A monthly podcast dedicated to the best of independent classical musicians, composers, and labels from around the world. Each episode is typically 2 or 3 tracks, and includes a brief narrative. The music is always superb.
harmonia mundi France harmonia mundi was born in 1958 in Paris. In 1986 the group moved to Arles France, where they are still headquartered today. This group has always been known for their support for independent artist and classical music. Additionally they have been growing recognition for various sections within the publishing business.
Frederic Chopin's Piano Sonatas No.2 ("Funeral March") and No.3 are the product of the composer's maturity and boundless invention. Here they receive incandescent performances by the 2001 Cliburn Competition gold medalist Olga Kern.
Javier Perianes invites us to discover the keyboard works of a composer who, like himself, was a native of Andalucia : the heir to Scarlatti in many respects, Blasco do Nebra magisterially combined his own natural heritage with the forms imported by the Hispano-Neapolitan composer. The sonata and pastorales presented on this disc shed light on the multiple facets of his creative genus, alas cut short all too soon: he died at the age of just thirty-four.
His complete set of the Beethoven sonatas enjoyed extraordinary acclaim in the UK, culminating in the prestigious 'Recording of the Year' award from Gramaphon magazine for the fourth volume in 2008. Encouraged by what has now become a worldwide success, Paul Lewis has chosen to turn his attention to the five piano concertos with these distinguished partners. Recorded between July 2009 and March 2010, these interpretations paint a portrait of Beethoven full of light and shade.
The working relationship between Sung-Suk Kang and the distinguished double bass player Leon Bosch goes back to 1982, when both were students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. Sung-Suk accompanied Leon during lessons and at scholarship auditions. 'At the end of our courses of study,' Leon remembers, 'the RNCM principal, Sir John Manduell, invited us to play two pieces together in one of the so-called principal's concerts. These were showcase events in which his ‘prize students’ were afforded a platform to perform in front of an audience of many distinguished invited guests, as well as the public. Sung-Suk and I performed two pieces by the great double bass player Bottesini, the Capriccio di Bravura and Fantasy Sonnambula. 'I'll remember that 1984 concert forever, for Sung-Suk’s magical playing throughout. There was one extended piano tutti in Sonnambula which was particular memorable for its unique delicacy and scintillating effervescence.' Sung-Suk picks up the story. 'After we left the RNCM, Leon and I lost contact with each other for twenty years. Then in the autumn of 2006, all of a sudden I received an SMS message from Leon on my mobile.....out of the blue. I called him back and discovered that at short notice he wanted me to play for him on a CD of pieces by Bottesini. After exchanging a few emails, I agreed.’ So what had inspired Leon to make the move? 'After Sung-Suk and I parted company back in 1984 I always thought of her whenever I played Sonnambula. I often wondered what had happened to her. I have a tape recording of that principal's concert and played it often over the years to reassure myself that it was indeed real and not just a grossly exaggerated and romanticised memory! 'Then when I was scheduled to record my first Bottesini disc, my pianist had to withdraw. After much thought, I resolved to try and find Sung-Suk, since she was the only person I felt I'd really be happy to work with. I put her name into Google and found her referred to on the website of the conductor, Nayden Todorov. With that lead, I traced her to Vienna.’ 'We began to rehearse as soon as I arrived in London!' Sung-Suk recalls. 'There wasn`t enough time to work on each piece in detail.... and we only had one and a half days to record all the repertoire for the CD. 'Playing with Leon wasn`t easy at first - he has a unique way of phrasing and his rubato is never predictable. And of course my ears had to concentrate so much on picking up the thick, deep lower register of the double bass sound. But during the recording sessions everything clicked and became completely natural. 'We tried to create a new atmosphere for each piece and then find the inspiration for a special interpretation at the end of the process. This was always different from what we'd prepared....music-making with Leon is always spontaneous! I love the full sound he makes, all the different colours he creates to express varied emotions in depth.’ As for Nocturne, it allows the piano to anticipate the main theme in the opening section but then gives it no share of the melodic line so expressively introduced and sustained by the double bass. It is, however, the piano which towards the end initiates the change from minor to major harmonies, just before double-bass harmonics magically project the melody into the soprano register. If Bottesini expected to be remembered by future generations he no doubt felt that it would be through his operas and sacred music. In fact, while they are forgotten, his posthumous reputation derives from an instrumental artistry which, though it died with him, survives in the hands of those few bassists who can do his compositions full justice.
