Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"

“Precise drive in the Scherzo, with brazen horns in the Trio, presages a finale of real stature.” --Gramophone Magazine, May 2008

“Manze takes a surprisingly Romantic view of the Eroica… with accomplished playing from the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2008 *****

“Andrew Manze has had the ingenious idea of coupling the Eroica with the set of contredanses in which the theme of the symphony’s finale first appeared, and with the finale of Beethoven’s ballet score The Creatures of Prometheus, the melody’s second appearance. 

What makes the disc exceptional, however, is the superb clarity and incisiveness of the performances. The splendid Swedish orchestra plays the Eroica as if discovering and revelling in its beauty and audacity for the first time. Manze sets a spanking tempo for the opening movement, but always gives the music room to breathe, and the rest is equally inspiring.” Sunday Times, 15th June 2008 ****

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Moonlight, Pathétique & Waldstein

INTERNATIONAL RECORD REVIEW 'OUTSTANDING' AWARD

'Performances of exceptional quality … and real stature … This is an outstanding disc' --International Record Review

'In the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Osborne casts a spell from the very opening, suggesting improvisation yet also a searching harmonic rigour and beguiling the ear with subtle colour and touch' --ClassicalSource.com

'Instantly recommends itself as an important addition to the catalogue … This Beethoven disc similarly makes one marvel at the way Osborne's own personality seems able to ally itself with the composer's, in the way he illuminates aspects of style, structure and substance with clarity, subtlety and dynamism' (The Daily Telegraph)

'The Moonlight, Op 27 No 2 , receives a particularly satisfying performance, from the first movement's magically limpid, unhurried mysteries, through the allegretto's sprightly curtseys, to the finale, so deservedly marked presto agitato. It's in this movement that Osborne really hits the heights. He drives the notes forward, stirring excitement without succumbing to the melodramatic … The Pathetique and Waldstein sonatas receive equally refreshing and sensitive accounts. And all are recorded with Hyperion's usual finesse' (The Times)

'Osborne … has that special ability to make music that you thought you knew inside out seem fresh and totally alive' (The Guardian)

Beethoven: Piano Quartet & String Quintet

“The Piano Quartet… is unadulterated Beethoven - his own transcription of his Op. 16 Quintet for piano and winds, with the wind instruments replaced by a string trio. The result deserves to be heard far more frequently, and the players of the Nash Ensemble do it proud. Theirs is a notably autumnal view of this early piece of Beethoven, but the performance has great warmth.” --BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 ****

“The Nash musicians play everything so delightfully, with such perfect control and subtle shadings, that you never feel seriously short-changed.” The Times, 20th June 2009 ****

“The Nash Ensemble give wonderfully polished performances of all three works, beautifully recorded, but special mention must be made of Ian Brown's piano-playing in the delicious galloping 6/8 rondo finale of the Piano Quartet, totally infectious.” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2009

“The translation to the new medium works well, especially given the Nash Ensemble’s shapely and intelligent reading. The Piano Quartet, another arrangement, is afforded equally characterful treatment; here, Beethoven seems close to the spirit of Mozart.” --Sunday Times, 12th July 2009 ***

Beethoven · Ravel · Bartók · Say: Violin Sonatas, Romanian Dances

One of the most promising violinists of the new generation, young Moldovan Patricia Kopatchinskaja makes her Naïve debut with a captivating disc that includes Beethoven’s masterpiece, the “Kreutzer” Sonata, Ravel’s Violin Sonata, Bartók’s Romanian Dances and the premier recording of the Violin Sonata by her accompanist, Fazil Say.

“Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say share a radical approach, performing each musical gesture in the most vivid way, with smoothness and tonal beauty a secondary consideration. It's undeniably exciting… Daring, and highly individual playing…” --Gramophone

“This is far from being just another recording of the Kreutzer Sonata. Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Fazil Say share a radical approach, performing each musical gesture in the most vivid way, with smoothness and tonal beauty a secondary consideration. It's undeniably exciting, especially the first movement which, after all, is quite a wild piece, but the exaggerated shortness of many staccato notes can be quite disturbing. And in the finale, which, though it shares something of the first Presto's manic quality, has a joyful aspect, Kopatchinskaja's ultra-short, rather splashy bowing of both main themes fails to project their full melodic élan.

