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Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 3 & 5, Visions fugitives

Alexander Melnikov

Classical - Released May 6, 2022 | harmonia mundi

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In this third and final volume of his complete recording of the Prokofiev Sonatas, Alexander Melnikov explores two highly contrasted facets of the young prodigy. The dazzling Sonatas No. 1 and No. 3 sweep aside the codes of the period, unlike the more enigmatic and eminently subtle Sonata No. 5, heard here in the revised version Prokofiev made in the last years of his life. In the coupling, the Visions fugitives, the Russian pianist realises to perfection the mixture of brilliance and poetry that gives this cycle its peculiar charm. © harmonia mundi
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Schumann: Kreisleriana & Geistervariationen - Widmann: Elf Humoresken

Aaron Pilsan

Classical - Released May 26, 2023 | Alpha Classics

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"Don’t stay locked in a single domain" is the credo of this young Austrian-Romanian pianist, Aaron Pilsan, who has been cultivating the usual repertoire alongside a passionate devotion to today’s composers. He used to be a pupil of András Schiff and Lars Vogt during his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Before the age of thirty he had already recorded for a number of prestigious labels, such as Deutsche Grammophon, Naïve, and Alpha Classics, including the recording of this new album, where he boldly confronts Robert Schumann and Jörg Widmann.Coming after his superb version of Bach's Clavier bien tempéré (Livre I) for the same publisher, this new recording confirms the exceptional stature of a born musician, reaching a melodic pinnacle, and the depth of an endlessly imaginative keyboard. All of Schumann's unsaid words, chiaroscuro daydreams and heartfelt impulses can be experienced here. It’s a journey between exaltation and despair; on the one hand in the very distinct Kreisleriana collection and, on the other, in the rare Geistervariationen, both which seem to explore a whole new world under the fingers of this particularly inspired young man.Set as a conversation between two masterpieces, the Onze Humoresques, composed by Jörg Widmann in 2007, respond to the tormented world of Schumann with a whimsical spirit. Aaron Pilsan provides a striking interpretation, underlining the extremely strong link between the two German composers who privileged feeling and emotion over their differences in writing and era. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Enfers

Raphaël Pichon

Opera Extracts - Released February 23, 2018 | harmonia mundi

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Gramophone Editor's Choice - Diamant d'Opéra - Choc de Classica - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
With his ensemble Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon has written the listing for this album in the form of a "pastiche" of a Mass for the Dead, a Requiem both sacred and profane. While it is a long way from having all the defining traits, it does possess all the outlines: Introit, Kyrie, Gradual, Sequence, Offertory, In Paradisum... The idea came about after a recent discovery, in the Bibliothèque Nationale of an anonymous requiem mass from the 18th century, in which the writer constructed a "parody" based on musical extracts from Castor and Pollux and the Fêtes de Paphos by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Note that the term "parody" doesn't necessarily imply satire or mockery: it refers to the practice of taking up older music and setting new words to it. This fusion of sacred music (the mass) and profane music (lyrical tragedy), a common practice during the Enlightenment, was a procedure that Pichon wanted to take up. In French society at the time, when Catholicism was the norm, where the political system was monarchical rule by divine right, the representation of ancient pagan Hell on theatrical stages seemed to betray a fascination in the beliefs of the ancients. And so this programme melds together pagan fable with a Christian imaginary, where Hell takes on different faces. It is the place of unjust and eternal torment, a place of privation where a couple is separated, one half kept in Hades. But, in the lyrical tragedy, Hell is also a place of perdition: obscure forces unleashed in Sabbath rites, a Satanic vision which unearths the darkest depths of the human soul... Stéphane Degout is the author of this tragedy, bringing together such varied characters as Phaedra, Pluto, and the Parcae. The composers whose music is put to use are Rameau and Gluck, with a single borrowing from Rebel: it would have been a shame not to mention his singular Chaos (taken from Éléments), which starts with a dissonant chord containing the seven notes of the scale of D minor. © SM/Qobuz
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Jeremy Pelt The Artist

