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Shostakovich - Gubaidulina: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77 -
Challenge Classics · May 2017SACD$20.99 -
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Debussy: La Mer, Images, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune / Munch, Boston Symphony
Sony Masterworks · Apr 2004CD$11.98 -
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Strauss, Debussy & Ligeti: Orchestral Works / Nott, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
PENTATONE · Sep 2018SACD$21.99 -
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SaleSchnelzer: A Freak in Burbank / Gringolts, Crawford-Phillips, Västerås Sinfonietta
BIS · Mar 2022SACD$21.99$10.99 -
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Nørgård: Symphony No. 8; Orchestral Works / Storgårds, Bergen Philharmonic
BIS · Sep 2023SACD$21.99 -
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SaleBeethoven: Piano Sonata No 3; Ravel, Chopin / Arthur Rubinstein
ICA Classics · Mar 2013CD$14.99$11.99 -
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A Musical Journey: Night Music, Vol. 2
Naxos AudioVisual
DVD
$9.99
$13.99
Save 30%
Nov 13, 2012
The scenes shown all breathe an air of peace and tranquility. Starting with an evening landscape in Bohemia we move to a lake in the Tyrol to the Museo Vela with it's gesso figures Bavarian craftsmen fashioning glass and the Corniche near Cannes in the South of France. Other scenes include the ancient Chapel of St Sixtus at Eygalieres the Church of St Jakob at Tramin night in Madrid and a nocturnal view of Seville the whole culminating in the great Basilica of St Mark in Venice.
JUNGLES OF SENEGAL
Frémeaux
CD
$20.99
Sep 01, 2007
This CD includes eight magnificent concerts recorded in the Niokolo Koba national park in Senegal. It is possible to hear a great variety of birds such as the Black-crowned Tchagra, Falk-tailed Drongo or White-crowned Robin and also green monkeys and baboons, hippopotamuses, lions and hyenas. In short all the strange sounds of the jungle at dawn or dusk, and fascinating nocturnal concerts with owls, nightjars, insects and frogs. (AKA STT 300412)
CHOPIN ORBIT
MASTERWORKS
Vinyl
$40.42
Mar 20, 2026
CHOPIN ORBIT The eagerly anticipated second album by celebrated Japanese pianist and composer Hayato Sumino (aka 'Cateen') Available on CD & Vinyl. - Following the success of his acclaimed Sony debut Human Universe, Hayato Sumino-known globally as 'Cateen'-returns with Chopin Orbit, a conceptually rich and emotionally resonant album that places the music of Frederic Chopin at it's center. - Chopin, Sumino's favorite composer, has long been a gravitational force in his artistic life. That connection was first spotlighted during his standout performances at the 2021 International Chopin Competition and now takes full flight in Chopin Orbit. This unique collection features Sumino's original compositions inspired by Chopin's masterpieces, not as imitations but as creative echoes-melodies and motifs reimagined through the lens of a 21st century classical artist. - Included are pieces such as Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie op. 61, Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Berceuse, and Raindrop Prelude, alongside Hayato's original works White Keys and Post Rain. Also featured are works by Thomas Ades, Leopold Godowsky, and Leos Janacek-highlighting Chopin's influence across generations.
Classic Library - Chopin: Waltzes, Impromptus / Rubinstein
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98
Apr 20, 2004
Artur Rubinstein. RCA RCD1-7156 [Ballades, with Scherzos]; 5613-2-RC [19 Nocturnes; 2 CDs]; 5614-2-RC [51 Mazurkas; 2CDs]; 5615-2 [7 Polonaises]; RCD1-5492 [14 Waltzes]
If there is one sure bet in the music of Chopin, it is Artur Rubinstein. His recordings of the composer’s music can be recommended without hesitation for their warmth, lyricism, and expressive point. Never over-interpreted, the music emerges with spontaneity and freshness in his accounts, always alive, always delightful and surprising. His fiery renditions of the Ballades and Polonaises combine drama and poetry in brilliant fashion, while his readings of the Nocturnes, Mazurkas, and Waltzes are notable for their Mediterranean color and unerring sense of mood. The sound of the 1960s stereo recordings for RCA may occasionally lack depth and seem slightly veiled, but it holds up well enough to convey unmistakably the tone and the touch that made Rubinstein one of the greatest pianists of all time. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.
If there is one sure bet in the music of Chopin, it is Artur Rubinstein. His recordings of the composer’s music can be recommended without hesitation for their warmth, lyricism, and expressive point. Never over-interpreted, the music emerges with spontaneity and freshness in his accounts, always alive, always delightful and surprising. His fiery renditions of the Ballades and Polonaises combine drama and poetry in brilliant fashion, while his readings of the Nocturnes, Mazurkas, and Waltzes are notable for their Mediterranean color and unerring sense of mood. The sound of the 1960s stereo recordings for RCA may occasionally lack depth and seem slightly veiled, but it holds up well enough to convey unmistakably the tone and the touch that made Rubinstein one of the greatest pianists of all time. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.
