Yamanaka studied at the Berklee College of Music and is an alumna of the Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead residency program. She has played and recorded with the New York-based DIVA Jazz Orchestra, led by Sherrie Maricle, but is best known for her small group recordings, which are typically trios and have featured bassists such as Larry Grenadier and Robert Hurst, and drummers such as Jeff Ballard and Jeff "Tain" Watts.
The great British piano virtuoso Solomon Cutner (known professionally by his first name alone) was born in the East End of London in 1902. He was best known for his performances of the music of Beethoven, of which there are many examples in this 7 CD set…
Born in Vienna in 1930, Friedrich Gulda started piano lessons at the age of seven. At 12 he enrolled in the Vienna Music Academy, and four years later he received first prize in the Geneva International Music Festival. In 1949 Gulda toured Europe and South America, earning international acclaim for his treatments of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and the following year he made a successful debut at Carnegie Hall. He also began recording for Decca around this time. Gulda was often grouped with Jörg Demus and Paul Badura-Skoda; all were young Viennese pianists oriented toward the heart of the city's musical tradition.
Deutsche Grammophon, home to the greatest pianists, presents a collection of the most essential piano masterworks – a collection of the most beautiful, exciting and moving pieces for piano; presenting the world’s best composers, popular works, and outstanding performances from Deutsche Grammophon’s unrivalled roster of pianists: from the greats – Horowitz, Gilels, Richter, Argerich – to the younger generation: Seong-Jin Cho, Alice Sara Ott, Vikingur Ólafsson, Hélène Grimaud, Yuja Wang. Also represented are the new faces of composition – Max Richter and Ludovico Einaudi.
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. His major works include the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (Unfinished Symphony), the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera Fierrabras (D. 796), the incidental music to the play Rosamunde (D. 797), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911).
The Empire Brass adds a drummer to its lineup for CLASS BRASS–FIREDANCE, another collection of classical popular hits by one of the world's most renown brass ensembles. Empire is well known for its reliable interpretations of pieces such as Ravel's 'Boléro,' which leads off this collection of primarily dances.
As Sir András Schiff turns 70 (in December 2023), this 78-disc edition celebrates an artist who has made a significant contribution to shaping Decca’s history through an array of artistic endeavours. Neatly divided into four sections – solo, concertante, lieder and chamber music, the set includes several currently unavailable recordings; the first international release of Beethoven’s complete Violin Sonatas, with Sándor Végh; four CDs’ worth of material recorded on Mozart’s fortepiano; and the booklet includes an interview with Misha Donat in which Schiff tells the story of his journey with Decca.
As Sir András Schiff turns 70 (in December 2023), this 78-disc edition celebrates an artist who has made a significant contribution to shaping Decca's history through an array of artistic endeavours. Neatly divided into four sections - solo, concertante, lieder and chamber music, the set includes several currently unavailable recordings; the first international release of Beethoven's complete Violin Sonatas, with Sándor Végh; four CDs' worth of material recorded on Mozart's fortepiano; and the booklet includes an interview with Misha Donat in which Schiff tells the story of his journey with Decca.
Mao Fujita, one of the most sought after pianists of his generation, debuts with a major recording project – the eagerly anticipated studio recording of Mozart’s complete Piano Sonatas, presented across 5 CDs. With an innate musical sensitivity and naturalness to his artistry, Mao Fujita has already impressed many leading musicians as one of those special talents which comes along only rarely.