Sir Roger Norrington is best known for his historically informed performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music. On this album he turns his attention - and that of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra - to some of the most popular of Haydn's 104 symphonies. For Parisians prior to the French Revolution, Haydn's symphonies were seen as powerful, innovative works which demonstrated the composer's brilliance and invention. Here, the 30-strong ensemble - tightly drilled by Norrington - clearly demonstrate why they've achieved international importance. Sir Roger brings to these performances the expected solid historical scholarship, to give us a Haydn collection that is dazzling, charming and fascinating.
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films…
This album was the last ever made by this awesome legend of piano-playing. Recorded at his own home in six sessions over twelve days, it is stunning to realise that this performance comes from a man of 86 years of age. I thought I had heard just about everything he had ever recorded. This album includes music he had never before played publicly ' at least not in the USA - or recorded. Haydn's Eflat Sonata No 49 sparkles from start to finish, full of typical Horowitzian colour and drama, yet classical in flavour and beautifully balanced. A Mazurka, two Nocturnes and two Etudes by Chopin, and Liszt's arrangement of Wagner's 'Liebestod' follow, each pianistically fabulous in terms of colour, multiple singing melodic lines, textural richness and clarity.
“…there's a palpable sense of discovery, of living the music…You know you're in remarkable musical company before the piano has sounded a note…Of course, this isn't just down to the players: it's Andsnes's conception right from the start…What's also very striking is that these performances are not simply about elan and energy: they have a sense of gravitas, too, of rightness, that you find in the greatest Beethoven interpreters.” ~Grammophone
For decades, internationally acclaimed pianist Rudolf Buchbinder has been researching Schubert's original scores and early printed editions. With his new album, he offers an unequivocal interpretation of Schubert's much loved Impromptus D 899 and his last Sonata, D 960. Buchbinder is considered the one living pianist who personifies the Viennese classical tradition, and in keeping with that, Schubert was recorded live at the famed Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna.
"…Artists as individually outstanding as Gould, Tureck, Koroliov, and Schiff have all found solutions that are equally valid, but none, I think, have ever made the music sound so naturally, joyously at home on the modern piano as has Perahia. With gorgeously rich recorded sound fully worthy of the interpretation, this Goldberg Variations easily joins my short list of recommendations on any instrument. Perahia has given us a recording for the ages, no doubt about it." ~classicstoday
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films…