Robin Ticciati conducts Schumann

‘The first thing to be said about this Schumann cycle is how splendidly alert the orchestral playing is,’ writes Misha Donat in his review of this recording in our November issue. ‘The Scottish Chamber Orchestra must be one of the finest ensembles of its kind in the world today.’ ‘It’s principle conductor, Robin Ticciati, is very much on his toes, too, paying meticulous attention to detail throughout.’ Schumann composed his Symphony No. 1 – Spring – in 1841 over a period of just four days. He was full of excitement about the work, noting in his diary: ‘I am full of thanks to my guardian angel, who has let me finish a large work with such ease… I am tempted to smash my piano; it has become too restrictive for my ideas.’ The inspiration for the Spring Symphony came from a poem by Adolph Böttger that depicts spring’s arrival throwing off the shackles of a cold winter. Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer and arranger. His father is a barrister, and his mother is a therapist. His older brother is a violinist, and his sister is a theology professor.

WIKIPEDIA

Discover Beethoven’s famous & lesser known Piano Sonatas by Maurizio Pollini

Are you familiar with Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas? Maurizio Pollini has just brought a 40-year project to completion – recording all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas! After nearly 40 years, Maurizio Pollini’s Beethoven Sonatas cycle has reached completion. All recordings are now available on a a new 8CD- / part edition. Pollini / Beethoven: A story that goes back to June 1975, when Maurizio Pollini began recording the Beethoven Sonatas, starting with two of the last three – op. 109 and op. 110. The remaining Late Sonatas (op. 101, op. 106 and op. 111) followed in 1976 and 1977. Released initially as single LPs, the subsequent 3-LP set won a Gramophone Award. The story ended in 2014, when the three Sonatas op. 31 and the two of op. 49 were recorded. (Pollini had also recorded op. 31 no. 2, the so-called “Tempest”, before.) Nearly 40 years to record all 32 Sonatas: Pollini’s is the first cycle on Deutsche Grammophon since those of Daniel Barenboim (1981 – 1984) and Emil Gilels (1972 – 1984, incomplete).

 

Horszowski Trio plays Saint-Saëns, Fauré and d'Indy

WEBSITE The superb Horszowski Trio is heard here in their debut recording. The Horszowskis (Jesse Mills, violin; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; and Rieko Aizawa, piano) draw their name from legendary pianist, Miecyslaw Horszowski, who made one of his specialties the repertoire of the three composers presented here. Horszowski Trio plays: Camille Saint-Saëns: Trio No. 1 in F Major, op. 18 Gabriel Fauré: Trio in D Minor, op. 120 Vincent d'Indy: Trio No. 2 en forme de Suite in G Major, op. 98

 

Llŷr Williams (born Pentrebychan, Wrexham, Wales 1976) is a Welsh pianist.

Williams was educated at Ysgol Hooson in Rhosllannerchrugog and Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham, and then read music at The Queen's College, Oxford from 1995-1998, finishing with a First-Class degree and being awarded The Gibbs Prize in Music for outstanding performance in his final examinations. He attended the Royal Academy of Music as a postgraduate scholar and studied with Michael Dussek, Iain Ledingham, Hamish Milne, Julius Drake, and Irina Zaritskaya. He won every available prize at the Academy and received its highest academic award, the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music (DipRAM) (2000). Upon graduating he was elected to a Shinn[disambiguation needed] Fellowship (2000-02), during the tenure of which he studied conducting and coaching singing.

WIKIPEDIA...|...WEBSITE

Llŷr Williams’s Wagner Without Words disc features piano transcriptions from Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser, The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin and Götterdämmerung as well as three of only a handful of works the composer wrote for the piano: the Fantasy, Zürich Waltzes and this ‘Song Without Words’.

 

Nadia Shpachenko • Pianist

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
 World Premiere recordings of new works for piano, chamber instruments and electronics from 4 notable modern composers SAN FRANCISCO - The new works were composed as a celebration of a newly transformed world, for the new 5,125 year cycle of the Mayan Calendar- inspired by the happy fact that the world did NOT end on December 21, 2012 at the end of the previous Mayan Calendar cycle! All the pieces touch on themes of transformation, of resonances across time, of cycles of rebirth. [1] Tom Flaherty: Airdancing for toy piano, piano, and electronics (premiere) [2-6] Peter Yates: Finger Songs (premiere) [7-10] Adam Schoenberg: Picture Etudes for solo piano (premiere) [11-13] Tom Flaherty: Part Suite-a for solo piano (premiere) [14] James Matheson: Cretic Variations for solo piano (premiere) [15] Adam Schoenberg: Bounce for two pianos (premiere)

  Pianist Nadia Shpachenko-Gottesman is currently Associate Professor of Music, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She has performed extensively in solo recitals and with orchestras in major venues across North America, Europe and Asia. She recently toured Mexico with Orquesta de Baja California, performed with the Kharkov Philharmonic, the Ukrainian National Symphony and the Ukrainian National Radio Symphony Orchestras in Ukraine and the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra in California. As a young pianist, Nadia won top prizes in numerous competitions, including the Wideman International Piano Competition, Grace Welsh International Piano Competition, California International Young Artists Piano Competition, Corpus Christi International Piano Competition, National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition, MTNA Collegiate Piano Competition, SouthEast Symphony Concerto Competition, and the USC Piano Concerto Competition. In 2003 Nadia had her New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall, as the winner of Artists International Special Presentation Award.
 

Sparkling Saint-Saëns from Natalie Clein

‘It is the light airiness of Natalie Clein’s approach that works well here,’ writes Helen Wallace in her review of this recording in the October issue of BBC Music Magazine. OFFICIAL WEBSITE | WIKIPEDIA

 Natalie Clein (born 25 March 1977, Poole, Dorset) is a British cellist. Her mother is a professional violinist. Her sister is the actress Louisa Clein. Clein started playing the cello at the age of six, and studied with Anna Shuttleworth and Alexander Baillie at the Royal College of Music where she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship. She has also studied with Heinrich Schiff in Vienna.