Search results: Search results

719 results

Products

Molino: Complete Guitar Sonatas

Brilliant Classics

$11.99 ~~$14.99~~ Save 20% Oct 11, 2024

Francesco Molino (1768-1847) was born into a family of violinists in Ivrea, near Turin. There, and for a time in Genoa as well, he made a career as a virtuoso violinist himself, until at the age of 50, he moved permanently to Paris. Once in the French capital, Molino began a new phase of his musical career, which coincided with a significant increase in the number of works he published - almost all of which were dedicated to the guitar, both as a solo instrument and as part of chamber formations. Molino made a significant impact on the Parisian musical world, as is demonstrated by the huge success of the first edition of his Nouvelle Methode pour la Guitare, which had some 400 subscribers both in France and in other European countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy). Over the years Molino revised and added to the methos, and various editions of it were published in a number of languages, with a Spanish version even reaching Mexico and Havana. The works presented in this recording were all published as 'sonatas' by Molino, who explicitly stated that they were intended for performance by solo guitar. He uses three main structural types for these sonatas. The first has a romance as a first movement, followed by a rondo (Sonatas Op.1 No.1, Op.15 No.2 and Op.51). The second begins with a short maestoso introduction that is characterised by initial chords and octaves in succession, evoking the orchestral colour of certain operatic overtures. This movement ends with an interrupted cadence and is followed by a theme with variations, before a final rondo (Sonatas Op.1 No.2, Op.15 No.1 and No.3). The third type begins with an allegro first movement in sonata form (in bipartite 18th-century style, featuring two distinct themes with a tonic-dominant relationship) that is followed immediately by a final rondo (Sonatas Op.1 No.3, Op.6 No.1 and No.2). All the sonatas reflect Molino's evident mastery of the art of composition as well as a certain freedom in his approach to musical form. These elements, combined with a refined use of harmony and a deep understanding of the instrument, give the composer a highly personal stylistic language and make Molino one of the most interesting figures in the guitar repertoire of the 19th century. Other information: - Recorded June and October, Rome, Italy - Booklet in English contains liner notes by the artist, along with his biography - Claudio Giuliani plays a guitar by Antonio Mari´n Montero (Granada, 1995) strung with D'Addario Pro Arte EJ46 strings - Francesco Molino (1768-1847) was an Italian guitarist, composer, and violinist, born in Ivrea near Turin, Italy. At the age of fifteen, in 1783, he enrolled in the band of the Piedmont Regiment as an oboist, a post which he resigned in 1793. He dedicated himself to the guitar and built an impressive international career. Later he settled in Paris where he became a famous teacher. - This new recording presents the complete Sonatas for Guitar, characterized by their classical elegance and intricate melodic lines, reflecting the stylistic influences of his contemporaries such as Mauro Giuliani and Fernando Sor. - Molino's sonatas often feature a balanced structure, typically adhering to the classical sonata form with multiple movements including allegro, adagio, and rondo sections. The highly accomplished writing features rapid arpeggios, delicate harmonics, and dynamic contrasts. They form a challenge to the performer but a delight to the audience. - Brilliantly played by Claudio Giuliani, whose previous recordings for Brilliant Classics include works by Diabelli (BC 94614) and Cimarosa (BC 94172).

View Full Page

Sale

Molino: Complete Guitar Sonatas
Brilliant Classics Oct 2024
CD
~~$14.99~~ $11.99

Scarlatti: Sonatas on Vinyl / Schmitt-Leonardy

Piano Classics

Vinyl

$35.99 Jan 19, 2024

A luxury-grade vinyl transfer in a gatefold 2LP set for a beautifully engineered 2021 album of Scarlatti on the piano from a master German pianist.
On its CD release in 2022, this personal choice from Scarlatti’s 555 keyboard sonatas won an enthusiastic welcome from Gramophone. ‘Contrasts of mood together with unified relationships of tempo and key signature characterise one the most intelligently programmed and distinctively played Scarlatti collections to cross my reviewer’s desk in years.’

Hardly less than Bach, these sonatas have become for many pianists a proving ground for their own technique and imagination, rewarding an improvisatory response to their flamboyant effects. Schmitt-Leonardy also features several of Scarlatti’s most poetic and reflective sonatas such as the ‘Aria’ Kk 29 and the melancholy soliloquy of Kk 208.
The approach taken by Schmitt-Leonardy is always ‘pianistic’, in that he exploits the full tonal resources of a modern concert grand. Yet his phrasing is also sensitive to 18th-century style and to the kind of effects and articulation particular to the harpsichord for which Scarlatti was writing. ‘Kaleidoscopic nuances and dynamic gradations abound throughout the E major Kk135,’ continued the Gramophone reviewer Jed Distler, the Gramophone reviewer Jed Distler, ‘but not garishly so. Nor does the pianist’s curvaceous and tapered phrasing throughout the A major Kk322 lapse into mannerism or cliché.’
As with all Brilliant Classics and Piano Classics LPs, this set is issued on 180-gram, high-grade vinyl pressed at the Optimal factory in Hamburg. Its audiophile quality is worthy of performances which bear comparison with great Scarlatti performers of past and present from Horowitz to Pletnev. Inner-sleeve booklet notes by Peter Quantrill discuss each of the sonatas in turn.

