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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Brahms: Handel Variations
British pianist Jonathan Plowright makes his début recording on BIS. Hailed by Gramophone as ‘one of the finest living pianists’, Plowright is recognised worldwide as a truly exceptional artist. Brahms’s Piano Sonata No. 3 is heroic in scale, unconventional in layout and exudes high quality making it one of the most impressive sonatas since those of Beethoven and Schubert. Brahms never wrote another piano sonata after completing No. 3 but instead concentrated on a series of large-scale sets of variations, among which the Handel Variations must be considered his crowning achievement. Completed in September 1861 the work shows Brahms at the height of his powers, “His warmth and sincerity combine with a superbly assured and powerful technique to create one of the finest performances [of the F minor Sonata] on record...His Handel Variations, too, are subtly and economically inflected, never searching for easy glamour or effect...One could hardly wish for more and I can scarcely wait for further volumes from this pianist, adding that both the piano concertos positively cry out for his attention.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013 | 
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| |  | Leon McCawley plays Brahms
Leon McCawley has made Brahms’ Handel Variations into a piece of his very own . His individual thoughts on the music bear the hallmark of a mature artist who has the means and talent to express them, as demonstrated by this recording. The work is a summit of Brahms’ keyboard works. “Leon McCawley is less of a big-picture person than a detail maven. Cases in point: his affectionate accentuations and inner voices in Var 2, the strict adherence to Brahms's dynamics and articulations in Vars 7 and 10 (easier said than some)...McCawley lets his hair down in the Waltzes...Clearly McCawley's artistry is evolving.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2012 “McCawley's beautifully recorded Brahms recital strikes exactly the right balance between the monumental, intimate and light-hearted aspects of the composer's piano output...Among his strengths is the way he imaginatively draws out different nuances the second time the material is heard.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Works for Solo Piano Volume 1
Brahms: | Rhapsodies (2), Op. 79 Intermezzo in E major, Op. 116 No. 4 Intermezzo in E flat major, Op. 117 No. 1 Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2 Capriccio in D minor, Op. 116 No. 1 Capriccio, Allegro passionato in G minor, Op. 116 No. 3 Capriccio for Piano in D minor, Op. 116 No. 7 Romance in F major, Op. 118 No. 5 Ballade, Op. 10 No. 4 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 |
This is Volume 1 in a new series devoted to the Works for Solo Piano by Johannes Brahms, starting with a selection of highly personal collections of Capriccios, Intermezzi, Ballades, a Romance, and Rhapsodies. The series also marks the first major project of the internationally acclaimed pianist Barry Douglas as an exclusive Chandos artist. Since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, Douglas has established a major international career, and his reputation as a pianist and conductor continues to grow. Douglas was the soloist in the 2011 recording of Nino Rota’s Concerto soirée (CHAN10669), of which International Piano said: ‘For pianophiles, the headline message is undoubtedly “Barry’s back”. A complete Brahms series beckons, for which this definitely whets the appetite.’ Brahms wrote his set of four Ballades, Op. 10 (of which No. 4 is included on this disc) at the age of twenty-one, and at a time of much personal upheaval. His friend and patron Schumann had attempted suicide and been confined to a sanatorium near Bonn, and Brahms had been thrust into the role of protector and comforter of Schumann’s wife, Clara, while coming to terms with his own strong feelings for her. Reflective of the difficult situation, this work displays a deep-felt blend of the dramatic and the lyrical. Perhaps the climax of Brahms’ activities as a composer came with the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24. This was Brahms’s first major compositional statement following his 1860 ‘Manifesto’ against the ‘New German School’. The choice of a baroque theme, the strictness of the variations, the richness and scope of the piano technique, and the display of contrapuntal method in the Fugue, all combine to present Brahms in the role of ‘Preserver of Tradition’. Even Wagner saw the importance of the work, commenting grandly that it showed what could still be done with the old forms by someone who knew how to use them. The predominant mood of the three Intermezzos on this disc is reflective and deeply introspective, which is in strong contrast to Brahms’s Capriccios, which are passionate, almost volatile, in character. The Romance, Op. 118 No. 5 completes the disc. This is a tuneful piece, which displays the lilt almost of a folksong. “A purple Brahms patch from this fulsome-toned pianist proves to be more than 77 minutes of warm, enveloping delight. Barry Douglas's approach is straightforward and eschews any temptation towards novelty for the sake of it; instead, he goes for the music's emotional jugular, enhanced by beautiful, rich tone and structural rigour...Douglas still allows his head to be led ultimately by his heart, which is what gives the disc its X-Factor.