Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals / Young, Hamburg Philharmonic
Oehms Classics
Available as
CD
$31.99
Mar 11, 2016
This album is being released in honor of the 90th concert conducted by Hamburg Artistic Director Simone Young. The rarely performed work The Book with Seven Seals is an oratorio by composer Franz Schmidt (1874-1938) and is based on the Revelation of St. John for soloists, choir, organ, and orchestra. The piece was composed between 1935 and 1937. Featured soloists on this recording include Klaus Florian Vogt, Georg Zeppenfeld, Inga Kalna, Bettina Ranch, Dovlet Nurgeldiyev, and Volker Krafft.
REVIEWS:
The performance under Simone Young is terrific. The Hamburg Orchestra plays eloquently, and Krafft’s handling of the critical organ part is of daemonic intensity.
The choruses sing with discipline and beauty—even the complex contrapuntal passages are always clear. The soloists acquit themselves valiantly. Especially praiseworthy are Klaus Florian Vogt as the evangelist-narrator and Georg Zeppenfeld as the voice of The Lord. Their singing is of commanding stature, with expression and enunciation to match.
-- American Record Guide
This performance has much to offer that often only a live performance can give. There is a strong line up of soloists and a first rate chorus combined with expert direction from Simone Young. This is a fine record of a special occasion that stands up well to repeated listening.
-- The Classical Reviewer
This live 2015 performance by Simone Young and the Hamburg Philharmonic is an impressive presentation of the work, and the powerful performance marked the end of Young’s decade-long tenure with the orchestra.
-- AllMusic.com
Schmidt: The Book of the Seven Seals / Young, Hamburg Philharmonic
$31.99
CD
Oehms Classics
Mar 11, 2016
OC1840
Dances, Poems, Fairy Tales
Genuin
Available as
CD
$20.99
$15.99
Mar 25, 2014
"• Russian-German pianist Anna Scheps debut CD
• Concert program with works of a fairytale and dance-like character
• Continuing her career comeback following the birth of her three children
• Committed to many social projects"
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Dances, Poems, Fairy Tales
$20.99
$15.99
CD
Genuin
Mar 25, 2014
GEN 14302
SONATA NO. 3 I PROLOGUE SONA
Centaur Records
Available as
CD
$18.99
Sep 11, 2001
Classical Music
SONATA NO. 3 I PROLOGUE SONA
$18.99
CD
Centaur Records
Sep 11, 2001
CRC 2760
ROMEO & JULIET (HIGHLIGHTS) / SYMPHONY NO. 1
ALTO
Available as
CD
$11.01
Apr 29, 2014
Classical Music
ROMEO & JULIET (HIGHLIGHTS) / SYMPHONY NO. 1
$11.01
CD
ALTO
Apr 29, 2014
AOTL1258.2
BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1
WARNER CLASSICS
Available as
Vinyl
$25.49
Sep 29, 2023
Vinyl LP pressing.
BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1
$25.49
Vinyl
WARNER CLASSICS
Sep 29, 2023
WCL614143.1
Skempton: Man & Bat, Piano Concerto, The Moon Is Flashing, Eternity's Sunrise / Ensemble 360
First Hand Records
Available as
CD
$21.99
$16.99
Oct 18, 2019
Howard Skempton was born in Chester in 1947 and has worked as a composer, accordionist and music publisher. He studied in London with Cornelius Cardew which helped him to discover a musical language of great simplicity. Since then he has continued to write undeflected by compositional trends, producing a corpus of more than 300 works- many pieces being miniatures for solo piano or accordion. Skempton calls these pieces ‘the central nervous system’ of his work. His catalogue of works is as diverse as it is long, ranging from pieces for solo cello and guitar to the Chamber Concerto for fifteen players, the Concerto for Hurdy-Gurdy and Percussion, and Lento, premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1991. His works are performed on this new release by Ensemble 360 alongside pianist Tim Horton, and vocalists Roderick Williams and James Gilchrist.
