the nutcracker

Gergiev and Vienna Philarmonic play The Firebird by Stravinsky

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker, Op.71 - Act I, No.2  March

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite - Act II, No.10. Grandfather Dance

Voices Of Spring Waltz - Johann Strauss Jr.- Black Tie string quartet

Voices Of Spring Waltz - Johann Strauss Jr.

12 Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a - Arabian Dance (Coffee)

Although the “Kreutzer” Sonata, Op. 47, is dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, the original dedication was to George P. Bridgetower (1779-1860), for whom the piece was written. Bridgetower, an African-Polish violinist who lived in London.
Rodolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831) was a French violinist of great renown whom Beethoven met in Vienna in 1798.

Beethoven’s decision to dedicate the sonata to Kreutzer instead of Bridgetower was probably related to his intended move to Paris and a wish to ingratiate himself with French musical luminaries. Legend has it that Beethoven changed the dedication because he and Bridgetower quarreled over a woman. Kreutzer most likely never knew of the dedication, and it is almost certain that he never played the piece.

The “Kreutzer” Sonata was published in 1805. Beethoven described the piece as “written in a very concertante style, like that of a concerto,” explaining the internal conflict generally associated with his larger works.

Beethoven’s “new path” is everywhere evident in the first movement of the “Kreutzer” Sonata. The only slow introduction Beethoven ever wrote for a violin sonata is actually the only portion of the movement in A major, which gives way to A minor at the beginning of the Presto sonata-form section. Development of the first theme does not occur until the lengthy, weighty coda, which is much more symphonic than chamber-style in conception.

Ludwig van Beethoven. Sonata No. 9 "Kreutzer" for violin and piano, op. 47

Recorded live with the University of Chichester Chamber Orchestra, at the Chapel of the Ascension, 1st May 2010.

Conducted by Adam Swayne

Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 - II. Andante

The Wild Ones - 
Not as wild as they seem - after all, they were 'gallant' - as were the composer.

After all, it was 'the Industry' (- read: the Spanish) that killed them.

Rameau 2

Les Sauvages

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Highlights)

Swan Lake: Act I: Dance of the goblets

Liszt - Mephisto Waltz

This track is from the album Christmas On Copper Street and is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/copperstreetbrassquintet

The Nutcracker Suite: Spanish Dance (Chocolate)

Played on a Yamaha CF3s Grand Piano
Camille Saint-Saens - Le Carnaval Des Animaux(The Carnival of Animals) R.125.10 The Aviary -  Grand Fantasy Zoo (Orchestra)

Camille Saint Saens - Le Carnaval Des Animaux R.125.10 The Aviary -  Grand Fantasie Zoo (Orchestra)

„Wagner, the magician, has made the orchestra disappear.“ (Georg Solti) However, this new recording goes one step further than the master, with his unusual stage design in Bayreuth. With the removal of „orchestral and vocal commotion“ (Carlos Kleiber, in the studio during the mixing of his TRISTAN recording), the listener is able to hear the very essence of the work, which suddenly has „much more of an inward effect “ (CK). Here, in the RING PIANOS PROJECT, the music is once again liberated from the effects of orchestration. „The result is uncanny, drawing you in with a seemingly magical series of harmonies and notes to produce a deeper and more intense experience“ (Klaus Hiemann, Studio Engineer for Carlos Kleiber, speaking about this recording).
Thanks to Cord Garben and Thomas Hoppe for the tour de force. Thanks to Steingraeber for the concert grands; Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner were not mistaken. Thanks to our puristic sound engineer Johannes Müller and mastering guru Christoph Stickel, on behalf of all audiophile Wagnerites. Thanks to Dynaudio for the monitors, on which only true gold glitters. And thanks to everyone who who will fall for this recording in Wagner Year 2013. Never before has there been a Ring like this.

See, he smiles in the shining light.

Wilfried Ehrenholz and Jan Geschke, Producers

CD with 11 tracks (Rhinegold & The Valkyrie) will be available from January, 8th, from selected Dynaudio HiFi dealers worldwide and via Amazon. Check www.dynaudio.com


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Philosophy: to record the ensemble of the two special full-size concert grand "Franz Liszt"-pianos as purely as possible with the highest quality standards and the minimum technology possible: two sphere microphones as poly-directional microphones, two wide angles as direct sound microphones for each concert grand. The grand piano microphones go directly without stopover into the pre-amplifiers/converters of the Nagra equipment for the shortest possible signal path to recording. The sphere microphones are specially pre-amplified using Sonosax PreAmp. The microphone signals are recorded on separate tracks in 96 kHz / 24 bit resolution. This means the mix chosen at the recording venue can be refined even further in mastering and made even more transparent and balanced.
Johannes Müller, sound engineer, and Christoph Stickel, Mastering, Munich.
2x Steingraeber Franz Liszt concert grand 2x DPA 4006-TL (Spheres) 4x Neumann KM143 (Wide-Angle Cardioid) Sonosax SX-M2 Mic PreAmp
Nagra VI 8-Channel Recorder Stax SR-404 Headphones Dynaudio Focus 160 & Confidence C4 Signature Loudspeakers Dynaudio Air 25 Studio Monitors
The triple concert grand invented on the spot for the Ring Pianos Project. The lid of the old Steingraeber concert grand replaced the lid removed from the second grand piano.

12 Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a - Arabian Dance (Coffee)

Chris Palmer

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