Like the Beethoven, the Bartók is a slightly frustrating mixture of the brilliant and the questionable, but in the Ravel the performance's radical edge is more completely successful. The first movement's out-of-key interjections are sharply characterised and drawn together by a powerful sense of line, and the spirit of the Blues movement is captured wholeheartedly, with some unusual piano sounds and spectacular violin- playing. Not surprisingly, Say's own Sonata is also beautifully played. Most imaginatively written for the two instruments and adopting a direct, uncomplicated style, four short movements chart a progression from romantic melancholy through an area of dark, grotesque struggle to an empty, bleak landscape, with a repeat of the gentle first movement as consolation. Daring, and highly individual playing – it's a CD worth investigating.”  --The Gramophone Classical Musi Guide 2010

Beethoven & Hummel: Piano Trios

“…these are really impressive and vibrant accounts that bring out all the abrupt contrasts that so shocked the works' Beethoven first audiences… If you prefer these pieces on period instruments, you're unlikely to find them better done… Beside Beethoven, Hummel's G major Trio is small beer, though its scherzo-like- finale is fun, and Staier wittily invokes the piano's built-in percussion effect for the concluding chords.” --BBC Music Magazine, February 2008 *****

BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice - February 2007

“This bold juxtaposition of Beethoven and Hummel resurrects a real-life musical rivalry… Equally bold are the timbres displayed by this vividly imaginative trio of period instrumentalists.” --Gramophone Magazine, March 2008

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas No 4 & 7, Variations

“Fortunately, the players don’t seem in the least bit fazed by the accumulated layers of musical history, and they give admirably dramatic performances, with all the urgency and passion Beethoven’s two minor-key violin sonatas demand.” --BBC Music Magazine, August 2006 *****

“Beethoven’s fiery dramatics sound more audacious than ever…Fantastic playing, and a fascinating release.” --The Times

“…performances of unusual verve and spontaneity.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2006

 “The novel feature here is that Daniel Sepec's violin is one of a set presented to Beethoven in 1800 by Prince Lichnowsky. Made in Salzburg around 1700 and restored to its original condition, its whereabouts were unknown until 10 years ago, when it was presented to the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. In Sepec's hands it has a sweet, expressive tone, an important element in these remarkably imaginative, stimulating performances. Andreas Staier plays a Graf pianoforte from the 1820s, of a type Beethoven was familiar with, though not at the time he wrote these sonatas. But if it has a smoother sound and wider dynamic range than earlier instruments, it's still able to present Beethoven's keyboard textures with perfect clarity. Staier's enthusiastic approach occasionally swamps the violin – but one can easily imagine the young Beethoven doing the same.

Staier and Sepec take us a long way beyond the concept of historically informed playing as simply avoiding anachronism. In the first movement of Sonata No 7, Sepec introduces expressive portamenti, as well as the kind of rubato where he momentarily lags behind the piano's rhythm. In the following Adagio, Staier makes highly expressive use of spread chords, and throughout the CD there are instances of subtle tempo variation and added dynamics, for example the beautiful shaping of the main theme in No 4's second movement. In the Variations, Staier makes full use of the Graf's range of sonorities, including a remarkable percussive surprise! Yet these 'authentic' features all stem from a clear view of the music's expressive qualities and result in performances of unusual verve and spontaneity.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

The Very Best Of Beethoven

Beethoven was a musical giant. He wasn't taller or fatter than everyone else, but his music is big and his name is important. Beethoven is like the Olympic champion of classical music. Some of the music he wrote is strong and serious, and some of it is very gentle. Listen here to orchestras, pianos, violins and other instruments playing some of the most famous pieces of all.

