High-Res FLAC Archives - Page 5 of 31

Beethoven: Piano Concerto & No. 4 Mendelssohn: Double Concerto

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Pianist Min-Jung Kym makes her recording debut on Signum Records, leading the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Clemens Schuldt in performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, and alongside Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay for Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra in D Minor.

Steinway Artist Min-Jung Kym has acquired an internationally recognised reputation performing with some of the world’s leading orchestras and musicians, including collaborations with (amongst others) Barry Wordsworth, Alison Balsom, the Haffner Ensemble, Pierre Amoyal, Leon Bosch, Joy Farrall, Andrew Haveron, Sergey Levitin, Adrian Brendel, Thomas Carroll, Mats Lidstrom and the soprano Susan Bickley. Min-Jung was the ‘pianist of choice’ for the masterclasses of the legendary violinist Ruggiero Ricci.
This is an unhurried, richly expressive interpretation the eloquent nature of which is matched by the Philharmonia Orchestra - Classical Source Happily, the musicians on this Signum recording respect the letter of the score - Gramophone

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 & Works for Solo Piano

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Alessio Bax returns to disc on Signum with the Southbank Sinfonia under Simon Over, in a new recording of works by Beethoven centred around the majestic “Emperor” Piano Concerto No. 5.

Combining exceptional lyricism and insight with consummate technique, Alessio Bax is without a doubt “among the most remarkable young pianists now before the public” (Gramophone). He catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and is now a familiar face on four continents, not only as a recitalist and chamber musician, but as a concerto soloist who has appeared with more than 100 orchestras, including the London and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, Dallas and Cincinnati Symphonies, NHK Symphony in Japan, St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the City of Birmingham Symphony with Sir Simon Rattle.

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 1: Late String Quartets

Price range: £16.00 through £28.00

“[Their Beethoven performance’s] were shockingly deep. I’ve never heard a quartet so young get so inside this ultimately inscrutable music” - LA Times The Calidore Quartet return to Signum Classics for the first installment of their Beethoven Cycle: The Late Quartets. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors which include Alban Berg, Emerson, Guarneri and yet still uniquely representing the senti- ments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with future performances planned at prestigious venues to be announced. WINNER CHAMBER MUSIC AWARD 2024 ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording "Meticulously detailed performances…with playing of quite remarkable technical accomplishment: I'm not sure, for instance, that I've ever heard the tremendously challenging Op.133 Fugue…done with greater precision and clarity…the Calidore players penetrate right to the heart of the music, giving warm and intensely lyrical accounts…[the players] have produced performances that can stand comparison with the best" - BBC Music Magazine "They are boldly recorded here, played with remarkable depth, yet another example of astonishingly life-affirming music making." - LA Times "Deeply satisfying, impeccably recorded and representative of the gratifyingly high standard of quartet playing we may hear today from so many of today’s young artists" - Musicweb International

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 2: Middle String Quartets

Price range: £16.00 through £28.00

The second in their award winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three disc album of the Middle Quartets. Their Beethoven performances have been described as ‘shockingly deep’ by LA Times. The first album of Late Quartets won the Chamber Music Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024. Their interpretation is informed by their diverse set of mentors which include Alban Berg, Emerson, Guarneri and yet still uniquely representing the sentiments, aesthetics and research of their generation. Their interpretations of Beethoven are already critically acclaimed with performances at the Lincoln Centre planned as part of their residency. All Music Classical Highlights October 2024 Recording of the Month (October) "What cannot be denied is the sophistication and sheer polish - in tuning, rhythm and ensemble - of the Calidore's Beethoven...A performance of such fearless attack and rhythmic precision...[Coda] a miniature tour de force that sets the seal on Beethoven-playing of rare vividness and technical aplomb" - Gramophone “The works played here reflect the intense experimentalism of Beethoven’s middle years – the leading Viennese critic of the day declared the ‘Razumovskys’ ‘not generally comprehensible’ – and the Calidore Quartet are well up to all the challenges…this album set is highly collectible.” - BBC Music Magazine "The group's sense of ensemble is excellent, and overall, the intensity of the Calidore Quartet's playing is notable and commendable...the sound is both clear and idiomatic...this is a recording that demands attention" - AllMusic

