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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Beethoven: Duos for viola and violin, Trio, Cello Sonata No.5
Maxim Rysanov and friends turn their attention to Beethoven after two highly praised Brahms Viola CDs, ONYX4033 and 4054. Here we have some rare early Beethoven coupled with some late great Beethoven. The Sonatine WoO 33 was published together with three movements for mechanical clock that Beethoven composed in the early 1790s. The Sonatine is thought to date from 1797. The Trio Op.11 was composed for piano, clarinet and cello, and here it is heard in Rysanov’s own arrangement with the viola replacing the clarinet. Beethoven’s early Serenade for string trio Op.8 of 1797 was arranged (with the composer’s lukewarm approval – he wrote that they ‘were much improved by me in places’) for viola and piano in 1804 as Op.42. The version used here of the 'Theme, Variations and March' is by William Primrose. Finally, from the composer’s later period, we have the last of his five cello sonatas played by Kristine Blaumane and pianist Jacob Katsnelson. “Arranging and unearthing are key words here...Hard though it might be to sum up this assortment in a simple category, it is chamber music playing of intimacy, range and flair.” The Observer, 5th August 2012 “the individuality and strength of idea that Beethoven brings to a classical format is dynamically vivified; the Clarinet Trio sounds thoroughly idiomatic in its viola manifestation; and Katsnelson and Blaumane give a sublime, sinewy performance of the Fifth Cello Sonata. A fascinating disc.” The Telegraph, 10th August 2012 “This is the kind of disc that could easily get overlooked, offering as it does a potpourri of mostly lesser-known Beethoven. But that would be a great shame, for it's packed full of delicious surprises, superbly played...there are plenty of opportunities to relish the beauty of Maxim Rysanov's sound in the upper reaches...The rip-roaring finale [of the Clarinet Trio] is particularly effective, dancing with wit and rhythmic elan.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012 “In the Clarinet Trio, Rysanov has adapted the violin part (itself Beethoven's own alternative for the perkier wind instrument) for viola. No harm in that, especially when the playing is as polished as this. But the lone masterpiece here is the Cello Sonata, Op. 102 No. 2, and Kristina Blaumane and Jacob Katsnelson really plumb the depths of its great Adagio.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms Works for Viola I
This exciting release gathers together in one neat package the two late sonatas for which Brahms’ viola versions have become standard repertoire together with two trios for Clarinet and Horn that are more rarely heard for viola but work equally well. For this recording Max also plays the Klengel arrangement of the G Major Violin Sonata (with a few revisions of his own) Played by one of the world’s most charismatic violists Maxim Rysanov, of whom Yuri Bashmet declared “my rival has arrived!” Remarkably, Max has been awarded Editor’s Choice from Gramophone Magazine for both his recital discs to date, including Kancheli’s Styx and Tavener’s The Myrrh-Bearer on ONYX (ONYX4023) of which the reviewer said “it was a privilege to review” Maxim is accompanied by several of Russia’s most exciting younger generation of players. Katya Apekisheva for example recently won an Editor’s Choice for her debut CD of Grieg Lyric Pieces, while Kristine Blaumane has recently been appointed principal cellist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Max embarks on a major Brahms tour with Katya Apekisheva and others to coincide with this release with many dates in UK and France in November (please see ONYX website Concert Schedule for exact details). His other regular recital partners are Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and Mischa Maisky. “In the First Sonata, in which Rysanov is accompanied by the excellent Katya Apekisheva, the music is more freely phrased, with a humorous sense of the latent waltz in the Allegretto and plenty of vigour in the finale. Rysanoc and Jacob Katsnelson are also more effective with the Second Sonata, especially in the agreeably conversational manner they adopt in the final variations, as when the melodic line flows seamlessly between them in the grazioso section.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009 “…I found Rysanov's performances of both Sonatas compelling, vivid and packed with moments of great musical insight. The two trio performances are also extremely enjoyable…” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 **** “Brahms was the first to admit that he hadn't entirely solved the new problems of balance in the works that replace the clarinet with a viola (the clarinet sonatas and the Op 114 Trio). With recording, of course, some help can be given.
The viola is well forward in the performances by Rysanov, and this suits the music's extrovert, eloquent manner. In the First Sonata, in which Rysanov is accompanied by the excellent Katya Apekisheva, the music is more freely phrased, with a humorous sense of the latent waltz in the Allegretto and plenty of vigour in the finale. In the Op 114 Trio, the outside movements benefit from the vivid sense of melodic direction provided by Rysanov and Katsnelson.
