John Eliot Gardiner J.S. BACH Magnificat - "Jauchzet Gott In Allen Landen"

The flashy, kaleidoscopic Magnificat remains one of Bach''s most popular works, and this is one of its best recordings. John Eliot Gardiner directs a performance full of energy: his crackerjack choir and orchestra sail through the trickiest passages at high speed without sounding at all rushed or uncomfortable. The soloists are fine, with especially lovely singing from Nancy Argenta, Patrizia Kwella, and Charles Brett in the trio "Suscepit Israel." Also on this disc is the finest available version of the Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen Cantata. Emma Kirkby sings with all the purity of one of Bach''s boys and all the assurance of an expert adult. She and trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins hurtle fearlessly through this famously difficult piece, high notes and long, fast runs holding no terrors for them. (Matthew Westphal)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Magnificat in D major, BWV 243
1) Magnificat Anima Mea [2:49]
2) Et Exsultavit Spiritus Meus [2:16]
3) Quia Respexit Humilitatem [2:14]
4) Omnes Generationes [1:10]
5) Quai Fecit Mihi Magna [1:59]
6) Et Misericordia [3:24]
7) Fecit Potentiam [1:44]
8) Deposuit Potentes [1:46]
9) Esurientes Implevit Bonis [2:46]
10) Suscepit Israel [2:00]
11) Sicut Locutus Est [1:24]
12) Gloria Patri [2:14]
Nancy Argenta, soprano
Patrizia Kwella, soprano
Charles Brett, alto
Anthony Rolfe- Johnson, Tenore
David Thomas, Basso
Monteverdi Choir

"Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen" Cantata BWV 51
13) "Zauchzet Gott" [4:04]
14) "Wir beten zu dem Tempel an" [1:51]
15) "Hochster, mache deine Güte" [4:14]
16) "Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren" [3:29]
17) Alleluja" [2:01]
Emma Kirkby, Soprano
English Baroque Soloists
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
Crispian Steele-Perkins, Solo Trumpet

1985 PHILIPS
1 CD DDD
411 458-2

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James Ehnes PAGANINI 24 Caprices

Violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music. He has performed in over 25 countries on five continents, appearing with many of the world's most well-known orchestras and conductors.
Ehnes’s extensive discography of over 20 recordings features repertoire ranging from Bach violin sonatas to John Adams’s Road Movies. His recordings have been honoured with many international awards and prizes, including a Grammy and 5 Juno awards. For ONYX he has already made three recordings, Barber Korngold and Walton Concertos (GRammy and Juno winner), Elgar's Concerto (Gramophone Award) and the CD/DVD recital Homage, a tribute to the instruments of the Fulton Collection
Born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, he began violin studies at the age of four, and at nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. For several summers he studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music, continuing his studies with her in 1993 at The Juilliard School. He graduated from Julliard in 1997, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music. In October 2005, James was honoured by Brandon University with a Doctor of Music degree (honoris causa) and in July 2007 he became the youngest person ever elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada.
James Ehnes plays the "Ex Marsick" Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.

The "24 Caprices" for violin by Niccolò Paganini are among the most spectacular solo works for the instrument and the artists who have successfully balanced their ferocious technical demands with true musicality are rare. Through his 2009 release for Onyx Classics, James Ehnes demonstrates that he belongs in that august company of violinists who have fully mastered the caprices' bag of tricks -- including passages in octaves; rapid multi-stopping; spiccato, martellato, and arpeggio bowing; left-hand pizzicati; and more -- and given them a genuine feeling of emotion usually absent in other showpieces and found more often in the elevated violin works of J.S. Bach. Ehnes first recorded the caprices in 1995 for Telarc at the start of his career, so the return to these virtuoso pieces appears to signify a rethinking or reassessment of their potential; indeed, the earlier recording was a dazzling display of bravura playing, while the second one is more reflective and penetrating in its expression. Onyx's sound is transparent and crisply detailed, but the warmth of Ehnes' playing and his presence are readily apparent. (Blair Sanderson)

