Prices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Mozart: Keyboard Music Volume 4
Kristian Bezuidenhout [fortepiano Paul McNulty, Divisov, Czech Republic, 2009, after Anton Walter & Sohn, Vienna, 1805] From the collection of Alexander Skeaping A=430 On volume four of his widely acclaimed traversal of Mozart's music for solo keyboard, fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout performs on an instrument by Paul McNulty, modeled on a Viennese original by Anton Walter & Sohn (c.1805). The program includes Piano Sonatas in D major K.311 and G major K.283 and the lovely Variations on 'Je suis Lindor' in E flat Major, K.354. As with the other volumes in this exceptional series, Bezuidenhout brings out colors and shadings in these works that are only possible when performed on a fortepiano. “the sound he produces is a constant pleasure. There is nothing remotely prissy or limited about these brilliant, forceful performances, in which even the most apparently routine passagework is alive with expression and meaning...everything is fresh and vivid. Minor Mozart, but not when played like this.” Sunday Times, 13th January 2013 “this is undoubtedly another impressive instalment in Bezuidenhuit's Mozart cycle, with a particularly fine account of the C major Prelude and Fugue K394, and an individual approach to the unconventional set of variations on Je suis Lindor, K354...All in all, a rewarding disc.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 **** “Few players coax as much depth and detail from the fortepiano as this … [Bezuidenhout's] enviably high standard’s maintained” CD Review, 5th January 2013 | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 22
"Early on in the planning of these sessions, we decided that the microphone placement would be very different from traditional set-ups. After much experimentation, we opted for a layout very much like theatre in the round, with the keyboard in the very centre, winds in a line facing the solo instrument, and the strings as a sort of envelope all around and behind the piano. Crucially, it brings the winds – such operatic characters in Mozart’s Viennese concertos – very much to the fore of the sonic picture; it also encourages a much more natural and vivid interplay between the piano and the wind band. It has meant that the kind of keyboard-dominated sound one sometimes encounters, has been replaced by what E. T. A. Hoffmann described as a symphony with piano obbligato – the piano, playing both solo and continuo, darts in and out of the lush orchestral texture; at times, incredibly prominent, at other moments, purely accompanimental. Mozart’s sensational gifts as an improviser are well known by now, and indeed there are frequent places in the piano part where embellishment is an obligatory element of the stylistic grammar. Our feeling was that this spirit of spontaneity should extend to the orchestra as well. One will notice that the solo wind instruments depart from the text on numerous occasions; these ornaments were partly pre-planned, partly refined and revised by the wonderful wind principals of the FBO. After all, Mozart was writing for some of the most gifted and wellrespected wind soloists of the time, and although it is hard to prove, I find it difficult to imagine that he would have frowned on his collaborators’ natural tendency to introduce subtle embellishments." Kristian Bezuidenhout Kristian Bezuidenhout's next release on harmonia mundi USA will be Volume 4 of his solo Mozart project which has received unanimously good, sometimes great, reviews, including IRR Outstanding, Gramophone Recommends, CD Review Disc of the Week and a BBC Music Magazine Choice. “Bezuidenhout gives us characteristically thought-provoking performances of two of the great Mozart Concertos. Particularly felicitous is his use of solo orchestra strings for some of the music's most intimate moments...Altogether a rewarding disc and one that Bezuidenhout's many admirers will not want to be without.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 **** “Bezuidenhout [has] carved out [a] considerable reputation in this repertoire.” Early Music Review, December 2012 “remarkably consistent in relation to the previous three volumes, regarding the fortepianist's superb technical acumen and musical intelligence, as well as interpretative affectations that seem more precious than stylish...however, Bezuidenhout's spirited style and authoritative fingerwork never operate at less than world-class standards.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013 “I found this immediately thrilling; the extreme textural and dynamic variations give the music terrific bite … his playing is always imaginative and constantly engaging” International Piano, January/February 2013 “This is a bold, even uncompromising issue, and may not be one for the faint-hearted...Articulation is ultra-crisp, and forte often feels like sforzando...The net effect throughout is vivid, always interesting, sometimes exciting, occasionally prissy, even a little didactic: for all that, I have greatly enjoyed it” International Record Review, December 2012 “Bezuidenhout plays with his usual brilliance and subtlety and with inventive ornamentation. But the instrument’s meagre tone, in comparison with the orchestra, is all too apparent...the Freiburg players’ splendidly forceful, incisive tuttis only underline the disparity.” Sunday Times, 4th November 2012 “'s the irrepressible imagination and vitality of Bezuidenhout's playing, the range of colour and touch he obtains from his keyboard, and the way he uses it to throw new light on detail that give these performances their really distinctive flavour.” The Guardian, 8th November 2012 **** “the fortepiano’s most persuasive performer...Bezuidenhout still shapes and shades this music with almost romantic finesse, and releases the historic instrument’s full expressive potential. In every register the sound changes: proudly growling down in the bass, bird-bright in the treble reaches, round and velvety in the middle.” The Times, 23rd November 2012 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mozart: Keyboard Music Volume 3
