Beethoven Hewitt

Its amazing to realize how diverse and varied music JS Bach wrote in his lifetime (1685-1750). Originally written for the gamba and harpischord, these compositions translate well to the modern cello and piano as their sunny, pleasant sonorites attest. The last sonata by Bach's most musically innovative son, CPE Bach, is an added treat.Having recorded all of the major keyboard works of Bach, Angela Hewitt now picks up these "minor" pieces with cellist Daniel Muller-Schott. The compositions are not necessarily "virtuostic" - like those of Beethoven - but they among the first to give more equal partnership of the keyboard beyond continuo. These sonatas brim forth with effortless melody and quality musical development that Bach was so marvelous in composing which gives them a universal appeal.

To run parallel with his complete Haydn series, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet is now starting a complete, chronological cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. This first set covers the sonatas composed in the 1790s. Two further volumes, of middle and late sonatas, will follow in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Pianist Pierre-Arnaud Dablemont releases his first disc on Resonus Classics with an album containing three pivotal sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven - the two Op. 27 sonatas labelled "Quasi una fantasia" in E flat major and C sharp minor (including the "Moonlight" sonata) and the Op. 28 sonata in D major ("Pastoral"). In these three sonatas we see Beethoven stretching and experimenting with both form and texture, and the Paris-born pianist Pierre-Arnaud Dablemont - known for his innovative and insightful interpretations - brings a unique and fresh view to these vital works of the classical piano repertoire.

Eighteenth-century American harpsichord music isn't something you hear everyday, but the delightful sounds of Enlightenment in the New World can be appreciated by any keyboard lover. Using a French harpsichord built in 1774, Olivier Baumont performs lively (not to mention "enlightened") works by seldom-heard composers William Selby, Alexander Reinagle, Victor Pelissier, someone named simply Mr. Newman, and a few others. There's nothing monumental here–James Hewitt's "Yankee Doodle with 9 Variations" may be too silly to fully appreciate–but the playing is exquisite and there are some great discoveries.

As a young pianist, András Schiff earned wide esteem for his 1980s recordings of the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach; in recent years, as part of his long term relationship with ECM, he has gone back to Bach as a sage veteran, earning more acclaim for his New Series recordings of the Goldberg Variations (2003) and the six Partitas (2009). Now, using his own Steinway, Schiff turns his focus to the 48 preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, making studio recordings in Lugano of both books for this 4-CD set.

Some impressive pianism may be found here, both from Piers Lane and prior to that from Eugen d’Albert. The latter was a virtuoso pianist and transcriber, also a composer whose opera Tiefland (1903) has remained popular in Germany. He was, however, born in Glasgow of French and English parents and began his career in England. Eventually he publicly renounced all things Anglo-Saxon, much to the annoyance of his mentor, Sir Arthur Sullivan, and settled in Berlin to concertize, performing the great masters: Bach, interwoven with Spohr and Beethoven.