Daumantas Kirilauskas - Chamber & Instrumental Music - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The music and teaching of Juozas Gruodis (1884-1948) laid the foundations for a national school of composition in Lithuania in the first half of the twentieth century, with his style absorbing influences from both east and west - Rachmaninoff, Skryabin, Chopin, Debussy, Reger, Strauss - and from Lithuanian folk-music. Though the piano works heard here were composed within a span of only eight years, they show considerable variety, from the poised to the passionate and powerful, all expressed with full-bodied late-Romantic virtuosity and verve.

Jakubenas / Vilnius String Quartet / Uinskas - Chamber & Instrumental Music [COMPACT DISCS] date 04/30/2013

World premiere recordings are brought together on this new GENUIN album featuring works by the composer Christian Ridil Renowned musicians from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others, play in formations ranging from brass quintet to flute and percussion to the exquisite combination of (chromatic) harmonica and harpsichord. The works of the Goethe University Frankfurt's former university music director are characterized by stylistic diversity, wit, charm, and virtuosity and yet bear Ridil's clear signature. Absolutely worth discovering!