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano: Paul McNulty, Divisov, Czech Republic, 2009; after Anton Walter & Sohn, Vienna, 1805. From the collection of Alexander Skeaping Unequal temperament, A=430) In Volume 3 of his widely acclaimed traversal of Mozart’s music for solo keyboard, fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout plays a modern reproduction of an 1805 Viennese instrument by Anton Walter. The programme includes the well-loved Sonata in F major K. 332, alongside Mozart’s very last composition for piano, the Variations K. 613. Kristian Bezuidenhout was born in South Africa in 1979. He began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music in the USA and now lives in London. He is a frequent guest artist with the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Les Arts Florissants, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The English Concert, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Collegium Vocale Gent, in many instances assuming the role of guest director. “Bezuidenhout offers a performance that brings out all [the Fantasia's] intensity and passion...his refreshingly imaginative performances are marred only by a liking for exaggerated pauses between musical paragraphs. This disc comes strongly recommended.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 ***** “I have no doubt that this cycle is set to become a benchmark. There is nothing fussy or mannered about Bezuidenhout's Mozart, and the tempos provide no surprises. It is exceptionally beautifully crafted, with subtlety of nuance and tiny rhythmic inflections adding immense character, with the phrase structure neatly pointed...Listening to performances of this calibre leads one to re-evaluate the importance of these works.” International Record Review, February 2012 “the third volume of Bezuidenhout's Mozart keyboard msuic cycle attests to the young fortepianist's remarkable technical polish and command, as well as his cultivated though sometimes overly studied interpretations...the Andante cantabile's legato and detached articulations and subtle harmonic stresses are conveyed with admirable expressive economy.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2012  BBC Music Magazine
Instrumental Choice - February 2012 |
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mendelssohn: Double Concerto & Piano Concerto
Three years before the Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture, Felix Mendelssohn wrote this amazing Concerto for (forte)piano and violin, built on the Classical model but brimming with new, even iconoclastic ideas. And yet, when it had its first performance in May 1823, the composer was aged just 14! By then he had already written around 100 works, including a Piano Concerto premiered a year earlier. It was not until the late 20th century that they appeared in a critical edition, on which this recording is based. Kristian Bezuidenhout first gained international recognition at the age of 21, after winning the prestigious first prize as well as the audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition. He has fully explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Bezuidenhout is a frequent guest artist with the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, The Orchestra of the 18th Century, Les Arts Florissants, Concerto Köln and The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, in many instances assuming the role of guest director. Bezuidenhout now divides his time between concerto, recital and chamber-music engagements, appearing in the early-music festivals of Barcelona, Boston, Bruges, Innsbruck, St. Petersburg, Venice and Utrecht, as well as the Saintes Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron, the Chopin Festival Warsaw, the Tanglewood Festival and Mostly Mozart Lincoln Center, and at many of the world’s most important concert halls including those of Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, London, Vienna, Tokyo, Paris, Boston and New York. He is a guest professor at the Schola Cantorum (Basel) and the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, Ney York); in 2007 he was awarded the Erwin Bodky Prize and the Deutschlandfunk Förderpreis. Kristian Bezuidenhout is Artistic Advisor for the Constellation Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts. “the double concerto of 1823 marks an advance on the earlier piano concerto (1822), the brilliant piano writing in both shows the fruitful influence of Weber and Hummel, and the playing of the soloists and the period-instrument Freiburg band is nice and lively.” Sunday Times, 14th August 2011 *** “Both soloists have a fine line in fireworks and for the most part rhythms are secure...in general these are spirited performances, excellently recorded.