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Skempton: Man & Bat, Piano Concerto, The Moon Is Flashing, Eternity's Sunrise / Ensemble 360
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$16.99
CD
First Hand Records
Oct 18, 2019
FHR90
Clementi, M.: Early Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
$13.99
Jan 01, 2003
Clementi, M.: Early Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
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Clementi, M.: Early Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
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$13.99
CD
Naxos
Jan 01, 2003
8555808
COMPLETE SYMPHONIC POEMS FOR T
Cedille
Available as
CD
$29.99
$22.99
Jan 01, 1997
Classical Music
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COMPLETE SYMPHONIC POEMS FOR T
$29.99
$22.99
CD
Cedille
Jan 01, 1997
BOX 1001
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Haenssler Classic
Available as
CD
$20.99
Jul 18, 2025
ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896) - Symphony No. 7 in E major Arrangement for ensemble by Hanns Eisler, Erwin Stein and Karl Rankl During the coronavirus pandemic, when large symphonic performances were almost impossible due to contact restrictions and social distancing rules, the ensemble wanted to enable people to experience the depth and spirituality of Bruckner's music despite the social distancing and isolation restrictions. While there are normally around 80 musicians on stage when Bruckner's 7th Symphony is performed, the Stuttgart-based Ensemble Balance performs the work with just 11 instrumentalists, the result being that this condensed chamber music remains a unique experience, even without the pandemic! And this is because it is precisely in this concentrated, emotionally condensed form that Bruckner's compositional artistry becomes seductively clear and audible! The in-depth exploration into his work during the rehearsals for this recording in August 2020 had the effect of welding the ensemble together in both an artistic and a personal way, and this intimate connection between each and every musician, combined with the spirit of Bruckner's composition, can be clearly felt and heard in this performance by Ensemble Balance.
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
$20.99
CD
Haenssler Classic
Jul 18, 2025
HC24057
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 D Minor Op. Op. 15
MDG
Available as
SACD
$24.99
Aug 01, 2011
The first Brahms concerto is a touchstone for each and every pianist. Until now nobody had dared to record the concerto on a historical grand piano with an orchestra performing on historical instruments. On his solo recordings Hardy Rittner has already conquered the Brahms Olympus on various occasions. He is joined by the brilliantly arrayed l'arte del mondo orchestra under the conductor Werner Ehrhardt. The result: a great risk - in a live performance - has become a great recording.
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 D Minor Op. Op. 15
$24.99
SACD
MDG
Aug 01, 2011
9041699-6
A Celebration: The Recordings for Cello & Piano / Yo-Yo Ma, Ax
Sony Masterworks
Available as
CD
$55.98
$41.99
May 24, 2019
“It has been almost 50 years since I met Yo-Yo in the cafeteria at the Juilliard School… We became friends very quickly and a couple of years later played a benefit concert for a children’s orchestra... I believe that in the life and career of a musician, luck plays an enormous role. The great piece of luck in my musical life has been my partnership with Yo-Yo. I learned most of the standard cello repertoire with him, but through our work together I also learned an enormous amount about all the other music that I was playing – and about sharing my love of music with audiences. Our approaches to learning a new work together started at opposite ends quite often. Yo-Yo always saw the big picture, he thought first about the emotional impact. I often started by asking why the third eighth note in bar 2 had a dot, and the fourth one didn’t. Gradually, we met in the middle. For me, it was revelatory to work in his way, and I hope I did not annoy him too much with my persnickety questions!
"Our first recordings were the Beethoven Sonatas. We had played them in concert a number of times and thought that we could do a creditable performance on disc. I remember so well the thrill of seeing those LP covers; the pianist is now a white-haired old gentleman, and the cellist looks as young as ever! I am a great lover of Russian music, but never felt that I could play it properly. The albums of Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev are very special to me as they represent my attempts at music that I adore… When I look at the list of recordings that Yo-Yo and I have done together I feel enormously privileged to have shared in the journey of this unique artist. It was happenstance and great good fortune that gave me this gift, and I am grateful beyond measure for the time we have had together. I hope there are still some years left for me to keep learning from him, and that we continue to have fun exploring together.” (Emanuel Ax)
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A Celebration: The Recordings for Cello & Piano / Yo-Yo Ma, Ax
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$41.99
CD
Sony Masterworks
May 24, 2019
19075929282
WAGNER: Symphonic Excerpts from Parsifal / TCHAIKOVSKY: Symp
SWR
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CD
$20.99
$10.49
Oct 27, 2004
WAGNER: Symphonic Excerpts from Parsifal / TCHAIKOVSKY: Symp
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WAGNER: Symphonic Excerpts from Parsifal / TCHAIKOVSKY: Symp
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CD
SWR
Oct 27, 2004
93119
Boehe: Symphonic Poems, Vol. I - Tragic Overture etc. / Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra
CPO
Available as
CD
$18.99
Nov 01, 2002
Classical Music
Boehe: Symphonic Poems, Vol. I - Tragic Overture etc. / Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra
$18.99
CD
CPO
Nov 01, 2002
999875-2
Liszt: Transcriptions of Symphonic Poems / Monteiro
Naxos
Available as
CD
$19.99
$13.99
Jun 10, 2016
Liszt turned to the composition of large-scale orchestral works after his success as a touring virtuoso and wrote a sequence of ground-breaking symphonic poems that in their narrative-driven structures directly influenced such composers as Richard Strauss and Sibelius. The piano transcriptions that Liszt supervised and produced saw these vivid scores transformed into the virtuoso piano medium in which form their pictorial richness could be enjoyed anew. This volume includes the memorably evocative Les Préludes and Orpheus.
