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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Jennifer Pike plays Brahms & Schumann
The Violin Sonata No. 1 was written in 1851, at a time when Robert Schumann was – as expressed to his biographer Wasiliewsky – ‘very annoyed with certain people’, which may have been a reference to the tensions that existed between the composer and the Düsseldorf Musikverein. Schumann expressed his feelings of annoyance in the baroque-style finale through an air of robustness, even roughness, which sits in steep contrast with the fretful and tender opening movement. The public premiere was given by Ferdinand David and Clara Schumann in March 1852, but it was not until Joseph Joachim’s performance the following year that the work received the recognition it deserved. Robert Schumann referred to the Violin Sonata as a ‘Duo’ with the two instrumentalists performing in equal partnership. In the Sonata by Johannes Brahms, on the other hand, the violin is always the principal voice, the piano never a competitor, but rather a subtle accompanist. Brahms wrote this work in memory of his godson, Felix Schumann, the youngest of Robert and Clara’s children, a gifted musician, who died tragically young of tuberculosis. He was only twenty-five. Clara Schumann was deeply moved by the piece, and particularly delighted by the finale with its quotation of ‘Regenlied’, one of her favourites among all of Brahms’s songs. In her lifetime, Clara Schumann was best known as a great pianist, but up until her thirties she composed a fair amount of music, including a Piano Concerto, songs, and many piano pieces. Three Romances was the only work she wrote for the combination of piano and violin, and while the violin is allowed to sing out throughout, the subtlety and complexity of the piano part testify to its having been composed by a pianist of the first rank. In 2002, at the age of twelve, Jennifer Pike notably became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. She has given performances throughout the UK and abroad and, now aged just twenty-three, is widely regarded as one of the finest violinists in Britain. Tom Poster is internationally recognised as a pianist of outstanding artistry and versatility, equally in demand as a soloist and as a chamber musician across an unusually extensive repertoire. The two performed together in the Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, featured on the recent disc of chamber works by Chausson with the Doric String Quartet (CHAN10754). “sufficient anecdotal evidence survives to suggest that [Joachim] always eschewed the excessive use of vibrato. It's a ploy that is imaginatively appropriated by Pike, especially in the Brahms where she is particularly careful not to be over-indulgent...this is a refreshingly projected performance which boasts an almost ideal fluidity in terms of manipulation of tempo and nuance in the first movement.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 **** “Pike is passionate player, as is her pianist Tom Poster, and they are clearly committed to this music. Pike plays without excessive vibrato - following what we know of Joachim's example - and she's well accompanied by Poster.” International Record Review, May 2013 “Her phrasing beautifully shadowed by pianist Tom Poster, Pike delivers a performance of strident purity – perhaps a little too strident for the intimate dialogue of Schumann's A minor Sonata. In Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Pike finally relaxes into the melodic curves without losing bite. It's worth the wait.” The Independent, 23rd March 2013 **** | 
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In Anne-Sophie Mutter's recordings, the Brahms violin sonatas open a window on to the soul of the great Romantic composer. Melancholy, dramatic or serene and happy: in all the emotional nuances of these scores, the virtuoso violinist finds an ideal chamber music partner in Alexis Weissenberg. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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British violinist Anthony Marwood, admired by audiences and critics around the globe for his exceptional artistry and passionate performances, is joined by the celebrated Serbian pianist Aleksandar Madžar for this wonderful recording of the three Brahms Violin Sonatas. Composed between 1878 and 1888, the deeply expressive violin sonatas are famed for glorious, free-soaring melodies, as Brahms carefully balances Classical refinement with Romantic lyricism. Exploring these supremely beautiful works with fresh insight; Marwood and Madžar unfold the emotional contours with rich tone and close musicianship through this intimate recording. “Especially impressive is their absolute unanimity of approach: the sense they convey that they are not merely equal partners but equally important voices in Brahms's polyphonic textures. The breadth of their phrasing, the constant search for fluidity...is also very striking...Marwood and Madzar are so good I'm tempted to make them the new benchmark among contemporary recordings.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2012 ***** “this is duo playing of the highest order...[Marwood's] musicianship and panache will be familiar to many. We don't hear enough of Madzar in the UK: there are few to match him in terms of technique and interpretation, and he here proves a terrific chamber music partner.” Classical Music, 19th May 2012 ***** “Distinct pianism and etched string attack may not be all that these sonatas require. Marwood doesn't often relax into the music...Nevertheless, the impassioned last sonata finds Marwood and Madzar in more relenting mood, willing to modify hitherto guarded responses to conventions of performance that Brahms took for granted.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Complete works for Violin & Piano