Jeremy Pelt

Bebop - Released February 8, 2019 | HighNote Records

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Debussy: Préludes, Livres 1 & 2

Vestard Shimkus

Classical - Released March 31, 2023 | ARTALINNA

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Behind Closed Doors, Brescianello Vol. 1

La Serenissima

Classical - Released October 8, 2021 | Signum Records

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A contemporary of Vivaldi, Brescianello is a composer whose music languishes in relative obscurity. Whilst the mists of time have claimed some composers’ music for justifiable reasons, Brescianello’s music presents many compelling arguments for its restoration. Having first included Brescianello in La Serenissima’s 2014 season, they have since staged his opera Tisbe, recorded a violin concerto (included in the "Extra Time" programme), a trio sonata (Settecento) and other works. It is surprising that the Opus 1 was the only set of works that Brescianello chose to publish and La Serenissima have now been given the opportunity to start their exploration of this wonderful publication. © Signum Records
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Elgar: Symphonies Nos 1-3, Enigma Variations, Cello Concerto, Marches

London Symphony Orchestra

Symphonies - Released November 24, 2023 | LSO Live

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Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos 1-5, Overtures, A Midsummer Night's Dream

John Eliot Gardiner

Symphonies - Released September 21, 2018 | LSO Live

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Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 5, 6 & 10

Antje Weithaas

Classical - Released March 29, 2024 | CAvi-music

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Prokofiev: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Five Melodies

Alina Ibragimova

Classical - Released June 29, 2014 | Hyperion

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Sergey Prokofiev's output for violin and piano was quite small, and it would have been limited to the Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor had he not also arranged his Five Songs Without Words and the Flute Sonata in D major, the latter at the request of David Oistrakh. One experiences a degree of discomfort in the Violin Sonata No. 1, which is one of Prokofiev's more unsettling pieces, due in part to its sinister tone and harsh dissonances, but also to its conflicting expressions. Even so, the lyrical third movement is the work's most appealing section, and the work as a whole has a rugged integrity that compels listening. Much lighter are the Five Melodies, which are comparatively quiet and sweetly poignant in expression, with little of the previous work's edginess. The Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major is a highly active piece, with many opportunities for the players to show off their skills, yet its overall feeling is conversational and witty. The performances by violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Steven Osborne on this Hyperion album are lively and technically secure, though the violin's tone is a bit scratchy when the music is fast, and the booming bass of the piano sometimes threatens to throw the balance off.© TiVo
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Relax Edition 12

Blank & Jones

Electronic - Released June 26, 2020 | Soundcolours

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Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones continue their summer ritual with the twelfth episode in their Relax Edition series, released in 2006 alongside the Milchbar-Seaside series, inspired by Norderney, a sea-side resort off the North Sea. A double album which throws us back into the downtempo/acid-jazz/lounge movement which reached its peak at the end of the 90s, it is also presented in the image of the famous Café del Mar compilations, the legendary bar popular for its sunset DJ sets. It’s a place that Blank & Jones know well through playing there several times. In 2002, their chill out track Desire (Ambient Mix) even featured on Cafe Del Mar 9. Between trip hop, downtempo, Brazilian rhythms and beachside grooves, the German duo give the voice of Zoe Durrant (member of Swedish trio Little Majorette) star billing as she features on five tracks on this ultra-smooth record. Also on the vocal bill is the French Coralie Clément (sister of Benjamin Biodlay known for her collaborations with Nouvelle Vague, who also worked with Blank & Jones from 2010 with J’en rest là on the album Relax Edition 5) on the brilliant C’est pas la mer à boire, an ideal addition to a record which strives to reinterpret the concept of dolce vita. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz
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The Exciting Wilson Pickett (Edition Studio Masters)

