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Debussy: Piano Works
Pascal Rogé
Classical - Released January 1, 1994 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
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Debussy: Piano Music
Zoltán Kocsis
Classical - Released January 1, 2006 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
Mozart: Symphonie Nr. 41 C-Dur KV 551, Schubert: Symphonie Nr. 8 H-moll, D. 759
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released January 1, 2002 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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D'Indy & Gounod
Les Solistes de l'Orchestre de Paris
Classical - Released January 13, 2023 | Indésens
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Mendelssohn: The Six Organ Sonatas
Felix Mendelssohn
Classical - Released December 2, 2016 | Claves Records
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5 de Diapason
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For Clara: Works by Schumann & Brahms
Hélène Grimaud
Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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Robert Schumann was never more purely Romantic than in his set of piano pieces Kreisleriana, Op. 16. The set is of extramusical, literary inspiration, taking its name from a character in stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and it features the explosive imagination of the young Schumann at its best. Schumann announced the work, which he apparently wrote in four days, rather breathlessly to his inamorata, Clara, and more than almost any other work of his, it seems to spill over the boundaries of the short piano piece. Hélène Grimaud has recorded the work before, but she seems to have added intensity this time around. She is nervously excited in the faster virtuosic numbers, but sample No. 4 to hear her marvelous control over the tonal instability that appears in many of these pieces. The Brahms Intermezzi, Op. 117, were also "For Clara," sent to Clara Schumann toward the end of his life; the two had remained friends, and here, in Grimaud's evocation of tempestuous old-school pianism, one is stirred to wonder what Clara sounded like playing this music. The connection of the nine Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 32, of Brahms to Clara is less clear, and the set, with baritone Konstantin Krimmel on the vocals, may seem like an afterthought; the three performances on the album were all made at different places and times. However, taken on its own terms, it is a fine performance of this set, consisting entirely of settings of texts by Eastern poets. Krimmel catches the rather mystical nature of the songs, and Grimaud, with whom he has worked in the past, is effective as an accompanist. This is an important entry in Grimaud's catalog, with a Kreisleriana that is as fine as any.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released July 28, 2023 | Reference Recordings
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Gramophone: Recording of the Month
This release made classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023. It might seem that few listeners would be moved to add yet another version of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, to their collections, but this is one of the strongest readings to come along in some years. Conductor Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony have specialized in big, bold interpretations of traditional Romantic repertory, and this one is no exception. It is an intense, brooding Tchaikovsky Fifth in the vein mined by the great Russian conductors of the middle 20th century (Honeck is not afraid to let the brass blare), and parts of it are really transcendent. After a bleak, moody first movement, hear the perfectly suspended horn solo in the second movement, sneaking in quietly at first, almost beneath notice. This is a virtuoso piece of playing, and even those not enamored of everything Honeck does will be hard-pressed to contend that he has not raised the Pittsburgh Symphony, which he has led since 2008, to the top rank of American orchestras. The work that rings down the curtain of this live recording is also unusual; the orchestration of Erwin Schulhoff's Five Pieces for String Quartet is by Honeck himself, with Tomás Ille. Another draw here for physical album buyers is the set of detailed booklet notes by Honeck; few conductors do that, and they offer plenty of insight into his interpretations. Top it off with clean live sound from Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall (no audience noise or applause), and the result is a superior Tchaikovsky recording.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Karol Szymanowski: Piano Works
Krystian Zimerman
Classical - Released September 30, 2022 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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Recordings by Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman are a rare event, and eagerly awaited by his many fans. They surely won’t be disappointed with this new opus that brings together Szymanowski, Zimerman and legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein.Returning to his roots, Krystian Zimerman pays tribute to his compatriot Karol Szymanowski on the 140th anniversary of the composer’s birth. This selection of little-known works testifies to the importance of Szymanowski within the piano repertoire. A long twenty-eight years separate Zimerman's recording of Masques, Op. 34 (made in 1994 in Copenhagen) from the rest of the programme, which was recorded in 2022 in the exceptional acoustics of the Fukuyama Concert Hall near Hiroshima.Nevertheless, the considerable lapse of time between these recordings doesn’t detract from the album's coherence. This is thanks to Zimerman's fluid, clear and readable sound, which—as we know—leaves nothing to chance. This fascinating recording reveals various facets of Szymanowski's compositional genius and features both his mature and early works, all of which were influenced by the great Chopin.Composed during the First World War whilst staying at the family estate in Ukraine, the three parts of Masques evoke Debussy, Scriabin and Stravinsky. However, each movement is overlaid with the orientalist perspective so typical of the Polish composer. A few carefully chosen Préludes and Mazurkas stand alongside the splendid Variations on a Polish Folk Theme for piano, Op. 10, composed by a young Szymanowski still in the process of mastering his mother tongue. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Consolations