The Sleep of Reason - Music for Solo Flute & Electronics
Metier
CD
$18.99
Jul 18, 2025
This arresting new album presents a major addition to the solo flute repertoire, bringing together the visionary artistry of flautist Noemi Gyori and the intricate, evocative music of composer Sinan Savaskan. Spanning nearly five decades of Savaskan's compositional output, the album explores the full expressive range of the flute it's lyric warmth, it's structural clarity, and it's capacity for sonic transformation-often in dialogue with subtly woven electronic elements. At the heart of the album lies Sonata '... una rilettura indipendente', a five-movement tour de force that is both architectural and deeply intuitive. Conceived as part of the composer's epic cycle Many Stares through Semi-Nocturnal Zeiss-Blink, this work embodies Savaskan's radical approach to form and harmony an evolving narrative shaped by transformation, resonance, and reflection. Written specifically for Noemi Gyori, the Sonata draws upon her exceptional virtuosity and interpretative insight, and represents a rare synthesis of structural rigour and emotional intensity. Alongside the Sonata are three additional works, each revealing a distinct facet of Savaskan's sound-world. The Sleep of Reason, for solo flute, offers a tightly coiled musical meditation, born from a nocturnal journey and haunted by socio-political undercurrents and subconscious recollections. Always at Dusk, No.3, for alto flute and electronics, distills a fleeting emotional memory into an atmosphere of suspended time, echoing the concept of duree rather than chronological sequence. Finally, Pas de Deux for One, originally composed in 1978 and revised in 2023, draws from Savaskan's background in dance and experimental film, resulting in a vivid theatricality that unfolds through extended techniques and shifting gestures. The electronics, composed entirely from transformations of flute sounds, serve not as backdrop but as an active, organic extension of the instrument's breath, resonance, and timbral possibilities. Whether experienced through speakers or headphones, the recording invites deep listening preferably in dim light, as Gyori suggests offering an immersive sonic space where listener, performer, and composer meet. An album for connoisseurs of contemporary music, Sonata '... una rilettura indipendente' is a profound collaboration between two artists whose shared sensitivity reshapes what solo flute music can mean today.
Clara Rodriguez Plays The Piano Music Of Federico Ruiz
Nimbus
CD
$20.99
Apr 01, 2012
Performances alive with vitality in well defined recordings.
Clara Rodríguez has been recognised for some time now as an ideal pianist to perform missionary work on behalf of Latin American composers. She has performed the works of Venezuelan Federico Ruiz with fidelity and has earned the dedication of some of them; Tropical Triptych and Nocturne were written for her.
The music in this recital reflects an interesting range of influences, dance patterns and stylistic affinities. Merengue, composed in 1994, establishes Ruiz’s penchant for rhythmic vitality and romantic refinement. There is a long cycle of small character pieces called Pieces for children under 100 years of age, written between 1982 and 1994. Droll as the title is, it wouldn’t matter much were the music dull. That, assuredly, is not the case. There are hints of a Latin Chopin in the opening Prelude, whilst he summons up the spirit of Chaplin ( Charlot) in the second piece of the set. This turns out to be a touch of Ragtime, so it’s not properly Chaplin that’s being evoked, it seems to me, more the piano accompaniment provided in cinemas and movie theatres to some scenes from his films. Our Lady of Sorrow is properly wistful whilst there’s great charm to Magic Dream. It’s important that he establishes mood quickly in these pieces as they are all so short – none is longer than three minutes. The Dictator rides a moped is amusing for its out of control sequence; Dictators clearly can’t ride them. Debussy haunts the Encounter of Antonio and Florentino and there’s a laconic Cha cha cha further on in the sequence. Altogether this is a lively, imaginative and witty set.
The Three Venezuelan Waltzes, composed during the 1980s, are disparate but bound together by their origin in the waltz. The Nocturne is somewhat different, being rather chromatic and obviously effusive, and it’s played by its dedicatee with aplomb. Very different again, indeed the work of a much earlier Ruiz, is the Micro-Suite of 1971. The five succinct movements, more succinct indeed than the children’s pieces, are decidedly Webern-like, and suggest the journey Ruiz has undertaken from this rather formalised use of twelve-tone, to his later absorption of local models and rhythms.
We return, finally, to a more recent Ruiz in the shape of Tropical Triptych composed in 1993. When Ruiz conjoins rhythmic brio with lyrical intensity, as here, the results are idiomatic and exciting. His propensity for Ragtime, and a bit of Gottschalk, Ginastera and Milhaud certainly doesn’t hinder him either.
To these qualities and affiliations one can add that he writes, so it seems, with considerable pianistic affinity. The performances manage to get across this vitality in well defined recordings.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Clara Rodríguez has been recognised for some time now as an ideal pianist to perform missionary work on behalf of Latin American composers. She has performed the works of Venezuelan Federico Ruiz with fidelity and has earned the dedication of some of them; Tropical Triptych and Nocturne were written for her.
The music in this recital reflects an interesting range of influences, dance patterns and stylistic affinities. Merengue, composed in 1994, establishes Ruiz’s penchant for rhythmic vitality and romantic refinement. There is a long cycle of small character pieces called Pieces for children under 100 years of age, written between 1982 and 1994. Droll as the title is, it wouldn’t matter much were the music dull. That, assuredly, is not the case. There are hints of a Latin Chopin in the opening Prelude, whilst he summons up the spirit of Chaplin ( Charlot) in the second piece of the set. This turns out to be a touch of Ragtime, so it’s not properly Chaplin that’s being evoked, it seems to me, more the piano accompaniment provided in cinemas and movie theatres to some scenes from his films. Our Lady of Sorrow is properly wistful whilst there’s great charm to Magic Dream. It’s important that he establishes mood quickly in these pieces as they are all so short – none is longer than three minutes. The Dictator rides a moped is amusing for its out of control sequence; Dictators clearly can’t ride them. Debussy haunts the Encounter of Antonio and Florentino and there’s a laconic Cha cha cha further on in the sequence. Altogether this is a lively, imaginative and witty set.
The Three Venezuelan Waltzes, composed during the 1980s, are disparate but bound together by their origin in the waltz. The Nocturne is somewhat different, being rather chromatic and obviously effusive, and it’s played by its dedicatee with aplomb. Very different again, indeed the work of a much earlier Ruiz, is the Micro-Suite of 1971. The five succinct movements, more succinct indeed than the children’s pieces, are decidedly Webern-like, and suggest the journey Ruiz has undertaken from this rather formalised use of twelve-tone, to his later absorption of local models and rhythms.
We return, finally, to a more recent Ruiz in the shape of Tropical Triptych composed in 1993. When Ruiz conjoins rhythmic brio with lyrical intensity, as here, the results are idiomatic and exciting. His propensity for Ragtime, and a bit of Gottschalk, Ginastera and Milhaud certainly doesn’t hinder him either.
