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Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 - Schubert: Fantasy in C / Kantorow

BIS

SACD

$19.79 ~~$21.99~~ Save 10% Nov 01, 2024

Although by no means Brahms’s very first composition, the Sonata in C bears the number ‘Op. 1’ and is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant débuts in musical history. No wonder no less than Robert Schumann saw Brahms as the savior of German music. To accompany what is in every respect a dazzling work, another masterpiece was needed, and what better than Franz Schubert’s famous ‘Wanderer Fantasy,’ the most virtuosic composition in his entire output. With it, Schubert opened up new expressive possibilities with his ‘orchestral’ writing, leaving Beethoven in the shade and seeming to anticipate Franz Liszt. The latter composer-pianist, with his transcendental virtuosity, also had to be present on this disc, and we find him with his masterly transcriptions for piano of five Schubert lieder.

In 2019, when Alexandre Kantorow, at the age of 22, became the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky competition, his program included no fewer than three works by Johannes Brahms. So it was with great anticipation that we were looking forward to his recording of the German composer’s works. With this release, Kantorow concludes his cycle dedicated to Brahms’s piano sonatas, the previous installments of which garnered the highest praise from the music press around the world, as well as the most prestigious awards, such as Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice, Diapason d’Or, and Choc from Classica.

REVIEWS:

Kantorow’s playing can be torrential but it’s never reckless; his sound can be full but his playing is often laced with delicacy; and because of his uncanny ability to balance inner lines, he manages to untangle Brahms’s thickest passages.

— Gramophone, Editor's Choice - November 2024

It is nice to hear how Kantorow can channel Schubert’s lighthearted humor just as successfully as he can evoke deeper emotions. In all of his previous recordings, he has proven more than able to integrate musicality and artistry with fine technique and virtuosity. This album continues the trend, and wonderfully so.

— TheClassicReview.com

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Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 - Schubert: Fantasy in C / Kantorow
BIS Nov 2024
SACD
~~$21.99~~ $19.79

Recent Favorite

MOZART: THE COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS VOL. 1

ORCHID CLASSICS

$16.50 Mar 06, 2026

This first volume of Jae-Hyuck Cho's complete Mozart piano sonata cycle reflects the pianist's belief that Mozart's keyboard writing is inseparable from the vocal world of his operas - music that should feel sung, alive, breathing and vividly expressive. Cho approaches these works as dialogues filled with wit, drama and character, seeking not perfection but truth in every phrase. The program begins with the Sonata in C major, K.545, whose apparent simplicity reveals Mozart's precision and elegance. The Fantasia in C minor, K.475, and the Sonata in C minor, K.457, follow as powerful companion works: improvisatory, unpredictable and stormy, yet touched by tenderness. Cho presents them as a single expressive journey, from the Fantasia's restless soliloquy to the Sonata's theatrical sweep, aria-like Adagio and fiercely driven finale. The Sonata in B-flat major, K.333, closes the album with it's lyrical generosity and classical poise - a radiant counterpart to the emotional turbulence of the C-minor pieces. Recorded with Grammy winning producer Michael Fine, this release introduces a cycle shaped by Cho's conviction that Mozart's piano music speaks, laughs and sighs with the freedom and spontaneity of song.

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MOZART: THE COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS VOL. 1
ORCHID CLASSICS Mar 2026
CD
$16.50

Mix & Match

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Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 15 / 13 Variations / Deutscher In
Toccata Oct 2007
CD
~~$20.99~~ $10.49

NEW SONATE 1928 FOR SOLO PIANO

Nimbus

Book

$20.99 Mar 01, 2019

Gerald Reynolds writes: "This edition marks the first publication of the Röntgen's Sonata in C-sharp Minor (1928). I was first introduced to the work while visiting the composer's grandson Jurriaan Röntgen in Amsterdam during the summer of 2015, at which time Mr. Röntgen generously gave me a recording of the work. I was immediately taken with the piece and resolved to find the score, record and edit it with the hope of bringing it to the wider attention of pianists and piano aficionados with a new publication of it, through my relationship with Nimbus Publishing, UK. Previously, the Sonata in C-sharp minor (1928) existed in manuscript form in three versions designated as A, B (catalogue # 107/062B also with the date 14 Dec '28 in pencil on the title page) and C (catalogue # 107/062C - no date). All originals are located in the Röntgen archives at the Nederlands Muziek Instituut, Den Haag, The Netherlands."