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2012 ***** “Douglas's beautiful, rounded tone and assiduously effected tempo relationships will satisfy listeners who like a less classically conceived, more pianistically oriented Handel Variations...his cycle will surely be fascinating to follow as it unfolds.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2012 “The performances on this disc indicate that Barry Douglas is a Brahms interpreter of some stature...I loved the reading of Op 117 No 1. This bewitching lullaby is played with the utmost...The prospect of exploring Brahms’s solo piano music with Barry Douglas is an exciting one.” MusicWeb International, June 2012 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Francesco Piemontesi: Recital
Francesco Piemontesi (piano) Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi, still only 27, is one of the most sought after young artists of his generation. In 2009 he was awarded a fellowship of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and was invited to join the BBC ‘New Generation Artists’ scheme. This recital beginning with Handel’s Suite in B flat shows his superb sonority. “It's not just intelligent programme planning...that makes Piemontesi stand out; this is seriosuly classy pianism. Clarity of thought is complemented by clarity of touch, incisive intellect by a good dose of fantasy. The details are a joy...there's space to breathe and to dance...Spacious but clear recording quality enhances the lot.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 ***** “The Handel is alluringly played, segueing neatly into the Brahms. Piemontesi gives this a thoughtful, meticulously observed reading but seems inhibited when it comes to exploiting the full resources of the piano...The intimacy and desolation of "Valle d'Obermann" are sensitively characterised but again Piemontesi seems afraid to let go” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 “Handel’s B flat major Suite, HWV 34, is incisive and positive, while clarity is not compromised by the wide tonal palette he displays in Brahms’s Handel Variations, Op 24. Bach’s B flat major Partita is articulated elegantly. A fine account of Liszt’s transcription of Bach’s G minor Fantasy and Fugue does its massiveness and thrilling contrapuntal intricacies utter justice.” Sunday Times, 31st July 2011 **** “There's a real aristocratic sweep to this 27-year-old Swiss pianist's playing; the Handel suite from which Brahms extracted the theme of his Handel Variations is generously expressive...Piemontesi's unaffected Bach playing is recognisably all of a piece with his fundamentally unflamboyant approach to Liszt, which manages to present the rhetorical grandeur of Vallée d'Obermann truthfully, without exaggerating it in any way.” The Guardian, 30th June 2011 **** “Piemontesi combines communicative panache with remarkable insight. He prefaces a virile, sensitive performance of Brahms’s Handel Variations with a stylistically discerning one of the Handel suite...[the Liszt pieces] provide further evidence of Piemontesi’s exceptional talent.” The Telegraph, 4th August 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Handel Variations
Twenty years after his last Brahms disc, American pianist Murray Perahia has chosen to revisit this great composer’s works with a new recording featuring the great Handel Variations, Op. 24, a work Perahia considers on a par with Bach’s Goldberg variations. Alongside this are key works from Brahms’ middle and late piano periods. The Two Rhapsodies, Op.79 from his middle period, form the centrepiece of the disk and are deeply Romantic. The album finishes with the introspective and autumnal Piano Pieces Opp.118 and 119, both from Brahms’ late period. This is music of a mature composer performed by a pianist at the height of his powers. Murray Perahia has been an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist for almost 40 years, and is one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured globally as conductor and pianist. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary KBE by Her Majesty The Queen, in recognition of his outstanding service to music. Perahia’s previous recordings have garnered a Grammy® Award and several nominations, a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award. “A prince amongst pianists” Financial Times “Perahia deals seamlessly with the many subtle shifts of tempo, cementing the parts into a unified piece of light-spirited musicality that makes for a piquant contrast with the ten autumnal "Piano Pieces" from Brahms' late period, bridged here by the flightier "Two Rhapsodies".” The Independent, 19th November 2010 ***** “The virtuoso challenges of that set are met without ever drawing attention to their brilliance, and the way in which Perahia almost imperceptibly ratchets up the tension is exemplary...The Op 79 Rhapsodies balance power and poetry perfectly, the two sets of late pieces colonise their subtly different worlds with effortless ease. All hugely impressive.” The Guardian, 18th November 2010 ***** “[The miniatures] are held aloft by Perahia's unique ability to give each tiny piece close study and analysis, yet then to create a seemingly spontaneous flow of music-making. The B minor adagio (Op 119, No 1) is achingly beautiful, the G minor ballade (Op 118, No 3) fiercely impassioned.” The Observer, 28th November 2010 “Murray Perahia’s Brahms is outstanding in every way. He has the elegance to showcase the baroque inspiration of the Handel Variations, but also the sense of scale and architecture to encompass Brahms’s 30-minute musical journey...This is one of the most rewarding Brahms recitals currently available.” Financial Times ***** “Time and again Brahms's potential for strenuousness and opacity is clarified with a superfine musical intelligence and technique...I doubt whether the concluding and exultant fugure has often been given with a more formidable yet lightly worn articulacy in its entire history...you may well wonder when you last heard a pianist with a more patrician disregard for all forms of bloated excess of exaggeration.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 “Perahia brings his customary mastery to piano works by Brahms, a composer he is not usually associated with but whose blend of lyricism and rigour suits his gifts perfectly...Throughout, Perahia shapes the phrases in long-breathed arcs while bringing out every detail.” The Telegraph, 14th January 2011 **** “His long experience with Bach's keyboard works gives him a natural point of entry to the Variations on a Theme of Handel, which is taken at quite fast tempos...Yet Perahia never draws attention to the technical challenges, and the music seems to flow out of him with complete naturalness.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 ***** “The middle period Rhapsodies are beautifully rounded. with the composer's bold heroics matched with lyrical, poetic playing. The final ten pieces are intimate and reflective, played with an intense mastery that is wonderful.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2011 ***** “This an astonishing performance, full of superb understanding and technical mastery...His command of the work is complete” International Record Review, January 2011 “one of [Perahia's] finest CDs yet. The set of Handel Variations is both elegant and totally authoritative...Excellent, vivid recording makes this an indispensable example of Perahia's special identification with the composer” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition  BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - February 2011 |
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| |  | Brahms: The Complete Variationsfor solo piano
American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, whose Complete Chopin set was acclaimed as one of the most important anniversary releases of 2010, now turns to another significant, though often overlooked, body of Romantic piano music – Brahms’s complete variations. The coruscatingly difficult Paganini variations, a bravura display of pyrotechnic virtuosity, frequently feature in piano competitions, performed to demonstrate extraordinary technique. In this performance, Garrick Ohlsson also displays remarkable musicality. The Variations and Fugue on a theme of Handel is one of the summits of his entire keyboard output, showing the composer at the height of his powers. This 2-disc set also contains some little-known gems, including the wonderful Variations on an Original Theme. “Ohlsson’s muscular performance does not ignore the yearning that lies beneath the surface.” The Telegraph, 22nd October 2010 *** “These highly absorbing discs bring together all Brahms’s freestanding variation sets for piano in poised, intense performances.” Sunday Times, 3rd October 2010 *** “An near to flawless collection of piano variations from the American piano virtuoso” The Times, 9th October 2010 **** “These early variations [Op. 18] are light years away from the intimacy of Brahms's late piano pieces, and Ohlsson's iron-clad technique and robust, forward tone generally suit them well.” The Guardian, 14th October 2010 *** “he's a born Brahmsian, equipped at the highest level with the necessary speed and power, the muscular strength and facility of finger tempered by breadth of outlook and solidity of intellect.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2010 ***** “Here is none of the turgid, bass-heavy portentousness that so often bedevils recordings of Brahms's music...This is a great Brahms recording that elevates and illuminates the music with a lightness of touch and heart that eludes many (yet he can darken the tone when required, as in Var. 13)” Gramophone Magazine, November 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shai Wosner plays Schoenberg & Brahms