View Full Page

Scarlatti: Sonatas on Vinyl / Schmitt-Leonardy
Piano Classics Jan 2024
Vinyl
$35.99

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 & 26

Alpha

$20.99 Jul 28, 2017

Olga Pashchenko is in the process of creating a unique place for herself in the world of the keyboard: she moves with astounding ease and skill from the harpsichord to the fortepiano, the organ, and the modern piano. After a recording of Beethoven's variations in 2015, the young pianist has now gone to the legendary Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, a venue she knows well since she regularly gives concerts within it's walls, to record three monuments of the pianistic literature - the Appassionata, Les Adieux and Waldstein sonatas - on the original Conrad Graf piano of 1824 conserved there. She utilizes all the sonic possibilities and the full palette of colors of this instrument made around fifteen years after the composition of these sonatas, three of the finest in the corpus of thirty-two that Hans von Bulow called 'the New Testament of every pianist'.

View Full Page

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 & 26
Alpha Jul 2017
CD
$20.99

Weber: Piano Sonatas (Complete)

Piano Classics

$29.99 May 27, 2016

Composed in the early 19th century, the four grand piano sonatas by Carl Maria von Weber round out the Classical age and herald in the Romantic style. All four of these sonatas are featured on this two-disc set, as well as Weber’s Rondo brilliante in E flat major, Op. 62, and Aufforderung zum Tanz, Op 65. +Pianist Michelangelo Carbonara studied at Lake Como Academy under such pianists as Dimitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, and Alicia de Larrocha. He has won several international competitions, including the Schubert International Piano Competition.

View Full Page

Weber: Piano Sonatas (Complete)
Piano Classics May 2016
CD
$29.99

Pettersson: Seven Sonatas For Two Violins / Duo Gelland

BIS

$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

View Full Page

Pettersson: Seven Sonatas For Two Violins / Duo Gelland
BIS Feb 2000
CD
$21.99

Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas / Brautigam

BIS

SACD

$89.99 Nov 11, 2014

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

The 32 Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven are often referred to as the ‘New Testament’ of the keyboard literature, following on the ‘Old Testament’ of J.S. Bach's 48 preludes and fugues in the Well-Tempered Clavier. Composed over a period of almost three decades, from 1795 to 1822, the sonatas constitute a fascinating panorama of an artistic career which underwent numerous changes – not to say upheavals – but nevertheless remained remarkably consistent. Ever since the first recording of the entire cycle, by Artur Schnabel in the 1930s, a number of the world's leading pianists have given us their performances of this monumental collection on disc. One of the latest cycles is that of Ronald Brautigam, released on single discs between 2004 and 2010. Performed on the fortepiano, as part of a series of Beethoven's complete solo keyboard works, Brautigam's recordings have been described as ‘riveting’, ‘compelling’ and ‘revolutionary’. The eight discs with the 32 sonatas are now being released as a boxed set, along with a ninth disc containing the early, unnumbered sonatas. Contributing factors to the ‘refreshing directness’ that reviewers have experienced in these performances are the widely praised recorded sound and the carefully selected instruments, built by Paul McNulty after originals from 1788-1819 by the foremost Viennese makers of fortepianos. For this boxed set, the original SACD format has been retained – along with the possibility of listening to the performances in surround – thus offering the opportunity of sharing the experience of one reviewer: ‘One has almost the impression of being a contemporary of Beethoven’s: one of the first, infinitely startled – not to say shocked – witnesses to this music’ (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

-----

REVIEW:

Much of the playing here is sensational. Notice the pronounced rhetorical emphasis yet intensely focused dotted rhythms in the Pathétique’s introduction, or the revelatory continuity from one variation to the next in Op 14 No 2’s uncommonly quick central movement. Those who think that even Brautigam’s sturdy fortepiano cannot approximate an orchestra should check out Op 22’s first movement, where the full-bodied octaves and brilliantly judged ‘Rossini’ crescendo just before the recapitulation make a pulverising impact.

And what about the Moonlight finale’s controlled fury and slashing momentum that remain musical to the core, or how those Op 10 No 1 and 2 finales rock and roll while retaining maximum linear clarity? Few others rightly feel Op 10 No 3’s Minuet as one beat to a bar and effectively spin out the left-hand counterlines. Among the heroic middle-period works, perhaps Brautigam’s Waldstein and Appassionata make a cogent case for period instruments in regard to textural differentiation between registers, shorter pedal resonances, and being able to truly perceive rather than merely infer each pitch within low-lying chords and runs, abetted by Brautigam’s subtle yet expressively powerful tempo modifications and telling accents.

Brautigam’s late sonatas are never less than masterful.