Saskia Giorgini
Solo Piano - Released June 9, 2023 | PentaTone
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Pianist Saskia Giorgini found both critical and commercial success with her 2022 recording of Liszt's Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, and this 2023 release, which immediately climbed onto classical best-seller charts, follows directly on the earlier album, with the same Bösendorfer piano and the same recording location, the Lisztzentrum in Raiding, Austria. Listeners will not be disappointed, for Consolations has all the virtues of her first Liszt album and adds a few more. The wonderfully controlled lyricism of the Harmonies poétiques et religieuses recurs in the heavily programmatic title work, where Giorgini's playing hints at the presence of all kinds of stories. She plainly excels in the religious, late Liszt, and there are two wonderful examples here, the Deux Legends, portraits of St. Francis of Assisi praying to the birds, and of St. François de Paule. These are difficult works that combine mysticism with Lisztian virtuosity; annotator Mark Berry is right to stress that Liszt did not fully renounce the virtuosity in his later years, but that is not all. Giorgini is just as good in the flashy Three Caprices-Valses and the reflective Liebesträume, the best-known music on the album. In the Valse-Impromptu, she has an uncanny way of suggesting the feeling of spontaneity that seems to have marked Liszt's own playing. Will Giorgini go on with Liszt? She certainly has the technical and emotional wherewithal to do so and to take on more famous works than these.© James Manheim /TiVo
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The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos
Garrick Ohlsson
Classical - Released May 12, 2023 | Reference Recordings
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Gramophone Editor's Choice
Musical careers last longer than they used to, and here, it is difficult to detect any weakening of the long-impressive technique of pianist Garrick Ohlsson, 74 years old, when this album was recorded in the summer of 2022. The feat is especially impressive in that all five of the Beethoven concertos (plus the Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43, with no piano) were performed live within a single week. Ohlsson is backed by the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra under the direction of veteran conductor Donald Runnicles, who points out that he and Ohlsson had very little discussion about interpretation prior to the performances. It is here that Ohlsson's expertise is evident. He doesn't blaze any new paths in these works, but one has the feeling that he holds the performances, to borrow a phrase from John Le Carré, like a thrush's egg in his hand. His readings are simple in the best way. Sample the arresting opening of the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58; it is direct, yet there are micro shapings that bespeak long familiarity. In fact, it is in the first two concertos, where the lengthy expositions make it less possible for Ohlsson to control the flow of events, that are less effective. The partnership between Ohlsson and the orchestra, though, is lively throughout, and Runnicles gets excellent results from what is likely essentially a pickup group; the orchestra is moderately sized and agile. Superb live recording from Reference Recordings, discussed in detail in the booklet, is another draw.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Complete String Quartets
Takács Quartet
Classical - Released January 1, 2017 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
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12 Stradivari
Janine Jansen
Classical - Released September 10, 2021 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
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It must have been an amazing dream come true for Janine Jansen to play twelve of the finest Stradivarius violins made available to her for ten days or so to record this album, and to have it filmed by Gerry Fox in London. Ten days to master these precious gems is certainly a very short time, even if the outcome is preserved forever by this documentary available online in late 2021.The twelve precious instruments travelled from all over the world to realise this whimsical project. Some of these twelve "Strads" lifted from their museum display cases have not been played for decades, others belong or have belonged to legendary virtuosi, and some have probably never been recorded. It was then necessary to devise a programme that would best illustrate the characteristics and personality of the individual violins. The rather original choices eschew Bach, which Janine Jansen plays so well, to focus on a dozen composers perhaps not all the most obvious: Falla, Tchaikovsky, Kreisler, Schumann, Brahms, Elgar, Vieuxtemps, Rachmaninov, Szymanovski, Ravel, Suk and Heuberger.There is no need to look for coherence here, but just to appreciate the sound of each instrument which, we have to admit, represents a real challenge for a non-specialist audience. Antonio Pappano, as good a pianist as he is conductor, uses a wide range of sounds to enhance these twelve vignettes, original pieces or arrangements of famous works. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Sibelius: The Seven Symphonies
Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released September 1, 2015 | Decca Music Group Ltd.
