Aperitif - A French Collection

Sharon Bezaly really struts her stuff in this charming, intelligently chosen selection of French gems for flute and orchestra. It goes without saying that Bezaly is up to the challenge that these generally modest pieces (Devienne excepted) present, offering steady, full tone with no trace of irritating breathiness, and more than sufficiently nimble fingers that make short work of, say, Rampal's cadenzas in the Sturm und Drang outer movements of the Devienne E minor Concerto. Anyone who thinks that music for flute and orchestra can't be other than dainty and delectable (or boring) should sample this surprisingly dramatic and substantial concerto, which unflaggingly holds the attention throughout its nearly 18 minutes.

In fact, all of this music is delightful, but in addition to the concerto, two works in particular stand out: Gounod's Concertino, which contains an unforgettable principal theme that wouldn't have been out of place representing the Hobbits in the recent Lord of the Rings films, and Saint-Sa�ns' late Odelette, seven and a half minutes of pure elegance from a master of instrumental writing. Clarinetist Harri M�ki joins Bezaly quite capably in the same composer's very early (Op. 6) Tarentelle, but otherwise this is Bezaly's show, and she gets first class accompaniments from the Tapiola Sinfonietta under Jean-Jacques Kantorow, all captured in perfectly balanced sound. This is a disc that leaves you wanting more, and given the inherent limitations in range and timbre of Bezaly's instrument, that's saying quite a lot about her masterful handling of it. --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com [2/8/2003]

R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra & Tod und Verkl�rung

�Endlessly imaginative, finely detailed and grippingly spontaneous (if not quite immaculate) readings that capture Sinopoli at white heat.� BBC Music Magazine, January 2014 *****

�Sinopoli's interpretations of these two Strauss tone poems ara magnificient and are recorded with clarity. What I find most impressive is the way Sinopoli approaches a score as if it were a brand-new document waiting to be brought to life.� --Gramophone Magazine

Nielsen: Orchestral Works

Nielsen wrote six symphonies, all of which repay attention. The best known are Symphony No. 2, �The Four Temperaments� and Symphony No. 4, �The Inextinguishable�. Symphony No. 5, written after the First World War, represents, in its two movements, the composer�s struggle to develop new and stronger rhythms and more advanced harmony. His concertos for clarinet, for flute and for violin have also found a place in standard repertoire, as has the overture taken from the opera Maskarade.

Steffani: Dances & Overtures

�four trumpets and war-like drums create a splendid din in the clever Ouverture from Niobe.� Gramophone Magazine, November 2013

The inspired conductor of Mission directs an album of music from Steffani�s operas as a companion release to Cecilia Bartoli�s Stabat Mater. Mission created great interest in the music of little-known Italian composer Agostino Steffani (1654�1728). Fasolis�s conducting thrust him into the spotlight as one of the most dynamic baroque interpreters working today. The variety of styles in Steffani�s music continues to surprise. With 43 great tracks of enchanting early-baroque music this collection is set to be another revelation.

In his time, Steffani was universally admired for his opera music, and much of the appeal of the works lies in the beauty of his orchestration. The disc opens with seven pieces from his celebrated Orlando and goes on to offer a sparkling array of preludes, gavottes, gigues, airs and much more besides from a wide range of his operatic work.

Diego Fasolis draws sparkling performances from period specialists I Barocchisti in music of a composer whose rediscovery is one of the great finds of our time.

Lalo & Saint-Sa�ns: Cello Concertos

�I am charmed by Wispelwey�s playing in the Lalo, I am bowled over by this performance of Saint-Saens asks of him, the multiple-stopping, the passages at the very top of the cello�s range, and so on- Wispelwey�s tone remains centered and mellifluous. Furthermore, he is an intelligent, stylish musician who makes the music interesting.� --International Record Review, September 2013

�[the Lalo] is an underrated piece and the performance given here is extremely fine...Wispelwey is in great form, ably supported by the orchestra and Seikyo Kim...The cello is recorded with clarity and possesses a slight cutting edge...The solo playing is immaculate.� --MusicWeb International, November 2013

After a highly acclaimed recording of Briten�s Cello Symphony (ONYX4058) Pieter Wispelwey and the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiko Kim, turn to two romantic cello concertos whose neglect is hard to fathom.

