Morton Feldman Complete Works For Two Pianists Kristine Scholz Mats Persson (2002)

Bohuslav Martinů - Complete Works for Violin and Piano
Classical, 20th Century | EAC+APE (IMG+CUE+LOG) | 1.08gb
Full HQ scans | 4 CD | RS, MU, HF, DF, ZS, BD, UL

This second volume of Martinu's complete works for violin and piano is every bit as fine as Volume One. The Arietta, Seven Arabesques, Sonatina, Rhythmic Études, and Intermezzo are all teaching pieces, simple in form but delightful in content, and fully worthy of the concert hall. When not performed as a set, any of the Arabesques or Études would make perfect encores (performers take note). The Violin Sonata No. 2 dates from 1931, and reflects the composer's interest in Jazz–a terse and refreshing work. Between 1943 and 1945, Martinu composed his last works for violin and piano: the Five Madrigal Stanzas, Sonata No. 3, and the Czech Rhapsody. All three pieces partake of the sunny lyricism, syncopated rhythms, and folk music inflections of his last period, and the sonata in particular is every bit as fine as the contemporary symphonies–indeed, it's clearly one of the finest violin/piano works written this century. Once again, Supraphon's two Czech artists play this music just about as well as it can be, and the recorded sound falls gratefully on the ear. In sum, this is a magnificently conceived and executed project that anyone who loves chamber music simply must hear. –David Hurwitz

The Complete Works for Flute and Clarinet: In both original works and transcriptions, the Ebony Duo explores Scelsi’s use of special sound colors and his coloring of sound. Transcriptions especially prepared by the clarinetist (and pianist) Michael Raster provide the basis for some of the works on the present album. Yet Scelsi’s original intentions incurred no damage as a result of this recrafting. To the contrary! “The formidable technical demands that playing on two strings with in part opposite dynamics places on the solo violinist certainly justify an adaptation for two instrumentalists – all the more so as Scelsi himself had already been concerned with the “third dimension”, the depth of sound, in connection wind instruments before, especially in the piece Ko-Lho for flute and clarinet.”

This collection of Schumann’s “complete works for piano and orchestra” is more complete than usual, with the inclusion of two conjectural reconstructions: one from sketches, the other from a combination of sketches and a reworking of an existing solo piano piece. Excluded is the piano arrangement of the Konzertstück for four horns, which Joachim Draheim’s excellent booklet notes are adamant has no connection with Schumann, either Robert or Clara.

Dietrich Buxtehude - Complete Works for Organ, Volume 3 - Bine Bryndorf (2005) {Dacapo 8.226023}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 339 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2005 Dacapo | 8.226023
Classical / Baroque / Organ

Dietrich Buxtehude's organ works are today in the standard repertoire for organists all over the world, but this is the first time an organist has engaged so intimately with Buxtehude by using the very instrument on which the works were composed. Dacapo Records' new Buxtehude series will consist of a total of six CDs, and besides the St. Mary's Church in Elsinore they will be recorded in the other two churches where the composer was employed, the S:ta Maria Church in Helsingborg and the Marienkirche in Lübeck.

Nicolas Lebègue & Jacques Hardel - Complete Works for Harpsichord - Karen Flint (2014) {Plectra Music}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download -> 1.33 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 525 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 29 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Plectra Music | PL21401
Classical / Baroque / Harpsichord

This three-CD set includes the complete works for harpsichord by Nicolas Lebègue (1631-1702) and Jacques Hardel (1643-1678) performed by Karen Flint on the 1627 & 1635 Ioannes Ruckers harpsichords. French Baroque rarities delight in this substantial recital. I must admit I wasn t familiar with the composers on this disc, but they re both discoveries that I m happy to have made. Performing here on two magnificent Ruckers keyboards from the early 17th century, Karen Flint plays these French Baroque works with an exquisitely light touch, presenting Lebègue and Hardel s dances in the best possible way. The complete harpsichord works of Lebègue consist of his 1677 Les Pièces de Clavessin, and the 1687 Second Livre de Clavessin. Notably, it s in the earlier collection that the very first unmeasured preludes (a form of prelude where each note s duration is at the performer s discretion) are contained.

The latest offering from James Ehnes is an outstanding 2-CD set of the Complete Works for Violin by Sergei Prokofiev. Gianandrea Noseda conducts the BBC Philharmonic in the Violin Concerto No.1 in D Major and the Violin Concerto No.2 in G Minor on disc one, and Andrew Armstrong is the accompanist for the violin and piano works on disc two. Ehnes gives thoughtful and sensitive performances of the two concertos, and is given perfect support by Noseda, a conductor who has few equals when it comes to drawing nuanced, sensitive playing from a large orchestra.

Robert Schumann - Complete Works for Violoncello and Piano
Klaus Storck, Violoncello / Aya Ishihara, Piano
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 255 MB | Full Artwork: 101 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: MDG "audio.max" # 903 1544-6 | Country/Year: Germany 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

"The years spent by Robert Schumann and his Clara in Dresden were a time of perfect happiness, and in 1849 the composer, like a teenager, presented his dearest with a Romanze pervaded by intense passion. An outstanding recording of Schumann’s complete works for violoncello and piano from this time transports us up to the couple’s seventh heaven. The Schumann specialist Aya Ishihara plays Clara’s role at a Steinway grand piano (1901), and her experienced duo partner Klaus Storck is heard as the emotionally profound cellist playing an Italian “Spiritus Sorsana” cello (made in 1730 in Cunei)…"