Brahms: Intermezzo in E major, Op. 116 No. 4

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.

In his latest release, Nightbreak, acclaimed pianist Bruce Levingston has recorded an album of works that display the light and dark of the human soul. From the dramatic sound-portraits of Franz Liszt’s powerful and moving “Vallée d’Obermann” and Brahms anguished “Edward” Ballade to the world premiere recording of Philip Glass’s brilliant and thrilling “Dracula Suite”, Levingston’s virtuosic and deeply searching performance on this CD captures a panoramic range of colors and emotions.

The second release in a triptych by Mr. Levingston for Sono Luminus, Nightbreak also contains Mr. Levingston’s signature creative programming with elegant and poetic interpretations of nocturnes and waltzes by Liszt, Brahms and Wolfgang Rihm. In addition, he has recorded Liszt’s magnificent, impressionistic “Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este”, a tour de force of color and chiaroscuro in sound. Bruce Levingston is one of the leading figures on the contemporary music scene. Many of the country’s most important composers have written works for him and his Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center world premiere performances of their works have won notable critical acclaim. The New York Times calls him “ [ one ] of “today’s most adventurous musicians “ and describes his performances as “graceful,” “dreamy” and “hauntingly serene”; The New Yorker describes him as “a poetic pianist who has a gift for inventive—and glamorous—programming.” Following a recent performance in the historic Coolidge Auditorium at The Library of Congress, The Washington Post praised his “ wonderfully even touch” and “transparency and timeless reverie, which Levingston projected beautifully.”

Levingston’s last CD for Sono Luminus, Heart Shadow (DSL92137), was comprised of three major piano works inspired by literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It received high critical acclaim and was named “Album of the Week” by New York City’s WQXR. Zachery Lewis of The Cleveland Pain Dealer called Levingston’s account of Schumann’s “Kreisleriana” “vivid and richly expressive, a notable reading” and Levingston’s world premiere recording of Bielawa and Wuorinen “a gripping, dynamic performance”. In February 2012, the final album in this three-part series, Still Sound (Pärt, Satie, Gross, Schubert, Chopin, Bolcom) will contain intimate works featuring world premiere recordings of Pulitzer Prize-winner William Bolcom’s “New York Lights” written for Bruce Levingston, and Augusta Gross’ new works inspired by Satie and Pärt.

The 1956 RIAS recordings of Solomon, made shortly before the tragic end of his career, are benchmark recordings even today thanks to their sonorous lucidity and structural transparency. Archive releases of recordings made by the English pianist Solomon (1902-1988) are particularly noteworthy – partly due to the tragic turning point in the life of this exceptional artist. In 1956, during recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas and following recordings of the piano concertos by Grieg and Schumann for EMI-Columbia, he suffered a major stroke which forced him into silence for the rest of his life. The music world was thus robbed of an eminent pianist and artist who, with his technically and creatively superior interpretations, always managed to penetrate the core of the musical message.

Solomon’s recordings of the classical and romantic piano repertoire document the highest artistic standing and, as such, take an immovable place in the history of pianism. This programme, recorded in February 1956 at the RIAS Berlin, is one of the last recordings made by Solomon. It is compiled in the same manner as his concert tours of 1955: two Beethoven sonatas form the centrepiece and are supplemented by works of Bach, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms.

The Canadian musician Glenn Gould was undoubtedly one of the greatest pianists of all time. To mark the 75th anniversary of his birth, and the 25th anniversary of his death, Sony BMG Masterworks presents this seminal artist’s vinyl recordings as re-mastered CDs, designed to replicate the exact artwork of the original gramophone records in miniaturised form. Already issued as part of an 80-CD box set (88697130942), these albums are now being made available individually, with the first 20 in the series being released in November 2007.