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Schütz: Schwanengesang, Op. 13
La Capella Ducale
Classical - Released October 28, 2023 | CPO
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Diapason d'or
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Mendelssohn: Choral Works
MDR Leipzig Radio Choir
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released July 7, 2023 | PentaTone
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Mendelssohn: Songs without Words Vol.1 (Lieder ohne Worte)
Peter Donohoe
Classical - Released January 7, 2022 | Chandos
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Booklet
Peter Donohoe CBE is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility, and commanding technique. On this first volume of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, he writes: "When I first became conscious of my desire to be a musician, Mendelssohn meant more to me, personally, than almost any other composer – he certainly ranked alongside Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. My choice of programme for the present recording is based around a large selection from the Lieder ohne Worte, which I preface with the Rondo capriccioso, Op. 14 and the three wonderful Fantaisies ou Caprices. The Rondo capriccioso and Trois Fantaisies ou Caprices are exquisite examples of the extraordinary facility of Mendelssohn (implicitly as a pianist, but also as a composer), of his originality and inspiration, at an age that allows us, in my view, to place him in the same group of wonderfully natural and prodigious composers as Haydn and Mozart. It is always a pleasure to play these works, and they go to the heart of why I became a musician in the first place". © Chandos
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Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70, MWV A 25
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Classical - Released September 15, 2023 | Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings
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The labels lately established by performing organizations have mostly been devoted to new releases, but there is a lot to be said for using them to resurrect historical performances and recordings. These tend to be ones that have hung in people's memories for years, well after newer recordings have become available. There couldn't be a better example than this, the first historical release from the Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings label. It reproduces a 1984 live performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah, Op. 70 (as Elias, in the original German) from the Nationaltheater München, with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Chor des städtischen Musikvereins zu Düsseldorf. (The latter got involved because the Bayerischer Staatsopernchor was unavailable, but the choir acquits itself very well, unsurprisingly inasmuch as Mendelssohn himself was one of its former directors.) Sawallisch was noted for his way with Mendelssohn, to which he brought a noble Germanic tinge that makes a nice contrast with the usual English performances. He never did better than here, and upon hearing that tapes of this performance had been preserved, he is said to have exclaimed, "Thank God they're safe!" The soloists, led by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role and tenor Peter Schreier as Obadiah, are superb. Another attraction is the hardbound booklet, delving deep into Mendelssohn's philosophical place in German society (really philosophical -- Hegel and his dialectic come into it). The live sound from 1984 is impressive indeed, with crowd noise kept to an absolute minimum in a superb display of discipline. A wonderful historical reissue that catches the intense drama in Mendelssohn's oratorio.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bartók: The 3 Piano Concertos, Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
Geza Anda
Classical - Released December 14, 2021 | Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording
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Mendelssohn: Songs without words, Vol. 2
Peter Donohoe
Classical - Released April 14, 2023 | Chandos
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Booklet
Similar to his first volume of Songs without words (Lieder ohne Worte), published in January 2022, the British pianist Peter Donohoe is again incorporating Felix Mendelssohn pieces into his 2nd Volume. It opens with what is perhaps considered the German composer's piano masterpiece, the Variations Sérieuses, op. At Franz Liszt’s request, a total of 54 were composed in 1841 for the inauguration of the Beethoven statue. They owe their inspiration as much to Bach as they do to Beethoven, with the creation of a pure Mendelssohn piece combining classicism and romanticism.La Fantaisie sur un Chant irlandais, op. Song number 15 dates back to 1827 before Felix's first visit to the British Isles. It is based on the famous ‘Last Rose of Summer’ melody, attributed to the Irish poet Thomas Moore. The young Mendelssohn, then just 18 years old, certainly seems to have been overcome by this song’s nostalgia, which exhibits moods ranging from sadness to unbridled joy.These two works offer an obvious stylistic link with the Songs without words that Peter Donohoe strives to play with ease, grace, and continuous virtuosity. His choice purposely ignores the chronology of the pieces to offer a kind of colourful and changing musical bouquet. Like an elf pitter-pattering over the piano keys, he ends this collection of Songs with a devilish arrangement that Sergei Rachmaninoff left behind the Scherzo of A Midsummer Night's Dream. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Fauré: 13 Barcarolles & Ballade Op. 19
Jean-Philippe Collard
Classical - Released January 14, 2022 | La Dolce Volta
