Schumann: String Quartets Nos. 1–3 & Piano Quintet

“This new set...is of a very high standard: the account of the powerful first movement of the A minor is breathtakingly impressive - at times, Schumann's invention seems fit to burst the confines of four stringed instruments - and I was captivated by this intense performance throughout...a fine set of performances, very well recorded in a St Petersburg church in a rich and naturally warm acoustic.” --International Record Review, January 2012

“These four fine players are consistently musical in their approach and there is nothing outlandish or suspect about their interpretations. And therein perhaps lies their weakness, for it's precisely that degree of risk-taking that makes this music come alive...There is elegance to the new reading, though, which can be persuasive, such as in the variation-form second movement of No. 2” --Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

Schumann & Chopin: Piano Concertos

“A very rewarding listen, with beautiful touch from Louis Lortie. Neeme Järvi controls a halo of whisper-soft strings in the Chopin.” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 - Performance **** Recording *****

"...Louis lortie captures the full measure of the Schumann Piano Concerto..." "All in all, this is a fine Schumann Concerto performance..." "The Chopin 2nd... also draws a fine performance from Lortie and Jarvi." "The sound in both concertos is excellent. Recommended." --classical.net - July 2010

Louis Lortie (piano)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Neeme Järvi

The popular coupling of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, featuring Louis Lortie as the soloist, is here re-issued on Chandos Classics.

On the original release, CD Review wrote of the performance of Schumann’s Concerto: ‘…his playing is thrillingly imaginative and I cannot recall ever having heard the Finale sound so physically exciting as it does here.’ About the performance of Chopin’s F minor Concerto, the reviewer noted: ‘Lortie produces a scintillating reading which resounds in the mind long after the music has ceased.’

Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 1; Schumann: Fantasiestücke

"Brahms's First Piano Quartet - the one that received the attentions of Arnold Schoenberg (love it or hate it) - has attracted some of the great pianists: Emil Gilels, Arthur Rubinstein, Rudolf Serkin, Murray Perahia, and now Martha Argerich form a veritable constellation of stars. Here is a performance that grows in stature from the sheer luminosity of the playing. One of those amazing comings together of great musicians." -- Gramophone [Editor's Choice, 4/2004]

“Argerich is a pianistic marvel, effortlessly dispensing tumultuous energy and temperament, but this ensemble lacks interpretative and recorded focus.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 ****

Schumann: Violin Concertos, Fantasie in C

“Marwood's tone is notably characteristically focused with a notable sweetness which is matched by Wallin...Boyd and his Scottish players set ideal tempi in outer movements, enabling Marwood to negotiate fearlessly the fairly awkward and largely middle-range-lying solo writing...Utterly winning and authoritative.” --Gramophone Magazine, November 2012

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - November 2012

“[Marwood's] tone is sweetly centred, and avoids excessive contrasts between the upper and lower strings, so equalisation is the name of the game. So, too, is a certain chamber-scaled approach, with give-and-take with the orchestral wind principals...Marwood and Douglas Boyd keep the music on the go and bring out its felicitous colour” --MusicWeb International, December 2012

“There's little Marwood can do to disguise the shortcomings of the solo writing [of the D minor concerto], or the repetitions of the finale, but he and the BBC Scottish Symphony under Douglas Boyd go at it with a great deal of enthusiasm, with the solo line very prominent in the sound picture.” --The Guardian, 29th August 2012 ***

“in a performance as strong and imaginative as this one by Anthony Marwood its impact is considerable. The sinew of the first movement, with its bold opening statement and toughness of inner workings, is contrasted with the mellow, reflective lyricism of the central slow one...There are firm Schumann fingerprints all over the score, and it fully merits the passionate advocacy that it receives here” --The Telegraph, 6th September 2012

Schumann & Brahms: Piano Works

French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie achieved international recognition by his mid-twenties. His strong, yet sensitively crafted playing has served him well in a repertory of considerable breadth, with a concentration on composers from the late Classical period to the early twentieth century. Through a particularly fruitful association with his record company, he has been able to preserve on disc many of his most impressive interpretations and to enjoy a wide audience for his artistry.

Duo

"Put on your headphones, close the door and soak in these direct-connection performances of Schumann, Brahms, Debussy and Shostakovich by pianist Grimaud and cellist Gabetta. This is terrific." --Mercury News, September 2012

". . . the duo's playful work on Schumann's "Drei Fantasiestücke" bears out both Grimaud's assessment and the pair's shared sensibilities. Brahms' Sonata for Piano and Cello No.1 in E minor, though possessed of more gravitas, is more lightly dealt with than I've heard before, while they bring a questing spirit to Debussy's Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor,

Gabetta's robust pizzicato work in the second movement and Grimaud's animated runs in the closing section both evoking the early jazz influence of the late Romantics." --Independent, October 2012

Helene Grimaud (piano) & Sol Gabetta (cello)

Two of today's most passionate and inspirational artists join forces in the recital programme that brought audiences to their feet at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad in Summer 2011. The chemistry between Hélène Grimaud and Sol Gabetta left critics and audiences nothing short of euphoric and this first duo recording captures the revelatory magic of their collaboration

The album reprises the same programme the duo performed in Gstaad:

Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Claude Debussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Johannes Brahms Sonata for Cello and Piano No.1 in E minor and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano.