Lalo, unusually for a French composer in the mid 19th century, was drawn to chamber music, and formed a string quartet (in which he played viola, and later second violin) that championed the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. His passion for chamber music developed to embrace large scale orchestral works � two violin concertos, the famous 'Symphonie espagnole' for violin and orchestra, a symphony in G minor, the Piano Concerto and the concerto recorded here: the Cello concerto in D minor of 1877. A strong work in the Germanic tradition, the central movement combines a slow movement and scherzo. Its comparative neglect in the concert hall is difficult to understand as it is an impressive and well made work, worthy of his contemporaries Franck and Saint-Sa�ns.

The latter�s second cello concerto from 1902 is totally overshadowed by his impressive and dazzling first concerto dating from 1872. The later work has all of the composer�s flair for style, elegance and is possibly more challenging for the soloist than its A minor sibling.

Elgar: Symphony No. 2

�Stockholm strings may not sound very full or burnished at the fuller end...but they are supreme in atmospheric pianissimos...It's typical of the thoughtful Oramo, too, that he chooses to fill the rest of the disc with tender, veiled string elegies to complement the sunset Symphony� --BBC Music Magazine, November 2013 ****

�The opening movement is propelled strongly, the Elgarian swagger is exploited well and that ghostly passage suggesting a malign presence in a garden seems particularly eerie here...Altogether a very impressive Elgar programme.� --MusicWeb International, 24th July 2013

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

As the present principal conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo has chosen works by Edward Elgar, a composer whose music he has been a fervent advocate of since his tenure at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Oramo�s commitment to Elgar has been rewarded with a medal of honour from the British Elgar Society.

Oramo has already led the RSPO through a series of high-profile projects which has recently included a very successful tour of Japan. Oramo will be making his debut performance as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the last night of the Proms.

All three works presented here have a melancholic tinge with Symphony No. 2 being dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII, accompanied by two smaller string works: Elegy and Sospiri (�sighs�).

Buonamente: Sonatas, canzonas and sinfonias

Italian composer Giovanni Battista Buonamente, a member of the Franciscan order, gained renown throughout Europe as a violinist, singer and choirmaster. He began his career as the Gonzaga court in Mantua, later becoming a chamber musician at the Viennese court of Ferdinand II and his final post was as chapel master at the Sacro Convento in Assisi, where he remained until his death in 1643 and his compositions many characteristics of the early Italian Baroque. This disc, inspired by a collection of instruments that were left to the Sacro Convento by Abbot Rivi in 1704, includes a selection of pieces from volumes IV, VI and VII of Buonamente�s instrumental music.

The first three volumes of this collection were lost, and the surviving volumes of the original collection were destroyed by fire at the Wroclaw library in Poland, where they had been housed. The pieces on this disc were chosen with the intent of using the instruments that Abbot Rivi had bequeathed to the Sacro Convento, along with the violin, theorbo, cello, organ and harpsichord, which records show were also present at the convent.

Laura Pontecorvo, a baroque flute specialist, has played first flute with the Concerto Italiano and regularly collaborates with ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, Divino Sospiro, Europa Galante and Accordone, L�Arte dell�arco. She has performed as a soloist all over the world and has recorded for several record labels including Opus 111 and Stradivarius. She is joined on the recording by the Helianthus Ensemble.

Barber: Cello Concerto & Sonata

�There are three hits here on one CD...[Poltera] is outstanding and invariably well-supported by the Bergen players under Litton. His high positions are effortless, as are the nasty double thirds...Poltera's duet with the oboe in the slow movement is magical...A feature of Litton's Adagio is the way it creeps in fat the start from nothing. Then it's all beautifully paced, spacious and warm. Recorded quality throughout is top-drawer in a truly winning CD.� --Gramophone, February 2013

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - February 2013

�Poltera meets [the Concerto's] technical demands with almost complete ease, and projects the more lyrical moments with subtle inflections of line and beautifully centred tone...Poltera and pianist Kathryn Stott bring out [the Sonata's] Brahmsian ardour and its contrasts between tranquillity and restlessness.� --BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****