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NEW SONATE 1928 FOR SOLO PIANO
Nimbus Mar 2019
Book
$20.99

Schubert: Wanderer-fantasie & Piano Sonata No. 15

Gramola Records

$15.99 ~~$20.99~~ Save 25% Oct 14, 2014

The great pianist Paul Badura-Skoda presents two milestones of piano literature and the most important works by Franz Schubert in this genre: the monumental ‘Wanderer Fantasia’ in C, D760 and the unfinished and posthumously published Sonata in C, D840 ‘Reliquie’. Paul Badura-Skoda’s intensive study of Schubert’s oeuvre and the preserved fragments of the third and fourth movements as well as of Viennese Classicism in general led to this completion of the great sonata, kept entirely in Schubert’s style so that the transitions take place flowingly and no stylistic ruptures can be discerned.

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Schubert: Wanderer-fantasie & Piano Sonata No. 15
Gramola Records Oct 2014
CD
~~$20.99~~ $15.99

Schubert: Piano Sonatas No 1, 8 And 15 / Gottlieb Wallisch

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Oct 30, 2007

SCHUBERT Piano Sonatas: No. 1 in E, D 157 ; No. 8 in f?, D 571/D 570/D 604 ; No. 15 in C, D 840 “Reliquie.” Fragments: in c?, D 655; in e, D 769a • Gottlieb Wallisch (pn) • NAXOS 8.570118 (72:23)

The young Viennese pianist Gottlieb Wallisch confirms the favorable impression he made on an earlier set of Schubert’s fragments and unfinished piano sonatas, reviewed in Fanfare 30:1 last year. The works on the present CD include sketches, fragments, and unfinished works from 1815–25, and once again, Wallisch enhances his performances with insightful and illuminating notes. He does not offer any “completions” of these fragments, as many pianists have attempted, but simply stops playing when the music breaks off. There is no completely satisfying explanation of why Schubert left so many of the piano sonatas unfinished, but Wallisch’s concluding words offer some consolation: “These fragmentary works very often breathe a special mysterious poetry. They provide a fuller view of Schubert’s creative process and musical thinking and at the same time bring to life for us his journey and quest.” Nowhere are these words better exemplified than in Wallisch’s haunting performance of the fragmentary first movement of the F? Minor Sonata, D 571.

The so-called “Reliquie” (all the unfinished works are “relics,” after all) is the most complete, as well as the most important of this group of works. Schubert finished the first two movements and the Trio section of the Menuetto and Trio, but left the Menuetto and the final Rondo incomplete. The loss is even more significant because, as Wallisch notes, this sonata inaugurated a new creative stage with a return to sonata-writing after a two-year pause. Schubert was, according to one of his letters, preparing through his instrumental compositions to pave the way for “great symphonies,” and the “Reliquie” exemplifies this ambition to a great extent. Quoting Wallisch’s notes again, “the piano-writing is laid out very orchestrally, and the individual sections and formal structures take on . . . symphonic dimensions.” Wallisch’s interpretation does full justice to the grandeur of Schubert’s vision; it is as eloquent as the performance by the fine Finnish pianist Ralf Gothoni, who made a magnificent recording of the “Reliquie” many years ago on the Ondine label (now unfortunately out of print).

Wallisch, who was a finalist in both the Queen Elisabeth and Clara Haskil competitions, is an accomplished and sensitive Schubert-player. The warmth in his playing complements Schubert’s poignant and expressive writing, while his sparkling touch brings lightness and gracefulness to livelier movements. Recorded in England in 2005, the piano sound is rich and real.

There is no mention of a continuation of the sonata cycle, but I urge Schubert-lovers to keep an eye out for future recordings as Wallisch approaches the great sonatas of Schubert’s maturity.

FANFARE: Susan Kagan

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Schubert: Piano Sonatas No 1, 8 And 15 / Gottlieb Wallisch
Naxos Oct 2007
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Mozart: 6 Violin Sonatas, K. 10-15 (Versions for Flute and P

Naxos

$19.99 Sep 26, 2006

In April 1764 the Mozart family arrived in London on a concert tour arranged by Mozart's father Leopold which had already taken them to cities in Germany and to Paris. They were to stay until summer the following year. Received at the English court.

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Mozart: 6 Violin Sonatas, K. 10-15 (Versions for Flute and P
Naxos Sep 2006
CD
$19.99

Piano Sonatas, vol. 1
Kontrapunkt Oct 1998
CD
$22.99

KORNGOLD: Piano Trio, Op. 1 / Violin Sonata, Op. 6
Profil Nov 2005
CD
$10.99

Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1

Alpha

$29.99 Nov 28, 2025

Star pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard presents Landler, a collection of delightful dances composed by Franz Schubert. Rustic and cheerful, these miniatures display a fascinating side of Schubert's musical persona. Their simplicity is deceptive, as these dances are frequently shaken up by Schubert's harmonic wandering soul, yet remaining lyrical, picturesque and tuneful. For Aimard, there is a kinship between Schubert's Landler and Kurtag's Jatekok, pieces that he often performs side by side, sharing a combination of playfulness and Modernism that also calls the great twentieth-century miniaturist Anton Webern to mind. By avoiding almost any repetition, Aimard evokes a sleepwalker's journey rather than a series of dances. 8717306260343 PNTA5187034.2 44281755 .00 19.99 .16 PENTATONE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/24/2024 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/42/4327442-3147656.jpg 49 1 N HAYDN / SALONEN / STOCKHOLM CHAMBER ORCHESTRA SYMPHONIES 22, 78, & 82 074644597226 SYNX45972.2 37567477 .00 17.99 .23 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/07/2009 0 1 N BIZET / KOSTELANETZ CARMEN WITHOUT WORDS 074644628722 SYNX46287.2 38086762 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 01/01/1991 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/43/4317543-3139572.jpg 0 1 N NIELSEN / SALONEN / SWEDISH RADIO SYMPHONY SYMPHONIES 3 & 6 074644650020 SYNX46500.2 37567804 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/30/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/65/4317565.jpg 1 1 N RIMSKY-KORSKOV / ORMANDY / PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA SHEHERAZADE 074644653724 SYNX46537.2 37567859 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/13/1991 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/70/4317570-3139588.jpg 0 1 N DVORAK / RUBINSTEIN / GROETHUYSEN PIANO MUSIC FOR FOUR HANDS 074644719925 SYNX47199.2 37568139 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 06/19/2008 08/31/2026 8 1 N COPLAND / BERNSTEIN COLLECTION: LATE ORCHESTRAL WORKS 074644723625 SYNX47236.2 37568184 .00 15.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 10/01/1991 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/02/4317602-3139609.jpg 0 1 N BRUCKNER / BERNIUS / STUTTGART CHAMBER CHOIR MASS 2 / MOTETS 074644803723 SYNX48037.2 37568573 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 06/05/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/46/4317646.jpg 6 1 N BRAHMS / WEBER / STOLTZMAN / TOKYO STRING QUARTET CLARINET QUINTETS 090266803323 SYNX68033.2 38032448 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/11/1995 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/85/4317685-3140304.jpg 3 1 N MOZART BETTER THINKING THROUGH MOZART 090266811328 SYNX68113.2 37564117 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 03/26/1996 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/97/4317697-3140315.jpg 4 1 N MUSSORGSKY / ORMANDY / PO PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION 090266833627 SYNX68336.2 37564261 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 08/15/1995 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/16/4317716-3140325.jpg 0 1 N MARTLAND FACTORY MASTERS / CROSSING THE BORDER 090266834525 RCA68345C.2 37564285 .00 17.99 .24 CATALYST COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 11/17/2010 0 1 N BOSTON POPS / FIEDLER BOSTON TEA PARTY 090266879328 RCMA68793.2 37564575 .00 17.99 .21 RCA MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 02/15/2008 2 1 N SCHUMANN / STUTZMANN LIEDER 5 090266890026 RCMA68900.2 38033209 .00 17.99 .25 RCA MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 08/29/2007 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/64/4317764.jpg 0 1 N GALWAY,JAMES / TIEMPO LIBRE O'REILLY STREET 886973216422 SYNX732164.2 38034084 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 09/16/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/11/4317811-3145141.jpg 3 1 N BRUCKNER / JARVI,PAAVO SYMPHONY NO 7 886973899724 SYNX738997SACD 38441448 .00 11.98 .19 SONY MASTERWORKS SUPER-AUDIO CD CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/20/2010 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/14/4317814-3187647.jpg 4 1 N SCHUBERT / DEMUS PIANO SONATAS 054727742125 DUHM77421.2 38035074 .00 17.99 .21 DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MU COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 05/30/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/54/4317854.jpg 0 1 N GERHARDT,CHARLES CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE: CLASSIC FILM SCORES NEWMAN Classic movies would be nothing without their proper scores that capture the very mood and essence of the acting and story. Newman was one of the best composers of his era, and you can hear why in these classic soundtracks recreated by Charles Gerhardt in stereo sound: Captain from Castile; How to Marry a Millionaire; Wuthering Heights; Down to the Sea in Ships; the Song of Bernadette; the Bravados; Anastasia; the Best of Everything; Airport and The Robe. 886977793622 SYNX777936.2 38035258 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS POP SOUNDTRACKS & FILM SCORES 10/19/2010 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/66/4317866-3145212.jpg 0 1 N TCHAIKOVSKY / DOUGLAS GRAND SONATA 078635788723 RCMA7887.2 37564940 .00 17.99 .21 RCA MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 05/26/2010 08/31/2026 10 1 N SCHUBERT / TONHALLE ORCH ZURICH / ZINMAN SYMPHONY NO 7: RONDO / CONCERTO / POLONAISE After their acclaimed recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies in a new musical guise, a highly regarded cycle of Richard Strauss's tone poems, the complete Mahler symphonies and a number of other musical projects with which attracted widespread attention, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich now devote themselves to the symphonies of Franz Schubert. David approaches the Schubert symphonies with exceptional expertise, basing his recordings on the original editions of the scores, using 19th-century instruments and paying heed to historic performing practice. The new readings by David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich offer the chance to enjoy Schubert's symphonies in fresh new versions: A cycle for the 21st century. 886979533523 SYNX795335.2 38035678 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 03/20/2012 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/83/4317883-3145258.jpg 0 1 N WAND / BRUCKNER / SCHUBERT / NDR LAST RECORDING LAST INTERVIEW 743219304124 RCMA93041.2 38036071 .00 29.99 .21 RCA MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/11/2007 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/96/4317896.jpg 0 1 N SCHUSTER / REMY DEMOFOONTE 743219828224 DUHM98282.2 38036118 .00 33.99 .21 DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MU COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/09/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/99/4317899.jpg 0 1 N TCHAIKOVSKY / ABBADO / CSO SYMPHONY 1 / NUTCRACKER SUITE 074644805628 SYNX48056.2 37568665 .00 17.99 .24 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 03/17/2010 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/02/4317902-3139635.jpg 24 1 N APPLE TREE / O.B.C. APPLE TREE / O.B.C. 074644820928 SYNX48209.2 38087332 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL SHOWTUNES / B'WAY 11/24/1992 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/29/4317929-3139648.jpg 0 1 N BEETHOVEN / GIULINI / LA SCALA SYMPHONIES 2 & 8 074644823820 SYNX48238.2 37568894 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 12/31/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/35/4317935.jpg 2 1 N SCHUBERT / SZELL / CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA SYMPHONIES 8 & 9 074644826821 SYNX48268.2 37568979 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/20/2010 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/45/4317945-3139659.jpg 0 1 N SCHUMANN / KUBELIK / BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY SYMPHONIES 3 & 4 074644827026 SYNX48270.2 37568993 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/26/2010 3 1 N PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / MA / MAAZEL SINFONIA CONCERTANTE / ROCOCO VARIATIONS 074644838220 SYNX48382.2 37569112 .00 11.98 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 09/29/1992 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/57/4317957-3139663.jpg 0 1 N RACHMANINOFF / LAREDO,RUTH SOLO PIANO MUSIC 1 074644846829 SYNX48468.2 37569174 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/29/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/61/4317961.jpg 2 1 N RACHMANINOFF / LAREDO,RUTH SOLO PIANO MUSIC 3 074644847024 SYNX48470.2 37569198 .00 17.99 .22 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 01/30/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/63/4317963.jpg 4 1 N BEETHOVEN / BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET STRING QUARTETS 1-6 074645253121 SYNX52531.2 37569303 .00 24.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 05/30/2008 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/79/4317979.jpg 5 1 N KIPNIS,IGOR SPANISH HARPSICHORD 074645326429 SYNX53264.2 37569853 .00 17.99 .21 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 12/29/2011 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/05/4318005-3139692.jpg 6 1 N CHILDS,DAVID STILL GLIDES THE STREAM - CONTEMPORARY WORKS FOR E This programme showcases the euphonium's warmth, emotive quality and astonishing agility with a vibrant tapestry of contemporary chamber music that amply demonstrates it's unique character. From the jazz-inflected grooves of Simon Parkin's Skunk to meditative reflections such as Einaudi's renowned evocation of sunsets in Due Tramonti, this collection brings together composers from diverse backgrounds whose works reimagine the sonic potential of this versatile instrument. Whether exploring nostalgia or joy, virtuoso fireworks or serene tranquillity, each piece contributes to a compelling narrative of the euphonium's modern journey. 747313468478 NXS8574684.2 45383496 .00 19.99 .16 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 10/10/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/79/4446479-3422667.jpg 19 1 N HULTEN,ORJAN PEACEFUL WARRIOR Orjan Hulten 822359004719 PROP384.1 45383632 .00 26.99 .58 PROPHONE VINYL LP POP JAZZ 11/21/2025 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/89/4446489-3422695.jpg 2 1 N HELMCHEN,MARTIN SCHUBERT: PNO SONS VOL. 1 Martin Helmchen embarks on a complete recording of Schubert's piano sonatas, with four double albums to be released between now and 2028, the bicentenary of the composer's death. He has waited until he was in his forties to embark on this adventure because, in his view, an artist needs maturity to meet the challenges posed by the radical contrasts in Schubert's sonatas: constant virtuosity that is never needlessly complex, set against sober interiority, the exuberant joy of the Landler, and bouts of dramatic madness". Recording a complete body of work also meant studying the scores carefully and tackling the question of the movements left unfinished by the composer, should we stop at the precise point where Schubert stopped composing simply because Schubert either ran out of time or did not have enough money to buy music manuscript paper? Helmchen has chosen to complete these movements, inspired by the recordings and above all the analyses of the eminent pianist Paul Badura-Skoda. This first volume presents sonatas composed between 1815 (Schubert was 18) and 1825. The entire cycle has been recorded on a Bosendorfer piano at the Kronberg Academy.

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Schubert: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Alpha Nov 2025
CD
$29.99

Mix & Match

Mozart/Grieg: Sonatas For Piano Duet / Dena Piano Duo

SACD

$24.99 Jul 24, 2007

MOZART (Arr. Grieg) Piano Sonatas: in C, K 545; in F, K 533; in G, K 283; in c, K 457 • Dena Pn Duo • 2-L 40 (Hybrid multichannel SACD: 73:10)

Why would anyone, even Edvard Grieg—not the greatest composer by a long shot, but a great musical figure and one who revered Mozart—arrange any Mozart piano sonatas—even the powerful K 457 and the forward-looking K 533—for two pianos? My wariness of arrangements other than those by the composer leads me to ask again, why? Well, if you’ve never tried it (or never heard it), don’t knock it. Keep an open mind! But before I listened, I read. The notes in the accompanying booklet describe what Grieg did. (In English, the small, red font against a purple background is an abominable choice for reading; in German, the white font against the same background is eminently readable, but my German is now a distant memory.) Grieg’s “arrangements” are actually adaptations, or more precisely, augmentations. In each sonata, Grieg retained Mozart’s score as the primo and composed a secundo to add a more contemporary style to the music. Now this is certainly a novel approach to “arranging,” and it may be the first example of crossover. It is akin to the current theatrical practice of presenting Shakespeare in contemporary guise, such as Julius Caesar in Fascist uniforms or The Taming of the Shrew on motorcycles (both courtesy of noted stage director Michael Kahn or those directors he fosters), a practice that I deplore. Then I listened. What I heard were four Mozart sonatas that were as fully recognizable as their originals, but with fuller bass lines, with extra and more complex harmonization, and with significantly non-Mozartian embellishments.

In the early K 283, much more Grieg is discernable in the latter two movements than in the first movement. K 545, Mozart’s easy-to-play and most popular sonata, can be described as complexified simplicity. The power of the first movement of K 457 is greatly weakened by Grieg’s defocusing secundo augmentation. The second movement of K 457 fares even worse, sounding like a mixture of ballroom dance-music with piano noodling by a “stylist.” Grieg’s defocusing secundo augmentation relaxes the tension in the final movement, eventually enervating the normally powerful coda. Most interesting is the first movement of K 533, which is stylistically very open to Grieg’s secundo augmentation. In the K 533 second movement, in a-b-a form, Mozart already achieves Grieg’s contemporary style in part b without Grieg’s intervention. By contemporizing part a, Grieg distracts from the listener’s amazement at the shocking progressions and harmonies that Mozart introduces in part b. But this provides the opportunity in part b for Grieg to really let loose, building interestingly on Mozart’s already impressionistic base. The final movement of K 533 shows the strongest Grieg influence on this disc, masking the movement’s Mozartian delicacy—one could call it, with successive puns, the “MoztGrieg” and the least “Griegzart.”

The Dena Piano Duo (Tina Margareta Nilssen, piano 1, and Heide Görtz, piano 2) are excellent pianists, and the sound quality is also excellent. Nilssen plays the primo (Mozart) part, and Görtz plays the secundo (Grieg) part. I recommend this CD to Grieg scholars and, strictly as a curiosity, to anyone else, but not as an addition to anyone’s Mozart collection.

FANFARE: Burton Rothleder

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

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Mozart/Grieg: Sonatas For Piano Duet / Dena Piano Duo
2L Jul 2007
SACD
$24.99

Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10 / Bavouzet

Chandos

$21.99 Mar 04, 2022

"Bavouzet’s Haydn is unmatched in its zest and its wit. But it is also substantial, informed and deeply rewarding."

--The New York Times on Bavouzet's Haydn Sonatas cycle, 2022

His multi-award-winning recordings and dazzling concert performances have long established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation. This latest album – the tenth – in his cycle of the complete Haydn sonatas is built around the Grand Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 50, a late work the first movement of which is one of the most highly developed that Haydn ever conceived for the keyboard. Bavouzet has surrounded this with less well-known works: Two very early sonatas (Nos. 3 & 4) provide a stark contrast to the later works (Nos. 28 & 45). The album ends with the Arietta con 12 Variazioni.

Bavouzet notes: ‘The Variations in E flat major and the Sonata in A major, Hob. XVI: 30, were for me the marvelous revelations of this program. In the E flat major Variations (the lovely theme of which Mozart borrowed in his Sonata, KV 282!). The chief question was to know whether to repeat the theme at the end, as certain editions recommend. After several experiments, I finally opted for a solution perhaps a little anachronistic, by construing the entire last variation as a long, gradual crescendo which takes us from the somber and serious atmosphere of the preceding variation towards the brilliant light of the unadorned chords that conclude this magnificent cycle.’

REVIEW:

There’s one masterpiece on this CD: Sonata 60. From Jean-Efflam Bavouzet comes an almost furtively soft beginning to the first theme, a pondering pause, then loud arpeggiated affirmation, jubilation unleashed as ideas crowd in on one another and repeat gleefully. Second prize on this CD goes to Sonata 45, composed 20 years earlier, Haydn’s only piano sonata played without a break. As in previous volumes, Bavouzet mixes sonatas from various periods, backtracking 14 years earlier for Sonatas 3 and 4. So you experience the learning curve through which Haydn achieved his mature works. In Sonata 3, despite its relative simplicity, Bavouzet brings elegance and chipper, assertive bounce to the opening Allegro and you’ll relish his extra ornamentation in the repeat of the Scherzo’s final strain. In Sonata 4 his neatness and propriety in the opening movement is delightfully offset by the impropriety of repeats’ extra ornamentation[.]

--MusicWeb International (Michael Greenhalgh)

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Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 10 / Bavouzet
Chandos Mar 2022
CD
$21.99

Schumann: Sonata No 1, Romanze, Humoreske; C. Schumann / Cooper

Chandos

$10.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 50% Jan 27, 2015

“Cooper asserts her stylistic credentials right at the start of the disc in Robert’s Humoreske, playing with a warm, golden tone and fluidly finding that distinction between the extrovert and introvert traits that were key to Schumann’s musical personality.” – The Telegraph (UK)

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Schumann: Sonata No 1, Romanze, Humoreske; C. Schumann / Cooper
Chandos Jan 2015
CD
~~$21.99~~ $10.99

Bach: Suite in C Minor, BWV 997 & Trio Sonatas Nos. 1, 2 & 5
Dynamic Feb 2016
CD
$18.99

Nielsen, C.: Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 / Solo Violin Works
BIS Aug 2003
CD
$21.99

Piano Quartet, Op. 1; Violin Sonatas, Opp. 7 & 15

CPO

$18.99 Aug 01, 2025

Born just months before his father's early death, Franz Xaver Mozart represented the great hope of his mother, Constanze, who envisioned the continuation of the musical lineage in the younger of her two surviving sons. She, therefore, ensured that he received a first-class education, and he strove with all his might to prove himself worthy of the trust placed in him. He became a distinguished and recognized pianist, while over the years he created a small but refined body of work dominated by intimate ensembles ranging from lieder to chamber music. His character, as revealed through his compositions, is not unlike that of his father: behind the classically elegant and occasionally humorous language lies a quiet, touching melancholy, which in his piano quartet presses stormily into the world of the Romantics.

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Piano Quartet, Op. 1; Violin Sonatas, Opp. 7 & 15
CPO Aug 2025
CD
$18.99

Shostakovich: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2 / Suite, Op. 6
Capriccio Jan 2006
CD
$14.99

Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 / Bavouzet

Chandos

$21.99 Mar 30, 2010

"Bavouzet’s Haydn is unmatched in its zest and its wit. But it is also substantial, informed and deeply rewarding."

--The New York Times on Bavouzet's Haydn Sonatas cycle, 2022

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s complete Debussy cycle was a big hit across the world in the 2000s, picking up numerous awards along its way. He has now decided to embark upon a Haydn cycle highlighting the fact that he should in no way be pigeon-holed as a ‘French’ specialist. Many leading pianists have tackled these virtuosic classical Sonatas but Bavouzet really feels he has something new to say.

The program for Volume 1 includes the experimental and ambitious Sonata in A flat No. 31, the elegantly virtuosic Sonata in D major No. 391, the expressive Sonata in B minor, No. 47 and the almost Schubertian Sonata in C sharp minor op. 49. Bavouzet shipped in a specially selected Yamaha piano for the recording which he feels give the sort of tonal quality he is looking for.

REVIEWS

We badly need a great Haydn sonata cycle on a modern instrument, and on evidence here Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's promises to be just the ticket. It's fabulous, as wonderful in its own way as was his Debussy cycle for this same label. His approach couldn't be more intelligent: he takes almost all repeats, except in such places as the slow movement of Sonata No. 31 in A-flat (already 24 minutes long), where he adds a fine cadenza of his own making. In quick movements, where final chords seem to render a second-half repeat redundant, he leaves them out the first time through, a practice that I have long believed ought to be standard in such cases. It works wonderfully well.

Interpretively, this is as good as it gets. Bavouzet ornaments repeats with complete naturalness, knows how to phrase a melody without distending the tempo unduly, and exploits the resources of the modern piano in a way that serves the music completely. His touch in such places as the finale of the B minor sonata (No. 47) is phenomenally articulate. In the first movement of No. 31 his right and left hands handle independent dynamics so as to create the same textural layers you might hear through different harpsichord registrations. The sonics are totally at one with the performances: brilliantly vivid, but never hard. I can't wait for Volume 2.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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Haydn: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 / Bavouzet
Chandos Mar 2010
CD
$21.99

SONATAS OP. 27 NOS. 1-6 (1924)
Oehms Classics Jan 2004
CD
$14.99

Soler: Keyboard Sonatas No 1-15 / Martina Filjak

Naxos

$13.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 30% Aug 30, 2011

Soler was music master to the princes of Bourbon in El Escorial, the palace of the King of Spain. It’s probable that most of his keyboard sonatas were written for Prince Gabriel and these essentially private works—around 150 have survived—bear comparison with the works of Domenico Scarlatti and C.P.E. Bach. Soler was fond of dance rhythms and guitar imitations, as well as infectious and delightful modulations. These fifteen sonatas are heard here in the order proposed by Rubio’s catalogue. Pianist Martina Filjak—“brilliance, sensitivity and imagination” (New York Times)—is a much admired international artist.

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Soler: Keyboard Sonatas No 1-15 / Martina Filjak
Naxos Aug 2011
CD
~~$19.99~~ $13.99

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No.

DUX

$24.99 Aug 21, 2026

This album brings together two of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas, performed here for the first time on record by pianist Maria Korecka-Soszkowska, for whom Beethoven has long remained a central and deeply cherished composer. Though commonly known by the evocative titles Moonlight and Pastoral, neither nickname originated with the composer himself. The celebrated Sonata quasi una fantasia in C-sharp minor opens the recording with one of the most iconic movements in all classical music: a work of restrained passion and inward drama, often associated with Beethoven's unfulfilled love for one of his pupils. The later Sonata in D major unfolds in a more pastoral atmosphere, coloured by echoes of rural life and subtle allusions to folk music. Both sonatas reveal Beethoven's gift for expanding classical form through slow introductions, shifting moods, and a narrative tension that grows organically from within. In Maria Korecka-Soszkowska's interpretation, these familiar masterpieces regain their freshness, intimacy, and poetic depth.

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Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No.
DUX Aug 2026
CD
$24.99

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Giardini: 6 Sonatas for violin and continuo, Op. 1, London 1

Tactus

$21.99 Jan 30, 2026

This release is devoted to the complete set of six Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo, Op. 1 by Felice Giardini (also known as Degiardino), published in London in 1751. Born in Turin in 1716, and passing away in Moscow in 1796, Giardini stands as a bridge between eras and styles, forging a distinctive voice, in which diverse musical languages merge with remarkable balance. A virtuoso of string instruments, he masterfully explored their possibilities, during the delicate transition from the Baroque to the early Classical period, an era often defined as the galant style. The Op. 1 collection belongs to Giardini's early years, and it's formal structure reflects typical Baroque conventions: all six sonatas are laid out in three movements, alternating fast and slow tempi, occasionally bearing the markings of stylized dance forms (such as minuets, and gigues) reminiscent of Baroque suites. The main performers of this rediscovery, are I Solisti Ambrosiani (v. tc 681302, tc 670203, tc 670291) with Davide Belosio on violin, Claudio Frigerio on cello, and Nicola Bisotti on harpsichord.

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Giardini: 6 Sonatas for violin and continuo, Op. 1, London 1
Tactus Jan 2026
CD
$21.99

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Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas no 1 & 2, etc / Kliegel, et al

Naxos

$19.99 Jan 30, 2007

SAINT-SAËNS Cello Sonatas: No. 1 in c; No. 2 in F. Suite for Cello and Piano • Maria Kliegel (vc); François-Joël Thiollier (pn) • NAXOS 8.557880 (77:32)

It has been previously noted that Saint-Saëns’s four major works for cello were composed more or less in tandem pairs. 1872–73 saw the twin births of the C-Minor Sonata, op. 32, and the A-Minor Concerto, op. 33. The composer was approaching 40 at the time; yet for a man who lived to 86, these may still be regarded as fairly early works. Not until nearly 30 years later did Saint-Saëns turn again to the cello, this time composing in reverse order the D-Minor Concerto, op. 119, in 1902, followed in 1905 by the Sonata in F Major, op. 123.

My only grumble about Jamie Walton’s Saint-Saëns CD (reviewed in 29:6) was that had he omitted “The Swan” movement from The Carnival of the Animals , there would have been just enough room on the disc to include the Second Sonata, thereby giving us all four of the composer’s major works for cello on a single disc. It turns out that in writing that review, I overlooked the even earlier, but hardly insignificant, 1862 Suite for Cello and Piano, op. 16, which, at 23 minutes’ duration, is even longer than the First Sonata and certainly qualifies as a “major” work.

With the current release, cellist Maria Kliegel and pianist François-Joël Thiollier fill in the blanks, offering us, along with the C-Minor Sonata, the earlier Suite and the later F-Major Sonata, both of which were absent from Walton’s entry. The juxtaposition of these works on the same disc affords us the opportunity to hear for ourselves the evolution, both professional and personal, of a man whose interior life may have been more complex than received opinion about him has otherwise led us to believe.

The five-movement Suite makes no pretense to a refracted antique or neo-Baroque style—as some of the composer’s early works do—despite note writer Keith Anderson’s assertion that its Prelude loosely resembles the arpeggio Praeludium of Bach’s G-Major Solo Cello Suite. Saint-Saëns’s Suite is an ardent, effusive romantic outpouring that has more in common with the young, though never youthful, Brahms than it has with anything from an earlier time.

The C-Minor Sonata, though coming 10 years after the Suite, is all surface Sturm und Drang somewhat reminiscent of Mendelssohn. It was works such as this that earned Saint-Saëns his reputation as an arch-conservative in thrall to German models and aesthetics.

The F-Major Sonata, written when he was 70, has clearly evolved away from the composer’s earlier, more immediately recognizable profile. Though still adhering to the principles of sonata form, the piece has about it a more through-composed feeling that is carried forward by a gorgeous rippling piano part rather in the manner of the composer’s own student, Fauré. More significant, however, is the genuine expressiveness and depth of the music, which clearly belie the notion that Saint-Saëns was but an extremely gifted tunesmith and facile craftsman with an uncanny instinct for writing music devoid of any meaningful substance.

Maria Kliegel can be heard in a wide range of repertoire that she has recorded for Naxos; with over 50 entries in their catalog, she is perhaps the company’s leading “stable” cellist, a term that unfortunately carries certain uncomplimentary connotations. Be assured that in Kliegel’s case they are not deserved, for she is a fantastic player with solid technique, spot-on intonation, and robust tone, which she projects with a great deal of confidence and authority. If her delivery is not quite as smooth and refined as that of the aforementioned Jamie Walton, my sense is that she wants us to perceive Saint-Saëns as both more serious and more substantive than he is often taken to be.

François-Joël Thiollier has also recorded extensively for Naxos, having made a specialty of the French piano repertoire. His partnering with Kliegel is a natural. For the excellent performances, fine sound, budget price, and smart programming, I’m inclined to call this disc indispensable for lovers of chamber music for cello and piano.

FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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Saint-Saëns: Cello Sonatas no 1 & 2, etc / Kliegel, et al
Naxos Jan 2007
CD
$19.99

Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 11; Fanta

DUX

$19.99 Apr 17, 2026

Two early works by Robert Schumann surge with emotional intensity, where lyrical beauty meets dramatic urgency, soaring passion collides with deep introspection. Pianist Ayham Hammour, long associated with Poland and a familiar presence on major stages throughout Europe and the Americas, brings Schumann's inner world vividly to life. With imagination and keen insight, Hammour uncovers not only the composer's profound dramatic voice, but also the sparkle of wit, lightness, and subtle irony that lies beneath the surface.

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Schumann: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 11; Fanta
DUX Apr 2026
CD
$19.99

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