Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Karajan Adagio is the most successful classical collection of all time with nearly 4 million units sold since 1993. It has now been re-engineered, re-titled, and newly compiled for the 21st century.

“Adagio Karajan” was the ORIGINAL CLASSICAL CHILL-OUT ALBUM. Over two-and-a-half hours of the world’s most relaxing music – from the most accomplished conductor of all time. Emphasizing classical music’s unique power in transporting the listener away from the stresses and strains of modern-day living - All over the world, consumers are searching for an escape, and the soothing sounds of “Karajan Adagio” can provide that.

“Adagio” – the literal translation is “at ease”, with a slowness, with a tranquillity, and with a longing – the perfect antidote to the relentless pace of modern global living.

Noriko Ogawa follows her recordings of Debussy’s solo piano works (BISCD1955/56) and Rachmaninov’s First and Fourth Piano Concertos (BIS-CD-975) with three piano sonatas by Mozart.

The three sonatas here are often grouped together as ‘the Paris Sonatas’.

At the time, Mozart was establishing himself in Vienna, and composed piano sonatas to exploit the growing market for printed music and to use as teaching material.

More than 200 years later these particular sonatas remain among Mozart’s best-loved compositions.

Michael Collins combines the roles of clarinet soloist and conductor as he leads the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in three works that chart the journey of the clarinet from Mozart’s late eighteenth-century Europe, via Aaron Copland’s 1940s America, to today’s classical scene with a piece written, for Michael Collins, in 2007 by the Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin.

Mozart composed his Clarinet Concerto, just weeks before his death in 1791, for Anton Stadler, the first great clarinet virtuoso. Stadler performed the work on what today is known as the basset clarinet, which features additional low notes without compromising the higher register. Unfortunately, Mozart’s manuscript score has been lost. In recent years, however, editors and performers have made several attempts to determine Mozart’s original intentions, and the version recorded here represents one such reconstruction. The concerto has a quality of serene and resigned beauty, recognisable from Die Zauberflöte, and from Mozart’s Requiem.

Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto was commissioned in 1947 by Benny Goodman, the most famous band leader of the swing era, who has been credited with having made jazz ‘respectable’. Goodman also had a second career as a classical clarinettist. He was eager to enrich the repertoire by inviting major composers to write for him, and Copland was happy to take on the challenge.

Elena Kats-Chernin is one of Australia’s leading composers. Her Ornamental Air was written in 2007 in response to a commission from a group of orchestras including the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, with Michael Collins as the intended soloist. The score is modelled closely on the Clarinet Concerto by Mozart. Not only are the orchestral forces identical – two flutes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings – but the solo instrument is the basset clarinet, for which Mozart also wrote his concerto. Kats-Chernin’s writing here takes full advantage of the exceptionally wide range of the instrument, as well as its potential for both virtuosity and lyricism.

Overflowing with Mozart’s characteristic melodic invention and deliciously abundant wit, these two celebratory Divertimenti are both associated with his time in Salzburg. K. 251 was probably written for the name-day of Mozart’s sister Nannerl, and K. 334 for the university graduation of a prosperous family friend.

This is the union of two ZZT artists for a disc that includes an original work (the Sonata in D major) and transcriptions for two pianos.

Recorded on two historic instruments from the collection of Edwin Beunk, this disc is an operatic and symphonic conversation. It is also the illustration of the highly fruitful collaboration of two singular pianists as well as a new recording with Yury Martynov, who earned a 'Choc' de Classica for his Beethoven-Liszt disc.

The Ensemble BonaNox present the next volume of their interpretations of the four elements; Fire. Their previous volume, Water obtained great reviews. (German booklet only)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most celebrated composers of all time, contributed to every major genre of composition during his short life. Not to be restricted by the rules of the Classical period, Mozart developed a revolutionary style which produced some stunning results.

It is suspected that each of Mozart’s horn concertos was written for Joseph Leutgeb who, 24 years older than Wolfgang, had already established himself as a renowned horn virtuoso by the time of the composer’s birth. After moving to Salzburg to take up his position as principal horn of the Prince-Archbishop’s orchestra, Leutgeb became a close friend of the Mozart family and to Wolfgang in particular, as confirmed by the various jokes and light-hearted insults that litter the scores of the horn concertos. The composition of each of these sprightly works reflects the age and ability of the intended performer; the range of the solo part gradually becomes smaller, first losing the top notes and later the lowermost ones as Leutgeb’s capabilities declined.

Dutch horn player Ab Koster studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in his hometown of The Hague, earning the coveted Prix d’excellence. He has held the post of first horn with the NDR Symphony Orchestra (Hamburg) and has enjoyed an illustrious career as a recitalist. He is accompanied on this disc by Tafelmusik, conducted by Bruno Weil.

Recorded in 1993.

New booklet notes by Graham Rogers.

Maurizio Pollini’s own selection of his concerto recordings of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms made over a period of over 30 years with Deutsche Grammophon.

Everything is here from the classic Mozart recordings with Karl Böhm in 1976 to his recent acclaimed recordings of the same composer, directing the Wiener Philharmoniker from the keyboard.

In between come the Beethoven cycle and the Brahms Concertos, shared between Karl Böhm and long-time partner Claudio Abbado.