NICOLÒ PAGANINI (1782–1840)
24 Caprices op.1
1) Caprice No.1 in E: Andante [1.46]
2) Caprice No.2 in B minor: Moderato [2.41]
3) Caprice No.3 in E minor: Sostenuto – Presto [2.48]
4) Caprice No.4 in C minor: Maestoso [6.46]
5) Caprice No.5 in A minor: Agitato [2.37]
6) Caprice No.6 in G minor: Lento [5.41]
7) Caprice No.7 in A minor: Posato [3.53]
8) Caprice No.8 in E flat: Maestoso [2.46]
9) Caprice No.9 in E: Allegretto [2.53]
10) Caprice No.10 in G minor: Vivace [2.08]
11) Caprice No.11 in C: Andante – Presto [4.05]
12) Caprice No.12 in A flat: Allegro [2.31]
13) Caprice No.13 in B flat: Allegro [2.30]
14) Caprice No.14 in E flat: Moderato [1.51]
15) Caprice No.15 in E minor: Posato [2.37]
16) Caprice No.16 in G minor: Presto [1.30]
17) Caprice No.17 in E flat: Sostenuto – Andante [3.40]
18) Caprice No.18 in C: Corrente – Allegro [2.28]
19) Caprice No.19 in E flat: Lento – Allegro assai [3.00]
20) Caprice No.20 in D: Allegretto [4.17]
21) Caprice No.21 in A: Amoroso – Presto [3.11]
22) Caprice No.22 in F: Marcato [3.02]
23) Caprice No.23 in E flat: Posato [3.31]
24) Caprice No.24 in A minor: Tema con variazioni. Quasi presto [4.22]

James Ehnes violin

2009 ONYX

1 CD DDD

ONYX 4044

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Gustavo Dudamel L.A. Philharmonic MAHLER Symphony No. 1

Acclaimed worldwide as one of the most exciting and compelling conductors of our time, Gustavo Dudamel began his tenure as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Fall 2009, while continuing as Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony. Dudamel also enters his eleventh year as Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. His infectious energy and exceptional artistry have made him one of the most sought-after conductors by orchestras and opera companies around the world.
Following guest appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel’s inaugural 2009/10 season as Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director began on October 3 with ¡Bienvenido Gustavo! This free, day-long musical celebration at the Hollywood Bowl for the Los Angeles community culminated with Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. On October 8, 2009, Dudamel led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the inaugural gala at Walt Disney Concert Hall, featuring the world premiere of John Adams’ City Noir and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. This concert was telecast on PBS’s Great Performances throughout the U.S. on October 21, with subsequent airings throughout the world, and Deutsche Grammophon has issued the DVD. Further highlights of the LA Phil season include Dudamel directing the Americas and Americans festival, a series of five concerts celebrating the music and shared cultural traditions of North, Central, and Latin America, as well as conducting concerts with repertoire ranging from Verdi’s Requiem to works by composers such as Chin, Salonen, and Harrison. In May 2010, Dudamel leads the LA Phil on a coast-to-coast U.S. tour with performances in San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. With the Gothenburg Symphony, highlights include numerous performances in Sweden as well as tours to Hamburg, Bonn, Amsterdam, Brussels, and the Canary Islands. Gustavo Dudamel continues to lead the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra this season for multiple periods in Caracas, Venezuela, and on European and Scandinavian/Russian tours.
Gustavo Dudamel has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2005. His debut recording, Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, was released worldwide in September 2006, and received the 2007 Echo Award for “New Artist of the Year.” His second recording with the SBYO, Mahler Symphony No. 5, was released in May 2007, and was chosen as the only classical album on iTunes’ “Next Big Thing.” Released in May 2008, Dudamel’s third album with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra was FIESTA, featuring Latin-American works. In March 2009, Deutsche Grammophon released Dudamel’s most recent recording with the SBYO, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Francesca da Rimini. His DVDs include the 2008 release of The Promise of Music, a documentary and concert with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra; Birthday Concert for Pope Benedict XVI released in 2007; and the April 2009 DVD, Live from Salzburg, featuring performances of Mussorgsky/Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Martha Argerich, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, and the SBYO. On the iTunes front, Deutsche Grammophon has released Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Berlioz Symphonie fantastique, Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, and Mahler's First Symphony.

Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)
Symphony No. 1 in D major
1) Langsam. Schleppend. Wie ein Naturlaut (Slow. Dragging. Like a sound of nature) [17:01]
2) Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell (Vigorous, agitated, but not too fast) [8:48]
3) Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen (Solemn and measured, without dragging) [11:47]
4) Stürmisch bewegt (Passionate, agitated) [20:49]


Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel


2009 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
DG Concerts
477 8612 2 GHD


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Julia Fischer PAGANINI 24 Caprices

Julia Fischer plays Paganini. Now that really isn’t a surprise; the Caprices make perfect encores – fiendishly difficult, supremely virtuosic, and not too long. With a single Caprice, a violinist can show what she’s capable of, bringing the audience to their feet and a concert to an impressive conclusion. “Did you hear that finale?”, the applauding audience marvels as it leaves the hall. “Incredible! A female ‘Devil’s Fiddler’!” Julia Fischer has played the Caprices as encores dozens of times, especially the famous no. 24, which is the most accessible and musically grateful, but also nos. 2, 10 and 16.
What is surprising, even slightly sensational, is that Julia Fischer studied the whole cycle of 24 Caprices intensively for several months and then recorded them in Munich’s August Everding Hall. The Caprices have always been regarded as treacherously difficult, but as practice pieces for the purpose of study. They are something violinists will practise hundreds of times during their career, that they will perform and memorise but, unlike a Brahms or Beethoven concerto, needn’t necessarily record. Why, then, would a twenty-seven-year-old violinist choose to do so – a musician, moreover, who is loved the world over for her interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach, not virtuoso display pieces?
“Because that is just what they are not”, says Julia Fischer. She felt certain after preparing this recording that the Caprices, and Paganini himself, are still misunderstood. Quite some years ago she encountered Robert Schumann’s version of the sixth piece in the set, the one known as the “Trill Caprice”. Schumann, she thought to herself, quiet and sensitive Romantic that he was, actually heard Paganini live. He must have been so fascinated by this music that he went home after the concert and sat down at the piano, playing with his recollections of it, newly forming and modulating it. There was no score then – the business-savvy Paganini made certain of that in order to retain at any price his status as the one and only violin wizard of his time. He even insisted on handing out the music to orchestras only minutes before a concert performance to prevent his scores from falling into the hands of greedy, fame-hungry imitators.
“Unlike many critics and biographers, Schumann did not perceive this man as a ‘Devil’s Fiddler’ or a circus act. He recognised the musical power of these twenty-four miniatures.” And Julia Fischer recognises it too. “The Caprices represent twenty-four moods,” she says, “little musical ideas, each one different, each one appealing.” She has looked again and again at the key sequence in the hope of making out a secret message in the cycle. In vain. Yet the pieces belong together. One flows into the next, she explains; you become aware when playing through them how logically each follows the piece that precedes it. “I can only record a work I believe in”, says Julia Fischer. She believes in the Caprices’ musical significance. And in their beauty. “That’s why I approached them as I would a Mozart concerto.” (Tobias Haberl)

Niccolò Paganini (1782 -1840)
1) Andante in E major [1:47]
2) Moderato in B minor [2:50]
3) Sostenuto – Presto – Sostenuto in E minor [3:19]
4) Maestoso in C minor [6:14]
5) Agitato in A minor [2:46]
6) Lento in G minor [5:59]
7) Posato in A minor [3:51]
8) Maestoso in E flat major [3:01]
9) Allegretto in E major [3:11]
10) Vivace in G minor [2:17]
11) Andante – Presto – Tempo I in C major [4:32]
12) Allegro in A flat major [3:18]
13) Allegro in B flat major [2:27]
14) Moderato in E flat major [1:19]
15) Posato in E minor [2:47]
16) Presto in G minor
17) Sostenuto – Andante in E flat major [3:47]
18) Corrente – Allegro in C major [4:23]
19) Lento – Allegro assai in E flat major [4:23]
20) Allegretto in D major [3:53]
21) Amoroso – Presto in A major [2:59]
22) Marcato in F major [2:48]
23) Posato in E flat major [4:45]
24) Tema. Quasi Presto – Variazioni – Finale in A minor [4:29]

JULIA FISCHER, violin

2010 Decca
1 CD DDD
478 2274

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Viktoria Mullova - Kristian Bezuidenhout BEETHOVEN