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Liszt: Transcriptions of Symphonic Poems / Monteiro
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$13.99
CD
Naxos
Jun 10, 2016
8573485
Beginnings
Genuin
Available as
CD
$20.99
Apr 04, 2025
Following her celebrated solo debut album, award-winning pianist Anna Khomichko now releases a GENUIN album featuring classical piano concertos. Accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg under the baton of Mino Marani, she not only performs the reconstructed first concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven in E-flat major but also presents early works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Muzio Clementi. With this cleverly curated selection and in brilliant, detailed sound, she offers a compelling overview of the beginnings of classical composers-a rare and gratifying listening experience!
Beginnings
$20.99
CD
Genuin
Apr 04, 2025
GEN 25925
PIANO CONCERTO NO.1 & HANDEL V
Erato
Available as
CD
$7.99
Feb 11, 2014
PIANO CONCERTO NO.1 & HANDEL V
PIANO CONCERTO NO.1 & HANDEL V
$7.99
CD
Erato
Feb 11, 2014
2564635354
Szymanowski: Transcriptions for Flute & Piano
DUX
Available as
CD
$21.99
$16.99
Nov 18, 2022
The cycle of Nine Preludes, Op. 1 gained recognition already two years before its official release. In 1904, Arthur Rubinstein – fascinated by the first contact with the Preludes, as well as with several other compositions of his later friend – used the following words to describe them: ‘This music indeed touched my deepest emotions; I have not experienced anything similar since the discovery of Chopin. Who is that man? Where does he live? Where is he now? I need to meet him!’ Undoubtedly, op. 1 can be considered the first great showcase of Karol Szymanowski’s talent. In each of the miniatures, a smooth synthesis of Romantic influences and harmonic and textural procedures typical of many of the composer’s works occurs. These works are beautifully performed by flutist Agata Igras and pianist Mariusz Rukowski.
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Szymanowski: Transcriptions for Flute & Piano
$21.99
$16.99
CD
DUX
Nov 18, 2022
DUX1468
A Prologue
Tyxart
Available as
CD
$19.99
Aug 21, 2026
For those accustomed to hearing a more standard, cohesive repertoire on an album, this program may seem unusual: For this studio concert, the Russian-American pianist Misha Namirovsky was guided by two artistic principles: on the one hand, the juxtaposition of forms, structural breadth and musical character, and on the other, the aspects of profundity, virtuosity and reflection.
A Prologue
$19.99
CD
Tyxart
Aug 21, 2026
TXA25208
Les Eolides & Grande Piece Symphonique - La nuit de Walpurgi
CPO
Available as
CD
$18.99
Jan 30, 2026
Anyone who entitles an organ piece a Grand Pièce Symphonique should not be surprised if this very title one day is used as a benchmark to determine the legitimacy of this claimed attribute. This is exactly what the organist, composer, and pedagogue Zsigmond Szathmáry did at the behest of his young colleague Christian Schmitt when he examined the orchestral possibilities of César Franck's "great symphonic work". The result of this exploration gives us the world premiere of a concert piece in which the king of instruments and it's personified registers - i.e. The orchestra - form a captivating synthesis. Next to Franck's well-known tone poem Les Éolides (The Daughters of Aeolus), the programme includes a rarely recorded work by Charles-Marie Widor - a Walpurgis Night that easily rivals the most famous witches' dances in the Romantic literature.
Les Eolides & Grande Piece Symphonique - La nuit de Walpurgi
$18.99
CD
CPO
Jan 30, 2026
555632-2
Prometheus - The Myth In Music / Argerich, Abbado
Sony Masterworks
Available as
CD
$17.99
Jun 28, 2012
Prometheus: The Myth in Music
Prometheus - The Myth In Music / Argerich, Abbado
$17.99
CD
Sony Masterworks
Jun 28, 2012
SONY53978
Grandes Pièces Symphoniques / Ian Tracey
Chandos
Available as
SACD
$21.99
Oct 01, 2007
I cannot imagine a better place to start to get to know the French organ repertoire... Lovers of the genre should place their orders at once.
