Liszt Hungarian Dances

Between 2008 and 2014 Universal Classics reissued nearly all of Martha Argerich’s Deutsche Grammophon recordings in a series of boxed sets, largely according to genre (solo, chamber, duo, concerto, and so forth). There also was a box containing her output for the Philips label and another devoted to her complete recordings with Claudio Abbado. All of this material appears anew in DG’s 48-CD collection Martha Argerich: The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, with the addition of the 1977 Stravinsky Les Noces conducted by Leonard Bernstein, the Chopin and Schumann duos with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and more recent releases like the Berlin and Cologne Chopin Radio Recordings, the 2014 duo piano recital with Daniel Barenboim, and the 4-disc Lugano Concertos collection. The discs are packaged in original-jacket facsimiles and sequenced in more-or-less chronological order by release date.

The History of Mercury Living Presence. The year was 1950. The record industry was recovering from the 'battle of the speeds', which pitted RCA Victor, with its 45-rpm disc, against Columbia Records, inventor of the microgroove long-playing record. (The 78-rpm shellac disc had just suffered a swift demise.) In the aftermath of the protracted struggle, the unexpected happened. Both sides won: the 45-rpm became the preferred speed for popular music at the time and the LP was adopted as the industry standard for classics and other 'long-playing' programs.

This release from BR KLASSIK explores the genre of the 19th and 20th century Rhapsody, featuring works from masterful composers Emmanuel Chabrier, George Gershwin, George Enesecu, Maurice Ravel, and Franz Liszt. The concert-like atmosphere of this recording makes this a truly unique release, as these works were recorded live in Munich as recently as October 2015. The five rhapsodies featured here come from different regions and the composers unique styles can be heard in each of their works. Chabriers Espana is centered around Iberian and folk music which was very popular at the time. Liszts Hungarian Rhapsody contrasts this work with its use of Hungarian folk melodies. The ever-popular Rhapsody in Blue from George Gershwin throws Americana into the mix with its blues roots. Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks never fails to please with their brilliant interpretations and performance quality. World-renowned Russian pianist Denis Matusev is brilliant as the Rhapsody in Blue soloist.

Limited Edition. Covering recordings from July 1956 to July 1961, here are early stereo spectaculars on Mercury, under the inspired baton of Antal Doráti: classic albums of Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and many more in a new 'Original Jackets'. Eloquence has been making a systematic and critically acclaimed survey of the Mercury legacy of recordings made by the Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti. Boxes of his complete recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Hungarica have revived albums from the 1950s and 60s which set new standards for lifelike sound and intensely engaged performances in the recording studio. Volume 1 of Doráti's London recordings covers sessions from July 1956 to July 1961. Conductor and orchestra met for an intensive fortnight each year after the end of the concert season. Both the conductor and the Mercury engineers were demanding in their pursuit of perfection, in terms of orchestral attack, ensemble, balance, colour and all the disparate elements which contribute towards the kind of repeatability that made these albums such artistic and commercial successes.

In his very first album, pianist Rodolphe Menguy invites us to reflect on two groups of composers (Bartók / Kodály versus Franz Liszt) and how they dealt with traditional music but also what influence this had on the evolution of music-writing - thereby on the evolution of pianism. An ambitious programme that reveals a more than promising talent.