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2011 **** “There is verve and spirit in these performances, but only where the composer demands it...In both concertos the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra brings out all that is new and innovative in these immature works. This is a 'must' if you love Mendelssohn and want to hear his early works given a polished, characterful performance” Classic FM Magazine, November 2011 **** “Gottfried von der Goltz's solos are full of the swells we're accustomed to hearing in earlier music, rounded off with a hint of easy portamento, but his short-breathed phrasing and vigorous spiccato don't feel like concerto playing...Questions of style don't arise with Kristian Bezuidenhout, such is the weight of sonority he draws from this fortepiano (a modern copy of a Graf), his fine touch and taste...Do try to hear this.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mozart: Keyboard Music Volume 2
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) Paul McNulty, Divisov, Czech Republic, 2008; after Anton Walter & Sohn, Vienna, c. 1802; unequal temperament - A = 430 Fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout continues his multi-disc survey of Mozart’s music for solo keyboard. Volume 2 features an instrument by Paul McNulty, modelled on a Viennese original by Anton Walter & Sohn (c.1802). Kristian Bezuidenhout was born in South Africa in 1979. He first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize as well as the audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition after studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. During this time he gained experience as a continuo player in Baroque opera productions in the USA and Europe. He is a frequent guest artist with the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Les Arts Florissants, Concerto Köln and Collegium Vocale Gent, in many instances assuming the role of guest director. He has performed with celebrated artists including Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, Daniel Hope and Viktoria Mullova, and he regularly gives Lied recitals with, among others, Carolyn Sampson, Mark Padmore and Jan Kobow. “Bezuidenhout is a prince of the fortepiano, making it sing in melodic phrases as no other practitioner of this intractable instrument has done in my experience.” The Times “This is Mozart rethought, unsanitised and maybe unsettling for some. But as Bezuidenhout implies, we have to move on.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 “Bezuidenhout promises great things, and this instalment is superb. The keyboard is perfectly scaled to the music: Bezuidenhout can give the C minor sonata (K457) full force and weight without ever sounding overblown, while the exquisite A minor rondo and B minor adagio have a gentle, unforced eloquence.” The Observer, 16th January 2011 “Any inbuilt resistance to hearing Mozart on a fortepiano rather than a concert grand quickly evaporates as the ear begins to relish the piquant colours and subtle nuances that Bezuidenhout produces...The best of it (K511, 540 and 457) sounds revolutionary while the rest cannot fail to charm.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2011 ***** “Bezuidenhout steers a wonderful, measured course through both works [Rondo and Adagio], but allows himself a bit of freedom in the two sonatas...Both are perfectly proportioned accounts, with every rhythm neatly sprung, and inflected with a splendid range of keyboard touch and colour.” The Guardian, 20th January 2011 **** “There is nothing to fault in the playing, with Bezuidenhout displaying immaculate control of the refinements of tone of a fabulous fortepiano...This is Mozart playing of such intimacy and tenderness, on an instrument able to respond with similar subtlety and nuance” International Record Review, January 2011 “Throughout, Bezuidenhout transcends the apparent limitations of his instrument — a modern copy of a Walter fortepiano — with a remarkable range of colour.” Sunday Times, 30th January 2011 **** “deeply-felt performances of some of the very greatest among the solo keyboard works...these performances leave a strong impression. Among the highlights is Bezuidenhout's expressive account of the tragic A minor Rondo K511. Elsewhere, Bezuidenhout is unfailingly imaginative with his own ornamentation. The reproduction Anton Walter pianos he uses are warm and sonorous.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 **** “There have been a few recordings on historical instruments made in recent decades, but Bezuidenhout rivals them all for the breadth of understanding he brings to the music, and his astonishing inflections of colour. He is able to make the fortepiano really sing – such an important aspect of Mozart’s music...this is shaping up to be a truly great cycle that does Mozart’s solo piano music the fullest justice.” bbc.co.uk, 12th April 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Schumann: Dichterliebe & Liederkreis
Lachner, F: | Im Mai, Op. 33, No. 6 Die Meerjungfrau, Op. 33, No. 8 Das Fischermädchen, Op. 33, No. 10 Ein Traumbild, Op. 33, No. 12 Die einsame Träne, Op. 33, No. 13 | Schumann: | Dichterliebe, Op. 48 Liederkreis, Op. 24 |
