Dmitri Shostakovich

Comprising professors and band directors, the Taiwan Wind Ensemble is a leading international exponent of the wind repertory, not least in its exciting series of commissions. On this disc it presents a selection of music of orchestrations and originals from around the world. There are a variety of overtures and evocative dances from Bach to Bernstein, as well as Alfred Reed’s richly colorful Armenian Dances. They are complemented by Taiwanese composer Chia-Ying Chiang’s mysterious and beautiful recent composition A Chasing After The Wind, which takes its title from Ecclesiastes.

Shostakovich’s piano concertos have become part of the standard concerto repertoire, and for good reason: they are highly effective “show pieces”, with the right balance between moving simplicity and exhilarating wit and brilliance. Especially the first concerto, with its spectacular trumpet solo part, is a regular crowd pleaser.

These performances by the celebrated Cristina Ortiz, drawn from the EMI catalogue, were recorded in the 70ties, and haven’t lost any of their freshness and exuberance.

One of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century; Dmitri Shostakovich’s output includes symphonies, concertos, operas and film scores, among others. With his career constantly hampered by political intervention and the social pressures of Stalin’s Soviet Union, the Russian Maestro’s works are now considered to go some way to providing a chronicle of life during the period. This disc includes the two Piano Concertos; the first was originally intended to be a concerto for trumpet, but during the composition process the piano was added and eventually became the focus of the piece: it is unmistakably reminiscent of Shostakovich’s vaudeville jazz suites. The Second Piano Concerto was written shortly after Stalin’s death, and embraces the new sense of freedom felt by Shostakovich after this event; containing references to Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, it is largely mellow in tone and has become one of the composer’s most popular works.

The collection culminates in the Three Fantastic Dances, Shostakovich’s first pieces for piano. Each of these much‐loved compositions represents a different folk dance, with the lively and capricious first followed by the serenity of the second and thereafter the frenetic pace of the final dance. This recording features the celebrated pianist Cristina Ortiz when she was just 25 years old. She has since worked with such prestigious conductors as André Previn and has performed with orchestras all over the world. In addition to her renown for playing the ‘classics’, she has actively promoted the music of her native Brazil. She is joined on this release by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Berglund.

Three exceptional pieces on a single CD: romantic, colourful and emotional Sonata by Strauss; Shostakovich's gloomy, dark, monumental and – at times – ironic and grotesque Sonata, and finally the Ciaconna: a contemplative, rich in numerous shades of grey chamber version of Penderecki's piece dedicated to the memory of John Paul the Second in its first phonographic rendition, more subtle than the symphonic original.

Three great creations, three outstanding, mature soloists. Jakub Haufa, a great solo violinist and Sinfonia Varsovia's concertmaster; Marcin Sikorski, a recognized chamber pianist accompanying some of the best musicians; Katarzyna Budnik-Gałązka, a renowned viola soloist and chamber player.

This 2-CD compilation contains 147 minutes of music by leading American orchestras and conductors including the Cleveland Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, the Boston Baroque with Martin Pearlman, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with Robert Shaw & Andrew Litton and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Robert Spano & David Zinman. They perform works by Copland, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, Berlioz, Shostakovich, Enescu and Handel.

Mischa Maisky will be 65 on 10 January 2013; he made his first recording for Deutsche Grammophon 30 years ago; and he left the Soviet Union 40 years ago.

10 Classic DG Albums, balanced carefully between his great concerto and recital CDs and presented in Original Jacket artwork.

Elegant slipcase presentation, with 10 mint-packs offering gatefold presentation for each album inside.

This release is not a limited edition.

On this CD Yuri Temirkanov performs the Fifth Symphony with the orchestra that premiered it in 1937. It marked a decisive turning point in the career of a brilliant composer of operas (The Nose, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District) who was now condemned to silence.

The work resolved the dilemma of the symphonist who seeks to be at once innovative and accessible, and thus became, far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union, one of the 20th-century symphonies most frequently performed in the world. Recorded at the St Petersburg Philarmonia March 2012.

PHAIA MUSIC reissued Shostakovich's Trios for Piano and the both Sonatas for violin and viola respectively on this recording, brilliantly supported by Yakov Kasman (piano).

Continuing Ensemble Caprice’s critically acclaimed recordings, the Toronto Star said of this release:

“This is no ordinary recording of J.S. Bach’s six masterpieces of Baroque instrumental music. For starters, the pieces are interwoven with period-instrument transcriptions of piano music written in the early 1950s by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

It seems like a crazy mishmash, unless you happen to know that Shostakovich drew inspiration for his Op. 87 set of 24 preludes and fugues directly from Bach. With clever, colourful instrumentation and judicious transposition into different keys by Montreal-based Matthias Maute, old and newer compositions coexist as complements, shedding light back and forth on each other. This two-CD set is remarkable also for the vivid, richly textured, endearingly tousled performances by 25 members of Montreal’s Ensemble Caprice, led by conductor Maute. This is music one can savour over and over.”

The Ibuki Trio have unique experiences as performers and have appeared in major halls around the world, winning competitions and playing as soloists and chamber musicians.

Ben Wragg notably won the Making Music Young Concert Artist Award, the Countess of Munster Award, the Jerwood Foundation Scholarship and the Concordia Foundation. He has been described as "technically and musically out of the ordinary" by the legendary Ruggiero Ricci.

Kan Tomiat won the Kendall Taylor Beethoven Prize, the Hopkinson Gold Medal and the Florestano Rossomandi International Piano Competition in Italy (2004). He has been described by Japanese press thus: "superb technical accomplishment and poetry ...stunning".

Laura Anstee has an interest in world music genres, notably Jewish Klezmer, Gypsy, Balkan and Latin music, which has greatly enriched her approach to music today. She was awarded the Herbert Walenn prize, Douglas Cameron prize, McEwen prize and Gwyneth George prize.

The Ibuki Trio have unique experiences as performers and have appeared in major halls around the world, winning competitions and playing as soloists and chamber musicians.

Ben Wragg notably won the Making Music Young Concert Artist Award, the Countess of Munster Award, the Jerwood Foundation Scholarship and the Concordia Foundation. He has been described as "technically and musically out of the ordinary" by the legendary Ruggiero Ricci.

Kan Tomiat won the Kendall Taylor Beethoven Prize, the Hopkinson Gold Medal and the Florestano Rossomandi International Piano Competition in Italy (2004). He has been described by Japanese press thus: "superb technical accomplishment and poetry ...stunning".

Laura Anstee has an interest in world music genres, notably Jewish Klezmer, Gypsy, Balkan and Latin music, which has greatly enriched her approach to music today. She was awarded the Herbert Walenn prize, Douglas Cameron prize, McEwen prize and Gwyneth George prize.