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Mendelssohn: Piano Works Vol 5 / Benjamin Frith
Naxos Apr 1999
CD
$19.99

Olli Mustonen: The RCA Recordings

Sony Masterworks

$11.48 ~~$22.98~~ Save 50% Jan 05, 2018

Finnish pianist-composer Olli Mustonen’s recordings of Preludes and Fugues by Bach and Shostakovich were released in 1999 and 2004. “Perhaps only an artist as innovative and convincing as Mustonen could have made it work as well as it does,” wrote BBC Music Magazine of the first volume. Of the second, Gramophone wrote that “one cannot deny either the brilliance or imagination of his playing”. Mustonen boldly alternates between the composers’ works: Andrew McGregor wrote for the BBC that “it becomes harder to hear where Bach ends and Shostakovich begins, and less important to separate them … I recommend it without hesitation or reservation.” Mustonen’s 1998 recording of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations “contains moments of absolutely spellbinding playing, with textures of wonderful clarity and a deeply imaginative approach to the music,” said BBC Music Magazine of an interpretation still considered iconoclastic today. It is reissued here along with a second disc of Beethoven featuring works including the E major sonata op. 109.

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Olli Mustonen: The RCA Recordings
Sony Masterworks Jan 2018
CD
~~$22.98~~ $11.48

Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier Book 2 / Luc Beausejour

Naxos

$14.99 ~~$29.99~~ Save 50% Jan 13, 2015

When Luc Beauséjour recorded Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier [8.557625–26] he was hailed by International Piano for ‘his instinct for discovering exactly the right tempo; his playing is so natural’. He turns now to Book II of the Preludes and Fugues in all twenty-four keys, assembled for publication in 1742. A number of the pieces survive in earlier versions from previous decades, which Bach revised or transposed. Together with Book I, this constitutes one of the pinnacles of Western music.

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Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier Book 2 / Luc Beausejour
Naxos Jan 2015
CD
~~$29.99~~ $14.99

Mendelssohn: Music For Piano For 2 And 4 Hands/ Mi-joo Lee, Klaus Hellwig

MDG

SACD

$24.99 Sep 01, 2010

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

Technically flawless and very sensitively performed.

Felix Mendelssohn is recognised for helping revive the reputation of J.S. Bach, but it was his mother who encouraged Felix and his sister Fanny to play Bach. This early keyboard exploration of Bach’s forms and counterpoint is no doubt responsible for the many fugues and preludes in Mendelssohn’s output, and the Sechs Präludien und Fugen op. 35 are prime examples. The shapes of the fugue themes in particular echo Bach’s model, and it is impossible to hear the opening of the A flat major fugue, for instance, without thinking of the Well Tempered Clavier. Mendelssohn’s song-like flow and love of chorales are all part of the mix, and the pieces are by no means a pale imitation of Bach. Not conceived as a cycle, these preludes & fugues nevertheless traverse a wide range of approaches and styles, creating a nicely contrasting set. The adaptation of Mendelssohn’s idiom into ‘antique’ styles of polyphony results in the kind of intensification of ideas within a fugue which makes for a variation-form feel and grand climaxes. Mendelssohn’s skill however maintains a sincere clarity, and even where all the stops are pulled out one can sense a lack of pomposity and bombast – ably assisted of course by the fine playing of Mi-Joo Lee. Schumann was famously inspired to state that Mendelssohn’s Preludes & Fugues were “birches, where Bach once placed such mighty oaks...” and “compositions born of the spirit and executed in poetic style.”

The playing of piano duets was a strong element of music making in households at this time, and the Mendelssohn residence was no exception. Arrangements of the latest symphonic or operatic hits would inevitably have arrangements made, and be made widely popular through domestic use. The problem with Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny is that they had far too much skill and fun, and would play through all kinds of repertoire without needing to go through all the tedious effort of writing down the notes. As a result there is very little of Mendelssohn’s own work in this genre which reaches us. The Ouvertüre zum Sommernachtstraum was eventually arranged for piano duet in a simplified but still highly virtuosic form - the one developed by Felix and Fanny over numerous performances done from the score must have been remarkable indeed. This is always a refreshingly inspired piece, and comes across with plenty of colour and sparkle from the duet on this recording.

