Future Releases

The year 2013 marks the Bicentenary of two musical giants, Verdi and Wagner, and it is easy to overlook the bicentenary of another giant, Charles-Henri Alkan, creator of piano worksof colossal proportions and difficulty. Alkan might have preferred his relative obscurity, as he spent a large part of his life in disappointed seclusion, yet the oeuvre he left us is one of great originality and power, at times sublime, bizarre, tender and passionate. One of the best pianists of his time (even Liszt was afraid to play in his company), his piano writing is of unprecedented difficulty, yet the virtuosity is never for its own sake, but always serves a musical and emotional purpose. This CD contains the Sonatine, a deceptively simple title for a piece at times demonic and frightening, the 3 grandes etudes, one for the left hand, one for the right hand and one for two hands unisono (a toccata like whirlwind of devilish difficulty) and two romantic genre pieces, deux petites pieces. Alessandro Deljavan, prize winner of important international competitions (his appearance at the Van Cliburn competition made a deep impression) making his CD debut on Piano Classics, is the perfect guide to the fascinating world of Alkan.

This CD contains the CD premiere of the transcription for piano solo of the Franck violin sonata, made by Alfred Cortot, a fascinating pianistic tour de force, the new pianistic textures giving a special sonority to the unique harmonies of this master piece. The Prélude, fugue et variation is originally an organ work, and is transcribed for piano by the famous pianist Harold Bauer. The Prélude, chorale et fugue is Franck’s pianistic pièce de résistance, although also here the influence of Franck the organist is never far away. An excellent new recording by Italian pianist Domenico Codispoti, playing with a beautiful blend of grandeur and intimacy, and a wonderful transparency (listen to the canonic 4-th movement of the violin sonata!).

A second anthology, from Praga Digitals, of Manuel de Falla’s masterpieces; in which he 'invented' modern Spanish music and also revived authentic songs, rhythms and dances out of an Andalusia both legendary and still alive. Only the concerto for harpsichord [written with Landowska in mind] in no way recalls Andalusia.

A tribute to such immortal performers as Victoria de los Angeles, Ernest Ansermet, Ataulfo Argenta and Alicia de Larrocha…

Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Köln here perform Johannes Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3. Brahms started composing the First in 1854 and continued to make additions and radical changes to the work before its première in 1876, some 22 years later. The Third is Brahms’s shortest symphony and was composed some six years after his Second.

Schumann's only piano concerto is romantically poetic and occupies a special place in the repertory. The piano and orchestra are closely interwoven, and one is not imaginable without the other.

Mozart composed his last three symphonies – including the G Minor performed here – in the summer of 1788. The symphony has a sombre, passionate and at times even tragic underlying mood.

This disc contains everything any music lover could wish, from the sounds of a ballad played on the mediaeval crumhorn, through to bagpipe sounding saxophones reminiscent of the Celtic tradition, to blues-like shuffle beats performed on an overtone drone-flute. The arrangements are tailor made and so are the choices of inspired soloists; everything fits together perfectly.

Ale Möller and Bohuslän Big Band take us in their time machine on a musical journey over a large part of the globe, painting fantastic pictures of music as a border- crossing, peace-making and healing force.

These sonatas belong to the lesser known and less often performed violin sonatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.

1 SACD + DVD

"Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no more human voices, only planets and suns revolving in their orbits," wrote Gustav Mahler to his friend, Willem Mengelberg, on 18 August 1906. The day before, he had completed the sketches of the Eighth Symphony in little more than three weeks, and that after a very hectic season.

The legendary relationship between Gustav Mahler, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Willem Mengelberg has established a firm tradition of playing Mahler in Amsterdam. During the 1960s the orchestra and Bernard Haitink started recording a Mahler discography that still remains one of the cornerstones of any Mahlerian's collection. Ricccardo Chailly's tenure as chief conductor yielded another brilliant Mahler cycle and now Mariss Jansons is steadily building his tribute to the composer.

Recorded during the same Mahler cycle as the recently released Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 – part of the full Mahler cycle that the orchestra performed in the 2009-2011 seasons to celebrate the composer's 150th birthday and 100th anniversary of his death - Mariss Jansons's interpretation of the Eight Symphony is one more jewel in the crown of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; with a star-studded cast and excellent choral forces, this 'Symphony of a Thousand' left a lasting impression on the audience.