Anna Fedorova presents the late keyboard works of Brahms. 'These works feel as if he is speaking to us in a more private voice than ever before. The music is deeply personal, full of tenderness, nostalgia, love, and quiet reflection' says Fedorova. 'His lifelong bond with Clara Schumann remained a central part of his inner world. She was among the first to see these manuscripts, and her presence seems to quietly accompany them.' Op. 117 are three sets of melodies without words. Of Op. 118, Clara wrote: 'It is simply marvellous how your inner self seems to bubble, shine and whisper, constantly imbued with the grandeur and depth of your ideas!' With Op. 119, the keyboard seems once again to contain an entire orchestra, just like the early works that the young Brahms had presented to Robert Schumann forty years earlier.
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 & Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118
PENTATONE
CD
$17.99$19.99Save 10%Sep 11, 2026
Following the 2025 release of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 and Intermezzi Op. 117 - an album that received rave reviews worldwide - Francesco Piemontesi, conductor Manfred Honeck, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig continue their Brahms journey with a compelling new recording of the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1. A work of striking emotional force and symphonic grandeur, it was born from a profound personal and artistic crisis. Composed in the aftermath of Robert Schumann's tragic collapse, the concerto reflects Brahms' struggle for artistic identity, as well as his confrontation with grief, responsibility, and expectation. From it's monumental opening - once likened to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - to the deeply introspective slow movement, often understood as a portrait of Clara Schumann, this interpretation reveals the work's extraordinary psychological depth. Complementing the concerto are Brahms' Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118, works of introspection, farewell, and concentrated expression. Composed more than three decades after the concerto, these miniatures distil a lifetime of experience into music of remarkable intimacy and emotional restraint. From the consoling warmth of the Intermezzo in A Major to the desolate introspection of the Intermezzo in E-flat minor - often regarded among Brahms' darkest utterances - these pieces form a poignant counterpoint to the youthful turbulence of the concerto. Together, they trace a path from struggle to reflection, offering a profound insight into Brahms' artistic evolution and inner world. Francesco Piemontesi, one of today's most-cherished pianists, presents the sixth release in his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE, following the widely praised Schubert - Last Piano Sonatas (2019), Bach Nostalghia (2021), Schoenberg, Messiaen & Ravel (2022), Liszt Transcendental Etudes & Piano Sonata (2023), and Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117 (2025).
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi, Op. 117
PENTATONE
CD
$19.99Oct 31, 2025
Francesco Piemontesi, conductor Manfred Honeck, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig come together in a new recording of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2. This concerto transcends the traditional form, blending symphonic grandeur with virtuosic brilliance and moments of intimate chamber-like dialogue between piano and orchestra. Piemontesi's sensitive playing and Honeck's precise, passionate leadership create a richly detailed and moving interpretation of one of Brahms's greatest masterpieces. Alongside the concerto are Brahms' Three Intermezzi, Op. 117 - quiet, reflective pieces that offer a window into the composer's most personal thoughts. Francesco Piemontesi, one of today's most-cherished pianists, presents the fifth release in his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE, following the widely praised Schubert - Last Piano Sonatas (2019), Bach Nostalghia (2021), Schoenberg, Messiaen & Ravel (2022), and Liszt Transcendental Etudes & Piano Sonata (2023).
Richard Strauss described his two-act opera 'Intermezzo' as a 'bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes'. The soprano role of Christine with her shimmering cantilenas represents Strauss's wife Pauline, while the successful Court Conductor Robert Storch is Richard Strauss's alter ego in a reality drama that was avant-garde for it's time. This acclaimed production from director Tobias Kratzer brings 'Intermezzo' into the present day, highlighting Strauss's own clever switches between reality and fiction with stunning visual effects and a superbly characterful cast.
Richard Strauss summed up his two-act opera Intermezzo as a 'bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes'. The soprano role of Christine with it's shimmering cantilenas represents Strauss's wife Pauline, while the successful Kapellmeister Robert Storch serves as Richard Strauss himself in a domestic drama that was avant-garde for it's time but now resonates with the accessibility of today's reality shows. This production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin was acclaimed for it's lush orchestral sound and superbly characterful cast led by a formidable central performance from Maria Bengtsson.
