Left XG

Although the Concertos for Piano (left hand) by Korngold, Prokofiev, Ravel and others may be better known, it was Josef Labor who marked the beginning of the genre in 1915 with his first Konzertstück for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra. It was commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm in Russia during the First World War, but was determined that his career should progress nonetheless. Labor was part of Johannes Brahms’ close circle of friends who, at the age of three, had lost his sight due to smallpox. Composition was a luxury for him, in that he had to rely on the help of an amanuensis to commit his works to paper. Labor’s music is very skillfully composed, always sensuous and, above all, melodious. These world premiere recordings represent a high-point in Capriccio's Labor-Edition, which for a number of years has been spotlighting the sensitive music of this largely forgotten composer.

The provocative and beguiling Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) comprises the crème de la crème of the San Francisco Bay Area’s musicians. Their motto: nothing is out of bounds, and anything is possible. Presenters of all types of music including small ensemble, vocal, orchestral, multi-media and operatic, a select group comes together for this recording of Olivier Messiaen’s seminal chamber work, Quartet for the End of Time. Written during the composer’s confinement in World War II, he maintained hope, expressing, “The abyss is Time with its sadness, its weariness. The birds are the opposite … our desire for light, for stars, for rainbows, and for jubilant songs.” LCCE co-founder and prize-winning composer Kurt Rohde echoes this sentiment in his Messiaen-inspired one wing for violin and piano, heard here in its world-premiere recording.

The Left Banke had been together for less than a year when their debut single, "Walk Away Renee," became a hit, and once the band began touring steadily, they started to fracture as Michael Brown, the group's 17-year-old wunderkind, songwriter, and pianist, decided he didn't care for life on the road. By the time the Left Banke cut their second album, Brown was out of the picture, as was producer and arranger Henry Lookofsky (he was also Brown's dad), and the lineup was down to a trio: vocalist Steve Martin-Caro, guitarist/bassist Tom Finn, and drummer George Cameron. Not promising circumstances for the creation of The Left Banke Too, but surprisingly it's a fine album that shows the group's second string had plenty of talent and a sound creative vision…

Hans Abrahamsen is one of the most important contemporary composers. Numerous productions have already been published by Winter & Winter and have attracted great attention from the public and the press. "Let me tell you" is one of the greatest worldwide successes in contemporary music. With the WDR production "Left, alone" Winter & Winter continues its canon with Hans Abrahamsen. Ten Sinfonias, Left, alone and Two Pieces in Slow Time can be heard on this album. Ten Sinfonias, recorded under the direction of Peter Rundel, Left, alone under Mariano Chiacchiarini with Tamara Stefanovich on piano and Two Pieces in Slow Time with soloists from the WDR Symphony Orchestra, form an exciting and multi-layered album with important key works by Hans Abrahamsen. A production with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Nick Drake’s debut album Five Leaves Left will be issued as a four-disc box set called The Making Of Five Leaves Left, in July. The album was released by Island Records in 1969 and was produced by Joe Boyd. The new box sets comes in 4CD and 4LP vinyl variants (identical tracklistings) and include unaccompanied demos, studio outtakes and previously unheard songs. There’s over 30 previously unheard outtakes, in total. The whole set has been mastered by John Wood.