Couperin / Pastuszka / Firlus - Music of French Masters - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Many of Schubert' piano duets were written for his pupils, the daughters of Count EsterhAzy, during summer months at the Count' country estate. These include the 'Grand Duo', an ambitious, large-scale and challenging work of symphonic dimensions.

After getting off to a flying start with Igor Stravinsky, OehmsClassics is delighted to be continuing it's partnership with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Kitayenko - this time with the works of Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov. The Stravinsky recording was awarded with Pizzicato Supersonic immediately after , and no doubt this album will be met with similar critical acclaim. Dimitri Kitaenko is one of the great maestros of our time. For decades now he has regularly conducted prestigious orchestras across Europe, America and Asia. Born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg), Dimitri Kitaenko studied at the famous Glinka School of Music and the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory before leaving to study with Leo Ginzburg in Moscow as well as Hans Swarowsky and Karl Österreicher in Vienna. In 1969 he won a prize at the first International Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition and at the age of twenty-nine he was appointed principal conductor of the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow. In recognition of his life's work and outstanding recordings, including the complete symphonic works of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Scriabin and Tchaikovsky, Dimitri Kitaenko received the InchLifetime Achievement AwardInch at the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) in March 2015.

This , La Raphaèle The Art of François Couperin, pays homage to the Italian keyboard master long venerated by the Parisian Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. This reverence also rang true of François Couperin as a musical creator, who was clearly struck by Raphael's art, and so named the first movement of his Huitième Ordre's majestic opening allemande after the artist. World-renowned harpsichordist Joyce Lindorff recreates Couperin's L'Art de Toucher le Clavecin, Sixième Ordre, and Huitième Ordre with exquisite musicianship honed over four decades of researching and studying the styles and methods of the most famous keyboard composers of the 17th through 18th centuries. She is Professor of Keyboard Studies at Temple University where she has taught historical keyboards and performance practice for the past twenty years. In addition to teaching, she has performed across the United States, Europe, Russia, Japan, and China, and has received solo recitalist awards from the Pro Musicis Foundation of France and the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States.