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Die Quellen Des Jungen Bach / Celine Frisch

Alpha

$20.99 Mar 09, 2010

DIE QUELLEN DES JUNGEN BACH • Céline Frisch (hpd) • ALPHA 149 (71:14 )

BACH Toccatas: in e, BWV 914; in g, BWV 915; Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratello diletissimo, BWV 992. BUXTEHUDE Suite in C, BuxWV 226. FROBERGER Toccata in d,. Suite in d. KERLL Suite in F. Passacaglia. REINCKEN Toccata in G

Bach, apart from being one of the greatest composers, performers, and improvisers of his age, was also one of the greatest students in the history of music. He was as precocious a learner as any musician, taking in everything he could from the various Quellen , or sources, available to him in his day, assimilating as many different styles from every major European nation as possible, without ever traveling outside of his own. That a recital of this nature is not only achievable—one that is capable of demonstrating many of these various sources—but engrossing as well, is proof of the diversity of styles that all had their effect on Bach. It is a testament to his abilities as well, that as much as we can hear these influences in his early works, there is still a voice that shines through.

From the opening of the Reincken toccata, Céline Frisch makes it clear that we are in for a well-paced and dramatic reading. The toccata opens in a boisterous manner, full of energy, but free enough to suggest there is still a hint of improvisation. Frisch obviously enjoys the moment, and as a consequence, so do we! The recital continues with the E-Minor Toccata by Bach, highlighting the similarities and differences between the former piece and itself. She continues in her free way with the tempo of the opening, but sets a clear tempo for the fugue that follows, always maintaining a sprightly sense of articulation, lightening the mood when necessary. The Buxtehude and Froberger that follow show yet another influence, mainly those of the suites that preceded Bach’s own. Here Frisch creates a slightly more reverent feeling with slower tempi, perhaps a bit too slow in the allemandes and sarabandes for my taste, but not overly so as to distract from their dance-like nature. The courantes and gigues, on the other hand, have well-chosen tempos, not too fast, but lively and exciting. The Capriccio follows, in what is probably one of the better performances on harpsichord that I’ve come across. The tempi here are equally well chosen, in particular the “Lament” in passacaglia form, which is too often played as slowly as possible. Frisch here maintains a good sense of line and movement. The Kerll pieces that follow come as the biggest delight, with the passacaglia leading that list. It is here Frisch slows off her skills in what is surely a Baroque virtuosic tour de force. Exciting from beginning to end, it makes me wish the piece were twice as long as it is! The recital ends with Bach’s G-Minor Toccata, equally compelling, and ending in the home key of G Major, in which the recital began over an hour before.

This recital is a joy to listen to, from beginning to end, a well-paced, solid reading of some fascinating music that puts Bach fully in perspective. It’s ne of the best harpsichord discs I’ve come across this year, complete with stylish playing, good flair for the dramatic, and an equally interesting program to boot. Highly Recommended.

FANFARE: Scott Noriega

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Die Quellen Des Jungen Bach / Celine Frisch
Alpha Mar 2010
CD
$20.99

Dussek: Piano Sonatas, Op. 9 - The Sufferings of the Queen o

DUX

$21.99 Jan 03, 2020

Born on 12 February 1760, Jan Ladislav Dussek is one of the most recognizable artists at the end o f Classicism and beginning of Romanticism. His rich artistic output gained recognition mainly due to innovative, for that time, piano works and numerous symphonies. Dussek significantly contributed to the spread of English pianos in Europe, which implied further development of construction of these instruments. The album contains three Piano Sonatas, Op. 9 and the cycle The Sufferings of the Queen of France, Op. 23 performed by world-renowned Marek Toporowski.

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Dussek: Piano Sonatas, Op. 9 - The Sufferings of the Queen o
DUX Jan 2020
CD
$21.99

Giardini: 6 Sonatas for violin and continuo, Op. 1, London 1

Tactus

$21.99 Jan 30, 2026

This release is devoted to the complete set of six Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo, Op. 1 by Felice Giardini (also known as Degiardino), published in London in 1751. Born in Turin in 1716, and passing away in Moscow in 1796, Giardini stands as a bridge between eras and styles, forging a distinctive voice, in which diverse musical languages merge with remarkable balance. A virtuoso of string instruments, he masterfully explored their possibilities, during the delicate transition from the Baroque to the early Classical period, an era often defined as the galant style. The Op. 1 collection belongs to Giardini's early years, and it's formal structure reflects typical Baroque conventions: all six sonatas are laid out in three movements, alternating fast and slow tempi, occasionally bearing the markings of stylized dance forms (such as minuets, and gigues) reminiscent of Baroque suites. The main performers of this rediscovery, are I Solisti Ambrosiani (v. tc 681302, tc 670203, tc 670291) with Davide Belosio on violin, Claudio Frigerio on cello, and Nicola Bisotti on harpsichord.