�Christian Polt�ra is ideally suited to this music, not least because he obtains a gloriously rich and full tone from his 1675 Guarnerius cello. Kathryn Stott, faced with a very full piano part, matches the ardour of his playing...[in the Concerto] Polt�ra is a highly persuasive soloist and the accompaniment from Litton and his orchestra is first rate.� --Music Web Internacional, May 2013

Stravinsky: Complete music for piano & orchestra

With Steven Osborne as soloist, the concertante works are in exceptionally good hands...After the Capriccio's grandiose opening, Osborne's tight control of the piano's insistent, driving textures provides a firm foundation for the opening movement's unexpected humanity and charm.� --BBC Music Magazine, July 2013 ****

�Osborne and Volkov tick a major Stravinsky box� --Gramophone Magazine, August 2013

�Osborne plays all with diamantine brilliance.� Sunday Times, 19th May 2013

�Osborne manifests both his rhythmic �lan and his refined sense of tonal shading, underpinning the performances with virile energy...finding a spirited sparring-partner in the BBC Scottish Symphony under Ilan Volkov.� The Telegraph, 29th May 2013

�though they do not manage to make either [concerto] more likable, Osborne and Volkov judge them perfectly � keeping the Concerto, as well as the slightly later Capriccio, on a tight rein, and threading a lucid path through the thickets and intricacies of the Movements.� The Guardian, 30th May 2013 ****

�The outstanding work here is the Concerto for piano and wind instruments (1923-24), played by Osborne in a way that finds wit in the rhythmic quirks while lending substance to the music�s 18th-century references, so that it never sounds dry.� Financial Times, 8th June 2013 ***

Holst: The Planets; Elgar: 'Enigma' Variations

"This magnificent performance of The Planets, recorded with an opulent realism, brings to a culmination Boult's supreme understanding of this work. This account of the 'Enigma' Variations is also a classic." --Gramophone

"Nearly 80 minutes of very good quality sound serving two classic performances from the Seventies. Boult makes all The Planets shine, from a truly threatening Mars to the hushed mysticism of Neptune. His reading of Enigma shows his deep understanding and affinity for the work pointing up so many little felicities that bring these characters to life and all the emotional power of Nimrod and the Finale." --BBC Music Magazine

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

There�s no doubt as to which of these new Bruckner Ninths is the more seductive. The playing of the Vienna Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado is of exceptional sensuous beauty and technical refinement, and the recording serves it well. Rather than creating an idealised conductor�s perspective, the placing of the microphones gives the listener the impression that he or she is hearing the performance from a good seat in the auditorium (with only the horns slightly recessed). In Abbado�s performance the music unfolds naturally and inevitably: tempi controlled but supple enough to prevent rigidity. --Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine

Mozart: Piano Concertos No.14 & 26 'Coronation'

"Pires has always been something of a Mozart specialist, and her playing is tasteful and cleanly articulated, the lyrical melodies sensitively shaped, the passage work fluent and even. Nothing she does is ever harsh or graceless." --Gramophone

Claudio Abbado, 1933-2014

Abbado was born in Milan in 1933. He studied piano at the Milan Conservatory with his father Michelangelo Abbado, and went on to study conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music. 

In 1958, he won the Koussevitsky Competition, establishing him in Italy. He began working at La Scala in 1960 and remained there as musical director until 1986: his extensive discography includes a series of landmark Verdi recordings with his Milanese forces.

Abbado was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1988, and the following year he succeeded Herbert von Karajan as principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, a post from which he stepped down in 2002. His later years were dominated by his work with his Orchestra Mozart and with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which he reincarnated in 2003: their live recordings of the Mahler symphonies are widely regarded as some of the finest accounts on record. Abbado died on 20th January 2014 following a lengthy battle with stomach cancer.

Glass, Rutter & Fran�aix: Harpsichord Concertos

�Typically adventurous, Naxos programmes Rutter's pastoral prettiness with Glass's insistent dancing patterns and Francaix's lissom, quirky lyricism.� --BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2013 ****

�[the Glass] makes for an understated and appealing piece, and one to which Christopher D Lewis is as responsive as he is to the other works here - sensitively accompanied by the West Side Chamber Orchestra under the attentive direction of Kevin Mallon...If the programme appeals, then there is no need to hesitate.� --Gramophone Magazine, November 2013

Attracted by a delightful fusion of early music sonorities with modern expressiveness, the three composers in this amazingly rich and varied programme build on the magnificent harpsichord concerto legacy of J. S. Bach. John Rutter�s beautiful Suite Antique is full of rich and haunting themes, with a significant solo flute part and a jazzy Waltz which is as much Brubeck as Bach. Philip Glass delivers an exciting experience of virtuoso instrumental blending and solo expressiveness, and with typical wit and elegance. Jean Fran�aix�s Concerto is terrific fun throughout.