Nikolai Lugansky's first recording for ONYX. The Daily Telegraph commenting on Lugansky, said 'He can thrill in taxing pianism through his iron will and fingers of steel, but there is an assuaging velvet quality to his tone, a natural feel for lyrical line' Gramophone praised his 'pianism of immense skill, fluency and innate musical quality' Nikolai Lugansky was born in Moscow in 1972. He studied at Moscow Central Music School (under Tatiana Kestner) and then at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Tatiana Nikolayeva, who described him as ‘the next one’ in a line of great Russian pianists. Following Nikolayeva’s untimely death in 1993, Lugansky continued his studies under Sergei Dorensky. A laureate of the International Bach Competition in Leipzig, the Rachmaninov Competition in Moscow and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Lugansky has a repertoire of over 50 concertos with orchestra as well as a wide range of solo and chamber works. He has worked with many distinguished orchestras and conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Raymond Leppard, Yoel Levi, Mikhail Pletnev, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Spivakov, Evgeny Svetlanov, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Chailly and others. His chamber music partners have included Vadim Repin, Alexander Kniazev, Joshua Bell, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky, Leonidas Kavakos and Anna Netrebko among others. Lugansky has recorded 23 CDs. His solo recordings on Warner Classics — Chopin Études, Rachmaninov Préludes and Moments musicaux and Chopin Préludes — were each awarded a Diapason d’Or. His PentaTone Classics SACD of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no.1, with the Russian National Orchestra under Kent Nagano, was cited as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone. His Prokofiev CD was one of the ‘CDs of the Year’ (2004) featured in The Daily Telegraph. Lugansky’s recordings of the complete piano concertos of Rachmaninov, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, received Choc du Monde de la Musique, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the 2005 ECHO Klassik Award. His last recording (Chopin’s and Rachmaninov’s cello sonatas) with the cellist Alexander Kniazev won the 2007 ECHO Klassik Award. As well as performing and recording, Lugansky teaches at the Moscow Conservatory as an assistant of Prof. Sergei Dorensky.
Now almost forgotten in the West, Lyapunov was one of the truly great composers of the Romantic era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His Sonata is a phenomenal work and his mastery of pianistic composition is also finely demonstrated by the other works on this album masterfully interpreted by Anthony Goldstone. Anyone who loves Chopin or Liszt should get to know this music.
Having wowed much of the Eastern Hemisphere for years, classical pianist Fuzjko Hemming is preparing for her introduction to the United States. Having been born into humble circumstances, child of a Japanese mother and Swedish father, she has felt rootless, too Asian in appearance for Sweden, and in Japan constricted by the society's stratified and class-oriented way of life. Then, as she was starting to gain traction as a professional musician, her promising career was cut short. - Fuzjko lost all hearing in her left ear after battling a serious cold. At 16, she already lost her hearing in her right ear due to illness. Completely deaf for 2 years, she eventually had 40% of her hearing restored in her left ear. After living in poverty in Europe for many years before returning to Japan and gaining acclaim for her music - critics hailed her as being "born to play Chopin and Liszt " In 1999, Japan's NHK Television aired a documentary of her life and she released her debut album, La Campanella, which sold more than two million copies, a rare accomplishment for any classical artist She also has won an unprecedented four Classical Album of the Year Awards at the Japan Gold Disc Awards, another extraordinary achievement for any artist, let alone a classical artist She remains the only four-time Gold Disc Award winner. Since that time she has recorded numerous successful albums - invigorating collections of classical interpretations, five of which are being released for the first time in the U.S. on her label Domo Records: Echoes of Eternity, La Campanella, Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1, Nocturnes of Melancholy, Live at Carnegie Hall. On the new album, Fuzjko, the artist performs largely romantic repertoire ranging from Beethoven's "The Tempest" sonata to works by Chopin, Liszt, Scarlatti and Debussy. In each piece, whether performing Chopin's Nocturnes or Liszt's bravura pieces "La Campanella" and "Grand Etudes D'Apres Paganini No. 6", Fuzjko infuses poetry to these timeless compositions, and always in her own eminently attractive style. The warmth of Fuzjko's sound can also be heard in Scarlatti's Sonata K.162 and Debussy's "Claire De Lune". Although much of the repertoire is familiar, Fuzjko also dips into lesser known works like Liszt's transcription of Schumann's "Fruhlinghsnacht", and Chopin's "Trois Nouvelles Etudes No.3, and always played with her celebrated musicality much in evidence. The celebrated virtuoso blends the classicality of her influences such as Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin with the sophisticated approach of her mentors (Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan) to create an emotional delivery of exquisite craftsmanship. She's been known to bring some fans to tears with her moving immersion in her music. With her strikingly unorthodox playing style and intricate ethnic roots, it's evident that Fuzjko's true home is at the piano, where she reveals herself as a true artist of the world.
Chilling. Stirring. Powerful. Contemplative. These are some of the words most frequently used to describe the achingly beautiful piano instrumentals of Carly Comando. Her debut album "One Take" features ten delicately woven songs (including her single "Everday") that are the direct emotional output of her innermost thoughts. "The album means the world to me. It's complete, in-the-moment sincerity translated into moody solo piano music. I used an improv technique, recording in just one take, so I could capture the essence of pure emotion" says Carly. From the rises and falls to the shrinks and swells, these songs will leave an indellible impression on your mind. It's music that stays with you forever. "One Take" was recorded in Carly's home studio in Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by Phil Douglas (Latterman, Small Arms Dealer, Iron Chic). The album includes the "Everyday" which was originally released in December 2006. Deep Elm Records is simultaneously releasing an EP titled "Cordelia" featuring four additional piano instrumentals. Carly also plays keyboards / sings in the band Slingshot Dakota and composes custom works upon request. And yes, that was the name given to her at birth. "This is music that changes lives, opens minds, broadens horizons. Carly is an amazing pianist." - ANA "Beautiful and soothing, she will evoke emotion and ease any scattered mind. A talented composer." - SweetieJo "Emotional and inspiring, it grabs your soul and moves you. Highly recommended." - The Rez
Originally conceived as a Royal Ballet-commissioned collaboration between composer Max Richter, choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie, Max Richter's gorgeous score to 'infra' is deservedly given life of its own in this album-length release from FatCat's instrumental/orchestral imprint 130701 Records.