Although the practice of playing Beethoven violin sonatas on instruments of the composer’s time by now needs no introduction, it still serves as a vivid reminder of just how extraordinary and revolutionary Beethoven’s writing really is. The conductor and fortepianist Jos van Immerseel has remarked that Beethoven’s music sounds paradoxically less modern on the instruments of our time than it does on those of the early 19th century, and indeed, while our hallowed modern counterparts – the Steinway and Stradivarius – are remarkable for their consistency and stability, they seem to have greater difficulty expressing the undeniable volatility and danger of this music. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of the violin sonata – a genre that Beethoven greatly developed – where the composer reveals himself a master of exploiting both the qualities and the idiosyncrasies of the violin and fortepiano.
The piano we have chosen, an 1822 Anton Walter und Sohn instrument from the collection of Edwin Beunk, is a ‘machine’ that speaks the language of early 19th-century rhetoric with a much less pronounced accent than the pianos of our time. The rapid decay of the sound –produced by slender leather-covered hammers – results in greater transparency, not only allowing the violin’s voice to emerge with greater ease and naturalness but letting the player experiment with long, almost impressionistic pedalling effects. In addition, a non-uniform striking point means that the registers have markedly different attributes, from the grumbling tones of the bass, to the plummy voice of the tenor region, to the lithe and harp-like sounds of the extreme upper treble – a fact relished by players and builders alike. These pianos also entice the player to explore previously uncharted territories of pianissimo playing (especially with the use of the moderator pedal, in which a layer of felt is placed between the hammers and the strings).
Viktoria Mullova’s Guadagnini violin, strung here with thick gut strings and played with a lighter transitional bow, has a complex and multi-faceted persona: it covers everything from the faintest whisper in the slow movements to a kind of grittiness in fast passages that adds immeasurably to the sense of danger. The stringing also allows for more direct control of tone colours and a remarkable speed of response, and gives the sound a certain ‘chiff’: a gentle but pronounced attack that adds brilliance and clarity. Finally, playing at the lower pitch of a=430 encourages the instrument to resonate more, giving the sound a depth and darkness that is quite unlike the ‘sheen’ and polish of steel strings at a=440.
In all, we are both in awe of the monstrous difficulty of Beethoven’s writing, but are equally convinced that the struggle in making these pieces work on old instruments is absolutely essential to the success andemotional impact of this music. At times during the sessions, when the piano was fighting with low humidity and had to be tuned every 15 minutes, one couldn’t help wishing for the stability of a freshly tuned Steinway.
Still, when all is said and done, we are confident that the colour, drama and mercurial quality of the soundworld of these instruments – blemishes and all – plays some part in recreating the excitement and furore that these phenomenal pieces must have created in their time. (Kristian Bezuidenhout, London, 2010)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Violin Sonata no.3 in E flat op.12 No.3
1) I Allegro con spirito [8.20]
2) II Adagio con molt’espressione [5.26]
3) III Rondo: Allegro molto [4.10]
Violin Sonata No.9 in A op.47 "Kreutzer"
4) I Adagio sostenuto – Presto – Adagio [13.44]
5) II Andante con variazioni [14.13]
6) III Presto [8.28]

VIKTORIA MULLOVA violin
KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT fortepiano

ONYX 2010

1 CD DDD

ONYX 4050

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Alondra de la Parra MI ALMA MEXICANA

Mi Alma Mexicana is a 2-CD set celebrating Mexico’s 2010 Bicentennial with 200 years of orchestral music by Mexican composers. The album features the world premiere recordings of Enrico Chapela’s Ínguesu and Eugenio Toussaint’s Concerto for Improvised Piano with Alex Brown as piano soloist. Mi Alma Mexicana also includes Gustavo Campa’s Melodía for Violin and Orchestra with violinist Daniel Andai, and Manuel M. Ponce’s Concierto del Sur for Guitar and Orchestra with guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas, as well as music by Ricardo Castro, Carlos Chávez, Candelario Huízar, Federico Ibarra, Mario Lavista, Arturo Márquez, José Pablo Moncayo, Silvestre Revueltas, and Juventino Rosas. Mi Alma Mexicana was engineered by Grammy Award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse, with De la Parra as executive producer.
Mi Alma Mexicana is the result of two years of extensive research by the dynamic 29-year-old Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra, who founded POA in 2004 and serves as the orchestra’s artistic director. “I wanted to make an album that really represents Mexico’s music,” she said. “This project showcases the diverse styles and eras of Mexican music, ranging from Ibarra’s very contemporary sounding Sinfonía No. 2, to Castro’s nearly Wagnerian Intermezzo de Atzimba, to Ponce’s Spanish-influenced Concierto del Sur. Mexican orchestral music deserves a place in the core repertoire of every orchestra, and this album shows the wide range of musical styles and extraordinary artistry from my home country.”
De la Parra has gained widespread attention for her spellbinding and vibrant performances, making her one of the most compelling conductors of her generation. She holds the distinction of being the first woman from Mexico to conduct in New York City, and has been heralded by opera star Plácido Domingo as “an extraordinary conductor.” Most recently, she was featured in Crain’s New York Business as one of their “40 under 40 New York’s Rising Stars,” and singled out in The Daily Beast as one of the “Young Rockstars of the Conducting World.”
The release of Mi Alma Mexicana follows the success of live performances of music from the album in New York and Los Angeles. In New York, the orchestra’s first performance of Mi Alma Mexicana at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall sold out, and a second concert – which also filled to capacity – was added to fill the demand. In Los Angeles, the orchestra filled Walt Disney Concert Hall when it joined forces with Argentine-Uruguyan powerhouse music collective Bajofondo for an explosive evening presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

