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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Webern - Vocal and Orchestral Works
Robert Craft’s abiding love and understanding of Anton Webern’s music have made him an internationally renowned champion of this elusive composer’s oeuvre. Whether transforming the ‘Ricercata’ from J.S. Bach’s A Musical Offering into a kaleidoscope of orchestral sounds, creating vivid new colours through ever-changing vocal and instrumental groupings, revelling in multi-layered polyphony or cultivating the purest simplicity, Webern reveals new musical worlds which remain as fresh and fascinating today as when they were written. “[Robert Craft’s] new home, Naxos, adds the lure of bargain prices to recordings that would be important no matter the cost…they provide rich overviews of the evolving styles of Webern and Schoenberg. Many of the performances are by the Twentieth Century Classics Ensemble, a group of veteran New York new-music players who could just as well call themselves the Robert Craft All-Stars…their interpretations reflect Mr. Craft's half century of experience with this repertory.” The New York Times “Craft's approach seems to have mellowed somewhat; he allows more space for the impacted lyricism of Webern's writing to make its mark, though still without quite the Viennese flavour that composers such as Karajan brought to it. It's an ideal introduction to one of the 20th century's greatest composers, and a second volume including Webern's other orchestral and choral works would be more than welcome.” The Guardian, 10th July 2009 “Eleven vocal and orchestral works by the Second Viennese School’s miniaturist magician, performed with great clarity and ardour in a thrilling, warm recording. The 20th-century faithful Robert Craft knows every note inside out, but there’s nothing of the laboratory in the performances drawn from the Philharmonia Orchestra (the op 10 pieces are outstanding), the 20th Century Classics Ensemble (so lyrical in the Bach transcription), or the vocalists. Essential listening.” The Times, 18th July 2009 **** | | | (also available to download from $6.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Perspectives (69°42’ North - 19°00’ East)
Tromsø Chamber Orchestra, Kolbjørn Holthe 69°42’ north - 19°00’ east represent the map coordinates of the town of Tromsø in Norway, and therefore also of the orchestra featured on Perspectives. It is from this vantage point that its perspective on five European composers is applied, five composers who in turn exist in mutual contrast and perspective. The varied works by Webern, Pärt, Lutoslawski, Kurtág, and Fredrik Högberg embrace 99 years of European music history and are balanced by paradoxical opposites. The programme is dominated by moods of the long, arctic winter night - grief, longing, absence - and the midnight sun’s unceasing orgy of light and life. Tromsø Chamber Orchestra is the only full-time professional chamber orchestra in Norway. It has become well-known as a modern and versatile ensemble of high international standard. The orchestra gives weekly concerts in Tromsø, and the musicians also serve regularly as a part of the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, through the organisation NOSO AS. They appear with some of the most sought after soloists and artistic leaders from all over the world. Musically their range is from chamber ensembles and chamber orchestra to bigger symphonic productions. In addition to this, the orchestra has a high reputation in crossover repertory, through several co-productions with some of Norway's most in demand pop and jazz artists. “Högberg's concerto is a jokey, hyperactive affair that demands an unexpected agility from its double-bass soloist, Dan Styffe, while the performances of the other works generally favour assertiveness and vigour over refinement...the Mahlerian influences on Webern's miniatures emerge much more strongly than usual.” The Guardian, 2nd August 2012 *** “this is a release whose perspective on the Tromso Chamber Orchestra is both enlightening and impressive.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Statements: Cuarteto Quiroga
The Cuarteto Quiroga has established itself as one of the most dynamic and unique quartets of its generation, receiving international acclaim. The group takes its name from the Galician violinist Manuel Quiroga, one of the most outstanding players in Spanish music history. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Hagen Quartet 30
This year the Hagen Quartet celebrates its 30th anniversary and begins a new collaboration with Myrios Classics. Three members of the quartet are siblings and the ensemble has developed and retained a distinctive character. They will be performing at the Wigmore Hall and Queens Hall Edinburgh in March. “Much the best performances here the expressionist miniatures by Webern. They find the Hagen Quartet meticulously accurate in every detail, without ever sounding in the least bit dry, and it's hard to imagine them better or more warmly played.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2011 *****/** “Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 2 opens with bite and powerful commitment...Mozart's K428 has both elegance and depth...[the Bagatelles] are marvellously played and totally spontaneous. The recording throughout is first-class - forwardly balanced and full of presence. Altogether this is a triptych of considerable achievement.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011 “These players give a direct and dramatic reading of Beethoven's Op. 59 No. 2 - more notable for its strong impact than for subtle shading in the faster movements but certainly catching the rather angry, edgy mood of the piece...These miraculous short [Webern] pieces are well done by the Hagen Quartet.” International Record Review, May 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Webern: Chamber Music
