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SIMON RATTLE: MUSIC OF THE 20TH C
Written and presented by Sir Simon Rattle, the foremost British conductor of our day, this series forms a fascinating introduction to, and overview of, the music of the twentieth century.
Filmed concert performance by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.
Special Features: Biographies of the Composers, additional Audio Tracks, Picture Galleries and a filmed concert performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Gruppen.
Sound Format: PCM Stereo, Picture Format: 4:3
Language Versions: German and English; Subtitles: FR, IT, ES, JP
Running Time: 361 mins (+ Special Features)
Resolution: 1080i High Definition (Upscale)
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£21.17 (£70.58)
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VARIOUS: GARDEN OF SOUNDS
“Since I first heard the Nexus Percussion Ensemble in Stockholm a year ago, I have been after them. They really are unique.” Robert von Bahr, Managing Director, BIS Records
On this CD, the distinguished American clarinettist Richard Stolzman and unique percussion ensemble NEXUS perform free-form improvisations of great meditative beauty. This CD is dedicated to the late Toru Takemitsu who loved gardens and claimed: “I want to give sounds the freedom to breathe…music should be based on a profound relationship to nature.”
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Beethoven/ Liszt: Symphonies Vol.4
“The Turkish pianist Idil Biret was one of the greatest child prodigies of the 20th century. Her recital at the Boston Conservatory demonstrated that she is no less prodigious today. She played a long and demanding program with the power, concentration, and pouncing instincts of a crouching tiger. This is the kind of playing that makes reservations irrelevant; there is no one like her, which is what defines a unique artist.” BOSTON GLOBE 2005
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£4.94 (£11.99)
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Schubert: Easy Listening Piano
Naxos’ Easy-Listening Piano Classics presents a delightful range of music from Baroque masterpieces to beautiful works of the Classic and Romantic eras, as well as Impressionist classics, specially selected for discerning listeners to enjoy at home or work, while relaxing, entertaining or travelling. Featuring some of the finest pianists from Naxos’ extensive roster, these 3-CD albums are both an excellent introduction to the piano repertoire and delightful listening for the connoisseur
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£4.94 (£12.99)
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Schumann/ David: Violin Sonata
Ferdinand David was, aside from his part-time student Joseph Joachim, one of the most important motivators for Schumann´s late interest in works for violin, and got accordingly involved in organizing premieres of the Sonatas Op. 105 and Op. 121.
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£8.38 (£25.99)
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Enescu: Complete Works Vol. 1
This first of three discs devoted to George Enescu’s piano music presents three significant pieces. Indebted to Romanian folk music and in three large sections, the ruminative yet striking Nocturne in D flat is a work of shifting sonorities and moods. The Pièces impromptues, Op. 18 are independent, unrelated character pieces that illuminate once again the composer’s fascination with the indigenous music of Romania.The Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 24, No. 1 is – by contrast – a massive statement characterised by harmonic surprises, innovative techniques, insistent rhythms and, in the final, slow movement, the doina, a type of Romanian song at once contemplative, nostalgic and melancholic.
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£5.80 (£13.99)
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Verdi: Operas Vol 2
From Tutto Verdi - The Complete Operas, three hardcover slipcase boxes, representing Verdi´s early, middle and late operas, are now available: Tutto Verdi - The Operas Vol. 2 includes the operas from 1847 - 1853: Macbeth, I masnadieri, Il corsaro, La Battaglia di Legnano, Luisa Miller, Stiffelio , Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata.
"This is how Verdi should be played." FAZ
"This new splendid Parma DVD makes a strong case for I Lombardi, with state-of-the-art video and audio." Classical CD Review, USA
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£51.29 (£174.99)
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Sonatas for Fortepiano and Violin
Violinist Natsumi Wakamatsu is known to BIS fans for her numerous appearances as leader of the Bach Collegium Japan in the ongoing series of Bach cantatas and for her fabulous playing in the Bach Double Concerto on BIS CD 961.