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Not just anyone can enter the sophisticated, discreet and secretive world of Gabriel Fauré's Barcarolles. French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard has been keeping out of the spotlight for far too long, so his return to both the stage and the recording studio (with his new label La Dolce Volta) is a welcome sight. His comeback sees him return to his first musical love: the composer Fauré, whose Barcarolles cycle he had already recorded, along with his complete piano music, chamber music and a selection of melodies with Frederica von Stade.Over time, Collard’s sound has become simpler, lighter, with a freshness and spontaneity that only comes with musical maturity. The story behind this new recording is a funny one: one day whilst driving his car, Jean-Philippe Collard just so happened to be listening to the radio when a pianist performing the Première Barcarolle started playing. He didn’t care much for the interpretation and hated the performers constant changes in tempo... so you can imagine his dismay when the radio host announced that it was, in fact, Collard’s own recording from 1970... that was the moment he knew he had to work on this cycle again and propose a new and improved version.This second version was recorded in 2020 in the beautiful Arsenal Concert Hall, which is known for its remarkable acoustics. Exactly fifty years after his first recording, Jean-Philippe Collard’s vision for the solo piano version of the Barcarolles and Ballad has now been perfected. It’s been stripped back to basics and exudes the kind of naturalness that, paradoxically, could only ever have been attained through thorough analysis of the written music, its constant modulations and skilful superimposition of melody. Jean-Phillipe Collard has evidently gone through it all with a fine-toothed comb and, consequently, he’s given the world a chance to listen to the very best of what he has to offer. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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M. Bonis: Femmes de légende
Diana Sahakyan
Classical - Released November 4, 2022 | Kaleidos Musikeditionen
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Apollo & Dionysus
Danae Dörken
Classical - Released August 11, 2023 | Berlin Classics
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Traum der Jugend
Kebyart
Classical - Released September 29, 2023 | Linn Records
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Traum der Jugend is a 2023 release by the saxophone quartet Kebyart, whose unusual name is a pun of that of the Balinese gamelan Gong Kebyar ensemble, suggesting flaring contrasts but also a sudden realization of group cohesion. Kebyart has such cohesion in spades; this album contains impressive ensemble playing and a fine sense of how to sequence and bring together a diversity of materials. Kebyart sets itself the mission of developing a repertory for saxophone quartet, which is currently almost nonexistent. The group commissions new works, and there is a thoroughly enjoyable one here in the form of Jörg Widmann's seven Capricci for saxophone quartet, which were written for and premiered by the group, notwithstanding the booklet listing saying that all the works on the album were arranged. This is a marvelously idiomatic piece (sample the fifth capriccio, "Keys"). The rest of the album consists of arrangements of various earlier works, with a sort of three-act structure that really shows what is possible with an album of this kind. The middle act, after the Widmann, features sacred pieces and two of Mendelssohn's dense, polyphonic Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 81. At the end come two Songs Without Words (Felix Mendelssohn) and two of the Four Lieder for Piano, Op. 6, of Fanny Mendelssohn, more melodic and transparent in texture. The impression by the end is that this group really can do it all, and one has the feeling of having traversed a lot of musical ground. Much more than a novelty, this album is exemplary in the way it develops a new musical medium.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Schubert: Song Recital
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Classical - Released January 1, 1953 | Warner Classics
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This compilation of 12 Lieder and Six Moments Musicaux performed by soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and pianist Edwin Fischer is old-fashioned in every sense of the word. Recorded in 1950 and 1952, the sound is old-fashioned: clear but distant, heard across all the intervening decades as if through a dark glass. But, more significantly, the performances are old-fashioned. The slight but sweet quiver in Schwarzkopf's voice was typical of its time but unlike anything any contemporary soprano would attempt. In the An die Musik, she flirts with preciousness. In Im Frühling, she comes close to coyness. In Ganymed, she touches on parody. In Gretchen am Spinnrade, she almost but not quite distorts the music with her breathless delivery. And in every performance, Schwarzkopf seems fond of Schubert but not unreservedly fond, as if Schubert's songs needed special pleading to make them succeed, a truly old-fashioned approach compared to the unreservedly affectionate performances of contemporary singers. Similarly, Edwin Fischer's playing is equally old-fashioned, albeit in an entirely different way. Fischer obviously loves Schubert's music and his playing is warm-hearted and true. Unfortunately, Fischer's playing is technically old-fashioned. He drops notes, slurs lines, fudges arpeggios, and smudges rhythms in a manner that no contemporary pianist would dare let stand in a recording. Whether this approach works depends on the listener. Older listeners full of nostalgia for a time long since past will no doubt love it. Younger listeners with no tolerance for sentimentality may have trouble accepting it.© TiVo
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Schumann: Liederkreis & Dichterliebe etc
Ian Bostridge
Classical - Released December 24, 1997 | Warner Classics
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Brahms: Piano Trios
Renaud Capuçon
Classical - Released March 15, 2004 | Warner Classics
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Aloys Schmitt: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 etc. (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 84)
Howard Shelley
Classical - Released July 1, 2022 | Hyperion
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The Gulda Touch, Vol. 2
Friedrich Gulda
Classical - Released August 18, 2023 | Jube Classic
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Motherland