To these qualities and affiliations one can add that he writes, so it seems, with considerable pianistic affinity. The performances manage to get across this vitality in well defined recordings.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Claude Debussy: Complete Works for Piano Duo, Vol. 3
Oehms Classics
CD
$19.99
Feb 06, 2026
The renowned Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo celebrates it's 30th anniversary in 2025. The duo has been honoured with numerous international awards and recordings. With the recording of all of Debussy's works in three volumes for piano duo, the Genova & Dimitrov Piano Duo is now appearing on the Oehms label. The programme includes both well-known and lesser-known works, some of which are versions of orchestral works such as the famous Trois Nocturnes. The recording was made in co-operation with WDR Broadcast.
Medtner: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3, 3 Notturni
Brilliant Classics
CD
$16.99
Oct 16, 2026
From the reserved charm of the three Nocturnes to the heroic struggle of the 'Sonata Epica': the major violin-and-piano works by Nikolai Medtner, in a new recording by musicians with an impressive pedigree in the music of this overlooked master of late Romanticism. While Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) is best known for the cycle of piano sonatas which assure his stature as one of the great pianist-composers of the 20th century, his musical inspiration was hardly confined to expression through his own instrument. Brilliant Classics have already issued a magnificent cycle of Medtner's complete songs, which cover the course of the composer's long career from his Russian childhood to his exile and retirement in London from 1936. Medtner's wife Anna was a violinist, and he seems to have had her in mind when writing his music for violin and piano. Premiered in 1911, the First Sonata was inspired by the figure of Dionysus, Greek god of revelry. Thus the sonata concludes with a wild 'Dithyramb' which works a tango rhythm into the texture. From 1925, the Second Sonata bears the subtitle 'Spring' less in homage to Beethoven's example than to a poem by Fyodor Tyutchev. This is one of Medtner's most overtly 'Russian' works with it's folky spirit and evocations of balalaikas. The third, last and longest of the sonatas was composed in 1938, once Medtner had settled in London. We may hear in it the mingled relief and sadness at the turbulent state of his homeland, and his distance from it. Born in Naples in 1988, Fabrizio Falasca is Assistant Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, regularly playing with the world's great conductors of our day, but he also pursues a busy solo career of his own, as both a recitalist and a recording artist. This survey of Medtner marks his third album for Brilliant Classics, following well-received collections of Viotti and Busoni: 'Fluent, musical and well-recorded performances' (MusicWeb International). His partner on this occasion is the pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, who is renowned in his own right as a specialist in super-virtuoso piano music and neglected composers of the late-Romantic era. He is a regular guest at the Rarities of Piano Music Festival in Husum, Germany and a professor of piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His own extensive catalogue of recordings includes collections of solo music by Grieg and Hummel as well as concertos and chamber-music collaborations such as this one with his fellow Italian, Fabrizio Falasca. Together, violinist and pianist tap into the elusive but deep feelings flowing beneath the complex surface of Medtner's ambitious forms and grand narratives. Once Medtner has a listener in his spell, in works such as the violin sonatas, he does not let go.
Shostakovich - Gubaidulina: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77 -
Challenge Classics
SACD
$20.99
May 05, 2017
The structure of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto is particularly original, with a sequence of four movements - slow, fast, slow, fast - entitled Nocturne, Scherzo, Passacaglia and Burlesque. The opening movement (Nocturne) is a beautiful song, blossoming from a single melodic fragment. The Scherzo is biting and dazzling virtuosic, like a carousel gone wild. The ensuing Passacaglia is, quite simply, the pinnacle of this concerto; a masterpiece - mature, elegiac and highly lyrical. The passacaglia theme is repeated nine times with contrapuntal elaborations. This is followed by a large-scale cadenza that forms a bridge to the finale. The concerto closes with a Burlesque, in which the theme from the Passacaglia has one final, piercing reappearance. Shortly after the premiere of Gubaidulina's Offertorium (1981), the Swiss patron of the arts Paul Sacher asked her to compose a further violin concerto for the German soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, but nothing came of this due to lack of time. It was only in 2007, eight years after Sacher's death, that Gubaidulina completed In tempus praesens, which was given its premiere by Mutter at the Lucerne Festival. It is a work of extreme contrasts in which very deepl infernal passages are juxtaposed with extremely high, celestial episodes. Much more so than Offertorium, In tempus praesens is a spectacular work for the violinist, who plays virtually from start to finish and barely has a chance to pause for breath. The virtuosity demanded by the work is never an end in itself.
Debussy: La Mer, Images, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune / Munch, Boston Symphony
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98
Apr 20, 2004
RCA's new Classic Library series hits a high mark with this excellent Debussy/Munch collection. Charles Munch's Debussy performances always have been treasured for their color, vitality, and seeming oneness with the composer's conception. It's hard to imagine finer performances of Images or the two Nocturnes. Munch's rhythmic sense and timbral distinctiveness vividly render Debussy's multi-layered textures and subtly varied moods. Then there's the Boston Symphony, captured at the height of its glory, offering vibrant, virtuoso playing from all sections. Listen to the burnished brass in the first movement of Iberia, the lively woodwinds in Fêtes, or the silken strings in Nuages. Munch's suave La Mer is at a slightly lower level of intensity and must yield to Boulez's brilliant Cleveland performance on DG.