On this disc she is joined by Yoshiko Kojma on a fortepiano of the sort that Mozart might have used at the original performances of these sonatas for the “Harpsichord or Pianoforte with the accompaniment of a violin.” The four works on this disc illustrate the development of the sonata into a musical work for two equal partners. This is the perfect opportunity for music lovers and experts to hear these sonatas performed on instruments that are as similar as possible to those for which they were written.
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Youth Production for Solo Piano Vol. 2
This second volume of the Youth Production for Solo Piano marks the 50th instalment in the ongoing BIS Complete Edition of the works of Sibelius. Like the preceding volume (BIS-CD-1067) the programme is mainly made up of world premiere recordings. This second volume follows Sibelius to Berlin and Vienna and forms a portrait of the emerging artist as he encounters the musical world beyond his native country. The music and the accompanying text give fascinating insights into Sibelius’ compositional development.
Folke Gräsbeck is one of the great authorities on Sibelius's chamber music. Volume 1, which also featured his playing, was greeted with a great deal of interest by the reviewers: "Expert playing and recording" BBC Music Magazine
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Erik Bergman: Choral Works 1936-2000
In his later years he was often described as the grand old man of Finnish modernism; Erik Bergman was among the first in Finland to use compositional methods such as twelve-tone technique, serialism, choral Sprechgesang and aleatory counterpoint. His speciality was choral music, and a large part of his huge production involves a choir in some form. This recording focuses primarily on his works for mixed choir that have not appeared on disc before, and gives a broad picture of his production for the medium over a period of more than 60 years.
Born to a Swedish-speaking family, many of Bergman’s settings were of poems in Swedish, but he was a true internationalist and this two-disc set also includes works with texts in Italian, Norwegian, English, German, and, naturally, Finnish. They are performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir, Finland’s only professional chamber choir, under its artistic director Nils Schweckendiek.
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£6.50 (£29.99)
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VILLA-LOBOS, SYMPHONIES NOS. 6 8
Symphony No. 6 was composed in 1944, twenty-four years after Symphony No. 5. Symphony No. 6 has the somewhat peculiar title of ‘Sobre a linha das montanhas do Brasil’ (‘On the Line of the Mountains’). The title alludes to the ‘melody of the mountains’, a musical method Villa-Lobos developed in which the contours of mountain ranges were used to obtain melodic lines. Certain tone rows were assigned to the design of the music - a landscaping alternative to the twelve-tone technique.
Symphony No. 8 (1950), by contrast, was published without a title. Here, more so than in his earlier works, Villa-Lobos used the classical symphonic structure, almost entirely without allusions to Brazilian musical sources. This CD also includes the exquisite Suite pour Cordes of 1912.
The SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart once delivers dazzling results under conductor Carl St. Clair.
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£6.34 (£13.99)
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Scriabin - Piano Works
This is the Russian pianist, Sophia Lisovskaya’s first recording for BIS. Here she performs a selection of works by the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. Alexander Scriabin is one of the most original figures in the history of music. His piano writing is highly individual, especially his left-hand lines which are especially difficult and virtuosic. His harmonic language, at first influenced by Chopin and Wagner, later became more complex as did his rhythmic ideas which are incredibly elaborate and multi-layered.
Sophia Lisovskaya proves herself to be an accomplished pianist in these tantalisingly difficult works. Her performances capture the brilliance and vision of this music through sensitive, atmospheric playing.
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Nils Lindberg: Los Bandidos
“Christian Lindberg is a soloist of phenomenal gifts, a virtuoso worthy of the name.” David Fanning, Gramophone
Christian Lindberg is inimitable and once more this disc shows him to be on top form. In this latest recording he appears as performer, composer and as arranger. His arrangements are outrageous, as virtuosic as they come and sometimes so witty that the listener may fall of his/her chair laughing. He has fearlessly arranged Mussorgsky’s Pictures, a Bach viola de gamba sonata, Schumann and the Stravinsky of the Firebird. This is undoubtedly a disc that will appeal to a wide audience.