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven Sonatas 2 & 10

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Their third duo album on Signum Classics, Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson perform Beethoven’s Sonatas 2 and 10. Uniquely for the A Major sonata Op 12 No 2 they use a copy of an 1805 Walter (a Viennese fortepiano), and for Sonata No 10 op. 96 they use a copy of an 1819 graf, both by Paul McNulty. Together with violin strung with gut, these instruments are what Beethoven’s music craves, giving a rich texture and distinct colours between the registers. ★★★★ - “A wonderful performance that becomes richer on each listening” - BBC Music Magazine ★★★★ - “The fine detail of both the violin and the keyboard playing is exquisite” - The Guardian “Yielding to none in sensitivity and imagination, Mullova and Beatson make an eloquent case for the more intimate, transparent sound world of period instruments” - Gramophone “Their perceptive interpretations express these works’ full gamut of emotions from introspection to humour.” - The Strad “The wait has been worth it: Mullova’s superb musicianship shines in close-knit partnership with Beatson.” - Europadisc

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven & Barry Vol. 1

Price range: £12.00 through £21.00

The highly anticipated recording of Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia playing Beethoven and Barry; specifcally the Beethoven Symphony Cycle and a selection of Barry’s works. This CD features Beethoven’s first three symphonies, interspersed with Barry’s piece Beethoven and his Piano Concerto. Beethoven intended to stake his claim to be the rightful successor to the Viennese classical tradition with the first of his symphonies, premiered in 1800. He had already began to lose his hearing by this point, and when he composed his second symphony, he placed on the page his spirit of defiance and determination against his deafness. The third marks a significant turning point in his style, as well as in the framwork of how a symphony was expected to be composed. Gerald Barry grew up in rural Ireland. His music shows us how his upbringing had an effect on his compositional style - giving a piece a title such as Beethoven would suggest an attempt at emulating his legacy nearly two centuries after his death. Do not be fooled by this however; his music shows his major influence from radio, moving from the sublime and the ridiculous with carefree abandon. All downloads include booklets. ★★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording "Thomas Adès and the Britten Sinfonia present tightly knit performances, and dynamic subtleties are largely preserved in the concert recordings" - BBC Music Magazine "The opening movement of the Eroica had me on the edge of my seat. The quasi-fugal passage at 7'03" is thrillingly taut and the subsequent crunching climax…packs plenty of power without losing a degree of momentum. And listen to the Britten Sinfonia's violins at 11'12", where one can almost hear the rosin spraying off their bows" - Gramophone "Adès’ interpretation is lighthearted but also meticulous…A solid effort by Adès and the Britten Sinfonia, then, and well worth a close listen" - The Classic Review "Adès tackles the “Eroica” in a blazing performance, very energetic but not lacking in affection…I shall return to these CDs" - Musicweb International "All in all, there isn't a dull moment here" - AllMusic.com

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven Quartets, Vol. 3: The Early Quartets

Price range: £8.00 through £18.00

The third and final instalment in their award-winning series, the Calidore Quartet return with a three-disc release of Beethoven Early Quartets. Their previous Beethoven recordings have been described as ‘highly collectible’ by BBC Music Magazine. The first album of Late Quartets won the Chamber Music Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2024, and the second awarded Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine. “Our interpretation speaks to the influences of our teachers and the great traditions associated with this repertoire, but also to that of our own generation, contemporary research, style and experience. Though this music speaks in a language that is hundreds of years old, its message remains immediate, relevant and comforting to listeners of today and of generations to come even, and especially, in the most challenging of times”. ★★★★★ - Ritmo "Very enthusiastically recommended" - Gramophone ★★★★ “With playing of this calibre the results are always exhilarating” - BBC Music Magazine

