Elisabeth Zott

Giovanni Ferrandini seems to have been something of a child prodigy. By the time he was 12 he had left his home town of Venice to take up a paid court appointment as oboist in Munich. What should be remarked upon is not just his age but that the Elector of Bavaria was paying him; this was an age when young people could be expected to take on the role of assistant or student without salary.

The dazzling pianist Élisabeth Pion joins Arion Baroque Orchestra conducted by Mathieu Lussier in exploring rarely performed works by French composer Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836). A contemporary of Mozart, this artist fascinates modern listeners both for her trailblazing career and for her contribution to the development of the French piano repertoire.

It is perhaps the songs of Hugo Wolf that most closely define Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s subtle art as a recitalist. At the Salzburg Festival in 1953 she marked the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death in a memorable collaboration with Wilhelm Furtwängler, who – having conducted her frequently in opera and oratorio – here became her accompanist. As the producer Walter Legge wrote: “We must be grateful that this extraordinary occasion was recorded not only for us but also for posterity.”

Noted for her strong and textured voice, Elisabeth Kontomanou got her start as a jazz vocalist and composer in her native France. She had worked with the likes of Michel Legrand and toured internationally by the time she released her eponymous debut album in 1993. She spent the mid-'90s through the mid-2000s in New York City, a stretch that included 2004's Midnight Sun. Kontomanou made her Montreal International Jazz Festival debut in 2006, around the time she relocated to Stockholm. In 2009, Siren Song: Live at Arsenal was recorded with the Lorraine National Orchestra, and her tenth album, 2014's Amoureuse, was her first French-language set.

The sublime and moving culmination of Richard Strauss's love affair with the soprano voice, the Vier letzte Lieder are interpreted by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf with insight, wisdom and gentle radiance. In the early years of his career George Szell was mentored by Richard Strauss himself, and he provides Schwarzkopf with an exquisitely sensitive orchestral context for all sixteen songs in this classic anthology.

The origins of this album – the Artemis Quartet’s first recordings of Shostakovich – lie in the ensemble’s long-established relationship with the great pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja. For years, the quartet had been wanting to record the Russian composer’s Piano Quintet with her. It is coupled with Quartets No 5 and No 7, multi-faceted works which are expressive of the composer’s private persona.

In 1877 Edvard Grieg informed his publisher that he had added “a free, second piano to several of Mozart’s sonatas.” As he later emphasised, his modernization “did not change a single one of Mozart’s notes”, but constituted “a way of showing admiration for an old master.” Grieg also intended the pieces for a duo of student at teacher; here the performers are a pianist of exceptional distinction and her legendary mentor: Elisabeth Leonskaja and Sviatoslav Richter.