– Gramophone

View Full Page

Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas / Brautigam
BIS Nov 2014
SACD
$89.99

Bossi: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 / Baldini, Della Donne

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Jul 12, 2024

Marco Enrico Bossi was a renowned Italian composer and organ virtuoso admired by Verdi and Puccini. The two violin sonatas heard on this programme reveal a composer whose chamber music stands equal to the most renowned works produced in the late 19th century.

View Full Page

Sale

Bossi: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 / Baldini, Della Donne
Naxos Jul 2024
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Fantasy, Op. 131

Evil Penguin

$16.99 Nov 07, 2025

Evil Penguin is proud to present the first recording by Joshua Brown, Second Prize at Queen Elizabeth Competion 2024. Joshua Brown chose a Schumann programme for his debut: the two Sonatas and the rare and tricky late Fantasie. A perfect match was established between him and the much experienced and great piano partner Paolo Giacometti

View Full Page

Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Fantasy, Op. 131
Evil Penguin Nov 2025
CD
$16.99

Mix & Match

Igor Strawinsky: Sonata For Two Pianos; Trois Pieces Faciles; Cinq Pieces Faciles; Concerto Per Due Pianoforti Soli

Wergo

$20.99 Apr 01, 1993

In contrast to Igor Strawinsky’s piano works for two hands, which are chiefly ascribed to neoclassicism, the compositions for four hands and two pianos belong to all three periods of his creative work: “Trois pieces faciles” as well as the “cinq pieces faciles” to the Russian, the “Concerto per due pianoforti soli” to the French and the “Sonata for two pianos” to the American phase.

View Full Page

Igor Strawinsky: Sonata For Two Pianos; Trois Pieces Faciles; Cinq Pieces Faciles; Concerto Per Due Pianoforti Soli
Wergo Apr 1993
CD
$20.99

PIANO SONATAS 6
HYPERION Jul 2016
CD
$18.33

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3 / Mari Kodama

PENTATONE

SACD

$16.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 20% Mar 29, 2011

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas , op. 10/1–3 • Mari Kodama (pn) • PENTATONE 5186 377 (SACD: 59:20)

This is the latest installment of a cycle-in-progress (though new to me) by Mari Kodama, a Japanese student of Nikolayeva and Brendel. Her playing is impressive in its refinement and control, if occasionally a little predictable. The three op. 10s make for a satisfying program, though they’re curiously presented in reverse order here (Beethoven’s own is more logical, with the biggest, most ambitious work placed last).

No. 1 in C Minor goes well, with few surprises. Kodama generally lets the outer movements speak for themselves—straight, incisive, dramatic, forceful, with effective lyrical contrasts. Tension is well maintained, with a convincing sense of real performance (vs. a recording-studio run-through). The Adagio is straightforward, perhaps to a fault—here I miss the imaginative flexibility and expressive depths others bring to the music (e.g., Schiff/ECM, Lewis/Harmonia Mundi, or the recently reviewed Ohlsson/Bridge and Ehlen/Azica). The recorded sound of her Steinway is rich, resonant, and close, but a little “plummy” for my taste, with a pronounced resonant overhang. Her playing is certainly not over-pedaled, but a real staccato articulation is in short supply.

This is a bigger drawback in the first movement of No. 2 in F where, for all the poise and polish, Beethoven’s numerous injunctions to very short articulations (e.g., at the beginning, bars 38 ff., and 47 ff.) are rarely effectively realized. The development has a slightly stolid feel (the second repeat is observed). The F-Minor Allegretto is taken slowly, to rather dour effect, with (for my taste) an insufficient variety of texture and attack; the Presto finale is kept well under control at a moderate tempo. In the last resort, I find this all a little too uneventful.

The big D Major receives the most consistently satisfying performance of the three. The opening Presto is richly varied, supple and sinuous, with an exciting surging momentum. The Largo e mesto is all dark, glinting marble, and in this instance the finale finds her relishing the music’s wide-ranging phrase and textural discontinuities.

So, a slightly mixed bag. But there’s much playing of real distinction here, and anyone wanting a high-quality version of the three op. 10s in state-of-the-art sound won’t go wrong. For the general collector, perhaps not a first choice (see alternatives mentioned above), but I’ll be keeping this in my collection, and can see returning to the first and third sonatas.

FANFARE: Boyd Pomeroy

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

View Full Page

Sale

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op 10, No 1, 2 & 3 / Mari Kodama
PENTATONE Mar 2011
SACD
~~$21.99~~ $16.99

Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 7 / Douglas

Chandos

$16.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 20% Dec 06, 2024

Barry Douglas's acclaimed survey of Schubert's piano sonatas continues with this programme pairing the Sonata in E flat major, D 568 with the Sonata in G major, D 894. Published posthumously, the E flat major Sonata is a revision and completion of the D flat major Sonata, D 567. The original was written in June 1817, the revision soon afterwards. This sonata stands out in the canon for it's light-hearted, easy-going character in contrast to the more serious nature of the other sonatas. The G major Sonata, the last to be published in Schubert's lifetime, was completed in 1826. The work holds a special place for many pianists, including Imogen Cooper, Sviatoslav Richter, and Paul Lewis; the latter two have declared it their favourite, whilst Robert Schumann described it as 'the most perfect in form and conception' of any of Schubert's sonatas. Douglas completes his programme with two Liszt transcriptions of Schubert songs: 'Gretchen am Spinnrade', and 'Wohin?' (from Die schone Mullerin).

