“Common practice” period music – basically Bach through Rachmaninoff – is so prevalent on classical radio that one might surmise that the smooth and consonant was the established rule in Western Art music from the very beginning. On the contrary, from the time music manuscripts reflect the practice of harmonizing Gregorian chant begins a painful, […]
Hyperion
-
-
Dussek Piano Concertos Launch Hyperion Series
Following the success of their Romantic Piano Concerto series (63 volumes and counting), Hyperion launches a companion series, The Classical Piano Concerto, featuring music from 1770-1820. It marked the rise of the piano virtuoso, the traveling artist who composed primarily to showcase his own talents. Mozart is one of the more famous examples, but certainly […]
-
Intimate music, intimate performance of Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut’s poem Le Voir Dit, written when he was in his sixties, recounts a love affair between himself and a young girl. Machaut included several pieces of music to help illustrate the text – a true multi-media medieval work of art. This is spare, yet intimate music. Machaut was acknowledged to be one […]
-
Brundibar – Music by Theresienstadt Composers
Theresienstadt was the primary concentration camp for Czech Jews, and in that crucible the interred musicians forged an artistic life that was as creative as it was transient. The four composers on this disc were the most prominent to be interred at the camp. All had promising careers cut short by their arrest, all composed […]
-
Howard Shelley Makes the Case for Kalkbrenner
I’m a big fan of Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series. This latest installment – Volume 56 – maintains the same high standards of recording and performance quality as the previous volumes. Howard Shelley turns in committed performances of Friedrich Kalkbrenner’s compositions. Shelley’s interpretations seem to fully realize the potential of this neglected music. And this […]