The CD opens with a display piece which is much more than just display: the whole disc might well have been devised to demonstrate that there is much more to the great French organ tradition than just a mighty sound. Much of the music is quiet and reflective and the bravura works, like this Tournemire improvisation, have more to offer than glorious sound.
This is one of the improvisations which Tournemire recorded and which were subsequently transcribed by Duruflé. Tournemire insisted that improvisations could not and should not be recaptured but this Improvisation on the Te Deum is a fine piece, worthy of preservation. The CD notes attribute this work to L’Orgue mystique, a cycle of 51 pieces on Gregorian themes for the major festivals of the liturgical year but, whereas that work consists of improvisation-like pieces which Tournemire actually wrote down, the Te Deum improvisation was not written down until Duruflé’s labour of love in transcribing it 28 years later.
Duruflé’s transcription in Ian Tracey’s hands almost persuades one that one is hearing the actual process of improvisation, yet at the same time the playing is totally assured. The Liverpool organ may not be a Cavaillé-Coll, but it is a fine instrument.
Only careful listening identifies the plainsong tune of the Te Deum but that is part of the art of composing such pieces. Bach sometimes buries his chorale melodies fairly deeply in his preludes and Duruflé’s own music based on plainsong themes sometimes requires a deal of detective work. Try his Four motets on Gregorian themes, coupled with his own performance of his gorgeous, Fauré-inspired Requiem and his Mass Cum jubilo on Apex 2564 61139 2, a budget-price distillation of two Erato CDs which have long been in my collection.
The two short pieces by Bonnet which follow are fairly insubstantial but they make an excellent bridge between the display of the Tournemire and the Saint-Saëns improvisation, itself an exercise in virtuosity which receives a glorious free-wheeling performance from Tracey. There is very little Saint-Saëns organ music in the record catalogues; a performance like this reminds us that there is much more to him than The Carnival of the Animals, as I have pointed out in my recent review of two of his Piano Concertos. (Jean-Yves Thibaudet with the OSR under Charles Dutoit on Decca 475 8764).
The title of Franck’s Grande Pièce Symphonique, which is used as the generic name of the CD as a whole, implies employment of the big guns but, in fact, the dominant mood of this piece is restrained, with frequent markings of dolce, pp and even ppp. The opening andante serioso is subdued and reflective: Tracey captures the serioso mood here as well as the mood of the succeeding allegro section, faster but still no troppo e maestoso. The notes in the booklet compare the opening section to a processional but I was put more in mind of a hushed and expectant congregation awaiting the start of Vespers.
In the quiet and reflective andante opening of the second movement, too, the image conjured up is of the preparation for an important service – a role which Tracey, in his capacity at Liverpool Cathedral, will have performed many times. He captures all these quiet passages extremely effectively, especially in those sections marked cantando, and the recording registers every detail, with individual manual- and pedal-parts coming over very clearly. The Liverpool reverberation is kept to a minimum.
The finale also opens pp, but with a hint of a storm to come. When those bigger guns finally arrive, in the wonderful fugue and the concluding outburst of joy, they are all the more effective for having been kept so long in reserve – and for Franck’s retaining a considerable degree of restraint even when they do fire. This is certainly not a showpiece for the sake of mere show and Tracey shows admirable restraint where a lesser organist might well have gone overboard. These grander moments are also very well captured by the engineers, even in normal stereo. One is again aware of the resonance of the building without its ever interfering with the clarity of the recording.
Those seeking to expand their knowledge of Franck’s organ music will inevitably reduplicate the Grande pièce, albeit at bargain price and on French organs. Either Jennifer Bate on the Beauvais organ (Regis RRC2054) or Marie-Claire Alain on the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Caen (Apex 2564 61428 2) will do very nicely. Both are 2-CD sets selling for around £9 in the UK.
The Gigout Scherzo provides a lighter, capricious moment before the Widor: delicacy of touch is paramount here and this Tracey very ably provides.