DISC 1
1) Huapango (1941) José Pablo Moncayo [8:18]
2) Melodía para Violín y Orquesta, Op. 1 (1890) Gustavo E. Campa [5:25]
3) Intermezzo de Atzimba (1900) Ricardo Castro [5:02]
4) Imágenes (1927) Candelario Huízar [16:46]
Concierto del Sur para Guitarra y Orquesta (1941) Manuel M. Ponce
5) I. Allegretto [13:33]
6) II. Andante [6:40]
7) III. Allegro moderato e festivo [5:51]
8) Sobre las Olas (1884) Juventino Rosas [4:39]

DISC 2
1) Danzón No. 2 (1994) Arturo Márquez [9:26]
2) 2 Sensemayá (1938) Silvestre Revueltas [6:37]
3) Suite de Caballos de Vapor, III (1954) Carlos Chávez [7:31]
4) Sinfonía No. 2 (1993) Federico Ibarra [9:38]
5) Concierto para Piano Improvisado, II (2006) Eugenio Toussaint [6:54]
6) Clepsydra (1990) Mario Lavista [10:37]
7) Ínguesu (2003) Enrico Chapela [8:54]

Alondra de la Parra

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas

Pablo Sáinz Villegas, guitar

Alex Brown, piano

2010 SONY Classical

2 Compact Discs

88697755527

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Rafal Blechacz CHOPIN The Piano Concertos

Chopin wrote his two piano concertos early in hiscareer, in 1829 and 1830. Those were happy years. Living in Warsaw among family and friends after completing his studies at the conservatory, he had time not only for composing and playing the piano but also for discussions and socializing with his companions, the intellectual elite of the Polish capital's youth.
The two Chopin concertos were recorded in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rafał Blechacz's favourite concert hall, with its incomparable orchestra, whose noble, “velvety" sound is particularly suited to this music, under Jerzy Semkow, the outstanding Polish conductor with whom the pianist has a special understanding. The idea for the recording took shape immediately after Blechacz's unprecedented triumph in the 2005 Chopin Competition, where he won the main prize as well as special prizes in all four individual categories. On that occasion he played the E minor Concerto. Also worthy of mention here is another performance of Chopin's two concertos which reveals another aspect of Rafał's nature: a concert with Poland's National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit in the pianist's hometown of Nakło on the River Noteæ. There, owing to the lack of a proper concert hall, the event took place in a church. It was a magnificent gift of gratitude from the pianist to his birthplace, as well as an extraordinary experience for the little town's inhabitants.
Rafał Blechacz is one of the finest young pianists in the world. Along with his extraordinary talent he possesses an exceptional intelligence that allows him to understand in depth the music he performs, and a degree of perception that allows him infallibly to grasp the aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of the compositions he interprets. One could say that his sensitivity is akin to that of Chopin himself, and this is perhaps why Blechacz seems predestined to interpret his compatriot's works. Performing Chopin, however, also opens doors to other composers who preceded or followed him. It isn't therefore surprising that Blechacz focuses on Classical and Romantic repertoire as well as Debussy and Szymanowski. His talent and other character attributes are rooted in a deep spirituality that has not only artistic but also metaphysical and religious dimensions. His numerous interests include philosophy, and his musical endeavours extend to the organ music repertoire. Those who get to know Rafał Blechacz personally note the charm and, above all, modesty that seems not to have been adversely affected by fame.(Władysław Strózewski)

Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849)
Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor, Op.11
1. 1. Allegro maestoso [20:50]
2. 2. Romance (Larghetto) [10:38]
3. 3. Rondo (Vivace) [9:40]
Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21
4. 1. Maestoso [14:42]
5. 2. Larghetto [9:57]
6. 3. Allegro vivace [8:52]

