LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: String Trios Op. 3 & Op. 8 Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Antoine Tamestit (viola) & Christian Poltéra (cello) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 22/Mar/2014 ] It is often said that Beethoven's three String Trios Op.9, together with Mozart's Divertimento, form the pinnacle of their genre - one which by the beginning of the 19th century would be almost supplanted by the string quartet. Be that as it may; it... |
IGOR STRAVINSKY / BELLA BARTOK / BOHUSLAV MARTINU
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto (with works by Bartók & Martinů) Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) / Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "With Jakub Hrůša and his super-attentive Bamberg orchestra, Frank Peter Zimmermann trumps the self-confident projection of his younger self." Gramophone |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas: Nos 1 -4 Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Martin Helmchen (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 4/Sep/2020 ] "These recordings are conversations by a perfect instrumental pairing." BBC Music |
LUDWIG van BEEHOVEN
Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas Vol. 3 (Sonatas 8-10) Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Martin Helmchen (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 3/Sep/2021 ] The final volume from the acclaimed team of Zimmermann and Helmchen |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2 [Nos 5 - 7] Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Martin Helmchen (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 9/Apr/2021 ] " Anyone who loves these works will surely come away from this recording feeling entertained, stirred and thoroughly refreshed." Gramophone |
GARDEL / PIAZZOLLA
Guitarra mía - Tangos by Gardel and Piazzolla Franz Halász [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 24/Mar/2017 ] The origins of the tango are debatable, but few would disagree in naming Carlos Gardel the first great figure of the genre. Beginning his career as a folk singer, Gardel is also generally regarded as the creator of sung tango, tango canción. In the... |
J. S. BACH
Bach - Sonatas and Partitas Franz Halász (guitar) [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 8/Mar/2024 ] Bach's Sonatas and Partitas performed on the guitar |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Lute Suites Franz Halász (guitar) [ BIS SACD / CD - released 7/Jun/2019 ] The universal appeal of the music of Johannes Sebastian Bach is such that most musicians, regardless of their instrument, long to play it. As a consequence, his works are constantly being arranged for other instruments - following a practice that... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Franz Halász: Spain Franz Halász (guitar) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 9/Apr/2021 ] A leading guitarist goes on a Spanish pilgrimage. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Works for Guitar & Piano Franz Halász (guitar) Débora Halász (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 10/May/2020 ] Beethoven, the towering giant of musical Vienna, seems to have been unmoved by the charms of the guitar - while instead composing for its sibling, the mandolin. Duo Halász, the husband and wife team of Franzand DéboraHalász, has now rectified this. |
RADAMES GNATTALI
Alma Brasileira: Chamber Works Franz Halász (guitar) Débora Halász (piano) Wen-Sinn Yang (cello) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Dec/2014 ] His parents, Italian immigrants to Brazil, named Radamés Gnattali after the male lead in Verdi's Aida, and his mother began to teach him the piano at the age of six. But even though he did become a highly skilled pianist, performing Tchaikovsky's... |
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Piano Concerto in F / Rhapsody in Blue / Second Rhapsody / "I Got Rhythm" Variations Freddy Kempf (piano) / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jun/2012 ] "This is one of the jazziest, liveliest, and most improvisatory Gershwin albums to arrive in a long time." (MusicWeb) |
CHOPIN
12 etudes, Op.10 / 12 etudes, Op.25 Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Feb/2004 ] Ever since becoming the youngest winner of the BBC Young Musician award Freddy Kempf has been making waves in the world of music - not least in the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition where he shot to prominence when the jury and the... |
SCHUMANN
Fantasiestucke / Etudes symphoniques / etc Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2013 ] There is real beauty to Kempf's sound, especially in the lyrical moments of the Fantasiestucke, and careful, intelligent voicing of the very contrapuntal Etudes Symphoniques. |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonatas: Pathetique, Moonlight and Appassionata Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2005 ] "Kempf's insight into the character of each of these Olympian masterpieces is astonishing and is allied to formidable virtuosity and musicianship" (Sunday Telegraph). |
MUSSORGSKY
Pictures from an Exhibition (with works by Balakirev & Ravel) Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Apr/2008 ] Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - September 2008 - "Kempf storms back with a daunting programme powerfully played." |
RACHMANINOV / BACH-BUSONI / RAVEL / STRAVINSKY
Recital Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Feb/2011 ] "a formidable programme formidably played… This is "live" virtuosity with a vengeance, with absolutely no hint of a safety net". (Gramophone) |
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons / Grand Sonata Freddy Kempf (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 25/Oct/2015 ] "we can be grateful that Kempf has added an all-Tchaikovsky solo piano disc to the catalogue" MusicWeb |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 / Piano Sonata No. 2 Freddy Kempf (piano) / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Litton [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2010 ] "[In the G minor concerto] Kempf is less flamboyant than some, perhaps seeking to make musical sense of the argument. The second movement is as lithe and scintillating as one might wish." Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine May 2010 |
LARS KARLSSON
Seven Songs - Clarinet Concerto Gabriel Suovanen (baritone) / Christoffer Sundqvist (clarinet) / Lapland Chamber Orchestra / John Stogards (conductor) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 2/Feb/2018 ] Lars Karlsson was born in 1953 on Åland, an archipelago in the Baltic Sea which forms part of Finland although its population is Swedish-speaking. He soon moved to Helsinki, however, in order to study at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers... |