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Giardini: 6 Sonatas for violin and continuo, Op. 1, London 1
Tactus Jan 2026
CD
$21.99

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Beethoven: 10 Piano Sonatas / Walter Gieseking

Andromeda

$10.99 Jan 01, 2012

Includes Sonatas no. 8, op. 13, "Pathétique;" no. 17, op. 31/2, "Tempest;" no. 21, op. 53, "Waldstein;" no. 23, op. 57 "Appassionata;" no. 9, op. 14/1; no. 16, op. 31/1; no. 24, op. 78; no. 25, op. 79; no. 26, op. 18a, "Les Adieux;" no. 17, op. 90.

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Beethoven: 10 Piano Sonatas / Walter Gieseking
Andromeda Jan 2012
CD
$10.99

Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Elgar & Fuchs: Music for Strings / Famà, Orchestra Orfeo

Brilliant Classics

$10.99 ~~$13.99~~ Save 20% Sep 23, 2022

The golden age of string orchestra repertoire must certainly be the period spanning the final decades of the 19th century to the early 20th century. The density of sound, great dynamic range, long phrases and virtuosity that are uniquely possible with this combination of instruments saw it become a particularly cherished ensemble for many of the greatest composers of the day. Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile is the composer’s own transcription of the second movement from his famous String Quartet No.1, prepared for a private concert in Paris (February 1888) with cellist Anatoly Brandukov and the Edouard Colonne Orchestra conducted by the composer. Russian composer and pianist Anton Arensky (1861–1906), who was strongly influenced by Tchaikovsky’s style, is particularly known for his Variations Op.35a on a theme by Tchaikovsky. Again, this is an own-arrangement of the second movement of Arensky’s String Quartet No.2 in A minor. Written in 1894 on the occasion of Tchaikovsky’s death, the work takes as its theme Tchaikovsky’s song ‘Legend’, adding seven variations and a coda.

Elgar’s Elegy for Strings was written in 1909 after the funeral of Robert Hadden – one of the members of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in London – at the suggestion of Elgar’s publisher Alfred Littleton and intended as a commemorative piece for future ceremonies. It was first performed in St Paul’s Cathedral in 1914, where it is still heard for commemorative celebrations today. Its popularity is justified by the poignant beauty of every single musical phrase. Most famous for his series of serenades for string orchestra, Robert Fuchs (1847–1927) is considered a worthy heir to the Viennese romantic musical tradition.

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Tchaikovsky, Arensky, Elgar & Fuchs: Music for Strings / Famà, Orchestra Orfeo
Brilliant Classics Sep 2022
CD
~~$13.99~~ $10.99

Krieger Complete Harpsichord And Organ Music

Brilliant Classics

$17.99 Aug 28, 2020

Johann Krieger (1652-1735) won the esteem of Handel, no less, for the skill of his counterpoint and the inventive power of his organ music. For the theorist Mattheson, Krieger was likewise the pre-eminent exponent of complex counterpoint in his generation. Yet music-lovers have hitherto been able to sample Krieger's work only in excerpted compilations. The present album occupies a unique place in the catalogue as by far the most extensive recorded survey of Krieger, containing his two published collections of keyboard music. Album 1 is filled with the six harpsichord suites which were published in 1697 in Krieger's home town of Nürnberg, though by then the composer himself was employed as an organist in the Saxon town of Zittau: a post he filled for 54 years until his death. The Suites are themselves prefaced by an elaborate fantasia, and they contain the standard sequence of dance numbers - allemandes, courantes, sarabandes and gigues. Published two years later, the Anmuthige Clavier-Übung was probably written earlier, and functions as a small library of preludes, ricercares, fugues, fantasias, toccatas and a chaconne, which are not grouped together by key. Both collections make clear that Krieger deserves to rank with Fischer, Kuhnau and Pachelbel as one of the outstanding German keyboard composers of the generation before Bach. Boccaccio has paid careful attention to the details of old fingering techniques; the resultant variety in phrasing and articulation gives new life to figurations that with a more modern legato approach can seem plain. As his own booklet note explains, he has also taken considered decisions about when discreet ornamentation can enhance the music's impact and when to let Sweelinck's notes

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Krieger Complete Harpsichord And Organ Music
Brilliant Classics Aug 2020
CD
$17.99