Tippett: The complete music for piano

�This splendid double album� assembles all Tippett's music for piano whether solo of with orchestra, in performances that impressively set new standards in these often challenging works.� --BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 *****

�Most powerful of all is the mighty Concerto� the eloquence and fantasy of what is undoubtedly one of the major works of the 1950s is superbly projected in a performance which need fear no comparison with the best earlier recordings� As for the sonatas, Steven Osborne is at least the equal of Paul Crossley... in interpretative empathy, and has the advantage of superlative modern recording.� --Gramophone, December 2007

�The young Tippett � magpie and maverick � sought maximum intensity of feeling while shunning what he felt to be the sentimental fervour of Elgar, Bax and Walton. Equally abhorrent were the pastoral pieties of Vaughan Williams. Tippett took his stand with Blake and Yeats rather than Bunyan, and a Blake whose 'bow of burning gold' required something altogether less complacent than Parry's well upholstered jingoism.

The results are plain to hear in Tippett's earliest works for piano, the First Sonata and the Handel Fantasia. The slow movement of the sonata may flirt briefly with Hindemith-style counterpoint but the predominant spirit is fiery and spontaneous, with a reinvigorated romanticism embracing those aspects of popular music which Tippett believed to have 'classical' potential.
The road ahead was bumpy and he occasionally lost his way, as in the very long slow movement of the Third Sonata, aspiring to Beethovenian depth but bogged down in overly dense textures. There are also several repetitions too many in the Fourth Sonata, though the final movement's gently poetic sense of resignation more than compensates.

Most powerful of all is the mighty Concerto, starkly and confidently poised between Tippett's still richly potent earlier style and the brave new possibilities explored in its visionary central movement. This recording blends the piano in with the orchestra, acknowledging the work's symphonic attributes, and there is a certain recessed quality to the sound of the piece throughout. Nevertheless, the eloquence and fantasy of what is undoubtedly one of the major works of the 1950s is superbly projected in a performance which need fear no comparison with the best earlier recordings. As for the sonatas, Steven Osborne is at least the equal of Paul Crossley (CRD) in interpretative empathy, and has the advantage of superlative modern recording.

There's a further advantage: perceptive and lucid booklet-notes by Ian Kemp, Tippett's friend and biographer, and one of Osborne's mentors. The set is dedicated to him.� -- The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2

�...here is a performance warmed by musicians who clearly love this symphony. On the whole this is a very 'straight' account, Slatkin only occasionally 'point-making'...but generally his tempos seem so sympathetically chosen that the music speaks eloquently� --BBC Music Magazine, June 2010 ****

�Well-played and with a recorded sound that faithfully reproduces the distinctive blend of richness and subtlety in Rachmaninoff�s orchestration, the performance is pliable but unexaggerated, poignant and powerful...there is a genuine heart and soul to it as well.� --The Telegraph, 20th January 2010 ****

In the wake of his First Symphony�s catastrophic premi�re, Rachmaninov took a decade before commencing his Second, painstakingly revising it before conducting the triumphant premi�re in 1908.

Although haunted, like his First, by the Dies irae chant melody, the Second Symphony brims with Rachmaninov�s revitalised assurance as a composer, from its brooding opening to the vigorous grandeur of its conclusion.

This disc marks the start of a new collaborative relationship between Naxos and the Detroit SO under Leonard Slatkin..

�One could argue that no conductor today comprehends this music or frames its rugged profile more eloquently than Slatkin. This was a magnificent performance, a testament to the DSO's collective virtuosity and a ringing promise of a new chapter in its annals.� Detroit News on Slatkin�s inaugural concert as the conductor of the DSO

Poulenc: Concertos for Keyboard Instruments

My music is my self-portrait,� said Francis Poulenc of his works. The composer�s personality was as brilliant as his music, which always contains something surprising, a change of level, a contrast between the �great� and the banal and between tradition and the avantgarde. Hansj�rg Albrecht presents three concertos for keyboard instruments on his new CD of organ music; he himself takes the solo part in the concerto for organ, strings and timpani.

