Plays Mozart ARTIST’S NOTE Mozart did not write specific cadenzas for K. 491, but many major composers and pianists have Mozart’s piano concerti were the reason I fell in done so, usually expanding upon the darkness, love with the piano. I vividly remember hearing grandeur and virtuosity of the piece. While Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491 the development section of the first movement of cadenzas are an opportunity to showcase a 1 I. Allegro [13.19] K. 467 during the closing titles of a TV mini-series performer’s keyboard skills, in the case of K. 491 2 II. Larghetto [7.16] on the development of the atomic bomb and how I prefer not to interfere and disrupt the order 3 III. Allegretto [8.50] it led to the closing events of World War Two. It Mozart so carefully shapes in the first movement. Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major, K. 595 was heavy subject matter for an eight-year old, I have written a small cadenza based simply on 4 I. Allegro [14.08] but what blew me away was the power of that the material Mozart provides, which, in my 5 II. Larghetto [8.40] music. I instantly decided to learn it, and even humble opinion, keeps the continuity of the 6 III. Allegro [8.53] made a little version for piano trio to perform pacing of the movement while shifting the focus with my violinist brother and a cellist friend. For from the orchestra to the soloist. 8 Solo Variations on Sarti’s “Come un agnello”, K. 460 years I dreamed of making K. 467 the first concerto 7 Thema [0.43] I recorded. That lasted until a couple of seasons When I first approached K. 595, I knew very little 8 Variation 1 [0.41] ago, when I was asked to perform K. 491 and K. 595 about the piece, except that it had a gorgeous 9 Variation 2 [0.56] with multiple orchestras. Getting to know these slow movement and a very charming Finale. 0 Variation 3 [0.41] two concerti in depth left a mark so deep that I soon discovered that its apparent simplicity q Variation 4 [0.53] I have moved my beloved K. 467 to the backburner hid content of immense depth. This is Mozart’s w Variation 5 [0.45] e Variation 6 [0.41] for the time being. last concerto, written at the end of his life, at a r Variation 7 [2.22] time when he had abandoned his career as a t Variation 8 [4.30] K. 491 is an intensely powerful piece, at times virtuoso performer of his own works. It is lean dark and desperate, sweet and beautiful, and and almost simplistic. The notes are not the main Total timings: [73.21] highly virtuosic in the last movement. Mozart wrote focus, but rather subtle changes in pacing, only two concerti in a minor key, and in K. 491 he harmony, texture, and the use of rests. Mozart creates an amazing emotional universe and sound provides the cadenzas for K. 595, as if to tell ALESSIO BAX Piano world through color, instrumentation and sheer performers that any improvisations within the SOUTHBANK SINFONIA imagination. I always look forward to performing concerto’s beautifully balanced world could SIMON OVER Conductor this concerto; it is an incredibly thrilling ride. create havoc. They are, in my mind, perfect www.signumrecords.com - 3 - cadenzas that seem to stop time while sounding complicity among the players involved. I consider involved little more than taking divine dictation. What, then, to make of the Piano Concerto No. 24 completely made up on the spot. Mozart’s concerti to be chamber music for a Equally important are his vacillating reception in C minor, K. 491? This stirring concerto, larger ensemble, and for these two in particular, among the fickle Viennese public – rock stardom composed in March 1786, at the height of I thought these two contrasting concerti would the ensemble needs virtuoso instrumentalists in the mid-1780s, then popular decline and Mozart’s celebrity, does much to confirm, but make a perfect pairing for a disc. K. 595, with its with an innate understanding of Mozart’s idiom. financial hardship (not helped by the composer’s more to confute, our mythic perceptions of pure melodies and revealing textures seems to The amazing Southbank Sinfonia, conducted extravagant tastes, but which, happily for us, Mozart. His legendary genius is in full evidence. be set in heaven, while K. 491 has its feet firmly by Simon Over, was my first choice for this disc. encouraged the prolificacy of his final years) – and But it is manifested in more traditionally on earth, describing humankind with all our ups These are highly accomplished players, and the his untimely death at 35 (from rheumatic fever; not, “Beethovenian” than “Mozartian” fashion: and downs. group has the flexibility, curiosity, energy and as Hollywood might prefer, Salieri’s poisonous envy). starting with C minor, the key of Beethoven’s fearlessness to bring this music to life. It has darkest, stormiest nights. The volatile first theme The Eight Variations on ‘Come un agnello’ from been an honor and great fun to work with them But central to our understanding of who Mozart defies the notion of Mozart’s Classical purity. Sarti’s Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode are an on this project. was is our understanding of his music. Mozart The 18th-century idea of balance – symmetrical incredible showcase of Mozart’s creativity. He has captured the imagination of listeners, four-bar phrases – is cast aside. The theme, transforms and develops the theme in seemingly © Alessio Bax, 2012 musicians, and scholars for more than two uttered first in a menacing whisper, then by limitless ways in each variation and through a centuries as a paragon of the Classical style. the orchestra at full strength, is an angular wealth of moods and atmospheres. The variations WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART We value his music as the quintessence of sequence of four measures, two, three, and four push the piano’s technical boundaries to new Born Salzburg, January 27, 1756; balance, symmetry, clarity of expression. It follows (the last four-bar phrase overlapping with the heights. From the sound control and the shaping died Vienna, December 5, 1791 naturally that his brand of genius should be forte restatement). Disjunct leaps of sixths of phrases required in the slow variations, to equally transcendent. We marvel at his pristine and sevenths puncture the melodic contour; the double thirds, sixths, leaps and quick hand The Mozart narrative’s essential points are manuscripts, over which Shaffer’s astonished the theme’s stark chromaticism shades its crossings in the fast ones, they are Mozart’s well known. Anyone familiar with the Peter Salieri exclaims, “But they showed no corrections demonic character (see figure 1 on the next page). unabashed displays of virtuosity. At the same Shaffer play-cum-Miloš Forman film Amadeus of any kind. Not one. He had simply written down time, the improvisatory cadenzas and slow can provide a thumbnail sketch: the Salzburg- music already finished in his head.” We think This tempestuous Allegro has inspired speculation variations are so inspired that they make this born wunderkind who spent his childhood touring of the firebrand Beethoven taking Vienna by that a public execution known to have taken one of the most fulfilling, if seldom performed, Europe with his proud taskmaster father, Leopold; storm in Mozart’s wake, heralding the Romantic place within view of Mozart’s studio two weeks sets of variations in the keyboard repertoire. the foul-mouthed savant whose scatological era with such viscerally human statements as before the work’s completion may have darkened sense of humor belied the sublimity of his the sea-parting Fifth Symphony. Beethoven, the the composer’s mood. As scholarship, it’s a stretch All Mozart concerti, and especially K. 491 and musical imagination; ‘Amadeus’, God’s beloved, vest-pocket narrative goes, wrote music of the (Mozart’s simultaneous writing of the bucolic K. 595, require an incredible partnership and whose perfect compositional technique seemingly earth; Mozart, of the heavens. A major Concerto, K. 488, discredits such an

