Johannes Brahms

Brahms’ organ works are often overlooked, but represent an important aspect of his overall musical development. They epitomise his lifelong devotion to Bach. This collection includes his 11 Chorale Preludes Op.122, as well as the Prelude and Fugue for Organ Op.16 by Clara Schumann.

The Fairhaven Singers' new disc features a selection of transcendent choral works dedicated to the Virgin Mary, under the direction of Ralph Woodward, and produced by John Rutter. The largely meditative programme of Ave Maria settings spanning four centuries also features Brahms’ radiant Marienlieder and offers a distillation of joy and purity – the perfect tonic. Highlights include the premiere recording of Bob Chilcott's Ave Maria, and diverse choral treasures to suit all tastes, performed with warmth and sparkle.

This CD is the first in a new Cypres Archive series of recitals from La Monnaie. This theatre has played host to some of the most famous recitalists in the world and José van Dam has been chosen to launch the collection, as one of the greatest Belgian artists. There have been many fine evenings at La Monnaie and the label will release at least one CD per year in this series.

This is a Christmas CD with a difference – Christmas on the high seas! The Welte Philharmonie music rolls used here were recorded during the great epoch of the giant ocean liners and are performed on the Welte Philharmonie organ in the Museum of Music Automatons, Seewen, Switzerland. They cover many different styles, from traditional songs to pastoral pieces.

Some lesser-known but majestic masterpieces here, in a disc originally issued in 1991 on the Olympia imprint and now available again at mid-price. The original review in Gramophone stated “This is an attractive performance, with mostly unhurried tempos……. and beautifully recorded”

Born in London, Peter Katin’s musical talent was evident at the age of four, and he was admitted to the senior department of the Royal Academy of Music when he was twelve, four years before the official age of entry. The success of his Wigmore Hall début in 1948 started him on a career that has taken him throughout the world (he was the first British artist to give a post-war solo tour of the then USSR).

He has now almost forty recordings, more than at any other time in his career, which have been received with critical superlatives. These include the complete Chopin Nocturnes and Impromptus, Grieg Lyric Pieces, Chopin Waltzes and Polonaises and the Rachmaninov Preludes. A live performance of a recital including the Liszt Sonata was released by Athene to a rave review in Classic CD. His interest in period pianos has resulted in three such recordings, as well as an all-Chopin programme on his own Collard & Collard 1836 instrument, and another on a Broadwood grand that was personally used by Chopin on the occasion of his last visit to London.

Brahms' Fourth Symphony, his last, was completed in 1885, twelve years before his death. Perhaps, having reached such perfection in his Fourth Symphony, Brahms was less inclined to write another. In his Third Symphony, Saint-Saëns, himself a highly accomplished organist – hailed by Frans Liszt as the greatest in the world, gives us the first work to place the organ in a prominent role in a symphonic setting.