Johann Joseph Abert's (1832-1915) multifaceted oeuvre from the Prague years to 1879.
Paganini: Complete Chamber Music / Paganini String Quartet
Dynamic
CD
$53.99
Jan 29, 2008
These rarely encountered chamber music scores on this splendid set are certainly worthy of investigation.
Dynamic, the independent Italian record label, based close to Paganini’s birthplace in Genoa, has compiled this ten disc set of their previously issued Paganini recordings. It seems that several of these recordings were receiving their first recording. Although this box includes the complete edition of Paganini’s fifteen quartets for strings and guitar; the three string quartets and a number of other chamber works there is certainly much of Paganini’s chamber music not included here. It omits the large amount of chamber music that Paganini wrote for guitar and violin, solo guitar and for solo violin. There are seventy or so duets for violin and guitar, including the familiar Sonata concertata, MS2, Grand Sonata, MS3 and the Cantabile, MS109. In addition Paganini wrote over a hundred scores for solo guitar. Dynamic have issued discs of a sizeable number of Paganini’s works for violin and guitar and a disc of some of his solo guitar scores.AB The Arts Music label on Red Line has four volumes of the solo guitar music.C With regard to the solo violin music there are many available versions. For the Dynamic label Stefan Milenkovich has recorded the complete music for solo violin - released in 2004 on CDS 402/1-2.
Paganini holds an esteemed status as probably the world’s finest ever virtuoso violinist but his chamber music compositions are, with minor exceptions, almost totally ignored. It is often forgotten that Paganini also played and composed for the guitar. In fact, of the five opus numbers published during his lifetime only the op. 1 set of 24 Caprices for Solo Violin did not include the guitar. It may come as a surprise that Paganini also wrote a sacred choral score entitled Le couvent du mont St. Bernard for violin, chorus and orchestra. I have yet to hear it but it was given its first recording by the Dynamic label.
I have previously reviewed five of the ensemble scores with guitar that are contained on this release on two volumes of recordings from the German based Ambitus label (Vol. 1 AMB97977 and Vol. 2 AMB96899).
It seems that Paganini wrote chamber music from an early age and continued to do so regularly throughout his life. Often he would compose whilst on tour as a virtuoso performer during the long and arduous coach journeys. Biographer Danilo Prefumo has written that, “Paganini’s chamber music is the genuine expression of the more private side of this composer’s musicality …” The general neglect of Paganini’s chamber music is highlighted by the fact that for many decades a large number of the scores have not been generally available for performance. For example his three string quartets MS20 were published as recently as 1976 with a performing edition in 1991; some hundred and fifty years after their composition.
In addition to his fame for composing for the violin Paganini also wrote a substantial amount of music for the guitar. The majority of the scores on this Dynamic release include the guitar. Swiss composer Franz von Wartensee, an associate of Paganini, wrote in his memoirs, “Not everyone knows that Paganini was a first-rate guitarist, since he did not consider it worth the effort to present himself publicly as such.” The sources of information that I have checked are rather vague on the origins and dates of Paganini’s attraction to the guitar. I understand that the main influence was his father Antonio who was himself a mandolin player and it is likely that from an early age Paganini would have received instruction from Antonio. It seems that from around 1801, during the few years that Paganini lived with a wealthy lady on her country estate in Tuscany, his energies were principally channelled into guitar study and composition.
On the whole the music on this Dynamic series is characteristic, lyrical and immensely enjoyable. These scores have a propensity for delivering entertainment rather than cherishing pretensions of greatness; those wanting significant emotional depth to their music should look elsewhere.
Comprising seventy percent of the set the fifteen Quartets for strings and guitar (CDs 1-5); the three Strings quartets (CD 7) and the five Trios for strings and guitar (CD 6) follow a similar sound-world and design. Here Paganini’s typical four movement plan predominantly consists of a quick and entertaining opening movement Allegro followed by a lively and carefree second movement Minuet that verges on a Scherzo. The slow third movement is expressive, aria-like and sweetly lyrical, marked Adagio or Andante. Concluding the score is a brisk and spiritedly ebullient Allegro or Presto that sometimes employs the stricter form of a Rondo.
I especially enjoyed the Theme and eight Variations for two violins and cello, MS117 (CD 8) - an unusual and pleasurable score with a noble theme, followed by a set of eight variations containing a wide range of moods. The twenty one Divertimenti carnevaleschi for two violins and cello, MS4 (CD 8) are a substantial set of short and varied scores.
Included on the final disc is the four Nocturnes for two violins, viola and cello, MS15 (CD 10). Each of the Nocturnes opens with an expressive slow movement that precedes a brisk and lithe dance-like movement. Two interesting and amiable scores are the Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra (Serenata per Rovene in E minor for mandolin and guitar), MS14 and the Serenata per mandolino e chitarra (Serenata in G major for mandolin and guitar), MS16. Both scores are cast in two brief movements with the mandolin taking the leading role. In a way similar to the four Nocturnes, MS15 a slow movement is followed by a movement of a swifter pace. The final work on the set the Minuetto per l’amandorlino per mandolino solo (Minuet in E major for solo mandolin), MS106 is a rather uninspiring three movement affair.
To be candid these works although interesting and highly appealing are not candidates to become staples of the chamber repertoire and are unlikely to be taken up by the leading ensembles on the international stage. Notwithstanding the numerous four movement scores, I found many of the other works such as the three Duets for violin and cello; the twenty one Divertimenti carnevaleschi for two violins and cello; the substantial three Duets for violin and bassoon; the Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra and the Serenata per mandolino e chitarra contained surprises both in terms of layout, employment of instrumentation and musical content.
Generally, I was fascinated by how Paganini’s writing can sometimes display a certain vulgarity and the next minute I could be enchanted by his charm and warmth. I found it frequently difficult to forecast what Paganini would do next and this unpredictability is a characteristic that was highly pleasing.
Dynamic have employed some nineteen different players over the fifteen year span of these recordings. Violinists: Bruno Pignata the leader of the Quartetto Paganini performs on a large number of the scores; Stefan Milenkovich displays his undoubted prowess on disc 8 and the renowned international soloist and Paganini champion Salvatore Accardo plays on the Three Duets for violin and bassoon (CD 9). It is clear from these interpretations that the players relish the attractive writing. Throughout I was impressed by the matching of the players, their blend of ensemble and choice of pace. Overall finesse, eloquence and tonal beauty are not words that I would use to describe these performances although the playing is consistently characterful, and often glowing and delightful. I especially enjoyed the effervescent performances of the allegros of the quintets and quartets and was impressed that the momentum of the slow movements is never allowed to wane.
Generally the sound quality has been produced to a decent standard, clean and bright with just a slight lack of depth. However, on CD 9 I found the Three Duets for violin and bassoon to be rather too brightly lit and I had to resort to considerable adjustment of the line-out-level on my disc player. There is an interesting and well written essay in the accompanying booklet by Danilo Prefumo; yet I was left wanting more information on the actual scores.
These rarely encountered chamber music scores from the Genoese Maestro are certainly worthy of investigation.
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
Full details
CD 1: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 1 [67:16]
Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op.4/1, MS28 [21:41]
Quartet No. 9 in D major, MS36 [21:42]
Quartet No. 10 in A major, MS37 [23:53]
CD 2: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 2 [63:47]
Quartet No. 11 in B major, MS38 [20:28]
Quartet No. 12 in A minor, MS39 [23:33]
Quartet No. 13 in F major, MS40 (1819) [19:46]
CD 3: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 3 [68:53]
Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 4/3, MS30 [21:21]
Quartet No. 7 in E major, MS34 [26:04]
Quartet No. 14 in A major, MS41 [21:27]
CD 4: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 4 [64:03]
Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 4/2, MS29 [18:56]
Quartet No. 8 in A major, MS35 [23:03]
Quartet No. 15 in A minor, MS42 [22:04]
CD 5: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 5 [74:17]
Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op.5/1, MS31 [24:21]
Quartet No. 5 in D major, Op. 5/2, MS32 [24:20]
Quartet No. 6 in D minor, Op. 5/3, MS33 [25:36]
CD 6: Complete Trios for strings and guitar [65:29]
Serenata in C major for viola, cello and guitar, MS17 [15:10]
Terzetto Concertante in D major for viola, cello and guitar, MS114 [22:55]
Terzetto in D major for viola, cello and guitar, MS69 [20:12]
Terzetto in A minor for 2 violins and guitar, MS116 [03:03]
Serenata in F major for 2 violins and guitar, MS115 [04:09]
