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Guarnieri: Choros, Vol. 1 - Seresta / Karabtchevsky, São Paulo Symphony

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Aug 28, 2020

Camargo Guarnieri’s catalogue of works represents a legacy of incalculable worth for Brazilian culture, as has his influence as a teacher on several generations of younger composers. His association with the poet and musicologist Mario de Andrade led to the birth of the Brazilian Nationalist School and the ideals of using traditional Brazilian music in classical forms. The series of seven Choros and the Seresta for Piano and Orchestra represent Guarnieri’s personal approach to the concerto form, with striking contrasts between potent rhythm and dense, emotionally charged soundscapes and melodies full of Brazilian inspiration. This volume forms part of the first complete recording of the Choros.

Artistic director and conductor of the Orquestra Petrobras Sinfonica, Isaac Karabtchevsky is also artistic director of the Baccarelli Institute and the Heliopolis Symphony Orchestra. He was awarded the Premio da Musica Brasileira four times for his recordings of the complete symphonies of Villa-Lobos with the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra on Naxos. He has served as the musical director of the Teatro La Fenice, the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the Tonkunstler Orchestra.

REVIEW:

Each of the four short works on this disc proves to be thoroughly entertaining. Rhythmically they bounce along in the allegros, often driven by Brazilian syncopation, while the slow movements are heartfelt and tender without being over-Romanticized. The performances are excellent. The soloists are members of the São Paulo orchestra—Davi Graton is also a renowned teacher—and Isaac Karabtchevsky boasts a long pedigree in conducting Brazilian music. (He led the same orchestra in Naxos’s first-rate series of the complete Villa-Lobos symphonies.) This initiative to record lesser-known Brazilian repertoire got off to a great start, and the new disc promises even more.

-- Fanfare

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Guarnieri: Choros, Vol. 1 - Seresta / Karabtchevsky, São Paulo Symphony
Naxos Aug 2020
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Bach: Transcriptions For Guitar / Judicael Perroy

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 31, 2012

It was Francisco Tárrega, composer and guitarist, who first transcribed Bach’s music for his own instrument, offering colour, tonal variety and clarity in an exploration of counterpoint. Tristan Manoukian’s transcription of the Partita No. 2 honours the precedent in its virtuosic and expressive writing. It is possible that the Suite and the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro were originally conceived for the so-called “lute-harpsichord”, a keyboard strung with gut that sounded like a lute. Bach’s version of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto transforms and refashions it, and the guitar transcription is perfectly suited to convey the richness of its invention. Prizewinning guitarist Judicaël Perroy is one of the most exciting talents to have emerged in years.

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Bach: Transcriptions For Guitar / Judicael Perroy
Naxos Jan 2012
CD
$19.99

Pilgrimage

Naïve

$12.99 ~~$16.99~~ Save 25% Apr 04, 2025

Trained in Kyiv, his hometown, then in Austria where he lives today, Dmytro Choni - Bronze Medalist at the 2022 Van Cliburn, Gold Medalist at the Santander Paloma O'Shea in 2018 - imagines for his recording debut with naive an ingenious and mischievous dialogue between Paradise and Hell, in direct echo to the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, the essential poet of the late Italian Middle Ages, who was a strong influence on a Romanticism that was looking for it's roots. The luminous pieces, with soothing melodies, will embody Paradise. The first opus of his compatriot Valentyn Silvestrov, whose aesthetic recalls the quiet beauty of Kyiv, the calm Bagatelles open the present journey in elegiac tones, even if here and there, as in the moving Moderato median, some beginnings of a coming anxiety emerge. The terrifying darkness will burst forth from the incipit of Apres une lecture de Dante (Liszt), where Choni becomes the devil himself. In this fantasia quasi sonata, hell is a tragic whirlwind, and the passionate impulses transcribe the unhappy passion of Paolo and Francesca. Then a new, devastating contrast. The centrepiece of the second part of Debussy's Images for piano, Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, introduce another Paradise, where Orient meet ancient Greece, both dreamed and fantasised; the French composer captures in the very sounds of the Balinese gamelan our sense of wonder when looking at ancient temples. The culmination point of the program, L'Isle Joyeuse, speaks more of the joy linked to budding love. In this highly virtuosic piece inspired by Watteau (Embarquement pour Cythere, 1718), just as much a fictional reduction of a ballet with orchestra, Debussy achieves a unique sensual energy, truly erotic. Gargoyles (like the grimacing stone figures of the cathedrals) then revive the evil spirits, in a slightly percussive style that evokes Prokofiev and even more the Sonatas of Roger Sessions (1896-1985). The American composer Lowell Liebermann here links together four short, highly expressive pieces, where the sarcasm of the introduction (Presto) or the final Presto feroce coexists with the ether in the Allegro moderato. The gentle limpidity of Silvestrov's Postludium finally ends this program where Dmytro Choni, with his ever-lively and incisive fingers, becomes above all, like Charon on the Styx, a ferryman "between the worlds".

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Pilgrimage
Naïve Apr 2025
CD
~~$16.99~~ $12.99

NORTH TEXAS WIND SYMPHONY: Allegories
Klavier Jan 2004
CD
$18.99

Schenck: The Nymphs Of The Rhine Vol 2 / Les Voix Humaines

Naxos

$19.99 Apr 01, 2001

This disc features the second half of the 12 sonatas (actually suites of dance movements) that make up The Nymphs of the Rhine Op. 8 by the fascinating 17th century Dutch-German composer Johannes Schenck. A master gambist, Schenck's absolute knowledge of the potential of the instrument is on full display in these superbly crafted, colorful works, and Susie Napper and Margaret Little, the players in Les Voix Humaines, possess superb skill and incisive musical instincts. The dialogue between the instruments seems effortless, allowing Schenck's cosmopolitan blend of musical languages to speak naturally. Just listen to the gentle weeping of the Menuet, or to the highly expressive Allegro "Aria" of the E minor sonata, with its delicately interlaced musings.

