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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Orchestrations by Sir Henry Wood
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) Recorded: All Saints Church, Petersham, January 1974-April 1975 'Perhaps what strikes home most of all is the sheer aristocracy of his playing ... everything is beautifully moulded and proportioned, beautifully balanced and blended. The sonority he draws from the instrument is poetry itself, as for instance the liquid stream of Op.23 nos.8 & 9. His effortlessly strong, brilliant technique is of course an enormous asset in bolder challenges like Op.23 no.2 ... at all times his phrasing suggests acute susceptibility, yet sentiment never degenerates into sentimentality and nothing would have pleased Rachmanimnov more than that. The C sharp minor Prelude is so often murdered that it is a revelation to hear it done with such a fine blend of the imperious and the mysterious; it emerges here as a little masterpiece'. Gramophone February 1976 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Rachmaninov - Solo Piano Works
 BBC Music Magazine
Disc of the month - April 2005 |
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| |  | Favourite Rachmaninov
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Paderewski - A Selection of his US Victor Recordings 1914-1941
Beethoven: | Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight' - Adagio sostenuto | Chopin: | Waltz No. 5 in A flat major, Op. 42 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Mazurka No. 37 in A flat major, Op. 59 No. 2 Mazurka No. 38 in F sharp minor, Op. 59 No. 3 Étude Op. 25 No. 7 in C sharp minor Étude Op. 25 No. 8 in D flat major Étude Op. 25 No. 9 in G flat major 'Butterfly' | Debussy: | Minstrels | Liszt: | Lieder von Schubert, S558/R243: No. 9. Standchen (Horch, horch! die Lerch) La leggierezza Etude de concert No. 2, S144 Spinnerlied aus Der fliegende Holländer S440 | Mendelssohn: | Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 67 No. 4 in C 'The Bee's Wedding' ('Spinning Song') | Paderewski: | Melody in G Op. 8 No. 3 Minuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1 Recorded address on the observance of the golden anniversary of Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s American début | Rachmaninov: | Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor | Schubert: | Impromptu in B flat major, D935 No. 3 | Schumann: | Warum, Op. 12, No. 3 | Wagner: | Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act 1 arr. by E. Schelling |
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (piano) Jan Paderewski enthralled the world with his artistry for more than half a century. Immensely popular as a recitalist (he played in Madison Square Garden to 20,000 people), he came to recording as late as 1911, leaving an important legacy. These recordings, mostly from the 1920s and some unpublished on 78rpm, show Paderewski as a uniquely eloquent interpreter of Beethoven, his compatriot Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Rachmaninov, Debussy and his own compositions. Whether performing in grand Romantic style, with scintillating virtuosity, or as if confiding intimate secrets, Paderewski possessed what Henry James memorably described as “exhilarating goodness”. “Systematic treatment of Paderewski's large discography is long overdue….it is bound to entice historic piano recording collectors.” Classics Today | 
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| |  | Josef Hofmann - Acoustic recordings (1916-1923)
Chopin: | Waltz No. 2 in A flat major 'Grande Valse Brillante', Op. 34 No. 1 Recorded 13th February, 1918 Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2 Recorded 18th April, 1923 Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2 Recorded 19th April, 1923 Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' Recorded 6th March, 1918 Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57 Recorded 26th March, 1918 Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 'Military' Recorded 10th April, 1923 | Liszt: | Meine Freuden (Nocturne) Chants polonais (after Chopin Op. 74). Recorded 27th April, 1923 Polish Songs S480 No. 1 "Maiden's Wish" (after Chopin) Recorded 6th March, 1918 Waldesrauschen, S145 No. 1 Recorded 13th March, 1923 Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli Recorded 2nd November, 1916 Hungarian Rhapsody, S244 No. 2 in C sharp minor Recorded in December, 1922 | Mendelssohn: | Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 67 No. 4 in C 'The Bee's Wedding' ('Spinning Song') Recorded 13th October, 1916 Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op. 14 Recorded 13th February, 1918 Song Without Words, Op. 19, No. 3 (Hunting Song) Recorded 14th February, 1918 | Moszkowski: | La Jongleuse, Op. 52 No. 4 Recorded 14th February, 1918 Spanish Caprice Recorded 16th October, 1916 | Paderewski: | Minuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1 Recorded 2nd November, 1916 | Rachmaninov: | Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor Recorded 20th April, 1923 Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor Recorded 20th April, 1923 | Schubert: | Erlkönig, D328 arr. Liszt. Recorded 13th October, 1916 |