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven Unbound

Price range: £40.00 through £70.00

A stunning 12-CD box set, Beethoven Unbound, will be released to mark the completion of Llŷr Williams’ monumental Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) – recorded live at Wigmore Hall over three years and nine recitals. As well as the complete piano sonatas, the box set also features other works including the 32 Variations in C minor, Eroica Variations, Opus 126 Bagatelles and the Diabelli Variations, a total of almost 14 hours of music. This is Williams’ fourth album on Signum Classics. Beethoven Unbound is presented in a beautiful hinged box with extensive notes by Misha Donat, and personal notes by Williams and the album’s award-winning producer Judith Sherman, with whom Williams worked previously on his Wagner Without Words release. Williams comments on the box set and the partnership with Sherman: “Rather than adopt the chronological approach, I have arranged the works roughly in the order that I played them in the concerts, and each CD has been devised as a mini-recital programme. This has sometimes allowed for creativity in putting the pieces together. Working with Judy on this project has been a joy and a privilege. It was sad to reach the end – but at least we still have a Schubert cycle to look forward to!” Williams has developed a reputation as one of the finest exponents of Beethoven, since giving his first Beethoven cycle in Perth in 2010, and winning a South Bank Sky Arts Award in 2012 for an epic two-week marathon in Edinburgh. The Guardian said of one of his RWCMD cycle recitals in 2016: “Williams’ already considerable stature as a Beethoven interpreter seems to grow with every performance” (Rian Evans, 25 March 2016) and The Independent commented on a Wigmore recital: “Williams treats it [the keyboard] as an extension of his body, and with the three Opus 10 sonatas plus the Diabelli Variations he took us onto an altogether higher plane” (Michael Church, 12 October 2016). 2017 saw the conclusion not only of the solo series at Wigmore Hall and the RWCMD, but also of a complete concerto cycle with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Williams plays with profound intelligence and a wittily knowing ear for the quirky surprises Beethoven lays in the path of the pianist - The Observer [Williams' playing contains] wisdom and humour, comedy and tragedy, the lyrical and the fierce - BARN Magazine A musical feast of almost 14 hours of music that comes highly recommended - Northern Echo The best of these performances are out of the top drawer and all are worthy of careful listening. At its bargain price this set is highly recommended to all lovers of Beethoven’s piano music - iClassical Wonderful recordings - BBC Radio 3 In Tune

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven: Violin Concerto and Romances

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

When he was just three years old, violinist Charlie Siem heard something that would change his life: a concerto by Beethoven, which inspired him to pursue a career in music. Now one of classical music’s biggest stars, the virtuoso is paying homage to the master with his new album Beethoven: Violin Concerto Romances, performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conducted by Oleg Caetani. Featuring five tracks of Beethoven’s greatest pieces, the album is one of Siem’s most ambitious and challenging works yet, which he accomplishes with the trained ear, technical prowess, intuition and charisma that have become his hallmark. ★★★★ 'And while this is a very classical, traditional recording, it can please because of the virtuoso and technically flawless playing of the soloist, as well as a powerfully performing orchestra under a dynamic conductor' - Pizzicato “Terrific performance there from Charlie Siem and the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor, Oleg Caetani" - Classic FM Album of the Week "Siem produces a pure, sweet sound, accentuated by the resonant acoustic, and there's something appealingly old-school about his playing" - BBC Music Magazine

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 5 & 8

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins return with the start of a Beethoven Violin Sonata Cycle - here recording the 1st, 5th and 8th sonatas. Gramophone Magazine said “The heart gives a little leap at the prospect of...a duo as engaging and intelligent as Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins.” This cycle is sure to be one of the highlights of Signum’s year, as well as of Beethoven 250. Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas add up to a comprehensive exploration of the possibilities and potential of writing for the two instruments on equal terms – possibilities that he was ideally placed to understand. The three sonatas on this recording are waypoints on a journey, crafted by a composer who was both violinist and pianist, and who never ceased exploring the practical possibilities of the instruments for which he wrote. All downloads include booklets.