CD 7: Complete String Quartets, MS20 [64:55]
String Quartet No. 1 (c.1815) [19:02]
String Quartet No. 2 (c.1815) [23:00]
String Quartet No. 3 (c.1815) [22:53]
CD 8: Works for violin/s and cello [67:00]
In cor più non mi sento, theme and variations for two violins and cello, [08:15]
Three Duets for violin and cello:
Duet No.1 [09:13]
Duet No.2 [09:49]
Duet No.3 [09:21]
21 Divertimenti carnevaleschi for 2 violins and cello, MS4 [30:22]
CD 9: Three Duets for violin and bassoon, MS130 [50:08]
Duet No.1 [16:57]
Duet No.2 [16:52]
Duet No.3 [16:19]
CD 10: Quattro Notturni a quartetto, MS15 and other works [57:07]
Quattro Notturni a quartetto for two violins, viola and cello, MS15: Notturno No. 1, [06:28]
Notturno No. 2, [07:11]
Notturno No. 3, [04:14]
Notturno No. 4, [03:31]
Quartet No. 7 in E major for two violins, viola and cello, MS34
(transcription from quartet for strings and guitar) [22:49]
Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra, MS14 [02:56]
Serenata per mandolino e chitarra, MS16 [02:53]
Minuetto per l’amandorlino per mandolino solo, MS106 [07:05]
Performers Quartetto Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Lorenzo Lugli (viola), Paola Mosca (cello), Giuseppe Briasco (guitar) (CDs 1-3). Quartetto Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Riccardo Agosti (cello), Giuseppe Briasco (guitar) (CDs 4 & 5). Dora Bratchkova (violin), Götz Hartmann (violin), Antonello Farulli (viola), Andrea Noferini (cello), Adriano Sebastiani (guitar) (CD 6). Quartetto d’archi Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Gian Luca Allocco (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Dario De Stefano (cello) (CD 7). Stefan Milenkovich (violin), Riccardo Agosti (cello), Pier Domenico Sommati (second violin) (CD 8). Salvatore Accardo (violin), Claudio Gonella (bassoon) (CD 9). Quartetto d’archi Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Gian Luca Allocco (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Dario De Stefano (cello), Dorina Frati (Genoese mandolin), Piera Dadomo (guitar) (CD 10).
Dynamic, the independent Italian record label, based close to Paganini’s birthplace in Genoa, has compiled this ten disc set of their previously issued Paganini recordings. It seems that several of these recordings were receiving their first recording. Although this box includes the complete edition of Paganini’s fifteen quartets for strings and guitar; the three string quartets and a number of other chamber works there is certainly much of Paganini’s chamber music not included here. It omits the large amount of chamber music that Paganini wrote for guitar and violin, solo guitar and for solo violin. There are seventy or so duets for violin and guitar, including the familiar Sonata concertata, MS2, Grand Sonata, MS3 and the Cantabile, MS109. In addition Paganini wrote over a hundred scores for solo guitar. Dynamic have issued discs of a sizeable number of Paganini’s works for violin and guitar and a disc of some of his solo guitar scores.AB The Arts Music label on Red Line has four volumes of the solo guitar music.C With regard to the solo violin music there are many available versions. For the Dynamic label Stefan Milenkovich has recorded the complete music for solo violin - released in 2004 on CDS 402/1-2.
Paganini holds an esteemed status as probably the world’s finest ever virtuoso violinist but his chamber music compositions are, with minor exceptions, almost totally ignored. It is often forgotten that Paganini also played and composed for the guitar. In fact, of the five opus numbers published during his lifetime only the op. 1 set of 24 Caprices for Solo Violin did not include the guitar. It may come as a surprise that Paganini also wrote a sacred choral score entitled Le couvent du mont St. Bernard for violin, chorus and orchestra. I have yet to hear it but it was given its first recording by the Dynamic label.
I have previously reviewed five of the ensemble scores with guitar that are contained on this release on two volumes of recordings from the German based Ambitus label (Vol. 1 AMB97977 and Vol. 2 AMB96899).
It seems that Paganini wrote chamber music from an early age and continued to do so regularly throughout his life. Often he would compose whilst on tour as a virtuoso performer during the long and arduous coach journeys. Biographer Danilo Prefumo has written that, “Paganini’s chamber music is the genuine expression of the more private side of this composer’s musicality …” The general neglect of Paganini’s chamber music is highlighted by the fact that for many decades a large number of the scores have not been generally available for performance. For example his three string quartets MS20 were published as recently as 1976 with a performing edition in 1991; some hundred and fifty years after their composition.
