JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Variations on a Theme by Paganini / Rhapsodies, Op. 79 (recorded 1929-32) Wilhelm Backhaus (piano) / BBC Symphony Orchstra / Adrian Boult, conductor [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 7/Aug/2003 ] Wilhelm Backhaus was born in Leipzig in 1884. A major pianist of the twentieth century, Backhaus was not a pupil of any of the major teachers of his time, and the only pianist of note who had any bearing on his development was Eugen d'Albert |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV / FRANZ SCHUBERT
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Schubert: Waltzes and Dances / Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata (1946-1952) William Kapell (piano) / NBC Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Golschmann (cond) with Edmund Kurtz (cello) [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 27/Jun/2005 ] "this newcomer is worth investigating for the sake of the Rachmaninov Sonata." Penguin Guide |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Schubert's Waltzes and Dances) (rec 1946-1952) William Kapell (piano) / NBC Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Golschmann (cond) with Edmund Kurtz (cello) [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 25/Sep/2006 ] "It looks as though Kapell’s recordings have to be taken as evidence of what might have been rather than as already complete statements. But what might have been was so full of promise that those interested in the history of piano-playing in the 20th... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1950-1951) William Kapell (piano) / Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia / William Steinberg / Fritz Reiner [ Naxos Historical Great Pianists / CD - released 1/Mar/2006 ] When William Kapell was killed in a plane crash at the age of 31 on 29th October 1953 the world was robbed of a great talent. |
BERLIOZ / WALTON / CASADESUS
Harold in Italy / Viola Concerto in A minor / Viola Concerto in B minor in the Style of Handel William Primrose, viola / Various Orchestras (Rec 1944-46) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 27/Jul/2005 ] A useful compilation of recordings by the first great modern violist." -- Christopher Howell, MusicWeb |
DAVID GOMPPER
Violin Concerto / Ikon / Flip / Spirals Wolfgang David (violin) / Peter Zazofsky (violin) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Emmanuel Siffert [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 30/Jun/2011 ] Honoured in 2009 with an Academy Award, David Gompper has travelled the world working as a pianist, conductor and composer, and developing a fascination with all manner of things, from the experience of echoes in the mountains, to the images of... |
W.A. MOZART
Violin Concerto No. 3 (with Paganini - Violin Concerto No. 1 (recorded 1934-1952) Yehudi Menuhin (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Paris Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Boult / George Enescu / Pierre Monteux [ Naxos Historical Great Violinists / CD - released 12/Jan/2007 ] Not often does a recording change the public perception of a piece of music and its composer, but it happened when the 18-year-old Yehudi Menuhin set down this recording of Paganini’s First Concerto in Paris in May 1934. |
MENDELSSOHN / LALO
Violin Concerto / Symphonie Espagnole (with Chausson: Poeme) Yehudi Menuhin (violin) / Paris Symphony Orchestra / Orchestre des Concerts Colonne [ Naxos Historic Great Violinists / CD - released 3/Mar/2002 ] |
BARTOK
Violin Concerto No. 2 / Violin Sonata No. 1 (recorded 1947 & 1953) Yehudi Menuhin (violin) / Philharmonia Orchestra / Wilhelm Furtwangler, with Adolph Baller, piano [ Naxos Historical Great Violinists / CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] Yehudi Menuhin commissioned and gave the first performance of Bartók's Sonata for Solo Violin and was an influential advocate of his music. This 1947 recording of the First Violin Sonata finds Menuhin in particularly intense and vivid form, his... |
W.A. MOZART / BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 / Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 (Furtwangler, Commercial Recordings 1940-50, Vol. 3) Yehudi Menuhin (violin) / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Lucerne Festival Orchestra / Wilhelm Furtwangler (conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 19/Jun/2006 ] "Furtwängler's commercial legacy wasn't huge so collectors will welcome this latest instalment with alacrity" (MusicWeb July 2006) |
ANTONIO SACCHINI
Sacchini: L'abbandono delle ricchezze di S. Filippo Neri ('Saint Philip Neri's Renunciation of All Worldly Wealth') Yeree Suh, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Markus Schäfer, Daniel Ochoa (soloists) Giovanni Michelini (harpsichord and organ) / Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 22/Sep/2023 ] Antonio Sacchini's renowned melodic gifts and facility as a composer were developed amid the flourishing Neapolitan school of opera but, outgrowing the Italian tradition, he later found inspiration working in London and Paris. |
THE YELLOW RIVER CONCERTO
The Yellow River Concerto / etc Yin Chengzong (Piano) / Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra / Adrian Leaper [ Naxos Romantic Piano Concertos / CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] "...an excellent, unusual bargain....Most of the fillers-miniature solo piano pieces, some arranged, some by named composers-are charming, deft, dramatic, but the Three Variations on an Ancient Chinese Melody by Wang Jienzhong tell of a composer of... |
JOHANN SIMON MAYR
Mayr: Le Due Duchesse (complete opera) Young -Jun Ahn, Jaegyeong Jo, Eun-Hye Choi, Markus Scafer, Jorg Lindemann / Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 1/May/2020 ] As one of the leading operatic composers of his generation, Johann Simon Mayr nurtured a fascination with the chivalric stories of medieval England. Le due duchesse, an opera semiseria with buffa elements, is set during the reign of the 10th-century... |
BARBER
Barber conducts Barber - Symphony No. 2, Op. 19 / Cello Concerto, Op. 22 / Medea Orchestral Suite, Op. 23 Zara Nelsova (cello) / New Symphony Orchestra of London / Samuel Barber [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 2/Feb/2011 ] |
ERNEST BLOCH
Violin Concerto / Baal Shem / Suite hebraique Zina Schiff (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Jose Serebrier [ Naxos / CD - released 10/Nov/2007 ] "This disc has to be given a real thumbs-up, giving us as it does all Bloch's major works for violin and orchestra in thrilling performances and with demonstration sound quality. Don't hesitate." (recording of the Month MusicWeb Dec 2007) |