The Widor Symphony is not the one with the Toccata: that is No.5, already recorded in full by Tracey on CHAN9271. Listeners may welcome the chance to get away from that ubiquitous piece and at the same time hear another of his symphonies in its entirety: the Fourth Symphony is as good a piece as any to choose. Don’t expect these works, despite their title, to sound too symphonic: they are more like a suite than a symphony. Again Tracey’s chief rival in this work is Marie-Claire Alain’s authoritative account on the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint Germain (Warner Elatus 2564 60341 2, at mid-price).
Franck left his big guns till the end of his Grande Pièce; the Widor Symphony does the opposite, starting with a fff marking at the beginning of the opening Toccata. This is a big movement – by definition a Toccata is designed to show off the player’s expertise in ‘touching’ the keys. (From Italian toccare, to touch.) Tracey makes the Toccata sound big without being entirely overwhelming and without setting off too much reverberation: if anything, I might have wanted him to sound just a little more ferocious. The Fugue begins quietly with the 16’ pedal tone which the score calls for held in restraint; the effect is ethereal.
The third movement, marked dolce, opens even more ethereally, with the pp organ barely audible. This is the best-known movement, often played as a separate piece. The booklet compares it to Daquin’s Noëls but, having recently reviewed an excellent Hyperion Helios reissue of the Noëls (CDH 55319) I have to say that the relationship is a distant one apart from the cantabile nature of the music, excellently captured by Tracey. The central section, written in four staves – i.e. with two sets of pedal parts – is fiendishly difficult but Tracey, with art that conceals art, makes it sound effortless.
The Scherzo and Adagio are again gentle movements, the pp opening of each setting the tone. The mood of the Adagio anticipates that of Fauré’s Requiem by twenty-one years. Tracey’s nimble playing in the Scherzo, his lighter touch in the Adagio and the recording are once more absolutely first class.
It is a mark of a fine recording not only that it captures the loudest moments without distortion but that it makes an equally good job of registering music on the threshold of hearing. The Chandos engineers score in both respects on this CD – just don’t try to play it in the car: the volume required for the quieter movements to register would place you in the head-bangers’ league in the louder movements.
The Finale begins fff, a marking which recurs at several points in the movement. The big guns are unleashed at the start but Widor is careful again not to make the effect too overwhelming and Tracey’s playing contributes to the comparative restraint, especially in the central part of this movement. The closing bars bring a confident conclusion to the work, confidently executed.
I have already indicated that the recording is first-class even in stereo. In SACD surround-format I am sure that the ambience of Liverpool Cathedral is perfectly captured, albeit without too much of the reverberation of this building.
I’m going for broke and nominating this my Recording of the Month. I cannot imagine a better place to start to get to know the French organ repertoire – unless it should be one of Ian Tracey’s other recordings in this series. Lovers of the genre should place their orders at once.
-- Brian Wilson, MusicWeb International
Grandes Pièces Symphoniques / Ian Tracey
$21.99
SACD
Chandos
Oct 01, 2007
CHSA 5056
BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO.1
HARMONIA MUNDI
Available as
CD
$19.49
Aug 27, 2021
With his First Concerto, the young Brahms set his own course in the wake of Beethoven and Schumann and at the same time poured forth his personal emotions in this work of impressive dimensions. Russian soloist, Alexander Melnikov, has chosen an instrument contemporary with the premiere, a magnificent Bl�thner piano from 1859, a perfect match for the Sinfonieorchester Basel under it's British conductor Ivor Bolton. In addition to Brahms's Tragic Overture, the program also includes the much rarer Overture to �liza, an opera by Cherubini, a composer whom Brahms greatly admired.
BRAHMS: PIANO CONCERTO NO.1
$19.49
CD
HARMONIA MUNDI
Aug 27, 2021
HMF902602.2
Smetana: Symphonic Poems - Prague Carnival
Supraphon
Available as
CD
$21.99
Jan 01, 1995
Classical Music
Smetana: Symphonic Poems - Prague Carnival
$21.99
CD
Supraphon
Jan 01, 1995
SU0198-2
Virtuoso Transcriptions
Piano Classics
Available as
CD
$21.99
Jan 27, 2015
Russian pianist and composer Valery Kuleshov’s limitless technique, palette of colors, sense of structure and range of sonorities beggar belief. His “Boris Godunov Suite” – transcribed after Mussorgsky’s opera – captures in pianism of nearly unparalleled invention and difficulty the work’s rich orchestral textures. The thrill and excitement of Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” is superbly maintained in Kuleshov’s awe-inspiring tour-de-force transcription. Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”, transcribed by Florian Noack, remains as fresh and colorful as the original.
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