Brahms String Quartet op.51,2

Dessoff String Quartet op.7

Mandelring Quartett

Audite CD 97.505

made in Germany

new, factory sealed

“Thank you very much indeed for the Quartet which is now smiling at me in such a friendly manner, like the first time.” (Brahms to Dessoff)

Felix Otto Dessoff (1835-1892) was already active as a chapel-master at the age of 19 and could look already back over a remarkable career when he was appointed to the Court Opera in Vienna in 1860. This is where the paths of Dessoff and Brahms crossed for the fi rst time, especially since the conductor Dessoff was strongly committed to Brahms’s works. Their mutual recognition and appreciation found expression in the premiere of Brahms’s First Symphony in Karlsruhe, for example, with which Brahms entrusted Dessoff. The dedication of the present String Quartet of Dessoff to Brahms also reveals the bond between the two composers. Dessoff composed intensively during his period in Karlsruhe. Like Brahms, he had doubts about the value of his compositions. He therefore sent his F-major String Quartet to Brahms for the latter’s appraisal, only publishing it after he was sure of Brahms’s approval. The Quartet contains rhythmic, harmonic and performing idiosyncrasies reminiscent of Brahms in places; it is full of wit and playful joy, convincing the listener through its original, direct charm. Brahms, on the other hand – the classicist and academician – does not exclusively reveal himself as the preserver of the string quartet tradition in the work recorded here, but also as an innovator of musical language. Through the formation of motifs, the logic and economy of phrases and the sometimes hidden beauty of details, Brahms understands how to do justice to the demanding genre of chamber music and, moreover, to set new standards for the genre of the string quartet. The present CD follows as the third part of the series “Brahms and his Contemporaries”. With its interpretation, the Mandelring Quartet lends a thrillingly musical power of conviction to both string quartets.

American Record Guide | May/June 2008 | Fine | 1. Mai 2008

"You will be relieved to see your name on the title page of the quartet preserved for posterity. When people have forgotten your German Requiem, people will then say, 'Brahms'? Oh yes, he's the one to whom Dessoff's Op. 7 is dedicated! The above quotation is from Felix Otto Dessoff (1835-1892), who is best known as the conductor who led the first performance of Brahms's First Symphony. Dessoff was an excellent composer who wrote only a small amount of music. It seems that he stopped composing when his conducting career demanded all of his time. He dedicated his only string quartet to Brahms, with whom he had a close friendship. He uses harmonic language that is similar to the Brahms but uses it differently. This is not a work that copies Brahms, but it shows similar influences. One influence makes itself very clear: II bears homage to II of Beethoven's Opus 59:3 (Quartet 9). It is a shame that Dessoff only wrote one string quartet, but this is a real gem, and it holds its own next to Brahms. I find it more enjoyable to listen to than the intense Brahms A-minor (No. 2). This is part of an eye-and-ear-opening set of recordings by the Mandelring Quartet that pair Brahms's three quartets with quartets by three of his close friends. The playing by this quartet, that has siblings as three of its members, is excellent. You will be relieved to see your name on the title page of the quartet preserved for posterity. When people have forgotten your German Requiem, people will then say, 'Brahms'? Oh yes, he's the one to whom Dessoff's Op. 7 is dedicated! The above quotation is from Felix Otto Dessoff (1835-1892), who is best known as the conductor who led the first performance of Brahms's First Symphony. Dessoff was an excellent composer who wrote only a small amount of music. It seems that he stopped composing when his conducting career demanded all of his time. He dedicated his only string quartet to Brahms, with whom he had a close friendship. He uses harmonic language that is similar to the Brahms but uses it differently. This is not a work that copies Brahms, but it shows similar influences. One influence makes itself very clear: II bears homage to II of Beethoven's Opus 59:3 (Quartet 9). It is a shame that Dessoff only wrote one string quartet, but this is a real gem, and it holds its own next to Brahms. I find it more enjoyable to listen to than the intense Brahms A-minor (No. 2). This is part of an eye-and-ear-opening set of recordings by the Mandelring Quartet that pair Brahms's three quartets with quartets by three of his close friends. The playing by this quartet, that has siblings as three of its members, is excellent."

