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).
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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.
The piano played a central role in the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - from his first musical experiences to his most important compositions. Mozart's openness to new keyboard technologies, such as instruments with hammer action, justifies the modern interpretation of his works, as presented sensitively and historically informed by Amy Lin in her third recording of the intended complete recording. Born in Taiwan, pianist Amy Lin combines her deep understanding of the German musical tradition with an international concert career and an impressive discography ranging from Mozart to contemporary composers. Her education includes studies with Leon Fleisher and Gerhard Oppitz, where she was awarded the highest honor, the Meisterklassendiplom. The piano sonatas on this recording, such as the melancholy K. 280 or the famous 'Sonata facile' K. 545, combine accessible melodies with technical and aesthetic challenges. Mozart's sonatas will delight beginners and connoisseurs alike.
Recording Brahms’ violin sonatas can be a formidable task for young violinists. Søren Elbæk (pronounced “Sorn Elbeck”...almost) from the Copenhagen Trio took the challenge in his stride with his sidekick Morten Mogensen also a member of the Copenhagen Trio. The two musicians have been playing together since their early teens (they are now in their mid-20s) and it shows in their empathic performance.
Just recently a DJ from the Danish National Radio broadcasted this CD to declare that he considered Søren’s rendition superior to any releases from the major labels.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is one of the most important violinists of the Baroque period, and his virtuoso violin works are among the gems of this era. His Rosary Sonatas are particularly outstanding: in a cycle of 16 sonatas, Biber sets to music the mysteries of the various Rosary prayers that trace the life of Jesus. As a special feature, Biber uses the so-called scordatura technique, in which the strings of the violin are retuned. Biber requires a new tuning for each sonata, thus creating a new sound for each mystery and a great increase in tension throughout the cycle. Leila Schayegh explores Biber's rosary mysteries with great sensitivity. With her stupendous technique, she plays even the most difficult passages with great purity, portraying Biber's master cycle as a very intimate and atmospheric soundscape.
Recorded between 2009 and 2021, this mammoth project drew the highest critical acclaim: ‘A project that began in 2010 is completed; what a journey it has been. Bavouzet’s gifts of insightful exposition and revelation are matched by the wisdom of his curation... A triumph’ -The Sunday Times ‘A recording worth rushing to the shops for. Bavouzet plays these inventive masterpieces with real love’ -Classic FM ‘Quite apart from his stylistic command and sheer delight in the music, Bavouzet’s mixing and matching of different periods in the composer’s awe-inspiring pianistic development ensures there is never a dull moment’ -The Financial Times ‘Bavouzet’s readings have a strong claim to be the finest Haydn playing of recent vintage on the modern piano. They are a work of an insightful musician of profound culture and wide interests, whose intellectual emotional identification with Haydn is unreserved, and whose playing, beautifully captured in technical terms, is a delight to listen to.’- International Record Review ‘A major modern recording landmark in the Haydn discography’ - Gramophone
This new release of American Piano Sonatas from SOMM reminds the listener of 20th-century America's achievements in music as in so much else. SOMM's new collaboration with pianist Nathan Williamson who has been steeped in American music since his years as a student of piano and composition at Yale has produced an exhilarating album brimming with dynamism and energy. The release includes sonatas by four very different American composers writing under very different circumstances: Leonard Bernstein, a charismatic, ambitious all-round musician in his student years; Aaron Copland, an established master at the height of his powers; Lou Harrison, an inveterate experimentalist setting himself a new problem; and Charles Ives, a dogged individualist insisting on his own way of doing things. In each case, the composer chose not to fit his music into conventional forms, but to rethink the whole idea of the sonata. America is after all the land of the clean sheet, the fresh start – of making things fresh, exciting and new. Nathan, who leads a diverse and varied career as pianist, composer and artistic director studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Joan Havill and Malcolm Singer, at Oxford University with Robert Saxton, and at Yale with Martin Bresnick and Joan Panetti and American composer Ezra Laderman Dean of the Yale School of Music and President of American Academy of Arts and Letters, who died in 2015 at the age of 90. Nathan has dedicated this recording to Laderman as a tribute to a great teacher whose far-reaching influence has inspired him to study the work of American composers in great depth.
Noted for his clarity of line and purity of tone, pianist Gottlieb Wallisch focuses on Franz Joseph Haydn’s London period for his fourth Linn recording. +The famed London Sonatas can be seen as the distillation of the composer’s entire sonata-writing experience. +Mr. Wallisch won the ‘Joseph Haydn Prize’ as well as first prize at the prestigious Stravinsky Awards at age 16, thus launching his international career. +"His playing is a thing of rare beauty and a joy to behold." - Fanfare
Franz Schubert can be considered the first true composer as we understand the concept today: a musician who creates primarily in response to an inner calling, exclusively serving the beauty of the music, which is sufficient in itself. Pianist Mathieu Gaudet, for the third volume of his Complete Sonatas and Major Works for Piano series, chose to record Schubert’s wonderful Sonata No. 7 in E-flat Major, D. 568 (1817) and Sonata No. 15 in A Minor, D. 845 (1825). About the Volume II, WholeNote magazine wrote “Our world will need more Schubert like this.” Indeed.
