Brilliant Classics

Buxtehude's organ music is not only a fascinating precursor of his great admirer J.S. Bach but a body of work full of energy and beauty in its own right, a pinnacle of the early-Baroque Protestant aesthetic. Strict and florid counterpoint, lying at the centre of Bach's style, is less important here; rather we can hear vibrant and directly...

The songs of Brahms span his entire, 60-year creative life, and contain many of his most personal utterances, as well as many of his most charming. From the jolly, openhearted, rustic charm of the Volkslieder to the cool refined beauty of the Sapphische Ode, Brahms's lyrical gift is everywhere evident, according to each song only the weight of...

Known as the 'father of the pianoforte', Muzio Clementi (1752--1832) played an incomparable role in the development of both piano repertoire and the instrument itself. As a composer and virtuoso pianist, his sonatas spanned the transition from Scarlatti's keyboard style to the beginnings of the Romantic period; as a publisher and manufacturer, he...

One of the most distinguished figures of the Classical period, the Italian composer Luigi Boccherini (1743--1805) was revered by 18th-century listeners and musicians for the charm, elegance and lyrical beauty of his music. Although his legacy has been undervalued in modern times, this new 37 CD box set, the most comprehensive on the market, invites...

Not strictly speaking an opera, King Arthur, or The British Worthy is a 'semi-opera'. Semi-operas were dramas in four or five acts, with lengthy musical sections. The main characters only speak, and the musical narrative is the preserve of the minor characters - nymphs and such like. John Dryden, who provided Purcell with the libretto in 1691,...

After releasing the highly successful sets of Shostakovich symphonies (the award-winning cycle of Rudolf Barshai) and the string quartets ( highly acclaimed performances of the Rubio Quartet), this set presents the Jazz Suites, Ballet Suites and Film Music.Shostakovich lived a live full of tension and controverses in the Stalin era. As a...