The Piano Music of Ed Bland Judith Olson, piano Throughout his career, Mr. Bland enjoyed the challenge of writing for various combinations of instruments (even if seldom used) and his compositions always included a broad range of textures, with a diversity of rhythms which is most evident in the nine works for piano presented on this recording. From Classical Soul, Cell fone Blues, and Phunky Phrogs Rag to Three Chaconnes in Blue, Ed Bland's key objective was to simultaneously maintain the "aesthetic Now," or "extended Now" of jazz improvisation, and unpredictability of the work within a coherent structure.

CD-1256

Peter Takács The Complete Beethoven Piano Sonata
11 Disc, Hybrid SACD Boxed Set

Beethoven’s piano sonatas which span almost his entire life radiate human struggle and heavenly certitude. While Bach summarized all that has come before, Beethoven pointed to the future. Embarking on a life-long project, pianist Peter Takács, for the very first time presents in one package — Beethoven’s complete sonatas — the standard “32” plus all the early piano sonatas without opus numbers and also the one and only sonata for piano four-hands. This unique release is presented in a lavish 11-Disc, Hybrid SACD boxed set, which includes a 144-page fully illustrated hardcover book providing an essay on The Mind of Beethoven and extensive and detailed notes on interpretation of each of the works. Additionally, Beethoven’s life, times and world, are outlined in a handy, concise, separate 22 x 22 inch, double-sided fold-out chart. Recorded in 5.1 Surround audio on an Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand, this set is truly one of a kind.

A special Limited, Numbered Edition of 250 units will be signed by Peter Takács and available through the Cambria website.

CD-3800A - Regular Edition $109.95
CD-3800B -  Signed Limited Edition Price $149.95

THE SARI BIRO LEGACY
Historic Piano Performances (1944-1972)

Piano Works by
Albeniz, Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Casella, Chopin,
Gershwin, Haydn, Kabalevsky, Kodaly, Mendelssohn,
Menotti, Milhaud, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev,
Rameau, Scarlatti, Schumann, von Sauer, Weiner

In celebration of the centenary year of her birth, Cambria is honored to release The Sari Biro Legacy ­— a four disc, box set chronicling her remarkable recording career between the years 1944 and 1972. Sari Biro (pronounced sha-ri) was the only women pianist to ever perform nine major piano concerti in three consecutive concerts  — a feat she accomplished several times in her career including Carnegie Hall (1949). Awarded a scholarship to the Franz Liszt Royal Academy of Music in her native Budapest while still in her teens, Biro received her Artist Diploma in 1930. The French composer, Vincent d’Indy, heard her in the Leo Weiner Concertino in 1928 and proclaimed “To hear Sari play makes one a better human being.” During the next decade, Biro was regularly heard over Hungarian Radio and concertized in the major capitals of Europe.  Just before the outbreak of war (1939), she relocated to New York City with the limited funds she was allowed to remove from Hungary and a steamer trunk of recital gowns and musical scores. World War II immediately cut her off from her homeland and family, which forced Biro to re-launch her musical career in America; she also had to become proficient in the English language. Biro wouldn’t return to Europe for another thirty years. On May 4th, 1940 Sari Biro played her first Town Hall recital in New York City. The critics were unanimous, “Sari Biro . . . must be reckoned among the foremost women exponents of the keyboard . . . (New York Times). For the next three decades, Biro gave hundreds of piano recitals and performed with numerous orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and South America. Highly versatile, she was regularly heard on the radio and early television (both as  recitalist and lecturer), and was sought after as a master-teacher in New York, San Francisco and at Indiana University. This box set preserves her recorded legacy and was authorized by the Sari Biro Estate (SariBiro.com). It includes a 44 page booklet tracing her career with rare photos and extensive annotations.

Cambria CD-1174 (Four CD Box Set) $27.95

MEDITATIONS AND OVERTONES
MARGARET MILLS (piano)

Joel Feigin: Four Meditations from Dogen (1994)
Joel Feigin: Variations on Empty Space (2008)
Ruth Schonthal: Sonata Breve (1972)
Amy Beach: Five Improvisations for Piano, Op. 148 (1944)
Gloria Coates: Sonata No. 1: Tones in Overtones (1972)

