Brilliant Classics

Another outstanding recording from the golden era at EMI. Made in 1952, and produced by Walter Legge, it was the first of two that featured Boris Christoff in the title role. The second version, though fine and in stereo (conducted by André Cluytens), never dislodged the first recording from the top of the critics' recommended list. The reasons for...

The music of Alexander Aronovich Knajfel was considered too advanced for Soviet Russia in the 1960s, and he was blacklisted from the Union of Soviet Composers in 1979 for having participated in festivals of Soviet music in the West without official permission. Despite this, Knaifel produced a large number of works, both theatrical and orchestral....

This compilation provides a showcase of the many aspects of the cello and the range of emotions and characters that the instrument is able to convey. Opening the collection is Debussy's technically demanding Sonata in D minor, a staple of the cello repertoire. The whimsical motives, repetitive tones and scales of this work give way to the ingenious...

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) composed his comic opera May Night in 1878-9, at a time when he was fascinated in the stories for the supernatural and the fantastic. It was also at this time that he had been appointed to a teaching role at the St Petersburg Conservatory -- a role he thought himself ill prepared for. Much to the astonishment of...

The origin of the dialogue between a solo voice and several obbligati instruments dates from the early baroque period (1600), and probably emerged from the hum drum setting of the market square where a singer would perform to the accompaniment of a few wind instruments. More refined relations of this musical form soon could be found in sacred and...

They are a rarity: complete issues of Listz's 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies. Especially the later ones written at the end of Liszt's life are hardly ever recorded. The numbers 16 to 19 seem to be less popular with pianists. Too difficult?A new recording by pianist Artur Pizarro. This Portugese musician was winner of the Leeds International Piano...