Vladimir Ashkenazy

Mats Lidström, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra & Vladimir Ashkenazy – Lidström: Rigoletto Fantasy – Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 26, 2023 · Comments off

Mats Lidström, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra & Vladimir Ashkenazy – Lidström: Rigoletto Fantasy – Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:00:02 minutes | 1,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BIS

Vladimir Ashkenazy and Mats Lidström began their collaboration in London in the 1980s, during Ashkenazy’s tenure at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where Lidström was principal cellist. They have since appeared together in concert as well as on recordings, including a recording of concertos by Kabalevsky and Khachaturian on BIS. They are here reunited, in front of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, in a performance of what has become a true modern classic: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. The concerto was composed in 1959, during the so-called Khruschev Thaw, but even though Soviet censorship and repression had relaxed somewhat following the death of Stalin, the approval from the mighty Composer’s Union was still needed before any public performances could take place. When the concerto was performed before the Union’s committee, Vladimir Ashkenazy – then in his early twenties – was present and has recounted how nervous and uncomfortable Shostakovich appeared while observing the reactions of the committee. The release opens with Mats Lidström’s own Rigoletto Fantasy, based on Verdi’s opera. Inspired by virtuosic violin pieces such Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, and with professional experience from the orchestra pit of the Royal Swedish Opera, Lidström has selected a string of highlights from Rigoletto, including of course the Duke’s La donna è mobile and Gilda’s Caro nome, joining them together in a virtuosic, dramatic and moving narrative.

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Mischa Maisky, Lars Anders Tomter, Czech PO, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Strauss: Don Quixote (2001/2009) SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · December 4, 2022 · Comments off

Mischa Maisky (cello), Lars Anders Tomter (viola) and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy performs Richard Strauss’ “Don Quixote (Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character)” & “Symphonic Poem “Death and Transfiguration” on this Japanese SACD. A pure DSD recording.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2; Etudes Tableaux Op. 33 (1982/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 10, 2022 · Comments off

Following the release of the Complete Solo Piano Recordings of Vladimir Ashkenazy in one edition for the very first time, Decca Records proudly presents selected offerings from Ashkenazy’s storied career!

Paying tribute to one of the pianists he most admires, Sviatoslav Richter, Ashkenazy said that, “It was his devotion and commitment to his art that will be his legacy”. Looking back at his long and distinguished career, this is surely a description which is equally true of Ashkenazy himself.

This edition features Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36 and 9 Etudes-Tableaux, Op. 33.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Rachmaninoff: 24 Preludes (1976/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 10, 2022 · Comments off

This edition features Rachmaninoff’s 5 Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, 10 Preludes, Op. 23, and 13 Preludes, Op. 32.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Chopin: The 4 Scherzi; Prelude, Op. 45; Barcarolle, Op. 60 (1968/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 10, 2022 · Comments off

This edition features Chopin’s 4 Scherzi alongside the Prelude, Op. 45 and Barcarolle, Op. 60.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Chopin: Four Ballades; Trois Nouvelles Etudes (1965/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 10, 2022 · Comments off

This edition features a collection of Chopin’s Ballades and Etudes.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Chopin: Etudes (1975/2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 10, 2022 · Comments off

This edition features Chopin’s 12 Études, Op. 10 and 12 Études, Op. 25.

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Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy – Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · October 16, 2022 · Comments off

Marking their latest collaboration with their conductor laureate Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Philharmonia return to disc with a stellar live-performance of Rachmaninov’s ebullient Symphony No.2 in E Minor. This is the second release in a new series of Rachmaninov’s symphonies, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy in live performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The first release of Symphony No. 1 (SIGCD484) was met by critical acclaim:

“Perhaps the most satisfying of all [Ashkenazy’s recordings of the Symphony]…” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Ashkenazy knows how to shape detail and soar in the big melodic moments. The Philharmonia sound is muscular and alert, from the opening woodwind solos to the mighty, stirring symphonic tutti of the finale.” (The Observer)

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Bach: French Suites, BWV 812-817 (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 27, 2022 · Comments off

