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Maurice Yvain: Yes!

Les Frivolités Parisiennes

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Alpha Classics

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Beethoven : Piano Sonatas Nos 11, 12, 13 & 14 "Moonlight"

Fazil Say

Classical - Released January 17, 2020 | Warner Classics

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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (Arr. J. N. Hummel for Flute & Piano Trio)

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Chamber Music - Released November 8, 2019 | Naxos

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Beethoven and Hummel’s relationship was one of fractious beginnings, but ultimately true friendship. Between 1825 and 1835 Hummel arranged his contemporary’s Symphonies No. 1 to No. 7 and Septet, Op. 20 for his favoured combination of pianoforte, flute, violin and violoncello. Beethoven would surely not have objected—arrangements were, after all, a perfectly normal part of the 19th-century musical landscape. To audiences today his symphonies need little introduction but, thanks to the musical sensitivity and sheer brilliance of Hummel’s arrangements, it is possible to experience the thrill of hearing these extraordinary pieces afresh. © Naxos
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Atys

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released January 5, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Backed by the Sun King despite a lukewarm audience reception at first, Lully's Atys (1676) went on to become one of the composer's most successful operas, with revivals at French court theaters as late as 1753. In modern times, however, it is a considerably rarer item due to the massive forces and time required. Christophe Rousset was in the pit as harpsichordist when conductor William Christie gave the first modern revival of the work in the late '80s. That experience marks this 2024 release, which made classical best-seller lists at the beginning of that year. That is not common for a hefty five-act Baroque opera, but even a bit of sampling will confirm why it happened: Rousset, from the keyboard, brings tremendous energy to the opera. He pushes the tempo in the numerous dances and entrance numbers, and the musicians of Les Talens Lyriques and the singers of the Choeur du Chambre de Namur, all of whom have worked closely with Rousset in the past, keep right up. The singers in the solo roles are all fine; haut-contre Reinoud Van Mechelen in the title role and Ambroisine Bré as the goddess Cybèle, who sets the tragic plot in motion, are standouts. The sound from the increasingly engineering-expert Château de Versailles label is exceptionally clear in complex textures, and the sensuous cover art (representing, it is true, not the Roman mythological figure of Atys but Hippomène and Atalante) is a bonus. In the end, this is Rousset's Atys, and that is a very good thing.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Parry: Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, Blest Pair of Sirens

London Mozart Players

Choral Music (Choirs) - Released September 8, 2023 | Chandos

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Hubert Parry's Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, from 1880, here receives its world-recorded premiere. Perhaps recording companies thought there wouldn't be much of a market for a heavy 19th century choral work with, it must be said, a ponderous text by Percy Bysshe Shelley (Prometheus was a play intended to be read, not performed, just to give an idea). How wrong they were. This release made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023, and it is altogether enjoyable. At the time, Parry was under the spell of Wagner, whom he traveled to Bayreuth to meet. That influence certainly shows up in Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, with its basically declamatory text, partly through-composed music, wind-and-brass-heavy orchestration, and splashes of chromaticism. Yet what is remarkable is that the music does not come off as an imitation of Wagner at all. Rather, it uses elements of his style to match a specific kind of English literary text. The work gradually disappeared, but it would be surprising if Elgar, whom it clearly prefigures, did not know it well. The performances here are luminous, with William Vann using the lighter-than-expected London Mozart Players to create transparent textures against which he can set the substantial voices of Sarah Fox, Sarah Connolly, and other soloists. Parry did write some shorter pieces that remain in the repertory; one of these, Blest Pair of Sirens, is included here as a finale. However, the Scenes from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound are the main news here, and this performance, showing how this kind of thing should be done, may generate a new life for the work. © James Manheim /TiVo
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Haydn 2032, Vol. 1: La Passione