View Full Page

Sale

Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 7 / Douglas
Chandos Dec 2024
CD
~~$21.99~~ $16.99

Chopin: Sonata No. 2, Op. 35; 4 Scherzi; Polonaise, Op. 53 / Sophia Agranovich

Centaur Records

$13.99 ~~$17.99~~ Save 20% Oct 16, 2020

Sophia Agranovich adores the piano works of Chopin, and it shows in these deeply-felt performances. Internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator, Sophia Agranovich is “a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics…A tigress of the keyboard” – Fanfare. Her performances are captivating audiences by the “orison of uncommon beauty” – Audiophile, “the extraordinary dramatic urgency”, “the ideal balance she achieves between the intellectual and the emotional” – Fanfare, “interpretation that dares to be different”, “magnificent shading and superior musicianship” – American Record Guide. Sophia Agranovich is an esteemed pedagogue, lecturer, master class clinician, adjudicator, and is a recipient of numerous teaching awards. Her students are consistently winning top prizes in regional, national and international competitions and are performing at prestigious venues. Ms. Agranovich is active member of various professional music organizations, listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World, a voting member of NARAS, Artistic Director of ‘Classicals at the Circle’ music series at the Watchung Arts Center, Program Chair and Board member of Music Educators Association of New Jersey.

View Full Page

Sale

Chopin: Sonata No. 2, Op. 35; 4 Scherzi; Polonaise, Op. 53 / Sophia Agranovich
Centaur Records Oct 2020
CD
~~$17.99~~ $13.99

Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Isle of the Dead / Giltburg

Naxos

$13.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 30% Feb 14, 2025

Symphonic in scale and with great dramatic power, Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor is an underappreciated masterpiece, depicting a tremendous range of human emotions. The turbulent and brilliant Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor is heard in the 1931 revised version which clarifies textures and streamlines the work, heightening it's emotional impact. The Isle of the Dead employs Georgy Kirkor's 1957 transcription which Boris Giltburg has revised significantly. Giltburg's authority in Rachmaninoff has been universally acknowledged, with his performances termed 'characterful, sensitive and technically dazzling' by BBC Music Magazine (Naxos 8.574528).

REVIEW:

For all his technical ability and mastery of what is possible on the piano, Boris Giltburg is not a merciless technician, but a pianist who immerses himself in the music.

In the two Rachmaninoff sonatas, Giltburg draws us into a music that takes off without harshness, almost floating, and clearly tending toward Scriabin. The contrasts are made all the more exciting by the spontaneity of the playing, as are the magnificent, exciting melodic arcs with which he makes the piano sing.

The transcription of the symphonic poem ‘Isle of the Dead’ is also very successful, because Giltburg and Kirkur have obviously felt the dark and demonic secrets of this music very well. With his imaginative playing, Giltburg gives the piano a very active role, allowing it to act rather than merely reproduce impressions. The music of the Isle of the Dead shimmers in many colors and is full of dramatic power, full of life.

— Pizzicato

View Full Page

Sale

Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Isle of the Dead / Giltburg
Naxos Feb 2025
CD
~~$19.99~~ $13.99

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 9 / Nicolosi

Naxos

$19.99 May 27, 2008

D. SCARLATTI Keyboard Sonatas: K 52; K 77; K 79; K 139; K 170; K 176; K 277; K 344; K 340; K 388; K 398; K 456 • Francesco Nicolosi (pn) • NAXOS 8.570368 (61:02)

Scarlatti fans are many, and growing in number. Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz was in great part responsible for a reevaluation of the composer’s works, frequently playing Scarlatti sonatas in his recitals. His recordings of a few of these sonatas are revered by pianists and melomanes alike, and no wonder about it. He was supremely aware of the Italian master’s genius in portraying different emotions and in eschewing any of the dictates of style, writing music that sparkles with cleverness and emotion and remains almost unclassifiable in terms of style or school.

Since then, the early-music crowd took possession of these works, and Scarlatti’s œuvre has occupied its rightful place among the harpsichordists. It appeals to anyone who plays a keyboard instrument, as an almost didactic tool: each sonata presents a new exciting problem, a feature that serves to improve some necessary aspect of technical or musical abilities. It also inspires fanatical discussions: staunch defenders of period instruments have fits at hearing a single Scarlatti phrase on a piano, pianists often declare that “had Scarlatti known the modern piano, he would have abandoned the harpsichord” (a pretty lame argument, if you ask me).