The Andante con Variazioni op. 83a is an arrangement and expansion of the original Op.83 version for two hands, made in haste by Mendelssohn for one of Fanny’s ‘Sonntagsmusiken’ concerts. The original five variations received an additional three movements, and the whole given plenty of extra technical fireworks. The Andante und Allegro assai vivace op. 92 was especially written for and appeared on the 1841 Leipzig Gewandhaus programme played by Felix Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, the same concert at which Schumann’s first symphony was premiered. There is a certain amount of editorial interest with this piece, with the first published engraving being derived from an incomplete draft and not the final copy, which was first published only in 1994. The best known element is the Allegro, which is here preceded with the more recently added Andante introduction. Of all the pieces here this is the most remarkable in terms of its musical content – the virtuoso elements taking hold of the textural content of the work in ways which can take you quite by surprise, almost approaching the kinds of thing I’ve become more used to hearing in MDG’s ‘Player Piano’ series.

Mi-Joo Lee has received justified plaudits for her previous recordings of Schumann and Saint-Saëns on the MDG label, and fans will have plenty to entertain them with this Mendelssohn disc. The duet pieces with Klaus Hellwig are technically flawless and very sensitively performed in true chamber music style, and there are few enough recordings of this repertoire around to make this a very welcome top-flight addition to the catalogue. There is a bit of lower mid-range bloom in the piano sound, but any mild sponginess snaps more into focus with SACD decoding. I have no doubt MDG’s 2+2+2 setup would bring even more improvements, but in essence the sound is very good all round, with plenty of depth and colour.

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

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Mendelssohn: Music For Piano For 2 And 4 Hands/ Mi-joo Lee, Klaus Hellwig
MDG Sep 2010
SACD
$24.99

Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I

Aeolus

$30.99 Apr 17, 2026

Finnish harpsichordist Aapo Häkkinen plays Book I of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on the Christian Vater harpsichord preserved in Nuremberg and on an equally historic clavichord. Two of the 24 pairs of Preludes and Fugues are even presented in an alternative instrumentation on the historic North German organ of Backemoor. Aapo Häkkinen, not least through his acclaimed AEOLUS recordings of Bach's harpsichord concertos, continues to reveal the richness and expressive possibilities of these masterpieces.

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Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I
Aeolus Apr 2026
CD
$30.99

Franck: Symphony In D, Etc / Neuhold, Flanders Philharmonic
Naxos Apr 1989
CD
$19.99

Fragments Vol 2 - Shostakovich / Alexander String Quartet

Foghorn Classics

$37.99 Jan 01, 2007

These fabled works dating from 1960–1975 represent some of Shostakovich’s most bitterly frank, occasionally transcendental essays for the string quartet. At times poignant yet occasionally ribald, these performances have been called utterly compelling. Unique in this stunning survey is a fine performance of his “Unfinished” quartet, the first recording of what was originally to have been Shostakovich’s 9th Quartet, discovered and published in 2003. Additionally, listeners will find two more of Zakarias Grafilo’s extraordinary transcriptions of the 1950/51 Preludes and Fugues for Piano Op. 87.

Alexander String Quartet:
Zakarias Grafilo, Frederick Lifsitz: violins
Paul Yarbrough: viola
Sandy Wilson: cello

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Fragments Vol 2 - Shostakovich / Alexander String Quartet
Foghorn Classics Jan 2007
CD
$37.99

Franz Liszt Transcriptions

CPO

SACD

$18.99 Nov 19, 2013

LISZT Ad nos, ad salutarem undam Fantasy and Fugue for organ and orchestra (arr. Dupré). Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (orch. Weiner). Orpheus, for organ (trans. Liszt). Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H (orch. Bischof) • Martin Haselböck, cond; Christian Schmitt (org); Deutsche RP (Saarbrücken/Kaiserslautern) • CPO 777 472–2 (69:58)

