Piano Sonata n° 5 Sharp

In 2017 Decca published the 10-CD Box "Mendelssohn Complete Piano Works”. The recordings (2005-2014) include 59 World Premieres.

Jean-Pierre Rampal is often considered the greatest flutist of the modern era. In addition to his exceptional talent, he raised the flute to unprecedented solo status, popularizing the flute literature, the flute recital and flute recordings. The rediscovery of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoire for the flute is one of his outstanding achievements, as well as his numerous collaborations with composers; over 100 works have been written for and premiered by him. He recorded for Erato from the mid-1950s, with many discs receiving awards internationally.

Mily Balakirev learned his craft from local musicians. Conductor Karl Eisrich introduced Balakirev to the music of Chopin, Glinka, and Alexander Ulybyshev, a music loving landowner who maintained a vast library of musical scores. In 1855, Balakirev composed his Piano Fantasia on Themes from Glinka's a Life for the Tsar, and Ulybyshev took Balakirev to St. Petersburg to meet Glinka himself. Glinka appreciated Balakirev's talent, and offered advice and encouragement. Balakirev enjoyed a brilliant debut as a pianist in St. Petersburg, and in 1858 performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in the presence of the Tsar. In April 1858, Balakirev fell ill with "brain fever"; although he recovered, he would suffer from lifelong headaches, nervousness, and depression. With the deaths of both Glinka and Ulybyshev, Balakirev decided to carry on their ideas ………..

from Allmusic

Hailed by some as the third primary figure among great Russian pianists of the twentieth century's second half, Lazar Berman has occasionally lived up to that reputation, but frequently has not. Emil Gilels, the first genius-level Soviet pianist to become well-known in the West, insisted that there was one artist, yet unheard in the West, who was the greater artist. Later, after Sviatoslav Richter's arrival in Europe and America, most felt Gilels had been correct. Still later, however, Gilels maintained that yet another pianist, Lazar Berman, was the finest of the three. After the initial stir created by Berman's 1976 American tour and other appearances in the West, critical opinion held that, while he was an extraordinary if uneven artist, he was not superior to the protean Richter or to the clear-minded Gilels. Still, his art was of an order by no means common.

Sampling the three periods of Alexander Scriabin's music, Vadym Kholodenko presents a coherent and colorful program that includes a representative handful of the early preludes, two of the middle piano sonatas, a set of etudes, and three of the poems for keyboard. While Scriabin's music steadily evolved from his youthful Chopinesque phase and a transitional, impressionistic period, similar in evocative harmonies and effects to Debussy, to a nearly atonal and atmospheric style all his own, there was always a virtuosic complexity in his piano pieces that makes it challenging for performers and listeners alike.

The first ever CD release of Ania Dorfmann’s complete RCA Victor recordings from 1939–1959. The collaborations with Arturo Toscanini include her rare 1939 recording of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and the 1945 Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1.

World-famous and original piano works spanning 250 years of piano writing from Bach to Pärt gain aesthetic presence in Jimin Oh-Havenith’s sensitive interpretations.

March 8th, 2014 marks the 300th Birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. This is the first recording of the complete piano works by C.P.E. Bach. Ana-Marija Markovina, the featured artist for these recordings, has been working for over ten years with the music of CPE Bach and has developed her own intuitive approach to his style. During his lifetime, CPE Bach was more famous than his father, Johann Sebastian; it is time to rediscover the incredible range and the quality of his once again.