Even though Vladimir Ashkenazy has been on the “piano market”. for over half a century, this recording of Bach’s French Suites is a brand new one : March 2016 and April 2017, thus it is not some kind of reprint or re-issue, but the fruit of a long maturation. Over the past twelve years, the pianist has increasingly turned to the music of J. S. Bach, starting with the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier, which he recorded in 2005. Working essentially from the Peters Urtext Edition, with a few suggestions of alternative readings from other sources, Ashkenazy makes clarity of sound his goal: “It was a privilege to do more Bach, and I tried to have a sound as clear as possible. The music is transparent, and Bach’s own instrument was terribly clear, so this has to be taken into account in pieces where there are lower bass lines, and a more involved texture. I use very few ornaments and don’t think of the sound of the harpsichord – the piano is what we have today. What I try to do is play on what we have today, and make the combination of voices as clear as possible”. This will hopefully put an end to any – useless and sterile anyway – discussion regarding whether Bach can or even should be played on anything else than the harpsichord, or be “allowed” onto modern or even ancient pianos.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Bach: English Suites 1-3 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · September 27, 2022 · Comments off

Vladimir Ashkenazy has announced he will release his new recording of Bach’s English Suites 1 – 3 on a unique double album with his first Bach recording from 1965, the Concerto in D minor, on 15 October 2021. Over half a century, a remarkable 56 years, spans the two recordings marking the longest exclusive association between pianist and record label, Decca Classics, in history.

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Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (1973/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 25, 2022 · Comments off

Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti - Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (1973/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti – Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5 (1973/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:57:01 minutes | 2,97 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Decca Music Group Ltd.

This Grammy-winning release marks Vladimir Ashkenazy’s first of three cycles of the complete Beethoven piano concertos and captures the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sir Georg Solti at the peak of their careers. Ashkenazy recorded these concertos in May 1971 and May 1972: in 1971 the third and fifth concertos were recorded; a year later the cycle was completed with the first, second and fourth concertos.
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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Bach, J.S.: Italian Concerto; French Overture; Aria Variata (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 21, 2022 · Comments off

Vladimir Ashkenazy - Bach, J.S.: Italian Concerto; French Overture; Aria Variata (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Vladimir Ashkenazy – Bach, J.S.: Italian Concerto; French Overture; Aria Variata (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:31 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Decca Music Group Ltd.

Significantly, the focus of J.S. Bach’s obituary is almost exclusively on his life as a keyboard player. There is a brief mention of the cantatas, Passions, concertos and the Mass, but with no details matching those of him as a keyboardist — learning to play as a child, developing a career as an adult. Rather, and at considerable length, it tells of his great fame as a player — on harpsichord (before the King of Saxony in Dresden), on organ (before enthusiastic audiences) and even on piano (before the King of Prussia in Potsdam).

However difficult and complex some of his keyboard music was, particularly for the time, it remains wonderfully practical, playable (with practice!) and is, in the way the hands move, positively palpable for the player. It is a unique repertory. The four works recorded here show Bach in various guises as a versatile keyboardist: a young man imitating his elders (BWV 989), an energetic arranger of the new Italian concertos (BWV 974), and as a mature composer of astonishing originality and suavity (BWV 831 and 971).
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Vladimir Ashkenazy – Walking In The Air: The Music of Howard Blake (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 5, 2022 · Comments off

Vladimir Ashkenazy returns with an unexpected album of compositions by his long-standing friend Howard Blake, best known for the Christmas favourite Walking In The Air.

Walking in the Air, which Ashkenazy has chosen as the title track of the disc is arranged here for solo piano (and available as an e-single). The song was composed by Blake as the centrepiece of his score for the children’s classic animated film The Snowman, and exemplifies the composer’s warmly accessible style.

Ashkenazy performs no fewer than nine world premiere recordings from Blake’s repertoire and the album features music from Blake’s other film scores, including Ridley Scott’s ‘The Duellists’ and horror classic ‘The Changeling’ and the Prelude for Vova Op.640, written after Ashkenazy asked Blake to “make a piece out of my initials A.S.H. – like Liszt did with B.A.C.H.”