- 4 - - 5 - Figure 1. Figure 2.

Vln. I Ob.

Clar.

Bsn. explanation), but a telling assessment nonetheless Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Cliff Hn. of the C minor Concerto’s disturbing character. Eisen and Stanley Sadie identify the dozen concerti written in these three years as “unquestionably It is worth pausing to note the significance of the the most important works of their kind”. Indeed, piano concerto to Mozart’s oeuvre and Mozart’s the C minor Concerto demonstrates exceptionally reciprocal importance to its literature. Establishing refined craftsmanship in balance with its himself in Vienna as history’s first freelance Romantic ferocity. At the first tutti entrance, composer, Mozart played the dual roles of artist we encounter the most imposing orchestra and impresario to great success between 1784 among any of Mozart’s concerti: scored for and 1786. He frequently presented concerts flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, unveiling his latest compositions: typically a two trumpets, two horns, timpani, and strings, symphony, a chamber work, perhaps a keyboard the C minor is Mozart’s only concerto to use pairs improvisation, and a piano concerto. Mozart of oboes, clarinets, and trumpets all at once (and composed twelve of his 27 piano concerti (from is one of only two concerti Mozart would ever pen Figure 3. K. 449 to K. 503) for these concerts. Expressly in a minor key). It moreover displays a richness of designed to showcase himself as both composer orchestration typically associated with composers and virtuoso, these works crystallized the piano a century later, providing a powerful dramatic concerto medium: the piano writing is in equal setting for the pianist/protagonist. Pno. measures logically expressive and brilliantly virtuosic; the dynamic between soloist and Consider Mozart’s deployment of the orchestra legato orchestra is pitch-perfect. Writing for The New following the piano’s first entrance. The warmth of