Fashions come and go, but Scarlatti remains a hit with keyboard-players, a challenge to be faced, a citadel to be conquered. Options abound. On the harpsichord, my favorites are many, and run from the aggressively elegant Pierre Hantaï (for Mirare), to the variegated approach of Kenneth Weiss (for Satirino), with bows to brutally succinct Nicolau de Figueiredo (Clássicos), and to the reliability of Richard Lester (Nimbus).

There are the pianists who follow the example set by Horowitz, who had an extraordinarily powerful vision of this meridional music, at the same time full of passion and precision. There are those who play the sonatas with Mozartean delicateness (Soyen Lee, for example, for Naxos), subtle sobriety, as Fabio Grasso does (Euterp), and even exuberant intelligence, as my all-time favorite Mikhail Pletnev. From this small list, one can get an idea of the very contrasting stances that find defenders among Scarlatti fans. It is reasonable to state that there is a Scarlatti for absolutely every taste in the world.

The present CD, by Francesco Nicolosi, will thus find its share of admirers, and an equally large number of detractors, for the very same characteristic that the first group will love and the second one will hate. It presents a very pianistic approach, one that makes the pieces sound like Chopin nocturnes. Curiously, the sonatas that are readily identifiable as Baroque are the more “Bachian” ones (like K 52), perhaps because we are already so used to hearing “romantic” versions of Bach. There is a lot of pedaling and ample use of rubato, articulations are softened, and the twisted dissonances are underplayed, partly because the right hand gets more emphasis than the left. Nicolosi’s fluent technique itself somehow diminishes the impact of the more dramatic sonatas: he plays with the easy assurance of a marathon runner quickening his step to catch a bus on a Sunday afternoon. Nothing wrong about that, granted. This is still sensitive playing that takes advantage of Scarlatti’s many subtleties and highlights the stunning quality of the compositions. But the enormous scope of the composer’s imagination gets attenuated, and the resulting versions seem old-fashioned. In the end, this CD says more about Nicolosi and the piano than about Scarlatti and his music.

For those who know Scarlatti and know they like it on the piano, this disc is definitely recommended, as well as for fans of Romantic music who are seeking a first encounter with the music of the 18th century. For those who want a pianist’s sound, but a harpsichordist’s conception, or even a truly personal vision of Scarlatti, this CD will fail to hit the mark.

FANFARE: Laura Rónai

View Full Page

Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 9 / Nicolosi
Naxos May 2008
CD
$19.99

Margola: Complete Sonatas for Solo Guitar

Brilliant Classics

$14.99 Jul 17, 2026

Franco Margola (1908-1992) occupies a distinctive place in twentieth-century Italian music as a composer who combined modern clarity with a deep respect for classical balance and lyric expression. Born in Brescia, Margola was trained within the Italian conservatory tradition and soon developed a style often associated with neoclassicism: transparent textures, well-defined forms, and an elegant restraint that avoided both romantic excess and radical avant-garde experimentation. Throughout his career he wrote extensively for chamber ensembles, voice, and solo instruments, consistently favoring intimate musical dialogue and refined craftsmanship. Among his most important contributions to the guitar repertoire are the five Sonatas for guitar, composed over several decades. These works reflect Margola's close engagement with the instrument's idiomatic possibilities while maintaining a strong structural rigor. Rather than treating the guitar merely as a vehicle for virtuosic display, Margola emphasizes musical architecture, motivic development, and subtle harmonic color. Each sonata presents a different perspective on form and expression, yet all share a characteristic clarity of line and balance between melody and accompaniment. Stylistically, the guitar sonatas draw on classical models-especially the sonata principle and dance-like movements-while incorporating twentieth-century harmonic language, including modal inflections and gently dissonant sonorities. Rhythmic vitality and contrapuntal writing are frequent features, demanding both technical control and musical sensitivity from the performer. At the same time, Margola's lyrical impulse remains central: slow movements often unfold in long, singing phrases that highlight the guitar's natural warmth and expressive resonance. Played by Valerio Celentano, who graduated in classical guitar with honors from the Conservatory of Music "Giuseppe Martucci" in Salerno under the guidance of Antonio Grande. He has participated in several masterclasses with famous guitarists such as Alirio Díaz, Pavel Steidl, David Russell, Jyrki Myllärinen, Mario Gangi, and Carlo Marchione. He studied for several years with Oscar Ghiglia and Frédéric Zigante. He won prizes in many international music competitions. For Brilliant Classics, he recorded guitar works by Georges Migot.