Buxtehude: Suites In C Major And D Minor, Etc / Lars Ulrik Mortensen

Naxos

$13.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 30% Mar 25, 2008

The suites offered here present the intimate, domestic aspect of Buxtehude’s keyboard art. In each case, the allemande is the weightiest element, “the proposition in a musical suite, from which the corrente, sarabande and gique [sic] flow as parts”, in the words of Buxtehude’s grandstudent Martin Heinrich Fuhrmann. Indeed, the openings of Buxtehude’s correnti often follow the melodic contour of the allemande, and in the case of the Suite in F major, BuxWV 238, the corrente approaches an actual variation of it. The Ryge manuscript usually spells this movement “Courent” in a curious mixture of French and Italian; in fact Buxtehude usually follows the Italian corrente, with its lightly running quaver motion, rather than the more subtle French courante. Fuhrmann characterizes the sarabande as an “instrumental aria, usually eight measures, going slowly in triple”, and this is the shortest and simplest movement of a Buxtehude suite. Two of the present suites (BuxWV 226 and 233) offer a second sarabande that is not a double, or variation, of the first. The second sarabande of BuxWV 233 has a distinctly vocal quality, as opposed to the more instrumental stile brisé of the first. The gigues in Buxtehude’s suites have a more contrapuntal texture than the other movements, but they are not strictly fugal, usually dissolving into homophony after a few entrances. It is through the gigue, however, that the dance makes itself most strongly felt in the other genres of Buxtehude’s keyboard music.

The set of three variations named simply Aria, BuxWV 249, are based on the sarabande. Its second and third variations contain written-out varied repetitions of each of the sections of the binary form, demonstrating how Buxtehude might actually have performed those repetitions that he normally indicated only with repeat marks.

Buxtehude’s chorale settings for keyboard are preserved mainly in manuscripts compiled by Johann Gottfried Walther, organist in Weimar and cousin of J. S. Bach. Although most of them require two manuals and pedal, a few do not, and there is no reason why they should be confined to the church organ. One in particular seems appropriate for performance on the harpsichord: the Partita: Auf meinen lieben Gott, BuxWV 179. Here Buxtehude combines three genres, the dance suite, the variation set, and the chorale setting, to produce an unusual hybrid form, consisting of Allemande (unnamed), Double, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BuxWV 223, belongs to the genre of the chorale fantasy, in which each phrase of a chorale melody is developed rather extensively in a different manner. Here too the gigue makes a prominent appearance, concluding the work in a fugal treatment of the entire melody.

Buxtehude’s free keyboard works - those independent of a preexisting melody or dance pattern - are mainly transmitted in manuscripts that include both pedaliter and manualiter works. Among these, his most original and justly famous works are praeludia and toccatas in the stylus phantasticus, which intermingles highly unpredictable free sections in virtuosic and idiomatic keyboard styles with more structured fugal sections. Since organists naturally prefer the pedaliter works, those for manuals alone are much less frequently performed, thus offering rich opportunities to adventurous harpsichordists. Even in these free works one can find elements of dance and variation. In place of a second fugue, the Toccata in G major, BuxWV 165, contains a brief passage of ostinato variations that are faintly reminiscent of Pachelbel’s famous canon. Buxtehude may have conceived his canzonas as teaching pieces; they are all manualiter works, and students most often practised on the clavichord or harpsichord. They are variously titled canzon, canzonet, or fuga and consist either of a single fugue (BuxWV 225) or of three related fugues (BuxWV 166 and 176) in the manner of the variation canzona inherited from Frescobaldi and Froberger. The gigue makes an appearance yet again as the second fugue of BuxWV 166.

Kerala Snyder

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Buxtehude: Suites In C Major And D Minor, Etc / Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Naxos Mar 2008
CD
~~$19.99~~ $13.99

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol 8 / Ohlsson

Bridge Records

$14.99 ~~$18.99~~ Save 20% Aug 12, 2008

This disc presents three sonatas, No. 1, No. 23 ('Appassionata'), and No. 30, Op. 109, performed by 2008 Grammy-winning pianist, Garrick Ohlsson. In the words of annotator Frank Cooper, 'Three stages of greatness-exploratory, revolutionary, visionary- are represented here...'.

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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol 8 / Ohlsson
Bridge Records Aug 2008
CD
~~$18.99~~ $14.99

NOVELLETTEN OP.21 NACHTSTUCKE OP.23
HYPERION Nov 2014
CD
$18.33

Regondi: A 200th Birthday Bouquet / Starobin

Bridge Records

$18.99 Jan 20, 2023

David Starobin's recordings of 19th century music on Viennese guitars have been hailed as path-breaking, including his recent Matiegka sonatas disc, (BRIDGE 9567). Donald Rosenberg, in Gramophone wrote: "These works unfold with a spectrum of creative possibility, especially in Starobin's eloquent hands. The guitarist brings refinement to every turn of phrase, whether the music is marching, dancing or crying. This recording is a swansong to savor." In honor of the 200th birth year of Giulio Regondi, Victorian composer, guitarist, and concertinist, Starobin's new Regondi release combines previously unissued recordings, alongside re-mastered performances from Starobin's back catalog. In addition to Regondi's most well known works (Nocturne Reverie, op. 19 and Introduction et Caprice, op. 23), Starobin includes four transcriptions from Regondi's concertina etudes, guitar etudes nos. 2 and 10, and Regondi's Fetes Villageoise, op. 20 and Air Varie, No. 1, op. 21.

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Regondi: A 200th Birthday Bouquet / Starobin
Bridge Records Jan 2023
CD
$18.99

Haydn: String Quartets Op 17 No 3, 5 & 6 / Kodály Quartet

Naxos

$19.99 Apr 15, 1999

"The Kodaly’s Haydn will now be familiar enough to many readers. It deploys a mellow, homogeneous tone and phrases with care and natural musicality. The first violin, very much primus inter pares in these early quartets, shapes the beautiful slow movements of Nos. 3 and 6 with unforced eloquence. The irrepressible, gigue-like opening movement of No. 6, with its adventurous tonal excursions (foreshadowing the similar opening movement in Op. 20 No. 6) , has a nice lift to the rhythms and a lively sense of give-and-take; and each of the minuets is well characterized, notably that of No. 3, with its bizarrely scored Trio (second violin and cello singing the tune two octaves apart, separated by a flowing accompaniment on the first violin and a rustic drone on the viola)."

-- Richard Wigmore, Gramophone [Awards Issue 1999]

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Haydn: String Quartets Op 17 No 3, 5 & 6 / Kodály Quartet
Naxos Apr 1999
CD
$19.99

Weiner: Divertimentos Nos. 1 & 2 / Csanyi, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV

Naxos

$13.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 30% Jul 24, 2020

Leó Weiner, a contemporary of Bartók and Kodály, was a profoundly important teacher in Budapest whose own music developed from a more traditional Romantic model – exemplified by the songful Románc, Op. 29 – to an absorption of his native Hungarian folk music during the 1930s. The two Divertimentos for strings, vibrantly orchestrated sequences of dances, are among the best-known works of this period. The later Hungarian Nursery Rhymes and Folk Songs draw on some archaic and very popular native melodies. Volumes 1 and 2 can be heard on 8.573491 and 8.573847. This is Volume 3 of Valéria Csányi’s ongoing series of the complete orchestral works by Weiner, with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV. Vol. 1 includes the complete ballet C song or and Tünde (8.573491)in which Gramophone wrote that ‘Csányi shapes the score as if she really loves it’, while Fanfare stated that ‘this disc represents a charming discovery.’

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REVIEW:

This is the fourth disc in Naxos’ survey of the orchestral music of Leó Weiner—each performed by the same artists as here. All of these CDs have been impressively and idiomatically performed and the repertoire is valuable in expanding the knowledge of Weiner’s work outside his native Hungary. For those discovering his music for the first time, this disc might be the best introduction to his work of the series so far.

In terms of both musical content and simple length, the Pastorale, Fantasy and Fugue Op.23 is the most substantial work on this disc. The use of folk-inspired melodic and rhythmic shapes is unmistakable but none of these are explicitly folk-derived although the fugal finale does draw on a traditional Hungarian bagpipe song. This is certainly a work that deserves to be more widely known and played outside of its native Hungary.

This well recorded, confidently played programme cements the attractive music of Leo Weiner as being well-worth performing. With the exception of the Op.23, this is essentially quite light but very enjoyable music that benefits from sympathetic and idiomatic performances. István Kassai’s English-only liner is very helpful highlighting information about both the music and this relatively unfamiliar composer.

– MusicWeb International

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Weiner: Divertimentos Nos. 1 & 2 / Csanyi, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV
Naxos Jul 2020
CD
~~$19.99~~ $13.99

Zimmermann: The Violin Sonatas / Milwidsky, Haywood

Toccata

$20.99 May 01, 2020

Born in Cologne in 1847, Agnes Zimmermann settled in London and was soon celebrated as a fine pianist, teacher, music editor and composer. As a performer, her partners included Clara Schumann, Joachim and Neruda. As a composer, the three violin sonatas from the 1860s and ’70s form the centre of her oeuvre. Dramatic, lyrical and beautifully crafted, these substantial contributions to the repertoire lie somewhere between Mendelssohn and Brahms in approach and demonstrate an impressively personal musical voice. Born in London in 1994, 25 year old violinist Mathilde Milwidsky has been praised by The Strad (2017) for her "perfect intonation and beautiful shaping and coloring...comprehensively nailing each new stylistic and emotional universe as she went" as well as by the Ostfriesen Zeitung (2018) – “Milwidsky showed in the interplay with the pianist Thomas Hoppe a unique, rarely heard musical experience... that was sensational.” She has performed as a soloist at venues in the UK such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John's Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and the Royal Albert Hall as well as across Europe in Finland, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Ireland and Sweden. Recent live broadcasts include BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’, BBC Radio 4, Radio Swiss Classic, Classic FM and the BBC One Show.

