A remarkable American virtuoso, Charles Rosen, brought the unique insights of a brilliant musical thinker and scholar to every work he performed, but his mastery of a large eclectic repertoire was perhaps displayed to the fullest in 20th-century works. Sony Classical’s new 4-CD box collects Rosen’s authoritative readings of Boulez, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Webern, as well as both of his recordings of Elliott Carter’s breathtaking Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano, which Stravinsky hailed as “a masterpiece”.
Boulez:
Piano Sonata No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 3
Carter, E:
Double Concerto for Harpsichord & Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras
Ralph Kirkpatrick (harpsichord)
Chamber Orchestra, Gustav Meier
Piano Sonata
Double Concerto for Harpsichord & Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras
Paul Jacobs (harpsichord)
English Chamber Orchestra, Frederik Prausnitz
Schoenberg:
Klavierstück, Op. 33a
Suite for Piano, Op. 25
Stravinsky:
Serenade in A for piano
Movements for Piano & Orchestra
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky
Webern:
Fünf Lieder, Op. 3 from “Der siebente Ring”
Fünf Lieder, Op. 4
Vier Lieder, Op. 12
Heather Harper (soprano)
Four pieces for violin & piano, Op. 7 (1910)
Isaac Stern (violin)
Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1914) – Gregor Piatigorsky, cello
Quartet, Op. 22 for violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano
Daniel Majeske (violin), Robert Marcellus (clarinet), Abraham Weinstein (tenor saxophone)
Pierre Boulez
Drei Gesänge, Op. 23
Halina Lukomska (soprano)
Drei Lieder, Op. 25
Halina Lukomska (soprano)
Variations, Op. 27
Charles Rosen (piano)