Believed to have been composed between August 1775 and January 1777, the Concerto In E Flat Major for two pianos technically counts as being the tenth of Mozart's twenty-seven concertos, that huge and prodigious body that would set the standards for all piano concertos from Mozart's time forward. Although it is not performed with the same frequency as his later works (especially the final eight concertos, 20-27), this "Double" piano concerto, believed to have been composed by Mozart for performance by him and his sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl"), is nevertheless a fascinating experiment of Mozart's, one that requires a pair of solid keyboard virtuosos to do (and for the composer's Seventh piano concerto, you needed three soloists).
Gulda plays Bach at the clavichord. It sounds so simple, and yet it holds a wealth of musical depth and expression. In about 1978, the famous pianist Friedrich Gulda recorded his clavichord playing on various different occasions: at intimate concerts or during his morning practice, when he buried himself in the music as if at a séance – and from the unique combination of brilliant musician, eloquent instrument and eminent composer grew something quite special.
MOZART 111 combines the best of the Austrian master's music with the best of Deutsche Grammophon's Mozart recordings, bringing together a total of 111 works, while retaining, as far as possible, the original album releases with their cover art. There's enough of everything here to stock a shop, as they say, in performances that have stood the test of time and performances that make you sit up and listen to Mozart afresh the perfect way to discover, rediscover and savor the incomparable genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The composer interprets himself, and don´t you do anything to help him! Swarowsky began his conducting career at the Stuttgart Opera in 1927, this after a short period as a répétiteur at the Vienna Volksoper. He then moved on to Hamburg and succeeded Erich Kleiber in Berlin. He was placed under a conducting ban in Germany in 1936 (his father's side of the family was of Jewish background) but was able to continue his career in Zurich for a few years. During World War II he had to limit his work to opera assignments for the Bavarian State Opera and the Salzburg Festival.
German drummer Klaus Weiss appeared in groups with many American expatriates as well as leading his own bands in trio, quintet, sextet, and big-band settings from the '60s through the '90s. Influenced by such drummers as Big Sid Catlett and Buddy Rich, Weiss began playing professionally at age 16. His first gigs, with a group called the Jazzopators, provided accompaniment roles for trumpeter Nelson Williams and vocalist Inez Cavanaugh. Weiss also worked with the Klaus Doldinger Quartet, and played at the Blue Note in Paris with Bud Powell, Kenny Drew, and Johnny Griffin…
Upon its release, the 1973 LP Brain Salad Surgery had been hailed as Emerson, Lake & Palmer's masterpiece. A long tour ensued that left the trio flushed and begging for time off. Before disbanding for three years, they assembled a three-LP live set (something of a badge of achievement at the time, earned by Yes in 1973 with Yessongs and, somewhat more dubiously, Leon Russell with Leon Live)…