A real treat is the Rondeau of the C minor sonata--the opening eerily imitates the drone of a bagpipe (complete with the characteristic swell up to the first note), as the tune, reminiscent of a sober Breton folk song, dances on. Throughout this recording the musicians engage as much technical and interpretive facility as required to effectively capture the music's wide variety of manners and moods. Naxos' sound has a bit of a metallic edge, but is certainly full and clear. If you already have the excellent first volume of The Nymphs of the Rhine, then you'll surely want this one too. If not, then this is a fine introduction to some terrific music.
--David Preiser, ClassicsToday.com

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Schenck: The Nymphs Of The Rhine Vol 2 / Les Voix Humaines
Naxos Apr 2001
CD
$19.99

Rota: Complete Solo Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Eleanor Hodgkinson

Grand Piano

$19.99 Jan 10, 2020

Nino Rota embraced neo-Classical, neo-Romantic and even neo-Baroque affiliations. His music prized melodic directness and communicative generosity and it is not therefore surprising that he should be best known for his epochal film scores – the music for The Godfather pre-eminently. Nino Rota’s 15 Preludes utilise melodic and harmonic explorations to chart music that is agitated and melancholic, but also joyous and comedic. The Fantasia in G comprises seven themes – folkloric, droll and ultimately heroic. A late work, the 7 Pezzi difficili per bambini is generous in its emotional directness. Eleanor Hodgkinson is a sought-after pianist and chamber musician. She partners a wide range of soloists and has performed at major venues including the South Bank Centre, Barbican Centre, Symphony Hall in Birmingham and St. John’s Smith Square. Recitals have taken her to North America, Denmark, Holland, Germany and France as well as extensive travel aboard cruise liners. She is one half of the piano duo, Duo Volante, and is the pianist with the Nimbus Ensemble and Harborough Collective. Eleanor also works with the Orchestra of the Swan and Mid-Wales Opera. As a founder member of the Elgin Piano Trio, she played throughout the UK to critical acclaim from 1999 to 2009. Her versatility has led to numerous collaborations, including a commission The Archduke Variations, with dancers of the Royal Ballet and premieres of British music in the Vigani’s Cabinet project at Queens’ College, Cambridge 2005–2007.

REVIEW:

Nino Rota wrote in many musical forms including film scores, concert music, and for solo instruments. Most listeners are familiar with his film scores for Federico Fellini and Franco Zefferelli. Rota wrote for a wide variety of musical requirements, but his style remained primarily neo-classical and neo-romantic. This worthwhile release explores some of the lesser known Rota repertory.

The 15 Preludes are from 1964—a very productive period for Rota, including several film scores and concert pieces that reflect a neo-classical sound, similar to Prokofieff. Some of the Preludes’ melancholic nature is like some of his film scores with a wistfulness and introspectiveness (marked Andante) that are low-key. But most of the Preludes are marked Allegro or Allegretto. Each is about two minutes so must make its point quickly with little development.

The Fantasia in G (1944-1945) in comparison is absolutely beautiful. At 16 minutes the seven main themes are fully developed and intermixed, and there is a restrained tension that overlies the neo-romantic sound. There are several lovely sequences, some with a folk-like character. Rota uses a sufficient variety of modes, rhythms, metric patterns, and musical progressions to maintain interest. You’ll want to repeat this almost immediately.

The Seven Difficult Pieces for Children are deceptively simple in texture and direct in their melodies and emotional communication with the listener. They sound somewhat similar to Bela Bartok’s Mikrokosmos. They are all very enjoyable and display a lighter side to Rota’s music.

Ms. Hodgkinson plays all beautifully, with a solid warm tone that draws the listener into the music. The sound is exceptional. I enjoyed this.

– American Record Guide

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Rota: Complete Solo Piano Works, Vol. 1 / Eleanor Hodgkinson
Grand Piano Jan 2020
CD
$19.99

Berg: String Quartet, Lyric Suite; Wolf: Italian Serenade

Naxos

$19.99 Jun 26, 2007

Perhaps it's the passage of time, or it's simply the New Zealand String Quartet's embracing, unselfconscious style and illuminating technique, but the atonal sounds of Alban Berg's String Quartet Op. 3 sure seem a lot closer to late-19th century romanticism than they did 40 or so years ago when listeners in my generation first paid attention to Berg's music. And since the work was written almost 100 years ago, that's as it should be, as is the fact that it's now much easier to get past the larger and still-challenging sonic picture to appreciate the inner textural and motivic details.

Of course, our ability to really hear and follow what's going on depends on the performance--and these four musicians may be the best on disc (surpassing the Leipzig and Pražák quartets) in all-important matters of linear clarity, dynamic shading, and sustaining the developmental tension throughout Op. 3's two long, difficult movements. In the Lyric Suite, ensemble unanimity and precision in the increasingly fast odd-numbered movements is critical, and the New Zealanders not only accomplish this but also never forget the intrinsic drama and emotional intensity that haunts this music, especially impressive in the Allegro misterioso and Adagio appassionato movements at the heart of the work.

Indeed, as you listen to these works afresh, you not only marvel at the individual players' virtuosity, but you also have to appreciate that the relatively warm yet pleasingly "edgy" quality to the sound and the oneness of spirit in the interpretations come from the highest-order functioning of the well-integrated collective parts of a mature, vital body--that is, a string quartet that's been together a long time, each member sharing life and breath in the music they make together. This is one reason we listen to the great string quartets--and besides the chance to hear Berg's fascinating and formidable scores again, that's the reason you shouldn't miss this extraordinary recording.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

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Berg: String Quartet, Lyric Suite; Wolf: Italian Serenade
Naxos Jun 2007
CD
$19.99

Complete Works for Piano Four Hands

Dacapo Classical

$27.19 ~~$31.99~~ Save 15% Sep 18, 2026

Admired by Beethoven, Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) made the four-hand piano genre his own. From the buoyant early Sonata in F major, Op. 8b, to the Beethovenian struggle of the late Allegro pathetique, Op. 123, this is melodically rich music, formally adventurous, and by turns convivial and dramatic. Marie-Luise Bodendorff and Xenia Kandel Frederiksen present the complete works, including several world premiere recordings, which together form a cornerstone of the Danish four-hand piano repertoire.

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Complete Works for Piano Four Hands
Dacapo Classical Sep 2026
CD
~~$31.99~~ $27.19

Schubert: Piano Sonatas D. 959 And D. 960 / Hans-Jurg Strub [2 SACDs]

Ars Produktion

SACD

$32.99 Sep 18, 2020

A few weeks before Schubert's death in November 1828, the last two piano sonatas, A major D 959 and B flat major D 960, were written, which together with the C minor Sonata D 958 belong to the "Sonata Triad" - which can probably be called the crowning achievement of his piano work. Schubert's first draft shows how the thirty-one-year-old worked on these works simultaneously; also, the counting of B flat major as Sonata No. 3 is by Schubert's hand. The sonatas are thus cyclically arranged by the composer and have many compositional similarities. Schubert dedicated this triad to his famous contemporary, the virtuoso pianist and Mozart student Johann Nepomuk Hummel. However, it was not published until 1839 - 11 years after Schubert's death, by which time Hummel had already passed away, and so the dedication was transferred to Robert Schumann by the publisher Diabelli & Co. While the Impromptus or Moments musicaux were always very popular, the sonatas led a shadowy existence for a long time. In both sonatas we experience a wealth of different characters and contrasting emotions. The arc of tension leads from the greatest brightness to the deepest darkness, from powerful verve and chromatic turmoil in the Allegro of the A major Sonata to cantabile immersion and tenderness in the Molto moderato of B flat major. In the slow movements - the F minor Andantino in A major as well as the Andante sostenuto in C sharp minor in B flat major - a shattering sadness seizes us - indeed we experience deepest resignation and mental abyss. The wanderer Schubert is drawn to the abysmal.