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Felix Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5
Maxim Emelyanychev
Classical - Released November 3, 2023 | Linn Records
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There is certainly no shortage of recordings of these two popular Mendelssohn symphonies, but the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and its mop-top young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev deliver worthwhile alternatives on this 2023 release, which made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of that year. Mendelssohn works especially well at a moderate orchestra size like Emelyanychev's 50 players, stripping some of the philosophical ponderousness from the Symphony No. 5 in D major/D minor, Op. 107 ("Reformation"), and derailing the temptation of an over-the-top finale of the Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 ("Scottish"). Instead, Emelyanychev forges a crisp sound, with an avoidance of vibrato, perhaps inspired by the historical performance movement. He brings out a lot of Mendelssohn's beautiful wind writing, elsewhere sometimes hidden among thundering strings. The "Reformation" symphony is arguably the more successful of the two, striking a quiet, reverent note in this work that not only quotes Lutheran chorales but also evokes Renaissance polyphony. The work comes across as a meditative reflection on the development of Protestant spirituality in music. Linn's sound from Caird Hall in Dundee is excellent in this distinctive Mendelssohn release.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 & Overtures (Remastered HD)
Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released March 24, 2014 | Warner Classics International
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The Karajan Official Remastered Edition is a series of remasterings, from the original master tapes, of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 et 1984 including Karajan's first — and probably most thrilling — recording of the complete Beethoven Symphonies, made in the early 1950s (1951-1955) with London's Philharmonia Orchestra recently founded by Walter Legge. The recording of the Ninth Symphony is available here in stereo for the very first time, taken from original, unreleased tapes.
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Rachmaninoff: Reflections
Inon Barnatan
Solo Piano - Released November 10, 2023 | PentaTone
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The major attraction on this release by pianist Inon Barnatan is the opening work, an arrangement by the pianist of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, for one piano. The composer arranged the work for two pianos and even played it on one himself; the impetus for the new arrangement was that Barnatan, at loose ends during the COVID-19 pandemic, heard a bootleg recording of the composer playing through the work to introduce it to conductor Eugene Ormandy. Barnatan investigated the recording deeply and made an arrangement of his own. It is remarkably detailed, showing the results of the months of work Barnatan put in on it, and it may well inspire other pianists to take it up. That is not the end of the pleasures here, either. The Moments Musicaux, Op. 16, are early works that elaborate upon earlier kinds of short piano pieces with considerable virtuosity, and Barnatan's playing is clear and shows no sign of stress. Two shorter pieces round out the collection. It is a bit odd that so many pianists like to take over the Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, a work that derives its appeal from the challenges it poses for a singer. However, the final Prelude in G sharp minor, Op. 32, No. 12, leaves the listener in a dreamy mood. Pianists and lovers of the same should absolutely hear Barnatan's new version of the Symphonic Dances here.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Quintessence Schubert: Complete Symphonies, Rosamunde
Staatskapelle Dresden
Classical - Released October 1, 2019 | Brilliant Classics
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Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces, Op. 116-119
Stephen Hough
Classical - Released January 3, 2020 | Hyperion