The initial setting for 'infra' was as a ballet - written in autumn 2008 and premiered in November of the same year at The Royal Opera House in London – although here Richter’s score is given the full scope of a standalone new album. Expanded and extended from the original piece, 'infra' comprises music written for piano, electronics and string quintet, including the full performance score as well as material that has subsequently developed from the construction of the album – more a continued reference to the ballet than as a "studio album" in the strictest sense. The composition resonates with Max's characteristic musical voice – majestic, involved textures; fluent and sweeping melodies; an enigmatic and inherently intellectual understanding of harmonic complexities that compels and mesmerizes.
Richter's work on the ballet came initially from McGregor's invitation, a request for 25 minutes of music for his piece, inspired by T.S. Elliot's 'The Wasteland' and named after the Latin term for 'below'. This eventually became more collaborative as the project developed – Wayne would ask for Max to extend or alter certain passages of music in accordance with his own amendments to his choreography and concept, whilst logging the whole process for a BBC documentary (broadcast, along with the ballet in full, on BBC2 in November 2008). The dance performance was backed with digital images created by Julian Opie – observational scenes of street life, haunting and curiously balletic despite being of the everyday – and Max's score is an appropriately close reference to the traveling theme:
"I started thinking about making a piece on the theme of journeys. Like a road movie. Or a traveler's notebook. Or like the second unit in a film - when the scene has been played, and the image cuts away to the landscape going by. This started me thinking about Schubert's devastating and haunting "Winterreise" (Winter Journey), so I used some melodic material from Schubert as a found object in parts of my new piece."
BBC Pioneering Neo-Classicist reveals her solo debut by Spencer Grady, October 13, 2009: "We owe Rachel Grimes big." "..with Music for Egon Schiele …found the conviction and confidence to match her voice.." "Her most wondrous gift was always her ability to paint the most evocative pictures in purest ivory and her lightness of touch allows majestic statements such as the Corner Room and Long Before Us to ring out, echoing with sensuousness and sentiment before drawing the listener back in."
New York Times – Live Review by Allan Kozinn, October 14, 2009: "..offered glimpses of an alternate universe in which expansive, unified projects are everything." "..overall serenity.." "..her evident fascination with French music: Ravel and Debussy hover nearby (in the watery imagery and modal harmonies of "Bloodroot" for example)"
Description of "Crawdambo" from Quartet San Francisco violinist, Jeremy Cohen: "I wrote this piece as an homage to my teacher and mentor, Anne Crowden, who passed away in 2004. Anne instilled in me a dedication to musical expression that truly became the basis of my violin-playing. She communicated to me how important it is that the joy of music-making be evident in my playing at every moment. In this little musical “thank you” to Anne I found myself cooking up a musical soup of favorite sounds, techniques, and rock and classical-infused ideas held together by a mambo rhythm."
Today’s episode will be our first ever, solo focus feature on the San Francisco Symphony aka SFS. SFS has a long history of presenting world premieres and receiving various awards. They recently received 3 Grammy awards for an album we will play today for Best Classical Album, Best Engineered Classical Album, and Best Choral Performance.
Album Notes This album is the companion concert recording for Keeping Score, the San Francisco Symphony's multi-media project on PBS, national public radio, web sites and education. For more information visit www.keepingscore.org.
Album Notes This album is the companion concert recording for Keeping Score, the San Francisco Symphony's multi-media project on PBS, national public radio, web sites and education. For more information visit www.keepingscore.org.
Mahler's Eighth Symphony is his largest-scale work and among music's most epic statements. Scored for huge orchestra, chorus, two children's choirs, and eight vocal soloists, Mahler 8 is sometimes called the Symphony of a Thousands — which is just a slight exaggeration. Fusing an ancient hymn of praise with Goethe's ecstatic story of Faust's redemption, Mahler 8 is an overwhelming musical experience. Description
The San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas present Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10 and Symphony No. 8 featuring soloists Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Katarina Karnéus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef, Elza van den Heever & Erin Wall, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the San Francisco Girls Chorus and the Pacific Boychoir.
Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony
Soloist: Erin Wall, Elza van den Heever, Katarina Karnéus, Yvonne Naef, Anthony Dean Griffey, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris
Chorus: San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Girls Chorus
Album Notes: Cantaloupe Music continues its series of EPs. These are available via digital music services and in a limited edition physical pressing available to members of our subscription-only Cantaloupe Club.
After receiving a traditional French diploma in music, Florent Ghys researched experimental and minimalist music--leading him to Bang on a Can's Summer Festival at MASS MoCA in 2007. Returned to his hometown in Bordeaux and missing the community he found around the summer festival, Ghys asked himself, "What would I write if I had to write for an ensemble in which I am the only player?"
