J. S. BACH
Goldberg Variations (recorded at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, June 2008) Evgeni Koroliov (piano) [ EuroArts Music / Medici Arts DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2009 ] "The Yevgeni Koroliov Euroarts DVD performance of the Goldberg Variations is the most convincing interpretation of this masterpiece I have encountered since the Andras Schiff live recording from 2001 on ECM. It also features the most stunningly... |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin Piano Music Freddy Kempf, Alfredo Perl, Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Opus Arte DVD / DVD - released 20/Nov/2015 ] More than two hours of beautiful piano music for solo piano by one of the instrument's best-loved composers, played by three of today's greatest pianists. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin / Winterreise / Schwanengesang [plus DVD of Winterreise] Ian Bostridge (tenor) with Mitsuko Uchida, Leif Ove Andsnes, Antonio Pappano (piano) [ Warner Classics CD / DVD / 4 CD/DVD - released 10/Jan/2015 ] "Bostridge's first die Schöne Müllerin created a sensation in the song world. This new version, even more original and distinctive, confirms that the cycle will inextricably be linked with his name" (MusicWeb for Schone Mullerin) |
SCHUMANN
Violin Concerto in D minor / Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110 Isabelle Faust (violin) / Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado, with Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) & Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi CD + DVD / 2 CD/DVD - released 10/Apr/2015 ] In the autumn of 1851 Schumann composed, in rapid succession, the two violin sonatas and, in the space of just seven days from 2 to 9 October, the Piano Trio no.3, Op.110. As always during his work, Schumann was oblivious to everything around him,... |
J. S. BACH / DOMENICO SCARLATTI / LUDWIG van BEEETHOVEN
Ivo Pogorelich : Recital - Live in Castello Reale di Racconigi Ivo Pogorelich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 10/Feb/2009 ] "Pogorelich has a reputation for willful interpretations, very idiosyncratic tempo choices, etc. I was half-prepared to see some of that here, but it was just the opposite. The sobriety, absolute technical mastery, and musical depth on display... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1 - 5 Krystian Zimerman (piano) / Vienna Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 19/Jan/2008 ] "In the last three there is a close rapport and unity of purpose between these two in many ways highly differing musical personalities; Zimerman poised and aristocratic, Bernstein a full-bodied, brilliant temperament. Their collaboration is a triumphant s |
SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / TAN DUN / CHOPIN / etc
Lang Lang Live At Carnegie Hall (Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York on November 7, 2003) Lang Lang (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 3 CD/DVD - released 5/May/2008 ] Recorded live at Carnegie Hall November 7th 2003 |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / BELA BARTOK
Prokofiev / Bartok: Piano Concertos [CD plus DVD documentary] Lang Lang (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle [ Sony Classics / 2 CD/DVD - released 1/Dec/2013 ] "this is a performance [of the Prokofiev] that glides by, impeccably beautiful and fleet, yet a trifle short of character. Still, Lang Lang's easy virtuosity is delicious; so is the absence of keyboard thumping...[the Bartok] offers genuine bite, whe |
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
A Beethoven Journey [ Seventh Art DVD / DVD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] Leif Ove Andsnes is undoubtedly one of the top pianists of our age.... "this DVD is a pleasure to watch and to learn from." (AudAud.com) |
Ludovico Einaudi (piano)
Ludovico Einaudi - The Royal Albert Hall Concert - CD & DVD Edition [ Decca / 3 CD/DVD - released 19/Jun/2020 ] Recorded live at London's legendary Royal Albert Hall at the peak of Einaudi's European and American tour in2010, showcasing his works/albums "Nightbook", "I Giorni"and "Divenire". |
MENDELSSOHN / ROSSINI / VERDI / SCHUMANN
Riccardo Chailly in Leipzig MArtha Argerich, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Manuela Custer, Stefano Secco / Mirco Palazzi / Gewandhaus Choir / Gewandhausorchester Leipzig / Riccardo [ EuroArts DVD / 4 DVD Box Set - released 16/Feb/2018 ] "Mr Chailly's genius for the Rossini style has ripened with the years. His performance has daring and velocity." Gramophone [on Missa Solennelle] |