Giovanni Antonini

Classical - Released October 7, 2014 | Alpha Classics

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Since the 2015-2016 season, Giovanni Antonini has been the "principal guest conductor" of the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Kammerorchester Basel, recreated in 1984 in the spirit of the first Basler Kammerorchester which was founded by the patron and Swiss conductor Paul Sacher). He is working with them on important discographic projects, such as the complete Beethoven symphonies (Sony Classical) which are proving to be a great success with the press; and the "Haydn 2032" project, which is set to comprise the complete hundred and seven symphonies by Joseph Haydn, to mark the latter’s 300th birthday. The first fruit of this vast complete collection, that is, this album, was created by Antonini's historic Italian ensemble and described as a work of "passion" (but how could it be otherwise with a personality as joyful and innovative as Haydn?). The record gets off to a flying start with the Symphony n° 39 in G minor, subtitled "Tempesta di mare" on a 1779 manuscript and which, curiously, no publisher has yet taken up. Although it does not break out of its formal framework, it is a work stirred by tempestuous winds which are scarcely calmed by an Andante that seems to arise out of nowhere. The Finale is all filled with Vivaldian cascades, painting a portrait of natural cataclysm, or of the agitation of a soul struggling with the first jolts of Romanticism. A childhood memory of Giovanni Antonini who had discovered Haydn through his Symphony No. 1, this final piece at the end of this first album was broadly influenced by the style of the Mannheim school which was then flourishing in Europe. The harmonic proximity of the Symphony n° 49 in F Minor "The Passion" to the ballet-pantomime Don Juan or the Feast of Stone which Gluck had composed a few years earlier led Giovanni Antonini to include Gluck in this first volume, a dream opportunity for the conductor to show how Haydn changed the fate of the symphony by introducing a dramatic touch tinged with irony. Antonini sees in the two composers the same turn of mind and a shared use of techniques, who nevertheless bring together very different aspects of life in their music. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris

Reinoud Van Mechelen

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Psyché

Christophe Rousset

Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

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Beethoven: Complete 35 Piano Sonatas

Tamami Honma

Classical - Released February 9, 2024 | Divine Art

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Beethoven: Complete Variations for Piano, Vol. 1

Cédric Tiberghien

Classical - Released March 24, 2023 | harmonia mundi

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One may be puzzled initially to see Mozart, Schumann (twice), and Webern on a program in a cycle devoted to the complete variation sets of Beethoven, but this is a typically ambitious idea from pianist Cédric Tiberghien and the music of the other composers mostly has connections to Beethoven. Schumann's Etudes in Variation form on a Theme by Beethoven, WoO 31, are underrated indeed, weaving quotations from several other Beethoven symphonies into its basic material from the slow movement of the Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92. Perhaps the Webern Variations, Op. 27, are the odd piece out here; it is debatable whether they are variations at all, but in a way, the pieces by the other composers strengthen Tiberghien's main thesis, which is that Beethoven's variations are fully serious works that shouldn't be underestimated. His cycle opens with the Variations and Fugue in E flat major, Op. 35, called the "Eroica Variations" because they use a theme that recurred in the finale of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55. Tiberghien gives these a big, sweeping performance that suggests the work's prominence in Beethoven's output. Yet even the smaller sets, based on simple operatic arias of the day, have some weight in Tiberghien's performances, which indicate ways in which Beethoven worked out problems of register and harmony in these works. By the end, when Tiberghien offers a transcendent performance of Schumann's Geistervariationen (the last work Schumann wrote, already in the grip of madness), the listener has the feeling of having been on quite a ride. One is excited to discover the content and structure of Tiberghien's next volume, which presumably will include the Diabelli Variations, Op. 120.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: The Late Quartets