The outstanding artist Arabella Steinbacher has chosen the Brahms Violin Sonatas for her most recent release. Her previous CD of the Bartók Concertos (PTC 5186350) received excellent reviews “a fearsomely talented violinist.” Telegraph; Gramophone Editor’s Choice; BBC Music Magazine 5* Recording “Arabella Steinbacher and Robert Kulek approach these timeless scores with a velvet-gloved tenderness and affection that dispels any sense of Brahms being an 'intellectual' composer. Steinbacher produces a sensuous sound of beguiling purity that sends Brahms's rich cantabile lines soaring aloft and receives wonderfully sympathetic support from Kulek...in terms of sheer beauty of sound Steinbacher and Kulek have no rivals.” Classic FM Magazine, August 2011 **** “There's a strongly lyrical impulse in Arabella Steinbacher's playing which is suited to the intimate character of these Sonatas...Robert Kulek is an admirable duo partner and projects both the richness and clarity of texture in Brahms's writing through a carefully controlled use of the pedal, responding wit sensitivity to the subtle inflections in Steinbacher's phrasing. Pentatone's recording has real presence” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 ***** “How far you enjoy this disc will depend on how you like your Brahms served up. There's much to admire in Steinbacher's sound and you may not find the deliberate tempos as indulgent as I did, in which case proceed with great haste.” International Record Review, July/August 2011 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Cello & Violin Sonatas
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Ilya Grubert (violin), Alena Cherny (piano) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3
The DVD continues the success of the Brahms CD with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis, released in March (4778767). Recent reviews are excellent and will certainly make for an outstanding DVD: “Never before have Mutter and Orkis seemed so joined at the hip, giving and taking, conducting dialogue, chasing each others’ thoughts . . . She plays with a new degree of maturity and depth, especially visible in the slow movements. The disc’s high point is the adagio from the first sonata, in G major, where Mutter’s gold thread is reduced to a dusky murmur before shifting through tones as subtle as they are various. Orkis’s contribution is equally vital, whether keeping pace with limpid filigree or, at the close, pedalling up a penumbra of resonance to balance Mutter’s whispers. Magical music-making, this. Elsewhere, Mutter shows that she is able to become passionately alive without shaking with neuroses. In the third sonata, in D minor, the finale lives up to Brahms’s instruction -- "presto agitato" -- but never races over the top. Throughout, speeds and dynamics are controlled with regard for the music’s inner substance, not its outward show . . . The CD’s delectable virtues also include Deutsche Grammophon’s clear, well-balanced recording. A masterly issue . . .” The Times (London) On this recording, Anne-Sophie Mutter, accompanied by pianist Lambert Orkis, shares her up-to-date thoughts on the Brahms Violin Sonatas that have been central to her repertoire from the start of her career As bonus material the DVD includes Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis in conversation in English (with subtitles), Anne-Sophie Mutter on Brahms’s Violin Sonatas in German and the promotional video. “[Perlman's] gloriously warm tone has remained firmly etched in her memory. Equally evident is the unanimity of ensemble Mutter secures with pianist Lambert Orkis who follows every interpretative nuance in her playing with astonishing precision.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Sony is pleased to announce the release of the second album in an exclusive recording agreement British violinist Jack Liebeck, winner of the 2010 Classical BRIT Award for Young British Performer. This album, the Complete Violin Sonatas by Brahms, follows the success of his first recording for Sony Classical of Dvorák’s Violin Concerto, Violin Sonata & Sonatina, which received rave reviews and was album of the week on Classic FM as well as in the Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph The album features all three violin sonatas by Brahms, considered amongst the greatest written for the instrument. Jack is partnered by pianist Katya Apekisheva for this recording. Born in 1980 in London, Jack Liebeck studied at the Purcell School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. Since making his concerto debut with the Hallé Orchestra, he has performed with many orchestras of international repute including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, English Chamber and Royal Scottish National Orchestras, under the baton of renowned conductors including Martyn Brabbins, Sir Neville Marriner, Sakari Oramo, Libor Pesek, Jukka Pekka Saraste and Leonard Slatkin Jack Liebeck is a committed chamber musician and in 2002 made his acclaimed London recital debut to a sold-out Wigmore Hall. He is the Artistic Director of the annual Oxford May Music Festival. Collaborations have included performances with Bengt Forsberg, Lynn Harrell, Angela Hewitt, Christopher Maltman and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. “The poise of the D minor's adagio and the volatile changes of the A major's central movement are both beautifully turned...Vibrato is controlled and portamento slides are delicately used. There is outstanding piano partnership – warm and sonorous – from Katya Apekisheva.” The Observer, 11th July 2010 “Liebeck’s love of this music emanates from every bar...