Search
Special Offers
Awards
Online Payment
Visit us
Presto News - 21st December 2009Richard Farrell |
 Just over fifty years ago on a country road near Arundel, Sussex, a car unaccountably left the road and hit a tree, killing all three of the vehicle's occupants. One of the passengers in the car was a New Zealander named Richard Farrell who was just starting an amazing career as a concert pianist. He was just 32 when he died but had already caught the attention of numerous greats, including conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Eugene Ormandy. And the great pianist Artur Rubinstein declared Farrell, along with himself and William Kapell (who of course also died tragically young), to be "one of only three pianists in the world", a tongue-in-cheek - but nevertheless significant - remark.  Richard Farrell Farrell left behind a small legacy of studio recordings, including five LPs and several EPs all made for the Pye recording company between 1956 and 1958, as well as a number of unissued performances and radio broadcasts. Last year the New Zealand based classical record label Atoll began licensing his recordings from EMI (who now own Pye) in order to allow a much-needed re-evaluation of a truly outstanding pianist. Volume One came out earlier this year and received the following enthusiastic response from Jeremy Nicholas in Gramophone Magazine: "What we have here are some of the most beautiful recorded performances of the time bathed in what I can only describe as that warm, intimate piano tone familiar from the LP era now all too often lost to clinical digitisation: the Grieg Concerto (as poetic and full-blooded as they come), the four Brahms Ballades (straight to the top of my personal favourites) and 16 Waltzes (ditto), Grieg's Ballade (perhaps the most convincing version on disc of this awkward, flawed work), nine popular Lyric Pieces (how one wishes there were more) and Liszt's E flat Concerto (a magisterial "first movement", an unusually limpid quasi adagio and a thrilling finale). Buy this release. You'll be richly rewarded.” Volume Two (like Volume One a 2-disc set) has just been released and gathers together the remainder of the studio recordings: two complete LPs - each of them solo recital discs, one of Brahms and the other of Rachmaninov - plus four EP discs and a number of unissued performances of Chopin's solo piano music. I have been hugely impressed by the quality of his playing. His technique is superb and his understanding of form and structure excellent, but I think the thing that impresses me the most is his rare ability to play the slow passages slowly (often far slow than what you normally hear), but without ever sounding sentimental nor dull. On the contrary, his playing brings out all the poetry and melancholy of the music. It is movingly contemplative and he is always inventive yet always sounds so natural to the music. I’ve had a real battle this week trying to decide what sample to give you, as so much of this 2-disc set is so instantly appealing. But in the end I opted for Chopin’s E major Étude from the Op. 10 set which I hope you’ll enjoy below.  On to other more boring - but probably useful - things to remind you: for customers in the UK it is not too late for pre-Christmas delivery on a lot of items. We carry over 10,000 items in stock which are ready for immediate despatch (identified on the website by the “In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day” message) and we’ll go on ordering and despatching tomorrow and Wednesday so even for a lot of non-stock items and later orders there is a good chance of pre-Christmas delivery if you select the ‘courier’ option at checkout. And of course there is always our Gift Vouchers which you can order any time of day or night (including Christmas day) and have it delivered (by email) within minutes – to anywhere in the world! See here for full details. Finally, it only remains for me to say thank you for your custom over the past year and to wish you a very Merry Christmas.
|
Share
|
 Richard Farrell - The Complete Recordings Volume 1Richard Farrell (piano), The Halle Orchestra, George Weldon |
 Richard Farrell - The Complete Recordings Volume 2Richard Farrell (piano) |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
listen - Chopin - Etude in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3New Releases21st December 2009 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Mahler - LiederChristian Gerhaher (baritone) & Gerold Huber (piano)2009 BBC Music Magazine Award-winning baritone Christian Gerhaher returns with another exceptional recital recording, again accompanied by Gerold Huber. Gerhaher will be appearing at the Wigmore Hall in December 2009 in a recital to include Mahler Lieder. |
 Bruch - Works for Clarinet and ViolaJean-Luc Votano (clarinet), Arnaud Thorette (viola) & Johan Farjot (piano), Orchestre Philharmonique de Liege Wallonie Bruxelles, Pascal RopheAll the works in this stunning recording were composed in the same year, 1911. The CD includes Bruch’s Concerto for clarinet, viola and orchestra (Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège) as well as Eight pieces for clarinet, viola and piano. |
 Svetlanov Edition Volume 40Svetlanov conducts his own worksEvgeny Svetlanov’s passion for his music resonates in the following quote: “My musical creation is a continuation of the great Russian tradition. It may seem conservative in a modern era, but I have a faith in posterity: consider for example the current revival of Miaskovsky and Medtner. I am convinced that my music will follow the same path. I love the sweeping melodies and clear, rich, polyphonic harmonies that emerge – or indeed the very contrary, illustrated by Mahler’s work, my favourite composer throughout my whole life.” |
 Naked ByrdArmonico ConsortThis recording is compiled from Armonico Consort's 'Naked Byrd' programme, featuring music by composers who wore their hearts on their sleeves and whose art saw their emotions laid bare, in an atmospheric concert where magical musical moments are intertwined with sublime passages of plainchant and violin improvisation. |
 Martinu - Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Jirí BelohlávekJirí Belohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic follow up their critically acclaimed 2005 album of Martinu’s Symphonies Nos 3 and 4 (SU36312), which was nominated for a Grammy award and hailed by critics as a recording par excellence of these works. This eagerly awaited CD, the second in a planned complete set, presents the composer’s last two symphonies, both written during his post-war sojourn in America. |
 Dvorak - Songs my Great-Grandfather Taught MeJosef Suk (violin and viola) & Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)Two of world’s greatest musicians appear together – for the first time anywhere – on Toccata Classics, playing an hour of ‘new’ Dvorák. Josef Suk – the great-grandson of Antonín Dvorák – undertook these transcriptions of 30 Dvorák songs at the suggestion of Martin Anderson of Toccata Classics. Josef Suk had Dvorák’s own viola restored for the recording sessions, which took place in Prague at the beginning of September. Suk’s transcriptions turn the songs into exquisitely beautiful instrumental miniatures. |
 Gennady Rozhdestvensky - Collection Volume 1Gennady RozhdestvenskyThe Russian repertoire was at the core of his musical life. Among the great recordings of Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Prokofiev and Glazunov, his interpretations of Shostakovich stand out. This set includes symphonies Nos.1, 4, 7, 9 & 10 as well as works by lesser know contemporary Soviet composers who music he championed, notably Fleischmann’s ‘Rotschild’s Violin’ completed by Shostakovich. |
 Australian Eloquence5 New re-issuesThe latest batch of Austalian Eloquence titles includes three Debussy discs and two Bartok discs. The Debussy discs are all Ernest Ansermet recordings and include many first ever releases on CD and also include the 1952 50th anniversary performance of Pelleas et Melisande. The Bartok discs include Rafael Kubelik's famous Boston Symphony Orchestra recording of the Concerto for Orchestra which has long been out of the catalogue. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 19th December 2009 |
Building a Library - Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor |
 First Choice(coupled with the Violin Sonatas and the Sonata for Violin and Cello)Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capuçon (cello), Frank Braley (piano) |
Disc of the Week |
Gershwin: Porgy and BessIsabelle Kabatu, Jonathan Lemalu, Arnold Schoenberg Chor & Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt |
Your details will be used only in accordance with our Privacy Policy. |
Copyright © 2002-13 Presto Classical Limited, all rights reserved.