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Volume 1

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)

 

“Muted beginnings from Jean-Efflam Bavouzet...Make no mistake, his playing is immaculate. Yet in a number of sonatas his is, mostly, an immaculate presentation of their structural logic...The tide with Op. 10. Excellent pianism now gets bedded into genuine interpretation. Bavouzet jettisons fastidious reserve for a personal perspicacity that reaches deep into the music...Bavouzet when performing at his finest is the thing here.” --Gramophone, August 2012

“Bavouzet's performances are distinguished and virtuosic, but he does overemphasise the storminess of some passages, the results sounding perilously close to self-parody...But Bavouzet is quite marvellous in the many quirky, violent and mischievous movements, and in the slow movements where he does not seek to be intensely expressive...so all told this is a most desirable set overall.” --International Record Review, June 2012
   

“Throughout these discs, Bavouzet enhances his interpretations with pianism of a virtuosity familiar from his earlier recordings...with sound as clear and realistic as one previous Chandos releases...On the basis of this first instalment, he has much to say about this music that is relevant and necessary: one can only look forward to the continuation of this cycle.” --BBC Music Magazine, July 2012 ****beetho

L'Heritage Beethoven

Among Beethoven’s closest friends were three remarkable pianists of the Viennese school: Ferdinand Ries, Carl Czerny, and Ignaz Moscheles. Like Beethoven, each of the three friends composed for the horn, an instrument then at a crossroads: the natural horn was gradually being displaced by the valved horn. Former principal horn of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and associate principal horn with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Louis-Philippe Marsolais is now dedicated to performing solo and chamber music. Canadian pianist David Jalbert has a growing career as a soloist, and has also appeared on disc and in recital and as a chamber musician.

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus

'Full of music which is not only immensely attractive but also highly original … a splendid disc, strongly recommended' --CDReview

'Highly recommended' --The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

'A dashing performance of unreasonably neglected music … superb' --Classic CD

'This superb account of Beethoven's early ballet is a revelation' --The Guardian

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Sir Charles Mackerras

Mozart & Beethoven: Quintets for Fortepiano & Wind Instruments

Robert Levin and the Academy of Ancient Music Chamber Ensemble provide a look back through time. These pieces are now quite familiar to listeners who, for the most part, have heard them played with only contemporary instruments. Levin's fortepiano and the period instruments of the Ensemble give the music a much different feel. It seems fitting to a smaller room--a more intimate performance.

Mozart's Quintet for Fortepiano and Wind Instruments (K. 452) is structured much like a concerto and was one of the composer's own favorites. Levin and the Ensemble strive for consummate authenticity in performance, and the effort is well-rewarded.

The included Beethoven pieces may have similar orchestration, but the difference in style is apparent. They take on regal airs, contrasting with Mozart's lyrical serenity. Even with period instruments, Beethoven's compositions fill the room with sound, swelling with pride and enthusiasm.

Levin's reputation as a master of the fortepiano is well-earned. His performance is studied, yet full of personality. The Academy of Ancient Music Chamber Ensemble excels as well.

Live at the Royal Albert Hall

“there's an admirable lightness of touch and appreciation of rhythmic flow to her "Für Elise", and her negotiation of Liszt's "Un Sospiro" is captivating.” --The Independent, July 2012 ****

“genuine gifts for lyricism and dazzling display...those musical gifts quickly hit the ears on this closely recorded CD.... Track three is Liszt’s La campanella, intelligently shaped, its bell sounds glittering as rarely before...Lisitsa tends to play with the lights fully on, with not enough shading in the wide expanse between loud and quiet. This gets rather tiring...But at the moment there is only one Valentina Lisitsa.” --The Times, July 2012

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Valentina began playing the piano at the age of three and performed her first solo recital just one year later. She has won prestigious awards for her playing internationally, including the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition (together with her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff).

Valentina Lisitsa has already performed at major international venues including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York and the Vienna Musikverein, and in countries as far apart as the Netherlands and Brazil. She has played with renowned orchestras including Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony, collaborating with conductors Manfred Honeck, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, among others. Upcoming performances are confirmed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Philharmonie im Gasteig, Munich with Münchner Symphoniker and recitals at the Victoria Hall in Geneva and Philharmonie in Berlin.