RCA's sound for the most part is so vivid and dynamic (La Mer carries a bit of tape hiss) that you hardly can believe the recordings are more than 40 years old. If only the missing Sirènes movement from Nocturnes had been included, this would serve as a Debussy orchestral-music library staple. As it stands it's a great--and essential, if supplemental, collection. [5/19/2004]
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com
RCA's sound for the most part is so vivid and dynamic (La Mer carries a bit of tape hiss) that you hardly can believe the recordings are more than 40 years old. If only the missing Sirènes movement from Nocturnes had been included, this would serve as a Debussy orchestral-music library staple. As it stands it's a great--and essential, if supplemental, collection. [5/19/2004]
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com
Strauss, Debussy & Ligeti: Orchestral Works / Nott, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
PENTATONE
SACD
$21.99
Sep 21, 2018
This album presents extraordinary works of three twentieth-century composers with diverse cultural backgrounds, underlining the versatility and legacy of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in its centenary year. Richard Strauss’ Schlagobers (Whipped Cream, 1924) is a playful ballet set in a Viennese Konditorei, of which the orchestral suite is featured on this album. With its lively mix of Viennese waltzes and modern harmonies, light-versed tunes interspersed by sudden outbreaks of ravishing beauty, all brilliantly orchestrated, it can be considered a further exploration of the composer’s “Rosenkavalier style”. Claude Debussy is featured with Jeux, Poeme danse (1912), another piece created for a ballet performance, built around an erotic nocturnal search for a lost tennis ball that Pierre Boulez characterized as a “Prelude à-l’Apres-midi d’une Faune in sports clothes”. Debussy’s Jeux has been a major source of inspiration for post-war avantgarde composers such as Boulez and Stockhausen, and, therefore, the transition from Jeux to Gyorgi Ligeti’s Melodien, fur Orchester (1971) is not jarring. Melodien has the unmistakable mix of sensuous yet eerie soundscapes that makes most of Ligeti’s works so filmic and appealing. This album adds a significant chapter to the Pentatone discography of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, which already contains the complete Bruckner Symphonies with Marek Janowski, three dance-oriented albums with Kazuki Yamada, and concerto recordings with renowned soloists such as Arabella Steinbacher, Johannes Moser and Denis Kozhukhin. On this album, the OSR’s new chief conductor Jonathan Nott makes his Pentatone debut.
HE WAS PLACED IN THE TOMB
Paraclete Recordings
CD
$20.99
Mar 22, 2019
Solesmes' He Was Placed in the Tomb contains the Gregorian Office for Holy (or "Great") Saturday, the evening service that observes the time Christ spent in the bonds of death; it is signified by the lighting of the candle of Paschali... This performance of the Office is by the Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey in Solesmes, presumably from their own edition, which has been the Vatican standard since 1903... This one of the very last recordings of the Solesmes choir as led by it's longtime director, the late Dom Jean Claire, who retired shortly thereafter. The choir is in excellent voice; the pacing of the chant is as it should be and the acoustic in the Abbey Church at Solesmes is warm and bathes the voices in a benevolent ambience. This office consists of four Nocturnes, Lauds, and Vespers, with the pieces toward the ends of the Nocturnes being the most captivating within the office, particularly the Mode 4 and 5 Responsory at the end of the first Nocturne and the breathtakingly beautiful Responsories in Modes 8 and 4 that conclude the Second Nocturne. "As a representation of the Holy Saturday service in Gregorian terms, this is about as liturgically accurate, and as well performed, as it gets. Outside of it's purely religious context, Solesmes' He Was Placed In The Tomb would be an excellent album to accompany late-night reading or other nocturnal, quiet activities. " (AllMusic. Com)
Schnelzer: A Freak in Burbank / Gringolts, Crawford-Phillips, Västerås Sinfonietta
BIS
SACD
$10.99
$21.99
Save 50%
Mar 04, 2022
Born in 1972, Albert Schnelzer belongs to the most widely noticed Scandinavian composers of his generation. He has written in all genres, and the present album includes a concerto as well as both orchestral and chamber works. Schnelzer’s orchestral output has attracted great attention, with A Freak in Burbank belonging to his most often heard works. Inspired by Haydn as well as by the filmmaker Tim Burton, it has been played more than 70 times to date, in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Royal Albert Hall. It here appears on album for the first time, performed by the Västerås Sinfonietta conducted by Simon Crawford-Phillips. The same team has also made the premiere recordings of two other works: Burn My Letters – a commission for Clara Schumann’s 200th anniversary – and the violin concerto ‘Nocturnal Songs’, composed for Ilya Gringolts. Interspersed with these are three chamber works – Dance with the Devil, Apollonian Dances and Frozen Landscape – performed by some of Sweden’s foremost instrumentalists.
REVIEW:
A Freak in Burbank is an exciting and vivid work, full of insistent rhythms, quixotic harmonies, and colorful orchestration. There is a capricious spirit in it that grabs the attention of the listener, much as, for example, Haydn’s music does.
Dance with the Devil is for solo piano, and also grabs the attention of the listener from its very first notes. The opening, in fact, is cut from the same musical cloth as is Bartók’s Allegro Barbaro, and like that seminal work Dance never lets up in its energy level. The notes aver that the piece is influenced by heavy metal music.
Burn My Letters—Remembering Clara is scored for chamber orchestra and depicts in music the voluminous correspondence between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In this rather neo-Romantic work, the composer has attempted to capture something of the energy and lust for life of Clara Schumann, in addition to representing the hectic life she lived as a touring pianist. In this work, he has attempted to assimilate (successfully, I think) the frankness in which Schumann writes about her doubts, fears, and sorrows. Despite such heavy concepts, the piece has a lightness and airy quality about it that I find most attractive.
The program turns back to the realm of chamber music with Apollonian Dances for violin and piano. Violinist Cecilia Zilliacus and pianist David Huang are both clearly masters of their respective instruments, and the work simply couldn’t be in better hands.
Frozen Landscape remembers a vivid experience from Schnelzer’s youth when he was up in the mountains of northern Sweden. This piece’s unrelenting quiet dynamic level sustains interest throughout its seven-and-a-half-minute duration. Both cellist Jakob Koranyi and pianist Huang pull off exquisitely what must be a difficult work to bring across.
The concert concludes with Schnelzer’s Violin Concerto No. 2, “Nocturnal Songs,” a 25-minute work from 2018.
The work was written for violinist Ilya Gringolts, who performs it at the highest level here, even the finger-busting finale. First-class orchestral support is supplied in the pieces that require it by Simon Crawford-Phillips and the Västerås Sinfonietta, an ensemble of which I’ve been previously unaware but glad to have become acquainted with.
This CD is splendid in every parameter, and I am truly delighted to become familiar with the work of such a talented member of the newer generation of Swedish composers.