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Behind Closed Doors, Brescianello, Vol. 1

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

La Serenissima presents a post-lockdown recording of the little-known 18th Century Italian composer, Brescianello. A contemporary of Vivaldi, Brescianello is a composer whose music languishes in relative obscurity. Whilst the mists of time have claimed some composers’ music for justifiable reasons, Brescianello’s music presents many compelling arguments for its restoration. Having first included Brescianello in La Serenissima’s 2014 season, they have since staged his opera Tisbe, recorded a violin concerto (Extra Time, SIGCD641), a trio sonata (Settecento, SIGCD663) and other works. It is surprising that the Opus 1 was the only set of works that Brescianello chose to publish and thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, La Serenissima have now been given the opportunity to start their exploration of this wonderful publication. La Serenissima is recognised as the UK’s leading exponent of the music of eighteenth-century Venice and connected composers. Uniquely, the group’s entire repertoire is edited from source material, and it has been praised for its ‘glorious and all-too-rare ability to make one’s pulse race afresh with every new project’ (Gramophone). La Serenissima has become synonymous with virtuosity, dynamism and accessibility, uncovering a plethora of new repertoire and making it available to all through live performance, high calibre recording work, education and outreach initiatives. "★★★★★ Performance, ★★★★★ Recording. "The performances by this accomplished ensemble are polished and invigorating. Chandler's solo violin playing is articulate, warm toned and communicative, and he is supported throughout by his disciplined and responsive players, among whom the continuo group excels…In summary, a rewarding issue." - BBC Music Magazine. "[The three Opus 1 concertos]they are a delight to hear in these vital, refreshing accounts. They are effervescent in spirit and rich in invention. Chandler leads readings which are perfectly paced and tastefully inflected…La Serenissima’s performance and Signum’s recording of this delightful music seems ideal to me…this is a marvellous disc. The variety of Brescianello’s invention and the quality of the playing provide seventy minutes of pure listening pleasure. It’s a disc to savour piece by piece, not one to be relegated to background listening…the selections here achieve a consistently high quality. I certainly hope that Signum don’t delay too long in sharing the next instalment." - Musicweb International

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Behold the Stars: Contemporary trios by Rodrigo Ruiz

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Signum’s first disc with Rodrigo Ruiz highlights the Mexican composer’s musical and literary passions, in performances by world-class soloists Kerenza Peacock, Huw Watkins and Laura van der Heijden. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, Ruiz has attracted commissions from a number of leading artists, with both the opening Violin Sonata and ‘A Riveder Le Stelle’ commissioned by Kerenza Peacock for this recording. The second work is a duo for violin and piano that is accompanied by poetic quotations from Canto XXXIV of Dante’s ‘Inferno’. The booklet notes include an interview with the composer by Jessica Duchen, who describes how the programme “clearly shows Rodrigo ́s roots in the traditions of Beethoven and Brahms, but with individual twists that clearly indicate we are in fact on new territory”.

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Ben Parry: The Hours

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

This recording made by the Royal Holloway Choir celebrates the music of Ben Parry. His compositions and arrangements include the popular Faber Carol Book and a burgeoning catalogue of choral music for Peters Edition and Oxford University Press. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, St John’s College, Cambridge, The Cathedral Choral Society of Washington DC, VOCES8, the BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms and on the TV and radio. In this recording, he sets the words of poems by Garth Bardsley, who says about Ben’s work “all of my poems stand alone but given the Parry treatment, I know that they take flight.” The Choir of Royal Holloway is considered to be one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain. Their recordings on the Hyperion label have attracted top reviews from all major music publications. The choir gives 50-plus concerts a year with a particular specialism in collaborating with living composers. The choir has collaborated, performed and recorded with many prestigious ensembles, including The King’s Singers, BBC Singers, London Mozart Players, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Onyx Brass, Fretwork, and the Britten Sinfonia. All downloads include booklets.