With more than 43 million views and over 52,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, the young pianist is not only one of the fastest-rising stars of the international concert scene but probably the single most-watched classical musician, having rapidly overtaken long-established giants of the piano world in terms of global online viewing figures.

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-10 (Complete)

This is really splendid! Dumay and Pires have made some outstanding recordings, including an excellent disc of Brahms violin sonatas, and this new set of Beethoven's complete works in the same genre, generously annotated and very attractively packaged, belongs among the very best available. Everyone will have their own favorite moments in these popular pieces, so any discussion of the performances is bound to leave much unsaid, but to get started just listen to the beginning of Disc 2, to the way the opening Allegro assai of Sonata No. 8 leaps from the speakers...

Before two seconds have elapsed you know that these performances will have all of the fire, passion, and spontaneity that Beethoven ideally requires.

In the early sonatas, Dumay and Pires attack the swift outer movements (and this is some of the most energetic music that Beethoven wrote) with uninhibited freshness, and despite Dumay's enthusiasm at such points as the opening Presto of No. 4, his tone never turns unnecessarily coarse. The duo takes special care to imbue the variation movements (in Nos. 1, 6, and of course the "Kreutzer") with plenty of variety and character. Note how the sweetly innocent opening of the "Spring" Sonata rapidly accumulates energy as the exposition proceeds, or the way in which these players knit together the broken phrases of the Kreutzer's opening adagio, carrying the music's momentum through the pauses and eruptive exclamations. Pay particular attention to the spiky accents in the outer section of No. 10's tiny scherzo (the one Mahler quotes in the scherzo of his Second Symphony), its lilting trio offering the strongest possible rhythmic contrast. The stormy finale of the C minor Sonata (No. 7) contains playing of such fire and passion that even Argerich/Kremer might pale in comparison.

In terms of ensemble balance, Dumay stands obviously in front of his partner, but the very clear recording allows every detail of Pires' playing to be heard, and she's no second fiddle, as her contributions (particularly in the early sonatas and the "Kreutzer") make abundantly clear. In fact, this is certainly one of the better-equalized duos to record these works, superior in this particular respect to Argerich/Kremer, Oistrakh/Oborin, or even Perlman/Ashkenazy. A case in point: listen to the perfectly balanced and tuned unisons in the second subject of the Kreutzer's first movement. Make no mistake, this is chamber music playing of the first order, and a major contribution to the Beethoven discography--a set to be savored and enjoyed many times over. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com [11/23/2002]

Beethoven: Triple Concerto, Septet

Beethoven's Triple Concerto works best when played like a svelte, bubbly concerto grosso rather than middle-period Beethoven pretending to be Elgar. For that to happen, you need a firm, decisive podium master who keeps everything clear and moving ahead. And you need three virtuoso soloists with rhythmic élan, beautiful tone, and radar-like ensemble sensitivity.

Enter Zinman, Bronfman, Shaham, Mørk, and Zurich. No, that's not a law office, but rather the musician participants, who embody all the aforementioned criteria and come up with the best-integrated, least-platitudinous, most consistently characterized and caringly detailed Beethoven Triple Concerto ever committed to disc.

The opening ritornello's eloquent section work, lively rhythmic inflections, and snarling brass sonorities probably sound better than anything Beethoven expected, while violinist Gil Shaham and cellist Truls Mørk seamlessly yet passionately merge to the point where it's hard to tell who's playing what in common registers. And pianist Yefim Bronfman builds upon the stylish flair and sensitivity he brilliantly displayed in his previous Beethoven collaborations with Zinman (the Third and Fourth concertos). By virtue of the superb engineering, the balance between soloists and orchestra emerges in perfect perspective.