Ghys says of his process: "The reasons for this schizophrenic question are multiple. Returning to Bordeaux from Paris, I had the feeling of being musically isolated - of being out of tune with my new environment - and I couldn't stop writing. I was also interested in the idea of breaking the boundary between the composer and the musician. and the feeling I had of sitting in the audience while my music was being played onstage wasn't, to be honest, all that satisfying.
"I didn't intend to compose a solo for myself playing the upright bass, nor did I intend to compose a piece for me and a fleet of clones, but I did intend to create a 'multiple-me' ensemble.
"I know multi-track recording will never replace live recording, but multi-tracking was an interesting starting point to see if it would change my compositional process while writing strictly for me - after all, the instrumentation for the EP was linked only to the instruments I can actually play. I could have an upright bass, a bass, a guitar, an electric guitar, a voice. I could also use a pianino (a small 6 octaves piano) and hit some dishes in my kitchen." Baroque Tardif: Soli is the first in a series of three EPs from Florent Ghys.
Album Notes: Olivier Manchon > violin Hiroko Taguchi > viola Christopher Hoffman > cello Alan Hampton > double bass John Ellis > tenor saxophone (tks 1, 4, 7), bass clarinet (tk 3) Hideaki Aomori > clarinet (tk 5, 8), bass clarinet (tk 6) Gregoire Maret > harmonica (tk 2) Produced by Olivier Manchon. Description: Orchestre de Chambre Miniature - Volume 1 is the personal project of French violinist and composer Olivier Manchon, better known for his collaborations with indie acts My Brightest Diamond and Sufjan Stevens, and as co-leader of orchestral pop group Clare and the Reasons. With this mini chamber orchestra, Manchon showcases his skills as a gifted composer and arranger, creating a cinematic narrative of jazz and classical music performed on strings and woodwinds. The album also features John Ellis (Charlie Hunter, John Patitucci, Sting) on clarinet and saxophone and Gregoire Maret (Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller) on harmonica.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Time Out, QSF pays tribute to the mastery of Brubeck with the first-ever all Brubeck string quartet CD!
Grammy nominees for their last two releases (2006 and 2007)and International Tango competition winners (New York , 2004), Quartet San Francisco expresses itself in its agility and standout virtuosic playing. Quartet San Francisco is Jeremy Cohen and Alisa Rose , violinists, Keith Lawrence, violist, and Michelle Djokic, cellist. As crossover specialists they excel in multiple styles à from jazz to tango, pop to funk, blues to bluegrass, gypsy swing to big band and beyond .
Nominee, 52nd Annual GRAMMYÂ Awards
Best Classical Crossover Album
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Album Notes
Composer: Shostakovich
Piano Concerto Nos. 1 and 2
Composed in 1933 and 1957
Christoph Eschenbach: Conductor
Steward Goodyear: Piano
Recorded live October 13, 2006, Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
It is not unusual for performers to play in challenging situations, however few situations are more challenging than the one captured on this recording. In a testament to his skill and artistry, Stewart Goodyear stepped in to play when the featured soloist for this concert canceled on the morning of the first rehearsal. Not only did Goodyear literally hop on a train to make it in time for an afternoon rehearsal, he stepped into the very challenging programmed repertoire without blinking. Two Shostakovitch Concertos on one program? No problem - and they are played with such passion and excitement that it was rightfully lauded in the press as one of the best concerts in recent memory.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Producer: Charles Gagnon
Balance Engineer: Charles Gagnon
Recording Engineer: Charles Gagnon
Editor: Charles Gagnon
Christoph Eschenbach Bio Photo: Jessica Griffin
Stewart Goodyear Bio Photo: Andrew Garn
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (ÃChoralÃ)
Composed from 1822-24: Ludwig van Beethoven
Recorded live May 20, 2006, Verizon Hall, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
This is part of Christoph Eschenbach's 2005-06 season Beethoven cycle with the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was originally aired on NPR's Performance Today in a Beethoven "marathon" of consecutive symphonies, and has received wide public and critical acclaim. Of the three in the recorded history of The Philadelphia Orchestra, only the Eschenbach and the Muti are currently available.
Album Notes
Christoph Eschenbach Conductor
Marina Mescheriakova Soprano
Jill Grove Mezzo-soprano
Vinson Cole Tenor
Alan Held Bass-baritone
The Philadelphia Singers Chorale
David Hayes Music Director
Polkastra
An eclectic and international cast of characters including a Canadian folk fiddler, the Met's contrabassoonist, an Israeli accordionist and percussionist, a jack-of-all-trades bassist, a French Horn playing record store clerk and an internationally renowned violin soloist met in a New Jersey studio to record a polka album just for fun. An idea that began as a lark quickly grew into an eccentric, virtuosic and energetic exploration of the roots of polka: folk, country, classical and jazz. Polkastra is a unique world music project that celebrates both the joy of music and the power of dance to unite cultures. From the American Midwest and the North of Canada to the mountains of Bohemia and the deserts of Israel - Apolkalypse Now poses the important question "Would you like sauerkraut, poutine, goulash or hummus with that?"