CD-1195

MUSIC OF NICOLAS SLONIMSKY – THE COMPOSER AT THE PIANO

Piccolo Divertimento No.1 (et al), ensemble version of Studies in Black and White; (Cal Arts Ensemble, William Kraft, conductor); (Recorded 1989)
Studies in Black and White (for Piano), Nicolas Slonimsky, piano. (Recorded 1972)
Modinha Russo-Brasileira, Laurindo Almeida, twin guitars. (Recorded 1972)
Silhouettes Iberiennes, Laurindo Almeida, twin guitars
(Recorded 1972)
Variations on a Brazilian Tune (My Toy Balloon),
Nicolas Slonimsky, piano. (Recorded 1971)
Minitudes, Nicolas Slonimsky, piano. (recording does not exactly match publication titled 51 Minitudes for Piano, G. Schirmer, 1979) (Recorded 1972)
Gravestones in Hancock, New Hampshire,
Nicolas Slonimsky, piano; Nancy Bramlage, soprano: 1) Vain World; 2) Lydia; 3) Here peacefully lies the once happy father; 4) A lovely rose; 5) In Memphis, Tennessee; 6) Stop, my friend, as you pass by. (Recorded, 1971)
Three Of Five Advertising Songs, Nicolas Slonimsky, piano and vocal: 1) Children Cry for Castoria; 2) And Then Her Doctor Told Her; 3) Make This a Day of Pepsodent; (Live concert, 1989)

CD-1189

April 22, 1979, Pasadena, California
“Eroica Variations” (Beethoven), Phantasie in C Major, Opus 17 (Schumann), Sonata, Opus 1 (Alban Berg), Three Songs without Words- Opus 38, No 3; Opus 67, No. 2 and 4 (Mendelssohn); Encores: Mazurka Opus 63, No 2; Etude Opus 10, No. 8; Valse Opus 34, No. 1 (Chopin)
April 5, 1977, Pasadena, California
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante, Opus 22 (Chopin)

CD1135

Louisiana Influenced Piano Music By Walter Niemann, Roy Spaulding Stoughton, John Parsons Beach, Ferde Grof,
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Cedric Wilmont Lemont, Albert W. Ketelbey and Virgil Thomson.

Louisiana Suite, Op. 97 by Walter Niemann; Louisiana Nights, Valse Creole, by Roy Spaulding Stoughton; New Orleans Miniatures by John Parsons Beach; Mississippi Suite by Ferde Grofé; La Savane, Ballade Creole, Op. 3 by Louis Moreau Gottschalk; Creole Sketches, Op. 15 by Cedric Wilmont Lemont; Sweet Louisiana by Albert W. Ketelbey; and Louisiana Story by Virgil Thomson.

CD1171

A Musical Journey in the Grand Tradition
Bach/Busoni: Four Chorale Preludes; Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 (revised version); Chopin/Liszt: Nocturne “Meine Freudin”; Schumann/Liszt: “Widmung”; Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody in C sharp minor

CD1188

Bach/Siloti: Prelude in B minor (BWV 855a); French Overture [Partita] in B minor (BWV 831); Bach/Petri: “Sheep May Safely Graze” (BWV 208); Bach/Busoni: “Awake, the voice commands” (BWV 645); French Suite No.5 in G Major (BWV 816); Toccata in D Major (BWV 912); Bach/Busoni: “I call on Thee, Lord” (BWV 639); Italian Concerto in F Major (BWV 971); Bach/Godowsky: Aria, from Violin Sonata No.3 in A Minor (BWV 1003); French Suite No.4 in E flat Major (BWV 815); Bach/Kempff: Chorale Prelude: It is Surely the Time/Now Rejoice, My Beloved Christ (BWV 307 & 734); Bach/Kempff: Siciliano from Flute Sonata No.2 in E flat Major (BWV 1031); Fantasia in C minor (BWV 906); Bach/Hess: “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (BWV 147)

Film Themes and Variations Includes Midnight on the Cliffs; Romeo and Juliet; Midnight Cowboy; A Star is Born(1937); Waltz Suite (Rozsa); From the Terrace; Rocco and His Brothers; Kings Row; Invitation; The Sand Pebbles; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Piano Music of African-Americans. FLORENCE PRICE: Sonata; Dances in the Canebrakes; W. G. STILL: Three Visions; MARGARET BONDS: Troubled Water; ED BLAND: Sketches Set VII. Althea Waites, piano.

Sonata, Op. 20; Bagatelles, Op. 12; Variations, Op. 9; The Vintner's Daughter, Op. 23. Eric Parkin, piano.

Piano works by Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin. SCHUMANN: Carnaval, Op. 9; CHOPIN: Three Mazurkas; Valse in E minor; Nocturne in D flat major; Fantasie in F minor, Op. 49. Esther Lee Kaplan, piano.

Rachmaninoff: Tears; Russian Easter; Milhaud: Brazileira; Bach: Vivace; Mozart: Andante-sonata K448; Gershwin: Prelude No. 2; Madeleine Dring: Lillliburlero, Tarantelle; Will Reed: Prelude to Annie the Valiant; Benjamin: Jamaican Rumba; Goodman: Stomping at the Savoy; Tansman: Cakewalk; F. Hadden: Bicentennial Suite,The Forgotten Factor; R. Hadden: The Bells Must Ring! Richard and Francis Hadden, duo-pianists.