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£6.50 (£13.99)
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LINDBERG: ARABENNE
“Christian Lindberg is a soloist of phenomenal gifts, a virtuoso worthy of the name.” David Fanning, Gramophone
Christian Lindberg is inimitable and once more this disc shows him to be on top form. In this recording he appears as both composer and performer. His pieces are outrageous, as virtuosic as they come and sometimes incredibly witty.
This CD also features five other brilliant performers on the trombone in an ensemble that has been preparing these performances for the last two years. The instruments used in the recording have all made use of the improvements to the trombone that Christian Lindberg has developed in collaboration with the trombone manufacturer Conn. All this additional virtuosity, however, is only a tool for bringing Christian Lindberg’s humorous compositions to life, entertaining the listener.
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol.4
‘Biret grasps the size of Beethoven’s style. The polyphony is laid out in a relaxed way with little indulgence in point making. She keeps the big line and yet is thankfully sparing in her use of fortissimos. The piano tone is sumptuous. Biret’s gentle and almost sensuous sonorities are really captivating. One is reminded that her mentor has been Wilhelm Kempff. (Gramophone)
‘Idil Biret gives an impressive performance. A supreme mastery of tempi, sonorities, polyphony and technique permits Biret—a disciple of Alfred Cortot—to embrace all the moods of Beethoven and gives her playing a symphonic depth rarely heard until now. (Le Nouvel Observateur)
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£4.94 (£11.99)
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Recorder Music
“Dan Laurin plays with refined, dulcet tone...imaginative embellishments...Stylish continuo support and a lively sense of interplay between the instruments...” The Daily Telegraph on BIS CD 955. Hot on the heels of his recent Telemann CD, Dan Laurin is back in splendid form performing a highly infectious programme of concertos for recorder by Corelli and his contemporaries.
Dan Laurin is expertly accompanied by The Parnassus Avenue, an ensemble which grew out of a common performance philosophy combining a scholarly understanding of the period in which the works were written and a conviction that a meaningful performance is based on improvisation. This disc displays the entire register of the recorder, its stunning agility and its expressive range. The lovely sonorities, sparkling performances and excellent sound make for an irresistible combination.
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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MENAHEM PRESSLER IN RECITAL
For more than 50 years, Menahem Pressler was the driving force of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio, giving 6.000 performances until the trio stopped concertizing in 2009. Menahem Pressler is now returning to a solo career.
During this recital filmed at Paris’ Cité de la Musique 2011, Menahem Pressler plays two of the most imposing works in the piano repertoire: Beethoven’s penultimate sonata and Schubert’s last sonata which both require unusual emotional involvement from the performer.
Menahem Pressler is the last representative of a pianistic tradition directly connected with the great German and French piano schools: he studied with several pupils of the illustrious Ferruccio Busoni but also received valuable advice from Robert Casadesus or Paul Loyonnet who opened the world of Ravel and Debussy to him.
“Pressler’s ability to give all the voices prominence while simultaneously isolating the melody was amazing. His fingers still retain a youthful facility.” The Washington Post
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£10.53 (£29.99)
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SCHUBERT: Lied Edition 14 - European Poets, Vol. 2
“A solid and highly recommendable entry into the distinguished company of Schubert Lieder performances.” ClassicsToday.com on 8.554664
The Naxos Deutsche Schubert Lied Edition is rapidly becoming the edition of choice among classical enthusiasts. “Thematic programmes… offer an excellent way to appreciate individual aspects of his diverse output.” The Daily Telegraph. This month we add a second disc devoted to Schubert’s settings of poems by European writers such as Shakespeare and Metastasio. This generous two-disc set also includes more by James Macpherson, published under the pseudonym of the bard Ossian.
