Vivaldi / Stephenson / London Musici - Mandolin Violin Flute - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This recording brings together two of the greatest works of the Classical era in transcriptions for solo piano by two of the greatest pianist-composers of the Romantic era, resulting in two of the most thrilling experiences that nineteenth-century pianism has to offer. Successfully marrying the unique charac-teristics of the piano to the defining features of Beethoven's orchestral writing, Franz Liszt is showed here at his most coloristic. He vividly captures the rapid scene shifts and mood changes of Beethoven's Eroica and exploits not only the piano's ability both to whisper and to roar, but also the power and intensity of silence. In Mozart's 20th piano concerto, Charles-Valentin Alkan takes on a different challenge as he masterfully weaves the orchestral and solo piano parts into a single tapestry that brims from start to finish with piano writing of startling inventiveness and originality. These two pianistic tours de force are presented here by Paul Wee - also a barrister specializing in commercial law at Essex Court Chambers in London - whose astonishing technique and passion for nineteenth-century pianism have been highlighted on acclaimed recordings dedicated to music by Alkan and transcriptions by Thalberg.

The most influential and prolific composer of concertos during the Baroque was the Venetian Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). He composed approximately 500 concertos for one or more soloists, including about 350 solo concertos. He was one of the first composers to focus on the transverse flute as a viable solo instrument. Frank Theuns here combines one work (La notte, RV 439) from the famous opus 10 collection with the Concertos RV 440 and 441, both of which have survived as manuscripts in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin, Italy. The programme also contains concertos by Baldassare Galuppi - the manuscript of his Flute Concerto in D major (GroF 675) is preserved at the Mecklenburgische Landesbibliothek in Schwerin, Germany - and Tomaso Albinoni, whose Concerto in D minor from opus 9, originally written for oboe, is performed on this recording on the flute.

Vivaldi / Percan / G.A.P. Ensemble - Vivaldi Violin Sonatas [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/30/2016