Live from Lucerne Festival

Claudio Abbado conducts Schubert, Beethoven & Wagner

Schubert Symphony No.7 "Unfinished"

Beethoven Symphony No.2

Wagner Siegfried Idyll

Claudio Abbado conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe

1st Master Release

recorded in 1978 and 1988

Audite CD 95.627

made in Germany

new, factory sealed

​In memory of Claudio Abbado, who died on 20 January 2014 and who was closely associated with LUCERNE FESTIVAL for nearly five decades, audite and LUCERNE FESTIVAL are issuing three previously unreleased live recordings, approved by the conductor himself: on 5 September 1978, Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philhar­monic performed Franz Schubert's Unfinished in Lucerne - a moving interpretation, emphasising the lyrical character of the work and creating a single arc of suspense from the sombre opening to the concluding transfiguration of the second movement. This work closes a circle insofar as Claudio Abbado also conducted Schubert's Unfinished at his final concert, given on 26 August 2013 in Lucerne. On 25 August 1988, on the occasion of the festival's fiftieth anniversary, Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe performed exactly the same programme with which Arturo Toscanini had opened the Luzerner Festspiele in 1938, including Ludwig van Beethoven's Second Symphony and Richard Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, the latter written in Lucerne. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung commented enthusiastically that "the sonic subtleties of the Siegfried Idyll were masterfully executed and carried through to a poignant ending with consistency in form and content. And in Abbado's interpretation of Beethoven's Second Symphony the structural clarity of the individual movements was combined with an unabated, almost newly inspired joy of performing amongst the orchestra". All three live recordings are released here for the first time. A particularly attractive aspect of this compilation is the fact that Abbado made studio recordings of the Beethoven and Schubert symphonies with the "opposite" orchestras - i.e. Schubert's Unfinished with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (1987) and Beethoven's Second Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic (1988) - allowing revealing insights. The extensive booklet in three languages contains a portrait of Claudio Abbado by Peter Hagmann, tracing the conductor's long-standing activities in Lucerne; also included are previously unpublished photos from the archives of LUCERNE FESTIVAL. Claudio Abbado stamped his mark on LUCERNE FESTIVAL as no other conductor. The artistic relationship between festival and conductor lasted for nearly half a century: Abbado made his début at Lucerne in the summer of 1966, performing Sibelius' Violin Concerto, Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses and Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony together with the violinist Zino Francescatti and the Swiss Festival Orchestra. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung witnessed a "delightfully unspoiled maestro with an uncorrupted musical spirit" and made the accurate prediction that "this will not have been the last time that Claudio Abbado has conducted in Lucerne". He was to return countless times, soon on an annual basis, appearing with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic, the ensembles of La Scala, Milan, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, and of course with the orchestras that Abbado himself had founded: the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. In 2003 Claudio Abbado and Michael Haefliger jointly founded the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, an orchestra unique in the world in uniting long-standing artistic colleagues of Abbado's - internationally renowned soloists, chamber musicians and music professors alongside the core performers from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra - into an ensemble in a league of its own. Standing on the podium in front of this "Orchestra of Friends", as he himself called it, Claudio Abbado ended his artistic career on 26 August 2013 in Lucerne, having conducted Franz Schubert's Unfinished and Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony at his last concert.