During his Weimar years, Liszt’s friend, the organist Alexander Winterberger, spurred his interest in the organ, prompting the composition of two of his most ambitious works, the Ad nos… Fantasy and Fugue (1850) and the Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H (1855, revised 1870). Thereafter, Liszt experimented, transcribing a number of his own works, including the tone poem Orpheus . The Weinen, Klagen,… variations, composed for piano in 1862, were transcribed for organ the following year. Considering the metamorphoses visited upon them by their composer, the step to orchestral arrangements by other hands was small, if ambitious. Depending on venue and acoustics, the instrument, registrations, and the acumen of engineers, these organ works can come across as towering masterpieces or murky monster-pieces. One of the joys of the orchestral transcriptions is hearing details often covered in cavernous rumble or obscured by distance on the organ standing forth boldly from the orchestra, their intricacies revealed, while their climactic moments acquire major clout and transparency. Weiner’s tilt at Weinen, Klagen,… is indebted to mid-19th-century models, highlighting a Gothic, cobwebby aura clinging to Liszt’s kaleidoscopic variations. Rainer Bischof’s take on the BACH Prelude and Fugue , on the other hand, is brash, brassy, and unabashedly modern in its use of an overloaded wind and percussion contingent (in addition to the cited vibraphone, do I hear a wood block, tubular bells, and a glockenspiel, among other novelties?) to make for metallic brilliance, glittering passage work, and climactic cataclysmics. The Gothic stunner, however, is Marcel Dupré’s arrangement of the Ad nos … Fantasy and Fugue for organ and orchestra, a feat placing what many believe to be Liszt’s greatest single work in company with the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony and Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ and Orchestra.

One expected more of Christian Schmitt, whose recent go at Koechlin’s organ works (CPO 777 512–2, Fanfare 36:4) demonstrated an arresting keenness to that composer’s psychic, haunted atmospherics. His Orpheus is well-paced in the way that one thing leads to another, though having heard performances in which episodes escalate with fraught portent—e.g., Olivier Vernet’s solo rendering, or, as we’re considering transcriptions, his duo with Laurent Cabasso on piano (a six-CD intégrale , Ligia 0104226–11)—Schmitt’s dynamic range and resources of feeling are audibly constricted. The Ad nos … arrangement compels more adventurous playing, but Schmitt is disadvantaged by the recessed capture of the organ in Luxembourg’s Philharmonic Hall which allows orchestral overshadowing. That said, the upshot is still thrilling, magnificent, and magisterial. To the last point, one may feel that, in their orchestral and orchestra/organ garb, one is hearing these works for the first time. Martin Haselböck, himself an organist of exceptional prowess, who has performed the originals many times and recorded them at least twice, leads with a sweep alert to detail and, in the Ad nos … Fantasy and Fugue , manages the organ/orchestra dialogue with potent eloquence, though the recording imbalance becomes distracting in the fugue. The orchestral works come across in immediate, transparent, often walloping sound. Enthusiastically recommended.

FANFARE: Adrian Corleonis

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Franz Liszt Transcriptions
CPO Nov 2013
SACD
$18.99

Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier / Papastefanou

First Hand Records

$24.98 ~~$49.99~~ Save 50% Aug 10, 2018

One of the greatest achievements in musical composition history, The Well-Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach is a collection of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. It seem both books, composed two decades apart, were written primarily for educative personal and private use in the home – probably to be played on the intimate clavichord. One of the most famous works written for the keyboard, The Well-Tempered Clavier is simply enjoyable music of the highest craftsmanship. Alexandra Papstefanou graduated from Athens Conservatoire, where she studied piano under Aliki Vatikioti. She followed her studies with Olga Zhukova at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, with Peter Solymos, at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and, on a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation, at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, USA, with the highly influential teacher György Sebok. She has also taken lessons from Alfred Brendel. Papastefanou was a finalist at the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland and received the Liebstoeckl and Fazioli Prizes at the International Geneva Competition, as well as the Spyros Motsenigos Prize from the Academy of Athens. She has performed all of Bach’s keyboard works and, in a series of recitals, has presented his complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue, and The Musical Offering as well as his keyboard concertos.

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Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier / Papastefanou
First Hand Records Aug 2018
CD
~~$49.99~~ $24.98

Bernstein Century - Bernstein: Prelude, Fugue & Riffs, Etc

Sony Masterworks

$17.99 May 30, 2012

There's revealing diversity in these pre-'West Side Story' works of Bernstein, as well as harbingers of that landmark musical and film. Among them is the dramatic horn work in the title composition, which also certifies the classical chops and sureness in syncopation of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman. The modernist flurries of the saxophone arrangements are evocative of the much later work by the avant-garde ROVA ensemble.
The 'Fancy Free' ballet appears along with the "Three Dance Episodes" from 'On the Town,' a 1944 show envisioned by Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins as an extension of 'Fancy Free.' The ballet (reproduced here from a monaural recording) presents a remarkable array of emotional dramas - some with Coplandesque bravado, some with Latin touches of tango and fandango, some with the sassy strut which is so Manhattan. The dances showcase Bernstein's facility at reusing and combining themes, some taken from 'On the Town's' most famous number, "New York, New York" (not to be confused with the John Kander-Fred Ebb song of the same name sung by Liza Minelli in the 1977 film "New York, New York"). The composer conducts with vigor.
By contrast, the 'Serenade' lacks the expected Bernstein lyricism and clear, tight structure, but is interesting in concept and shows off the dynamic palate and authority of violinist Zino Francescatti.

