Ludwig van Beethoven

“Biret grasps the size of Beethoven’s style. The polyphony is laid out in a relaxed way with little indulgence in point making. She keeps the big line and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. The piano tone is sumptuous. Biret’s gentle and almost sensuous sonorities are really captivating. One is reminded that her mentor has been Wilhelm Kempff.” Gramophone

“From the outset of the 1st Symphony one feels that Idil Biret grasps the size of Beethoven’s style. The polyphony is laid out in a relaxed way with little indulgence in point-making. She keeps her big line, and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. I especially admire how she is able to give the impression of a live performance in the Larghetto from the 2nd, and here, as in other slow movements, one is reminded that her mentor has been Wilhelm Kempff… This is a remarkable achievement.” Gramophone

Jan Paderewski enthralled the world with his artistry for more than half a century. Immensely popular as a recitalist (he played in Madison Square Garden to 20,000 people), he came to recording as late as 1911, leaving an important legacy.

These recordings, mostly from the 1920s and some unpublished on 78rpm, show Paderewski as a uniquely eloquent interpreter of Beethoven, his compatriot Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Rachmaninov, Debussy and his own compositions.

Whether performing in grand Romantic style, with scintillating virtuosity, or as if confiding intimate secrets, Paderewski possessed what Henry James memorably described as “exhilarating goodness”.

“Systematic treatment of Paderewski's large discography is long overdue….it is bound to entice historic piano recording collectors.” Classics Today

Ginette Neveu (1919-49) was cruelly snatched from a disbelieving world decades ago, yet her name still elicits deep respect and admiration not only from those fortunate enough to have heard her in the flesh but also from a legion of admirers who came to know a supreme artist via only her recordings. Neveu's true international career was to last hardly five years, yet at the time of her death at thirty she had already won for herself an indelible, illustrious position in the annals of violin playing.

Second volume in the cycle of Beethoven’s piano concertos performed by François-Frédéric Guy, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Philippe Jordan. François-Frédéric Guy is now firmly established as a pianist of immense interpretative authority and superlative technique. With his exceptional command of keyboard sonority he has a special gift for music of the grandest scale, such as the major works of Brahms, Liszt and Beethoven. His recording of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata for Naïve was recently picked as BBC Radio 3’s “Building a Library” choice. Philippe Jordan is one of the rising stars of the conductor’s world. He has recently been appointed as Music Director of the Opera National de Paris, starting in the 2009-10 season.

The Fourth Piano Concerto was dedicated to Beethoven’s friend, student, and patron, the Archduke Rudolph, and its first public took place on the 22nd of December 1808 in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien, where the composer himself took the stage as soloist. This was part of a marathon concert which saw Beethoven's last appearance as a soloist with orchestra, as well as the premieres of the Choral Fantasy and the Fifth and Sixth symphonies. After its first performance, the piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn. Today, it is widely performed and recorded, considered one of the central works of the piano concerto literature. The Quintet in E flat for Piano and Winds, Op. 16, was written in 1796. It was inspired by Mozart's work, K. 452, which is likewise in E flat and has the same scoring.

This new specially-priced 4CD boxed set features outstanding recordings by some of the leading European ensembles of our day such as Concerto Italiano and Il Seminario Musicale.