In the harpsichord concerto and the concerto for two pianos and orchestra, he takes on the role of the orchestra, whose part he plays on the organ. With this, he harks back to performance practices typical of the early 20th century, particularly in France and the USA, where �salon organs� were often used in private salons for small concerts, and avant-garde composers presented their new works to an audience of connoisseurs.

The value of this recording is also enhanced by the two soloists in the double piano concerto, the piano duo consisting of Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen, who have been counted among the world�s leading piano duos for many years.

JS Bach: Violin Concertos

�Podger delivers an infectious, dancing lead which rubs off on the small, top-quality band. The A minor jig has a breathless intensity as the players unanimously bend to the delirious rhythm...Podger's period-instrument rendering of these untiringly repeatable masterworks is among the best on disc, authentic or otherwise.� --Classic FM Magazine, December 2010 *****

�In these lively, one-instrument-to-a-part performances, they [1056 and 1055] work well in this adaptation, and Podger�s lean, sinewy sound rises out of the ensemble shiningly.� --Sunday Times, 17th October 2010 ****

�This crack squad of first-rate period-instrument musicians gives lithe, polished and devoted performances that make a convincing case for a one-to-a-part "orchestra". Indeed, so full-bodied is the sound that you could be forgiven for not noticing the paucity of numbers � except the precision and freedom for manoeuvre is far greater than any chamber orchestra could achieve.� --bbc.co.uk, 30th November 2010

�The music flows with a natural ease. She stays light and nimble, very much embedded in the ensemble. The delicacy of her dynamic shifts and decorative details is remarkable...But this above all is a community endeavour. Podger�s six supporting musicians play alongside with exquisite skill and freshness...and provide a thrilling kaleidoscope of colours.� --The Times, 22nd October 2010 *****

�Sunshine floods through this ensemble recording...The forces are small, just one player per part, yet Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque think big...The E-major Concerto has spring, poise and wit, while the G-minor contrasts the langour of the Largo with a fizzing Presto.� --The Independent on Sunday, 3rd October 2010

�Exceptionally intimate and flexible performances from Rachel Podger� --Financial Times, 13th November 2010

Pierre Attaingnant: Que je chatoulle ta fossette, Danceries

The several volumes of Danceries occupy an important place amongst the numerous works published by Pierre Attaingnant in Paris. Although they were principally intended to give pleasure to instrumentalists, the ordering of the various pieces suggests that they also could well have been used to accompany dancers � and this has not been forgotten by the musicians of Doulce M�moire. Ricercar have added a number of songs to these dances, songs whose titles or character provide a reminder of the close connections that existed between music for dancing and vocal music at that time.

Works for Bassoon and Orchestra

�The instrument is precisely focused and the fineness of her playing shows her to be a musician of cultivated taste and sensibility...Geoghegan arrests attention immediately.� --Gramophone Magazine, November 2010

�Geoghegan delivers phenomenal brilliance and precision at top speed...And in the quiet moments, like the slow movement of Mozart's concerto, Geoghegan's lyrical playing has beautiful grace and musicianship. Responding in style, Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic contribute alert and attractive accompaniments.� --Classic FM Magazine, December 2010 *****

�It's quite rare for bassoonists to have the opportunity to perform and record their repertoire, particularly one so young, but Geoghegan is amply repaying the faith Chandos obviously has in her. This disc continues the fairy-tale outcome for Geoghegan and her Cinderella instrument of the orchestra and is worth exploring, particularly for the rarer repertoire.� --International Record Review, December 2010

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - November 2010

Great Baroque Masterpieces (10-CD Box Set)

Baroque music describes the period in Western classical music dating from approximately 1600 to 1750. The Baroque period saw the development of functional tonality, as well as new instrumental playing techniques and musical notation. It was during this time that opera was established as a musical genre, and the period also saw the expansion of the range and complexity of instrumental performance.

