Since you are interested in Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
HANDEL / BACH / TORELLI / HUMMEL / MARCELLO / etc
Magic Trumpet Alison Balsom (trumpet), with Alina Ibragimova (violin) / The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock (director, harpsichord and organ) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 16/Oct/2020 ] "I realised from early on that it wasn't just a trumpet, it was a voice that could seemingly do anything … It can have such fabulous colours, be so versatile, and make such a beautiful sound. I will vigorously defend it for the rest of my life."... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Variations Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Oct/2020 ] "No qualifications are required for Angela Hewitt's new Beethoven album..Hewitt's touch is remarkably nimble and poetic" The Times |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Violin Sonatas Bella Hristova (violin), Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / 4 CD - released 26/Apr/2019 ] The complete Beethoven violin sonatas, 33 wonderful pieces of music, performed by two of the greatest Beethoven interpreters working today. Over 4 hours of beautifully produced, expertly performed Beethoven in a handsome 4-CD hard-cover... |
DOUGLAS LILBURN
Lilburn: Music for solo piano Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 20/Dec/2012 ] "In 2010 I was approached by playwright Dave Armstrong to see if I might be interested in being part of Rita and Douglas, a theatrical presentation built around the letters written to Douglas Lilburn by painter Rita Angus." MH |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach, (J.S.): Violin Concertos / Sinfonias / Overture / Sonatas Isabelle Faust (violin) / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 15/Mar/2019 ] "Faust's tone is both lean and exquisitely sweet, combined with consistent stylistic elegance which reaches the heights of eloquence in the slow movement of the E major Concerto." BBC Music Concerto Choice June 2019 |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2016 ] "her sound growing out of the corporate entity to glitter, coax, snarl and soar as required…[a] thought-provoking and eminently enjoyable cycle" Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - RECORDING OF THE YEAR |
CLARA SCHUMANN
Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Holly Mathieson [ Decca / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] "it is the performances of the two song transcriptions that show what a gifted musician Kanneh-Mason is." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice August 2019 |
Leonard Cohen
You Want It Darker [ Sony Music / CD - released 21/Oct/2016 ] Leonard Cohen, acclaimed composer of 'Hallelujah', has released an album of haunting new songs at the age of 82. This great artist continues to astonish us. Uncompromising and urgent, "You Want It Darker" is the latest chapter in Leonard's... |
W. A. MOZART / FRANZ SCHUBERT / IGOR STRAVINSKY
Mozart/Schubert/Stravinsky: Piano Duos Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim (pianos) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 27/Oct/2014 ] NZ LISTENER BEST CLASSICAL Recordings 2014 |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Intermezzi Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 21/Oct/2022 ] The Brahms Intermezzi are among the finest works ever written for solo piano, and it is our very great pleasure to release this wonderful album to mark the occasion of Michael's 70th birthday. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas (14 CDs plus Book) Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle / 14 CD Box Set - released 15/Oct/2014 ] NZ LISTENER BEST CLASSICAL Recordings 2014 |
SATIE / RAVEL / DEBUSSY / FAURE / POULENC
Michael Houstoun - Trois Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Rattle Records / CD - released 27/Oct/2017 ] Michael Houstoun's second release on Rattle in 2017, following the exceptional tour de force of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, is a selection of personal favourites from the repertoire of French piano music. Trois is an album of absolutely... |
J. S. BACH
Murray Perahia plays Bach: The complete recordings Murray Perahia (piano) / Academy of St Martins in the Fields [ Sony Music / 8 CD Box Set - released 10/Nov/2016 ] "No mannerisms, no distractions, no self-serving virtuosity - just the most lucid and moving recording yet of this work." (Gramophone, 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER - Instrumental for Goldbergs) |
MAURICE RAVEL / MANUEL DE FALLA / ERIK SATIE / FRANCIS POULENC
Camino Sean Shibe (guitar) [ Pentatone / CD - released 20/Aug/2021 ] "Vivid, beguiling and intensely intimate" BBC Music Recording of the Month Oct 2021 |
J. S. BACH
Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites (2017 recording) Yo Yo Ma (cello) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2018 ] "I don't think he has ever made a greater recording and his personal booklet notes help provide a conceptual setting for his playing." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2018 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Hope Amid Tears - Beethoven: Cello Sonatas Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Emanuel Ax (piano) [ Sony Classics / 3 CD - released 25/Jun/2021 ] "Hope Amid Tears", the new album by Yo-Yo Ma together with his friend and pianist Emanuel Ax, presents Beethoven's five sonatas for cello and piano in the order in which they were composed, tracing an important arc in Beethoven's development. |
MOZART / CHOPIN
Grigory Sokolov: The Salzburg Recital Grigory Sokolov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 28/Jan/2015 ] "From the beginning of Mozart's F major sonata, K. 280, the first of two included, the Sokolov spell is cast...here is poetic and intimate playing of the highest order." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Instrumental) |
SCHUBERT / BEETHOVEN