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Benedetto Marcello: Psalms

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

VOCES8 and Les Inventions shine a light on a hidden musical treasure in these world-premiere recordings of Charles Avison’s 1757 adaptation of Benedetto Marcello’s Estro-poetico armonico. A fresh and original collection, Marcello’s Psalm settings were composed in Venice and quickly found fame across Europe after their publication between 1724 and 1726. ★★★★★ The results are wholly delightful and absorbing, and the intimate forces of VOCES8 and Les Inventions are completely at home in this repertoire - Choir & Organ ★★★★ With their vivid word-setting and lively declamation, the English texts give a slightly homespun quality to the enterprise. Well sung, there's a striking triple canon with Latin text to finish - The Observer ★★★★ Marcello's masterpiece receives...world premiere recording here by VOCES8, accompanied by the organ, recorder and strings of French early-music ensemble Les Inventions - The Independent Very polished - BBC Radio 3 CD Review A nice variety of vocal colours and a lovely blend make for a convincing representation of Marcello's largely unknown masterpiece Estro poetico-armonico. More please - Early Music Review

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Beowulf

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

The story of Beowulf, although thousands of years old, is still loved by many all over the world. This recording of a new musical telling of the story, composed by Toby Young, blurs traditional sense of the genre of classical music by merging it with folk and popular music. This fusion is what makes Beowulf a fantastic story. The greatest versions of the story are not the simple good verses bad, but the ones which involve slight ambiguous points; ones which allow the reader/listener to mkae his/her mind up about what is exactly going on. The combination of Toby Young’s score and Jennifer Thorp’s libretto create this ambiguity perfectly. All downloads include booklets.

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details
Berg: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 3 – Webern: Langsamer Satz – Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10

Price range: £8.00 through £14.00

Signum Classics are proud to announce the first album from the Heath Quartet with acclaimed soprano Carolyn Sampson. Together the three works on the present CD demonstrate the extraordinary advances made in the development of the musical language of Schoenberg and his two chief pupils, Berg and Webern, over a period of a mere five years at the start of the 20th century. The charismatic and sought-after Heath String Quartet won the 2016 Gramophone Chamber Award for their recording of the complete quartets of Sir Michael Tippett, and in 2013 became the first ensemble in 15 years to win the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists Award. Formed in Manches- ter in 2002 they were selected for representation by YCAT, awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Special Ensemble Scholarship and won the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Equally at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the US. Carolyn has released multi award-winning discs for multiple record labels including BIS, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Hyperion, receiving accolades in- cluding the Choc de l’Année Classica, Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice, BBC Music Magazine’s “Record of the Month”, an ECHO Award, and a Diapason D’or. RECORDING OF THE WEEK "(Berg) the marvellous thing about this performance is the way the Heaths balance absolute textual fidelity with a sense of spontaneity – the expressive portamenti in the opening pages are a case in point, as are the subtle variations in vibrato … (Schoenberg) (Sampson) Her crystal-clear soprano complements the string sound quite beautifully, though where required there’s also a thrilling weight to the sound…She and the quartet are ever-sensitive to the mystical beauty of Georg’s poetry, painting the ‘hazy vapours’ and ‘holy fire’ in the most vivid of colours as this superb album draws to a transcendent close" - Presto ★★★★★ "A distinguished record…performances of notable insight and technical address, very well recorded…The performances are finely consistent throughout; Carolyn Sampson is also admirable here, her diction, musical intelligence, phrasing and tonal variation are exception, as is the recording. This issue is comprehensively recommended" - Musical Opinion ★★★★★ "They are not afraid to relish the Romantic remnants still present with a warmly full sound performance as much as they are attentive and detailed in pointing out the structural innovations. With sensitively sounded out reserved moments they offer one side of their performance. The other side they offer with gripping playing, which, however, always remains subtly controlled" - Pizzicato

Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page Details