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor,
Op. 125 âChoralâ
The last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the Ninth Symphony is one of the best-known works of the Western repertoire, considered both an icon and a forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven's greatest
masterpieces. The composer struggled for more than ten years before completing
the work, and turned to the mighty Missa Solemnis while he considered his final symphony. Using voices in an orchestral symphony had never been attempted before. Beethoven finally decided to incorporate part of the Ode an die Freude (âOde to Joyâ), a poem by Friedrich Schiller, with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the
new symphony's last movement. It is, indeed, the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that sets the tone for the Romantic symphonic form.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Smetana Quartet from "Beethoven: String Quartets Nos 11-16 incl. Grosse Fuge / Smetana Quartet" (Supraphon Music a.s.)
Album Notes
Smetana Quartet Plays Late Beethoven (3 CDs) L. van Beethoven:
String Quartets No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131, No. 12 in E flat major, Op. 127, No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130, Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op. 133, No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
The Smetana Quartet (1945-1989) played Beethoven's quartets 1490 times over the course of their career! The recordings which make up this complete collection are from the years 1961-70, and the performances were played from memory! The recordings glow with youthful energy and tireless searching. The Smetana Quartet has been called perhaps the best ensemble of the years 1960-80.
Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93
The work was begun in the summer of 1812, immediately after the completion of the Seventh Symphony. At the time Beethoven was 41 years old. As Antony Hopkins has noted, the cheerful mood of the work betrays nothing of the grossly unpleasant events that were taking place in Beethoven's life at the time, which involved his interference in his brother Johann's love life. The work took Beethoven only four months to complete, and was dedicated to the banker Count Moritz Fries, who, according to Karl Holz, paid Beethoven a regular subsidy for some years until his bankruptcy in 1825.
The premiere took place on February 27, 1814, at a concert at which the mighty Seventh Symphony (which had been premiered two months earlier) was also played. Beethoven was growing increasingly deaf at the time, but nevertheless led the premiere. Reportedly, "the orchestra largely ignored his ungainly gestures and followed the principal violinist instead".
Critics immediately noted that the Eighth did not reach the heights of its predecessor, launching a long tradition of complaining that the Eighth Symphony is not something different (more heroic, more emotive) from what it is. However, many listeners seem to be able to enjoy the symphony anyway, and it appears frequently today on concert programs as well as on recordings. When asked by his pupil Carl Czerny why the Eighth was less popular than the Seventh, Beethoven is said to have replied "because the Eighth is so much better." A critic wrote that "the applause it [the Eighth Symphony] received was not accompanied by that enthusiasm which distinguishes a work which gives universal delight; in short-as the Italians say-it did not create a furor." Beethoven was angered at this reception because he considered the Eighth "much better" than the Seventh.
It takes a particular and extreme level of skill and dedication to perform virtuoso works for unaccompanied solo violin; suffice it to say these are qualities held by George Zacharias without doubt. This is a tour-de-force of musicianship and technique - and wonderful music too. Bartok's Sonata is presented in its original version and of the two awesome Paganini works, the 'God Save the King' Variations are very rarely heard.
Pianist Dejan Lazic was born in Zagreb, Croatia, and grew up in Salzburg where he studied at the Mozarteum. He is quickly establishing a reputation worldwide as Ãa brilliant pianist and a gifted musician full of ideas and able to project them persuasivelyà (Gramophone). The New York Times hailed his performance as Ãfull of poetic, shapely phrasing and vivid dynamic effects that made this music sound fresh, spontaneous and impassionedÃ. As recitalist and soloist with orchestra, he has appeared at major venues in Berlin, Paris, London, Vienna, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Sydney, and at the Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier, Huntington and Menuhin/Gstaad Festivals. In the 2006/2007 season he gave his debut at the New York Lincoln Center and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to great critical acclaim. Orchestral engagements included the Philharmonia Orchestra London with Vladimir Ashkenazy, Rotterdam and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, Australian and Netherlands Chamber Orchestras, Danish Radio Sinfonietta and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming engagements are with London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras and Basel Chamber Orchestra. He will be in season 2008/09 Ãartist in residenceà at the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He has a growing following in the Far East where he returns in spring 2008 for engagements with the Sapporo Symphony and for recitals in Tokyo and Beijing as well as for an engagement with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2009 a national Australian tour is planned with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In the next season he will appear in recitals at the BBC Belfast, in Istanbul and Salzburg, Queen Elisabeth Hall London and at Vienna Musikverein to mention just a few. Alongside his solo career, Dejan Lazic is also a passionate chamber musician. He collaborates with artists such as Benjamin Schmid, Thomas Zehetmair, Gordan Nikolic and Richard Tognetti. Dejan records exclusively for Channel Classics. In autumn 2007 the first publication of the double portrait series with a Scarlatti/Bartok program is planned. The second CD will be released in 2008 with a Schumann/Brahms program as well as a recording of the Khachaturian Concerto and the Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and a CD with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2. His last recording of SchubertÃs sonata D960 and his earlier one with Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 have earned rave reviews. His compositions include various chamber music and orchestral works. In 2007/08 he will premiere his ÃKinderszenenà op. 15 for piano solo.
