FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-14 (rec 1933-1949) Alfred Cortot (piano) [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 13/Mar/2006 ] The son of a French father and Swiss mother, Alfred Cortot was born in Nyon, Switzerland in 1877. During his childhood the family moved to Paris and young Alfred joined the Paris Conservatoire at the age of nine, studying the piano first with Emile... |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
Weber: Piano Sonata No. 2 (with sonatas by Liszt & Schubert) (recorded 1931-1948) Alfred Cortot (piano) [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 15/Mar/2009 ] "Cortot's sweeping spontaneity is irresistible. The Weber is tremendous, and Liszt's Sonata (recorded in 1929, not 1939 as per the track-listing) has a hugely impressive albeit rather breathless drive." (BBC Music) |
FREDERIC CHOPIN / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Chopin: Piano Concerto No 2 / Schumann: Piano Concerto (Rec 1934/35) Alfred Cortot (piano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Landon Ronald, John Barbirolli (Conductors) [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 2/Jul/2001 ] "At its bargain price this release should prove highly attractive to those with specialized interests." - Fanfare |
CESAR FRANCK
Alfred Cortot - Franck: Symphonic Variations (rec 1934) with concertos by Saint-Saens and Ravel Alfred Cortot (piano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Landon Ronald / Paris Conservatoire Orchestra / Charles Munch [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 2/Jul/2001 ] "One of his precious few concerto recordings, this disc shows Cortot at his most beguiling. Mark Obert-Thorn's transfers are exceptional and all lovers of past but ever-present greatness will want this second and final Naxos volume of Cortot's sadly... |
ANTON RUBINSTEIN
Rubinstein: Piano Music - Three Caprices, Op. 21; Six Pieces, Op. 51 Sergio Gallo (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 2/Dec/2022 ] Anton Rubinstein occupied an uneasy place in the history of Russian music, largely because of his Jewish origins and the perception of him as a 'German in Russia'. |
FRANZ LISZT / DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor / Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in G minor Angel Stanislav Wang (piano), with the Breton String Quartet [ Naxos Piano Laureate series / CD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] Angel Stanislav Wang, winner of the 63rd Jaén Prize International Piano Competition in 2022, presents his Naxos debut recital with a selection of works he performed during the competition. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Songs Volume 5 Alina Wunderlin (soprano) Kieran Carrel (tenor) Ulrich Eisenlohr (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 16/Feb/2024 ] In grouping his Lieder into sets with opus numbers, Brahms was concerned with thematic unity and poetic contrasts. The theme of Op. 71 is love, whether ardent, ironic or courtly, and contains one of his best-loved songs, Minnelied. |
RAFFAELE CALACE
Mandolin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Rhapsodia Napoletana Alison Stephens (mandolin) / Steven Devine (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 3/Oct/2007 ] If a single musical example could demonstrate the range, emotion and expressiveness of the mandolin, it is the slow movement of Concerto No. 1. |
CHARLES-VALENTIN ALKAN
Concerto for Solo Piano Op. 39 Dmitry Feofanov (piano) / Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] "Feofanov does a heroic job... Good recording makes this well worth anybody's money" (Penguin Guide) |
FERRUCCIO BUSONI
Busoni: Music for 2 Pianos Allan Schiller (piano) / John Humphreys (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 29/Jan/2006 ] Ferruccio Busoni was universally regarded as one of the late-Romantic era's most remarkable piano virtuosi, and was undoubtedly one of its most fascinating composers, even if the searching intellectualism of much of his music only slowly won it an... |
WEINBERG
Complete Piano Works 1 Allison Brewster Franzetti [ Grand Piano / Naxos / CD - released 7/Sep/2012 ] |
BERG / HINDEMITH / HARTMANN
20th Century Piano Sonatas Allison Brewster Franzetti (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 15/Aug/2007 ] 2008 Grammy Award nomination for 'Best Instrumental Soloist Performance' |
DOMENICO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (Complete), Vol. 24 Alon Goldstein (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Jun/2020 ] Domenico Scarlatti is best remembered for the hundreds of single-movement keyboard sonatas he composed for his pupil the Infanta Maria Bárbara, who married the heir to the Spanish throne in 1728. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 19 and 25 [transcription by Ignaz Lachner] Alon Goldstein (piano) / Fine Arts Quartet, with Lizzie Burns [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Dec/2023 ] Ignaz Lachner's ingenious transcriptions show a complete grasp of Mozart's idiom, incorporating much instrumental detail and reinventing the music's underlying dramatic scheme within a chamber context. |
TOMAS GARBIZU
Garbizu: Piano Music / Traditional Basque Songs and Dances Alvaro Cendoya [ Naxos / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Tomás Garbizu was a constant presence in the musical life of the Spanish Basque Country throughout the twentieth century. He composed many works in a number of different genres, as well as being active as a performer and teacher. |
QUILTER
Folk-Song Arrangements / Part-Songs for Women's Voices (Complete) Amanda Pitt (soprano) Joanne Thomas (mezzo-soprano) Philip Langridge (tenor) David Wilson-Johnson (bass-baritone) David Owen Norris (piano) [ Naxos English Song Series Vol 11 / CD - released 29/May/2005 ] "A worthy addition to British song history. Quilter enhances traditional tunes with understated, self effacing arrangements" (MusicWeb June 2005) |
JOHN HARBISON
Harbison: Piano Trios / Gatsby Etudes / The Violist's Notebook / 10 Micro-Waltzes Amelia Piano Trio [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 26/Feb/2007 ] |
JOHN HARBISON
Harbison: Piano Trios / Gatsby Etudes / The Violist's Notebook / 10 Micro-Waltzes Amelia Piano Trio [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 18/Apr/2007 ] Harbison is one of America's most accomplished musicians, with four symphonies, three operas and a Pulitzer Prize-winning cantata to his credit. Of his Piano Trio No. 2, Harbison writes: '[It] makes little contact with the Mozart-to-Shostakovich... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS / CLAUDE DEBUSSY / SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Piano Recital Amir Tebenikhin (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 20/Feb/2009 ] "He is a strong, assured pianist with virtuoso fingers and resonant, unforced sound. His playing is very natural: no fancy tricks, no technical splurges. He just lets the music unfold in a free, natural manner...If he comes your way, catch him." -... |
JESUS RUEDA
Piano Music: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / 24 Interludes / Invenciones (excerpts) / Mephisto Ananda Sukarlan (piano) [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Oct/2009 ] With symphonies, string quartets, chamber concertos, an opera and a large amount of piano music to his name, Jesús Rueda is one of Spain's foremost living composers. Drawing on intensive studies of Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Prokofiev, his piano... |