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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Ivo Pogorelich – The great piano recital
At the international Chopin competition in 1980, his spectacular failure to win the first price made him famous overnight. Martha Argerich, a member of the jury resigned in protest, claiming "Pogorelich is a genius!" These fantastic performances are from 1986 and 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late 20s during his high point of his career. Unitel recorded these works with the artist in venues of particularly striking beauty (Vincenca, Vienna, Turin, Padua). Comparing him with Horowitz, the New York Times once wrote: "He was an entire orchestra." Running Time 101 minutes Picture 4:3. color Packaging NTSC: Amaray 1 DVD Booklet German, French, English | 
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| Yuja Wang - Sonatas & Etudes
Gifted Chinese pianist Yuja Wang debuts on DG’s roster with an album featuring compositions by Chopin, Ligeti, Liszt, and Scriabin. Yuja Wang chooses pieces that, in her judgment, are refreshingly atypical of the customary musical perspectives of these composers. Exceptional artistry, technical perfection, and a rare ability to evoke an uncommonly vivid palette of rich colors from the instrument characterize Yuja Wang’s pianism After blazing through Ravel’s Concerto for Left Hand, the Miami Herald wrote, “The evening’s spotlight belonged to Yuja Wang . . . [who] showed remarkable fire and iron-fingered power." “The opening movement of Chopin’s Second Sonata certainly identifies qualities of youthful impetuosity, power and dexterity.” Daily Telegraph, 25th June 2009 *** “The Scriabin (sonata no 2) flows nicely; in the Liszt B minor sonata she’s no empty virtuoso. A talent worth watching.” The Times, 23rd May 2009 **** “…Yuja Wang… has all the equipment to be one of the most exciting pianists of her generation. As well as a stunning technique she has a fabulous range of sonority and colour… the two Ligeti Etudes, especially 'Fanfares', suit her dazzling fingerwork perfectly. Pianistically, parts of her Liszt Sonata are extraordinary, with blistering octaves, razor-sharp articulation and a wonderful tonal richness.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 **** “…22-year-old Yuja Wang is a wondrously gifted pianist whose debut album… suggests a combination of blazing technique and a rare instinct for poetry. In Scriabin's Second Sonata she is beautifully sensitive to the moods, whether tranquil and starlit or tempestuous, reflecting the composer's love of the Baltic Sea. She is fiery but never reckless in Chopin's Second Sonata... As a crowning touch her Ligeti Etudes are both musicianly and dazzlingly incisive. In the words of the publicist, "a star is born".” Gramophone Magazine, August 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Rachmaninov - Solo Piano Recordings Volume 1Victor Recordings 1925-1942
Chopin: | Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 Recorded on 13th April 1925 Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Recorded on 5th April 1927 Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2 Recorded on 5th April 1927 Waltz No. 8 in A flat major, Op. 64 No. 3 Recorded on 5th April 1927 Waltz No. 14 in E minor, Op. post., KKIVa:15, B 56 Recorded on 18th February 1930 Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre' Recorded on 18th February 1930 | Liszt: | Polish Songs S480 No. 1 "Maiden's Wish" (after Chopin) Recorded on 27th February 1942 Polish Songs S480 No. 6 "Die Heimkehr (Narzeczony, Homeward)" (after Chopin) Recorded on 27th February 1942 | Schumann: | Carnaval, Op. 9 Recorded on 9th, 10th and 12th April 1929 Der Kontrabandiste, Op. 74 No. 10 Recorded on 27th February 1942 |
Sergey Rachmaninov (piano) Restoration Engineer: Ward Marston Rachmaninov’s formidable piano technique was notable for its precision, rhythmic drive, refined legato, crystalline clarity and sensitivity to melodic line. While avoiding sentimentality, he sought and expressed music’s emotional essence. Though fleet fingered, he had, in Arthur Rubinstein’s words, “the secret of the golden, living tone which comes from the heart”, awing listeners with the aristocratic quality of his playing. This is particularly evident in his interpretations of Chopin, Schumann and Liszt, whose great Romantic spirit matched his own. Even today, his recordings remain classics. “Exceptional transfers of justly famous performances Rachmaninov brings this music vividly to life with a unique blend of rubato, unsentimentality, solidity of line and virtuosity.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2009 ***** “His 1929 recording of Carnaval is wonderfully incisive. By subtle, barely perceptible touches of rubato, he makes each figure in Schumann’s gallery of characters so vivid, you can see them.” Sunday Times, 26th April 2009 *** “Here is a reminder and a remembrance of a matchless idiosyncrasy and mastery… Try this great pianist in Chopin's E flat Nocturne, Op 9 No 2, played in the style of the greatest Russian singers, with a melting cantabile and with a freedom and rubato that can make even the ever-elfin Cherkassky sound sober by comparison.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Artur RubinsteinLive, Moscow, Great Hall Moscow Conservatory, 1st October, 1964