Album Notes:
You're going to compose your concerto. You will work with great ease. The concerto will be of excellent quality
So spoke Dr. Nikolai Dahl, of one of the pioneers of psychiatry in Russia, and in this way he successfully restored Sergey Rachmaninov's concentration during a period of creative despair after the failure of his first Symphony. Later, Rachmaninov himself was to write: ÃEven though it seems unbelievable, this therapy truly helped me. I was already starting to compose by summer!à Although they were separated by the crisis which interrupted his work, both the second Piano Concerto and the ÃMoments Musicauxà date from the composer's early period, during which he was active primarily as a composer rather than a pianist. This explains the character of the second Piano Concerto, which partakes of both chamber music and symphony, despite the dazzling virtuosity of the solo piano part. Unlike many of Rachmaninov's other works, the concerto, dedicated in thanks to his doctor, was never revised after the first performance-another indication of the ease and freshness with which Rachmaninov went to work.
The formal simplicity (e.g., in the first movement: main theme in the minor, second theme in the relative major, the development section laid out as a large-scale accelerando with gradually increasing dynamics, recapitulation with both themes, although given out with different instrumentation) is just as classically conceived as the choice of tonalities for the three movements (opening and closing movements in C minor, the slow central movement in E major, just as in Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto, except for the introductory modulations), and the balanced alternation between the freely improvisatory, martially strict, and dancelike, as well as between polyphonic and homophonic writing. However, all three movements are in 2/2 time, making the frequent shifts between 2/2 and 3/2 in the third movement all the more refreshing....
The New Century Saxophone Quartet is a pioneering and versatile group winning new-found enthusiasm for its diverse repertory of innovative contemporary works and imaginative adaptations comprising an extraordinary range of musical styles. The only ensemble of its kind to win First Prize of the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the quartet is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and in its home state from the North Carolina Arts Council. New Century has been heard in major concert venues and on radio and television throughout the Americas and Europe; in recordings for the Channel Classics label; and in unusual performance settings including two Command Performances for President Clinton at the White House, an appearance with the United States Navy Band, and a Chinese New Year broadcast seen by a television audience of over 300 million worldwide. Peter SchickeleÃs Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra is among the ensembleÃs numerous and widely-performed commissions and premieres, which also include works from Saturday Night Live bandleader Lenny Pickett, Bob Mintzer, Ben Johnston, David Ott, and Sherwood Shaffer.
Album Notes: This project then is the culmination of over eight years studying, rehearsing, and performing Bach, and even in its "final" form on this disc represents a work in progress. As the quartet has discovered, one is never through learning Bach. Faced with the infinite possibilities of interpretation, one never plays it the same way twice. (Even in "extreme" interpretations, the music almost never suffers.) Also, one cannot spend this much time in the presence of the master without being fundamentally changed as a musician. The quartet has become keenly aware through this process that playing "The Art of Fugue" has changed everything ?Ã the way they listen to each other, hear and experience an individual musical line and its relation to the surrounding parts, balance a chord or section of counterpoint, and even tune. The New Century Saxophone Quartet simply sounds different now, and they approach every piece, new and old, with a fresh perspective. It is their sincere desire to present the music of Bach in a way that is true to his intentions and the stylistic practices of the period, and yet with a vitality and freshness that can come from over 250 years of perspective. It is hoped you are as moved and inspired by the mastery of "The Art of Fugue" as they are.
Born in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at the age of twelve, performing his first solo concert with the RAI symphony orchestra. Driven early on by an inexhaustible cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi was introduced to pioneers of the new approach to baroque music, an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction of his career.
In 1990, Fabio Biondi founded Europa Galante, an ensemble which, in just a few years thanks to their worldwide concert schedule and extraordinary recording successes, became the most internationally renowned and awarded Italian ensemble of baroque music. Fabio Biondi and his ensemble have been invited to play at the most important world festivals and concert halls, from La Scala in Milan to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House.
Lara St. John â violin: http://www.larastjohn.com/index.php Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has been described as "something of a phenomenon" by The Strad and a âhigh-powered soloistâ by the New York Times . She has performed as soloist with the orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Seattle, Brooklyn, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, the Boston Pops and many more in North America. In Europe, she has played with the NDR Symphony (Hanover), Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Bournemouth Symphony and the Amsterdam Symphony, among others. In Asia, solo appearances have included the Hong Kong Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, China Philharmonic in Beijing, Guangzhou Symphony and the Shanghai Broadcasting Orchestra. Lara has also performed with the Queensland Orchestra in Australia. The Los Angeles Times has written, âSt. John brings to the stage personal charisma, an unflagging musical imagination and genuine passion.â Recitals in major concert halls have included New York, Boston, San Francisco, Ravinia, Washington DC, Prague, Berlin, Toronto, Montreal and in the Forbidden City. To learn more about Lara check out her website!
Grammy Award-winning cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio first leapt to international attention when she won a medal at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow, Russia. As a result of this prize, Carnegie Hall invited Sara to perform a recital that was televised nationally, as a part of a CBS News profile. The New York Times described her New York debut as âsheer pleasureâ.
Sara has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Beijing Philharmonic, and Moscow State Philharmonic. She has performed throughout the world at most of the major music festivals and centers such as Aspen, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Musikverein in Vienna, Marlboro, Great Mountain in Korea, and Orchard and Suntory Halls in Tokyo.
