Brilliant Classics

J.S. Bach's great masterpiece, The Art of Fugue, was incomplete when the composer died in 1750, and he left no indications whatsoever for its instrumentation. Since then there has been much debate on the subject, but we now know that it was written as a practical work intended for keyboard performance exploring the contrapuntal possibilities within...

Of all the Strauss-Hoffmansthal collaborations, Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow) is by far the most ambitious, and perhaps the opera with the richest musical ideas. Dealing with a complex and lofty subject -- the relationship of a man and his wife to a higher principle (Keikobad, the King of the Spirits, and God) and to human...

François Couperin 'Le Grand' is the most important member of the Couperin dynasty, whose elegant and trend-setting music is known to have influenced great composers such as J.S. Bach, Telemann and Handel. After becoming organist at St. Gervais in Paris at the age of just 12, he was later appointed Organiste du Chapelle du Roy.It was here that he...

The final volume of Brilliant Classics' acclaimed Clementi series, this release is dedicated to the composer's last and most mature works for pianoforte: the Sonatas Opp. 40, 46 and 50, and the 12 Monferrinas Op.49.The works embrace a period of around 20 years and were a major landmark within Clementi's output. Slow introductions abound, and...

Brilliance, fluency, clarity and extraordinary communicative powers -- Mozart seems to have had them all. Little wonder he was hailed as the finest pianist of his generation -- even rivals such as Clementi commented 'I had never heard anyone play with so much spirit and grace...'Of course we have no idea how Mozart the keyboard player sounded. We...

Spanning 4 CDs and presenting over three hours of absorbing listening, this charming release explores the musical output of Georg Böhm -- one of the most important German organists and composers around the turn of the 18th century, and who is considered to have had a major influence on the training of Johann Sebastian Bach.The compilation focuses...