- 6 - - 7 - the strings cushions the piano’s serene modulation so obvious, you wonder why you didn’t think of Mozart subtly but unmistakably distinguishes Scholars grasping for intimations of Mozart’s to E-flat major. The winds echo the piano’s E-flat it yourself. Those marvels are very special, and these interludes in color by omitting the clarinets mortality will be disappointed. Never mind that melody, as mellifluous as the first theme is no one commands that corner of music quite in the first, the oboes in the second. the Concerto’s genesis likely dates back to 1788. angular, in pastoral hues (see figure 2 on the like Mozart.” The music itself dispels the narrative. True, it is previous page). Throughout the concerto, Mozart This sleight of orchestration recurs in the finale, painted in muted colors. The key of B-flat builds assigns dialogue of chief sophistication to the The C minor Concerto’s Larghetto inspires the a fiendishly imaginative set of eight variations. in a degree of restraint, relying considerably less winds, relying on the strings primarily for texture same wonder (see figure 3 on previous page). The theme is given over to understated, almost on the natural resonance of the string instruments and dramatic thrust. erotic, piquancy. The winds drive two major-key (whose open strings – C, G, D, A, E – make them Mozart biographer Maynard Solomon identifies variations: the fourth, in E-flat major, without especially sympathetic to those keys). The score The piano develops each thematic idea, guiding this Larghetto among the quintessentially flute and oboe; the sixth, in G major, sans clarinet calls for flute, oboes, bassoons, horns, and strings the listener through an endlessly scenic Mozartian slow movements, in which “a calm, and horn. Around these, Mozart puts the theme – forgoing considerable thunder from the C minor landscape. Indeed, the movement’s thematic contemplative, or ecstatic condition gives way through paces in turns martial and mysterious, Concerto’s forces in omitting clarinets, trumpets, multiplicity, always organically wrought, is one to a troubled state – is penetrated by hints of before concluding the concerto at a devilish and timpani. of its most impressive characteristics. When the storm, dissonance, anguish, anxiety, danger – 6/8 gallop. flute recalls the opening theme (in E-flat minor), and this in turn is succeeded by a restoration But the Concerto’s musical ideas are warm and it seems a troubled but fleeting memory amidst of the status quo ante, now suffused with and What the C minor Concerto offers in Sturm und generous more than they can be called autumnal. an otherwise peaceful (E-flat major) reverie. Such transformed by the memory of the turbulent Drang, the Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major, In contrast to the C minor’s unsettling first theme, moments invest this movement with a startling interlude.” Pointing specifically to the slow K. 595 equals in featherweight luminosity. The here, the entire orchestral exposition seems psychological complexity. Mozart closes the movements of the two concerti on this disc (as B-flat is Mozart’s final piano concerto, dated to unfold in one long, miraculous breath. The movement, impeccably, not with a bang, but a well as that of the C major Concerto, K. 467), January 5, 1791 – within a year of his death – in soloist’s subsequent repartee with the orchestra sinister whisper. Solomon notes that Mozart “tries to summon his Verzeichnüss aller meiner Werke (Catalogue has the intimacy of chamber music (an impression up every gradation of emotion – from terror of all my works). Mozart gave the premiere emphasized on the present recording by the use The Larghetto is a study in that brand of Mozartian to vague feelings of unease, from unbearably himself in March of that year, in what would be in certain passages of solo strings). simplicity that, by and large, disappears intense pleasures bordering on ecstasy to a his final concert performance. Though his star had from music after the 18th century. Of another floating placidity and contentment.” faded considerably by this time among Viennese Mozart’s harmonic shenanigans in the transcendent Mozart slow movement – that of audiences, the Wiener Zeitung nevertheless development section are noteworthy, beginning the Clarinet Quintet – the peerless music critic The gradations of emotion emerge here courtesy reported that “everyone admired his art, in with the piano’s statement of the theme in Michael Steinberg once observed, “You listen to of two extended interludes, featuring, as in the composition as well as performance.” B minor – close in proximity to the home key the first phrase… and there’s nothing there. It’s first movement, wind writing of striking originality. of B-flat, but harmonically very distant. The