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Schubert: Piano Sonatas D. 959 And D. 960 / Hans-Jurg Strub [2 SACDs]
Ars Produktion Sep 2020
SACD
$32.99

Cecilio Perera: First Prize 2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition

Naxos

$19.99 Sep 25, 2012

Another day dawns and another guitar competition prizewinner emerges. Will there be room for them all in the upper echelons of the musical world? I doubt it, but the young Mexican, Cecilio Perera—winner of the 2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition—has already created a career as performer and teacher, presently holding the post of professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. The disc opens with a breathless account of Ponce’s Preludio and he seems to enjoy presenting himself with considerable demands in terms of agility, the Gigue taken at a tempo a long way from the intended dance. I would have equally liked a little more of the ‘moderato’ indication in the opening Allegro of the Ponce’s First Sonata. Yet present him with the extreme difficulties of Leo Brouwer’s Sonata, and musically he seems to relax, the many ‘effects’ the work calls for created in the most varied musical colours. It is a piece already well represented in the Naxos catalogue, but this is the performance I would want, the unhurried central Saraband de Scriabin quite magical. More comfortable tempos continue in the world premiere recording of Julio Cesar Oliva’s Tangomania. Though composed in 2011, and taking its inspiration from Piazzolla, it is in a purely tonal style from a much earlier era, the third section having a particularly catchy tune. Vincent Emilio Sojo’s Five Pieces from Venezuela are charming miniatures, while Ponce’s equally engaging Tres Canciones populares mexicanas make for a happy conclusion. Audible left hand shifts are few; the playing technically flawless, and the Canadian team have produced another of their top-flight recordings.

-- David Denton, Naxos [9/2012]

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Cecilio Perera: First Prize 2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition
Naxos Sep 2012
CD
$19.99

Lorin Hollander: Complete RCA Album Collection

Sony Masterworks

$23.48 ~~$46.98~~ Save 50% Jun 24, 2022

The American pianist Lorin Hollander was only 14 years old in 1958 when he recorded his first album for RCA, a personal selection of “22 Favorites” entitled Discovering the Piano. Its success led to a sequel the following year. Over the next eight years he produced an acclaimed series of releases for the Red Label, establishing an international career which would eventually encompass more than 2,500 appearances as a pianist, conductor and passionate advocate for arts education. Hollander has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras and collaborated with conductors such as Bernstein, Szell, Ormandy, Leinsdorf, Previn, Haitink, Ozawa and Mehta. Sony Classical is now pleased to present a new 8-disc box set offering Lorin Hollander’s complete RCA discography for the first time on CD.

A child prodigy, he was born in New York City into a musical family – his father was associate concertmaster of the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini. Lorin began playing the piano at the age of three and within two years had memorized the complete first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. At eleven, he made his Carnegie Hall début playing Mozart’s C major Concerto K 467. His list of distinguished teachers and mentors includes Eduard Steuermann, Olga Stroumillo, Leon Fleisher, Max Rudolf and Rudolf Serkin.

Sony’s Lorin Hollander box begins with those two early albums of “favorites” by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Falla, Granados, Rachmaninoff and Paderewski. In 1963, with Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony, he premièred and recorded the Fantasy and Variations for Piano and Orchestra by Norman Dello Joio. RCA Victor’s release, a coupling with the Ravel G major Concerto, became Hollander’s international record début and found critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. High Fidelity in the US wrote that “the eighteen-year-old pianist’s amazing digital skill and bravura are just what are demanded for the Fantasy and Variations”, while Gramophone in the UK, was grateful for “our first taste on records of the music of Norman Dello Joio, the 50-year-old New York composer who was at one time a pupil of Hindemith. The piano part is immensely athletic: Hollander scuttles up and down the keyboard with great efficiency, and the orchestra is equally on its toes.”

Hollander recorded further virtuoso concertos in 1964 and 1965. The Prokofiev Fifth, also with Leinsdorf and the BSO, was hailed as “a super-brilliant performance” by High Fidelity. Of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto coupled with Bloch’s Scherzo fantasque – made in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under André Previn – High Fidelity wrote enthusiastically: “The Scherzo fantasque has many of the jagged dissonances and virile qualities of Bloch’s writing in the early Twenties. It is fiercely virtuosic and thus ideally suited to the percussive, tigerish Mr. Hollander. In the Khachaturian … Hollander’s work is also first-rate technically … I find the performance excellent.”

Two solo albums from 1965 and 1966 rounded out Hollander’s RCA discography, Mussorsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, coupled with works by Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff, and a coupling of Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata, the Schumann Arabeske, a Brahms Intermezzo and Myra Hess’s beloved Bach transcription “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. The set concludes with a curiosity, recorded for Columbia’s “Modern American Music Series” in 1973: the concert work for soprano and chamber ensemble fashioned by American composer Leon Kirchner from his opera Lily. Kirchner plays the piano part and conducts an ensemble featuring Lorin Hollander on celesta, clarinettist Richard Stoltzman, violinist James Buswell and violist Nobuko Imai. The soprano soloist is Diana Hoagland.

SET CONTENTS

DISC 1:
• Rimsky-Korsakoff (arr. Rachmaninoff): Flight of the Bumblebee
• Granados: Spanish Dance in E Minor, Op. 5, No. 5 "Playera - Andaluzia"
• Schubert: Momento Musical In F Minor, Op. 94, No. 3
• Mendelssohn: Venetian Boat Song, No. 6
• Chopin: Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 "Revolutionary"
• Paderewski: Menuet célèbre in G Major
• Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
• Liszt: Liebestraum No. 3
• Chopin: Für Elise (Albumblatt)
• Chopin: Prelude in C Minor, Op. 28/20
• Brahms: Waltz in A-Flat Major, Op. 39/15
• Debussy: Claire de lune
• Chopin: Waltz in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64/2
• Beethoven: Minuet No. 2 in G Major
• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, K. 545: I. Allegro "Sonata Facile"
• Mozart (arr. Hollander): Minuet (From "Don Giovanni")
• Bach: Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A Minor, BWV 784
• Schumann: Album für die Jugend, Op. 68: X. Fröhlicher Landmann, von der Arbeit zurückkehrend.
• Schumann: Album für die Jugend, Op. 68: II. Soldatenmarsch. Munter und straff
• Schumann: Träumerei
• Grieg: Anitra's Dance
• Chopin: Etude in G-Flat, Op. 25, No. 9 "Butterfly"