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Zimmermann: The Violin Sonatas / Milwidsky, Haywood
Toccata May 2020
CD
$20.99

Vladigerov: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 / Vladigerov, Bulgarian National RSO

Capriccio

$22.99 Apr 02, 2021

In Bulgaria, both folk and art music evince an ancient tradition that strikes awe even in some of the great music nations today. The way Pancho Vladigerov incorporated these folk-music themes into his concert pieces shows not only his affinity for them but also suggests that he felt something of a calling to promulgate and champion the folk-traditions of his central European homeland. The most-performed work of Pancho Vladigerov’s is undoubtedly his Bulgarian Rhapsody op.16 “Vardar” from 1922. The most outstanding must be his Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances op.23 (1931), with which he might have wanted to create a counterpart to Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances, or Grieg’s Norwegian Dances or similar such popular aural nationalistic postcards.

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Vladigerov: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 / Vladigerov, Bulgarian National RSO
Capriccio Apr 2021
CD
$22.99

Paul Juon: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1
Sterling Records Aug 2013
CD
$20.99

Bach: Works for Harpsichord / Skowroneck

Tyxart

$20.99 May 22, 2020

J.S. Bach's 6 English Suites (BWV 806-811) were written around 1715 during Bach's time at the court in Weimar (1708-1717). In spite of their title, most of the English suites begin with a large-scale polyphonic Prelude in the style of the Italian concerto grosso, whereas most of the dance movements are written in the French manner. The Prelude of the sixth suite (BWV 811) featured on this album is preceded by a slow introduction, which gives the piece some extra length and weightiness. The Gigue of this suite is particularly challenging because of its frequent organ points that are sustained by long trills, to be played against other voices in the same hand. Technically, this texture can be seen as a precursor of the so-called "Beethoven trill". The Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat major (BWV 998), written about twenty years after the English Suites, were conceived for "lute or harpsichord". Written in the soothing key of E-flat major, these pieces evoke a pastoral mood. The final selection on this recording (Suite) is Gustav Leonhardt 's (1928-2012) G minor arrangement of the second Violin Partita in D minor (BWV 1004). This transposed version makes exquisite use of the harpsichord's sonoraus potential. The famous Ciaccona, well known from a number of famous transcriptions for piano, concludes this suite. The harpsichord played on this recording was made in 1976 by Martin Skowroneck (1926-2014) after an original two-manual harpsichord from 1728 by Christian Zell. The instrument's plectra are made of bird's quill.

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Bach: Works for Harpsichord / Skowroneck
Tyxart May 2020
CD
$20.99

Bach: Complete English Suites / Yates

Chandos

$32.99 ~~$43.99~~ Save 25% Oct 01, 2021

J.S. Bach copied out and studied Dieupart’s Six Suittes de Clavessin of 1701, the form of which he then replicated in his ‘English’ Suites. Each suite begins with a substantial movement (called ‘Ouverture’ in Dieupart’s case) which is followed by the traditional allemande, courante, sarabande, ‘galanteries’ and a final gigue. The works are presented here by Sophie Yates.

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Bach: Complete English Suites / Yates
Chandos Oct 2021
CD
~~$43.99~~ $32.99

J. S. Bach & Sons: Flute Sonatas

Channel Classics

$20.99 Oct 03, 2025

Three years after their album of works by J.S. Bach (FUG 792), flautist Toshiyuki Shibata and keyboard player Anthony Romaniuk now record works not only by Bach but also by his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann, "the most original and innovative" of the lineage, according to Shibata. Both musicians were trained in historically informed interpretation in Belgium and admit their fascination for Art Nouveau, stating that it harmoniously combines tradition and innovation; they have also been influenced by other musical traditions, including jazz and contemporary music: "Preludes and improvisation were essential elements of music-making in the 18th century - for us it's natural to add preludes and postludes to our performances," says Shibata, who plays three traversos, copies of instruments by after Buffardin, Eigentopf and Quantz; Romaniuk plays a Flemish harpsichord and a Silbermann fortepiano. Their programme includes improvised preludes, a bold ending to BWV 1032/I and an original extra movement - a Gigue from BWV 997 with influences from several genres woven into it's bass line, honouring both tradition and invention.