Howard Blake’s illustrious career has spanned over 50 years in which he has composed more than 650 works, both classical and popular. He has written scores for numerous films, beginning in the 1970s, but it was in 1982, with his orchestral score for The Snowman that Blake achieved widespread acclaim. While he is best known for the Christmas classic, he has written a wide range of music, including a piano concerto for the 30th birthday of Princess Diana.

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Dmitri Shostakovich – Trios Nos. 1 & 2, Viola Sonata – Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay, Mats Lidstrom, Ada Meinich (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · February 16, 2017 · Comments off

Dmitri Shostakovich – Trios Nos. 1 & 2, Viola Sonata – Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay, Mats Lidstrom, Ada Meinich (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:41 minutes | 1,19 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz | Digital Booklet | © Decca
Recorded: Potton Hall, Suffolk, 17–20 September 2015

As a young man in Moscow in the early 1960s Vladimir Ashkenazy was invited by Shostakovich to play a private performance of the Piano Trio No 2 in the composer’s apartment.

Ashkenazy’s friendship with the composer and his lifelong advocacy of his music as a pianist and conductor lends the performances on this album a unique, definitive authority and he is joined by long-standing chamber music partners. Astonishingly, these are Ashkenazy’s first recordings of this music and add to a remarkable Shostakovich discography on Decca.

The three works on this album span Shostakovich’s entire creative life: from the early, rarely heard Trio No 1 – an almost uncharacteristically romantic piece written when he was 16 – to his very last composition, the Viola Sonata of 1975. In between comes the masterpiece which was born of national and personal tragedy in Leningrad in 1944: the Piano Trio No 2.

In the Trios Ashkenazy is reunited with the team he recorded Rachmaninov with: “Ashkenazy, Visontay and Lidström tap the vein of grief coursing through this music…They also unleash passion” (Daily Telegraph). And for the viola sonata, Ashkenazy is joined by the distinguished Norwegian violist Ada Meinich, until recently a member of the Faust Quartet.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Piano Trio – Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · December 20, 2016 · Comments off

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Piano Trio – Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzhak Perlman, Lynn Harrell (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96kHz | Time – 00:49:17 minutes | 904 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Q0buz | Digital Booklet | © Warner Classics
Recorded: CBS Studios, New York, 24–26 January 1980

Throughout his recording career, Itzhak Perlman has shown a real attraction for the trio repertoire. Following the lead of such eminent predecessors as Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh and Isaac Stern, he has formed lasting chamber relationships with other, equally talented musicians. He recorded the major works of the trio repertoire for EMI with Russian-born pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy and American cellist Lynn Harrell – notably the works of Beethoven and Brahms. In later years they also recorded the Ravel Trio (this time for Decca), while Perlman also added the two Mendelssohn trios to his discography, on that occasion working with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma (for Sony). The first album released by Perlman, Ashkenazy and Harrell was devoted to the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, a work well served by the recording industry, having been immortalised in the 1950s by three legendary versions laid down by the Oistrakh Trio, the grouping of Kogan, Gilels and Rostropovich, and the famous “million-dollar trio” of Heifetz, Rubinstein and Piatigorsky respectively (Zukerman, Barenboim and Du Pré later joined forces and recorded an impassioned live version for EMI in 1972). Tchaikovsky composed the work in homage to his late friend the pianist-composer Nikolai Rubinstein, brother of Anton. He had gone to see Rubinstein’s body, after his funeral service, and in the Trio expressed a sense of death’s physical, haunting presence and a genuine, scarcely bearable terror, which he was to develop further in The Queen of Spades. Although he had often condemned the very form of the piano trio, arguing that his “ears would not accept the combination of piano, violin and cello”, and even writing that he found it “real torture to listen to a trio or a sonata with violin or cello”, it somehow came to be the natural choice for this memorial on a grand scale. The piano symbolised the now-silenced voice of Rubinstein, the violin and cello those of his old friends, Tchaikovsky himself and his patroness Madame von Meck. A work of tact and restraint, free from any excess of sentiment, the Trio, Op.50 “to the memory of a great artist” remained in manuscript form for over a year before the composer agreed to its publication in 1883, thereby allowing it to take its place among the masterpieces of the genre. –Jean-Michel Molkhou

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