Hélène’s recordings have been best-sellers on the Yellow Label with more than 800,000 units sold altogether to date. Sol is also a best-selling, chart-storming artist, who is regarded as one of the great cellists of our day.

Grieg, Schumann & Saint-Saëns - Piano Concertos

“These are intimate performances, an effect no doubt enhanced by the fact that Shelley directs from the piano. Intimately but also sharply characterised. And when virtuosity is required, Shelley provides it in spades. Technically, the Saint-Saëns is an ideal vehicle for Shelley's fingery kind of pianism and he is exceptional in the Allegro scherzando, the movement that our-Mendelssohns Mendelssohn.” --Gramophone Magazine, May 2009

“…a modern version of Schumann's Piano Concerto that actually sounds like Schumann. Howard Shelley's performance is refreshingly free from empty showmanship or narcissistic 'pianism'. The Grieg and Saint-Saëns concertos are also full of lovely things, especially the slow movement coda for the Grieg - this music can touch without being the slightest bit sentimental or oversweet.” --BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 *****

“Outstanding performances” --Classic FM Magazine, February 2012

Reflection

“…even if her Schumann Concerto had come out on its own… I'd still strongly recommend it. From her first two forte chords it is clear this is going to be something special. Every single phrase, change of mood or colour, sounds as though it has been lovingly rediscovered.” --BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 *****

Gramophone Magazine
Editor's Choice - February 2006

BBC Music Magazine
Orchestral Choice - February 2006

“Hélène Grimaud presents us with a second lovingly themed gift, this time mirroring the entwined love of Robert and Clara Schumann and their adored protégé, Johannes Brahms. Grimaud's performance of Robert's Piano Concerto is a superbly bracing riposte to more indulgent and sentimental readings. Brilliantly partnered by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who conducts with all the joy of first discovery, she launches the work with fierce authority before playing the principal theme with a rare sense of its expressivo and affetuoso character. She is no less bold and impassioned partnering Anne Sofie von Otter, an ideal match for a singer whose intensity and vision leave you in no doubt that Clara was a more-than-gifted composer as well as a great pianist. ...joins Truls Mørk in the E minor Cello Sonata, where you get an almost palpable sense of the artists lifting each other to heights they might find hard to achieve alone. Few performances on record have a more robust eloquence and fervour.” --Gramophone Magazine, February 2006

Schumann: Carnaval Op 9, Sonata No. 1 Op 11

'On a new recital album, Evgeny Kissin brings to the fore many of the virtuoso qualities that have made him a star attraction among pianists of his generation: pianistic command, demonic energy, penetrating insight. The 21-year-old Russian also tends to bear down rather aggressively on certain sections (the stormy opening of the Sonata No. 1, for example) that tends to shortchange Schumann of necessary poetry. "Carnaval" always has been a major litmus test of the "compleat" pianist, and Kissin demonstrates he's more than up to its technical demands.

From the vivid boldness of the "Preambule" across the varied landscape of this kaleidoscopic work, Kissin plays up the music's schizophrenic shifts of character. He makes child's play out of the difficult "Paganini," although you must turn to older recordings by Rubinstein (RCA) and Moiseivitsch (Pearl) to hear subtleties of tone and expression Kissin misses. The same is true of the pianist's handling of the knuckle-busting sonata, although here I found myself more in accord with his volatile, extroverted approach -- it's hard to resist the sheer panache of Kissin's playing. Sixty minutes is rather short for a full-priced disc, although I have no complaints about RCA's engineering, which is as big and bold as the pianism. --Chicago Tribune. December 22, 2002|By John von Rhein.

MP3 320 · 133 MB

Schumann: Complete Symphonies

5 out of 5 stars for performance, 5 out of 5 stars for sound. --BBC Music Magazine

Of all the 19th-century composers who have been given the ‘period instrument treatment’ in the last couple of decades, Schumann’s reputation has perhaps gained the most. Long criticised for his supposedly opaque orchestration, and for symphonic structures which fell somewhere between the tunefulness of Schubert and the serious integrity of Brahms, it has taken the clear textures and energy of the period bands to bring this music back to life.

There have already been several reassessments on disc, but this handsome new DG collection strikes me as the best complete set so far. Ever the original, Gardiner has performed these symphonies with the violins and violas standing (as was the practice in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Schumann’s day); and though it might seem perverse to say one can hear the results on CD, I was certainly aware when listening to these thrilling performances of a vigour and projection to the string playing which is all too often lacking. Speeds are brisk but never driven too hard: awkward moments such as the scherzos in the First and Fourth symphonies have an appropriate lightness, but Gardiner is prepared to enjoy movements such as the Adagio espressivo of No. 2, with its exquisite oboe melody.