DISC 2:

• Chopin: Polonaise in A-Flat Major, Op. 53
• Chopin: Scherzo No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 31
• Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 in D-Flat Major, S.244/6
• Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 3, S.216
• Brahms: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117/2
• Brahms: Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79/2
• Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3/2

DISC 3:

• Dello Joio: Fantasy and Variations for Piano and Orchestra
• Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
Lorin Hollander, piano / Boston Symphony Orchestra / Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

DISC 4:

• Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19 [Erick Friedman, violin]
• Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 5 in G Major, Op. 55
Lorin Hollander, piano / Boston Symphony Orchestra / Erich Leinsdorf, conductor

DISC 5:

• Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in D-Flat Major, Op. 38
• Bloch: Scherzo fantasque, B. 78
Lorin Hollander, piano / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Andre Previn, conductor

DISC 6:

• Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
• Rachmaninoff: Prelude In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3/2
• Prokofiev: Toccata, Op. 11

DISC 7:

• Beethoven: Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31/2 "The Tempest
• Bach, J. S. (arr. Hess): Choral: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
• Brahms: Intermezzo in B-Flat Minor, Op. 117/2
• Schumann: Arabeske, Op. 18

DISC 8:

• Kirchner: Lily (1973)
Diana Hoagland, soprano / Columbia Chamber Soloists / Leon Kirchner, pianist/conductor
• Kirchner: String Quartet No. 2 (1958)
Lenox String Quartet

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Lorin Hollander: Complete RCA Album Collection
Sony Masterworks Jun 2022
CD
~~$46.98~~ $23.48

Seraph / Tine Thing Helseth, Ensemble Allegria

LAWO Classics

$18.99 Jan 13, 2023

Tine Thing Helseth is back with a new release – “Seraph” – this time together with Ensemble Allegria. Helseth and Allegria have had a close association for many years and have appeared together at the Bergen International Festival, the Northern Lights Festival in Tromsø, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, and on the main stage at the Norwegian National Opera. This release features some familiar as well as lesser known works for trumpet and string orchestra by composers from Norway and abroad, with the first four written for this instrumentation, while the last three were arranged by Jarle Storløkken. In Tine’s own words: “Seraph” is an album I have wanted to record for a long time, both because of the repertoire and the ensemble I’m playing with. I studied together with these musicians and many are good friends I’ve known for a long time. This makes it all the more rewarding, fun and inspiring to play together!

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Seraph / Tine Thing Helseth, Ensemble Allegria
LAWO Classics Jan 2023
CD
$18.99

Vivaldi: Gloria & Other Sacred Works / Scimone

Dynamic

DVD

$24.99 Jan 01, 2011

ANTONIO VIVALDI: "I Solisti Veneti"/Claudio Scimone; Wiener Singakademie Choir; Adriana Damato, soprano; Laur Brioli, mezzo. ANTONIO VIVALDI - GLORIA AND OTHER SACRED WORKS: Gloria RV 589; Concerto in D major RV581; Falve Regina RV 616: Ad Te suspiramus;Sonata Al Santo Sepolcro RV 130; Stabat Mater RV 621: Stabat Mater, O quam tristis, Fac ut ardeat cor meum, Amen; Dal Gloria RV 588: Qui sedes ad desteram; Concerto in D major RV 562: Allegro.

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Vivaldi: Gloria & Other Sacred Works / Scimone
Dynamic Jan 2011
DVD
$24.99

MOZART: THE COMPLETE MULTIPIANO CONCERTOS

HYPERION

$18.33 Apr 02, 2021

The Larghetto and Allegro in E flat major is mature Mozart - contemporary with Idomeneo and Die Entfu¨hrung - but remains incomplete. Tomer Lev has finished the job brilliantly, making it the perfect companion for Mozart's official multipiano concertos.

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MOZART: THE COMPLETE MULTIPIANO CONCERTOS
HYPERION Apr 2021
CD
$18.33

Joseph Szigeti: Complete Columbia Album Collection

Sony Masterworks

$29.97 ~~$59.98~~ Save 50% Apr 09, 2021

Sony Classical is pleased to announce the release of a 17-CD box set collecting the recordings made between 1940 and 1956 for American Columbia by the renowned Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti.

Szigeti had a remarkable career. Born in 1892 in Budapest, where he studied with Jenő Hubay, one of most celebrated virtuosos and teachers of that golden era of violin playing, he was praised by the iconic German violinist Joseph Joachim at his Berlin debut in 1905; lived in London for several years following his acclaimed 1907 debut and played chamber music with, among others, Myra Hess and Ferruccio Busoni; was a frequent visitor after the war to the Soviet Union, where he introduced Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto; made his triumphant American debut at Carnegie Hall under Stokowski in 1925; toured the world during the 1930s before finally settling in the US in 1940.

It was in that year that Szigeti renewed his friendship with fellow Hungarian émigré Béla Bartók, and in April the two gave a now-legendary recital in Washington which featured Bartók’s First Violin Rhapsody of 1928 – a work dedicated to and premiered by Szigeti in Europe. In May 1940, Columbia recorded their interpretation of this “vehicle for Szigeti’s biting and wholly magnificent fiddling” (MusicWeb International) in New York. That performance appears here for the first time on CD, along with another important work by Bartók, the classic first recording of his Contrasts for clarinet, violin and piano, written for and performed with Szigeti and Benny Goodman.

The rest of the new collection displays many more treasures of Szigeti’s passionate dedication to chamber music: in Bach, Handel, Tartini, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvořák, Debussy, Ravel, Bloch, Busoni, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Henry Cowell, collaborating with such artists as Andor Foldes – another Hungarian émigré – as well as with Mieczyslaw Horzowski, Myra Hess, Pablo Casals and Igor Stravinsky.

There are, of course, major orchestral works represented in the new Szigeti edition, including two towering concertos in D major – the Brahms, recorded in 1945 with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Beethoven, recorded in 1947 with Bruno Walter and the New York Philharmonic (“an account of impassioned grandeur” – MusicWeb International) – along with Busoni’s early Violin Concerto in D major, recorded in 1954 with Thomas Sherman conducting the Little Orchestra Society. Szigeti’s numerous Bach concerto recordings for Columbia are here as well, conducted by Casals, Fritz Stiedry and George Szell.

As Nathan Milstein, one of his great colleagues, said in a touching tribute to Szigeti, who died in 1973: “He was an incredibly cultured musician. Actually, his talent grew out of his culture. … I always admired him, and he was respected by musicians.” In his late years, Joseph Szigeti finally got the appreciation he deserved from the general public as well. Sony Classical’s new collection his Columbia recordings, many never before released on CD at Sony Classical, can only further enhance that appreciation.