On 16 December 1932, Triton, a Parisian society devoted to the performance of new chamber music, was officially launched. Triton's members included Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc and Prokofiev, whose Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 56 was given it's Western premiere at the society's inaugural concert.
David Johansen, Professor of Trombone Studies at Southeastern Louisiana University, holds the Bachelor of Music Degree from Fort Hays State University, the Master of Science in Music Education from the University of Illinois and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Dr. Johansen has held the positions of Principal Trombone in the Hays Symphony Orchestra, Second Trombone in the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and currently holds the position of Second Trombone in the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, the Dubuque Symphony, the Southeastern Iowa Symphony, the Ottumwa Symphony Orchestra, the Mississippi Wind Symphony, the Natchez Opera, the Rapides Symphony of Alexandria, Louisiana and the Acadiana Symphony of Lafayette, Louisiana. On the present release, alongside pianist Daniel Lau, Dr. Johansen presents Six Sonatas for Trombone and Piano from composers including William Hartley, Jacques Casterede, Paul Hindemith, and more.
Giuseppe Tartini was born in Pirano d’Istria in 1692 but spent the majority of his life in Padua. He was not a lover of fame: indeed, it took Padre Martini a great deal of time and convincing before managing to obtain a portrait of Tartini for his private collection (this original portrait, painted by Vincenzo Rota, is the only one we have today). Despite all this, however, young musicians arrived from all over Europe to study with this musician who, essentially self-taught, had dedicated his life to perfecting the violin from both a technical and theoretical standpoint. In the not insignificant output of this “Master of Nations” (as he was called), the violin predominates, for Tartini composed few works other than the concertos and sonatas dedicated to this noble instrument. The justification for this choice may be found in his theoretical writings, which represented for the eighteenth century a new moment of discovery and evolution. Implored by many to compose for the opera in Venice, he responded that “a throat is not a neck of a violin,” and this comment was followed by a strong criticism of Vivaldi, who instead tried his hand at virtually every genre. This album features the concertos for flute, for strings, and various sonatas including the famous “Trillo del Diavolo.” The two soloists Massimo Mercelli and Marco Rogliano are accompanied by the Ensemble Respighi from Bologna.
I do not believe that there is a 'right' and a 'wrong' instrument on which to perform Beethoven's Sonatas Opus 2. What matters is the musical result. It depends on the alchemy that is created between the performer and the instrument. I extensively tried various modern copies of fortepianos from 1795 - 1800, trying to get closer to the sound and expressive world of early Beethoven. However, with the opportunity of having a Graf fortepiano (No. 429) in my studio, restored in 2023, I was able to prepare this recording on that instrument, playing it regularly for a year and achieving a kind of familiarity with it's action and timbral response that I have grown fond of - Roberto Prosseda.
Debussy was seriously ill at the outbreak of World War I, and struggled to compose. A wartime performance of the Saint-Saens Septet prompted the composer to consider writing chamber music for the first time since his string quartet of 1893. The plan was for a sequence of six sonatas for diverse instruments, harking back to the 18th century practice in France. He viewed these works as a memorial to the young French soldiers killed in the trenches. The Cello Sonata was premiered in Paris in 1916 by a young infantryman on a cello made from an ammunition box and an old door. His health declining further, the Violin Sonata turned out to be his last work. The final three sonatas were never composed. This album concludes with three rarely heard piano pieces completed by Robert Orledge including the world premiere recording of A Night in the House of Usher.
From 1947 to 1956 Ruggiero Ricci played on the 1734 Guarneri del Gesu "Ferni, Duc de Camposelice" and from 1956 to 1999 he usually played on the 1731 Guarneri del Gesu "Gibson, ex-Huberman, " which he purchased in 1977. For him the Guarneri sound (as opposed to Stradivari) was a matter of preference, able as it was to give the required brilliance, color and attack that he sought. Until 1981 he also owned violin Lorenzo Storioni c. 1779, with which he recorded the 6 Bach Solos on February 27-28, 1981. This 4-album set presents live and studio recordings, ranging from 1952 to 1986, including some rarities which have never been released commercially, like the Bartok Romanian Folk Dances, Bloch Violin Sonata No. 1, Prokofiev Violin Sonata No. 1, and Saint-Saens Violin Sonata No. 1 Op. 75.