In addition to his fame for composing for the violin Paganini also wrote a substantial amount of music for the guitar. The majority of the scores on this Dynamic release include the guitar. Swiss composer Franz von Wartensee, an associate of Paganini, wrote in his memoirs, “Not everyone knows that Paganini was a first-rate guitarist, since he did not consider it worth the effort to present himself publicly as such.” The sources of information that I have checked are rather vague on the origins and dates of Paganini’s attraction to the guitar. I understand that the main influence was his father Antonio who was himself a mandolin player and it is likely that from an early age Paganini would have received instruction from Antonio. It seems that from around 1801, during the few years that Paganini lived with a wealthy lady on her country estate in Tuscany, his energies were principally channelled into guitar study and composition.
On the whole the music on this Dynamic series is characteristic, lyrical and immensely enjoyable. These scores have a propensity for delivering entertainment rather than cherishing pretensions of greatness; those wanting significant emotional depth to their music should look elsewhere.
Comprising seventy percent of the set the fifteen Quartets for strings and guitar (CDs 1-5); the three Strings quartets (CD 7) and the five Trios for strings and guitar (CD 6) follow a similar sound-world and design. Here Paganini’s typical four movement plan predominantly consists of a quick and entertaining opening movement Allegro followed by a lively and carefree second movement Minuet that verges on a Scherzo. The slow third movement is expressive, aria-like and sweetly lyrical, marked Adagio or Andante. Concluding the score is a brisk and spiritedly ebullient Allegro or Presto that sometimes employs the stricter form of a Rondo.
I especially enjoyed the Theme and eight Variations for two violins and cello, MS117 (CD 8) - an unusual and pleasurable score with a noble theme, followed by a set of eight variations containing a wide range of moods. The twenty one Divertimenti carnevaleschi for two violins and cello, MS4 (CD 8) are a substantial set of short and varied scores.
Included on the final disc is the four Nocturnes for two violins, viola and cello, MS15 (CD 10). Each of the Nocturnes opens with an expressive slow movement that precedes a brisk and lithe dance-like movement. Two interesting and amiable scores are the Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra (Serenata per Rovene in E minor for mandolin and guitar), MS14 and the Serenata per mandolino e chitarra (Serenata in G major for mandolin and guitar), MS16. Both scores are cast in two brief movements with the mandolin taking the leading role. In a way similar to the four Nocturnes, MS15 a slow movement is followed by a movement of a swifter pace. The final work on the set the Minuetto per l’amandorlino per mandolino solo (Minuet in E major for solo mandolin), MS106 is a rather uninspiring three movement affair.
To be candid these works although interesting and highly appealing are not candidates to become staples of the chamber repertoire and are unlikely to be taken up by the leading ensembles on the international stage. Notwithstanding the numerous four movement scores, I found many of the other works such as the three Duets for violin and cello; the twenty one Divertimenti carnevaleschi for two violins and cello; the substantial three Duets for violin and bassoon; the Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra and the Serenata per mandolino e chitarra contained surprises both in terms of layout, employment of instrumentation and musical content.
Generally, I was fascinated by how Paganini’s writing can sometimes display a certain vulgarity and the next minute I could be enchanted by his charm and warmth. I found it frequently difficult to forecast what Paganini would do next and this unpredictability is a characteristic that was highly pleasing.
Dynamic have employed some nineteen different players over the fifteen year span of these recordings. Violinists: Bruno Pignata the leader of the Quartetto Paganini performs on a large number of the scores; Stefan Milenkovich displays his undoubted prowess on disc 8 and the renowned international soloist and Paganini champion Salvatore Accardo plays on the Three Duets for violin and bassoon (CD 9). It is clear from these interpretations that the players relish the attractive writing. Throughout I was impressed by the matching of the players, their blend of ensemble and choice of pace. Overall finesse, eloquence and tonal beauty are not words that I would use to describe these performances although the playing is consistently characterful, and often glowing and delightful. I especially enjoyed the effervescent performances of the allegros of the quintets and quartets and was impressed that the momentum of the slow movements is never allowed to wane.