Chopin: | Polonaise No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 44 Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51 Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre' Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 Étude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat major 'Aeolian Harp' Étude Op. 25 No. 5 in E minor Étude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor Étude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat major 'Black Key' Waltz No. 3 in A minor 'Grande Valse Brillante', Op. 34 No. 2 Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 'Héroïque' | Debussy: | Préludes - Book 2: No. 8, Ondine | Schumann: | Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 No. 1 'Des Abends' | Villa-Lobos: | O Polichinelo (from Prole do Bebê, book 1) |
Artur Rubinstein's charismatic personality and unique ability to connect with an audience made each of his concert appearances an event. Surprisingly, the vast majority of his recorded output - whether on record or film - was made in the recording studio.This rare film, preserved in the vaults of the Russian State television archives for nearly 50 years, shows Rubinstein at his prime playing in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.This historic concert both testifies to Rubinstein's freer and risk-taking approach when in front of an audience and allows us to share the electric atmosphere of his live appearances. BONUS: 1928 footage accompanying a silent film “From the archives of Russian state television, this astonishing film captures the great Rubinstein holding his Moscow audience spellbound.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 ***** “Considering his celebrity, longevity and huge studio recording legacy, there is very little film of Rubinstein in concert. Indeed, this is the only full solo recital I can recall and as such is immensely valuable… fine as are most of his studio recordings, Rubinstein played with a greater freedom and daring when in front of an audience. The playing, of course, is heart-warming... Everything seems so inevitable and right, whether in the caressing phrases of the Barcarolle or the bravura of the A flat Polonaise, the inevitable trademark conclusion to any Rubinstein recital.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Chopin - Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3
Marc-André Hamelin (piano) Recent discs from Marc-André Hamelin have concentrated on music which is obscure, under-recorded or virtually unplayable. However in this latest recording he turns his attention to two mainstays of the Romantic repertoire: Chopin’s Piano Sonatas Nos 2 and 3. The results are simply staggering: playing of matchless brilliance and consummate artistry, stunningly recorded. As a recent critic of Hamelin’s live performance of the B minor sonata remarked, ‘Hamelin starts where most other pianists leave off … such was his control that frequently it seemed as though an extra dimension were being added, the music’s teeming internal life clarified by his ability to voice the inner parts’. The disc is completed by some of Chopin’s greatest single-movement works; the contrasting two Nocturnes of Op 27, the extraordinarily colouristic Berceuse Op 57 and the monumental Barcarolle in F sharp major. We think this is one of the most authoritative and important Chopin discs to have appeared in recent years—an unmissable release. “Hamelin builds the Second Sonata… unerringly, producing a poetic and passionate performance that is finally carried off on a spectral wind. Hamelin… opens with an exquisitely textured Berceuse. He finds all the richness of the Barcarollem and responds fully to Chopin's melodic impulse in the two Op. 27 Nocturnes. ...hugely satisfying Chopin recital.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 ***** “Hamelin's playing is refreshingly free from the "inverted comma" school of profundity, and he lets the music speak through him most eloquently. …though Hamelin has made many fabulous discs, particularly in reportoire of superhuman virtuosity, this is one of his very finest achievements to date.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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“There's a grand romanticism about Trpceski's interpretations… The hectic sweep in the Sonata's first subject drives ahead with a feverishness against which the second subject is allowed to relax, glowing deep and tender; and Trpceski's phrasing of the songful trio embedded in the manic second movement is simply magical.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 ***** “He quickly displayed the compelling hallmarks of his style: light but devastatingly punchy octaves; well delineated rhythms (he can pounce on chords with a drum-like vigour when he chooses); a gossamer touch in lyrical episodes; and an impeccable ear for internal balance.” The Times | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Chopin - Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2
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