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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Claudio Arrau in Recital
There have been few pianists of Arrau’s range and stature, and these invaluable live recordings can only reaffirm memories of another time, another place, where sheer musical calibre and quality counted above all. Liner notes written by Bryce Morrison. Previously unissued; released by permission of the Arrau Estate “Live recordings from Arrau's prime, reflecting what made his playing great as well as its occasional shortcomings. Visionary Beethoven, bewitching Brahms and unusually grave Schumann.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 **** “this space-saving, slim-line package is full of stimulating musicianship.” MusicWeb International, 3rd June 2013 | | | (also available to download from $28.75) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Quintets Opp. 34 & 115
The Tokyo String Quartet is joined by pianist jon Nakamatsu and clarinetist Jon Manasse in these Brahms masterpieces dating from two very different periods in his life: the tumultuous Piano Quintet, Op.34 - the work of an ambitious young man - and the Clarinet Quintet Op.115, an autumnal serenade by an experienced master. The journey between these two milestones was one marked by criticism, soul searching and ultimate triumph. This is the penultimate recording from the Tokyos. Next May will see their Dvorak and Smetana offering, also on hybrid SACD. “Here is a glorious set of performances that find its way onto somebody’s Pick of the Year list (certainly mine). The immaculate and wise Tokyo String Quartet are joined by two American soloists, clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu, in pristine and moving performances … an important and revealing new recording of two great and very different masterpieces.” The Herald (Glasgow), 4th November 2012 “Nakamatsu and the Tokyo String Quartet are on fine form … playing with an effortless command and sophistication that reveal details of texture and articulation … [a] beautifully played, radiantly engineered performance that is especially alluring in the SACD’s surround sound.” The Strad, December 2012 “both works receive performances that understand and warmly identify with Brahms's intentions: the playing is expressive and there is an obvious love of the music throughout. The Tokyo Quartet players, in both, are a rock-steady basis for the ensemble, and the two soloists...temper virtuosity with a fine sense of their role as an integral part of a chamber group.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 **** “the extraordinary homogeneity of sound that comes from a complete quartet of matching instruments is most apparent [in the Piano Quintet]...[the Clarinet Sonata] does occasionally suffer from being a little muscled along. However, the beauty of the blend is so total that it is not difficult to put that to the back of your mind and allow yourself to be mesmerised by the overall perfection” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “This is a fine version of this masterpiece [Clarinet Quintet].” International Record Review, December 2012 “What lovely music this is and how elegantly both pieces are played here” MusicWeb International, 12th February 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Leif Ove Andsnes – 5 Classic Albums
Brahms: | Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle Intermezzi (3), Op. 117 | Grieg: | Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Berliner Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons | Haydn: | Keyboard Concerto No. 4 in G major, Hob.XVIII:4 Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in F major with French horns and strings, Hob.XVIII:3 Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Keyboard Concerto No. 11 in D major, HobXVIII:11 Norwegian Chamber Orchestra | Mozart: | Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K453 Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466 Norwegian Chamber Orchestra | Rachmaninov: | Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1 Berliner Philharmoniker, Antonio Pappano Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Berliner Philharmoniker, Antonio Pappano | Schumann: | Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 Berliner Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons |
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| |  | Anne-Sophie Mutter – 5 Classic Albums
Bach, J S: | Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV1042 English Chamber Orchestra Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV1042 with Salvatore Accardo (violin) English Chamber Orchestra Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV1041 English Chamber Orchestra | Brahms: | Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (complete) with Alexis Weissenberg (piano) | Massenet: | Meditation (from Thaïs) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan | Mozart: | Violin Concerto No. 1 in B flat major K207 Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner Adagio for Violin and Orchestra in E, K261 Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola & Orchestra in E flat major, K364 with Bruno Giuranna (viola) Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K218 Philharmonia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti | Sarasate: | Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 National Orchestra of France, Seiji Ozawa | Vivaldi: | The Four Seasons Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan The Four Seasons: Autumn, RV293 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan |
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| |  | Brahms: German Requiem
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| |  | Chen Reiss: The Nightingale and the Rose