The debut recording from Shai Wosner. Wosner continues to attract international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. With imaginative programming that communicates his intellectual curiosity, Wosner performs a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart and Beethoven to Ligeti and composers of his own generation. Wosner’s virtuosity and perceptiveness have increasingly made him a favourite among audiences and critics alike. In 2005, Wosner won an Avery Fisher Career Grant. In the same year, he received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He also continues his extensive performing and recording activity as a BBC New Generation Artist, which he was named in September 2007. He is in demand with orchestras and conductors worldwide. Both Brahms and Schoenberg were indebted to the musical styles of earlier generations – and not just the mighty shadow of Beethoven. The baroque period intrigued both composers, and it is interesting to note that two of their most important works for solo piano – works in which they expressed their mature style and authority – are inspired by the baroque. Shai Wosner calls the Suite by Schoenberg and the Handel Variations by Brahms ‘declarations of independence’. The Schoenberg was his first purely 12-tone work, and the Brahms was his first wholly successful solo piano work after the three early sonatas, yet both take their inspiration from the baroque period. Brahms the revolutionary is highlighted by Wosner on this CD by interweaving the late op.116 Fantasies with Schoenberg’s early op.19 piano pieces – only 12 years separate the two – the surprises are many. ‘An artist to follow keenly ’ Financial Times “This is a genuinely imaginative pairing of two composers who have more in common than their popular images might suggest...The sequence works well, and Wosner's understated playing suits it perfectly.” The Guardian, 26th August 2010 **** “...if Brahms and Schoenberg may strike conservative listeners as odd bedfellows, Shai Wosner, a young Israeli pianist, does not see any dichotomy between "old" and "new" music, but an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2010 “Paradoxically, the alternation of shorter pieces allows them to assert their individuality at the same time that it underlines their connections with one another. If, for even a very brief moment, one is caught asking oneself, 'Wait, is this Brahms or Schoenberg?', then Wosner's provocative idea is valid...I have not enjoyed a new piano recital as much in quite some time!” International Record Review, December 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Richard Farrell - The Complete Recordings, Volume 2
Brahms: | Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 Klavierstücke (4), Op. 119 Rhapsody in G minor, Op. 79 No. 2 | Chopin: | Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20 Mazurka No. 10 in B flat major, Op. 17 No. 1 Mazurka No. 41 in C sharp minor, Op. 63 No. 3 Étude Op. 10 No. 3 in E major 'Tristesse' Previously unreleased Étude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor Previously unreleased Étude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat major 'Black Key' Étude Op. 10 No. 10 in A flat major Previously unreleased Étude Op. 25 No. 11 in A minor 'Winter Wind' Previously unreleased Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1 Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. post., KKIVa:15, B 56 Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 'Héroïque' Previously unreleased | Debussy: | Clair de Lune (from Suite Bergamasque) | Granados: | Goyescas: Quejas ó La Maja y el Ruiseñor | Liszt: | Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto, S.434 after Verdi's opera Widmung S566 after Schumann (Liebeslied) Hulanka (Drinking Song, after Chopin) | Mendelssohn: | Song without Words, Op. 38 No. 6 in A flat major 'Duetto' | Rachmaninov: | Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op. 42 First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 23 No. 6 in E flat major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major First ever stereo release Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor First ever stereo release | Schumann: | Arabeske in C major, Op. 18 |
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| |  | Brahms - Variations
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| |  | Brahms - Piano Works
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