View Full Page

Margola: Complete Sonatas for Solo Guitar
Brilliant Classics Jul 2026
CD
$14.99

Mix & Match

COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS
Cyprés Records Dec 2015
CD
$40.99

Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord / Szeryng, Walcha [2CD]

Urania Records

$32.99 Oct 18, 2019

Despite the fact that this historical execution does not follow the recent philologic parameters, it offers an example of unmatched classicism for its cleanliness, strength of the performers and equilibrium in the recording. The works are performed by Henryk Szeryng. Henryk Szeryng was a Polish-Mexican violinist. Born into a wealthy Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland, he studied piano and harmony with his mother before turning to the violin at age 7. He made his solo debut in 1933 playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. “One of the music's great aristocrats, violinist Henryk Szeryng was a perfectionist in all things. A man of phenomenal intellect, he combined exemplary musical taste with a super-refined technique and ravishing purity of intonation.” (Julian Haylock – THE STRAD July 2009)

View Full Page

Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Harpsichord / Szeryng, Walcha [2CD]
Urania Records Oct 2019
CD
$32.99

Sale

Koželuch: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2
Grand Piano Feb 2014
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Ponce: Complete Guitar Sonatas

Stradivarius

$33.99 Sep 12, 2025

The sonatas for guitar by the Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce (1882-1948) demonstrate his remarkable ability to compose music inspired by a wide variety of styles. From early romantic works like Estrellita (1912) to the more complex harmonic language of his Concierto for violin (1943), Ponce displayed extraordinary versatility. Initially influenced by French modern music and late romantic works, he developed a distinctive musical language that combined romanticism, modernism, and nationalism. His collaboration with guitarist Andres Segovia resulted in his first composition for guitar, the Sonata Mexicana (1923), blending French Impressionism with Mexican folk music. During his stay in Paris from 1925 to 1932, Ponce developed an interest in Neoclassicism and Bitonality, as evidenced in his Suite bitonal for piano. Among his most significant works for guitar is Sonata III (1927), which incorporates romantic, neoclassical, and Mexican and Spanish folk elements. His guitar music was always inspired by Segovia, who suggested numerous works, including the Sonatina Meridional (1930), a tribute to Spanish musical tradition. Ponce's other notable works for guitar include the Sonata Clasica (1927), a tribute to Fernando Sor, and the Sonata Romantica (1928), inspired by Franz Schubert. These compositions further demonstrate his unique ability to blend traditional influences with his own distinctive voice. The Mexican composer wrote eight sonatas (six sonatas and two sonatinas) for guitar, two of which were lost during the looting of Segovia's apartment in Barcelona in 1936. Manuel Maria Ponce - Complete Guitar Sonatas presents for the first time the guitar sonatas in their entirety, including the surviving movements of these lost compositions and Sonata VI, a pastiche of Paganini's famous Grande Sonata for guitar. The works are performed by a group of artists under the guidance of M° Stefano Grondona, the renowned Italian guitarist.

View Full Page

Ponce: Complete Guitar Sonatas
Stradivarius Sep 2025
CD
$33.99

Ariosti: Stockholm Sonatas Vol 3 / Georgi, Harris, Yamahiro Brinkmann, Kirkby

BIS

$21.99 Dec 01, 2008

ARIOSTI “Stockholm” Sonatas: No. 15 in f; No. 16 in G; No. 17 in B?; No. 18 in d; No. 19 in a; No. 20 in g; No. 21 in a. Pur alfin gentil viola 1 • Thomas Georgi (vda); Lucas Harris (lt, gtr); Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann (vdg); Emma Kirkby (sop) 1 (period instruments) • BIS 1675 (63:57 Text and Translation)

Attilio Malachia Ariosti (1666–1729) led an amazingly varied life, one that could only have played out amid the opulence of the Baroque era. He started out as an altar boy in Bologna and later took monastic vows, possibly also entering the priesthood. All along he assiduously pursued his musical studies, eventually assuming the post of organist at the basilica of Santa Maria dei Servi. There he attracted the attention of the Duke of Mantua, for whom he began composing operas. Ariosti’s first opera, Tirsi (1697), was such a success that the Duke was encouraged to lend him out to the Berlin court, whose ruler was Sophie Charlotte of Hanover, Electress of Brandenburg and sister of the future George I of England. Ariosti quickly became Sophie’s favorite court musician (Bononcini was employed at the court as well), and became friends with the great Gottfried Leibniz. After Sophie died in 1705, Ariosti declared his (reluctant) desire to return to his monastery, by way of Vienna. The Vienna sojourn at the court of Joseph I stretched to seven years, where he composed operas, oratorios, and cantatas. After Joseph’s widow, Wilhelmina, kicked him out of Vienna (for his ostentatious, non-ecclesiastical behavior) in 1711, Ariosti found employment at the court of the Duke of Anjou (the future Louis XV), in Munich, Württemberg, Durlach, Baden, Lorraine, and at the court of the Duke of Orléans. In 1716 Ariosti sailed for England, where his opera Almahide had been staged in 1708, albeit with two-thirds of the numbers replaced by arias of Bononcini. Ariosti’s first appearance on the London stage was on July 12, 1716, when he played his “New Symphony … upon a New Instrument call’d Viola D’Amour,” between the acts of a Handel opera. Subsequently, the Royal Academy was to commission several operas, but Ariosti was still preoccupied with his diplomatic intrigues and had trouble meeting the deadlines; only one of the operas, Caio Marzio Coriolana (1723), was an unmitigated success, thanks in part to the participation of Cuzzoni and Senesino.

