Sonatas & Etudes

“…22-year-old Yuja Wang is a wondrously gifted pianist whose debut album… suggests a combination of blazing technique and a rare instinct for poetry. In Scriabin's Second Sonata she is beautifully sensitive to the moods, whether tranquil and starlit or tempestuous, reflecting the composer's love of the Baltic Sea. She is fiery but never reckless in Chopin's Second Sonata... As a crowning touch her Ligeti Etudes are both musicianly and dazzlingly incisive. In the words of the publicist, "a star is born".” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2009

“The opening movement of Chopin’s Second Sonata certainly identifies qualities of youthful impetuosity, power and dexterity.” --The Telegraph, 25th June 2009 ***

“The Scriabin (sonata no 2) flows nicely; in the Liszt B minor sonata she’s no empty virtuoso. A talent worth watching.” --The Times, 23rd May 2009 ****

“…Yuja Wang… has all the equipment to be one of the most exciting pianists of her generation. As well as a stunning technique she has a fabulous range of sonority and colour… the two Ligeti Etudes, especially 'Fanfares', suit her dazzling fingerwork perfectly. Pianistically, parts of her Liszt Sonata are extraordinary, with blistering octaves, razor-sharp articulation and a wonderful tonal richness.” --BBC Music Magazine, July 2009 ****

Recuerdos

 

In recuerdos (Memories) we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the birth of the great Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes (1927-1997), the "master of the 10-string guitar", with acclaimed recordings of three popular concertos and wide range of solo repertoire. Included are two extended works by Telemann and Fernando Sor that are appearing on CD for the first time.

En Recuerdos celebramos el 80º aniversario del nacimiento del gran guitarrita español Narciso Yepes (1927-1997), el "maestro de la guitarra de 10 cuerdas", con aclamadas grabaciones de tres famosos conciertos y una gran variedad de repertorio a solo. Se incluyen dos extensas obras de Telemann y Fernando Sor que aparecen por primera vez en CD.

Live at the Royal Albert Hall

“there's an admirable lightness of touch and appreciation of rhythmic flow to her "Für Elise", and her negotiation of Liszt's "Un Sospiro" is captivating.” --The Independent, July 2012 ****

“genuine gifts for lyricism and dazzling display...those musical gifts quickly hit the ears on this closely recorded CD.... Track three is Liszt’s La campanella, intelligently shaped, its bell sounds glittering as rarely before...Lisitsa tends to play with the lights fully on, with not enough shading in the wide expanse between loud and quiet. This gets rather tiring...But at the moment there is only one Valentina Lisitsa.” --The Times, July 2012

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Valentina began playing the piano at the age of three and performed her first solo recital just one year later. She has won prestigious awards for her playing internationally, including the Murray Dranoff Two Piano Competition (together with her husband Alexei Kuznetsoff).

Valentina Lisitsa has already performed at major international venues including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York and the Vienna Musikverein, and in countries as far apart as the Netherlands and Brazil. She has played with renowned orchestras including Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony, collaborating with conductors Manfred Honeck, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, among others. Upcoming performances are confirmed with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Philharmonie im Gasteig, Munich with Münchner Symphoniker and recitals at the Victoria Hall in Geneva and Philharmonie in Berlin.

With more than 43 million views and over 52,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, the young pianist is not only one of the fastest-rising stars of the international concert scene but probably the single most-watched classical musician, having rapidly overtaken long-established giants of the piano world in terms of global online viewing figures.

The Lyrical Clarinet

“It's hard to imagine this varied programme better played than by Collins and Michael McHale. They're technically impeccable and stylistically flexible, and, aided by an unobtrusively excellent recording, they both produce some beautiful pianissimo playing.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 *****

“This disc, in all the varied items, again demonstrates the magnetism and sheer beauty of his playing, whatever the idiom...a fine recital, vividly recorded to match the inspiration of the playing.” --Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

“Collins plays [the Five Bagatelles] with much affection...overall I enjoyed these performances greatly.” --International Record Review, March 2011

“A highly engaging programme from Michael Collins, whose rare combination of tonal mellifluousness and virtuoso flair brings a satisfying unity to a wide range of styles.” --Classic FM Magazine, April 2011 ****

Dance

“Notching up her half-century has clearly not quelled the joy of discovery and sense of adventure that's marked the career of this delightful artist. Worth the price of the disc alone are Dansa negra by Mozart Carmargo Guarnieri (1907-93), Lecuona's La conga de media noche, and Old Style, the disc's one concession to dance music by a British composer, specially written for Stott by Graham Fitkin... Satie's salon waltz Je te veux affords another unexpected find, but it's the final selection, Chopin's Mazurka in A minor... that is the most moving... performance on this most enjoyable disc.” --Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“Kathryn Stott's enjoyable and warmly recorded recital of dance pieces has a Latin-American bias, an idiom for which she has an evident empathy. Stott shapes the sultry rhythms and sensuous harmonies with allure and velvety touch.” -- BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ****

Kathryn Stott writes: ‘This year is very much a celebration for me – a fiftieth birthday and thirty years on the concert platform! When Ralph Couzens and I started to discuss plans for a solo CD, I was very keen to record repertoire which would reflect my wide taste in music from around the world. The subject ‘dance’ was in my head from the start and so here we have a musical journey encompassing South American countries, Romanian and Hungarian folk music, and dances from the Polish Mazurka to the Russian Polka, via Finland, France and Spain, to name but a few! Piazzolla sits alongside Satie as do Sibelius and Albéniz… dances both joyous and sad. I’m particularly excited to include the world premiere of Old Style, a birthday present from one of my favourite British composers, Graham Fitkin.’

South American music is a great love of Stott’s and so the inclusion of Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, Ginastera, Guarnieri and Lecuona was essential: ‘Valsa da dor I find both touching and passionate, whereas Ginastera’s Danza has a distant sadness, which is almost untouchable.’ Stott has previously worked with the members of Piazzolla’s original Quintet, and has remained an avid fan ever since. Here she performs Milonga del ángel, a work that recreates the haunting sound of the bandoneón.

This eclectic repertoire of dances is completed by the premiere of Old Style by Graham Fitkin, written for Kathryn Stott in celebration of her landmark anniversaries this year: ‘For the past ten years, Graham has been writing the most fantastic music for me – always challenging but with such a fantastic energy. This piece is no exception and I feel its inclusion is an important part of this international and rather special journey.’

Kathryn Stott’s birthday celebrations culminate in a concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 4 December, at which a total of twenty-five colleagues will perform with her, including Yo-Yo Ma, Natalie Clein, the Hermitage String Trio and Martin Roscoe.