Golden Sonata

A documentary on the great pianists of the twentieth century, introduced, written and narrated by David Dubal. Featuring the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Clementi, Debussy, Field, Grainger, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Padarewski, Rachmaninov, Schubert, Scriabin and Weber. Featuring musicians Claudio Arrau, Alexander Brailowsky, Van Cliburn, Alfred Cortot, Glenn Gould, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess, Josef Hoffmann, Vladimir Horowitz, Wanda Landowska, Ignacy Paderewski, Artur Rubinstein, and Rudolf Serkin. Bonus: Claudio Arrau Centenary reissued of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

This release marks a new collaboration between Linn Records and Retrospect Ensemble. Released to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the birth of “Henry Purcell: Ten Sonata’s in Four Parts”, is performed by Retrospect Trio, a group formed under the umbrella of the larger Retrospect brand. The release date will coincide with the launch of Retrospect, formerly known as The King’s Consort.

Sonata for Violoncello and Piano No. 2 op. 63 (1959): The famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovich became acquainted with Weinberg through the agency of Shostakovich, who wrote his First Cello Concerto for this much sought-after artist in 1959. Weinberg’s Second Cello Sonata, written at the same time, may have been a response to Shostakovich’s piece, although he always stressed his artistic independence from the elder master. Rather, these two figures were connected by a fruitful dialogue. They showed each other their new works for appraisal and drew mutual inspiration from each other…..

Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works – most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) – Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ……..

From Allmusic

L'Age D'Or is a 3-disk set. Volume 1 is an anthology of Italian dances, diminutions, improvisations, and sonatas. Volume 2 is music by composers associated with Venice in the time of Monteverdi. Volume 3 is music by Buxtehude. Dongois plays with elegance and charming phrasing while offering the listener breath-taking technical virtuosity.

The late chamber music of fin de siècle English composer Edward Elgar is as melodic and personal as any he ever wrote, but because it is also more emotionally elusive than his earlier symphonies and concertos, his chamber music is much less frequently performed and recorded. This disc by members of London's Nash Ensemble coupling the three-movement, 25-minute-long Violin Sonata in E minor with the three-movement, nearly 40-minute-long Piano Quintet in A minor is a wonderful introduction to both works.