Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“Considering the acknowledged status of Corelli's Op 5 violin sonatas, it's surprising how few of today's star Baroque violinists have recorded them. Published as a clear statement of intent on January 1, 1700, they're a benchmark not only in the history of the violin but of chamber music in general; yet despite being an accepted model of compositional purity and refinement which lasted throughout the 18th century and beyond, for many music-lovers – even Baroque musiclovers – they're still relatively little-known territory.
Perhaps it's their finely honed perfection which has counted against them. Maybe they just seem too polite. Accounts of Corelli's violin- playing tell us that his eyes would glow 'red as fire' and his face contort, but evidence of this volatile character has not not always been easy to detect in the written notes of the violin sonatas.
If anyone is going to find him, however, it's Andrew Manze, who has repeatedly demonstrated that the heart of Baroque music lies beyond what's on the printed page. At a time when improvisational flair and spontaneity have never been a more exciting part of Baroque music-making, Manze and his accompanist Richard Egarr are the masters of it, and here they have produced a Corelli recording which is nothing short of revelatory.
Not that it's unthinkingly wild or bizarre.
Manze may have adorned the music with his customarily liberal decoration of extra doublestops, flowery arabesques and emphatic gestures – and Egarr may have performed his usual extraordinary feats at the keyboard, devising an array of inventive keyboard textures which ranges from luxurious feather-bed arpeggios and swirls to daring, stabbing left-hand double octaves (no other continuo player manages to sound so much as if his fingers were a direct extension of his imagination) – but this is still Corelli with a measure of north Italian dignity.
The resulting balance between restraint and urgency is compelling, because the performers, you feel, aren't out to shock but to search for something new and real. This really is Corelli as you haven't heard him before. The performances reach a high technical standard, as does the recording, though strangely long gaps are left between some of the movements. This vital, earopening disc is in a category of its own, classic music in a classic recording.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is baroque violin-playing without peer today” Sunday Times

“Corelli's Sonatas have never felt more alive and less perfectly preserved than they do here, and if you care at all for the baroque repertoire or fine fiddle playing, you owe it to yourself to hear these exhilarating performances. Everything's come together for this one: repertoire, performers, recording, notes, even the perfect artwork for the cover.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 17th March 2003

“The unpredictable Pogorelich at his very best, accomplishing miracles of tone colour, refinement and control, with a coruscating final 'Scarbo'. The couplings are both piano sonatas: Prokofiev No 6 and the Chopin B flat minor.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Biber's 15 Mystery Sonatas with their additional Passacaglia for unaccompanied violin were written in about 1678 and dedicated to his employer, the Archbishop of Salzburg. Each Sonata is inspired by a section of the Rosary devotion of the Catholic Church which offered a system of meditation on 15 Mysteries from the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The music isn't, strictly speaking, programmatic, though often vividly illustrative of events which took place in the life of Christ.
All but two of the 16 pieces require scordatura or retuning of the violin strings; in this way Biber not only facilitated some of the fingerings but also achieved sounds otherwise unavailable to him. The Sonatas are disposed into three groups of five: Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries whose contrasting states are affectingly evoked in music ranging from a spirit reflecting South German Baroque exuberance to one of profound contemplation. John Holloway plays with imaginative sensibility. He's supported by a first-rate continuo group whose instruments include Baroque lute, chitarrone, viola da gamba, a 15-string lirone, double harp and regal.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Holloway's strong instrumental personality is very telling. Davitt Moroney (chamber organ or harpsichord) and Tragicomedia provide an imaginative continuo, using viola da gamba, lute, harp and a regal for the Crowning with Thorns. The recording gives a most vivid presence to the soloist.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“[El amor brujo] enjoys exceptionally vivid sound, yet with plenty of light and shade, and the control of atmosphere in the quieter passages is masterful...de Larrocha's later, digital version of Nights in the Gardens of Spain is unsurpassed among modern recordings” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“This is the most beautiful of Mozart playing, his last piano concerto given here by Emil Gilels with total clarity. This is a classic performance, memorably accompanied by the VPO and Böhm. Suffice it to say that Gilels sees everything and exaggerates nothing, that the performance has an Olympian authority and serenity, and that the Larghetto is one of the glories of the gramophone. He's joined by his daughter Elena in the Double Piano Concerto in E flat, and their physical relationship is mirrored in the quality, and the mutual understanding of the playing: both works receive marvellous interpretations.
We think Emil plays first, Elena second, but could be quite wrong. The VPO under Karl Böhm is at its best; and so is the quality of recording, with a good stereo separation of the two solo parts, highly desirable in this work.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is a remarkable and, indeed, invaluable box, which is unlikely to be challenged, let alone surpassed. Nowadays, it is not often possible to hail one set of records as a 'classic' of the gramophone in quite the same sense as, say, Schnabel's Beethoven sonatas or the Busch late Beethoven quartets.
Yet this set can surely be said to enjoy this status.
The playing of the Beaux Arts Trio is of the highest musical distinction, Menahem Pressler's contribution is little short of inspired; the set offers astonishingly lifelike recorded sound, and the repertoire is unfailingly fresh and inventive.
The performances follow the Critical Edition prepared by HC Robbins Landon, whose tireless researches have increased the number of trios that we know in the standard edition from 31 to 43. These are records to which one returns with pleasure and profit, for this music is sane and intelligent, balm to the soul in a troubled world. Indeed, it is a set that will last a lifetime.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“the playing of the Beaux Arts Trio is of the very highest musical distinction. The contribution of the pianist, Menahem Pressler, is inspired, and the recorded sound on CD is astonishingly lifelike.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“By common consent, Mitsuko Uchida is among the leading Mozart pianists of today, and her recorded series of the piano sonatas won critical acclaim as it appeared and finally Gramophone Awards in 1989 and 1991. Here are all the sonatas, plus the Fantasia in C minor, K475, which is in some ways a companion piece to the sonata in the same key, K457. This is unfailingly clean, crisp and elegant playing, that avoids anything like a romanticised view of the early sonatas such as the delightfully fresh G major, K283. On the other hand, Uchida responds with the necessary passion to the forceful, not to say Angst-ridden, A minor Sonata, K310. Indeed, her complete series is a remarkably fine achievement, comparable with her account of the piano concertos. The recordings were produced in the Henry Wood Hall in London and offer excellent piano sound; thus an unqualified recommendation is in order for one of the most valuable volumes in Philips's Complete Mozart Edition. Don't be put off by critics who suggest that these sonatas are less interesting than some other Mozart compositions, for they're fine pieces written for an instrument that he himself played and loved.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Alicia de Larrocha has been playing these works, the greatest in the repertoire of Spanish piano music, all her life. Complete technical assurance in these extremely demanding works has now become taken for granted, and Larrocha isn't unique in mastering their terrors; but though there have been other distinguished interpreters, her readings have consistently remained a touchstone.
She employs plenty of subtle rubato but possesses the ability to make it sound as natural as breathing. In the true sense of that much misused word, this is classical playing, free from any superimposed striving for effect but responding fully to the music's sense of colour; and even in the densest of textures she's able to control con- flicting tonal levels. Goyescas, which can tempt the unwary into exaggerated 'expressiveness', brings forth a wealth of poetic nuance, without losing shape. The recorded quality throughout always was good and here emerges as fresh as ever. Anyone who doesn't already possess these recordings should not hesitate to acquire them now – all the more since the two discs together cost the same as one full-price one.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…robust and theatrical…” Gramophone Magazine, June 2010

“Alicia de Larrocha has recorded Iberia three times with almost equal success, but her 1972 analogue version is rather special. She has a unique feeling for this repertoire, and plays with great character.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition