Brilliant Classics

The third instalment of this survey of Bela Bartók's output for violin offers the two violin sonatas and the two rhapsodies. The sonatas, masterpieces of immense complexity and difficulty, show Bartók from his most austere, uncompromising side, whereas the rhapsodies abound in tuneful melodies of a folk-like nature, brilliant and virtuosic.In the...

Many of Liszt's works were transcribed for other instruments, both by the composer himself and other musicians.These hauntingly beautiful pieces for cello and piano were originally written for piano solo or the voice. They are from the final period of his life and are the product of his old age and his quest for spirituality. Far from the virtuoso...

Sonatas for piano with violin, Beethoven thought of them, and the early set of three Op. 12 does seem to look back towards the early Classical, even late-Baroque emphasis on the multi-voiced part to which the violin adds emphasis or decoration as required. But the genre matured with Beethoven, and by the time of the 'Kreutzer' he was composing a...

Pietro Nardini was a highly respected violinist and composer in 18th century Italy. His quartets are melodious, charming works written in well-crafted classical style, with a predominance of the first violin, and conspicuous for the absence of Basso Continuo.Born into a humble family in 18th-century Italy, Pietro Nardini's talent for violin playing...

20th Century French composer André Jolivet was known for his devotion to French culture and this can be clearly seen in his fine mélodies, or French art songs, which combine all the qualities of rich melody and sensitivity to text that are essential requirements for this form. This is the first complete recording of Jolivet's edited Mélodies for...

If it is true that the end of Romanticism coincided with the invention of electric light, then we can date this to 1880 -- the year in which Thomas Alva Edison patented the light bulb. At around this time, a brilliant student at the Paris Conservatoire, Claude Debussy, decided to embark upon a composing career that would soon 'illuminate' the...