David Groggins

There's much more to Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues than meets the eye. Perhaps they make a deceptively arid impression upon casual sight-reading, yet pianists who commit themselves eventually discover far more variety of expression between pieces and consequently give cogent shape to the composer's subtle textural interplay. David Jalbert is both into and on top of these works, both stylistically and pianistically. For example, the E major Prelude stands out for Jalbert's finely honed legato touch and superb timbral integration of registral extremes. In his freely lyrical approach to the D major Prelude, Jalbert's phrasing distinctively characterizes the left-hand lines and right-hand arpeggiated chords. Also notice the pianist's asymmetric, harmonically aware accentuation of the B-flat major Prelude's rapid "flight of the bumble-bee" figurations and his ability to suggest the slower, more severe fugues' bleak sensibility without sounding lugubrious or bland. At the same time, Jalbert's secure technique enables him to wring maximum musical satisfaction from the thornier selections, such as his dashing, playful account of the D-flat major Fugue's quirky cross-rhythms.

BOWIE - LEGACY will be released via Parlophone in November. The album collects together a selection of Bowie’s most popular tracks and singles, from 1969’s ‘Space Oddity’, through to the final singles ‘Lazarus’ and ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’, issued earlier this year. BOWIE - LEGACY will be available as a 1 CD and a Deluxe 2 CD from November 11th. These will be followed by a double vinyl album version on January 6th, 2017. All formats of BOWIE - LEGACY feature a previously unreleased version of the classic 1971 Hunky Dory track, ‘Life On Mars?’, remixed by its original producer Ken Scott. From his very first recordings over fifty years ago, right through to his last album Blackstar, David Bowie was at the vanguard of contemporary culture as a musician, artist, icon and a constant influence on generations of writers, artists and designers. He was, and remains, a unique presence in contemporary culture. Bowie left a legacy of inspiration in every discipline from art and fashion to acting and beyond. But, it is for his ground-breaking music that he will be best remembered. BOWIE - LEGACY is an introduction to a world of incredible music, just waiting to be enjoyed by a whole new generation.

Pianist David Breitman writes of his new release of Beethoven music for piano and cello: “I first became interested in historical keyboards as a piano student in Boston in the 1970s. Boston was then, and is still, an early music centre, and I had frequent opportunities to hear renaissance and baroque ensembles in concert. I eventually decided to take some harpsichord lessons with Robert Hill, freshly returned from Amsterdam where he had been studying with Gustav Leonhardt."