Warsaw & Salzburg Recitals [recorded 2013] Grigory Sokolov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/2016 ] "An idiosyncratic but beautifully co-ordinated production, this fine recital, and I highly recommend it." (AudAud.com) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: The Last Three Piano Sonatas: Opus 109, 110 and 111 Michael Houstoun (piano) [ Trust Records DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2009 ] 'Whatever Houstoun plays is superb, but to hear him in Beethoven is to hear him at his best.' Christchurch Star |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: String Quartet No 3 / Clarinet Quintet New Zealand String Quartet, with James Campbell (clarinet) [ Naxos / CD - released 28/Mar/2017 ] Brahms wrote his String Quartet in B flat major, Op. 67 in 1876 and its largely unclouded and cheerful qualities culminate in a theme and variations finale of exceptional imagination and mastery of form. His last chamber music was inspired by a great... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Inspiration Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla [ Decca Records / CD - released 1/Jun/2018 ] "A most rewarding CD then, sure evidence that we should henceforth be on the lookout for any performances, recorded or live, that involve Sheku Kanneh-Mason." - Gramophone |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto / etc Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ Decca / CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] Award-winning British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns with Elgar, a brand new album of works anchored around Elgar's Cello Concerto - arguably the best-known work in the classical canon written for solo cello. |
Sol3 Mio
Coming Home [ Universal / CD - released 12/Nov/2021 ] When Sol3 Mio's world turned to chaos and theatres and opera houses around the world shut their doors, there was only one place for them to retreat - home. For the trio, home is the simple comfort of being back together and making music with the pure... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "'One of the finest accounts of Brahms's late piano works on record, one that stands head and shoulders above most contenders in an ever-growing catalogue." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Instrumental |
JOSEPH HAYDN / C.P.E. BACH
Haydn & CPE Bach: Cello Concertos Steven Isserlis (cello), The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Sep/2017 ] "Isserlis's 1998 recording [of the Haydn] remains classy stuff, but this has superbly trumped it." Gramophone Disc of the Month Awards Issue 2017 |
ARVO PART
The Very Best Of Arvo Part (Including 'Spiegel im Spiegel', 'Tabula Rasa' & 'Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten') Various artists incl. Paavo Jarvi, Tasmin Little, Martin Roscoe, Richard Studt, Vasari Singers, Chilingirian Quartet, etc [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 1/Dec/2010 ] Arvo Pärt celebrated his 75th birthday on 11 September 2010. This 2-CD commemorative set contains many of Pärt's best-known works including many composed in Pärt's new style, the most notable of which is Spiegel im Spiegel and Cantus in memoriam... |
W. A. MOZART / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Mozart / Schumann: Fantaisies Piotr Anderszewski, piano [ Warner Classics CD / CD/DVD - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "Convincing, companionable, persuasive, hugely intelligent, unpredictable, totally without cliché. I know I shall always want to listen to Anderszewski" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Instrumental |
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ von BIBER
Biber: Baroque Splendor: Missa Salisburgensis Hesperion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 6/Nov/2015 ] CD plus comprehensive book. The 'Missa Salisburgensis à 53 voci' (in comparison, 'Spem in alium' was written by Thomas Tallis for «only» 40 voices) is perhaps the largest-scale piece of extant sacred Baroque music, an archetypical work of the... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Trios Nos. 6 & 7 "Archduke" Isabelle Faust (violin) Alexander Melnikov (piano) Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Feb/2014 ] BBC Music Magazine WINNER 2015 - Chamber GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD WINNER 2014 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Piano Book Lang Lang (piano) [ Deutche Grammophon / CD - released 29/Mar/2019 ] Lang Lang returns with his brand new solo album 'Piano Book' - a collection of pieces which first inspired him to play the piano and led him on his path to international stardom. Lang Lang says: "I want to take every music lover on a journey... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 New Zealand String Quartet [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Aug/2016 ] Brahms's two String Quartets, op.51, were the first he published but, completed in his 40th year, are very much mature masterpieces. He was very conscious of the tradition that lay behind the quartet genre, and the spirits of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven... |
J. S. BACH
Bach To The Future Olivier Latry (organ) [ La Dolce Volta / CD - released 22/Mar/2019 ] For his first CD with La Dolce Volta, Olivier Latry has chosen a programme devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. This recording, made on the massive Cavaillé-Coll organ of Notre-Dame de Paris, of which he is titular organist, raises a... |
JOHN TAVERNER
Taverner: Missa Corona spinea The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips [ Gimell / CD - released 30/Oct/2015 ] BBC Music Magazine Award Finalist 2016 - Choral |
PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY / ARNO BABAJANIAN
Tchaikovsky & Babajanian: Piano Trio Vadim Gluzman (violin), Johannes Moser (cello), Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) [ BIS SACD / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] "The playing is superb, Gluzman and Moser intoning the impassioned opening elegy [of the Tchaikovsky] with grave authority before Sudbin takes over with all his mercurial brilliance and the music takes flight...outstanding recording." - The Observer |