American Record Guide | September 2014 | Roger Hecht | September 1, 2014

All these performances are from the Lucerne Festival in the years before Claudio Abbado formed his hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2003. According to Michael Haefliger, the head of the Festival, Abbado approved their addition to the Lucerne Festival Historical Performances. Annotator Peter Hagmann describes this performance of Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony as traditional. I have read reviews that agree, adding that Abbado’s recent Schubert is more modern, leaner in texture, and controversial. I haven’t kept up with Schubert recordings in recent years, so I’m in no position to argue. That said, I don’t recall hearing many performances quite like this one from around 1978, especially the first movement, which is dramatic, dark, and even stormy in places. The tempo is a good deal slower than its marking, particularly in transitions, though it maintains its motion. The quieter passages are quiet and mysterious, perhaps even worrying. The Andante is not as relatively slow or as mysterious as I, but it is more serene and mostly at peace. Not all is forgotten, though, as the firm sterner intervals remind us. Quite interesting is how some of the quiet moments, particularly near the end, anticipate the performance of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll from ten years later that is on this disc. The Vienna Philharmonic is the perfect orchestra for this kind of Schubert. The Siegfried Idyll from 1988 is gentle and childlike with atmosphere that is luminous and touching. It is well known that Debussy was influenced by Wagner, but it would be easy to imagine that the influence ran in both directions from listening to this. While the Schubert is the most interesting performance on this program, the Wagner is probably the best, mainly because it has a luminosity I’ve not heard elsewhere in this work. Even so, for a performance by a small orchestra, I’m drawn more to the one Solti led many years ago with the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca. That one is more closely recorded, more imaginative in phrasing, and more vital overall. The Beethoven comes from the same concert as the Wagner. Again, the performance is small in scale, with technique that is taut and deft. One major difference between the playing here and in the Schubert is that where the Viennese dig into the music, the COE tends to sail over the notes more, and their energy is linear. They do this with great dexterity, but they also create a sameness that carries through all the movements. I is straightforward as well as cleanly delineated and structured. The Larghetto is just as straightforward with a touch of affection. The last two movements are similar and just as deftly played. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe produces a good-sized sound for a smaller orchestra, but I still miss the plushness a larger ensemble can produce in this music. The sound is very good. The interesting notes are concerned mainly with Abbado and his relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic and his history with the Lucerne Festival. All these performances are from the Lucerne Festival in the years before Claudio Abbado formed his hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra in 2003. According to Michael Haefliger, the head of the Festival, Abbado approved their addition to the Lucerne Festival Historical Performances. Annotator Peter Hagmann describes this performance of Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony as traditional. I have read reviews that agree, adding that Abbado’s recent Schubert is more modern, leaner in texture, and controversial. I haven’t kept up with Schubert recordings in recent years, so I’m in no position to argue. That said, I don’t recall hearing many performances quite like this one from around 1978, especially the first movement, which is dramatic, dark, and even stormy in places. The tempo is a good deal slower than its marking, particularly in transitions, though it maintains its motion. The quieter passages are quiet and mysterious, perhaps even worrying. The Andante is not as relatively slow or as mysterious as I, but it is more serene and mostly at peace. Not all is forgotten, though, as the firm sterner intervals remind us. Quite interesting is how some of the quiet moments, particularly near the end, anticipate the performance of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll from ten years later that is on this disc. The Vienna Philharmonic is the perfect orchestra for this kind of Schubert. The Siegfried Idyll from 1988 is gentle and childlike with atmosphere that is luminous and touching. It is well known that Debussy was influenced by Wagner, but it would be easy to imagine that the influence ran in both directions from listening to this. While the Schubert is the most interesting performance on this program, the Wagner is probably the best, mainly because it has a luminosity I’ve not heard elsewhere in this work. Even so, for a performance by a small orchestra, I’m drawn more to the one Solti led many years ago with the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca. That one is more closely recorded, more imaginative in phrasing, and more vital overall. The Beethoven comes from the same concert as the Wagner. Again, the performance is small in scale, with technique that is taut and deft. One major difference between the playing here and in the Schubert is that where the Viennese dig into the music, the COE tends to sail over the notes more, and their energy is linear. They do this with great dexterity, but they also create a sameness that carries through all the movements. I is straightforward as well as cleanly delineated and structured. The Larghetto is just as straightforward with a touch of affection. The last two movements are similar and just as deftly played. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe produces a good-sized sound for a smaller orchestra, but I still miss the plushness a larger ensemble can produce in this music. The sound is very good. The interesting notes are concerned mainly with Abbado and his relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic and his history with the Lucerne Festival.