- 8 - - 9 - strings respond as if disoriented, unsure of preposterously call his early 30s, has apparently complex passages (which do exist) seductively aristocrats and their servants. More importantly, where the piano has taken them; the oboes and not forsaken his impish wit. Mozart biographer packaged so that ‘the ordinary listener will also ‘Come un agnello’ was sufficiently well known bassoons discover the soloist in the equally Julian Rushton rightly notes, “If we postulate a find them satisfying, without knowing why’.” in its day for Mozart to famously quote it again remote key of C major (see figure 4). ‘late style’, it is one prone to limpid textures, free three years later in Don Giovanni: it is the second of what Mozart’s contemporaries might have After the tender Larghetto, which looks ahead of three popular tunes played during the supper The development proceeds in this fashion, taking condemned as learned, or ‘tough meat’; to the gentle lyricism of Felix Mendelssohn’s scene (followed by “Non più andrai” from Figaro). the listener from one unexpected place to the overflowing with melody; the surface serene, as Lieder ohne Worte, the Concerto concludes with next. Mozart in his late period, if we are to so if compositional difficulties no longer existed; a spirited rondo. For its subject, Mozart uses As evidenced by the finale to his Piano Concerto the charming melody of his own “Sehnsucht in C minor, the variations form provided a potent Figure 4. nach dem Frühlinge” (Longing for Spring), a vehicle for Mozart’s inexhaustible imagination; song completed immediately after the Concerto this set affirms the same. Mozart transforms (catalogued by Mozart on January 14; later Sarti’s straightforward melody over eight catalogued as K. 596). beguiling variations into something exceedingly pleasing indeed. Now largely forgotten, the Italian composer Ob. Giuseppe Sarti (1729–1802) was a leading © Patrick Castillo, 2012 figure in late 18th-century opera. Mozart met Bsn. Sarti on the latter’s visit to Vienna in June 1784; he wrote to his father, “Sarti is a good honest fellow! I have played a great deal to him and Pno. have composed variations on an air of his, which pleased him exceedingly.”

Vln. I The tune for Mozart’s Variations on “Come un Vln. II agnello”, K. 460, comes from Sarti’s opera Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (While Two Dispute, the Vla. Third Enjoys). The plot of the opera, composed in 1782, resembles that of Mozart’s Le nozze di Vc. + Db. Figaro (1786), with its Romantic high jinx among