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J. S. Bach & Sons: Flute Sonatas
Channel Classics Oct 2025
CD
$20.99

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Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord / Tilney

Music and Arts Programs of America

$24.99 ~~$32.99~~ Save 25% Oct 16, 2020

Johann Sebastian Bach's six Partitas for Harpsichord are among the greatest and most inspired works of all keyboard literature. They represent the composer's genius at the height of his maturity, matched only by his Goldberg Variations. They are performed here by Colin Tilney on a copy of an instrument by Christian Zell, Hamburg, 1728, built by Colin Booth, Wells, England, 1984. Colin Tilney is internationally known for his harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano playing, with many solo recordings on DG (Archive), EMI Electrola, Decca, Hyperion, Dorian, Doremi and CBC SM 5000. Originally working in London as an accompanist and repetiteur, in 1979 he moved to Canada, first to Toronto, where he taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music and founded the chamber group Les Coucous Benevoles; more recently (2002) to Victoria where he is on the staff of the Music School at the University of Victoria. J.S. Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord is his eighth recording for Music & Arts.

REVIEW:

Colin Tilney’s tempos in Bach’s music have considerably slowed down with age (the harpsichordist is 87 at this writing), and he never was a sprinter to begin with. As a consequence, his Six Partitas rarely reflect the music’s dance roots. Indeed, movements dependent on rhythmic momentum, like the Fifth Partita’s Praeambulum, No. 6’s Air, No. 3’s Courante, and all of the Gigues often leave a ponderous impression. Rhythmic amorphousness prevails in No. 1’s Praeludium, where Tilney’s loosely held duple meter soon settles into a tuple meter groove. However, Tilney retains his masterful legato finger technique, and the ability to make the quills on his resplendently engineered harpsichord sing, as No. 1’s Sarabande, No. 2’s Sinfonia, and No. 4’s sensitively ornamented Allemande bear out.

Given the performances’ leisurely trajectory, it’s not surprising that they spill over to three CDs rather than the usual two. While my reference Bach Partitas on harpsichord remain those of Trevor Pinnock (Hänssler), Igor Kipnis (Warner Classics), and Jory Vinikour (Sono Luminus), the sheer beauty that Tilney creates in Bach’s more reflective movements may well be worth the price of admission.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

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Bach: Partitas for Harpsichord / Tilney
Music and Arts Programs of America Oct 2020
CD
~~$32.99~~ $24.99

Telemann: 12 Solo Fantasias / Dahl

LAWO Classics

$18.99 Mar 11, 2022

Minuets, sarabands, bourrées, gigues, gavottes, hornpipes and polonaises. Like many other composers, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) used dance as a foundation for his compositions and this is no more evident than in his fantasias for flute, where we find several examples. Although the music is written for neither the ballroom, theatre nor opera, references to the baroque French court dance are clear and abundant. The music therefore invites something more than a pure listening experience, also evoking movement and corporeal responses. When music of the 18th century is interpreted today it is not necessarily the qualities of dance which set the framework for the performance. Nor were the fantasias for flute written specifically for dance. Even though the form is free, the references to dance can still provide indications and inspiration for further ways to experience the music. One of these is tempo. If dance tune is played too slowly, the dance will be affected by it. For example, balancing on one leg and pirouetting will require a stronger technique. Too slow a tempo could lead to a certain stiffness, but a tempo can also be too fast, in which case it would be challenging for the dancer to perform all steps with the required precision. It is not always as easy to recognize the underlying dance in the music, but given the required effort the rhythms and different characteristics of the dances can be sensed – the swing, flow and movement in the basic structures of the music can be perceived. Let your fantasy unwind, open up the creative space, and allow the music to move both body and soul!

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Telemann: 12 Solo Fantasias / Dahl
LAWO Classics Mar 2022
CD
$18.99

Baermann: Quintets for Clarinet and String Quartet / Meier, Belenus Quartet

MDG

SACD

$24.99 Jun 16, 2017

Heinrich Baermann is quite well known today as Carl Maria von Weber's source of inspiration. The famous virtuoso, for whom Weber personally created his clarinet concertos, repeatedly took up the pen on his own - and did so with great success. Several dozen works by Baermann have been transmitted to us. Here Rita Karin Meier and the Belenus Quartet turn to his three quintets for clarinet and strings and with them very outstandingly bring back to life his much-acclaimed cantabile playing as well as his legendary virtuosic capabilities. Especially in the Quintet in F minor, Op. 22 Baermann's closeness to Weber cannot be missed. The tempestuous beginning, in which the strings introduce the yearning and urgency of the Allegro non troppo, is pure romanticism from the very start. The magnificent opera scene in the second movement offers Rita Karin Meier outstanding opportunities to display her wonderfully warm tone in all sorts of different shadings. The Adagio of the Quintet Op. 23, which even today is quite frequently performed, acquired unsual fame. After its rediscovery in 1922 it was initially regarded as a work by Richard Wagner - which absolutely certifies its high quality!