REVIEWS:

Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973) was the violinistic equivalent of a “kunst diva”, just as Gidon Kremer is today. He never had a particularly beautiful tone, while his bowing and intonation grew less dependable with age. Yet Szigeti never put a wrong musical foot forward. His phrasing communicated form, character, architecture, and astute harmonic awareness, with musical considerations always taking precedence over physical expediency.

Sony/BMG’s 17-CD collection of Szigeti’s complete Columbia Masterworks recordings stands out for exemplary remasterings that stem from the best possible source material. His intense yet thoughtful collaborations with Mieczyslaw Horszowski in Beethoven’s Sonatas Nos. 1, 5, 6, and 10 have never sounded so full-bodied and detailed as they do here. The same goes for the 1947 Beethoven Concerto, where the New York Philharmonic turns in firm and insightfully aligned playing under Bruno Walter’s direction. It contrasts to the conductor’s relatively casual and deferential backing in Szigeti’s 1932 recording, which, however, finds Szigeti on far better form.

Rehearing Szigeti’s 1949 Bach Sonata No. 3 in C major for violin solo reminded me just how much more fluent and controlled this performance is in comparison to the violinist’s relatively tenuous Vanguard remake. Likewise, his masterful 1940 account of the D minor concerto based on Bach’s keyboard concerto BWV 1052 is technically, musically, and sonically superior to the bloated 1950 reading under Pablo Casals’ direction. Szigeti’s Casals Festival contributions are admittedly uneven.

His collaborations with Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and Henry Cowell are both historically important and musically illuminating. Somehow the older Szigeti’s wiry tone imparts welcome character and tension to sonatas by Hindemith, Ravel, and Busoni, as well as the rarely heard Prokofiev solo sonata and Busoni concerto. It must be said, though, that the latter’s final scherzando-like passages are heavy going for the veteran violinist, as are the Busoni sonata’s overextended fugal sequences.

Listeners expecting suaveness and elegance in Brahms’ G major Op. 78 and D minor Op. 108 sonatas with Horszowski may wince at Szigeti’s tremulous and effortful execution. Still, he makes every note count, and the aching fragility that emerges from Op. 78’s outer movements and Op. 108’s deliberately unfolding third movement compels my undivided attention. Yet this Brahms D minor pales next to the power and authority of Szigeti’s great 78 rpm edition with pianist Egon Petri. As for the short encore-type pieces favored in the shellac era, Szigeti plays them dutifully rather than lovingly; he wasn’t a charmer like Kreisler, Elman, Milstein, or Ricci. Or Heifetz, for that matter.

The booklet includes full discographical data, an informative essay by Tully Potter, and Szigeti’s own notes for a 1970 Japanese reissue of his Schubert recordings. Even if just half of this collection represents Szigeti at his best, Sony/BMG’s comprehensive and meticulous production values deserve the highest accolades. In the meantime, a complete edition of Szigeti’s pre-war European 78s is long overdue.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

The 31 works, from sonatas to chamber works to concertos, span Bach and Beethoven to Debussy, Ravel, Busoni and Henry Cowell. Bartók is pianist in his own Rhapsody No 1 for Violin and Piano. All the Brahms, including the Trio No 2 in C major with Hess and Casals, is to treasure. Szigeti plays Dvořák with grace and melancholy, and gives bite and attack to Stravinsky. The style may be redolent of another era, yet still this playing speaks to us.

– Guardian (UK)

This is a quite wonderful set, one of the highlights being an all-Busoni disc, the Second Sonata with Mieczysπaw Horszowski and the Violin Concerto with the Little Orchestra Society under Thomas Sherman. No one listening could fail to grasp the profound level of Szigeti's musical understanding.

– Gramophone

SET CONTENTS

DISC 1:
Bartók: Violin Rhapsody No. 1, Sz.87 (Remastered)
Bartók: Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano, Sz.111
Bloch: Three Pictures of Chassidic Life for Violin and Piano (Remastered)
Milhaud (arr. Lévy): Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67: No. 9, Sumare (Remastered)
Falla (arr. Levy): El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Parte I, Danza de la molinera (Remastered)
Mozart: Divertimento No. 15 in B-Flat Major, K. 287, "2. Lodronsche Nachtmusik" (Remastered)

DISC 2:
Mussorgsky-Rachmaninoff: Sorochintsy Fair, Act III: No. 5, Gopak (Remastered)
Dvorák (arr. Kreisler): Slavonic Dance in E Minor, Op. 46, No. 2 (Arr. in G Minor) (Remastered)
Dvorák (arr. Kreisler): Slavonic Dance No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op. 46, No. 3 (Arr. in E Minor) (Remastered)
Hubay: Scènes de la Csárda No.4, Op. 32, "Hejre Kati", I. Lento ma non troppo. Allegro moderato (Remastered)
Hubay: Scènes de la Csárda No.4, Op. 32, "Hejre Kati", II. Allegro molto (Remastered)
Kodály (arr. Szigeti): Háry János Suite, IZK 26: V. Intermezzo (Remastered)
Brahms: 21 Hungarian Dances for Orchestra, WoO 1: No. 5 in G Minor (Remastered)
Debussy: Violin Sonata No.3 in G Minor, L. 140 (Remastered)
Hubay: The Zephyr, Op. 30, No. 5 (Remastered)
Schubert, Francois: Bagatelle Op. 13, No. 9, "Die Biene" (Remastered)
Stravinsky: Duo Concertant for Violin and Piano
Stravinsky: Pastorale, Song without Words for Violin & Woodwind Quartet
Stravinsky: Russian Maiden's Song

DISC 3:
Beethoven (Cadenza: Joseph Joachim): Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61

DISC 4:
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
Brahms: Violin Sonata No.3 in D Minor, Op.108: II. Adagio

DISC 5:
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.1 in D Major, Op. 12, No. 1 (Remastered)
Schubert: Violin Sonata in D Major, D.384
Schubert (arr. Friedberg): Piano Sonata No.17 in D Major, D.850: IV. Rondo. Allegretto moderato (Remastered)
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.7 in C Minor, Op. 30, No. 2 (Remastered)

DISC 6:
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No.1 in F Minor, Op. 80 (Remastered)
Prokofiev: Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94bis (Remastered)

DISC 7:
Bach, J.S.: Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
Bach, J.S. (arr. Reitz): Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052