- 10 - - 11 - ALESSIO BAX and American Record Guide “Critics’ Choice” Festival appearances have included London’s (“a disc to treasure”). In 2005, Bax and pianist International Piano Series (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Pianist Alessio Bax is praised for creating “a Lucille Chung recorded Saint-Saëns’s Carnival Verbier in Switzerland, England’s Aldeburgh ravishing listening experience” with his lyrical of the Animals with conductor Miguel Harth- and Bath festivals, and the Ruhr Klavierfestival, playing, insightful interpretations and dazzling Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. BeethovenFest and Schloss Elmau in Germany. facility. First Prize winner at the Leeds and They have also recorded the complete works for He has performed recitals at major music halls Hamamatsu international piano competitions two pianos and piano four hands of György Ligeti in Rome, Milan, Madrid, Mexico City, Paris, and a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, on Dynamic Records. In addition, Bax has London, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, New he has appeared as soloist with over 90 chronicled the complete works for piano and York and Washington, DC. orchestras, including the London and Royal organ of Marcel Dupré for Naxos, and Brahms’s Philharmonic orchestras, Dallas and Houston Piano Concerto No. 1 live with the New Japan Alessio Bax graduated with top honors at the age symphonies, the NHK Symphony in Japan, St. Philharmonic, for Fontec. Also on Fontec, of 14 from the conservatory of his hometown in Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, Bax released a live recording of Beethoven’s Bari, Italy. He studied in France with François-Joël and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Hamamatsu Thiollier and attended the Chigiana Academy with Sir Simon Rattle. Symphony Orchestra. in Siena under Joaquín Achúcarro. He moved to Dallas in 1994 to continue his studies with In the fall of 2012 Signum Records released Among the esteemed conductors with whom Achúcarro at SMU’s Meadows School of the Alessio Bax Plays Brahms, adding to his Alessio Bax has worked are Marin Alsop, Sergiu Arts, and he is now on the teaching faculty acclaimed discography. Bax’s 2011 album, Commissiona, Alexander Dimitriev, Vernon there. He and his wife, pianist Lucille Rachmaninov: Preludes and Melodies (Signum Handley, Jacques Lacombe, Jonathan Nott, Vasily Chung, reside in New York City. Alessio Bax is Records), received critical praise across the Petrenko, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Dimitry Sitkovetsky a Steinway artist. board. Classics Today hailed it as “impassioned, and Christopher Warren-Green. He performed world-class Rachmaninov,” and American Record Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata for maestro www.alessiobax.com Guide designated it as a “Critics’ Choice 2011”. Daniel Barenboim in the PBS-TV documentary Bax’s 2009 CD, Bach Transcribed, also received Barenboim on Beethoven: Masterclass, available rave reviews from Gramophone (“awesome”) as a DVD box set on the EMI label. and Fanfare (“this disc is a must”). Baroque Reflections, his 2004 recording for Warner Classics, was selected as a Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” © Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

- 12 - - 13 - SOUTHBANK SINFONIA professional recording. The orchestra receives no public funding and is indebted to its many Southbank Sinfonia is an orchestra of young individual donors, trusts and foundations, and professionals described by The Times as “a corporate supporters. This recording would dashing ensemble who play with exhilarating not have been possible without the generous fizz, exactness and stamina”. Internationally support of Margaret Rodgers, and the late recognised as a leading orchestral academy, Barney Rodgers, Principal Partner EFG Private it draws talent from all over the world Bank, and the following individuals: Dr Tony and provides graduate musicians with a Burch, Dr Anthea Cecil, Pamela Christina, much-needed springboard into the profession. Edwin Cotton, Susan Craig, Pamela Currin, Every year 32 players, each supported by a Diana Douglas, Father Michael Durand, Wendy bursary, undertake an intensive nine-month Godden-Wood, Lady Susan Jacobs, Carys Jones, programme of performance in a wide range Justin Lee, James & Elizabeth Mann, In memory of styles and settings, professional development, of Ian Martin, Angela McDonald, Joanna Mersey, and opportunities to be role-models, inspiring Michael Meur, Baroness O’Cathain, Peter many younger musicians on London’s Southbank Parker, Jess Pearce, Isabel Perkins, Stanley Pride, and beyond. A distinctive and integral part Christian Rochat, Pamela & Stephen Rose, of the programme is the orchestra’s creative Lady Roskill, Joe Ryan, Giovanni Sassolini, partnerships with leading arts organisations Anne Sharpley, Barbara Stribbling, Lady Juliet including the Royal Opera, National Theatre, Tadgell, Greg Wheeler, Julia Whiteman, Lynne BBC Concert Orchestra, Academy of St Martin Wilkins and Patsy Youngstein. Thanks also to in the Fields, and acclaimed artists including those donors who wish to remain anonymous. Patron Vladimir Ashkenazy. www.southbanksinfonia.co.uk In 2012, Southbank Sinfonia reached its 10th anniversary and, as part of the celebrations, joined forces with Signum to create this new disc, giving its players the opportunity to Proud principal partner of immerse themselves in the process of making a Southbank Sinfonia

