Víkingur Ólafsson (born 14 February 1984) is an Icelandic pianist.

《傅聪亲自指挥及演奏莫扎特协奏曲Nos. 22 & 24》是享誉国际的音乐家、中国钢琴巨匠傅聪，亲自演奏及指挥瓦索维亚交响合奏团，共同演绎巨匠级作曲大师莫扎特《降E大调第22钢琴协奏曲K482》及《C小调第24钢琴协奏曲K491》。傅聪与乐团合拍非常，两者出色的合奏令两首乐曲吸引力大大提高，绝对生色不少！

富尼埃的录音录于60年代初，大师接近60岁时。这时，立体声录音技术早已成熟。那是个大师录音杰作不断涌现的年代。富尼埃在录制了这个录音之后的年代中，巴赫这套作品逐渐变成了他的演出曲目中的焦点。在1974年，也就是卡萨尔斯死后的第二年，富尼埃应邀到法国南部的普拉德斯(Prades)在卡萨尔斯创立的年度音乐节上演奏这套巴赫组曲。那天在普拉德斯城外的圣米切德卡萨教堂内坐满了听众。他们深深地被富尼埃追思卡萨尔斯的演奏打动。在全曲结束时，没有鼓掌，而是全部听众在寂静中肃立。

Review by Blair Sanderson
Instead of forming a permanent chamber ensemble, violinist Renaud Capuçon and his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon, prefer to work with different partners, whom they choose for particular skills and strong affinities for a given project. For this double-disc of Brahms' Piano Trios, they have enlisted pianist Nicholas Angelich, a friend and frequent participant in their concerts of Romantic chamber music. Their camaraderie fosters a conversational approach, and their performances are convivial and fleet, with a greater emphasis on momentum than on gravitas. The ardent Piano Trio No. 1, which might be called "young man's music," especially benefits from the Capuçons' agility and light tone, and Angelich's robust playing. The Piano Trio No. 2 is a seriously argued piece, and the trio responds to it with a more subdued mood. Even so, their textures remain transparent and well-defined, an antidote to the thickness so often applied to Brahms' mature works. Of a darker cast and perhaps the least-suited to this ensemble's buoyancy, the Piano Trio No. 3 is the only disappointment. The Capuçons and Angelich are assertive and accurate, but they do not penetrate the music deeply enough to make it compelling. Virgin's recording offers natural resonance and clarity, though the cello sounds a little weak in the mix.