Generally the sound quality has been produced to a decent standard, clean and bright with just a slight lack of depth. However, on CD 9 I found the Three Duets for violin and bassoon to be rather too brightly lit and I had to resort to considerable adjustment of the line-out-level on my disc player. There is an interesting and well written essay in the accompanying booklet by Danilo Prefumo; yet I was left wanting more information on the actual scores.
These rarely encountered chamber music scores from the Genoese Maestro are certainly worthy of investigation.
-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International
Full details
CD 1: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 1 [67:16]
Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op.4/1, MS28 [21:41]
Quartet No. 9 in D major, MS36 [21:42]
Quartet No. 10 in A major, MS37 [23:53]
CD 2: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 2 [63:47]
Quartet No. 11 in B major, MS38 [20:28]
Quartet No. 12 in A minor, MS39 [23:33]
Quartet No. 13 in F major, MS40 (1819) [19:46]
CD 3: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 3 [68:53]
Quartet No. 3 in A major, Op. 4/3, MS30 [21:21]
Quartet No. 7 in E major, MS34 [26:04]
Quartet No. 14 in A major, MS41 [21:27]
CD 4: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 4 [64:03]
Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 4/2, MS29 [18:56]
Quartet No. 8 in A major, MS35 [23:03]
Quartet No. 15 in A minor, MS42 [22:04]
CD 5: Complete Quartets for strings and guitar, Vol. 5 [74:17]
Quartet No. 4 in D major, Op.5/1, MS31 [24:21]
Quartet No. 5 in D major, Op. 5/2, MS32 [24:20]
Quartet No. 6 in D minor, Op. 5/3, MS33 [25:36]
CD 6: Complete Trios for strings and guitar [65:29]
Serenata in C major for viola, cello and guitar, MS17 [15:10]
Terzetto Concertante in D major for viola, cello and guitar, MS114 [22:55]
Terzetto in D major for viola, cello and guitar, MS69 [20:12]
Terzetto in A minor for 2 violins and guitar, MS116 [03:03]
Serenata in F major for 2 violins and guitar, MS115 [04:09]
CD 7: Complete String Quartets, MS20 [64:55]
String Quartet No. 1 (c.1815) [19:02]
String Quartet No. 2 (c.1815) [23:00]
String Quartet No. 3 (c.1815) [22:53]
CD 8: Works for violin/s and cello [67:00]
In cor più non mi sento, theme and variations for two violins and cello, [08:15]
Three Duets for violin and cello:
Duet No.1 [09:13]
Duet No.2 [09:49]
Duet No.3 [09:21]
21 Divertimenti carnevaleschi for 2 violins and cello, MS4 [30:22]
CD 9: Three Duets for violin and bassoon, MS130 [50:08]
Duet No.1 [16:57]
Duet No.2 [16:52]
Duet No.3 [16:19]
CD 10: Quattro Notturni a quartetto, MS15 and other works [57:07]
Quattro Notturni a quartetto for two violins, viola and cello, MS15: Notturno No. 1, [06:28]
Notturno No. 2, [07:11]
Notturno No. 3, [04:14]
Notturno No. 4, [03:31]
Quartet No. 7 in E major for two violins, viola and cello, MS34
(transcription from quartet for strings and guitar) [22:49]
Sonata per Rovene per mandolino e chitarra, MS14 [02:56]
Serenata per mandolino e chitarra, MS16 [02:53]
Minuetto per l’amandorlino per mandolino solo, MS106 [07:05]
Performers Quartetto Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Lorenzo Lugli (viola), Paola Mosca (cello), Giuseppe Briasco (guitar) (CDs 1-3). Quartetto Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Riccardo Agosti (cello), Giuseppe Briasco (guitar) (CDs 4 & 5). Dora Bratchkova (violin), Götz Hartmann (violin), Antonello Farulli (viola), Andrea Noferini (cello), Adriano Sebastiani (guitar) (CD 6). Quartetto d’archi Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Gian Luca Allocco (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Dario De Stefano (cello) (CD 7). Stefan Milenkovich (violin), Riccardo Agosti (cello), Pier Domenico Sommati (second violin) (CD 8). Salvatore Accardo (violin), Claudio Gonella (bassoon) (CD 9). Quartetto d’archi Paganini: Bruno Pignata (violin), Gian Luca Allocco (violin), Ernest Braucher (viola), Dario De Stefano (cello), Dorina Frati (Genoese mandolin), Piera Dadomo (guitar) (CD 10).