- 14 - - 15 - Violin I Flute SIMON OVER Leslie Boulin Raulet Lina Andonovska Christopher Rutland Simon Over studied at the Amsterdam Gaëlle-Anne Michel Oboe Conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music and Seila Tammisola Odette Cotton Oxford University. From 1992 to 2002 Simon was Judith Choi Castro Nicola Barbagli a member of the music staff of Westminster Minsi Yang Abbey, and Director of Music at both St Clarinet Margaret’s Church and in the Palace of Violin II Tom Lessels Westminster. He is the Founder-Conductor of the Barbara Zdziarska Mary Barrett UK Parliament Choir and has conducted all the Christiane Eidsten Dahl choir’s performances in conjunction with the City Edward McCullagh Bassoon of London Sinfonia, La Serenissima, The London Charlotte Maclet Ruth Rosales Festival Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia. Sophie Crawford Viola Simon founded Southbank Sinfonia in 2002 and Jenny Wilkinson Horn has conducted many of its concerts throughout Kimberly Jill Harrenstein Chris Beagles (I in No.24) the UK and Europe including St George’s Chapel, Lisa Bucknell Phillippa Slack (I in No.27) Windsor Castle; St James’s Palace; The Royal Ben Harrison Opera House, ; Westminster Trumpet Abbey; The Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Cello Russell Jackson Albert Hall. He has conducted Southbank Alisa Liubarskaya Raffaele Chieli Sinfonia in recordings with cellist Raphael Arthur Boutillier Wallfisch and tenor Andrew Kennedy and in Ivan Leon Timpani/Percussion 2009 and 2010 conducted the orchestra in Catherine Ring 71 performances of Every Good Boy Deserves Bass Favour (Tom Stoppard/André Previn) at the Jakub Cywinski National Theatre which received rave reviews. Caimin Gilmore

- 16 - - 17 - In 2006, Simon was appointed Conductor of As a pianist, his performances with American the Malcolm Sargent Festival Choir and has violinist Miriam Kramer at the Wigmore Hall and been associated with Samling in its work with Lincoln Center, New York – as well as on several young professional singers since its inception in recordings – have received high critical acclaim. 1996. Alongside his role as Artistic Director of the Music Festival in Anghiari, Simon has been Music Director of Bury Court Opera since 2010, where he has conducted Dido and Aeneas, Recorded at Saint Silas the Martyr, Kentish Town, London from 7-8 June 2012. Rigoletto, La Cenerentola and Eugene Onegin. Producer - Anna Barry Recording Engineer - Mike Hatch He is a Guest Conductor of the City Chamber Recording Assitant - Brett Cox Editor - Craig Jenkins Orchestra (Hong Kong), the Goyang Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea) and Southern Sinfonia (New Cover Image - © Lisa-Marie Mazzucco Design and Artwork - Woven Design Zealand). In June 2011 he directed Mozart’s www.wovendesign.co.uk Bastien und Bastienne for the Vestfold International Festival in Norway and in August P 2013 The copyright in this recording is owned by Signum Records Ltd. 2011 was invited to Brazil to conduct a concert © 2013 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Signum Records Ltd. with cellist Umberto Clerici and the Orquestra Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action by law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd. Sinfônica de Barra Mansa at the Candelaria All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, in Rio. mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Signum Records Ltd. SignumClassics, Signum Records Ltd., Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middx UB6 7JD, UK. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] Simon has worked both as conductor and accompanist with many internationally-acclaimed www.signumrecords.com musicians, including Sir , Sir James and Lady Galway, Dame Emma Kirkby, Dame , Sir Willard White, Alessio Bax, Emma Johnson, Simon Keenlyside, , and Amanda Roocroft.

- 18 - - 19 - ALSO AVAILABLE on signumclassics

Rachmaninov: Preludes and Melodies Alessio Bax plays Brahms SIGCD264 SIGCD309

“This is one of the most intelligent and engrossing Rachmaninov “Alessio Bax proves himself here to be an ideal Brahmsian ... recitals of recent years … a highly rewarding release.” Signum’s sound ideally showcases Bax’s huge dynamic range. Classic FM Magazine When I want to listen to any of these pieces, this truly notable disc will now be my first choice.” Fanfare

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