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Baermann: Quintets for Clarinet and String Quartet / Meier, Belenus Quartet
MDG Jun 2017
SACD
$24.99

Saitenwechsel: Works for Solo Harp / Schutz

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 Feb 08, 2019

Helene Schuetz writes of this new release: “The inspiration for this recording and the choice of works came from the Gigue that ends J.S. Bach’s Partita in B flat major. When I first heard it in concert I knew immediately that this composition would work wonderfully for the harp. With the Gigue as my starting point, I began to arrange the Partita for harp. Of course, the instrument does have other tonal qualities than the piano – and, like any instrument, it has its technical limits when it comes to performance practice. When it comes to chromaticism, the mechanics of the harp are more limited than those of the piano, and one only has eight rather than ten fingers to play with. But it was precisely that challenge that fascinated me in the process of arranging the works: you first need to have a clear idea of the work's intention and to have formed your own view of its interpretation. The task then is to find ways and means to develop one's ideas and perhaps to achieve an even clearer interpretation than would have been possible on the original instrument. In this way, arranging the work for another instrument intensifies the performance, because the use of a new instrument allows other, new facets in the compositions to be illustrated and new tonal nuances achieved…”

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Saitenwechsel: Works for Solo Harp / Schutz
Haenssler Classic Feb 2019
CD
$20.99

Yevgeny Sudbin plays Medtner & Rachmaninov

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Feb 12, 2016

Having previously released recordings of Medtner's three piano concertos as well as three of Rachmaninov's five concertante works, Yevgeny Sudbin on the present disc combines solo pieces by the two friends and fellow-composers. From Sergei Rachmaninov's rich and varied production he has chosen six of the celebrated preludes, including 'Alla marcia' in G minor (Op.23 No.5) as well as the much-loved Prelude No.12 in G sharp minor from the Op.32 set. But Sudbin, who is a great admirer of Nikolai Medtner, opens his new disc with a generous selection of that composer's solo piano music. This section begins with the Prologue from Stimmungsbilder, the eighteen-year-old composer's Opus 1, and closes with Sonata tragica, composed shortly before Medtner left Russia in 1921, never to return. It also includes three of the thirty-some Fairy Tales that Medtner composed throughout his life. ‘No one tells such tales as Kolya’, Rachmaninov used to joke affectionately, and with these pieces Medtner created his own, unique genre. He himself used the Russian word skazka or German Märchen to describe them, and in his liner notes Yevgeny Sudbin suggests that the creative impulse came not only from folklore but also from such diverse sources as Pushkin, Shakespeare and even the Bible. As an interpreter of both these composers, Sudbin has proven himself both in concert and on disc, with previous recordings being named Disc of the Month in Gramophone, 'Essential Recording' in BBC Music Magazine and '10/10' on ClassicsToday.com, to mention just a few of the distinctions awarded them.

Review:

This is a wondrous disc. Sudbin seems to have an exceptional affinity with Medtner’s language. He brings both his heart and his head into play when performing these pieces. His head tackles and illuminates textures and harmonies that might seem opaque and knotty on a first study of the scores; his heart is then harnessed to convey the extraordinary sensibility, passion and thoroughly individual cast of melody that courses through the music.

Medtner’s natural companion on this disc is his intimate friend, Rachmaninov, from whose Preludes Opp 23 and 32 Sudbin draws six pieces. In all six of these preludes Sudbin deploys a luminous spectrum of timbre, a clear interpretative focus and a finely tuned imagination to encapsulate their very essence.

– Gramophone

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Yevgeny Sudbin plays Medtner & Rachmaninov
BIS Feb 2016
SACD
$21.99

Debussy: Images / Markl, Lyon NO

Naxos

$19.99 Mar 30, 2010

DEBUSSY Images. Pour le piano: Sarabande (orch. Ravel). Danse (orch. Ravel). Marche écossaise. La plus que lente • Jun Märkl, cond; Lyon Natl O • NAXOS 8.572296 (59:45)

This is the third volume in a series of Debussy’s orchestral music from the Lyon orchestra under its young German conductor; I haven’t heard the other two, but on this evidence I want to.

Images gets off to a good start with a Gigues of smooth, rounded, refined sonorities—little or no hint here of those tangy, fruity, acidic French orchestral timbres of a bygone era (still well in evidence in, e.g., Martinon’s EMI Debussy recordings of the 1970s). Rhythmic and dynamic detail is sharply observed. Phrases are beautifully shaped, with plenty of breathing space, building impressively to the tragic climax.