As well as being featured in a broad range of international press, including Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and ABC, Fox, and CNN Networks, Sara has also been the subject of a feature length documentary entitled âEroica!â which has had multiple airings on PBS. Always trying to expand the audience and push the boundaries for classical music, Sara has shot 4 music videos that have been aired internationally on Classic FM TV and has enjoyed collaborating with artists as diverse as the singer Rufus Wainwright-with whom she inaugurated a new concert series in New York City- to the rock group Vast- with whom she recorded. Sara collaborated with the New York City Ballet playing solo Bach at 7 sold-out shows at Lincoln Center and has had her playing featured on movie soundtracks including her own arrangement of Delibes' duet from Lakme on the soundtrack of the documentary âJones Beach Boys.â Sara was invited to study with David Soyer at the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 16 and after receiving her high school diploma from that venerable conservatory she then attended The Juilliard School as a scholarship student of Leonard Rose. While at Juilliard, Sara co-founded the Naumburg Award winning Eroica Trio with 2 childhood friends. One of the most successful chamber ensembles in America, the Trio tours worldwide extensively and has released 8 recordings for Angel/EMI Classics which have been nominated for multiple Grammy's. This is Sara's second recording for Sebastian Records.
"Flight of the Bumblebee" is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899â1900. The piece closes Act III, Tableau 1, right after the magic Swan-Bird gives Prince Gvidon Saltanovich (the Tsar's son) instructions on how to change into an insect so that he can fly away to visit his father (who does not know that he is alive). Although in the opera the Swan-Bird sings during the first part of the "Flight", her vocal line is melodically uninvolved and easily omitted; this feature, combined with the fact that the number decisively closes the scene, made easy extraction as an orchestral concert piece possible.
Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as "The Five." Noted particularly for a predilection for folk and fairy-tale subjects as well as his extraordinary skill in orchestration, his best known orchestral compositionsâCapriccio espagnol, Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazadeâare considered staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas.
Max Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and teacher. During a composing life of little more than 25 years, Reger produced an enormous output in all genres, nearly always in abstract forms, although few of his compositions are well known today. Many of his works are fugues or in variation form, including what is probably his best known orchestral work, the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart (based on the opening theme of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata, K. 331). He also wrote a large amount of music for organ, including the Fantasy and Fugue on BACH (this piece, based on the BACH motif, is considered one of the most difficult and demanding in organ literature). He was particularly attracted to the fugal form his entire life, once remarking: "Other people write fugues - I live inside them". He composed music in virtually every genreâopera being a notable exception.
Listen:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. While not part of the nationalistic music group known as "The Five", Tchaikovsky wrote music which, in the opinion of Harold C. Schonberg, was distinctly Russian: plangent, introspective, with modally-inflected melody and harmony.
Despite the compositional efforts of The Five, Tchaikovsky dominates 19th century Russian music as its greatest talent. While his formal conservatory training instilled in him Western-oriented attitudes and techniques, his essential nature, as he always insisted, remained Russian. This was true both in his use of actual folk song and his deep absorption in Russian life and ways of thought. His natural gifts, especially for melody (what he called the "lyrical idea"), give his music a permanent appeal. However, it was his hard-won though secure and professional technique, plus his ability to use it for the expression of his emotional life, which allowed him to realize his potential more fully than any of his major Russian contemporaries. The Nutcracker is one of Tchaikovsky's best known works. While it has been criticized as the least substantial of the composer's three ballets, it should be remembered that Tchaikovsky was restricted by a rigorous scenario supplied by Marius Petipa. This scenario provided no opportunity for the expression of human feelings beyond the most trivial and confined Tchaikovsky mostly within a world of tinsel, sweets and fantasy. Yet, at its best, the melodies are charming and pretty, and by this time Tchaikovsky's virtuosity at orchestration and counterpoint ensured an endless fascination in the surface attractiveness of the score.
The Nutcracker, Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891â92. Alexandre Dumas pÃre's adaptation of the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffmann was set to music by Tchaikovsky (written by Marius Petipa and commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky in 1891). In Western countries, this ballet has become perhaps the most popular ballet, performed primarily around Christmas time.
The composer made a selection of eight of the more popular numbers from the ballet before the ballet's December 1892 premiere, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society[1]. The suite became instantly popular; the complete ballet did not achieve its great popularity until around the mid-1960s.
Among other things, the score of The Nutcracker is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic ballad The Voyevoda (premiered 1891).^ Although well-known in The Nutcracker as the featured solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Act II, it is employed elsewhere in the same act.
The greatest musical setting of the Christmas story, compiled by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1734. Based on the Gospel of St. Luke, the text describes the nativity of Jesus and is adorned by some of Bach's most colourful and beautiful music. In modern performance, the piece is generally either presented as a whole, or split into two equal sections. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours. Scored for an Evangelist, four vocal soloists, four part chorus and full baroque orchestra, including trumpets, timpani and horns, the Christmas Oratorio is among Bach's best-loved works.