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Bernstein Century - Bernstein: Prelude, Fugue & Riffs, Etc
Sony Masterworks May 2012
CD
$17.99

Bach: Organ Works, Vol. 4 / Masaaki Suzuki

BIS

SACD

$21.99 Aug 04, 2023

This album was released in the summer of 2023; it may not have been intended as a Christmas album, but it would make a wonderful purchase at that time.

The fourth volume of Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach works for organ series features one of the most important surviving instruments of Bach’s time, made by the German organ builder Christoph Treutmann the Elder. Widely known for its extraordinary tonal quality, the instrument was built between 1734 and 1737. A recent general restoration preserved all essential structural elements or renewed them, remaining faithful to the originals, making it an ideal instrument for Bach interpreters who wish to come close to the sound ideas of the Leipzig Thomaskantor.

Suzuki now takes up the Orgel-Büchlein (literally, ‘little organ book’), a collection of 45 short chorale preludes on melodies from the Lutheran hymn book, a project that came into being in connection with Bach’s appointment as organist and chamber musician at the Duke’s court in Weimar in 1708. Presenting chorales for different periods of the church year, this collection serves as a general guide to text-based composition focusing on specific word-sound relationships and content-specific musical expression. Two Preludes and Fugues complete the first volume dedicated to the Orgel-Büchlein, illustrating the principle of variety and structure historically practised by concert organists in order to demonstrate the tone colours and expressive possibilities of their instrument.

REVIEW:

The great Masaaki Suzuki’s traversal of Bach’s keyboard music is well underway, and several attractions have become clear. In general, he is a bit less concerned with a pearly surface and a bit more with direct expression. In works for organ, he has shown a willingness to delve into period instruments, and the one here is a real find. Suzuki is willing to take a bit of time to bring out its colors; there is nothing too radical, but there are subtle adjustments to the tempo throughout that define the profile of each little ornamented chorale, and all the performances are vivid. This album was released in the summer of 2023; it may not have been intended as a Christmas album, but it would make a wonderful purchase at that time.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

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Bach: Organ Works, Vol. 4 / Masaaki Suzuki
BIS Aug 2023
SACD
$21.99

Bach: Toccaten & Passacaglia

Ricercar

$11.99 Jan 26, 2018

Johann Sebastian Bach composed his most renowned organ works — the Toccatas, the Fantasia in G minor and the Passacaglia in C minor — in Weimar, in the stylus fantasticus so beloved of his Northern German masters Buxtehude and Reinken. Bach here follows in his predecessors’ footsteps in all of these large-scale works: the freely inventive writing in the preludes is linked to the rigour of the fugal construction and so brings them to a majestic conclusion. This recording includes all of these magnificent masterpieces. Bernard Foccroulle was born in Liège (Belgium) in 1953. He began his international career as an organist in the mid-70s, playing a wide range of repertoire from Renaissance to Contemporary Music. His discography as a soloist includes more than forty CDs. He has won awards including the Diapason d’Or for his recording of Dietrich Buxtehude’s complete organ works for the Ricercar label, as well as for the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, which he recorded on beautifully preserved historic instruments.

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Bach: Toccaten & Passacaglia
Ricercar Jan 2018
CD
$11.99

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier

Alpha

$40.99 Mar 25, 2014

"• Recorded on four different organs, J. S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, 48 Préludes and Fugues equally divided into two books, is a veritable manifesto of the art of the keyboard and a founding work of all future keyboard literature. • Organist Frédéric Desenclos clearly reveals the architecture of these gems of imagination and compositional skill, originally composed for harpsichord. • Mr. Desenclos was a student of famed French organists Gaston Litaize and Andre Isoir. • Complete on 4 CD's; digibox."