Exactly 21 viola d’amore sonatas survive from the pen of Ariosti; 15 of them owe their existence to Ariosti’s contemporary Swedish musician Johan Helmich Roman, who copied them down while on a visit to London. These survive in manuscript form in a Swedish library, hence the designation. The concluding cantata, Pur alfin gentil viola , is a valedictory work that survives in manuscript in a Darmstadt library. Written in an idiom reminiscent of Handel, the sonatas are remarkable for their brevity. Most movements are less than two minutes; only two of the Adagios are more than three. The structure is usually simple bipartite: AABB, or even ABa (the lower case indicating a brief restatement of the opening theme). The suites typically consist of four movements, in the traditional slow-fast-slow-fast grouping of the Italian sonata da chiesa.

The viola d’amore is one of those colorful “accessory” instruments so popular with Baroque composers. Played under the chin like the violin, it has six or seven sympathetic strings running under the fingerboard that are responsible for the instrument’s characteristic silvery sound. Like the oboe d’amore and the voice flute, the viola d’amore was newly invented; it came into use during the second half of the 17th century, but never became a permanent member of the orchestra. Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, and Quantz wrote sparingly for the viola d’amore, but it dropped out of sight during the Romantic era. Surprisingly, the instrument has persisted until the present day; composers as diverse as Strauss, Janá?ek, Hindemith, Martin, and Villa-Lobos have been attracted to its gentle, ethereal sound.

Thomas Georgi is an American who performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra of Australia for many years, and since 1989 has been a member of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra of Toronto. After joining that group he began to champion the viola d’amore, and has recorded two previous volumes of Ariosti for BIS. Apparently those CDs were never received by Fanfare for review. Georgi is joined by two excellent instrumentalists, lutenist Lucas Harris and gambist Mimi Yamahiro Brinkmann, and the renowned English soprano Dame Emma Kirkby. The performances are models of their kind, with colorful, expressive playing from Georgi, and first-rate contributions from the two continuo players. I applaud the decision to employ archlute (theorbo) and guitar as continuo instruments; a harpsichord would have overwhelmed the delicate sound of the viola d’amore. Of particular interest is the cantata—it demonstrates that Dame Emma’s voice is as beautiful and controlled as ever, even after nearly 40 years before the public.

When the pressures and madness of modern life press in, I can think of nothing better than to retreat into the delicate sound world of Ariosti for rejuvenation. Highly recommended.

FANFARE: Christopher Brodersen

View Full Page

Ariosti: Stockholm Sonatas Vol 3 / Georgi, Harris, Yamahiro Brinkmann, Kirkby
BIS Dec 2008
CD
$21.99

Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 & Violin Sonata No. 4 / Ahonen, Kuusisto

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Sep 01, 2017

Charles Ives’s ‘Concord Sonata’ is often described as one of the greatest of American piano works. Published in 1920, at the composer’s own expense, it contains radical experiments in harmony and rhythm and would have to wait until 1939 for its first public performance. In the course of its four movements, Ives depicts some of the famous inhabitants of the small town of Concord in Massachusetts, a centre of the mid-19th century transcendentalism movement. Luminaries of the movement such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are alluded to in various ways in music that includes references to Beethoven, religious and patriotic hymns and circus marches, as well as brief ‘guest appearances’ by a viola and a flute. Lasting 47 minutes on the present recording, it is a massive work of a staggering complexity, and a true challenge for any performer – a challenge more than readily accepted by the young Finnish pianist Joonas Ahonen, who has previously recorded Ligeti’s piano concerto for BIS.

For the opening work on the disc, the much shorter Violin Sonata No.4, Ahonen is joined by his compatriot, the celebrated violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Composed during the same period as the Concord Sonata, this piece also has an extra-musical background, namely the composer’s memories as a child of the so-called camp meetings held during the Christian revivalism of the late 19th century.

View Full Page

Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 & Violin Sonata No. 4 / Ahonen, Kuusisto
BIS Sep 2017
SACD
$21.99

