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Following his monumental exploration of the 32 Sonatas, András Schiff has now recorded – on two period instruments – remarkable, contrasting versions of the Diabelli Variations alongside major late works with intrinsic ties to them. The Sonata Op. 111 and the Diabelli Variations (Disc 1) are played on an original Bechstein grand from 1921, and the second reading of the Diabelli Variations, (paired with the op. 126 Bagatelles on Disc 2) on a Hammerflügel fortepiano from Beethoven's own day. This gives listeners a unique opportunity to compare the rich range of these highly contrasting sonic universes, a world apart from modern day instruments. Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations are considered a magnum opus of the piano repertoire, a towering contribution to the genre and an entire Encyclopedia of pianism.

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart was the youngest of six children born to Wolfgang Amadeus and his wife Constanze. Franz Xaver’s style was early Romantic, with compositions that were highly regarded by his contemporaries Schubert and Schumann. The Polonaise mélancolique was an ideal medium for Franz Xaver’s expressive melodies, and with some pieces anticipating Chopin, the Op. 17 collection forms a satisfying and substantial cycle. All of these works helped to establish Franz Xaver Mozart throughout Europe as a formidable concert pianist and composer.

Fragrances of love songs and orange blossoms – azahares – introduce the Andalusian mood of the pieces arranged for woodwind quintet on this CD. At the onset, three strikingly distorted fortissimo chords mark the 12/8 soleá meter used by Joaquín Turina to evoke the atmosphere – the “aromas”, in his own words – of the Orange Tree Courtyard next to Seville Cathedral. During the ten years Turina spent in Paris, his compatriots Isaac Albéniz and Manuel de Falla taught him how to blend Iberian folklore with Impressionist harmonies, and Sevilla became the first work he wrote in his new “Andalusian” style.

Yoerae Kim began violin lessons at the age of four in South Korea. From 1999 to 2007, she studied as a young talent at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Prof. Andras Kiss and Prof. Miklos Szenthelyi. She earned her diploma in 2012 at the Mannheim University of Music under Prof. Roman Nodel.

Yoerae Kim began violin lessons at the age of four in South Korea. From 1999 to 2007, she studied as a young talent at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Prof. Andras Kiss and Prof. Miklos Szenthelyi. She earned her diploma in 2012 at the Mannheim University of Music under Prof. Roman Nodel.

Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder–Walzer (1869, 1875), Op. 52 and Op. 65, are a cheerful, short, witty set of songs full of anger, joy and rejection. These part-songs are accompanied by one piano, with four hands and any number of voices can perform any selection. These enchanting works are performed as part of Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum project, which teams up new talent with more established performers. Here, tenor Nicky Spence, soprano Mary Bevan and pianist Joseph Middleton are joined by three rising stars (mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, bass William Thomas and pianist Dylan Perez) in these love songs said to have been motivated by Brahms’s unrequited love for Clara Schumann.

Yoerae Kim began violin lessons at the age of four in South Korea. From 1999 to 2007, she studied as a young talent at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Prof. Andras Kiss and Prof. Miklos Szenthelyi. She earned her diploma in 2012 at the Mannheim University of Music under Prof. Roman Nodel.

Yoerae Kim began violin lessons at the age of four in South Korea. From 1999 to 2007, she studied as a young talent at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest with Prof. Andras Kiss and Prof. Miklos Szenthelyi. She earned her diploma in 2012 at the Mannheim University of Music under Prof. Roman Nodel.

While we associate Tchaikovsky with music of virtuoso power and difficulty, sweeping up audiences with the fire of the Violin Concerto and First Piano Concerto, he also applied himself to music for the ever-growing market of amateur music-makers during his lifetime. Like many other great composers, he knew how to write for musicians of moderate ability without compromising or simplifying the individuality of his voice as a composer.

While we associate Tchaikovsky with music of virtuoso power and difficulty, sweeping up audiences with the fire of the Violin Concerto and First Piano Concerto, he also applied himself to music for the ever-growing market of amateur music-makers during his lifetime. Like many other great composers, he knew how to write for musicians of moderate ability without compromising or simplifying the individuality of his voice as a composer.Also like many great composers, regularly finding himself in grim financial prospects, he tapped into a reliable source of income by supplying publishers who had a seemingly limitless market for music composed with amateur musicians in mind, especially by the acknowledged masters of their day. Both of the cycles recorded here by Yuan Sheng were produced for this market, comprising short pieces, most of them quite simple on the page, but thoroughly imbued with quintessentially Tchaikovskian qualities.