The Septet, one of Beethoven's least favorite yet most tuneful and unpretentious creations, often is played without a conductor, and in truth it really doesn't need one--yet Zinman's presence makes itself felt. Notice, for example, the increased tension as a result of the first-movement slow introduction's minute tempo adjustments and pungent accents, or hear the Minuetto's excitingly contoured inner lines, or the textural interplay in the Finale that makes the excellent (albeit conductorless) Academy of St. Martin in the Fields sound generalized by comparison. Even if this budget-priced disc were listed at five times the cost, it would be a bargain. [4/21/2006]
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5

“Sudbin makes it clear that he has little use for Beethoven weighed down, as it were, with excess baggage...Instead, his delectably light-fingered brilliance and virtuosity shines a new light on some of the most familiar scores in the repertoire...Such mercurial pianism keeps Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra on their toes but they follow their soloist as to the manor born.” --Gramophone Magazine, April 2011

“The clarity of Yevgeny Sudbin's playing, and the range of keyboard colours he commands are qualities that serve him as well in Beethoven as they did in his fine Scriabin recital for BIS a few years back. He is particularly successful here in the more intimate and chamber-like Fourth Concerto...There's much to like about Sudbin's Emperor, too. The Adagio is admirably luminous” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 ****

“Sudbin need not fear being heard in the context of pianists who are appreciably further on in their careers...In a crowded field [he] ranks near the top and it will be fascinating to hear how his cycle evolves over the remaining two installments. Highly recommended.” --International Record Review, April 2011

“Vänskä's lightness of touch - a cooler Beethoven than we're accustomed to, but peppered with artfully controlled explosions - is just what's needed to get inside the enigmatic Fourth, and his 'Emperor' is refreshingly restrained.” --Classic FM Magazine, April 2011 ***

Beethoven & Berg: Violin Concertos

“listening to these wonderful performances side by side is cathartic...The journey is vividly delineated from the outset of the Berg. With Abbado drawing sonorities from his first-rate orchestra, Faust's limpid violin weaves subtly in and out of the music's dark and increasingly sorrowful fabric...The clouds immediately lift for the Beethoven...Faust's first entry is magical.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2012 *****

BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - April 2012

Gramophone Awards 2012
Finalist - Concerto

Gramophone Magazine
Disc of the Month - March 2012

“Each note appears to shine with an inner glow...Under [Faust's] fingers, her Stradivarius produces an astonishingly varied range of sound to meet the demands of Berg’s concerto...The luminous sound of Abbado’s orchestra, a continuing glory, infuses the [Beethoven] concerto with a real sense of joy; I don’t know of any other interpretation that wears such a smile so lightly. Faust is a wonder on this disc, but Abbado is even more so.” The Times, 3rd February 2012 ****

“Abbado’s hand-picked ensemble...produces a sound that is thoroughly apt to the particular world of each piece. Faust’s timbre and spectrum of emotion are similarly judged and communicated with arresting maturity and sensibility. Likewise, she echoes the freshness and depth that Abbado stimulates in the orchestral playing of the Beethoven concerto, finding a mode of expression that is both lyrical and dynamic and contributing to a performance of real stature.” The Telegraph, 3rd February 2012 *****

“seamlessly reconciles intensity with gentle expressivity” Financial Times, 4th February 2012

“The Beethoven and Berg Violin Concertos aren't commonly paired on disc. However, in this case it seems like an inspired piece of programme planning, with an account of the Berg that plumbs its depths of melancholy, setting off a radiant, life-affirming performance of the Beethoven...Outstanding performances of both concertos, then; I'll want to return to them often.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

“Faust has already demonstrated her empathy with music from Bach to Jolivet, but her collaboration with Abbado is inspired. Indeed, both find more beauty in this challenging score than most interpreters on disc: Abbado gets sumptuous Middle European textures from his Bologna-based orchestra, also wonderfully transparent and airy in the Beethoven concerto, treated like expanded chamber music....A glorious disc.” Sunday Times, 26th February 2012

“The [Berg’s] expressive range, which includes vehemence as well as delicacy, is fully probed here.” Irish Times, 24th February 2012 ****

“The unorthodox pairing...casts a curious spell in this thoughtful performance...Faust's chaste, pale sound is offset against stained-glass woodwind and serene brass in the Berg, while bassoonist Guilhaume Santana is a glamorous dancing partner in the Beethoven.” The Independent, 4th March 2012