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£7.30 (£18.99)
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Bach: Easy Listening Piano
Naxos’ Easy-Listening Piano Classics presents a delightful range of music from Baroque masterpieces to beautiful works of the Classic and Romantic eras, as well as Impressionist classics, specially selected for discerning listeners to enjoy at home or work, while relaxing, entertaining or travelling. Featuring some of the finest pianists from Naxos’ extensive roster, these 3-CD albums are both an excellent introduction to the piano repertoire and delightful listening for the connoisseur
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£4.94 (£12.99)
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Lindberg - A Composer's Portrait, Vol 2
“It is rare to hear a recital devoted entirely to the trombone, and rarer still to hear one of such ingenuity and excellence as that given by Christian Lindberg.” The Times
This second disc is dedicated to the compositions by Christian Lindberg, who participates as performer and conductor and sometimes both at the same time! Alongside Lindberg the disc features Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Asa, a work that sprang from Lindberg’s interest in the religious beliefs of the Vikings. OF BLOOD SO RED for chamber orchestra, is the longest work on the disc, and as Lindberg himself describes it in his liner notes, his most ’serious’ piece he has composed. Other works include a trumpet concerto (with Ole Edvard Antonsen as soloist), two pieces for solo trombone and Gypsy Kingdom for trombone and string quartet, making this a programme as varied in sound and character as are the talents of its creator.
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£5.85 (£13.99)
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Ladies Only Cafe Strings: Angel Eyes
In the earliest decades of the twentieth century when recording was in its infancy, before dance music and jazz were commonplace and when cinema was silent and radio was new, but as yet untried as a commercial medium, the recording companies found a most profitable growth area in what we have since broadly labelled 'salon', or more specifically 'Palm Court'.
This Ladies Only album includes a cross-section of the repertoire they play regularly on Scandinavian television Café programs and Melodifestivalen. In a variety of contrasting styles the pieces selected are over-tinged with an 'olde-worlde' or even pseudo-baroque flavour, which adds charm, for example, to Jules Caty's pseudo-Edwardian Con amore. Probably the only piece in the album classifiable as 'salon', a retrospective waltz recalling an earlier idiom, it has echoes of Berger's Edwardian drawing-room gem Amoureuse with perhaps a hint of Franz Pola's For Love Of You (1931).
A programme to satisfy diners-out and diners-in alike – so sit back and enjoy!
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£4.94 (£11.99)
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Verdi: Operas Vol 3
From Tutto Verdi - The Complete Operas, three hardcover slipcase boxes, representing Verdi´s early, middle and late operas, are now available: Tutto Verdi - The Operas Vol. 3 includes the operas from 1855 - 1893: I vespri siciliani, Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlo, Aida, Otello, Falstaff.
"The Tutto Verdi series of the Teatro Regio is ambitious and for sure one of the most important contribution to the Verdi year." Operapoint
"Beside the technical immaculacy of the Blu-ray version, the chorus and orchestra´s performance is perfect." Fono Forum
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£51.29 (£174.99)
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Verdi: Messa Da Requiem
Great cast with Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Ildebrando D´Arcangelo (Covent Garden, LA Opera, Salzburg Festival), Vittorio Grigolo (Covent Garden, Scala, MET), Michelle DeYoung (MET, Bayreuth, Scala), Julianna Di Giacomo (MET (LA Opera)
Bonus: Great bonus incl. interview with Gustavo Dudamel on the Messa da Requiem and Hollywood Bowl
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£8.79 (£28.99)
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BEET:KINSHASA SYMPHONY
Two hundred orchestral musicians are playing Beethovens Ninth Freude schoener Goetterfunken. A power cut strikes just a few bars before the last movement. Problems like this are the least of the worries facing the only symphony orchestra in the Congo. In the 15 years of its existence, the musicians have survived two putsches, various crises and a war. But concentration on the music and hopes for a better future keeps them going. Kinshasa Symphony is a study of people in one of the worlds most chaotic cities doing their best to maintain one of the most complex systems of joint human endeavour: a symphony orchestra. The film is about the Congo, the people in Kinshasa and the power of music.
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£12.31 (£29.99)
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