This collection concentrates on the instrumental music of the period. No survey of the Baroque would be complete without the music of JS Bach, whose Brandenburg concertos are commonly regarded as the apex of Baroque music. The radiant concertos of Vivaldi demonstrate the exhilarating range of instrumental colour that flourished at this time and contrast with the orchestral zest of Handel�s robust Water Music. From classical favourites such Pachelbel�s Canon and Albinoni�s Adagio, to Concerti Grossi from composers as diverse as Corelli, Handel, Locatelli and Geminiani, this set is the perfect compilation of works from this most fascinating of eras.

Music for Cello & Piano

�This blissfully unhackneyed and brilliantly executed recital takes memory in all its facets as its theme...the recording throughout gives the players all the space and atmosphere they need to characterise the varied moods and textures of an unusually rewarding programme.� --Gramophone, Awards Issue 2012

�Match [Ades's playing] with the mellow sound and manner of Steven Isserlis's cello, and you have something very special. Their choice of repertory here - devised as an extended upbeat to Ades's Lieux retrouves at the end of the programme - is unusual, memorable, and wonderfully performed from start to finish.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 *****

A cello recital with a difference from two maverick geniuses, displaying the fecundity of their collaboration. The world-famous cellist Steven Isserlis, one of the best-loved instrumentalists of today, joins forces with composer and pianist Thomas Ad�s, described by the New York Times as one of the most imposing figures in contemporary music.

This recording opens with three of Liszt�s arrangements for cello and piano�the dark plangency of Isserlis�s tone emphasizing their elegiac power. Jan�cek�s Poh�dka (�A Tale�) is based on a story with many magical elements, and it is this particular quality which Isserlis and Ad�s bring out in their aerial performance. The passionate ecstasy of Faur�s Cello Sonata No 2 is deeply felt, and the elemental mysterious sadness of Kurt�g�s miniatures leads the listener into the 21st century and to the �title track� of this disc which Ad�s wrote for Isserlis himself. Lieux retrouv�s is a characteristically thrilling tour de force, displaying influences from all the composers previously featured and many more. The writing for the cello reaches uncharted levels of difficulty. Isserlis in his thoughtful booklet notes describes it in pictorial terms of rivers and mountains�here�s Anthony Tommasini, again in the New York Times: �The rippling figures for piano and cello spin out in crazed, cyclic riffs; the crystalline piano harmonies sound as if the wind were rustling the chimes in the pagoda; the feisty, industrialized propulsive bursts in the finale.�

Casella: Orchestral Works Volume 3

�The BBC Philharmonic is an outstanding orchestra who maintain excellent form throughout. Their playing of these multicoloured works is ideal. I love the way they can easily generate thrusting intensity then seamlessly shift to episodes of tender serenity. Noseda�s stunning interpretation of the Symphony makes a splendid case for this marvellous work� MusicWeb International, 15th July 2013
 

�This is attractive music and the BBC Philharmonic under Noseda are strong advocates.� BBC Music Magazine, October 2013 ****

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - August 2013

�Noseda encourages the BBC Philharmonic to give of their considerable best throughout) the exuberant yet marvellously controlled orchestral playing towards the close of Italia really does raise the roof)...A very strong recommendation.� Gramophone Magazine, August 2013

�The performances are exceptional: even by their own standards, Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic have done nothing finer.� The Guardian, 13th June 2013 *****

�Those who have been following Noseda�s Casella series will be keen to add this disc to the collection...There is a whole spectrum of influences at work on Casella, but they are subsumed into a personal, dynamic style that the BBC Philharmonic conveys with sinew and spirit.� The Telegraph, 20th June 2013 ****

Sarasate

The dazzling showpieces of violin legend Pablo Sarasate meet their match in Julia Fischer, one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation, delivering virtuoso pyrotechnics in a stunning recital disc.

The key track is Sarasate�s most celebrated composition: Zigeunerweisen (�Gypsy Airs�). With its heady czardas rhythms and folk flavour, it is best known as a showpiece for violin and orchestra, but Fischer and her long-standing accompanist Milana Chernyavska present it here as it was originally written, for violin and piano.

Fischer�s programme also includes the popular Danzas espanolas. Designed to show off technique, these captivating pieces soon became a top choice for violin encores.