“Faust’s performance is special. There’s something warm and consolatory in her playing. She doesn’t overdo the sentimentality, and there’s as much rapture as regret. None of which would be possible without Abbado’s perfectly judged orchestral support; the violent outbursts in the second movement are rightly brutal and the work’s closing minutes are exquisite…Buy this disc for the Berg – possibly the work’s finest recording yet.” The Arts Desk, 21st April 2012

The Berlin Concerto: Bach, Beethoven & Lasser

“A highly dedicated pianist is at work…” --Gramophone Magazine

“…this second CD of a Berlin recital provides ample evidence of gifts above and beyond the ordinary.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

“Dinnerstein’s subtly inflected tonal purity and exquisite dynamic suppleness impart a sense of concentrated musical inevitability to the Bach French Suite rivaled only in my experience by Dinu Lipatti’s incandescent reading of the B flat Partita. 

To say that Dinnerstein is technically flawless would be to hugely understate the case: her playing (like Lipatti’s) is such a natural extension of her interpretative vision that the two become indissoluble. … A stunning recital, engineered with tactile precision.” --Julian Haylock, International Piano

Beethoven: Cellosonaten Op. 69 & 102, Etc

Argerich reminds us that this is music by a pianist of dynamic personality... A valuable and generously filled issue.

Here again I find these two fine musicians to have a good rapport, and for all her strength of musical personality, Argerich does not overshadow or overpower the cello; the recording helps here, too, by being fairly thoughtfully balanced, although in saying that I must add that Maisky is embarrassingly submerged (partly Beethoven's fault) in such a passage as the one at 7'08'' in the first movement of the A major Sonata.

Even if we don't get the full flavour of the pianist's tone as is heard on her solo recordings, we instantly recognize her first utterances in this work, which begin quietly enough but end with much force. Ditto the tigerish way she begins its scherzo and plays the finale of the C major. Is it a fault that Maisky always sounds gentler and sweeter? Or is it inherent in the nature of their two instruments and thus Beethoven's intention? In any case, Argerich reminds us, perhaps rightly, that this is music by a pianist of dynamic personality as well as a composer at the height of his powers.

These sonatas obviously represent a more mature Beethoven than Nos. 1 and 2 (both 1796) and are correspondingly terser and more compelling. Yet Maisky and Argerich do not let the energy of quicker movements obscure the warmth of more lyrical passages, relaxing the time and tone here without quite letting go of the overall momentum—although at times it's a close thing. One also feels their involvement in their ultra-sensitive handling of slow movements, albeit sometimes too strongly inflected for my taste. While voicing reservations, I'll add that the finale of Op. 69 reminded me of Argerich's ability as a marchande de vitesse and I wonder whether she, rather than Maisky, is dictating pace although he manages to stay with her and remain stylish. The Judas Maccabaeus Variations (music of 1796) are pretty empty stuff, but that's not the artists' fault. Enough of adverse criticism: this is a valuable and generously filled issue. -- Christopher Headington, Gramophone [12/1993]

Beethoven Triple Concerto · Brahms Double Concerto

“There is much to be said for this purposeful yet agreeable Gothenburg recording of the Brahms Double Concerto...[Sara Trobäck & Claes Gunnarsson] are fine players who respond with civility and spirit to Järvi's cogent and forthright lead.” --Gramophone

“This recording is truly a five-gold-star achievement, and one that I don’t expect to be matched anytime soon. This is a must-have recommendation.” --Fanfare

MP3 320 · 154 MB

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas

“her playing is unfailingly adept without revealing the finer nuances of the pieces” --Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011

“there is some really fine playing here. Ott, we are told, has been working on the two sonatas for 10 years. Recorded with a warm tonal glow, both these and the Andante favori are notably poised and lucid - the transition from the slow movement of the 'Waldstein' into the finale is wonderfully managed.” --Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 ****

It's [Sonata No. 3] which provides the more gripping ride, from the dashing brilliance of the Allegro con brio first movement before negotiating the sudden thrust in a more melancholy direction in the Adagio. Finally, the rolling cadences of the concluding Allegro assai capture Ott's youthful spirit at its most attractively coltish.” --The Independent, 12th August 2011 ****

MP3 320 · 145 MB