-- Fanfare
Charpentier: Orphee aux enfers / Meunier, Vox Luminis, A Nocte Temporis
Alpha
CD
$20.99
Jan 10, 2020
The Orpheus myth was as important for the birth of opera in France as it had been in Italy. In 1684, Charpentier composed a work for three voices, Orphée descendant aux Enfers. With this piece, remarkable for its style and concision, he showed how well he had assimilated Carissimi’s art. It is a dramatic scene, similar to the ‘sacred histories’ of the Roman master. The text, by an unknown author, narrates Orpheus’ quest for his beloved in the Underworld. The hero’s haute-contre gives him an elegiac timbre – this was the vocal register in which Charpentier, himself a singer, excelled. In 1687 he created his second illustration of the myth, La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers. In its two acts can be discerned the outline of a possible complete opera – the manuscript has reached us shorn of the third act in which Orpheus would presumably have lost Eurydice before being devoured by the Maenads. While La Descente d’Orphée has already been recorded several times, the Orphée of 1684 is a rarity and a magnificent discovery. In these two roles that might have been written for him, Reinoud van Mechelen is at the peak of his artistry, while his ensemble A Nocte Temporis and Lionel Meunier’s group Vox Luminis blend in perfect symbiosis.
The Classical Novaes - Beethoven, Mozart
Vox
CD
$22.99
$29.99
Save 25%
Jan 01, 1993
Seeing the name Guiomar Novaes makes me feel like a kid again, blowing my allowance on Everests and Vox Boxes and Vanguards and the like (Serious Record Collector's Disease can strike early and hard—parents, know the telltale signs!). By the time I hit puberty (the verb is entirely appropriate) I had acquired several of the Brazilian pianist's Chopin discs for Vox, although I did so more by happenstance than by design.
And then I was a child no more, and it was time to put away childish things. Novaes and her discographie companions were filed away with the rest of my immaturity as I graduated to bigger allowances, and bigger labels and artists. A few years ago I remember actually sneering at an acquaintance's suggestion that we listen to Novaes's recordings of a few Chopin Nocturnes. "How good could she be?' ' I asked him and myself.
I now eat my words, because Novaes is very good indeed. These three sets were both a trip down Memory Lane and a voyage into new territory. I knew about her close association with Chopin's music, but I didn't know to what extent she made her mark in Romantic and Classical repertoire. "The Classical Novaes" is Exhibit A: consider her serene, stately "Emperor" Concerto, a performance which doesn't deign to impress the listener with mere technical display. Also, consider her Mozart, a perfect blend of clarity and emotional involvement. This is music from the Classical period played with a Romantic sensibility, but one that doesn't glorify the artist at the expense of the art. With Novaes, Beethoven and Mozart came first.
The other two sets are similarly impressive by means of similar virtues. Novaes never hurries, never pounds, and never distorts, and while it would be easy to find more viscerally exciting or technically mind-boggling performances of these works, it would be hard to find ones that are classier or more poised. The Grieg concerto is a particular highlight: this is an uncommonly serious reading, one that blows the powdered sugar right off the snow drifts, and frankly, one of the best that I have ever heard. As for the Chopin, it goes straight to the listener with its intimacy. There's nothing special about Novaes's fingers, particularly in the Études and in the concerto, but the playing goes to the heart. And those Nocturnes! There are several great recordings of these works, but Novaes's are the ones that makes the recording process itself disappear, with her mellow colors and seamless line.
The orchestral accompaniments are passable and better than I expected, particularly when Perlea is on the podium. The 1955-ish sound ranges from dim (the Chopin sonata) to quite good (the Nocturnes), although one would expect some distortion in the concerto recordings. Vox has given us better-looking and better-made booklets than in the past, and the program notes are surprisingly intelligent and thorough, considering the price you'll pay for these sets. Oh yes, the price. Vox Boxes, usually go for $5-6 per disc, which means that you can pick up all three of the sets, plus Vox Box CDX2 5501, which includes some more of Novaes's concerto recordings (Beethoven 4, Chopin 2, and Schumann, all conducted by Klemperer) and some treasurable encores, for about the cost of a routine visit to the dentist. Skip a visit, eat fewer sweets, floss more often, and buy these discs. They would make great presents for old and new CD collectors too.
-- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE
And then I was a child no more, and it was time to put away childish things. Novaes and her discographie companions were filed away with the rest of my immaturity as I graduated to bigger allowances, and bigger labels and artists. A few years ago I remember actually sneering at an acquaintance's suggestion that we listen to Novaes's recordings of a few Chopin Nocturnes. "How good could she be?' ' I asked him and myself.
I now eat my words, because Novaes is very good indeed. These three sets were both a trip down Memory Lane and a voyage into new territory. I knew about her close association with Chopin's music, but I didn't know to what extent she made her mark in Romantic and Classical repertoire. "The Classical Novaes" is Exhibit A: consider her serene, stately "Emperor" Concerto, a performance which doesn't deign to impress the listener with mere technical display. Also, consider her Mozart, a perfect blend of clarity and emotional involvement. This is music from the Classical period played with a Romantic sensibility, but one that doesn't glorify the artist at the expense of the art. With Novaes, Beethoven and Mozart came first.
The other two sets are similarly impressive by means of similar virtues. Novaes never hurries, never pounds, and never distorts, and while it would be easy to find more viscerally exciting or technically mind-boggling performances of these works, it would be hard to find ones that are classier or more poised. The Grieg concerto is a particular highlight: this is an uncommonly serious reading, one that blows the powdered sugar right off the snow drifts, and frankly, one of the best that I have ever heard. As for the Chopin, it goes straight to the listener with its intimacy. There's nothing special about Novaes's fingers, particularly in the Études and in the concerto, but the playing goes to the heart. And those Nocturnes! There are several great recordings of these works, but Novaes's are the ones that makes the recording process itself disappear, with her mellow colors and seamless line.