International Record Review | November 2014 | Patrick Rucker | November 1, 2014

These superb live performances further document the near half-century-long association of the Lucerne Festival and the late Claudio Abbado, who conducts two stellar orchestras with which he frequently collaborated. There are some 28 recordings of the Schubert 'Unfinished' Symphony by the Vienna Philharmonic available. However, as far as I've been able to determine, this is the only time the VPO recorded the piece under Abbado. His complete Schubert Symphony cycle was a collaboration with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the group he helped found and which he conducts here in the Beethoven Second Symphony and Siegfried Idyll. This is the fifth recording in a series called 'Lucerne Festival Historic Performances' that presents remastered recordings originally made for broadcast by SWR, Swiss Radio and Television. The Vienna Philharmonic Schubert was recorded in September 1978 and the COE Beethoven and Wagner in August 1988. Despite the performances' vintage, the recorded sound will probably satisfy discriminating listeners. As unlikely as it might seem to describe any interpretation of the 'Unfinished' as startlingly original, that is the inescapable impression left by this performance. The gripping intensity of the first movement is tempered by a lithe grace. Divested of weighty stolidity, the music gains credibility as the creation of a young man portraying an epic confrontation. Schubert's dissonances, often lost in the fulsome thickness of string sound, here emerge as sharp and painful. If there is anything to be regretted, it is that the exposition was not repeated. The Andante is often interpreted as an antidote to the scathing conflicts and tensions unearthed in the first movement. Not so here. The dramatic impetus of the Allegro moderato, in some ineffably sublimated form, is extended, telescoped, even compounded into the farthest reaches of the slow movement, which seems to speak of cosmic loneliness. Meanwhile, it is blessed by the Vienna winds, for theirs is the sound most nearly approaching perfection. This performance alone is easily worth the price of the disc. In the wake of the tragically inflected 'Unfinished', the robust and buoyant D major Beethoven of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe comes as a shift to sunny skies and sweet breezes. After the ample, spacious introduction, the Allegro con brio fairly bristles with energy, each perfectly calculated sforzando contributing to a palpable joy in unified precision of execution. Bucolic vistas and subtle intrigues in the Larghetto are described with refined brushwork, using a delicately blended palette. A scherzo more witty than raucous provides the swift transition to the finale, lithe, athletic and brimming with detail, that is the summation and fulfilment of all that has gone before. This performance could serve as a paradigm of the symphonic ideal, bequeathed by Haydn and Mozart, to be exalted by Beethoven. This Siegfried Idyll is a Wagnerian canvas with the varnish of pretence and excess painstakingly removed. What remains is unalloyed ardour, simply expressed with disarming directness. This interpretation combines dappled colours with a round, gentle ripeness that is likely to render all but a handful of others drab by comparison. These superb live performances further document the near half-century-long association of the Lucerne Festival and the late Claudio Abbado, who conducts two stellar orchestras with which he frequently collaborated. There are some 28 recordings of the Schubert 'Unfinished' Symphony by the Vienna Philharmonic available. However, as far as I've been able to determine, this is the only time the VPO recorded the piece under Abbado. His complete Schubert Symphony cycle was a collaboration with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the group he helped found and which he conducts here in the Beethoven Second Symphony and Siegfried Idyll. This is the fifth recording in a series called 'Lucerne Festival Historic Performances' that presents remastered recordings originally made for broadcast by SWR, Swiss Radio and Television. The Vienna Philharmonic Schubert was recorded in September 1978 and the COE Beethoven and Wagner in August 1988. Despite the performances' vintage, the recorded sound will probably satisfy discriminating listeners. As unlikely as it might seem to describe any interpretation of the 'Unfinished' as startlingly original, that is the inescapable impression left by this performance. The gripping intensity of the first movement is tempered by a lithe grace. Divested of weighty stolidity, the music gains credibility as the creation of a young man portraying an epic confrontation. Schubert's dissonances, often lost in the fulsome thickness of string sound, here emerge as sharp and painful. If there is anything to be regretted, it is that the exposition was not repeated. The Andante is often interpreted as an antidote to the scathing conflicts and tensions unearthed in the first movement. Not so here. The dramatic impetus of the Allegro moderato, in some ineffably sublimated form, is extended, telescoped, even compounded into the farthest reaches of the slow movement, which seems to speak of cosmic loneliness. Meanwhile, it is blessed by the Vienna winds, for theirs is the sound most nearly approaching perfection. This performance alone is easily worth the price of the disc. In the wake of the tragically inflected 'Unfinished', the robust and buoyant D major Beethoven of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe comes as a shift to sunny skies and sweet breezes. After the ample, spacious introduction, the Allegro con brio fairly bristles with energy, each perfectly calculated sforzando contributing to a palpable joy in unified precision of execution. Bucolic vistas and subtle intrigues in the Larghetto are described with refined brushwork, using a delicately blended palette. A scherzo more witty than raucous provides the swift transition to the finale, lithe, athletic and brimming with detail, that is the summation and fulfilment of all that has gone before. This performance could serve as a paradigm of the symphonic ideal, bequeathed by Haydn and Mozart, to be exalted by Beethoven. This Siegfried Idyll is a Wagnerian canvas with the varnish of pretence and excess painstakingly removed. What remains is unalloyed ardour, simply expressed with disarming directness. This interpretation combines dappled colours with a round, gentle ripeness that is likely to render all but a handful of others drab by comparison.