Webern: | Five movements for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909) Four pieces for violin & piano, Op. 7 (1910) Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913) Cello Sonata, Op. post. (1914) Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1914) String Trio, Op. 20 (1927) Quartet, Op. 22 for violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano String Quartet, Op. 28 (1937-38) |
| | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
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| |  | Vienne 1900Celebrating the flowering of the arts in Vienna at the turn of the last century
Berg: | Quatuor Op. 3 - Langsam Variations on a theme of Schumann, Theme and Variations for violin and piano | Brahms: | Intermezzo in E flat major, Op. 117 No. 1 Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3 String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 - Adagio | Mahler: | Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor - Adagietto Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Rückert-Lieder) Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz (No. 4 from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) | Schoenberg: | Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 Quartet in D major (Allegro molto) String Quartet No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 10 | Schreker: | Die Dunkelheit sinkt schwer wie Blei (No. 3 from Gesänge für tiefe Stimme) Sie Sind so schön (No. 4 from Gesänge für tiefe Stimme) | Strauss, J, II: | Rosen aus dem Süden, Op. 388 | Strauss, R: | Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30: Introduction (Sunrise) Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 6: Andante ma non troppo | Webern: | Langsamer Satz, (slow movement), Op. post. (1905) Five movements for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909) | Zemlinsky: | Eine Florentinische Tragödie Op. 16 - Overture |
(2 CDs for the price of 1) | | | (also available to download from $21.00) | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Juilliard String Quartet
Recorded 1960 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Webern: | Langsamer Satz, (slow movement), Op. post. (1905) String Quartet, Op. post. (1905) Rondo, Op. post. (1906) Five movements for String Quartet, Op. 5 (1909) Four pieces for violin & piano, Op. 7 (1910) Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1911-1913) Drei Stücke (three pieces), Op. post. (1913) Cello Sonata, Op. post. (1914) Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1914) Movement for string trio, Op. post, (1925) String Trio, Op. 20 (1927) String Quartet, Op. 28 (1937-38) |
Susan Narucki (soprano), Sepp Groetenhuis (piano) Schoenberg Quartet | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Schoenberg, Strauss & Webern: Orchestral Works
Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, Misha Rachlevsky | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Bach/Webern Ricercar
“Both enlightening and immensely rewarding” - Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine “Symmetry, the cyclic evolution of a musical germ and the idea of birth in the midst of death: all are fundamental to this disc. Webern's motivically determined orchestration of the Ricercar from Bach's late TheMusical Offering, where single lines change colour by the bar, opens and closes the programme.
Christoph Poppen's orchestration of Webern's 1905 String Quartet soars and surges with an ardour that befits this early but significant masterpiece.
Like Webern in Bach, Poppen knows how and where to taper his forces, while his players respond with obvious dedication. Bach's Cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden grows, as Herbert Glossner reminds us, from a 'primordial cell' of a single semitone motive. Eight stanzas each end with a 'Halleluja', as unalike in shade and meaning as the strands of Webern's 'Ricercar', so magnificent is the young Bach's handling of the texts. Poppen performs choral Bach with single voices; he also encourages a string playing style that largely dispenses with vibrato, so that when you cross from Webern's Quartet to Bach's BWV4 you could as well be switching to a period performance. The Hilliards sing beautifully, both solo and in ensemble, and the balance between voices and instruments is impeccable.
Some might balk at the sudden eruption of Webern's violent 'Heftig betwegt' on the heels of Bach's closing 'Halleluja', but the musical sense of having five 'symmetrical' Movements for String Quartet fall within the greater symmetry of the programme as a whole overrides any initial discomfort. Again, Poppen's finely tooled reading focuses in precise detail the mood and texture of each miniature so that the eventual return of Bach- Webern is indeed like a profound thought revisited by a changed mind.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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Gramophone Magazine