The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim, long known for his Mozart interpretations, turns his attention to Mozart’s piano sonatas, a body of work that, while forming the core of the pianist’s repertory, is not often heard in the concert hall. These sonatas showcase Mozart’s genius for the small-scale, and truly shine in Barenboim’s masterful rendering.

A friend of mine once likened a particularly metronomic performance of Beethoven’s Appassionata to a man being pursued by hornets. I don’t know who’s pursuing Fazil Say in the first movement, but the pianist either sounds as if he’s fleeing the very same hornets or, most probably, an irate music critic. Say tears through the movement without modifying his fleet basic tempo, yet he somehow conveys the drama and disquiet implied by Beethoven’s frequent dynamic changes, abetted by added bass-note octaves (measures 130-33). However, the Andante con moto is not so much about a unified set of variations as it is about Fazil Say the interpretive graffiti artist.

The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim, long known for his Mozart interpretations, turns his attention to Mozart’s piano sonatas, a body of work that, while forming the core of the pianist’s repertory, is not often heard in the concert hall. These sonatas showcase Mozart’s genius for the small-scale, and truly shine in Barenboim’s masterful rendering.

Here is confirmation that Francesco Piemontesi belongs to a small elite: he is a pianist that other pianists go to hear. He is awesome and speculative in the A major while in the B-flat he achieves greatness without recourse to idiosyncrasy or extremes. Even in a crowded field of celebrated recordings, Piemontesi’s performances are wholly exceptional, enlightening if exhausting at every level. They are crowned by Pentatone’s beautifully natural sound.

Sonate en trio est un domaine encore relativement peu exploré de l'œuvre immense du deuxième fils de Johann Sebastian, davantage connu pour ses sonates et concertos pour clavier — ou ses symphonies — , que pour sa musique de chambre. Pièces de début de carrière dans l'ensemble, elles relèvent d'un schéma alors déjà archaïque (la sonate en trio laissant bientôt place au trio) que le compositeur n'abordera d'ailleurs plus après 1756. Il est du reste étonnant de constater qu'un musicien aussi novateur que Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ait pu ignorer des formes plus modernes, comme le Quatuor à cordes, ne composant que trois quatuors pour claviers et cordes, Wq. 93 à 95 ; au demeurant fort beaux.

C.P.E. Bach's music often has a bizarrely experimental quality mixed incongruously but fascinatingly with a conservatism born of his father's influence, and this program of early works, dating from the 1740s and 1750s, offers good examples.

"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 and approach as a composer. Joining them are Beethoven’s three sets of variations for cello and piano.

This set brings together recordings of Italian music by Chiara Banchini and Amandine Beyer. It is symbolic of a filiation between the two artists, Amandine Beyer having succeeded Chiara Banchini as professor of Baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum in Basle, Switzerland. The release follows Amandine Beyer s recording of Bach s Sonatas for solo violin as well as Chiara Banchini s recording of his Sonatas for violin and keyboard, both of which received a Diapason d Or. The set includes the re-release of Vivaldi s Four Seasons by Amandine Beyer.

Brendel’s second complete survey of the Beethoven sonatas, recorded for Philips during the early Seventies, redefined pianistic absolutes of technical and spiritual mastery. As these late sonatas confirm, Brendel’s matchless wisdom in this repertoire is still astounding. His legendary 1971 Hammerklavier, now in digitally refurbished sound, is yet more compelling than before. An aura of transcendent benediction and repose surrounds his rapt account of the final Sonata, Op. 111. The closing Arietta draws a final veil of completeness across the entire cycle; for Beethoven, the culmination of three decades of epic discovery. Heroic, consolatory, spiritually enriching, and absolutely essential listening!

The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim, long known for his Mozart interpretations, turns his attention to Mozart’s piano sonatas, a body of work that, while forming the core of the pianist’s repertory, is not often heard in the concert hall. These sonatas showcase Mozart’s genius for the small-scale, and truly shine in Barenboim’s masterful rendering.

Arcangelo Corelli is a remarkable figure in music history. He belongs to the most famous composers of the baroque era, but his oeuvre is very small in comparison with that of his peers, such as Handel or Telemann: just six collections published with an opus number and some pieces which have been preserved in manuscript. Most composers of his time contributed to more than one genre: vocal music - sacred or secular -, chamber music, orchestral works and keyboard music. Corelli confined himself to chamber music and one set of 'orchestral' music, although that term is probably not the most appropriate to characterise his concerti grossi.

Scarlatti published just 30 of his 550 or so keyboard sonatas. They appeared in London in 1738/9 under the title Essercizi per gravicembalo ('Keyboard exercises'). In the preface he warned players: "Do not expect, whether you be amateur or professional, to find any profound intention in these compositions, but rather an ingenious jesting with art." Scarlatti's sonatas are perhaps most famous for their flamboyant Hispanic touches, with hints of the rhythms and melodies of Spanish folk music. (The composer, born in Naples, spent 25 years in Madrid.) During his lifetime his music was not widely circulated and it's impact and influence was largely restricted to composers like Sebastián de Albero and Antonio Soler who, like Scarlatti himself, had connections with the royal household of Spain.

A shadowy, unstable and misanthropic character, died mysteriously from a knife wound inflicted by an unknown assailant, Jean-Marie Leclair is the real creator of the French violin school and one of the greatest violinists of the Eighteenth Century. His prolific output, almost exclusively devoted to the violin, consists of a series of collections of sonatas published throughout his lifetime, in which stand out 48 sonatas for violin and bass (four volumes). The First Book of Sonatas for Solo Violin with Basso Continuo dates from 1723 and represents Leclair’s first publication. Four sonatas are performed here by Fabio Biondi, one of the most authoritative Baroque performers, joined by an all-star continuo group featuring Rinaldo Alessandrini, Pascal Monteilhet and Maurizio Naddeo.

Among various instrumental works composed by Vivaldi, there are twenty-seven trio sonatas, most of them written for two violins - either with or without continuo. Twelve of these sonatas were published in 1705 by the Venetian music publisher, Giuseppe Sala in a collection entitled Suonate da Camera a Tre, due Violini, e Violone o Cembalo. This Opus 1 collection contains the earliest known sonatas by Vivaldi. As indicated on the title-page of the collection, they could be played by two violins and violoncello (originally a violone) or by two violins and harpsichord.

Sony Classical ORIGINALS offer listeners outstanding enjoyment, authentically recapturing the fascination of legendary recordings from the age of long-playing records and preserving worthwhile releases from two labels with particularly long and distinguished traditions: RCA Red Seal and Columbia Masterworks. These superb recordings by great artists have enjoyed international acclaim ever since they were first released. Showered with critical plaudits, they are part of the 20th century’s cultural legacy. All have been remastered and carefully restored using the latest studio technology in order to reproduce the original interpretations as faithfully as possible.