All recordingsPrices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Daniel Barenboim Live at La Scala
Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 28 May 2007 “Much as I appreciate his energy and inquisitive spirit in this music, I tend to find Barenboim's palette of colour to be unlovely and monochromatic, and in this live setting he sometimes batters the piano in a practically pugilistic way…” BBC Music Magazine, February 2008 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | A Night at the Opera
Anthony Goldstone (piano) Anthony Goldstone here presents a collection of paraphrases, transcriptions and variations from opera for solo
piano.
The medium of opera has been the vehicle for some of the most passionate music, and the most beautiful melodies,
ever written. Pianists are no more immune from passion than anyone else, and – despite the piano’s percussive
method of sound production, or it may be because of it – they have been eager to accept, from whatever source,
every opportunity to render a wonderful tune. It is no surprise that pianist-composers have plundered the treasures of
opera for the benefit of their fellows. All melodies ultimately spring from the voice, and, no matter how ornate the
costumes in which ever more adventurous composer-virtuosos have cloaked them, the challenge for the executant
is to phrase them in such a way as not to invite detrimental comparison with the “real thing”.
Sometimes composers have distilled an opera into a manageable length for a piano piece; sometimes they have
shamelessly cherry-picked. The comment attributed to Rossini regarding Wagner’s operas – that they contain fine
moments but awful quarter-hours – is perhaps extreme, but it is self-evident that in any extended theatre piece there
will be comparative highlights and longueurs. Moreover, at the piano the often wearisome plots can be ignored.
Anthony Goldstone is recognised as one of Britain’s most respected pianists. Goldstone’s completions and
realisations of several works by Schubert and Mozart have been greeted with enthusiasm by musicologists and
listeners alike. “…Goldstone's accounts generally stand up well to the competition - a buoyant Rigoletto paraphrase, for example, and a keenly detailed and dramatic Carmen Chamber Fantasy.” Gramophone Magazine, 2008 Awards Issue | 
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| |  | Grigory Ginzburg - The Goldenweiser SchoolHis Early Recordings 1
Grigory Ginzburg (1904-1961) was perhaps the most astounding virtuoso to emerge in Soviet Russia and it is a tragedy that he was never allowed to travel to the west after the mid 1930’s. He focussed his repertoire very much on the 19th century Romantic period and, above all, in Liszt, and his prolific recordings include many of Liszt’s virtuosic opera paraphrases that had fallen into neglect. This CD is the first of two devoted to his earliest 78rpm recordings mainly dating from the 1940s. These discs are extremely rare and many of the performances included will be unknown to even the most ardent collectors. The disc finishes with the most astounding performance of the greatest virtuoso warhorse of the 19th century – Balakirev’s Islamey. Ginzburg’s supremely elegant performance shows total control in even the thorniest passages, for him it appears no more difficult than a Haydn sonata, and the result is that we hear so much more in the music than is normally the case. “…Grigory Ginzburg's… legendary performance of the Mozart / Liszt Figaro Fantasy remains a marvel and stylised elegance and dazzling fluency.” Gramophone Magazine, 2008 Awards Issue |
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| |  | Daniel Barenboim - The Liszt Recital
Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 28 May 2007 “The pianist's poetic and technically refined playing in the delicate passages of 'St Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds', revealed through deft camera work, remains the highlight of this recital. In the Dante Sonata, the substantial core of this recital, numerous strenuous passages cost Barenboim visible effort...” BBC Music Magazine, February 2008 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Alfred Cortot - Encores
Albéniz: | Sous le palmier, Op. 232, No. 3 | Brahms: | Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4 (Lullaby) (arr. Cortot) | Chopin: | Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp major, Op. 36 Étude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat major 'Aeolian Harp' Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2 Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 Part 2; (“Fragment from Ballade”) Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 | Handel: | Suite No. 5 in E major HWV 430 Suite in E major 'Harmonious Blacksmith' | Liszt: | Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 11 in A minor Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 2 in C sharp minor Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto, S.434 after Verdi's opera | Schubert: | Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen, D343 (arr. Cortot) | Weber: | Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 |
Recorded in Camden, New Jersey 1925-1926 A critic wrote after Cortot’s 5th January 1927 recital at New York’s Aeolian Hall: “He is one of those great musicians from whose readings of familiar works there is almost invariably something to learn and remember… it would be hard to surpass his sincerity, his feeling, his colouring, and declamation of the music. Nor are many as fortunate as he in striking the mean between what is nobly expressive and what is sentimental….” “There are wrong notes, some of the recordings are of poor quality, others remarkably good for the 1920s: what is amazing is the unfailing verve, poetry, warmth and spontaneity. Some of the playing here is hardly credible, the technique and insight together are overpowering.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Liszt: Complete Piano Music Volume 25Verdi Concert Paraphrases and Transcriptions
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| |  | The Great Pianists Volume 1 - Vladimir de Pachmann
Vladimir de Pachmann (piano) | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Robin McCabe plays Liszt
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| |  | Gabriela Montero en Concert a Montreal
| | | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. |
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Gramophone Magazine