W. A. MOZART / SCHUBERT / STRAVINSKY / BEETHOVEN / RAVEL / CHOPIN / etc
Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, with Daniel Barenboim, Guy Braunstein, etc [ EuroArts DVD / 6 DVD Box Set - released 18/Jun/2021 ] This special edition, released for the occasion of Martha Argerich's 80th birthday, combines some of her most impressive recordings. At the same time, it is testimony to the enormous musical and creative versatility with which she has succeeded in... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Seiji Ozawa at the Matsumoto Festival - Beethoven Martha Argerich (piano) / Saito Kinen Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa [ EuroArts Music DVD / DVD - released 1/Oct/2017 ] Seiji Ozawa is not only a world-famous Japanese conductor, but also a founder and director of the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto, home of the Saito Kinen Orchestra, which in 2015 was renamed the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival (OMF). |
BRAHMS / MOZART / ROSSINI / SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Abbado in Concert (recorded 1986) Maurizio Pollini (piano), Karita Mattila, Marjana Lipovšek, Robert Holl, Jerry Hadley & Jorge Pita / Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] "..the Mozart sequence with Karita Mattila is revelatory, camerawork for the Brahms Second Piano Concerto as fluid and imaginative as the Abbado-Pollini partnership...He combines a phenomenal technique with a poetic temperament. Wonderful." (BBC) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / JOHANNES BRAHMS / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven/Mozart/Brahms: Piano Concertos Maurizio Pollini (piano) / The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Karl Bohm / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon / Unitel DVD / 2 DVD - released 12/Sep/2006 ] G :- MARBECKS STAFF REISSUE OF THE YEAR 2006 - This 2-DVD set features five piano concerto performances by Maurizio Pollini, all filmed in the late 1970s at the Musikverein in Vienna. |
W. A. MOZART / CHOPIN / DEBUSSY / SCHUBERT / DVORAK / etc
Menahem Pressler: The Pianist (recorded live 2011-2014) Menahem Pressler (piano) / Orchestre de Paris, Berlin Philharmonic, Quatuor Ebene [ Euroarts DVD / 4 DVD Box Set - released 24/Sep/2016 ] "the playing is eloquent in its simplicity, and the final reprise of the melody, with the piano doubled by the first violins on their own, is infinitely touching. Pressler is sympathetically accompanied throughout by Paavo Järvi" |
DVORAK / SCHUBERT / DEBUSSY / CHOPIN
Menahem Pressler: A 90th Birthday Celeration - Live in Paris 2013 [CD + DVD] Menahem Pressler (piano) / Quatuor Ebene, with Christoph Pregardien (tenor) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD/DVD - released 20/Feb/2015 ] The Quatuor Ebène was invited by legendary pianist Menahem Pressler to join him in celebrating his 90th birthday at a concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in November 2013. Their programme included two of the most life-affirming works in the chamber... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: The Last Three Piano Sonatas: Opus 109, 110 and 111 Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Trust Records DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2009 ] 'Whatever Houstoun plays is superb, but to hear him in Beethoven is to hear him at his best.' Christchurch Star |
JANACEK / PROKOFIEV / LISZT / RACHMANINOV / CHOPIN
Nikolai Lugansky In Recital (recorded live at the Verbier Festival on 28th July 2008) Nikolai Lugansky (piano) [ Euroarts / Ideale Audience International DVD / DVD - released 20/Apr/2011 ] "The articulation…is breathtaking: such clarity for the turns of Prokofiev's 'Masks', such speed so well caught by the camerawork on fingers and blue-tinged keys in Liszt's 'Feux follets', such strength in the cascades of No. 10 and the glitter of... |
MUSTO / BEETHOVEN / LISZT / MUSSORGSKY / CHOPIN / etc
Nobuyuki Tsujii Live at Carnegie Hall [recorded 2011] Nobuyuki Tsujii (piano) [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 10/Oct/2016 ] "he is simply a stunningly gifted pianist. Still, one cannot withhold a sense of wonder while watching him play. How on earth, you ask, does he do it?" (Gramophone DVD of the Month Nov 2012) |