[he] and Apekisheva seem to feel the music’s flow instinctively...This is a great set, combining experience, thought and insight, together with a dash of youthful freshness for that extra ingredient of exhilaration.” The Telegraph, 28th July 2010 “As with all good chamber performances, there's a strong sense of the players thinking and feeling as a unit...Liebeck's dark tone and quiet strength is nicely offset by Apekisheva's limpid grace and immaculate sensitivity. Beautifully done, on a level with some of the classic couplings in these works, and highly recommended.” The Guardian, 12th August 2010 **** “Katya Apekisheva shows an admirable lightness of touch...Liebeck has a naturally expressive way of playing…enjoyable, discerning accounts” Gramophone Magazine, October 2010 “Technically you can't fault Jack Liebeck, or when it comes to grasping each sonata as a single structure. He's also strongly partnered by Katya Apekisheva - so much more than an accompanist, as this music demands...Liebeck brings freshness, clarity, intelligence” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 *** “a remarkable partnership...Where other young virtuosos sometimes tend to regard their pianist merely as an accompanist, this young duo work as equals, each responding to the other in performances that consistently sound spontaneous.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms Works for Viola I
This exciting release gathers together in one neat package the two late sonatas for which Brahms’ viola versions have become standard repertoire together with two trios for Clarinet and Horn that are more rarely heard for viola but work equally well. For this recording Max also plays the Klengel arrangement of the G Major Violin Sonata (with a few revisions of his own) Played by one of the world’s most charismatic violists Maxim Rysanov, of whom Yuri Bashmet declared “my rival has arrived!” Remarkably, Max has been awarded Editor’s Choice from Gramophone Magazine for both his recital discs to date, including Kancheli’s Styx and Tavener’s The Myrrh-Bearer on ONYX (ONYX4023) of which the reviewer said “it was a privilege to review” Maxim is accompanied by several of Russia’s most exciting younger generation of players. Katya Apekisheva for example recently won an Editor’s Choice for her debut CD of Grieg Lyric Pieces, while Kristine Blaumane has recently been appointed principal cellist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Max embarks on a major Brahms tour with Katya Apekisheva and others to coincide with this release with many dates in UK and France in November (please see ONYX website Concert Schedule for exact details). His other regular recital partners are Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and Mischa Maisky. “In the First Sonata, in which Rysanov is accompanied by the excellent Katya Apekisheva, the music is more freely phrased, with a humorous sense of the latent waltz in the Allegretto and plenty of vigour in the finale. Rysanoc and Jacob Katsnelson are also more effective with the Second Sonata, especially in the agreeably conversational manner they adopt in the final variations, as when the melodic line flows seamlessly between them in the grazioso section.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009 “…I found Rysanov's performances of both Sonatas compelling, vivid and packed with moments of great musical insight. The two trio performances are also extremely enjoyable…” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 **** “Brahms was the first to admit that he hadn't entirely solved the new problems of balance in the works that replace the clarinet with a viola (the clarinet sonatas and the Op 114 Trio). With recording, of course, some help can be given.
The viola is well forward in the performances by Rysanov, and this suits the music's extrovert, eloquent manner. In the First Sonata, in which Rysanov is accompanied by the excellent Katya Apekisheva, the music is more freely phrased, with a humorous sense of the latent waltz in the Allegretto and plenty of vigour in the finale. In the Op 114 Trio, the outside movements benefit from the vivid sense of melodic direction provided by Rysanov and Katsnelson.
The G major Violin Sonata was also written for Joachim, and arranged for viola not by Brahms but by his publisher Simrock's editor Paul Klengel. Transposing it from G down a fourth to D to accommodate the viola loses the music something of its elegance, but this is a persuasive performance. Persuasiveness is also needed in Op 40, which began life as the Horn Trio. Not all the cheerful vigour that Rysanov and Apekisheva provide can make the finale seem anything but a piece of hunting exuberance, but they do splendidly with the Scherzo and the Adagio mesto.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | Onyx - ONYX4033 (CD - 2 discs) Normally: $25.25 Special: $17.67 |
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| |  | Brahms - Horn Trio
Brahms was especially fond of the sound of the natural horn, which he saw as the embodiment of Romantic lyricism. Although the valve horn had begun to replace it in the early 19th century, it was for the older instrument, the Waldhorn, that he wrote his Trio Op. 40, today still the summit of the repertoire for its unusual forces. Here three young musicians, graduates of harmonia mundi, attempt to reconstruct the trio's original sound as precisely as possible. “The whole performance [of the horn trio] has a lightness of touch and an athletic exuberance that are totally convincing.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 22nd August 2008 **** “It's a superb version of the piece by any standard, the slow movements absolutely saturated in intense Romantic melancholy but fleet and agile in scherzo and finale. Faust and Melnikov and scarcely less revelatory in the G major Violin Sonata… Very generous in terms of its duration, this is a disc where one truly feels every note has been given the space to make its effect.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ***** “Teunis van der Zwart used a natural horn from Lorenz built in 1845. He is an astonishingly accomplished and musical player, and he has a superb supporting team.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008 “This is a unique performance [of the Horn Trio] and the result is a triumph, with 'stopped' notes adding to the range of colour, as the composer intended.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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