Ibéria is absolutely first-rate, displaying a masterly integration of the work’s many subtle tempo changes, in the service of Debussy’s incomparably atmospheric evocations: e.g., in “Par les rues et par les chemins,” the transition from sun-drenched glitter to the mysterious, unsettlingly shadowy world of the central part. “Les parfums de la nuit” is taken slowly (9:18; compare Boulez’s briskly efficient 7:30), with beautifully swung habanera rhythms. “Le matin d’un jour de fête” relishes to the full both the majestic, dazzling luminosity of the movement’s outer sections and the quirky eccentricity of its central adventures. I don’t know if Jun Märkl is a string player by training, but throughout he achieves an amazing variety of string sounds and articulations reminiscent of the great string-playing maestros of the past—above all, Monteux, and his classic 1963 version with the LSO (Philips). Listen to the extraordinary care Märkl lavishes over such details such as the violas’ taking over the ostinato in the central nocturnal procession of “Par les rues” ( léger et rythmé , and suddenly rather sinister-sounding in its new surroundings); the darkly delicate swaying of the divided violas’ and cellos’ introduction of the sinuous habanera in “Les parfums”; or the electrifying crescendos of the “giant guitar” effect in “Le matin.”

The performance of Rondes de printemps is spacious and finely detailed, holding tempo and power in reserve for an exciting quickening of the pulse in the coda.

All in all, these Images easily stand comparison to the best of the digital era. They come across as less self-conscious than Rattle/City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI, with the British maestro’s characteristically imaginative drawing of detail—in Gigues , for instance, chillier northern mists, and a stronger sense of mounting desperation). On the other hand, they sound more emotionally engaged than Boulez/Cleveland (DG, in a gorgeously nuanced sonic tapestry dispatched with cool, patrician elegance).

Märkl lavishes just as much care on the short pieces, from the gorgeous kaleidoscope of marble tints in Ravel’s orchestration of the Sarabande to the swirling mists of the Marche écossaise, whose engaging Celtic camp conceals many touches of real Debussyan harmonic alchemy. The sinuous rubato of La Plus que lente ’s slow waltz (complete with exotically twanging cimbalom) is teased out to the manner born.

The recording is resonant and spacious, a natural concert hall balance with outstanding perspective and depth, and no artificial highlighting of detail. This conductor/orchestra partnership is clearly something out of the ordinary, and I’ll be watching for more from them. At the price, the disc is a terrific bargain, whether you’re a newcomer to these pieces or a seasoned collector of multiple versions.

FANFARE: Boyd Pomeroy

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Debussy: Images / Markl, Lyon NO
Naxos Mar 2010
CD
$19.99

Baermann: Clarinet Quintets / Graaf, Schubert Consort Netherlands

Brilliant Classics

$9.99 ~~$12.99~~ Save 25% Mar 15, 2024

New recordings of early-Romantic quintets by the supreme clarinet virtuoso of his day, an inspiration to Weber and Mendelssohn but also an accomplished composer in his own right.

Heinrich Baermann's career took off once he met Carl Maria von Weber in 1811. Weber was immediately taken with the French-accented brilliance and German richness of tone which Baermann drew from his instrument, and began to write a series of works – including two concertos and a concertino – which still rank among his most inspired instrumental pieces, as well as defining a new sound and reach for the clarinet as a solo instrument The clarinet, now thanks to Baermann, could take on multiple roles, as leader, jester, and magus-like figure to complement the likes of Paganini on the violin and Giuliani on the guitar.

Weber pushed Baermann’s technique to new heights of facility and eloquence, which in return inflected Baermann’s own works for his instrument with comparable ambition. He wrote three quintets for clarinet and string ensemble, the first of them more concerto-like in character, the latter two full-scale chamber works. They have been recorded complete only once before, making this new album from a fine team of Dutch musicians all the more welcome.

Especially impressive are the slow movements of the quintets, cast as arias without words in order to capitalize on the fluid legato of Baermann’s playing, but formed with an economy of means which leaves their themes lingering in the mind’s ear. The Adagio of the Op. 23 Quintet was misattributed to Richard Wagner for many years, which speaks for Baermann’s craftsmanship, even if its harmonic language evidently belongs to a generation or two after Mozart. Now restored to its rightful place, the Adagio is the crown jewel, but there are treasures in store throughout Baermann’s clarinet quintets.

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Baermann: Clarinet Quintets / Graaf, Schubert Consort Netherlands
Brilliant Classics Mar 2024
CD
~~$12.99~~ $9.99