The Boston Bach Ensemble was founded in 1992 by Julian Wachner and Peter Watchorn, and performed principally at Boston University. It has performed cantatas, oratorios and masses by J. S. Bach, and features a choir of twenty young professional singers and a period instrument orchestra comprising some of the leading specialist musicians from the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. In 1998 the BBE recorded a celebrated live performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, which featured distinguished vocal soloists, including the celebrated Dutch baritone, Max van Egmond.
Johann Sebastian Bach: (from Wikipedia.org)
(31 March 1685 â 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse musical forces, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.
Lara St. John "Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo" (Ancalagon)
ALBUM NOTES
Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato ââ(Six Solos for Violin without accompanying Bass) ââCompleted: CÃthen, 1720
ââAccording to the date he inscribed on the title page of the manuscript, Johann Sebastian Bach completed his Six Solos for Violin without accompanying Bass sometime in 1720. On 21 March of that year, he turned 35. Already a father of four, for the past two and a half years Bach had been harpsichordist and director of the elite chamber orchestra at the court of the Prince of CÃthen. Bach reportedly "dearly loved" his employer, the young Prince Leopold (1694-1728), who was not only a committed music-lover but himself a keen amateur performer, and even occasionally a composer, who, according to Bach, "loved and understood" the art. And, as one of Leopold's best-paid court functionaries, Bach was highly valued in return. In May of that year, when the prince set out for his annual summer "rest cure" in the Bohemian spa town of Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), his harpsichordist Bach, went with him, along with five other leading members of the court band. Away from his home, young family, and usual court responsibilities for almost two months at a time, Bach evidently made good compositional use of such relatively carefree summers as that of 1720, as he did of his time at CÃthen. In the space of less than six years residence at the court (from December 1717 to May 1723), Bach rolled out a dazzling stream of masterpieces across a no less amazing range of instrumental genres. The six Brandenburg Concerti (BWV 1046-1051), the crÃme of his new orchestral compositions for the CÃthen band, were finished in fair copy on 24 March 1721. The first volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846-869) was probably largely completed during 1722. The parallel sets of 15 Inventions (BWV 772-786) and 15 Sinfonias (BWV 787-801) date, like the violin Solos, from the very middle of his CÃthen stay, flanked in the years on either side, respectively, by the six English Suites (BWV 806-811) and six French Suites (BWV 812-817). From CÃthen, too, came the only other set of instrumental pieces that challenges the violin Solos on the grounds of sheer oddity: the Six Suites for Solo Cello (BWV 1007-1012), likewise scored without accompanying Bass.
Trevor Pinnick "Bach: Six Concertos for the Margrave of Brandenburg"
ALBUM NOTES
The Brandenburg Concertos
ââWhile we know that Bach finished a sumptuous manuscript of six concertos (for 'plusieurs Instruments', as he titled it) in March 1721 for presentation to the Margrave of Brandenburg, it is not certain when Bach actually composed these works. Some might date from the weeks immediately preceding the dedication, but the existence of early versions of some pieces suggests that Bach may have compiled much of the set from a pool of existing works. His aims in revision and compilation seem to have been to present six entirely disparate solutions to the instrumental concerto genre, a genre which was by no means fixed and which could imply many instrumental combinations. This attitude of attempting an encyclopaedic survey of a musical genre and also of perfecting and refining the best of what he had already written became a major compositional concern for Bach over the last three decades of his life; the Brandenburg dedication may well mark the beginning of this process.
Ludwig van Beethoven (16 December 1770 â 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most respected and influential composers of all time.
Born in Bonn, he moved to Vienna in his early twenties and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. Beethoven's hearing gradually deteriorated beginning in his twenties, yet he continued to compose, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.
This is Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Opus 21. It was written in 1799 - 1800 and was premiered April 2, 1800 in Vienna, and is dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. Here, the 3rd movement is performed by the USSR State Symphony, conducted by Konstantin Ivanov.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 was written in 1804Â - 08. This symphony is one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music, and is also one of the most often-played symphonies. First performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808, the work achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterwards.âThe symphony, and the four-note opening motif in particular, are well known worldwide, with the motif appearing frequently in popular culture, from disco to rock and roll, to appearances in film and television. âThe Fifth stands with the Third Symphony and Ninth Symphony as the most revolutionary of Beethoven's compositions.
Here, the first movement is performed by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Delfs.
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" is the last complete symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, it is considered both an icon and a forefather of Romantic music, and one of Beethoven's greatest masterpieces. It incorporates part of the poem "Ode to Joy" by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1785, with text sung by soloists and a chorus in the last movement. It is the first example of a major composer using the human voice on the same level with instruments in a symphony, creating a work of a grand scope that set the tone for the Romantic symphonic form. Further testament to its prominence is that an original manuscript of this work sold in 2003 for $3.3 million USD at Sotheby's, London. Stephen Roe, the head of Sotheby's manuscripts department, described the symphony as "one of the highest achievements of man, ranking alongside Shakespeare's Hamlet and King Lear."
Here, the final movement is performed by Ama Deus Ensemble, conducted by Valentin Radu.
Try The New PUP Search "Powered By Google"
Average rating based on 6 votes - Rate
Buy at 
Buy at 
Buy at 
"Nocturne"
Stream from 
Buy at 
Buy at 
Buy at 
Buy at 