Josef Hofmann was one of the greatest pianists of any age. His unique abilities incorporated a technique second to none, and a clarity and pureness of tone that has probably never been heard since his death. Always in total command of everything he played, Hofmann presented each work with an impression of complete facility of execution. All works recorded in New York City “Josef Hofmann is among music’s most jealously guarded legends. For his admirers (and they included Anton Rubinstein and Rachmaninov) he could do no wrong, and those fortunate enough to have heard him live during his heyday in America can reminisce by the hour, recalling unforgettable performances of a vast repertoire ranging from Beethoven’s Op. 111 Sonata to the major works of the great romantics.” Gramophone Magazine “The recessed, wrong-end-of-a-telescope acoustic recordings are still truthful enough to display Hofmann's mesmerisingly fabulous virtuosity in Liszt's Waldesrauchen and Tarantella, and his full, rounded tone.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ***** |
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| |  | Rubinstein plays Rachmaninov
Rachmaninov: | Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Recorded 27th May, 1946 in Carnegie Hall, New York City NBC Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 Recorded 16th-17th September, 1947 in EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor Recorded 11th December, 1950 in the RCA Studios, Hollywood |
Arthur Rubinstein (piano) Although Rubinstein did not play many works by Rachmaninov, he made four recordings of the Piano Concerto No. 2. If, in this May 1946 recording, Rubinstein’s adherence to the text is not always completely accurate, his performance is full of exhilaration and panache with fast tempos and a climax judged to have any audience jumping to its feet. The 1947 recording of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is remarkable, even today, for the high quality of the sound, described as “Stunning! The recording is almost too vivid”, by a critic in 1948. The only solo work of Rachmaninov that Rubinstein committed to disc was the famous Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2 which he recorded twice. |
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| |  | Emil Gilels Vol.3: Beethoven, Rachmaninov etcLive Performance, 1978 - Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
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| |  | Trevor Barnard - A Piano Odyssey
Albéniz: | Tango (No. 2 from Espana, Op. 165) | Bach, J S: | Two-part Invention No. 1 in C major, BWV772 | Bartók: | In Dorian Mode - from Volume 1, Mikrokosmos Dance in Bulgarian Rhythm No. 6 from Vol. 6, Mikrokosmos | Beethoven: | Bagatelle in A flat major, Op. 33 No. 7 | Bertram: | Kinetic - No. 3 from Five Pieces | Butterley: | Arioso Comment on a Popular Song | Chopin: | Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor, Op. 66 'Fantaisie-Impromptu' Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 'Military' | Dargaville: | Night Song | Debussy: | The Snow is dancing (from Children's Corner) | Gershwin: | Prelude No. 2 | Grieg: | Little Bird, Op. 43 No. 3 | Mendelssohn: | Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 19 No. 1 in E 'Sweet Remembrance' | Rachmaninov: | Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor | Schubert: | Moments Musicaux, D780: No. 3 in F minor | Schumann: | Arabesque in C major, Op. 18 | Sculthorpe: | Sonatina | Sutherland, M: | Jesu, meine Freude, from Two Chorale Preludes | Werder: | Spring - No. 2 from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience |
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| |  | Yakov Flier - The Igumnov School
We continue our comprehensive survey of the many great pianists who worked in Russia in the Soviet era with the first two discs in
the Igumnov School. The bulk of the issues will be divided into 'schools' which represent the three main teachers of this period -
Neuhaus, Goldenweiser and Igumnov, - and their pupils. Igumnov was the oldest of the thre great teachers we are considering. Revered as an influential teacher at the Moscow Conservatoire, Yakov Flier is also much revered by his fans as one of the greats of the old-school Russian pianists. Flier never achieved the fame of Richter, but is very much in that line. Here the Kabalevsky and Rachmaninov Preludes are especially good examples of Flier’s idiosyncractic power. - Gramophone Magazine “Flier's generosity and poetic leeway in Chopin's Second Sonata has little to do with present-day severity. His rubato is personal but never excessive… and the entire performance is exceptionally powerful and eloquent.” Gramophone Magazine, Janurary 2008 “Yakov Flier was a distinguished pupil of Igumnov, and on this disc plays consistently better than his teacher. The Kabalevsky 24 Preludes have phenomenal élan, and everything is fresh, even if sometimes weird.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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