Since you are interested in Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces, here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
HANDEL / BACH / TORELLI / HUMMEL / MARCELLO / etc
Magic Trumpet Alison Balsom (trumpet), with Alina Ibragimova (violin) / The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock (director, harpsichord and organ) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 16/Oct/2020 ] "I realised from early on that it wasn't just a trumpet, it was a voice that could seemingly do anything … It can have such fabulous colours, be so versatile, and make such a beautiful sound. I will vigorously defend it for the rest of my life."... |
SCHUBERT
Sonatas, Impromptus & Moments Musicaux András Schiff (fortepiano) [ ECM Records / 2 CD - released 1/May/2015 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2016 Finalist - Instrumental |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Goldberg Variations Beatrice Rana (piano) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "Her detailing is one of the aspects that makes this performance so compelling, be it the bringing out of a new line in the repeat, subtle changes in phrasing, a touch of pedal - examples are to be found in every single variation." Gramophone |
Bob Dylan
Rough And Rowdy Ways [ Columbia / 2 CD - released 19/Jun/2020 ] Rough And Rowdy Ways, the first album of original songs from Bob Dylan in eight years. The album follows the recent release of two other songs from the forthcoming Rough And Rowdy Ways: The album's lead-off track, "I Contain Multitudes," and the... |
BUSONI / BRAHMS / REGER / FELDMAN
Igor Levit: Encounter Igor Levit (piano) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 2/Oct/2020 ] This is a very personal double album marked by a desire for encounter and togetherness. The programme includes rarely played arrangements of Bach and Brahms by Ferruccio Busoni and Max Reger, as well as Palais de Mari - Morton Feldman's final work... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
On DSCH [Preludes & Fugues for piano] Igor Levit (piano) [ Sony / 3 CD - released 10/Sep/2021 ] 'So what makes this special? To start with, he never goes into a studio without a clear vision in mind, and this album of Shostakovich and Stevenson is no exception.' Gramophone Award Finalist 2022 - Piano |
Leonard Cohen
Thanks For The Dance [ Columbia / CD - released 22/Nov/2019 ] In a posthumous new album, Leonard Cohen has robbed death of the last word. 'Thanks for the Dance' is not a commemorative collection of B sides and outtakes, but an unexpected harvest of new songs, exciting and vital, a continuation of the... |
FRANZ LISZT / SIGISMOND THALBERG
Liszt & Thalberg: Opera transcriptions & fantasies Marc-André Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Aug/2020 ] "The execution is so incredibly neat and well ordered, and yet sounds completely spontaneous, like an inspired improvisation…This is a master pianist at the height of his powers" GRAMOPHONE Award Nomination 2021 - Piano |
BELLINI / PUCCINI / BIZET / CATALANI / VERDI / CILEA / GLUCK / etc
The New Sound of Maria Callas [3 CD set] Maria Callas (soprano) with various orchestras & conductors [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Remastered / 3 CD - released 1/Nov/2016 ] Maria Callas - Unforgettable arias sung by the most iconic diva of all time - remastered for the first time in high-definition sound from the original tapes, for an unprecedented sound quality that shines new light on the voice of Maria Callas. Allan... |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
The Chopin Project Ólafur Arnalds (cello) Alice Sara Ott (piano) [ Mercury Classics / CD - released 11/Mar/2016 ] Award-winning young Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds (celebrated composer of the score for TV series Broadchurch) has always loved the piano music of Frédéric Chopin, but had grown weary of the uniform and standardized perfection of recordings.... |
DONIZETTI / GOUNOD / VERDI / ROSSINI / MEYERBEER / MASSENET / GODARD
Pene Pati Pene Pati (tenor) / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Emmanuel Villaume [ Warner Classics / Warner / CD - released 25/Mar/2022 ] "A generosity of spirit not always to be taken for granted with tenors is in constant evidence on Pene Pati's debut album…His voice certainly has the colour for both the French and Italian repertoire presented here" BBC Music Choice of the Month May |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Violin concerto / Violin Sonata Renaud Capuçon (violin), Stephen Hough (piano) London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ Erato / CD - released 5/Mar/2021 ] GRAMOPHONE Award Nomination 2021 - Concerto |
BACH / LISZT / CHOPIN / BUSONI
Vida breve Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 26/Feb/2021 ] Piano Sonatas by Chopin (No 2) and Hough (No 4) are the twin peaks of a typically stimulating recital which-as always from Stephen Hough-spans centuries and styles with assurance. How often do Liszt's 'Funérailles' and Gounod's 'Ave Maria' share the... |
JOHN TAVENER
Tavener: No longer mourn for me & other works for cello Steven Isserlis (cello) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Trinity Boys Choir, Omer Meir Wellber [ Hyperion / CD - released 30/Oct/2020 ] BBC Music Award WINNER - Premier Award 2021 Gramophone Editor's Choice November 2020 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Late Quartets Opus 95, 127, 130-133, 135 Takacs Quartet [ Decca Records / 3 CD Box Set - released 12/Dec/2004 ] "Excellent recordings too: sonorous, and with well-judged sense of four-voices-in-one. It doesn't feel all risky to say that this is probably the finest modern set of these great quartets." (BBC) |
J. S. BACH
Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites (2017 recording) Yo Yo Ma (cello) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2018 ] "I don't think he has ever made a greater recording and his personal booklet notes help provide a conceptual setting for his playing." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2018 |
SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / STRAUSS / GRIEG / etc
Love Songs Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Jul/2021 ] Angela Hewitt's new album is clearly destined to become a favourite. Some of the best-known musical declarations of love across the centuries, heard in transcriptions by some of the great pianists (including Angela herself); this is simply exquisite... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Art of Fugue Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 29/Sep/2014 ] "I won't mince words. This Art of Fugue is marvellous. The variety and beauty of tone alone make compelling listening, bringing contrasts, clarity and warmth to Bach's intellectual marvels...Yet her fingers never make the results dry triumphs of engi |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Volodos plays Brahms Arcadi Volodos (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 20/May/2017 ] "Comparisons become irrelevant in interpretations of such mesmerising honesty. An award-winner if ever I heard one." Gramophone Award WINNER 2018 - Instrumental |
W. A. MOZART / GABRIEL FAURE / ANTONIN DVORAK / DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
The New York Concert - Evgeny Kissin & Emerson Quartet Evgeny Kissin (piano) / Emerson Quartet [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 12/Apr/2019 ] "The set is launched with a striking reading of Mozart's G minor Piano Quartet, its already dramatic beginning given an even more chiselled profile thanks to the precision of the Emerson and Kissin's vehement accentuation" Gramophone |