Tenor Mark Padmore is deftly supported by fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout in this lieder recital of Heine settings by Robert Schumann and Franz Lachner (5 songs from Sängerfahrt). On October 27 Mark and Kristian perform this programme at Carnegie Hall. Here in the UK, Mark is singing Schwanengesang with Paul Lewis and Roger Vignoles during October whilst in November Mark and Kristian are at the Concertgebouw. Die schöne Müllerin is accompanied by Till Fellner in Germany and France and UK audiences have to wait until December 6 to hear Mark Padmore and Kristian Bezuidenhout perform Dichterliebe and Lachner’s Heine Lieder at London’s Wigmore Hall. Bezuidenhout's second volume of Mozart will be released in January 2011. “Bezuidenhout plays an 1837 Erard...giving the kind of clarity and crisp articulation in the middle and upper registers that certainly gives an extra piquancy to the textures...Padmore's performances of both the Heine cycles are as restrained and as carefully enunciated and musically polished as one might expect, his tone almost disembodied at times” The Guardian, 4th November 2010 *** “Padmore's sweetness of tone is capable of growth and intensification, and he is sensible to the subtleties of modulation. Kristian Bezuidenhout...feels and thinks with the singer, makes his points without exaggeration and misses nothing” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010 “Padmore, in superb voice, brings a vivid new confidence to the German text ...and he and Kristian Bezuidenhout tackle those recital favourites "Mit Myrten und Rosen" (from Liederkreis) and "Ich grolle nicht" (from Dichterliebe) with a freshness that bears plenty of repetition.” The Observer, 28th November 2010 “from a circumscribed palette Padmore draws an intense and startling range of colour...the evident intelligence and directness of both performers reaches an almost perfect unity of approach through their mutually supportive expression” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 **** “Padmore, a singer celebrated for his intelligent performances, superb diction, and ethereally pure voice, here surpasses even himself...Nothing is overstated and nothing forced...Bezuidenhout's accompanying is wonderfully responsive and atmospheric too...anyone who appreciates subtlety, detail, and the virtues of objectivity will be unable to resist.” Classic FM Magazine, January 2011 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Beethoven - Violin Sonatas Nos. 3 & 9
Following hard on the heels of her critically acclaimed Bach Sonatas and Partitas (ONYX4040), this new CD of Beethoven’s 3rd and 9th violin sonatas sees Viktoria Mullova partner with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout in performances that are both searching and exciting. This recording marks the 50th release from ONYX, and the 5th anniversary of the label. Mullova’s plays on her 1750 Guadagnini with gut strings, and with a baroque bow by Walter Barbiero. Bezuidenhout plays a restored Viennese fortepiano dating from 1816. “[The Kreutzer is] freshly reimagined by Mullova. Her tense, wiry sound combines ideally with the 1822 piano that Bezuidenhout can pound to its very limits without overwhelming her; there is beautiful use of the quiet dampened register, which, combined with pizzicato violin, sounds magical.” The Observer, 23rd May 2010 “The pitch is dark (approximately a quarter tone below modern concert pitch), the articulation bold, the textures volatile...A provocative and highly expressive reading.” The Independent on Sunday, 30th May 2010 “Even the doubters and period-performance sceptics might be persuaded by the sheer musicality of these performances, and by the fresh blend and delicate balance of colours that they encompass...There is a real sense here of a musician doing something she believes in, not for any narrow “authentic” purpose but because it brings the music to life in a new way.” The Telegraph, 1st June 2010 ***** “A tone gritty but bright, notes and phrases crackling with fire...[Mullova]’s not the only source of sparks...Kristian Bezuidenhout [is] a fortepiano specialist of sparkling powers...Above all, the fortepiano and the gut-stringed violin bring extra excitement, danger even, to Beethoven’s music, never designed for purring quietly on a shelf.” The Times, 11th June 2010 **** “Mullova's tone has enough variety and character not to need more than occasional touches of vibrato...Bezuidenhout remembers that pianists in Beethoven's day would often spread chords, and he and Mullova both add to the ebullient feeling with improvised flourishes.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2010 “[Mullova] shows a profoundly un-diva-ish appreciation of the way the relationship between the violin and piano changes in these two sonatas...In the earlier sonata it's Kristian Bezuidenhout's agility and minute clarity of articulation that dominate...Right from the start of the Kreutzer Mullova steps centre stage, as Beethoven obviously meant her to.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2010 **** “Mullova sets a new benchmark for the Beethoven violin sonatas. Her disc has two defining characteristics – the “period” approach she and Bezuidenhout adopt, and the volatility and danger they find in the music. The two facets are interdependent...Mullova gives the music an invigorating sense of attack” Financial Times, 16th October 2010 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mozart: Keyboard Music Volume 1Fantasies and Variations