Schumann Humoreske op.20 & Piano Sonata No.1 op.11

Angela Hewitt, Piano

Hyperion CDA 67618

made in England

new, factory sealed

Angela Hewitt's recent Schumann performances in the concert hall were praised for their »urgency, jubilation and introspection« and »power and finesse«. Now for the first time she has recorded two of his greatest piano works for Hyperion. Her clean, thoughtful, incisively musical playing which nevertheless allows a flow of passion to be released is perfectly suited to this music. The Sonata in F sharp minor Op 11 was described by the composer to his beloved Clara Wieck as »a cry from my heart to yours«. From the arresting opening to the bouncing Allegro vivace of the first movement and through to the majestic, orchestral-sounding finale, Clara's imprints are everywhere in the work and Angela Hewitt traces this influence in her scholarly yet deeply personal booklet notes. Humoreske in B flat major was also written for Clara, and is a study of changing and ambiguous moods, melancholy tempered with tenderness, interspersed with dazzling bravura moments including one of the most difficult passages in all his piano works — a breathtaking emotional tour de force.

»As ever with this pianist, we get playing that is thoughtful, thought-provoking, finely finished and intricantly nuanced. She imbues the opening movement of the sonata with a sure sense of structure and pace, and finds more energy than many of her rivals in the Scherzo« (Gramophone)

»Hewitt's recordings are self-sufficient without the need for comparisons, but her Schumann sonata can hold its own against Maurizio Pollini's impressive 1973 version … The best possible way to make its acquaintance« (International Record Review)

»Her command of the keyboard is, as always, breathtaking … When Hewitt tackles composers that call forth her special talents, she has few equals« (Fanfare, USA)

»Hewitt's highly personal performances demonstrate a sure grasp of character. Her deep understanding of the music's beauties, quirks, and pitfalls makes for a most compelling listening experience« (American Record Guide)

Freddie Hubbard The Body & The Soul

Analogue Productions Impulse CIPJ 38 SA

audiophile Hybrid SACD

plays on SACD & CD players

new, factory sealed

The second of trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's two Impulse albums features the 25-year old in three separate settings. He is heard along with a tenor-saxophonist backed by strings ("Skylark," "I Got It Bad" and "Chocolate Shake" are all given beautiful treatments), with a 16-piece band and in a septet with Eric Dolphy and Wayne Shorter. This well-rounded and highly recommended showcase shows why Freddie Hubbard was considered the top trumpeter to emerge during the early '60s.

Mastered by Kevin Gray.

Freddie Hubbard, trumpet

Art Davis, bass

Tommy Flanagan, piano

Curtis Fuller, trombone

John Gilmore, tenor saxophone

Louis Hayes, drums

Glenn Gould The Bach Box

The Remastered Columbia Recordings

DSD Direct Stream Digital

Sony Classical 30 CD Box

remastered from the original analog tapes

new, still sealed

BORIS BLANK Resonance

original 2x 180g audiophile Vinyl Edition

signed by Boris Blank

IAN Records

original first double vinyl edition from February 2024

made in Germany

new, unplayed, unsealed

We are very pleased to be able to offer you this copy which has been hand-signed by Boris Blank.

BORIS BLANK Resonance

Pure Audio Blu-ray + CD Deluxe Edition

incl. 5 Bonus Videos

IAN Records

original first deluxe edition from February 2024

incl. Pure Audio Blu-ray, Audio CD and Bonus Videos

made in Germany

new, factory sealed

BORIS BLANK Resonance

Pure Audio Blu-ray + CD Deluxe Edition

signed by Boris Blank

IAN Records

original first deluxe edition from February 2024

incl. Pure Audio Blu-ray, Audio CD and Bonus Videos

made in Germany

new, unplayed, unsealed

We are pleased to be able to offer you a few copies hand-signed by Boris Blank.

BORIS BLANK Resonance

original 2x 180g audiophile Vinyl Edition

made in Germany

IAN Records

original first double vinyl edition from February 2024

new, factory sealed

Dvorak Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9

Herbert von Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker

audiophile Esoteric Hybrid SACD ESSG-90250

legendary Deutsche Grammophon recording with breathtaking sound quality

made in Japan

new, factory sealed