Rafal Blechacz
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Jerzy Semkow

2009 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
477 8088 5 GH

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Isaac Stern VIVALDI The Four Seasons (reuploaded)

Virtuoso violinist Isaac Stern is one of the twentieth century’s most renowned, celebrated and recorded musicians. He is widely recognized as an influential teacher, emissary, speaker, and humanitarian. He toured for the U.S.O. in World War II, opened the Soviet Union to cultural exchange during the Cold War, and helped save Carnegie Hall from the wrecker’s ball in 1960. Involved in both the politics and culture of Israel since its establishment, Stern’s influence reaches far beyond America.
Isaac Stern was born in Kreminiecz, Russia in 1920. Fleeing the Russian civil war, his parents arrived in San Francisco only ten months later. At the age of eight he was taken out of school in order to focus exclusively on the violin. His talent was overwhelming, and by the age of fifteen he had his recital debut in San Francisco. By the time he was seventeen he had performed on the radio, and by the time he was twenty-two he had performed at Carnegie Hall to stellar reviews.
Within a short while, Stern’s talents had brought him the recognition of the American classical music world, which hailed him as one of its greats. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, he toured the United States and Europe, cementing his place among the masters of the violin. Both his technical skill and the range of his performed work made him an influential figure among the small world of classical violinists, and a star among the greater listening public.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

The Four Seasons

Spring Concerto in E Major Op. 8 No. 1

1) I. Allegro (3:22)

2) II. Largo (3:23)

3) III. Allegro (4:16)

Summer Concerto in G Minor Op. 8 No. 2

4) I. Allegro non molto; Allegro (5:29)

5) II. Adagio (3:04)

6) III. Presto (2:34)

Autumn Concerto in F Major Op. 8 No. 3

7) I. Allegro

8) II. Adagio molto (2:11)

9) III. Allegro (3:30)

Winter Concerto in F Minor Op. 8 No. 4

10) I. Allegro non molto (3:28)

11) II. Largo (2:21)

12) III. Allegro (3:13)

ISAAC STERN, Violinist & Conductor

JERUSALEM MUSIC CENTRE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

VALERY MAISKY, Harpsichord

1987 CBS Records Inc. / 1978 CBS Records Inc.

1 CD ADD

MBK 45256

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Zimerman BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1

"I always thought", wrote Robert Schumann in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik on 28 October 1853, "that someone would and, indeed, must suddenly appear who was destined to give expression to our times in the loftiest and most ideal manner imaginable. [...] And he has come. His name is Johannes Brahms. [...] Here is a man of destiny! Seated at the piano, he began to disclose wondrous regions."
Rarely can a young composer have been greeted and welcomed in such emphatic and enthusiastic terms. But the high hopes that Schumann placed in the young Brahms, whom he described as living "in more or less total seclusion", proved a great burden and made life very hard for him.
It was at precisely this time that Brahms began to plan a large-scale sonata for two pianos. He completed three movements but soon realized that - to quote Schumann again - they were "symphonies in disguise", and so it was only logical that in the summer of 1854 he began to orchestrate the first of these movements. It was intended to be a symphony. But he made little headway with the project, perhaps because he was too self-critical. Finally he rewrote the work as a piano concerto, an effortful process that lasted more than four years. In the event only the opening movement was based on material from the original sonata, whereas the second and third movements were both newly composed.
The first performance of the D minor Piano Concerto was planned for 1858, but for various reasons a special instrument that Brahms wanted to bring to Hanover from Kassel was unavailable. As a result, the performance was delayed until 22 January 1859. Brahms himself was the soloist and the conductor was his friend Joseph Joachim. At best, the work proved a succès d'estime, while the second performance in the Leipzig Gewandhaus five days later was an outright fiasco. The music critic Eduard Bernsdorf, for example, wrote of the "barrenness and aridity" of the musical invention, which he dismissed as "utterly beyond hope": "For more than three quarters of an hour one has to endure this retching and rummaging, this straining and tugging, this tearing and patching of phrases and flourishes!" (Werner Pfister)

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.15
1. 1. Maestoso - Poco più moderato [23:29]
2. 2. Adagio [15:45]
3. 3. Rondo (Allegro non troppo) [12:09]

Krystian Zimerman
Berliner Philharmoniker
Simon Rattle


2006 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg
1 CD DDD
477 5413 8 GH


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