From Allmusic.com

谁也不知道，究竟是什么原因促发了古尔德重录《哥德堡变奏曲》的念头。1955年他所录制的《哥德堡变奏曲》一直畅销不衰。在很多人眼里这张唱片几乎成为古尔德就的一个标志。重录《哥德堡变奏曲》对于古尔德，确实是一个非同可的挑战。他1955年的录音不仅为很多人所熟悉，而且被公认为是他巴赫演释独特风格的一座丰碑。如果在他49岁时，他拿不出能够超越自己23岁时的演释结果，那么就等于搬起石头，砸了自己的脚。最终，在第一次录制这部作品26年后，古尔德再次回到位于纽约东30街的录音室，谱架上再次摆上了《哥德堡变奏曲》。重录《哥尔德堡变奏曲》先后用了七段时间，分别是在1981年的4月22日至25日和5月15日、19日、29日，每次基本都是从下午4点到第二天凌晨。1982年，这张唱片与广大听众见面。
“早先的演释富于朝气，以力量和自由为本。”评论家们这样写道，“而现在摆在我们面前的这张唱片，似乎没有早先演释的那种猛然攫住你的力量，但它更 加严肃、更加柔情、更加具有深层的感染力……咏叹调主题沉静的深思，第15变奏中触键的变幻莫测，第25变奏中史诗般的距离感，以及声部进行令人震惊的高度清晰感，所有这一切使这个《哥德堡变奏曲》染上了一层超然物外和深棠驳钠省！?br />
然而，谁也没有想到，一星期后，古尔德便突发脑溢血，撒手人寰。几乎所有熟悉古尔德的人都惊讶地注意到，《哥德堡变奏曲》的两次录音不仅是这位钢琴怪杰生前的第一张唱片，而且还可以说是他的最后一张正式唱片。尽管古尔德在1982年2月至8月间还录制了一些其他作品，但这些唱片均是古尔德去世后才发行的。迷信的人认为这肯定是天意的安排。这同一部作品代表著古尔德职业生涯的起点和终点。古尔德从这里出发，临死似又重回故里。
风景依旧，人事全非。这时的古尔德与二十七年前的自己相比，无论从什么方面说，都已经完全不同。青年古尔德踌躇满志，演奏中尽显英华四溢的天才本色，整部作品只用38分27秒，可谓快马迅捷；暮年古尔德则深邃内省，少年天才一变为沉思稳健的智者，持重坚忍的速度居然将演奏时间拖至5l分15秒。他这两个同样精妙绝伦、但风格完全不同的录音版本成了一个象征。古尔德向世人、也向自己证明，在艺术中，天才不可多得，但对自我的不断修炼和超越才是艺术之本。
古尔德的两次录音版本中，很多人在音乐背后听到了演奏家两种截然相反的人生态度。早年的意气风发和英姿勃爽。晚年让位给老人面对死亡时超然的平静。让我们来看看现场拍摄的纪录片：电视镜头中，古尔德身著深蓝色的布衬衣，袖口忘了系扣，脸色疲惫，容面苍老。他几乎蜷缩在钢琴上，戴著老花镜的眼睛死死盯著琴键，似乎要看破钢琴这件乐器的整个奥秘。熟悉青年古尔德英姿的人看著古尔德一步步走向老态龙钟的晚年，不仅会感慨时光的流失和岁月的无情。然而，随著音乐声响起，观众会逐渐忘却一切，开始被古尔德对音乐的投人所打动。荧屏上的古尔德依稀仍和年轻时的他一样，演奏时手舞足蹈，摇头晃脑。只见他嘴里不停地哼唱著音乐，只要能腾出手，就会做出各种自我指挥的动作。
回想一下，巴赫也是在垂暮之年写下了这部作品。“五十而知天命” 。正是这同在垂暮之年的古尔德，只有这同在垂暮之年的古尔德，参透了这最后一道宿命的咒语。“朝闻道，夕死可矣”。古尔德在大彻大悟之后死去，这也许是成就他艺术生涯的最完美的一个句号。

Luminosity, clarity and depth of colour characterise the playing of Éric Heidsieck, born in Reims in 1936. A student of French masters Marcel Ciampi and Alfred Cortot, he went to Wilhelm Kempff to further his exploration of Beethoven. Heidsieck's career, encompassing more than 2000 concerts around the world and duo partnerships with his pianist wife Tania and cellist Paul Tortelier, has brought him particular fame in Japan. His distinguished interpretations of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas, recorded in the years around 1970, are complemented here by a previously unreleased 1958 version of the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata. A substantial proportion of the box (eight of the 27 CDs) comprises CD premieres – performances of Beethoven, Handel, Hindemith, Couperin, Debussy, Roussel and Ravel.

This is the third instalment of Yuan Sheng’s complete Bach cycle played on the piano, previous issues include the Goldberg Variations nd the Italian Concerto/French Overture.
“China’s premier interpreter of Bach”, is what International Piano Magazine called Yuan Sheng. A pupil of Solomon Mikowsky (Manhattan School of Music) and notably Rosalyn Tureck Yuan Sheng extensively studied the performance practice of Baroque music. Equally at home at the harpsichord he has an instinctive feeling for the possibilities, sonorities and touch of the instrument at hand, so that “the listener might easily have imagined the composer at the keyboard” (Boston Intelligencer).
This recent recording of the complete 6 Partitas is again a marvel of elegance, wit, rhetoric and brilliance, played on a modern Steinway. Besides pursuing an international career Yuan Sheng is Professor of Piano at the Bejing Central Conservatory of Music.

Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Performer: Lilya Zilberstein
Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Audio CD (19 Mar 1997)
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Universal Classics
ASIN: B000025WWO