Schubert, F.: Piano Quintet in A major, D667 'The Trout' (Die Forelle)
Yes, it sounds crazy to make yet another recording of Schubert's Trout Quintet a 'reference recording', particularly given the number of really good ones already in circulation. Never mind. There is no finer performance available, ...
Composer: Franz Schubert (1797–1828):
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 13 and 24
This is the debut album of Martin Helmchen, prize-winning 25-year old German pianist whose career received a boost when he won the 2001 Clara Haskil Competition. Though opening salvos fired by so many young pianists today ...
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Opp. 78, 79, 14, 49
This album, the first in Kodama’s planned Beethoven cycle, begins with the composer’s so-called “easy” sonatas. In the words of the booklet’s annotator, Franz Steiger, they represent “lyrical islands,” being less fervent or ...
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Instrumental
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364 / Concertone in C Major, K. 190 / Rondo in C Major, K. 373
Yakov Kreizberg launches the Sinfonia concertante in emphatic style: a no-nonsense tempo, lashing sforzando accents, a powerful forward impetus. Mozart's thrilling take on the slow-burn 'Mannheim crescendo' has an almost ...
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 9
These are two of the most brilliant and insightful Shostakovich performances to come along in quite a while, and that's saying a lot given the excellence of the recent competition. Certainly if you're looking for this coupling, ...
Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 5
This follow-up to Julia Fischer's widely acclaimed album of Mozart's Concertos Nos 3 and 4 confirms the 23-year-old as a player of dazzling maturity and technical finish. Her tone is sweet and imaginatively coloured, her shaping of the ...
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Franck: Symphony in D Minor / Chausson: Symphony in B Flat Major
The Franck D minor Symphony can be a treacherous undertaking for almost any orchestra. Its highly repetitive nature sets the trap for what could be a boring, monotonous performance if not executed with a great deal of ...
Composer: Cesar Franck (1822-1890), Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Charlotte Margiono: Sings Wagner
In this Wagner recital, the Dutch soprano, Charlotte Margiono, proves herself to be the Wagner heroine par excellence. The title choice points to a well thought-out concept. The three combined "romantic operas" ...
Composer: Richard Wagner
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Opera
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11, 'The Year 1905'
Mikhail Pletnev's Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 excels beyond the much-hyped Rostropovich version on LSO Live, which suffers from a deadening slow, heavy tread. Pletnev's urgent pacing brings the piece in at around 62 minutes ...
Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Pianist Mari Kodama performs Beethoven's first, second and third Piano Sonatas. Every development of a musical genre has its own point of departure. In Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano sonatas, this consists of the three Sonatas Op. 2, ...
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 4
All the works on the first volume in Pentatone’s series of Mozart’s music for violin and orchestra were composed in Salzburg during the mid-1770s. Julia Fischer, still only 22, is responsible for most of the cadenzas ...
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 16-18
Recorded 26-29 April 2004 at the Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem, the Netherlands, these three sonatas reveal Ms. Kodama - as part of her ongoing Beethoven project ...
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 3 in G Major / Stravinsky: Divertimento
This enjoyable recording offers two works that are underappreciated by two composers who most certainly are not. Tchaikovsky produced his four orchestral suites during the nine years between the composition of the Fourth ...
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Strauss, R.: Der Burger Als Edelmann / Duett-Concertino / Capriccio
It was to be a theatrical experiment: a playing with the “theater within the theater,” or better: the “opera within the theater.” The comedy Le bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière, provided with incidental music, as the framework ...
Composer: Richard Strauss
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Corelli: Concerto Grosso, Op. 6 (excerpts)
Pentatone Studio Masters devoted to music of Archangelo Corelli was recorded during concerts at the Vredenburg, Utrecht in January 2003, produced by Carl Schuurbiers with Erdo Groot as recording engineer. The recording has ...
Composer: Arcangelo Corelli
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Chamber Music
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 and 26
These are beautifully conceived, technically polished renditions of three of Beethoven’s best-known piano sonatas, and beautifully recorded. The playing is lucid and tonally controlled, admirably free of the bombast and banging ...
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Instrumental
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major / Piano Concerto in B Flat Minor
It's always good to hear Christian Tetzlaff, a violinist with a reputation for 'coolness' that instead I would call 'aristocratic'. His recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto reminds me of artists such as Grumiaux ...
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
Yakov Kreizberg's collection of Johann Strauss waltzes was recorded in Vienna's Konzerthaus in June 2004 by the producer/engineer team of Job Maarse, Erdo Groot and Roger de Schot. They have beautifully captured luxurious ...
Composer: Johann Strauss II (1825–1899)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Orchestral
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Loewe: Piano Concerto No. 2
The programme of this album at hand may appear odd at first, perhaps even a little wilful? however, it is at least exciting and conspicuous, as it heralds the meeting of Frederic Chopin‘s Piano Concerto in F minor with ...
Composer: Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849), Carl Loewe (1796-1869)
Genre: Classical
Subgenre: Concertos
