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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Wilhelm Backhaus: The Virtuoso (1908-1940)
Albéniz: | Triana (from Iberia, book 2) | Brahms: | Variations on an Original Theme in D major, Op. 21, No. 1 Variations on a theme by Paganini in A minor, Op. 35 | Chopin: | Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor Op. 11: Romance Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57 Waltz No. 6 in D flat major, Op. 64 No. 1 'Minute Waltz' | Delibes: | Naila: Waltz | Kreisler: | Liebesleid | Liszt: | La leggierezza - Étude de concert No. 2, S144 A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Wedding March & Dance of the Fairies (after Mendelssohn), S410 Liebestraum, S541 No. 3 (Nocturne in A flat major) Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 2 in C sharp minor Waldesrauschen, S145 No. 1 | Mendelssohn: | A Midsummer Night's Dream: Scherzo | Moszkowski: | Caprice espagnole, Op. 37 | Mozart: | Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K537 'Coronation' Deh! vieni alla finestra (from Don Giovanni) | Pick-Mangiagalli: | La Danza di Olaf | Rachmaninov: | Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor | Schubert: | Marche Militaire, D733 No. 1 | Strauss, R: | Ständchen, Op. 17 No. 2 | Weber: | Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, J. 98, Op. 11: Rondo - moto perpetuo |
Wilhelm Backhaus (piano, piano-roll) Berlin Municipal Orchestra, Berlin Stadtischen Opera Orchestra, Fritz Zaun This CD showcases Backhaus’s great virtuosity. “revelatory: instead of the stern Beethovenian we are used to, the young pianist who emerges courtesy of piano-roll recordings from the 1920s is full of fire and flamboyance.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ***** | 
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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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| |  | Yuja Wang - Transformation
On the heels of her impressive Deutsche Grammophon debut recital album, pianist Yuja Wang’s return recording for the label – Transformation – categorically demonstrates that she is a young master of the Steinway. Her new album excites with a demanding recital that includes some of the most electrifying pieces of piano literature – Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka, Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Scarlatti’s Sonatas in E and B minor, and Ravel’s La Valse. Yuja Wang’s ability to take her music by storm is tempered by a sophisticated musicality that never distorts the line. Transformation highlights Yuja Wang’s penchant for piecing together high concept programs the public adores. As The New York Times observes, “She seems to have everything: speed, flexibility, pianistic thunder, and interpretive nuance.” “Wang makes light of even the fiercest complexity...she has a dazzling way of lightening even the heaviest textures so that her entire performance gleams with an astonishing brilliance and verve....you will find her as musically beguiling as she is breathtakingly fleet.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2010 “The brilliant Chinese pianist dazzles with more than technical panache. She understands what she plays; she’s sensitive and has poise. She’s also a clever programme builder, successfully mixing shape-shifting works by Stravinsky, Brahms and Ravel with two Scarlatti sonatas.” The Times, 29th May 2010 **** “The Petrushka movements...have a unique fizz and excitement and quite the most orchestral range of colour I've heard...Her poise in the two Scarlatti sonatas is admirable, the textures beautifully transparent, the interplay of voices superbly balanced...Altogether one of the most stimulating recitals I've heard this year.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2010 ***** “[Wang] approaches repertory staples with original, illuminating ideas. Her sharp articulation and the deftness with which she moves between thunder and sparkle yield vivid performances of Stravinsky and Ravel, a searching account of Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Paganini and uncommonly graceful readings of two Scarlatti sonatas.” New York Times, 26th November 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Brahms - Variations
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| |  | Brahms - Piano Works
“Trenchant, focused Brahms from a formidable player...[Angelich's] performances on this disc are of a wholly exceptional drama, sweep and impeccable craftsmanship. Few young pianists have so little truck with flighty, salon-ish alternatives to seriousness, and his Brahms is sufficiently authoritative to make one long to hear him in the piano concertos.” Gramophone Magazine | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Julius Katchen, that colossus that bestrode the pianistic firmament for all too short a time, recorded the Brahms Handel and Paganini Variations three times, twice in mono and once in stereo. Surprisingly, these much-praised 1958 recordings have never before been issued on CD and are now being made available singly, on Eloquence as well as part of an 8CD 'Original Masters' tribute Decca box. All of Katchen's dare-devilry in the Paganini set comes to the fore. The coupling, Schumann's Etudes symphoniques, likewise also receives its CD debut. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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One of Jean-Yves Thibaudet's early Decca recitals, these are some of the most engaging and thrilling readings of a program of essentially concert etudes. To the Schumann, Thibaudet places the five posthumous variations as an appendix, and his reading of the Brahms Paganini is one of the most scintillating of all. “Predictably the technical challenges of Brahms's Paganini Variations hold few fears for him. Even Horowitz once admitted that in Liszt's Faust Waltz he'd heard Thibaudet's fingers do things that his own couldn't in dexterity, clarity of articulation and general command... his fingers sing as finely as they sparkle... Sound reproduction throughout is at once natural and never too forward for comfort in your own room” Gramophone Magazine | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Idil Biret Archive Edition Volume 13 - Brahms
“The young Turkish pianist Idil Biret, who only turned twenty yesterday, reveals a masterly touch in the Handel Variations on this album. Here we are very clearly in the presence of what is known as a “natural”, a supremely talented musician. Taught by Jean Doyen and Jacques Février, she seems in this recording to have the innate elegance of the former and the clear authority of the latter. I make no bones about it: Idil Biret’s youthful prowess leaves me speechless… a virtuosity that overcomes every technical difficulty and flows so effortlessly that it puts certain, more “considered”, rival performances in the shade… I unreservedly applaud this album of excellent piano playing, a recording made with the emphasis perhaps just a touch less on charm than on brilliance. When it comes to the Variations on a Theme by Paganini , I shall quote Remy Stricker: “Only an exceptional pianistic genius could deliver the ideal version of such an inhuman work”... Idil Biret’s version is of such high quality that I have to speak in terms of this young pianist’s genius… I have nothing but admiration for the stunning brio with which she approaches the fast passages (starting with the first two variations of each Book!), indeed I confess to being captivated by it. Similarly, I was frequently enchanted by her poetic readings of some of the slow variations, which she plays with simplicity, avoiding effusive excess. All in all, this is an album to compete with Katchen’s.” - Review of original LP release on Vega Records, 1961 |
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| |  | Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Vol. 41942, 1948
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| |  | Johannes Brahms, Vol. 21936-1948
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Gramophone Magazine