Strauss, R: Burleske for Piano and orchestra in D minor

The Reger concerto has a formidable reputation – dense, harmonically complex and with far too many notes for the average pianist. Who better then to decipher it than Marc-André Hamelin? In his hands this rarely recorded behemoth reveals both passion and a lyricism so often lost in lesser performances. He is wonderfully partnered by Ilan Volkov and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester who share the pianist’s desire to elucidate an often misunderstood work.

While the Reger concerto comes from the end of his career, the Strauss Burleske is a product of that composer’s prodigious youth. This ebullient work has long been a Hamelin ‘party-piece’, and he plays it with an unmatched brilliance which surely captures the essence of this humorous music and will have the listener on the edge of his seat.

Relative rarities among his output are Richard Strauss's concertos, many written later in his life. This collection brings together works for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (the Duet Concertino) and the scintillating Burleske for piano and orchestra. In addition to conducting the concertos, Ashkenazy also conducts the early tone poem "Aus Italien" and Maazel's humorous reading of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme with the Vienna Philharmonic is restored to the catalogue.

An extraordinary encounter: in January 1966 eminent soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and eccentric pianist Glenn Gould met in an overheated New York studio to record songs by Richard Strauss. Two extreme worlds were bunched together and, as a result, the recording session was a spectacular failure. Contained on this CD are three previously released songs from this legendary meeting, three previously unreleased Strauss songs, as well as more music by the composer Gould valued so highly.

These 1945-1955 broadcasts of live collaborations between Claudio Arrau and George Szell are being released for the first time and stem from well preserved and carefully restored broadcast transcription discs. The works include Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1, Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 and Liszt Piano Concerto No.2. All are performed with dynamism, daring and volatility.

This second release in Guild’s series of Historic ‘Three Great Pianists’ recordings features live performances from Alexander Brailowsky, Shura Cherkassky and Rudolf Serkin, recorded between 1945 and 1958, and intriguingly including two performance of Liszt’s virtuoso ‘Don Giovanni’ Fantasy played by Cherkassky. Throughout this CD, here is pianism of a consistently high quality, from three masters of the keyboard from the latter half of the 20th-century. The conductors – Serge Koussevitsky in the Mozart, and Dmitri Mitropoulos in the Richard Strauss - were themselves amongst the greatest to hold senior positions with two great American orchestras, lending artistry to this release which is quite unique.

“Passion and discipline, however can work well together, as you’ll hear in Helene Grimaud’s brawny, monumental, utterly fabulous Brahms D minor Concerto, with the Berlin Staatskapelle making a joyful noise under Kurt Sanderling’s galvanising leadership.” BBC Music Magazine

Walter Weller's father played with the Vienna Philharmonic and was a friend of Richard Strauss: he taught violin to the composer's grandson and to his own son,Walter. Later Walter aged 20, was appointed Konzertmeister and during the next 12 years, he regularly performed the Ein Heldenleben solos in concert, under Karl Böhm.After a chance substitution for Böhm, at the helm of the Vienna Phil, he launched a new career as a conductor, making many recordings for Decca. Weller was appointed director of the Belgian National Orchestra in 2006, embarking on this series of recordings with Fuga Libera.The label introduced him to the Bulgarian pianist Plamena Mangova whose ambition was to play Richard Strauss' Burleske.Weller, who often conducted the piece with Arrau and Gulda at the piano, warned the young virtuoso: "It's very difficult, we'll have to see…." but after two concert performances the project was duly launched.