May 11th, 1978, Pasadena, CA (complete program) - Variations Brillantes, Opus 12; Impromptu in F-sharp Major; Ballade No. 1 in G minor; Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor; Barcarolle in F-sharp Major; Three Mazurkas, Two Etudes; Nocturne in E Major, Scherzo No. 1 in B minor - (Encores) Valse Oubliée (Liszt); Etude (Debussy)

January 24th, 1976, Pasadena, CA (complete program) - Fantasie in F Minor, Twenty-Four Preludes, Sonata in B Minor - (Encores) Song Without Words No. 32 (Mendelssohn), Etude (Debussy), Waltz A-Flat Major, (Chopin.)

Sonata for Piano (L'homme arme); Summer Pieces; Piano Fantasy; Black Raindrops. Steven Herbert Smith, piano.- Capriccio for Piano 4 Hands - Carol Beall and Lucia Unrau, duo-pianists.

Chabrier: Pieces Pittoresques and Bouuree Fantasque; Debussy: Suite Bergamasque. Margaret Mills, piano.

SCHONTHAL: Canticles (1987); Gestures (1978); Self-Portrait (1991); Liebermann: Sonata No 2 (1983); Sonata No. 1 (1977).

Roger Nixon: Selections from Twelve Preludes (1984), Music for Piano (1994); Ravel: Sonatine; Bartok: 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs; Busoni: Fantasia nach J.S. Bach; Schubert: Sonata in A Major (D. 959)

Waltz No. 36 in F Major, D.365; Sonata in A minor, D.784; Sonata in B-flat Major, D.960; Hungarian Melodie in B minor, D.817; Allegretto in C minor, D.915; Eleven Landler, from 17 Landler, D.366; March in E Major, D.606.

Roger Nixon: Seven Preludes (2000); Three Preludes from "12 Preludes" (1984). Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K.511; March in C Major, K408/I; Fantasia in D minor, K. 397/385g; Rondo in D Major, K. 485; Adagio in B minor, K. 540; Minuet in D Major, K355/576b; Gigue in G Major, K. 574; 10 Variations in G Major on "Les Hommes pieusement" (Gluck), K. 455; Sonata in D Major, K. 576.

Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7 in B flat Major; Bach: Toccata and Fugue in E minor; Bach-Busoni: Toccata and Fugue in D minor; Menotti: Ricercare and Toccata on a theme from "The Old Maid and the Thief"; Beethoven: Sonata No. 25 in G Major; Prokofiev: Sonata No. 3 in A minor; Chopin: Berceuse in D flat Major, Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor; Brahms: Intermezzo in E Major, intermezzo in C Major: Liszt: Consolation No. 3 in D flat Major; Paganini-Liszt-Busoni: La Campanella.

Nocturnes by Kazimierz Henisz, Mikhail Glinka, Adolph Gutmann, Leopold Godowsky, Walter Niemann, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Ethelbert Nevin, Frederic Chopin, Morton Gould, Abram Chasins, John Field, Alexander Gretchaninov, Ingacy Krzyzanowski, Giovanni Sgambati, Julius Benedict, Peter Tchaikowsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

TAKTAKISHVILI, OTAR - Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor (Moscow Phil. Orchestra, Jungran Khwarg, piano; Dong Hyock Hyun, cond.); BALAKIREV, MILY - Tamara, Symphonic Poem (Moscow Philh. Orch, Dong Hyock Hyun, cond.) DDD.

Elinor Remick Warren: Along the Western Shore; William Grant Still: Seven Traceries; Richard Saylor: Five Pieces for Piano Lloyd Rodgers: Etcetera Variations (duo-piano with pianist Mark Uranker)

Sonata Breve, Sonantensatz, Reverberations, Variations in Search of a Theme, Fragments from a Woman's Diary

Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in G Major; Fryderyk Chopin: Four Mazurkas (Op. 33), Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor; Claude Debussy: Reflets Dans L'Eau; Enrique Granados: Andaluza No. 5 in E Minor, Rondalla Aragonesa No. 6 in D Major; Franz Liszt: Sonetto 123 Del Petrarca (Années de Pèlerinage), Concert Paraphrase on Verdi's 'Rigoletto'

Odeon: Tango Brasileiro; Brejeiro: Tango; Fon Fon; Apanhei-te Cavaquinho: Choro/Polka; Garoto; Bambino; Carioca; Duvidoso: Tango; Cutuba; Tango Brasileiro; Atrevdo: Choro; Coração que sente: Valsa; Ouro Sobre Azul; Cavaquinho: Porque Choro? - Choro; Labirinto; Nenê: Tango; Esta Chumbado; Pierrot; Perigoso; Tupinamba: Choro