Eberl: Piano Sonatas & Variations / Nagoya

Brilliant Classics

$6.99 ~~$13.99~~ Save 50% Jan 21, 2022

Born in Vienna in 1765, Anton Eberl lived a quieter life than Mozart, and his music does not court the scandal or venture to the expressive extremes of his contemporary, friend and mentor. After Mozart’s death in 1756, Eberl toured with his widow Constanze Mozart and her equally accomplished sister, Aloysia Lange, before Eberl married a third talented soprano, Maria Anna Scheffler, and the pair moved to Saint Petersburg, which at the time was establishing an artistic court to rival any of the capitals of Europe. Eberl worked there as Kapellmeister to the Russian royal family for a decade (1796-1805) before moving back to Vienna. Only two years later, at the height of his reputation, Eberl caught scarlet fever and died at the age of 41. By then Eberl had also become well acquainted with Beethoven. Sayuri Nagoya’s personal selection from Eberl’s keyboard output encompasses the earlier and later stages of his career, beginning with a set of variations on ‘Bei Männern’ from Die Zauberflöte which was composed within months of the Singspiel’s premiere at the Theater an der Wien. Dating from a year or two after Mozart’s death, the Sonata Op.1 was originally published under his name, and Eberl’s Sonatina Op.5 (1796) likewise inhabits a Mozartian grammar. By the time of the G minor Sonata Op.27, however, Eberl had developed a bolder and more dramatic idiom of keyboard writing, doubtless also under the influence of the intervening decade of technological innovation which brought about instruments with a wider compass and broader dynamic range. The C major Sonata Op.43 opens with a grand introduction before launching into an Allegro of high contrasts. The album leaves the listener with a full appreciation of Eberl’s gifts as well as a tantalizing sense of where his talents might have taken him next.

View Full Page

Sale

Eberl: Piano Sonatas & Variations / Nagoya
Brilliant Classics Jan 2022
CD
~~$13.99~~ $6.99

White: Piano Sonatas

Convivium Records

$18.99 Feb 07, 2020

If any composer from the last hundred years can be said to have redefined the piano sonata, that composer is John White. A unique figure in British music, his vast compositional output documents a long involvement with the worlds of dance, theatre, experimentalism and electronica as well as with that of the concert hall. (Dave Smith, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Hertfordshire.) "I write a lot for piano for two main reasons: being a pianist allows me to be in touch with a rich and exciting repertoire, which gives me a great variety of role models in terms of vocabulary and gesture with which to formulate and 'clothe' the ideas which come to me and seem to need expression. Being an idealistic rather than a "career" composer, I find the piano a handy vehicle for the uttering ('outering') of compositional thought, in that the inspiration goes directly into a performable medium without the salesmanship required for getting ensemble pieces played." (John White, in conversation with Sarah Walker. The New English Keyboard School: A Second 'Golden Age' Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 11 2001)

View Full Page

White: Piano Sonatas
Convivium Records Feb 2020
CD
$18.99

Schneider: 4 Flute Sonatas

Brilliant Classics

$14.99 Oct 10, 2025

World premiere recordings of beguiling flute sonatas written on the cusp of the early-Romantic era in Germany. Almost completely forgotten in our own time, Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider (1786-1853) once enjoyed substantial fame as a pianist, composer, teacher and musical organiser. He was born in 1786, 16 years after Beethoven, in the same year as Weber and the Brothers Grimm, and received his first musical education from his father. His talent was evident from an early age, as he learnt the piano and several other instruments. Breitkopf & Hartel published his Op.1, a set of piano sonatas, in 1804; he went to study in Leipzig, where he became organist of the Thomaskirche, and settled there for his 20s, giving the local premiere of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto in 1811. A standard German work of reference from 1838 cites Schneider 'among the living German masters of music'. From the evidence of these four sonatas for flute and piano, it is hard to see why his name should have so comprehensively vanished from view. Schneider composed the first of them, his Op.18, in 1808, and it follows the same Classical exemplar as Beethoven's first eight violin sonatas, and all of Mozart's in being written for a pianist with an accompanying melody instrument rather than the other way around. Over the course of the following three sonatas, the flautist becomes more independent, and his Op.61 Sonata of 1827 requires a virtuoso. Schneider wrote the first three sonatas in a four-movement form, breaking ground in this way by elevating the flute sonata from it's previous association with pretty variation sets and pot-pourris of operatic themes. This originality extends to the finales of all four sonatas - notably the Second, which is cast in G minor against the prevailing G major tonality (foreshadowing in this way the 'Italian' Symphony of Mendelssohn). In his booklet essay for this new recording, the flautist Daniele Ruggeri pays tribute to the 'simple but bewitching' trios of each sonata, and to Schneider's 'profound understanding of the expressive character of the different registers of the flute' in the slow movements. Based in Venice, Ruggeri has played across the world and recorded for many major labels. With this album of Schneider he revives an unjustly neglected contemporary of Beethoven and Schubert, and does so on an instrument of the period. - Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider was a German composer, conductor, organist, and pianist of the early Romantic period. Born in Saxony, he was a highly respected musician during his lifetime, known for his contributions to church music, orchestral works, and chamber compositions. He earned his place in history as the pianist premiering Beethoven's 5th piano concerto. - Schneider's flute sonatas are elegant and expressive works that reflect the stylistic transition from the Classical to the Romantic era. Blending lyrical melodies with intricate harmonic textures, the sonatas are technically challenging and musically rewarding for performers. The flute sonatas follow the traditional sonata form, typically structured in three or four movements, combining virtuosic passages with expressive slow sections. - Played by Italian flutist Daniele Ruggieri and pianist Luigi Caselli.

View Full Page

Schneider: 4 Flute Sonatas
Brilliant Classics Oct 2025
CD
$14.99

Mix & Match