Ländler

Another recording dedicated to the music of Caspar Joseph Mertz, the court guitarist of Empress Carolina Augusta whose performances became famous throughout Austria, Hungary and Germany during the 1800s, making him one of the most sought-after musicians in 19th-century Europe. Today he is best remembered for the successful Barden-Klänge (Bardic Sounds), the focus of 94773; here we have a chance to become acquainted with a great many other works he composed for six-string guitar.

"I have composed a big sonata and variations for four hands, and the latter have met with a specially good reception here, but I do not entirely trust Hungarian taste, and I shall leave it to you and to the Viennese to decide their true merit" So wrote Franz Schubert in 1824, evoking the popular 19th-century genre for 4-hands piano that publishers were always pestering him to write for. In his brief life Schubert devoted 32 compositions to this form and the least of these pieces, be it a ländler, polonaise or march, radiates with all of his finesse and sensitivity

Deutsche Grammophon is releasing 16 new e-albums comprising Claudio Abbado’s Complete Recordings on the Yellow Label – the legacy of a legend. Together these digital releases include over 250 hours of first-rate recordings and feature an A-Z of composers. This week’s album, Volume 7 in the series, presents a set of works by Mahler, among them the influential Fifth Symphony.

Gil Shaham took up the violin aged seven and a mere three years later debuted as soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Less than a year later, Shaham performed with Israel's foremost orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta. Shaham has since performed with many of the world's leading orchestras. His recordings for Deutsche Grammaphon reveal a broad repertoire and not least an affinity to the music of the twentieth century.