Richard Strauss described his two-act opera 'Intermezzo' as a 'bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes'. The soprano role of Christine with her shimmering cantilenas represents Strauss's wife Pauline, while the successful Court Conductor Robert Storch is Richard Strauss's alter ego in a reality drama that was avant-garde for it's time. This acclaimed production from director Tobias Kratzer brings 'Intermezzo' into the present day, highlighting Strauss's own clever switches between reality and fiction with stunning visual effects and a superbly characterful cast.
Any close engagement with the later works of the Austrian composer Karl Weigl soon-and almost inevitably-becomes an exercise in tracing origins. Driven into American exile by the delusions of a self-proclaimed master race, he, like many of his contemporaries, remained so firmly bound to his cultural roots that a nostalgic backward glance across the Atlantic becomes perceptible even where his music ventures into comparatively advanced musical language. He never relinquishes tonal gravity, nor does he lose the unmistakable grace he carried with him into exile. As a result, even in one of humanity's most tragic moments (1939), when he entrusted his quartet with a deeply heartfelt and intimate prayer, he placed his faith in the healing power of beauty. And two years later, he was able to compose Three Intermezzi that, from first bar to last, reveal the Viennese artist he remained throughout his life.
Boerio: Bello tiempo passato - Comic Intermezzo from the ope
Dynamic
CD
$16.99Aug 02, 2024
In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures began to inhabit secular but also sacred operas. These stock characters included the Neapolitan, the Calabrian and the Boy, and all three plus a fourth, 'The Spaniard', appear in a comic intermezzo inserted in the 1673 opera Il disperato innocente by the little-known Francesco Antonio Boero. This is the oldest surviving Neapolitan comic intermezzo, and, along with it's Prologue, seems to have been written by other authors. This video preserves a historically informed performance given by Antonio Florio with Pino de Vittorio that explores the tradition of the intermezzo in 17th century plots.
Boerio: Bello tiempo passato - Comic Intermezzo from the ope
Dynamic
DVD
$36.99Jul 19, 2024
In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures began to inhabit secular but also sacred operas. These stock characters included the Neapolitan, the Calabrian and the Boy, and all three plus a fourth, 'The Spaniard', appear in a comic intermezzo inserted in the 1673 opera Il disperato innocente by the little-known Francesco Antonio Boero. This is the oldest surviving Neapolitan comic intermezzo, and, along with it's Prologue, seems to have been written by other authors. This video preserves a historically informed performance given by Antonio Florio with Pino de Vittorio that explores the tradition of the intermezzo in 17th century plots.
Boerio: Bello tiempo passato - Comic Intermezzo from the ope
Dynamic
Blu-Ray
$36.99Jul 19, 2024
In the early 1670s, soon after Venetian opera became established in Naples, a series of comic figures began to inhabit secular but also sacred operas. These stock characters included the Neapolitan, the Calabrian and the Boy, and all three plus a fourth, 'The Spaniard', appear in a comic intermezzo inserted in the 1673 opera Il disperato innocente by the little-known Francesco Antonio Boero. This is the oldest surviving Neapolitan comic intermezzo, and, along with it's Prologue, seems to have been written by other authors. This video preserves a historically informed performance given by Antonio Florio with Pino de Vittorio that explores the tradition of the intermezzo in 17th century plots.