Fischer�s recording will help shine a new light on Sarasate�s music, which she wants to restore to the concert platform. She feels that each of the pieces is a little gem with a mood and story all its own, and says that she wants to communicate the joy and enthusiasm of pieces that make people want to dance or sing.

Sarasate�s contemporaries held him in extremely high regard, with Camille Saint-Saens, Max Bruch and Edouard Lalo all dedicating works to him. He was one of the first violinists to leave acoustic recordings in the pioneering years of the 20th century, recording his Zigeunerweisen in 1904, and his extraordinary writing remains a supreme challenge to violinists over a century after his death in 1908.

Mahler: Symphony No.1

�an undeniably fresh and often startling performance...Jurowski 'hears' everything but better yet the reasons for everything. His precipitous way with tempo contrasts creates moments of high drama in the outer movements...if ever there was a case for wanting the roar of applause, this is it.� --Gramophone Magazine, June 2013

�Everything about the dewy dawn of this Mahler One is perfect...But as the hero...steps into the sunshine, the effect of the airless, in-your-face strings is rather oppressive...the point and spirit of the finale are dazzling, the tempo changes masterly throughout.� BBC Music Magazine, July 2013 ****

�Jurowski�s vivid reading...announces its intentions early on with the clarinet�s startlingly physical cuckoo call, and is exceptionally faithful to the Berliozian separation of timbres that was Mahler�s response to the blended textures of Austro-German music.� --Sunday Times, 2nd June 2013

�This is an extraordinarily sensitive and nuanced account which eschews the temptation to stick to the sunny-side and run blithely through the score. There are frequent, telling adjustments in the phrasing which never sound fussy or applied...I look forward to more of Jurowski's Mahler with the LPO; this recording is a triumph.� --MusicWeb International, 30th July 2013

Joachim: Violin Concertos

"Joachim integrated the violin�s first entry into the opening tutti, after which initial statement the orchestra continues on its own. The solo part offered its youthful composer a great number of opportunities for virtuoso display�In its harmonic and melodic style, so heavily tinged with nostalgia�

�in the Hungarian style� has been described as the most difficult of concerted works for the violin�it requires strength and stamina as well as sustained brilliance, demanding a very occasional sacrifice of tonal beauty to achieve the requisite tonal strength. Strongly recommended to all kinds of listeners." --Fanfare, May 2010

A colleague of Mendelssohn, the Schumanns and Brahms, the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim was himself a composer of note. His exuberant single-movement Opus 3 Violin Concerto from around 1851 was dedicated to Liszt, from whom he subsequently distanced himself. It is a tour de force by a highly gifted twenty year old. The Opus 11 Violin Concerto followed six years later, its Classical three movements frequently coloured by Hungarian inflections, most strikingly in the �gypsy finale� which calls for astonishing technical control, immense stamina and fiery abandon from the soloist. Suyoen Kim is the Winner of the 2006 Hannover International Violin Competition.

Prokofiev 3 & Bart�k 2

 �Immediately [the Prokofiev] explodes into life with Lang Lang�s sparkling playing with seemingly boundless reserves of energy...Outstanding in the opening [of the Bart�k] is Lang Lang�s rhythmic potency borders on the demonic...Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle the Berliner Philharmoniker is highly persuasive and sympathetic. Not for the first time the woodwind excel - marvellous.� --MusicWeb International, November 2013

�How smart of Sony to have recorded [Lang Lang] in repertoire which plays to his strengths. This Prokofiev 3 is exceptionally good � thunderous when it needs to be, and always rhythmically alert. And Simon Rattle is a supremely effective partner...[the Bart�k] makes for an unexpected, rewarding coupling.� --The Arts Desk, 12th October 2013

�Lang Lang has the necessary power and athleticism to bring tremendous energy and drive to [Prokofiev's] more motoric writing...[he] sails through the passagework [of the Bartok] with exemplary clarity...The problem in the outer movements rests with the pianist's tendency to make everything sound harsh and percussive� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2013 ****

�Lang Lang gives a persuasive account of the Prokofiev. His finely observed detail..., the full use of the piano's sumptuous sonority and dynamic range and his effortless technical mastery would excite anyone's admiration...[in the Bartok] Lang Lang and Rattle are hugely impressive but, for my taste, a shade too polite.� --Gramophone Magazine, November 2013