The G major Violin Sonata was also written for Joachim, and arranged for viola not by Brahms but by his publisher Simrock's editor Paul Klengel. Transposing it from G down a fourth to D to accommodate the viola loses the music something of its elegance, but this is a persuasive performance. Persuasiveness is also needed in Op 40, which began life as the Horn Trio. Not all the cheerful vigour that Rysanov and Apekisheva provide can make the finale seem anything but a piece of hunting exuberance, but they do splendidly with the Scherzo and the Adagio mesto.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | Onyx - ONYX4033 (CD - 2 discs) Normally: $25.25 Special: $17.67 |
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| |  | Leonid Desyatnikov: The Leaden Echo
Roman Mints, William Purefoy, Maxim Rysanov, Kristine Blaumane, Boris Andrianov, Alexei Goribol, Dmitri Bulgakov, Jacob Katsnelson, Anton Dressler, Anna Panina, Fedor Lednev, Pavel Stepin, Serj Poltavski, Evgeny Rumyantsev & Petr Kodrashin Leonid Desyatnikov is one of the most successful living Russian composers. The release of Leaden Echo with words by Gerard Manley Hopkins is one of the disc’s six works which the composer considers to be amongst the most important of his output. Roman Mints has brought together some of the finest Russian musicians recording today along with the outstanding young British counter tenor William Purefoy. “In this first all-Desyatnikov album released in the UK, we are transported to an eerie, sometimes dream-like and often disturbing soundworld...But it's the title track...which most suggests that Desyatnikov may be a successor of Schnittke's nightmarish world...The performances, supervised by the composer, are exemplary.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 **** “The performances are technically flawless and have a hint of missionary zeal about them, as if the performers know how much Desyatnikov's international standing hangs on their first portrait CD, and the excellent recording captures that sense of excitement.” International Record Review, May 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Brahms Works for Viola II
Maxim Rysanov completes his survey of all Brahms’s chamber works to feature the viola. On this companion CD to ONYX4033 he is joined by Alice Coote and Ashley Wass in the Two Songs op.91, and takes the solo viola part – the clarinet role – in the op.115 Quintet. Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinettist for whom Brahms wrote his two sonatas and the quintet, managed to coax Brahms out of self-imposed retirement, and the result is the wonderful Indian summer of late chamber works. Joseph Joachim remarked that the clarinet parts would work well transcribed for viola. Brahms lavished much care on these arrangements, and they have entered the repertoire for the viola, in contrast to the transcriptions of the clarinet sonatas for violin, which remain virtually unperformed. There may also have been a commercial motive in making such adaptations: the wider the market for chamber music, the more money the publisher and composer would receive. Either way, these transcriptions are valuable additions to the repertoire of the viola. Maxim Rysanov performed at the 2010 BBC Proms, including the Last Night. “Viola discs are flooding the market currently...but this Brahms chamber music CD from Maxim Rysanov steals the limelight...It's addictive.” The Observer, 27th February 2011 “In the rhapsodic musings of the slow movement Rysanov becomes the idealised incarnation of the gypsy fiddler that Brahms surely had in mind when composing that uniquely florid part. The whole work recieves a performance of such intensity and expressive unanimity that I'm convinced this version was worth disinterring.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 **** “Rysanov demonstrates yet again his sensitivity and empathy with these pieces. The rich warmth of his tone complements the melancholic autumnal feel which pervades this collection of late works, particularly in the compelling songs, with Alice Coote's beautiful emotive vocal phrasing.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Barber, Grieg, Martinu: Works for Cello and Piano
“...Kristine Blaumane… is a technically fine player… Her passionate playing is heard to best effect in Barber's apprentice Sonata…” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Roman Mints plays Langer, Mozetich and Schnittke
“The Russian violinist Roman Mints demonstrates a huge talent in this stimulating disc of contemporary works. The youngest composer represented here is Elena Langer, born in Moscow in 1974. Her two-movement Platch is an essay in invented folklore… The emotive demands of the solo part require Mints's technique to scale vertiginous heights: as a showpiece of hysterical lament - issuing at last in an old Yiddish lullaby - the piece succeeds admirably.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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