The orchestral accompaniments are passable and better than I expected, particularly when Perlea is on the podium. The 1955-ish sound ranges from dim (the Chopin sonata) to quite good (the Nocturnes), although one would expect some distortion in the concerto recordings. Vox has given us better-looking and better-made booklets than in the past, and the program notes are surprisingly intelligent and thorough, considering the price you'll pay for these sets. Oh yes, the price. Vox Boxes, usually go for $5-6 per disc, which means that you can pick up all three of the sets, plus Vox Box CDX2 5501, which includes some more of Novaes's concerto recordings (Beethoven 4, Chopin 2, and Schumann, all conducted by Klemperer) and some treasurable encores, for about the cost of a routine visit to the dentist. Skip a visit, eat fewer sweets, floss more often, and buy these discs. They would make great presents for old and new CD collectors too.
-- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE
PIANO WORKS (LP)
Berlin Classics
Vinyl
$26.99
Nov 19, 2021
One of Germany's most prominent pianists, Alexander Krichel from Hamburg, has brought together a couple of heavyweights for his first album with Berlin Classics. He combines the "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky, a central work of the piano literature, with a rarely heard gem by the Romanian composer George Enescu. Enescu's Second Piano Suite enhances the formal language of the Baroque with Romantic and Impressionist timbres, and entrances the listener with a rich palette of tone colors. To round off the program, Alexander Krichel plays another work by a composer from Russia's "mighty handful", the Nocturne from the Petite Suite by Alexander Borodin. There's no denying it: born in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, Krichel feels himself strongly drawn to the Russian repertoire. He studied with two of the greatest Russian pianists of modern times. "I've long had Modest Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition' in my repertoire, but now, this piano suite is exactly right with it's strong sense of dedication," says Krichel. "It would be hard to find another piano cycle that has such variety and places such comprehensive demands. Mussorgsky captures a whole cosmos in his 'Pictures'. That links him with George Enescu, who in writing his Second Suite actually composed a tribute as well. ECHO Klassik prizewinner Alexander Krichel also made his presence felt on the music scene with unusual activities during the long Corona lockdown. In May 2020, he initiated the first drive-in concert, which was broadcast by WDR. Soon after that, his audience was following him on a video diary from a Hong Kong hotel suite, in which he had to observe a 14-day period of quarantine before a concert. All the greater, then, the relief felt by Alexander Krichel that like other artists, he can again communicate live with his audience.
Martucci: Sonata, Op. 34, Works, Op. 31, & Mazurka, Op. 35
Piano Classics
CD
$19.99
Jun 05, 2026
New recordings of neglected but compelling piano works from the spring of Giuseppe Martucci's career. Martucci composed all the pieces on this album during the year 1876. As Ilaria Sinicropi observes in her booklet essay, Martucci was 'a composer in the making', in the first flush of his talent. In finding his own voice for instrumental composition, he looked naturally northwards, to the other side of the Alps, and in particular to Schumann and to Brahms, with their strong narrative arcs, their expansion of traditional models such as sonata form and their richly chromatic but disciplined harmony. The more adventurous language of the Capriccio e Serenata Op.57 was yet to come. Yet the first movement of the Piano Sonata - mysteriously neglected by pianists until now, with no other recordings in the current catalogue - already shows Martucci stretching his wings, and adapting the fantasy-style of Schumann to the ends of his own lyrical style. Sinicropi hears within it a powerful evocation of nature in the mould of Grieg's Lyric Pieces, and it prefigures the imposing intensity of expression in the third-movement Andante, with a scintillating Scherzo to serve as intermezzo and a Lisztian finale which synthesizes elements of chorale, fugue and rondo. The suite of Four Pieces Op.31 do not venture into the Sonata's ambitious terrain, cast by and large in a vein of gentle introspection, but they too reward close listening (which again is only now possible with Ilaria Sinicropi's recording). In fact the opening Nocturne is the most developed piece of the quartet, belying it's title with fiery outbursts and unexpected pauses. The following barcarolle and Romance may be heard as songs without words in a stylish emulation of Mendelssohn, before a final 'Dolce Ricardo's (Sweet Memory) returns to the tripartite but eventful form of the Nocturne. Finally, the Mazurka Op.35 makes a graceful encore, 'deeply rooted in the Italian tradition and the expressive style typical of mannerism,' according to Ilaria Sinicropi. Her affinity with this music is abundantly clear from her playing as well as her writing, and with this album she makes an auspicious debut on Piano Classics, which is sure to attract wider attention.
Carl Davidoff: Cello Concertos 3 & 4
CPO
CD
$18.99
Jun 29, 2010
DAVIDOFF Cello Concertos: No. 4 in e; No. 3 in D. TCHAIKOVSKY Nocturne, op. 19/4. Pezzo Capriccioso, op. 62. Andante cantabile • Wenn-Sinn Yang (vc); Terje Mikkelsen, cond; Shanghai SO • CPO 777432 (71:39)
This completes cpo’s survey of Carl Davidoff’s cello concertos; and, like the earlier recording from these same forces (777263), which paired Davidoff’s first and second concertos with Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme , this disc also mates the two composers. It’s a logical coupling since the two men knew each other professionally and held each other in high regard, despite rivalries that existed between their competing conservatories in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky is in fact often quoted as having dubbed Davidoff “the tsar of cellists,” and I’ve often wondered, if not for the politics, how much better Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations might have fared had the composer entrusted the editing and revising to Davidoff instead of to a fellow professor at the Moscow Conservatory, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen.
In Fanfare 31:1 Tom Godell reviewed the previous release, declaring Davidoff’s concertos “of dubious value.” He did, however, heap praise on cellist Wenn-Sinn Yang. One issue later (31:2) that CD turned up on my 2007 Want List.
Born in what is now part of Latvia, Carl Davidoff (1838–89) completed a degree in mathematics at the St. Petersburg University before he enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory to study composition. He had been playing cello, however, since he was 12; after renowned cellist Friedrich Wilhelm Grutzmacher departed his post, Davidoff, at 22, was offered his cello professorship at the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1876, after internal squabbling among the administrators of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Davidoff was appointed that institution’s director, no doubt to the displeasure of Tchaikovsky, who had been a candidate for the position. I suspect this was the irritant that caused Tchaikovsky to turn to Fitzenhagen instead of Davidoff for assistance with his Rococo Variations . The rest, as they say, is history. Davidoff, along with David Popper, became one of the most celebrated cellists of the second half of the 19th century, and was honored as the dedicatee of Dvo?ák’s famous concerto.