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Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Alpha Mar 2014
CD
$40.99

Bach, J.S.: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2

Metier

$19.99 Jan 01, 2000

Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" - the 48 Preludes and Fugues, 2 sets in each major and minor key, is one of the cornerstones of the baroque keyboard repertoire. Diana Boyle presents an exceptional account of the second set of 24 pieces, played on a modern Grotrian-Steinweg piano. Her approach to performing this repertoire on a modern piano is astonishing and exciting, bringing the complexity of Bach's writing to the fore.

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Bach, J.S.: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2
Metier Jan 2000
CD
$19.99

The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II

Navona

$16.99 Aug 15, 2025

Christopher O'Riley's THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER BOOK II continues the pianist's exploration of Bach's masterpiece. A true expedition into the second set's finest of details, O'Riley delves beyond the notes themselves and into the spaces between them, sifting through the silence for every last possibility of rhythmic flexibility and potential for expression. With preludes and fugues more intricate and complex than those of the first, the second book provides an even richer opportunity for the discovery of texture, articulation, and hidden meaning within the music.

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The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II
Navona Aug 2025
CD
$16.99

Bach: The Gamut from A to G / Plutz

Affetto Records

$18.99 Jun 16, 2023

J. S. Bach’s Preludes / Toccatas / Fantasias & Fugues for organ are among the peak artistic achievements of the human race. The combination of harmonic and melodic beauty, visceral force, and intellectual ingenuity is unparalleled by any other solo instrument’s repertoire. Organist Eric Plutz realized that a compelling single program of these masterpieces could be formed by performing them in diatonic order – one for each key: A, B, C etc. In Western music that sequence is known as ‘The Gamut,’ a term that came to mean a "complete range.’ This program, therefore, aligns with Bach’s own deep sense for order while traversing the complete range of Bach’s vision, from tenderest melancholy to the depths of despair, from bold challenge to ecstatic victory. These peaks and valleys are nobly served by the dazzling colors of the Princeton University organ as well as the full historic and acoustic resonance of the Princeton University Chapel itself (the third largest college chapel in the world).

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Bach: The Gamut from A to G / Plutz
Affetto Records Jun 2023
CD
$18.99

Bach: Organ Chorales, Etc / Wolfgang Rübsam
Naxos Jul 1996
CD
$19.99

Burge: 24 Preludes

Centrediscs CMC

$18.99 Nov 01, 2019

John Burge (b. 1961, Dryden, Ontario) is a Canadian composer who has been teaching at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario since 1987. He has written a large body of vocal, chamber, and orchestral compositions, and received the 2009 JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year. Some critics have likened his compositional style to that of Benjamin Britten and Maxwell Davies. Philip Chiu is acclaimed for his brilliant pianism, sensitive listening, and a stage presence that eschews the hermit-pianist image in favour of openness, authenticity, and connection with audiences. Inaugural winner of the Mecenat Musica Prix Goyer, Chiu has become one of Canada's leading musicians through his infectious love of music and his passion for creation and communication. Given the number of precedents in the world of Classical music, it is fair to state that there is a long traditional of composing a set of Twenty-Four Preludes for solo piano. John Burge's preludes draw their primary influence from Chopin's Opus 28 set in that Burge also composes one prelude in each major and minor key, employing the exact same ordering of keys used by Chopin. While Chopin was writing music in the highly chromaticized harmonic language of the early 19th century, in 2015, the year that Burge completed his set, the concept of tonality has undergone so many developments since Chopin's time that there are now whole schools of musical techniques that produce music that is quite atonal. As an all-governing principle for his set of preludes though, Burge made it a personal requirement that each prelude had to embrace it's tonic key in a decisively audible fashion.

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Burge: 24 Preludes
Centrediscs CMC Nov 2019
CD
$18.99

BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 6 in A major, WAB 106 / BACH: Prelude
SWR Jun 2002
CD
$20.99

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Bach: Trio Sonatas Bwv 528-530, Etc / Wolfgang Rübsam
Naxos Aug 1993
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Chopin Edition

Brilliant Classics

$32.48 ~~$64.99~~ Save 50% Sep 22, 2023

This refreshed Chopin Edition from Brilliant Classics retains many of the definitive recordings from its predecessor of 2015, but boasting some exciting updates. The Concertos and piano concertante music are consolidated in a bright new cycle from Czechia, recorded last autumn by Siberian superstar Ekaterina Litvintseva and the KFPar under Mardirossian. Schmitt-Leonardy’s sonatas are joined by No. 1 – recorded late in 2015, and therefore just missing inclusion in the previous edition – bringing the complete cycle under his fingers. Alwin Bär’s own Scherzi performances are reunited with his iconic 1998 recording of the Barcarolle, Fantasy and Berceuse. The Études are featured in a stunning complete cycle recorded in 2014 by the phenomenal Chopinist and 2023 OPUS KLASSIK double-nominee Zlata Chochieva. Finally the complete Nocturnes are given over to another noted young Chopin interpreter: the 2018 Geza Anda winner Claire Huangci, who recorded the set two years earlier, in 2016.