Wilson Pickett

Soul - Released August 31, 1966 | Rhino Atlantic

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Less of a hodgepodge than his debut album, In the Midnight Hour, Pickett's second album established -- if there had been any doubt -- his stature as a major '60s soul man. The 12 tracks include his monster hits "634-5789," "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)," "In the Midnight Hour," and "Land of 1000 Dances" (the last of which was his first Top Ten pop hit). Collectors will be more interested in the non-hit cuts, which are of nearly an equal level. These include covers of the R&B standards "Something You Got," "Mercy Mercy," and "Barefootin'"; several original tunes written in collaboration with Memphis soul greats Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, and David Porter; and Bobby Womack's "She's So Good to Me." It all adds up to one of the most consistent '60s soul albums ever.© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Symphonic Suite Castle in the Sky

Joe Hisaishi

Classical - Released August 1, 2018 | UNIVERSAL MUSIC LLC

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Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky: Romances

Piotr Beczala

Mélodies - Released August 25, 2023 | PentaTone

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Tenor Piotr Beczala is better known for opera than for art song. He has recorded music from his native Poland, but Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky songs (or Romances, as they were known by the Russians) wouldn't necessarily come to mind for him. However, he is a versatile figure, and here, he succeeds and more. The album came together when Beczala and pianist Helmut Deutsch discovered a mutual enthusiasm for these works. Beczala scales his voice back beautifully to song dimensions, and the album is well recorded at the Markus-Sittiges Hall in Salzburg, but the biggest attraction here is the coordination between singer and accompanist, which is extraordinary. Not only Rachmaninov, who was writing for himself, but also Tchaikovsky puts a lot of the action into the piano and in the songs of the latter, which include the entire Op. 73 set (the last pieces he wrote before the final "Pathétique" symphony), the piano introduces a lot of psychological currents beneath the fairly straightforward texts. The pair's performances of these are haunting; sample the final Again, As Before, Alone, which here seems to speak volumes about Tchaikovsky's state of mind. They're equally good in the Rachmaninov songs, tuneful things mostly written during the composer's youth. A casual listen may find the balance tilted too far in the pianist's favor, but listen again; it is carefully controlled by the performers. A major new entry in the discography for these not-terribly-familiar (except for Tchaikovsky's None But the Lonely Heart) songs. © James Manheim /TiVo
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Swan Songs (Collector’s Edition)

Hollywood Undead

Rock - Released August 26, 2008 | Interscope Records*

Booklet
Zombies or not, Hollywood Undead are a true underground phenomenon. They built their reputation through word of mouth on social networking sites such as MySpace, and it was to the latter's fledgling record label offshoot that the six-member rap-rock troupe signed to in 2005. They later parted company with MySpace Records, preferring to seek another label rather than censor their lyrics, and it's hard to argue with their logic. Presented here in all its unedited glory, there's nothing particularly shocking about any of the lyrics on Swan Song -- in fact, there's very little that's interesting at all. Part of the problem lies in the fact that the group doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Much of the album is given over to ironic frat-boy party rap: marquee singles "Everywhere I Go" and "No. 5" play fast and loose with misogynist and homophobic slurs, but it's a cheap way to win a laugh, and the jokes become stale long before Hollywood Undead are finished with them. Insufferable though the lyrics are, there are some genuinely good ideas here. "Everywhere I Go" and "No Other Place," in particular, are as danceable as any single in recent memory, and the production value is strong throughout the album. However, their attempts to get serious are about as convincing as their pimp credentials (i.e. not very) and the more intensified the mood, the more interchangeable the rappers become (only Funny Man stands out for his booming baritone). Tracks like "Young" and "This Love, This Hate" represent a low point, as the emcees trade ever-more-exasperated Marshall Mathers impersonations to the backdrop of imposing Wall of Sound guitars and angsty chorus vocals. Clearly, they have talent, but a giant question remains as to whether Hollywood Undead have the self-confidence to drop the gimmicky exterior and deliver something a little more substantial than dated clichés and mildly offensive lyrics.© Dave Donnelly /TiVo
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Jukebox (Deluxe Edition)

Cat Power

Alternative & Indie - Released January 21, 2008 | Matador

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Nuit à Venise

Ensemble Les Surprises

Classical - Released April 28, 2023 | Alpha Classics

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Faure: Pelléas et Mélisande

Lorraine Hunt

Classical - Released January 1, 1987 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)