Khatia Buniatishvili
Solo Piano - Released May 16, 2014 | Sony Classical
Booklet
As she has demonstrated in her critically acclaimed albums of the keyboard music of Liszt and Chopin, Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili is a stunning virtuoso with impressive skills and her dynamic playing compels listening. However, for her 2014 Sony album, Motherland, she finds subtle expressions in her favorite character pieces, and none of them could be considered showstoppers. Most of the selections reflect calm and intimate moods, typified by Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze, Tchaikovsky's Autumn Song, Debussy's Clair de lune, and Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte, while the liveliest pieces, which include Mendelssohn's Song Without Words in F sharp minor, György Ligeti's Musica Ricercata No. 7, Dvorák's Slavonic Dance in E minor, and Scarlatti's Sonata in E major, offer rather modest displays of technique. Instead of dazzling her listeners, Buniatishvili is putting forward her personal, private side in this understated program, and the key to her selections is the sense of yearning that these pieces evoke. The most passionate outpouring of emotion comes in her own arrangement of Vaguiorko ma, a Georgian folk song that surely must hold a special place in her emotional world. Because this is a gentle and poignant album, listeners may find it is best appreciated in a quiet space with few distractions.© TiVo
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Bohemian Tales
Augustin Hadelich
Classical - Released April 24, 2020 | Warner Classics
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Violinist Augustin Hadelich turned a lot of heads and ears with his recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, and he does it again with this collection of Czech pieces, featuring and flowing from Dvořák. The Bohemian Tales title is not just a marketing concept but describes his approach: the Dvořák Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, is not a clean essay in Brahmsian style, but one of Dvořák's most Czech pieces, with a very folkish (and folk-fiddle) finale and a discursive, narrative touch throughout. Hadelich's shorter pieces for violin and piano (he is ably backed by Charles Owen) are designed to continue with the contrasts set up in the concerto. In the Janáček Violin Sonata, he expertly catches the tension between Dvořák's lyricism and the edgier material in which Janáček decisively departs from that. The other pieces showcase Hadelich's ability to touch the heartstrings: shorter Dvořák works, the highly melodic Four Pieces, Op. 17, of Josef Suk, and the ending, with his own transcription of the fourth of Dvořák's Seven Gypsy Songs, Op. 55, and lastly No. 7 from the Eight Humoresques, Op. 101, in the arrangement by Fritz Kreisler. This is about as familiar as a classical violin piece can be, but all earlier memories are swept away in an entrancing finale. Hadelich is looking like a major star in the making.© TiVo
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Grieg: Lyric Pieces - Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte
Denis Kozhukhin
Solo Piano - Released June 1, 2019 | PentaTone
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Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – Complete Suites from the Ballet
Paavo Järvi
Classical - Released October 28, 2003 | Telarc
Aside from the fact that there'd be two discs rather than one and that the price would therefore be doubled, is there any reason why Paavo Järvi's recording of Prokofiev's Romeo et Juliette with the Cincinnati Symphony should be just of the three concert suites and not of the whole full-evening ballet? Certainly it's not the fault of the music. Romeo et Juliette is probably his best dramatic work; arguably his best orchestral work; and absolutely his most lyrical, emotional, and deeply moving work. Certainly it's not the playing. With its powerful brass, its voluptuous violins, its colorful woodwinds, and its precise and powerful percussion, the Cincinnati Symphony has never sounded better. Certainly it's not the conducting. Järvi control of the ensemble is complete, his tempos, his balances, and his phrasing are ideal and -- best of all -- his conducting lets the music dance and his interpretation lets it sing. And surely it's not the sound. Telarc's digital recording is as close to real as any recording ever made. The only thing that could improve this recording would be more of it. But as it stands, this is the finest recording of the Suites From Romeo et Juliette ever made.© TiVo
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Fauré: Les treize barcarolles
Billy Eidi
Classical - Released April 20, 2018 | Timpani
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An essential component for impressionists, water and its multiple shimmers also fascinates musicians, but no composer spent forty years of their life writing aquatic pieces like Gabriel Fauré with his thirteen Barcarolles. Influenced by Mendelssohn’s own barcarolles in his youth, Fauré slowly moved away from mundane social events to find a style closer to abstraction and pure poetry. From the carefree and frivolous youth that aims to seduce, to the austerity of the more mature that leads to the melancholic nostalgia of the old age, it is a fascinating journey to take on, dotted with various experiences, which reflect the way of life that was abruptly interrupted by the tragedy of the Great War. Born in Egypt, but of Lebanese origins, Billy Eidi discovered classical music in Beirut with the professor who prepared him for his admission at the conservatory. Undecided between a career as a doctor or a pianist, he left for Paris at the start of the Lebanese Civil War and joined the Versailles Conservatory. Now a French citizen, Billy Eidi is a scholar, passionate about French music that he plays with subtle indulgence. He is a partner of choice for the melody he recorded with Marie Devellereau, Yann Beuron and Laurent Naouri. Always meticulous, the playing style of the “poet pianist” (Jean Roy) manages with constant vigour to avoid the potential pitfall of sounding insipid. Not to be missed! © François Hudry/Qobuz
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