It’s not in the least far-fetched to draw parallels between Davidoff, the virtuoso cellist, and Wienawski (1835–80), the virtuoso violinist. Not only were they near contemporaries, but more significantly, at the invitation of Anton Rubinstein, Wieniawski moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived from 1860 to 1872, teaching violin in Rubinstein’s Russian Music Society. Davidoff had been teaching cello at the St. Petersburg Conservatory since 1863, so it’s almost certain that during Wieniawski’s years in the city the two men would have crossed paths.
The compositions written by both of them for their respective instruments represent a next phase in the development of the virtuoso concerto after Paganini. Hair-raising pyrotechnics and high-wire daredevil cadenzas still abound, but now there is at least some semblance of more serious, expansive concerted scores in which the orchestra plays more than a barrel-organ accompanimental role. Contrasting lyrical passages vie for attention more convincingly amid the miles of blistering runs up and down the fingerboard, joint-dislocating double-stops, bow-bending arpeggios, artificial harmonics, and flying staccato.
As music, I would tend to agree with Godell’s “of dubious value” judgment. But the technical innovations and challenges are not of dubious value, for they opened the door to works, like the cello concertos of Dvo?ák, Elgar, Shostakovich, Myaskovsky, and many others that would take those innovations for granted and make them an integral part of the composition.
Of such insignificance, apparently, are the three Tchaikovsky fillers on the disc that not a single word about them is to be found in eight pages of vanishingly small print by note author Eckhardt van den Hoogen who, nonetheless, finds it important to ramble on for a full page about Davidoff’s 1712 Stradivarius cello. So, to fill in the blank, Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne in C?-Minor has long been a favorite of cellists. It’s the fourth piece from the six Morceaux, op. 19, originally for solo piano. The Pezzo Capriccioso is an original piece for cello and orchestra written in 1887. Its title belies its depressive B-Minor mood, which is generally attributed to Tchaikovsky’s tending to a dying friend, Nikolay Kondratyev, who was nearing the end in his battle against syphilis. The Andante cantabile will of course be recognized as an arrangement for cello and orchestra of the second movement from Tchaikovsky’s D-Major String Quartet, op. 11.
At present, there does not appear to be any recorded competition for these two Davidoff concertos, so it’s good news that Wenn-Sinn Yang can be recommended without reservation to those who take pleasure in cello gymnastics of the most demanding kind. Yang never once loses composure, and even manages to play these extremely difficult works with a good deal of tonal beauty and, where the music allows it, with considerable emotional expressivity. Norwegian maestro Terje Mikkelsen, who studied under Mariss Jansons, and who has led the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra since 2006, is a conductor who made quite an impression on me with a recent recording he made with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra for Sterling of two symphonies by Norwegian Romantic composer Eyvind Alnæs. I expect we will be hearing a lot more from Mikkelsen in the not-too-distant future.
In sum, this cpo release is an excellent recording, and one that may be strongly recommended to those with an appreciation for this type of repertoire.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
Philip Cashian: Chamber Concertos
IBS Classical
CD
$17.99
May 08, 2026
Philip Cashian (born Manchester, 1963) is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British music, widely recognised for a style that combines rhythmic urgency with luminous harmonic writing. His music has been described as "an uncompromising reflection of the modern world," characterised by tightly worked motivic ideas, striking instrumental colour, and a constant tension between propulsion and stillness. Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Oliver Knussen and Simon Bainbridge, and later with Lukas Foss at Tanglewood, Cashian has developed a language that is both intellectually rigorous and immediately physical in it's impact. This recording brings together key chamber and concertante works spanning nearly three decades, framed by the two Chamber Concertos (1995 and 2024), written twenty-nine years apart. Both pieces explore the rich possibilities of instrumental combination within a chamber ensemble, giving prominence to extended solo lines and concertante groupings. Between them appear two more intimate works: Dances and Nocturnes (2020), a single-movement piano quartet alternating kinetic rhythmic energy with reflective, nocturnal stillness, and The Distance of Night (2022), a restrained and deeply expressive solo piano work written in memory of Simon Bainbridge. Throughout the programme, Cashian's music reveals a fascination with visual art-particularly mid-20th-century British abstraction-as well as a highly refined sense of form and drama. The result is a compelling portrait of a composer whose music is at once rigorous, vivid, and emotionally direct.
Nørgård: Symphony No. 8; Orchestral Works / Storgårds, Bergen Philharmonic
BIS
SACD
$21.99
Sep 01, 2023
Having celebrated his 90th birthday in 2022, Per Nørgård is undoubtedly one of the most important Danish composers since Nielsen. His important production that covers all genres is a highly personal travel document based on his endless incursions through the sonic labyrinths of this world.
Based on material from Nørgård’s viola concerto from 1986, Three Nocturnal Movements for violin, cello and orchestra came about on the initiative of the violinist Peter Herresthal and the cellist Jakob Kullberg, two of his long-term collaborators. The work was creatively developed for two soloists by Kullberg, who decided on the form of the movement after making a selection of musical fragments described as ‘nocturnal’.
Dedicated to the conductor John Storgårds, Symphony No. 8 appears bright, transparent while its atmosphere is somewhat mysterious and filled with tension. This symphony, his most recent work in this genre, can be compared to latter works from other Nordic composers like Sibelius and Nielsen. Finally, Lysning, a short piece for string orchestra, has been described by Nørgård as a ‘glade’ and is made of an alternance of darker and brighter variations of the same musical ideas heard in different instrumental colourings and nuances.
