Weber: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 24

Weber, best known for his operas today, was also a very fine pianist and he wrote a sizeable body of piano music of which the four sonatas are the centrepiece. These are perhaps the first truly ‘Romantic’ piano sonatas and were a great influence on the succeeding generation of German composers such as Mendelssohn and Schumann; all are large scale and virtuosic and their quality makes it surprising how rarely they have been recorded. The set also includes the most important of Weber’s other piano works including the once hugely popular ‘Invitation to the Dance’, a work which has become better known in the orchestration of Berlioz.

‘These are distinguished performances, by a pianist of true romantic temper, of four works that have had more than their share of misunderstanding from performers and critics alike’ (Gramophone)

Garrick Ohlsson is the pianist, acclaimed for his performances of Brahms and Chopin on Hyperion. These delightful recordings were originally released on Arabesque.

Claudio Arrau (1903-91) was described variously as ‘Prince’, ‘Emperor’, and ‘King’, of the keyboard, such was the awe in which he was held. Even more tellingly, he remarked: "When I play I am in ecstasy; that is what I live for".

The story of Dino Ciani unfolded in the brief span of a few years.

A period rich in events, successes and hopes that everybody, friends and admirers alike, felt were soon to be realised. Memorable were the technical ease, the smoothness and elegance of Ciani’s playing. Dino Ciani left us on 27th March 1974, meeting his sad destiny on the Via Flaminia near Rome: a road accident, one of the many tragedies to which journalistic routine generally reserves just a few lines at the bottom of the page. News of Dino’s death struck a chill blow to the heart of the entire world of music, not just in Italy, at the time. Twenty-eight years have passed since that tragic accident and Dynamic has decided to dedicate Ciani this 6-CD box set at half price, containing live and studio recordings which have not been digitally re-mastered in order to offer an authentic document of this pianist’s talent.

Legendary Chilean-American pianist Claudio Arrau was born in 1903. During a career lasting over 60 years, he became one of the most admired instrumentalists of his generation. He was particularly revered for his performances and recordings of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, but was also renowned for his interpretation of early 20th century music, especially that of Debussy. He died in Mürzzuschlag, Austria in 1991.