DISC 8:
Schubert: Fantaisie for Piano & Violin in C Major, Op.Posth. 159, D. 934
Corelli (arr. H. Leonard): Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op.5 No.12 "La Folia" (Variations Serieuses)
Debussy (arr. Roelens): Suite bergamasque, L. 75: No. 3. Clair de lune
Lalo (arr. Szigeti): Aubade from "Le Roi d'Ys" (Act III)
Tchaikovsky: 6 Pieces, Op. 51: No. 6, Valse sentimentale
Bach, J.S. (arr. Szigeti): Violin Partita No.3 in E Major, BWV 1006: VI. Bourrée (Remastered)

DISC 9:
Bach, J.S.: Concerto for Flute, Violin and Keyboard in A Minor, BWV 1044 (Remastered)
Bach, J.S.: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, (arr. BWV 1052/1056) (Remastered)
Bach, J.S.: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050

DISC 10:
Schubert: Rondo in B Minor for Piano and Violin, D.895 (Op.70) "Rondeau brillant"
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.10 in G Major, Op. 96 (Remastered)
Schubert: Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 162. D. 574 "Grand Duo" (Remastered)

DISC 11:
Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major Op. 87

DISC 12:
Cowell: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1945) (Remastered)
Shapero: Sonata for Piano Four Hands (1941) (Remastered) (Harold Shapero, piano; Leo Smit, piano)
Cowell: Celestial Vision: How Old Is Song? (Remastered)

DISC 13:
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.5 in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring"
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1

DISC 14:
Bach, J.S. (arr. Szigeti): Violin Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1056 (Remastered)
Handel: Violin Sonata in D Major, HWV 371 (Remastered)
Tartini (Cadenzas: Szigeti): Violin Concerto in D Minor, D. 45 (Remastered)
Tartini: Violin Sonata in G Major, B. G19 (Remastered)

DISC 15:
Ravel: Violin Sonata No.2 in G Major, M. 77
Hindemith: Violin Sonata in E Major (1939)
Prokofiev: Sonata for Solo Violin in D Major, Op. 115 (Remastered)
Prokofiev: Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, Op. 35bis (Remastered)

DISC 16:
Busoni: Violin Concerto, Op.35a, BV 243
Busoni: Violin Sonata No.2, Op.36a, BV 244

DISC 17:
Brahms: Violin Sonata No.1 in G Major, Op. 78 "Regen" (Remastered)
Brahms: Violin Sonata No.3 in D Minor, Op.108 (Remastered)

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Sale

Joseph Szigeti: Complete Columbia Album Collection
Sony Masterworks Apr 2021
CD
~~$59.98~~ $29.97

Nepomuceno: Orchestral Works / Mechetti, Minas Gerais Philharmonic

Naxos

$19.99 Feb 08, 2019

Alberto Nepomuceno was a herald of Brazilian musical nationalism. He was one of the first composers in his country to employ elements of folklore in his compositions, he encouraged younger composers such as Villa-Lobos, and his music was conducted by Richard Strauss. The Prelude to O Garatuja, an incomplete opera, is one of his best-known works and an example of a truly Brazilian lyric comedy. Serie Brasileira is a vivacious suite that employs maxixe rhythms and ends with the feverish batuque dance, while the Symphony in G minor is one of the earliest such examples by a Brazilian, a heroic and lyric structure revealing the influence of Brahms.

REVIEW:

Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920) was a major force in the development of Brazilian music at the turn of the twentieth century. He worked as a composer, conductor, and educator, tirelessly promoting Brazilian music and the use of Portuguese as an “art language.” The three orchestral works presented here are typical of his work. The Prelude to O Garatuja (1904), an incomplete lyric comedy, uses obvious national themes and offers nine minutes of high-spirited fun as well as a lightness and elegance found in all of the pieces on this disc.

The Brazilian Suite of 1891 had me immediately thinking “Grieg,” and it came as no surprise to learn that Nepomuceno befriended the Norwegian composer during his studies in Europe and saw him as a model. All the same, the work is beautifully scored and in several places quite personal in expression–its four movements representing “Dawn at the Mountains,” a gentle Brazilian dance intermezzo, “Napping in a Hammock,” and a gutsy concluding “Batuque” with a notable part for some native percussion (a reco-reco, or guiro).

Nepomuceno’s Symphony in G minor dates from 1893, the same year as Dvorák’s “New World.” It’s a much more conservative piece than that, although the opening movement has a nice rhythmic swing to it, and both the slow movement and scherzo feature characterful melodic ideas. The scherzo, in particular, mixes a sort of Mendelssohnian delicacy with sudden military interjections from the trumpets and timpani that are very effective. The finale, though, as with so many late romantic symphonies, disappoints. It’s based on the rhythm of the first allegro in Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony, repeated endlessly. Despite a charming second subject, the movement never really gets off the ground, and the ending, with piccolo, cymbals and triangle making a predictable entrance, is unmotivated and ineffective. A good effort, in other words, but a true symphonist Nepomuceno evidently was not, and that’s no crime.

The Minas Gerais Philharmonic, a relatively new group founded only in 2008, plays all of this music very well under Fabio Mechetti. The ensemble has good discipline, and reveals some fine players occupying the principal woodwind and brass chairs. They are also quite well recorded in what sounds like a flattering acoustic space, the Sala Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte. I look forward to further releases from these forces. Minas Gerais is a region perhaps best known as a source of gems and minerals for collectors, and I’m happy to report that the region’s jewels include more than just the rocky kind. Nepomuceno’s output may have been uneven, but his music is worth getting to know, and a disc like this offers an ideal introduction.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

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Nepomuceno: Orchestral Works / Mechetti, Minas Gerais Philharmonic
Naxos Feb 2019
CD
$19.99

Schubert: Impromptus D. 899; Drei Klavierstucke D. 946; Allegretto in C minor D. 915

Gramola Records

$24.99 Jan 12, 2024

Ingrid Marsoner dedicates her latest recording to Franz Schubert’s late piano works and contrasts the “Four Impromptus D 899” with the more intimate and much less frequently performed “Three Piano Pieces D 946”. The Impromptus D 899 were composed in 1827, around a year before Schubert’s death and close in time to the “Winterreise” D 911. The composer was in a particularly gloomy mood at the time and it was certainly no coincidence that he chose such distant keys as G-flat major for the third piece, in keeping with the eerily moving beauty of these works. The “Three Piano Pieces, D 946” were composed in 1828, the year of Franz Schubert’s death. They were not published during his lifetime and were only discovered and published by Johannes Brahms. At the end of his life, Franz Schubert studied counterpoint intensively and even attended a lesson with Simon Sechter, Vienna’s first music theory teacher. In the middle section of the first piano piece in particular, one can discover a surprising polyphony for the composer. The CD concludes with the Allegretto in C minor D 915, also composed shortly before his death at the age of 31.

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Schubert: Impromptus D. 899; Drei Klavierstucke D. 946; Allegretto in C minor D. 915
Gramola Records Jan 2024
CD
$24.99

Wieniawski: Music For Violin And Piano / Migdal, Migdal

Naxos

$19.99 Nov 13, 2015

The reputation of Polish pianist, composer, conductor and educator Józef Wieniawski has proved less robust than that of his famous elder brother, the violinist Henryk Wieniawski, but during his lifetime he was considered one of Europe’s finest musicians. The brothers performed together extensively for a time, and the virtuoso elements in the violin part of the youthful Allegro de sonate and Grand Duo polonais can be credited to Henryk. Józef’s Violin Sonata reveals elegant sophistication, expressive depth and jocular playfulness in exploring the full expressive range of both instruments.

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Wieniawski: Music For Violin And Piano / Migdal, Migdal
Naxos Nov 2015
CD
$19.99

Festival - Classical Music in Switzerland

Sony Masterworks

$41.97 ~~$83.98~~ Save 50% Sep 07, 2018

Traditionally, Switzerland has an important and impressive heritage regarding festivals for classical music, among them the famous Lucerne Festival, rooting back to the so-called "Concert de Gala" in the gardens of Richard Wagner's villa at Tribschen in 1938 conducted by Arturo Toscanini. This release features the fascinating variety and the many facets of the classical festival scene in Switzerland. The selection of the works takes the importance of big names and well known works into account, but also presents modern or even avant-garde approaches or less well known chamber music works.

The world’s leading orchestras, conductors and soloists, outstanding concert venues like the KKL Culture and Convention Centre by the renowned architect Jean Nouvel in Lucerne, a breathtaking landscape: there are many reasons for falling in love with the Swiss music festivals. The Swiss festivals now draw more than 500,000 classical music enthusiasts to the shores of Lake Lucerne or the Verbier mountains every year. And the numbers of visitors is growing from year to year. With this release, you will understand why.

CONTENTS:

DISC 1:
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37
Francesco Piemontesi, piano
Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Roger Norrington, conductor

Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E-Flat Major, K. 543
Francesco Piemontesi, piano
Le Cercle de L'Harmonie / Jérémie Rhorer, conductor

DISC 2:
Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, "Jupiter"
Le Cercle de L'Harmonie / Jérémie Rhorer, conductor

DISC 3:
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47
Schumann Quartett
CHAARTS Chamber Artists
Felix Froschhammer, concert master

Kancheli: Chiaroscuro for Violin and Orchestra
Sebastian Bohren, violin
CHAARTS Chamber Artists
Andreas Fleck, conductor

Schumann:
Dein Angesicht, Op. 127 No. 2
Lehn' deine Wang' an meine Wang', Op. 142 No. 2
Es leuchtet meine Liebe, Op. 127 No. 3
Mein Wagen rollet langsam, Op. 142 No. 4
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Saskia Giorgini, piano

Ralph Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge: V. Bredon Hill
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Casal Quartett

Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: O Let Me Weep
Regula Mühlemann, soprano
Robin Müller, violin
CHAARTS Chamber Artists

DISC 4:
Brahms: Piano Trio No.1, Op. 8
Jonian-Ilias Kadesha, violin
Vashti Hunter, cello
Joonas Ahonen, piano

Blum: Luzerner Kreisel
Silke Gäng, mezzo-soprano
Oliwia Grabowska, piano

Gesualdo: Madrigals, Libro 6: II. Beltà poi che t'assenti
Davos Festival Kammerchor

Dalbavie: Palimpseste für Flöte, Klarinette, Violine, Viola, Violoncello und Klavier
Àgnes Vass, flute
Joonas Ahonen, piano

Dickkopf: Paris
Davos Festival Männerchor

DISC 5:
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Lily Francis, violin
Festival Orchestra / Willem de Bordes, conductor

Enescu: Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11: No. 1 in A Major
Jonian-Ilias Kadesha, violin
Festival Orchestra / Daniel Bard, concert master

DISC 6:
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Ghost"
Candida Thompson, violin
Xenia Jankovic, cello
Paolo Giacometti, piano

Enescu: Octet in C Major, Op. 7
Daniel Bard, violin

DISC 7:
Bach: Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227
Britten: Hymn to St. Caecilia
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Paul McCreesh, conductor

DISC 8:
Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626
Elgar: They Are at Rest
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Paul McCreesh, conductor

DISC 9:
Haydn: Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Hob. I:6 "Le Matin"
CHAARTS Chamber Artists
Gregory Ahss, concert master

Sollima: Fecit Neap 17
Giovanni Sollima, cello
CHAARTS Chamber Artists
Gregory Ahss, concert master

Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4
Felix Froschhammer, violin
Gregory Ahss, violin
Lawrence Power, viola
Razvan Popovici, viola
Maximilian Hornung, cello
Andreas Fleck, cello

DISC 10:
Webern: Sechs Stücke für großes Orchester, Op. 6
Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Academy / Susanna Mälkki, conductor

Neuwirth: Trurliade - Zone Zero
Victor Hanna, percussion
Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Academy / Susanna Mälkki, conductor

Rihm: Gruss-Moment für Pierre Boulez
Ligeti: San Francisco Polyphony
Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Academy / Matthias Pintscher, conductor

DISC 11:
Shostakovich: From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op. 79
Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op 40
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19
Bloch: From Jewish Life, IEB 6
Sol Gabetta, violin
Bertrand Chamayou, piano

DISC 12:
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra / James Levine, conductor

DISC 13:
Bach: Concerto for 4 Keyboards in A Minor, BWV 1065
Martha Argerich, piano
Evgeny Kissin, piano
James Levine, piano
Mikhail Pletnev, piano

Haydn: Symphony No. 88 in G Major, Hob. I:88
Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra / András Schiff, conductor

Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19
Lynn Harrell, cello
Yuja Wang, piano

Ysaye: Sonata for 2 Violins in A Minor, Op. posth.
Joshua Bell, violin
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

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Sale

Festival - Classical Music in Switzerland
Sony Masterworks Sep 2018
CD
~~$83.98~~ $41.97

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Concerto No. 2; Passatempi
Capriccio Aug 2010
CD
$21.99

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 - Schumann: Introduction and Al
Naxos Aug 2001
CD
$19.99