Calidore String Quartet

Chamber Music - Released February 3, 2023 | Signum Records

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There is absolutely no shortage of Beethoven string quartet recordings, and a new set by the promisingly awarded but not terribly well-known Calidore String Quartet may not stir up much interest. Furthermore, the group plunges in with the late quartets for its opening volume; many quartets wait until well into mid-career to take on these profound works, but anyone giving this set a miss will be deprived of an extraordinary chamber music experience. The players have clearly thought through every phrase of the music, with electric results. Sometimes it is a matter of sheer clarity. Consider the difficult Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, all too often a mass of undifferentiated sound. Listeners may be surprised to find that the Calidore's performance is half a minute faster than average, even with the careful separation of the polyphonic lines. Beethoven's transcendent simple melodies and soaring variation sets are deeply felt; the magnificent Lydian prayer of the middle movement of the String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, is never overdone and is gripping indeed. In general, the Calidore String Quartet leans toward delicacy rather than extremity. Consider the Scherzo of the String Quartet No. 15 in F major, Op. 135, where the abrupt flat seventh unison is done in such a way that it can fade gracefully back to normalcy. Possibly those who prefer really radical versions of these works may find the Calidore a bit sedate, but there are so many wonderful moments to discover that even those listeners should hear these recordings. This is not the Calidore String Quartet's debut release, but it announces a major new presence on the chamber music scene. © James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9

Bernard Haitink

Classical - Released September 12, 2006 | LSO Live

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Beethoven's nine symphonies -- what can one say? The greatest body of orchestral works ever composed? Probably. The most performed body of orchestral works ever composed? Certainly. The most recorded body of orchestral works ever composed? Absolutely. Not only has virtually every conductor recorded a Beethoven cycle, some of them have gotten to record it multiple times: Abbado, Bernstein, Solti, Karajan, and Haitink, among others. What does this proliferation tell us? Usually nothing about the music that hasn't been heard before, but sometimes something about what the conductor thinks about the music. These performances with the London Symphony Orchestra recorded in 2005 and 2006 tell what Bernard Haitink thinks about the greatest body of orchestral works ever composed. And what does Haitink think? Pretty much nothing that hasn't been thought before. His tempos are neither too fast nor too slow, but straight down the moderato. His dynamics are neither too loud nor too quiet, but right in the mezzo. His textures are clear and lucid. His colors are blended and smooth. His interpretations are solid and sincere. But what does Haitink tell us about what he thinks about Beethoven's symphonies? Pretty much nothing except that he is an experienced conductor with a superb baton technique who keeps his opinions to himself. The London Symphony's playing is enthusiastic but too often ragged around the edges for comfort. LSO Live's recording is transparent but the perspective seems to shift from work to work -- sometimes the strings are too far away, other times the brass are too close.© TiVo
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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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Bizet: Carmen, WD 31

Herbert von Karajan

Classical - Released January 1, 1964 | Sony Classical

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525 Years Anniversary Concert

Wiener Sängerknaben

Classical - Released November 24, 2023 | Universal Music GmbH

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Schumann: Études symphoniques, Op. 13 - Études sur un thème de Beethoven, WoO 31 & Geistervariationen, WoO 24

Claire Désert

Classical - Released September 10, 2021 | Mirare

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From one recording to the next, French pianist Claire Désert continues her exploration of Schumann’s piano works with a new album focussed on the variation genre. She explores the manifold, elusive moods found in the “Symphonic Studies”, the “Etudes in Variation form on a Theme of Beethoven” and the “Geistervariationen” (Ghost Variations), like a diary of the composer. From a tribute to Beethoven to the ultimate variations composed right before sinking into the Rhine, it is all Romanticism that is sung by Schumann's piano, with its breaks and ideals. © Mirare
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Mélodies: "L'heure exquise"

Marie-Nicole Lemieux

Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Released October 4, 2005 | naïve classique

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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Op. 10 No. 3, Op. 26 & "Grande sonate pathétique", Op. 13

Gianluca Cascioli

Classical - Released February 2, 2024 | Arcana

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Beethoven Complete Symphonies

Staatskapelle Dresden

Classical - Released May 28, 2021 | Brilliant Classics

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Beethoven: Symphony No. 4, Op. 60 & Leonore Overture, Op. 72

George Szell

Classical - Released July 20, 2018 | Sony Classical

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