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No 3; Ravel, Chopin / Arthur Rubinstein
ICA Classics
CD
$11.99
$14.99
Save 20%
Mar 26, 2013
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 3 in C, Op. 2/3 1. RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales 1. CHOPIN Nocturne in D?, Op. 27/2 1. Ballade No. 1 in g, Op. 23 1. Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22 2 • Artur Rubinstein (pn) • ICA 5095 (73:00) Live: London 3/17/1963 1 and 10/6/1959 2
If ever there were a pianist who could be considered the aristocrat of the instrument for the 20th century it would surely be Artur Rubinstein, so full of intelligence, nobility, and remarkable simplicity are his interpretations. He was, above all else, a direct communicator of ideas. Throughout his career he always played to the audience, making them feel part of the show, of the whole experience itself; they in turn loved him for it. And though he was not always the most secure technician (in terms of playing the correct notes, not in terms of his overall musical interpretations) he is in especially fine form here.
His direct approach to the music can be witnessed from the very beginning of the recital. Rubinstein’s Beethoven was always interesting to me depending on the particular repertoire he was approaching—his recordings of the “Appassionata” Piano Sonata or the Fourth Piano Concerto are some of the pinnacles of the recorded performances that have been bequeathed to us in the 20th century. His Beethoven Third Sonata is good—it is straightforward; he has little fluctuation of tempo (though the forte outburst in the first movement at 0:25 does push it a bit); his articulation is crisp when required, and he brings a fine joie de vivre in this bright, but not always sunny C-Major work. There is something lacking for me, though—a tension, a drama that I find inherent in this work. Everything here is just too smooth. In Rubinstein’s Ravel there is a tinge (but just a tinge!) of the percussive quality of a Prokofiev: One can almost see Rubinstein’s grin as he lets the rest of us in on what he knows to be Ravel’s true intentions in this work. Too often are these waltzes performed in a flowery manner. The pianist’s approach is subtle in his carefully calculated tonal shadings and in his elegant way of always maintaining the sense of the beat, of the dance, which inspired one of this composer’s loveliest creations. Rubinstein is in especially fine form in Chopin—his composer. The D?-Major Nocturne is the crowning jewel in this recital: Once again everything that makes a Rubinstein performance special is in evidence here, from the continuous flow of the accompaniment to the way in which he approaches each and every phrase, from the highly lyrical to the highly ornamented. Anyone who questions Rubinstein’s mechanism needs to behold the ease in which he plays each and every note in the rapid flourishes that pervade this work. Not only are all of the individual notes crystal clear, each also has a beautiful ringing tone. The G-Minor Ballade was one of the pianist’s favorite works and he is in spectacular form here. He captures that wonderful sense of the narrative—not only can he make the piano sing, he can make it speak. Unfortunately there is an issue here. A sound anomaly mars this otherwise fantastic recording at around 8:30. The Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise act as encores, coming from a much earlier recital. Here too Rubinstein’s magical qualities come out in the ease in which he projects the gentleness of the nocturne-like introduction and the elegance of the dance that follows. It is not the most dynamic reading of the Polonaise I know, but it is powerful nonetheless.
The sound throughout the recording is fine given its vintage (other than the aforementioned issue in the Ballade). What is most remarkable about Rubinstein for me is his naturalness—there seems to be not even a strand of the eccentric in his playing. His Chopin will always remain a favorite because of its elegance, its straightforwardness, and its rejection of the picture of the composer as a frail and meek individual. His Chopin is timeless. His Ravel too is fascinating. In his hands the music retains its modern aura. This is one disc that you’ll be sure to want in your collection; I’m all too happy to make it part of mine.
FANFARE: Scott Noriega
Serenata Mexicana
Toccata
CD
$20.99
Mar 15, 2019
The Anglo Mexican Foundation celebrates it's 75th anniversary with this programme of three of it's recent commissions - from Mexican composers Alejandro Basulto and Arturo Márquez - joining the first recording of Márquez's harp concerto Máscaras, in an album that interleaves nocturnal warmth with an infectious spirit of dancing energy. Alejandro Basulto is a Mexican award-winning composer and orchestral conductor. His music is characterized by a profound Latin-American identity, a vibrant integration of contemporary popular culture, a continuous exploration of diverse techniques and the use of new narrative approaches. Arturo Marquez was born deep in the Sonoran desert in the colonial town of Alamos, Mexico. He currently works at the National University of Mexico, Superior School of Music and the National Center of Research, Documentation and Information of Mexican Music.
HARMONIA MUNDI YEARS
HARMONIA MUNDI
CD
$34.49
Sep 26, 2025
Brigitte Engerer recorded several albums for harmonia mundi that stand as benchmarks today. This box set brings together her complete recordings for solo piano - and what a pleasure it is to listen once again to these performances - so powerful, so colorful, and so absolutely right. From Beethoven to Mussorgsky via Schumann, and including her unmissable Chopin Nocturnes, this is a tremendous panorama of the artistry of this great pianist, lost to us far too soon.
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil (Vespers) / Fox, The Clarion Choir
PENTATONE
CD
$19.99
Jan 27, 2023
Nominated for a GRAMMY® Award!
The Clarion Choir and its Artistic Leader Steven Fox make their Pentatone debut with a recording of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s choral masterpiece, the All-Night Vigil, demonstrating their exceptional proficiency in Russian repertoire. The All-Night Vigil is a nocturnal hymn that gradually moves towards daybreak, symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ. This message of light and hope emanating from the darkness is both universal and very topical in the troubled world we find ourselves in. On this recording, many of the movements are preceded by the original Kiev and Znameny chants on which Rachmaninoff based his composition, adding another layer to this mesmerizing piece. Steven Fox is the Artistic Leader of the New York-based Clarion Choir since 2006. Generally considered as one of the most exceptional US choirs, their recordings of Russian choral repertoire have received multiple Grammy nominations.
REVIEW:
The U.S.-based Clarion Choir has specialized in Russian choral music, and they are a logical choice to take on this quite difficult work. Director Steven Fox forges a distinctive sound in which quieter passages are quite delicate. These contrast sharply with the almost gravelly vocal textures usually heard in the work, but in climactic passages, Fox gives his group a fascinating kind of focused power that carries a good deal of ecstatic emotion. The sound engineering from New York’s Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is ideal.
-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)
