Encores

Legendary Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire celebrates his 75th birthday with a new album, a delightful collection of personal piano favourites. The new record, ‘Encores’, contains 30 tracks ranging from Purcell to Rachmaninov; Scarlatti to Shostakovich and 12 of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces. It also includes such treasures as the Sgambati Mélodie de Gluck, Paderewski’s Nocturne and Albéniz’s Navarra. An exclusive Decca artist since 2002, Nelson Freire won the 2006 Gramophone Recording of the Year and the Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album in 2013.

Nils Frahm announces the release of Encores 3 on 20 September 2019, the third and final instalment of his Encores series. The three EPs will be available as one full length release titled All Encores featuring 80 minutes of music on 18 October, to follow his masterful 2018 album All Melody. Whilst Encores 1 focused on an acoustic pallet of sounds with solo piano and harmonium at the core, and Encores 2 explored more ambient landscapes, now Encores 3 sees Nils expand on the percussive and electronic elements in his work.

Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - Left Bank Encores (1973) {Prestige PRCD-11022-2 rel 2002}
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© 1973, 2002 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-11022-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

On June 24, 1973, Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society reunited one of the most legendary tenor teams of the bebop era: Gene "Jug" Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Like Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, Jug and Stitt were on the same team – the bop team – but loved to compete with one another and see who had the mightiest chops. That was in the late '40s and early '50s – when the saxmen were reunited at that Baltimore concert in 1973, they weren't as competitive and battle-minded as they had been in their younger days. But their chops were still in top shape, and they could still swing unapologetically hard.

Alban Gerhardt & Markus Becker - Rostropovich Encores (2017) {Hyperion CDA68136}
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© 2017 Hyperion Records | CDA68136
Classical / Cello / Piano

An album of encores once played by someone else, even someone as famous as Mstislav Rostropovich, might seem an overspecialized product, but German cellist Alban Gerhardt had some success with a similar album devoted to Pablo Casals, and is now back for more. Gerhardt does a reasonable impression of Rostropovich's songful style, overlaid with a bit of mysterious and gloomy Russian philosophy. But the really innovative feature of the album is the program, which draws out the breadth of the great Russian's musical interests, even in the seemingly restricted feel of the encore.

András Schiff - Encores after Beethoven (2016) {ECM New Series 1950}
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© 2016 ECM Records | ECM New Series 1950 / 4814474
Classical / Piano

Between March 2004 and May 2006 András Schiff performed the complete cycle of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas at the Tonhalle, Zürich, recorded and released by ECM New Series. This collection presents the encores from these concerts. What does one play after Beethoven sonatas? András Schiff: “For me it's essential not to seek entertainment but rather to look for pieces that are closely related to the previously heard sonatas.” The pianist explores links to Schubert, Mozart, Haydn and Bach. For all the interconnecting strands of musical history, András Schiff’s selection of encores also adds up to a thoroughly enjoyable ‘recital’ disc in its own right.

Since its formation in 1972 the Brodsky Quartet has performed more than 3000 concerts on the major concert stages of the world and has released more than seventy recordings. A natural curiosity and insatiable desire to explore have propelled the group in many artistic directions and continue to ensure it not only a place at the very forefront of the international chamber music scene but also a rich and varied musical existence.

Celebrated for his pivotal role in resurrecting the Bach suites for solo cello and championing their performance throughout his career, Pablo Casals' repertoire was much more far-reaching. Perhaps the best way to observe the breadth of his interests is to investigate the works he chose to perform as encores. Flashy, virtuosic show pieces certainly had their place in this repertoire, but Casals looked more favorable upon works that highlighted the more lyrical, soulful aspects of his instrument.

Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986) was never a technical daredevil and his playing has been described as being "for conoisseurs only." Indeed, his style was quite refined and his repertoire tended towards pieces that which suited his musical gifts. His Beethoven Concerto and Sonata recordings and performances are most definitely among the best ever done of those works. This large set of 30+ smaller pieces (with a couple larger ones thrown in) focuses on Grumiaux's ability to touch the listener and indeed there is a thread of imperturbable calmness that runs through this recording upon a casual listening. This discing on Philips came out around 1996, presumably to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death. I'll just touch on a few of the highlights of this 2 CD set. In all of them, we hear Grumiaux at his best - polished and radiant, with Istvan Hajdu as the competent piano partner for all of the numbers.