REVIEW:

In 2015 Brilliant Classics issued a complete Chopin edition culled from both original productions and licensed recordings from other labels, and featuring a variety of musicians. The label’s revised 2023 Chopin edition retains roughly two-thirds of the contents, while substituting about six CDs worth of alternative performances. Is it “new and improved”? Mostly yes. Here is a rundown of the contents:

Discs 1 & 2: The 2015 Chopin box featured Eva Kupiec in the two concertos (amazingly conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski), with Abbey Simon in the other concerted works. Here we have less individual yet elegantly transparent performances of the entire Chopin piano/orchestra oeuvre with Ekaterina Litvintseva, supported by Vahan Mardirossian leading the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice.

Discs 3 & 4: The well-played chamber works with violinist Duccio Ceccanti, cellist Vittorio Ceccanti, and pianist Simone Gragnani are held over from 2015. So are Anna Haase’s slightly tremulous yet heartfelt Polish songs, superbly accompanied by Lucius Rühl.

Disc 5: Zlata Chochieva’s Etudes count among my top five recommendations in these works, wisely replacing Alessandro Deljavan’s mannered and overloaded readings.

Disc 6: As before, we have Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy’s intelligently paced and imaginatively detailed Ballades and Impromptus.

Disc 7: Folke Nauta’s broad and sonorous readings of the standard seven Polonaises are back, along with his rather underplayed Andante spianato e Grande polonaise.

Disc 8: The youthful Polonaises plus unimportant minor works like the Bourées, the Largo in E-flat, and the Fugue again turn up in Alessandra Ammaro’s splendid and mindfully virtuosic renditions.

Disc 9: The label replaces Fred Oldenburg’s good, workmanlike recording of the First sonata with a superior version from Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy, while retaining the latter’s wonderful Second and Third sonatas. Recently I compared his recording of the Second sonata’s strange Finale next to those of Horowitz and Rubinstein, and actually found Schmitt-Leonardy’s creative inflections more engaging (sound clip).

Disc 10: In place of Ivan Moravec’s Four Scherzos (originally issued by Dorian), we have Alwin Bär’s scintillating 1998 cycle, coupled with his equally compelling Fantasy in F minor and Barcarolle, along with a rather fussy Berceuse.

Disc 11: A hodgepodge of performances. I raved in detail about Schmitt-Leonardy’s reference-worthy Op. 28 Preludes when they first came out. Paolo Giacometti shines in the C-sharp minor Prelude Op. 45, Oldenburg serves up the Three Ecossaises quite well, while Marian Mika plays two versions each of the Waltz in F minor Op. 70 No. 2 and the Funeral March Op. 72 No. 2 using alternative texts.

Discs 12 & 13: Rem Urasin’s Mazurka cycle evokes the high rhetoric and subjectivity of pianists like Jean-Marc Luisada and Andrew Rangell, minus their eccentricity. Just don’t expect lightness, humor, or snappy embellishments.

Discs 14 & 15: Claire Huangci’s rippling and graceful pianism in the Nocturnes differs from the seasoned drama of the Earl Wild cycle that appeared in the 2015 box. The Duo Pianistico di Firenze’s Rondo Op. 73 and Variations in D fill out CD 15.

Disc 16: Alessandro Deljavan works overtime trying to emulate the great Romantic pianists, yet his lurching phrasings and contrived voicings throughout the Waltzes often belabor the obvious and fail to ring true. The piano itself sounds poorly regulated, and doesn’t always hold its tuning.

Disc 17: Frank van de Laar basically picks up the slack, playing the Rondos, the Variations brilliantes Op. 12, the Bolero Op. 19, the Allegro de concert Op. 46, and the Tarantella Op. 43 with plenty of finesse and good taste, if not quite matching Vladimir Ashkenazy’s ebullience.