The Mendelssohn Legacy

Naïve

$19.99 Dec 19, 2025

The first instalment in an exploration of the German Romantic repertoire for piano trio, this double album recorded by the Trio Zadig, now on the naïve label, offers an utterly thrilling journey between darkness and light. It groups together the two essential Trios for violin, cello and piano (Op. 49 and Op. 66) by Felix Mendelssohn and the Op. 11 Trio, by Fanny, his immensely brilliant sister so beloved by her brother. In the Trio Zadig's hands, the sister's work, composed between 1846 and 1847, a few months before her premature death, impresses with the singular structural balance. Notably the Allegro molto vivace is a real pearl which alternates moments of subtle nostalgia with an elegant drama, among some tempestuous and thoughtful writing. Impossible not to be captivated, moreover, by the freshness of the Andante espressivo. Here the three players reveal a theme of majesty and tenderness, slightly reminiscent of Beethoven. The following Lied will remind us that the Mendelssohn household was nourished by J. S. Bach's protestant spirit. In truth, the same creative lifeblood flowed in the veins of both sister and brother. Having grown up in a household where one learned music like another language, Felix and Fanny were each other's first audiences, first critics, and eternal confidants. These exciting yet reflective performances by the Trio Zadig (violinist Miclen Laipang, cellist Marc Girard Garcia and pianist Guillaume Vincent) in the first place pay due respect to this common ground. From Felix's famous first Piano Trio, likewise in D minor, gushes in effect the same fundamental warmth, the same calm mastery, and the second Piano Trio, with it's subtly measured storms and it's gently restless flavour, recalls Fanny's contemporaneous work of 1845. In a nod to the culture of reciprocal inspiration which of course was at the heart of Mendelssohn's Berlin home, and which recalls their own life as rehearsing, travelling and performing chamber musicians, sharing almost everything together, the Trio Zadig completes it's programme with two of Felix's more intimate works; one taken from the second volume of the Lieder ohne Worte, transcribed for piano trio by Cyrille Lehn, and the other the Notturno from A Midsummer Night's Dream, in a rare nineteenth century transcription. And - surprise, surprise! - a mouth-watering encore, the extremely touching Trio composed by Felix at the age of eleven, a somewhat Haydn-like pastiche, and an utter marvel.

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The Mendelssohn Legacy
Naïve Dec 2025
CD
$19.99

Mix & Match

C.P.E. Bach: Solo Keyboard Music Vol 19 / Miklos Spanyi

BIS

$21.99 Jul 01, 2009

In the latest volume of his highly regarded series, Miklós Spányi has assembled a varied programme, showing different aspects of C.P.E. Bach and the context in which he was active. Two sets of variations are included, both of them intended for the rapidly growing market created by the increasing number of skilled amateur players. Such sets would typically be based on a popular song - such as 'Ich schlief, da träumte mir' ('I slept, and then I dreamt'), used by a number of Bach's contemporaries - and were often printed in periodical anthologies of music by different composers. In contrast to these more intimate pieces, the Sonata in E flat major and, even more so, the Sinfonia in F major, are examples of the orchestral style of writing that Bach at times allowed to spill over into his keyboard works. The Sinfonia is indeed an arrangement of his own symphony for orchestra, Wq 181. Two other, short pieces, both dated 1760 are included on the disc, one of which, Allegro in C major, was originally intended for use in a 'Spieluhr' (a musical box or clock) - a genre in which both Bach's father, Johann Sebastian, and Handel had written, and for which the young Beethoven would also compose. For a large number of discs in this series, Spányi has chosen to play on a clavichord - an instrument loved by Bach. Volume 17 is a case in point: selected as an Editor's Choice in Gramophone, the disc was described as 'the answer to clavichord fans' dreams'. For the present programme, however, Spányi has elected to perform on a tangent piano, a variant of the fortepiano with a number of possibilities for adapting the timbre and dynamics. The results are striking especially in the sets of variations, but also in the more 'orchestral' pieces with their rich timbres and dynamic contrasts.

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C.P.E. Bach: Solo Keyboard Music Vol 19 / Miklos Spanyi
BIS Jul 2009
CD
$21.99

Per Monsieur Pisendel - Vivaldi, Et Al / La Serenissima

Avie Records

$19.99 Feb 01, 2003

While Johann Georg Pisendel is primarily remembered today as the 18th century virtuoso that inspired Bach to compose his renowned Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, this extraordinary program "Per Monsieur Pisendel" reveals the violinist/composer's influence to be much more widespread and diverse. Each of the six violin sonatas offered was either dedicated to or composed by Pisendel himself, amply attesting to his apparent charisma and exemplary skill. La Serenissima's members--violinist Adrian Chandler, cellist Gareth Deats, and harpsichordist Robert Howarth--rise to the occasion, delivering stirring, alert, and focused performances that ably serve Pisendel and his contemporaries Vivaldi and Albinoni.

Vivaldi's famous RV 6 opens the program, and like Romanesca (Harmonia Mundi) and the Biondi/Alessandrini/Naddeo/Pandolfo/Lislevand ensemble (Arcana), Chandler and colleagues brazenly draw out every dramatic nuance and diabolical twist implicit in the score. Especially enjoyable is their deft treatment of the third movement (Grave), heightened by numerous decorative flourishes throughout. The program in fact features a refreshingly wide variety and inventive use of ornamentation that, unlike so many other recitals of similar repertoire, perpetually keeps things interesting. Chandler's spellbinding rendering of Pisendel's Allegro from his Sonata in D is absolutely spectacular! Likewise, Chandler's performance of the second-movement Allegro of Vivaldi's Suonata a Solo facto per Monsieur Pisendel del Vivaldi in C, RV 2 equally impresses in its cocksure bite and vigor.

Complementing La Serenissima's excellent performances is Avie's clear and immediate sound. Chandler's excellent notes are informative and entertaining. This debut recording couldn't be more auspicious. Highly recommended.
--John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

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Per Monsieur Pisendel - Vivaldi, Et Al / La Serenissima
Avie Records Feb 2003
CD
$19.99

SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATAS D 784 & D 959; ALLEGRETTO

WARNER CLASSICS

$17.28 Feb 17, 2023

I love Schubert," writes pianist Eric Lu. "It is difficult to describe how meaningful his music is to me. He was the ultimate artist, in the purest sense of the word. Late in his life, with death staring him down and all his hopes and dreams dashed... he continued to churn out one masterpiece after another. I have come to the conclusion that he is the composer who moves me most intensely." Lu's album of Schubert pairs two of his greatest sonatas - D 784 in A minor, written in 1823, and D 959 in A major, written in 1828, the last year of the composer's short life; complementing them is the Allegretto in C minor D 915, dating from 1827. When Eric Lu won the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, the Guardian welcomed him as "one of the most exciting prospects in a long time... a veritable poet of the keyboard." These words were borne out by the critics' response to his first Warner Classics album, a programme of Chopin, Schumann and Brahms. International Piano magazine found it "truly magical", while Fanfare welcomed "a gifted musician... who can probe the depths of the piano literature with poetic sensibilities and imagination.

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SCHUBERT: PIANO SONATAS D 784 & D 959; ALLEGRETTO
WARNER CLASSICS Feb 2023
CD
$17.28