Like Harnoncourt in his recent Teldec Schumann cycle (with the COE – modern instruments but ‘period’ manners), Gardiner gives an airing to the seldom-heard original 1841 version of Symphony No. 4; but whereas the Harnoncourt set fits on to two CDs, Gardiner’s extra playing time allows not only the more familiar 1851 revision of this work, but also Schumann’s two not-quite symphonies and the wonderful Konzertstück for four horns. The recordings manage to be both magnificently detailed and warm, and DGproduction values are high throughout. Strongly recommended. --BBC Music Magazine

3 CD · MP3 320 · 448 MB

Schumann: The Violin Sonatas

“he captures ideally the turbulence of the First Sonata, so reminiscent of the sound world of the First Piano Trio, and the irresistable drive of the Second Lebhaft. The balance with the piano of Roland Pontinen seems natural” --Gramophone Magazine, May 2012

Robert Schumann's three Sonatas for violin and piano were all composed between 1851 and 1853, and have suffered from neglect like other works from this period in the composer's life.

Here the performers are Ulf Wallin and Roland Pöntinen: a team who recorded their first disc for BIS in 1991, and whose partnership has been described as 'masterfully cultivated ensemble playing' on ClassicsToday.com.

Wallin's credentials in Schumann are firmly established, after his recently released recording of the violin concerto, the Fantasy and the arrangement for violin of the cello concerto has been met with considerable critical acclaim.

MP3 320 · 168 MB

Schumann & Brahms: Piano Quintets

“With an almost ideal balance between piano and strings, the variety of articulation in their playing brings a marvellous textural variety to the full-blooded writing in the outer movements of the Brahms. …the performances… can be confidently recommended as among the finest modern recordings of both works.” --BBC Music Magazine *****

“Andsnes, whose playing is full of personality, and the Artemis Quartet, who have a fine presence, give a magisterial account of the Brahms and are no less compelling in the Schumann.” -- The Penguin Guide 2011

“Leif Ove Andsnes has an uncanny knack of revealing the inner truth of the music he plays without recourse to excessive gimmickry. He also has exquisite taste when it comes to choosing his chamber music collaborators, as this pairing of the two cornerstones of the piano quintet repertoire demonstrates.

Schumann's Quintet has become the most famous of his chamber works, with its boundless energy and melodic generosity. Andsnes and the Artemis let the notes speak for themselves, never lingering too lovingly on mere details. It's an approach that serves the work well, and an ideal instrumental balance helps illuminate the work's compelling textures throughout.

It's a similar story in the Brahms. Andsnes and the Artemis are alive to all the possibilities in the pregnant opening phrases of each movement and maintain the intensity of the impetuous passion implicit in this youthful music. The Brahms hasn't fared as well on disc as the Schumann and this recording of it can certainly take its place among the finest. As for the Schumann, it's undoubtedly up there with the best.” --The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010

MP3 320 · 152 MB

Beethoven: Triple Concerto · Schumann: Piano Concerto

"In the Triple Concerto, Argerich confirms her status among the great chamber-music players, responding to her partners with exemplary tact and verve." --Gramophone

"A breath-taking and addictive live performance." --BBC Music Magazine

Martha Argerich's caution in committing new items from her once extensive repertoire to disc is proverbial. So a warm welcome to her first recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto where, with her esteemed colleagues Renaud Capuçon and Mischa Maisky, she relinquishes all sense of stardom and does what comes naturally; namely performing music with her friends and allowing the microphones to eavesdrop, as it were, on her unalloyed happiness. Renewing her love for Beethoven (the Third Concerto will hopefully follow and there is even a promise of an Emperor Concerto later this year in Japan) Argerich confirms her status among the great chamber-music players, responding to her partners with exemplary tact and verve. Listen to the sense of interplay at 945', to Argerich's reply to Maisky's eloquence in the central Largo, or to the almost comic relish at 450" of the finale's bustling and ceremonious Polonaise, and you will be aware of musicmaking caught on the wing and filled with an unselfconscious delight and enjoyment.

The performance of the Schumann (Argerich's third on disc) is so vital and assertive that you are stunned and gratified by her ability to recreate music she has performed countless times with the white heat of first love. The opening is launched with a wild thrust and, throughout, there are innumerable little spur-of-the moment details and asides, a quick drawing of attention to this or that felicity.

Of course, such playing is a personal taste and you would never confuse Argerich for a moment with regal Myra Hess or sober-suited Pollini in this music but, again, she carries all before her, allowing her playing to pulse with a nervous vitality that trumps even her own previous performances. She is skilfully partnered by Alexandre Rabinovitch-Barakovsky, a pianist and conductor who somehow holds the reins of his fiery and unpredictable steed. -- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone [9/2004]

MP3 320 · 148 MB   bmc0112