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By the early 1890s, Johannes Brahms began thinking that his career was approaching its end, perhaps because of his growing awareness of his mortality, due to the deaths of several close friends. In spite of that, encouragement from Brahms' publisher Fritz Simrock and a renewed burst of creativity brought about the major works of his final years, which included chamber pieces for clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld; a collection of arrangements of German Folk Songs; the Four Serious Songs; the 11 Chorale Preludes; and the piano pieces published as the Fantasias, Op. 116, the Intermezzos, Op. 117, the Clavierstücke, Op. 118, and the Clavierstücke, Op. 119. This group of 20 keyboard pieces collectively represent the autumnal and sometimes gloomy moods that dominated Brahms' thoughts in his last decade, and have even retroactively colored the overall character his music, suggesting a nostalgic attitude in his work as a whole. Yet there is a balance between melancholy and exuberance in Brahms, and while much can be made of the sorrowful events in his life that influenced him, particularly in the Intermezzos, Op. 117 (which he considered to be lullabies for his sorrows), expressions in the late piano music are artfully conceived and perhaps less a measure of Brahms' emotional state than of his genius. Stephen Hough has recorded Brahms' piano concertos, and some of the chamber works, but this 2019 Hyperion album is his first album since 2001 devoted to Brahms' solo piano works. At this stage of his career, Hough seems to have found the right approach to these character pieces, which can be just as fiery and passionate as they are sad or sentimental. However, just as important are their structures and formal designs, which show an active and lively imagination, especially in Brahms' use of chromatic harmony and his sometimes expansive treatment of the Romantic "miniature."© TiVo
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Au cinéma ce soir
Jean-Marc Luisada
Cinema Music - Released April 28, 2023 | La Dolce Volta
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Jean-Marc Luisada is a passionate man. Cinema captivates him as much as music and his latest recording allows him to bring together the two worlds that are close to his heart. By taking the name of a famous French television programme by Armand Panigel as the title of his new album (Au Cinéma ce soir), the pianist invites us to share in his love of cinema, inflected with a good dose of nostalgia from the memory of his parents’ love. It would appear that the record is entirely dedicated to their memory.The fourteen films, chosen here by Jean-Marc Luisada for the publisher-bibliophile La Dolce Volta, span a period from 1958 (Les Amants by Louis Malle) to 1979 (Manhattan by Woody Allen). So many films, and so much music remaining true to the images. But what a choice for such a refined and informed film buff! Fellini’s La Dolce Vita rubs shoulders with Death in Venice by Luchino Visconti, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful films in the history of cinema, in which the adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony (transcribed for the piano by Alexandre Tharaud) is the recurring theme of Gustav von Aschenbach's impossible quest in the alleys of Venice (which serve to illustrate August von Platen’s poetic verses): "Anyone who has ever contemplated Beauty with his eyes is already doomed to death".Amongst all these films, there is one that has a particular flavour; the disturbing Rendez-vous à Bray that André Delvaux shot in 1971, based on a short story by Julien Gracq. The music of the last piano opuses by Brahms turns the soul inside out like a glove, asking essential questions about absence, silence, and the confusion of feelings. The films evoked in this beautiful album seem to have rubbed off on Jean-Marc Luisada’s interpretations of Nino Rota, Mahler, Mozart (the moving Fantasy in D minor), Brahms, Wagner, and Chopin (who closes the programme with Cris and Chuchotements, the Ingmar Bergman film which ruthlessly examines the difficulty of human relationships). Of course, let’s not forget the dazzling smiles of Scott Joplin and George Gershwin, for whom Luisada gives an exuberant rendition of Rhapsody in Blue. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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For Clara: Works by Schumann & Brahms
Hélène Grimaud
Classical - Released September 8, 2023 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
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