Bellini: | Vanne, o rosa fortunata | Berg: | Die Nachtigall | Brahms: | An die Nachtigall, Op. 46 No. 4 (Text: L.C.H. Hölty) | Fauré: | Les roses d'Ispahan Op. 39 No. 4 | Franck, C: | Roses et papillons Le mariage des roses | Grieg: | Seks Sange, Op. 48 No. 4 'Die verschwiegene Nachtigall' Zur Rosenzeit (No. 5 from Seks Sange, Op. 48) | Guastavino: | La rosa y el sauce | Hahn, R: | Le rossignol des lilas | Krenek: | Die Nachtigall | Mahler: | Ablösung im Sommer (Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit) | Meyerbeer: | Die Rosenblätter | Purcell: | Sweeter than Roses (from Pausanius, the Betrayer of his Country, Z585) | Rimsky Korsakov: | The Nightingale and the Rose | Saint-Saëns: | Le Rossignol (de Banville) | Schubert: | Heidenröslein, D257 | Schumann: | Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (No. 3 from Dichterliebe, Op. 48) Meine Rose, Op. 90 No. 2 | Sherwin, M: | A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square | Strauss, R: | Rote Rosen, AV76 Das Rosenband, Op. 36 No. 1 | Viardot-Garcia: | Les deux roses | Weber: | Das Röschen ('Ich sah ein Röschen am Wege steh’n'), J. 67 (Op. 15 No. 5) | Zeira: | Shnei Shoshanim (Two roses) |
Chen Reiss (soprano) & Charles Spencer (piano) Chen Reiss’s debut album 'Liaisons' was internationally acclaimed for both the repertoire selection and the sheer brilliance of the musicianship displayed by Reiss. Gramophone magazine called her performances of arias by Haydn, Mozart, Salieri and Cimarosa "standard-setting" and BBC Music magazine called it "top-drawer". For her second ONYX CD Chen Reiss and pianist Charles Spencer have assembled a wonderful collection of songs on the subject of 'The Nightingale and the Rose' – songs that convey the magic of being in love, the heartbreak of love lost, the memories, the fun, the fantasies all associated with that strange, mysterious, dangerous and all-powerful condition – love. In repertoire that ranges from Purcell to Krenek, Hahn to Meyerbeer and Rimsky-Korsakov, and ends in Berkeley Square in London, this is a programme tailor-made for Chen Reiss’s remarkable voice and it will seduce you. “Reiss fields a supple, vernal lyric-coloratura that soars without strain or hardness into the stratosphere. Discerningly partnered by Charles Spencer, she can spin a pure legato and always phrases musically, with rubato growing naturally from the curve of the line and the flux of the harmony...this is a more-than-promising recital from a soprano whose vocal ease and allure make her an artist to watch.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013 “It is a measure of her gifts that Chen Reiss takes all these composers in her stride. That vocal stride is impressive: sustained lyric tone that is only rarely forced...Charles Spencer is as ever the perfect partner” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Alfred Cortot: The Anniversary EditionComplete EMI Recordings
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| |  | Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3Recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London.
Conductor Klaus Tennstedt enjoyed a close and enduring relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra that resulted in his appointment as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Music Director in 1983, later becoming its Conductor Laureate. Renowned for his interpretations of the German Romantic repertoire, Tennstedt once said he loved the LPO so much because ‘it is a romantic orchestra’. Here he conducts the Orchestra in live concert performances of Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3. This Symphony No. 1 performance in 1992 was one of the conductor’s last concerts with the LPO. As the conductor struggled with illness, every one of his late concerts in London became an event, as if any could be his last, and the acute atmosphere of his last London appearances shines through in this performance. “No conductor ever achieved a wider range of dynamics, more hushed pianissimos. The detail in the first movement of Brahms 1 is wonderful, yet at the same time the music is realised in a single tragic arc.” Sunday Times, 11th November 2012 “These are certainly deeply sympathetic Brahms performances. The account of the Third Symphony in particular is quite wonderful, the finest live account to be preserved on disc since Furtwangler's celebrated 1949 Berlin performance...Make no mistake, this is Brahms-conducting of rare moment and pedigree.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013 “The sense of purpose with which Tennstedt approaches the first movement is very pleasing...Nowhere is the large scale of the interpretation more apparent than in the introductions to the first and last movements, both of which are imposingly rhetorical..if you don’t have Tennstedt’s live performances of these symphonies in your collection then acquiring them will offer two opportunities to hear a great conductor in action.” MusicWeb International, January 2013 “the 1992 LPO version combines energy with polish; this sounds like a great occasion that elicited exceptional concentration from performers and audience alike. The only disappointment comes in the coda of the finale, which strikes me as unnecessarily stodgy” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 **** | | | (also available to download from $21.75) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | 100 Best Chamber Music
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| |  | Brahms: Chamber Music
The Nash Ensemble is one of Britain’s finest chamber ensembles. With repertoire spanning the classical, romantic and contemporary and with over 255 new works in their repertoire including 118 commissions the Nash Ensemble has set a very high standard for future generations. The series of recordings they made for ONYX of Brahms’s chamber works were highly praised both in the UK and internationally. Gathered together in one box with new booklet notes, these recordings represent music making at its highest level and superb value for money. “These performances are fine (if sometimes a shade slow), above all Op 25, a thrilling account: young Brahms at his most masterly.” Sunday Times, 6th January 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Gramophone Magazine