For its attractive price tag and overall consistency (have Rubinstein’s Waltzes and Mazurkas handy, though!) Brilliant Classics’ 2023 Chopin Edition holds its own alongside similar multi-artist complete Chopin collections on other labels featuring bigger names. It should appeal to general music lovers just getting started with Chopin’s music who wish to take a deep dive into the composer’s oeuvre.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

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Chopin Edition
Brilliant Classics Sep 2023
CD
~~$64.99~~ $32.48

Polyphonic Dialogues - Shostakovich, Shchedrin / Joachim Kwetzinsky

SACD

$24.99 Apr 27, 2010

When Shostakovich first performed his Preludes and Fugues for piano, his younger colleague Rodion Shchedrin got the idea to compose his own set. Whereas Shostakovich's have gained in esteem and popularity over the past three decades, Shchedrin's are far less known in the West, and undeservedly so. Both composers write for the keyboard with idiomatic ease and textural economy, share a common humorous streak, and never repeat themselves over the course of these works. Shchedrin is extroverted and optimistic when Shostakovich is inward and sardonic, but the opposite sometimes holds true. In any case, pianist Joachim Kwetzinsky has interweaved excerpts from both cycles into a brilliantly curated program. More importantly, he plays like a young god.

Notice the rock-steady yet flexible control with which he articulates the Shchedrin E-flat minor fugue's complex rhythmic strands, or the bouquet of tone colors arising from the Shostakovich A major fugue's arpeggiated textures. The ricocheting octaves and rapid chords in Shchedrin's Basso Ostinato positively sting, while, by contrast, the Shostakovich D major prelude's right-hand rolled chords and left-hand countermelody effortlessly converse in perfect rhythm, totally oblivious to the music's bar lines. The exceptionally clean and clear multi-channel engineering is all one could wish for. One of 2010's most stimulating piano releases--don't miss it!

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

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Polyphonic Dialogues - Shostakovich, Shchedrin / Joachim Kwetzinsky
2L Apr 2010
SACD
$24.99

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

Kodály: Music For Cello Vol 2 / Kliegel, Preucil, Jandó

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 01, 2000

A gifted cellist himself, Zoltán Kodály wrote a small but consistently excellent amount of works for his own instrument. After the monumental Sonata for cello solo and that for cello and piano (Naxos 8553160), Maria Kliegel completes her survey of Kodály's cello music with a series of shorter works, all blessed by a strong sense of color and a deep feeling of nostalgia. The Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (1st Book) works well in this clever transcription written for Pablo Casals in 1951. The Sonatina and the Hungarian Rondo both explore thematic material with folk origins or inspiration, the former in a darker, more impressionistic style, the latter with an abundance of bold rhythms and tuneful, rhapsodic, Hungarian-flavored outbursts. With its rich polyphony and relentless motion, the short and vehement Capriccio makes an impressive addition to the solo cello literature, while the moving Adagio walks along the same Debussian harmonic path as the Sonatina. Finally, the three-movement Duo for violin and cello (1914) sums up the different qualities described above to realize a perfect masterpiece, where broad melodies are matched by sumptuous textures to create an atmosphere of passionate introspection. Thanks to her incisive playing, splendid musicianship, and round, warm tone, Maria Kliegel easily finds the music's expressive heart. Her partners show an equal affinity for this fascinating sound world. An excellent introduction to Kodály's music. --Luca Sabbatini, ClassicsToday.com

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Kodály: Music For Cello Vol 2 / Kliegel, Preucil, Jandó
Naxos Jan 2000
CD
$19.99

Bach: Harpsichord Works / Watchorn

Musica Omnia

$25.99 Mar 17, 2017

In the latest volume of the complete works for harpsichord, the seven Toccatas (BWV 910-916) and teh large Fantasias, Preludes and Fugues (BWV 903-904, 894, 944) are presented as the culmination of the 17th century Stylus Phantasticus tradition. In this installment the pedal harpsichord is explored as a rich medium for Bach's harpsichord and organ works, its clarity and power bridging the gap between the two instruments. With its rich bass sonority and clarity, the pedal harpsichord comes into its own as an ideal performance medium for many of Bach's greatest works for keyboard. This album marks the first performance of all these works on a pedal harpsichord in over 60 years.

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Bach: Harpsichord Works / Watchorn
Musica Omnia Mar 2017
CD
$25.99