Schmidt: Symphony No. 4; Intermezzo from "Notre Dame" / Blunier, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn
MDG
SACD
$24.99Jun 01, 2010
Widely acknowledged to be Franz Schmidt's finest symphony, the main offering of this 2010 MDG Live disc is in some ways the composer's most challenging work. Schmidt composed the Symphony No. 4 in C major as a requiem for his daughter Emma, who had died in childbirth in 1932. Schmidt's grief is plainly evident in the brooding music, which works its way through many unexpected chromatic turns and dark modulations, and develops a plaintive trumpet theme, heard at the beginning and in various guises throughout the work. In terms of the structure, Schmidt combined sonata allegro and variation forms to elaborate the trumpet theme as a primary subject, and the four movements are to be played as one continuous movement. Schmidt is often regarded as a conservative composer, but his dissonant harmonies here are quite adventurous for his style, and the uncertain mood of the music is ambiguous enough to remind one of late Mahler. The filler work, the Intermezzo from Schmidt's opera Notre Dame, is a sweetly lyrical work that is cast in a more conventionally Romantic vein than the symphony, though it's uplifting mood is a suitable contrast to the bleakness of the preceding work. Stefan Blunier and the Beethoven Orchester Bonn play both works with passionate commitment and deep emotion, and the high standards of performance and reproduction that are typical of MDG's hybrid SACDs are met in this excellent recording.
Triumph Of The Piano - Keyboard Classics From Bach To Bartok
Sony Masterworks
CD
$11.98Jan 18, 2000
THE TRIUMPH OF THE PIANO is a release from National Public Radio that briefly covers the history of piano music through music from "Bach to Bartok." With so many performances to select from for such a collection, it's no doubt that the choices are outstanding. Beginning with two pieces for the harpsichord by Couperin and Bach respectively, the piano takes over through pieces of the classical and romantic eras, and twentieth century, with something by almost every piano composer of importance. The performer list is equally impressive on this intelligent collection: Emmanuel Ax, André Watts, Glenn Gould, and more. Particular standouts include Brahms' Intermezzo Op. 119 played by Rudolf Serkin in a 1979 recording, the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 from a 1961 recording by Robert Casadesus, and "Liebesbotschaft" by Schubert/Liszt played by Arcadi Volodos. In other words, this is not only a short history of the piano repertoire, but of pianists who have recorded as well. Aficionados of the piano will find this to be an invaluable recording in its unique collection of pieces, as well as its fantastic assembly of artistry on one disc.
The 22 year-old winner and Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medallist at the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition 2018 begins his Warner Classics exclusive contract with an exquisite new recital featuring Chopin's 24 Preludes, Schumann's Ghost Variations, and Brahms' Intermezzo No. 1, Op. 117
Max Reger’s oeuvre occupies a unique position between the centuries. His advanced compositional techniques made him one of the most frequently performed composers at the Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen in Vienna and meant that he was held in great esteem by Arnold Schönberg. His affinity for Bach in his settings as well as in his choice of forms, architectonic techniques, and specific instrumentations was just as obvious as his grounding in Romanticism and his veneration for Beethoven and Brahms. Reger’s ties to the tradition – in this case to Mozart and Brahms – were the point of departure for his Clarinet Quintet in A major op. 146, a work radiating an ease that hardly seems to have been disturbed by the circumstances of a world war. The major tonality of the work is unusual in the chamber music from Reger’s late period and something it shares with the String Sextet op. 118. Apart from the sextet, after 1909 it is found only in the Flute Serenade in G major op. 141a and in the clarinet quintet. In contrast to these two other works, however, the sextet is of much greater complexity in formal design and material elaboration, which happens to be assigned to a very obvious thematic presentation. Even though Reger did not live to experience the publication and premiere of the clarinet quintet, the string sextet received a posthumous tribute inasmuch as the study score was immured in the base of Reger’s funerary monument in the Waldfriedhof in Munich on 11 May 1930.
Selim Palmgren, a student of Busoni, was one of the leading Nordic composers during the first decades of the 20th century. His wide-ranging music for piano was performed and recorded by some of the greatest artists of the day. This third volume in the first complete cycle of Palmgren’s piano music on disc includes a varied cross-section of works written over a 50-year period. It includes the youthful Lyriskt intermezzo, Op. 8, romantic miniatures of great charm – as well as one of his greatest achievements, the atmospheric suite Kevät (‘Spring’), in which impressionist elements fuse with rich Finnish folk melody.