Fortepiano phenomenon Kristian Bezuidenhout begins his multi-volume traversal of Mozart’s music for solo keyboard. Volume 1 features an instrument by Derek Adlam modeled on an original by Gabriel Anton Walter of the type Mozart owned in Vienna. Kristian Bezuidenhout studied with Rebecca Penneys, Malcolm Bilson and Paul O’Dette. He first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize as well as the audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition (2001), a double honour, this being only the third time the former prize has been awarded in the history of the competition. Bezuidenhout is a frequent guest artist with the world’s leading ensembles and he now has a standing duo with the baroque violinist Petra Müllejans, artistic director of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra; their first CD, a disc of Mozart Violin Sonatas, was released on harmonia mundi USA in the Spring of 2009. Highlights of past seasons have included a complete cycle of the late Mozart Piano Concertos and the Beethoven Piano Concertos (Amsterdam Concertgebouw) with the Orchestra of the 18th Century under Frans Bruggen. Plans for the future include concerts with the Orchestre des Champs Elysées under Philippe Herreweghe; a Mendelssohn project with the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra and Gottfried von der Goltz; a tour with Les Arts Florissants; trio concerts with Viktoria Mullova & Pieter Wispelwey and more recordings for harmonia mundi. “He plays a copy of a Walter fortepiano, such as Mozart owned...it fits the music like a glove...Bezuidenhout’s decorations sound — as is by no means always the case — supremely natural, and in the brilliant Gluck variations, it’s as if we were eavesdropping on the composer himself improvising.” Sunday Times, 11th April 2010 **** “Bezuidenhout offers a personal distillation that is impressively absorbing. So indeed are the timbre and sonority of the instrument...But, perhaps unexpectedly, a singing line is to the fore too because Bezuidenhout is consummately artistic...These interpretations - excellent to outstanding - are interpretations of today.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2010 “This survey looks likely to set a new benchmark.” International Record Review, April 2010 “Bezuidenhout has a lively interpretive imagination, razor-sharp technique and fresh ideas about how to use the coloration of the fortepiano...to bring the music to life. If you doubt that the fortepiano can sing, listen to his plaintive readings of the Adagios from the Sonatas in F (K. 533/494) and B flat (K. 570)” New York Times, 26th November 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Mozart - Sonatas for Fortepiano & Violin
According to legend, Mozart was so rushed when writing K379 and K454 that he was forced to première the pieces with incomplete piano parts. Paying homage to this spirit of spontaneity in a programme of some of Mozart's most beloved chamber works, Petra Müllejans and Kristian Bezuidenhout present a reading of these pieces that recaptures the freshness and volatility of those early performances. Violin by Joseph Clotz, Mittenwald, c.1700; fortepiano by Derek Adlam, Welbeck, 1987, after Anton Walter, Vienna, c.1795 (from the collection of Christopher Hogwood). Temperament: Thomas Young, A = 430 “…Müllejans and Bezuidenhout bring a spirit of improvisation to their performance, with many apparently spontaneous ornaments and a general air of freedom.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2009 “Müllejans and Bezuidenhout capture the improvisatory air of the programme in a vibrant, highly expressive performance. Their interpretation has a sense of volatility to it that engenders a marvellous hearing-it-for-the-first-time sensation. Furthermore, there emanates from this recording such a highly developed sense of artistic partnership that it doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say that they play as one” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 27th March 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Daniel Hope plays Vivaldi
Daniel Hope’s second album for DG finds him reunited with the esteemed Chamber Orchestra of Europe for their third partnership in the recording studio. Hope made his DG debut with Mendelssohn; he now turns his attention to Vivaldi with a selection of the composer’s greatest violin concertos. When presented by passionate, energetic performers this music is guaranteed to provide an uplifting and entertaining listening experience. Hope and his band play on modern instruments, but in period style, a method they previously perfected in their acclaimed recording of Bach concertos (Warner). This recording attracted a remarkable amount of critical acclaim: “Modern-instrument Bach may not be fashionable, but these alert, fresh accounts of much-recorded concertos have all the zing and brio we expect from period ensembles.” (The Sunday Times) Replace Bach with Vivaldi and the above quote anticipates what will be next. Vivacity and humour combine with Vivaldi’s timeless appeal for a best-selling formula. “Hope and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe play… with the clarity and ensemble precision of a top-class Baroque orchestra… Hope's obviously relish for Vivaldi's stiller moments brings memorable results… guest soloist Anne Sofie von Otter catches the mood superbly.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008 “In these concertos Daniel Hope reveals himself as an ardent Vivaldian. …with dynamic playing that pays more than lip-service to the example provided by historically informed performances.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |
|
Building a Library
Gramophone Magazine