Benjamin Alard JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Complete Works for Keyboard 2

In 1700, the 15-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach left behind his native Thuringia and travelled to Luneberg, in the north of Germany, where he studied, sang, developed his talents on the organ and made the acquaintance of some of the leading musical figures of the day. Hamburg was close enough that he could visit there, too, with its opera house and cosmopolitan musical life. French Huguenot composers, fleeing religious strife, had brought the latest keyboard fashions to the region, which he absorbed through his encounters with Georg Böhm. And the local musical culture meant steady exposure to Pachelbel, Buxtehude and Reincken.

Benjamin Alard continues his revelatory complete keyboard works series with four discs that explore this new milieu, which had such a powerful impact on Bach’s musical style. ‘Towards the North’, the second instalment of this beautifully played and produced series, explores the years 1705 08; and like the first it includes music not just by Bach but by the composers who influenced him. So we have a steady, sensible reading of Reincken’s magisterial chorale fantasy An Wasser Flüssen Babylon, a theme on which Bach would extemporise a legendary improvisation years later, when he was a master of equal standing to his aged predecessor.

The works of Bach in this period are, like those heard on the first volume, a motley assemblage, reflecting his growing skill, his absorptive talent, his occasional clumsy efforts and his nascent mastery, which one hears in the early toccatas included on the fourth and last disc of the set.

One of the great pleasures of these discs, beyond Alard’s smooth renditions and clarifying fingerwork, is his choice of instruments, in particular a claviorganum built in 2009 10. The combination of the harpsichord’s sharp ictus and the organ’s mellow and sustained tone gives his renditions of early chorale arrangements both linear fluidity and tonal richness, a sharply etched chamber-music sound that fits their four-part texture perfectly. The soprano Gerlinde Sämann sings the chorale lines with simplicity and a pleasant tone, underlying the musical source material and adding to the chamber-music fullness of the presentation.

Alard’s playing is rhythmically free, fleet and unpretentious, and, once again – even if this collection feels a bit like preparatory material for the main event to come – it leaves one eagerly anticipating Alard’s arrival at Bach’s second Weimar period, with its explosion of keyboard riches. (Philip Kennicott / Gramophone)

Benjamin Alard JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH The Complete Works for Keyboard 1

The first instalment of Benjamin Alard’s projected complete keyboard works of JS Bach is entirely auspicious. Subtitled ‘The Young Heir’, this three-disc set includes works performed on the harpsichord and organ, dating from (roughly) 1699-1705, the young composer’s childhood and apprentice years. The first CD includes works of musicians with whom Bach would have been familiar, among them members of his own extended musical family, including the greatest of his forebears, his great uncle Johann Christoph Bach, and his father-in-law, Johann Michael Bach. Also included are works by Frescobaldi, Froberger, Pachelbel, Marchand and de Grigny, along with Georg Böhm, whose work was particularly influential on the young Bach.

Alard is equally accomplished on both the organ and the harpsichord and moves from one to the other with facility. The organ is used not just for the early chorales but also, on the third disc, for the Capriccio on the departure of his brother, BWV992, an effective choice. The three discs are organised both chronologically and geographically, documenting the early peregrinations of the composer as he emerged from the musical milieu of his brother’s town of Ohrdruf to his time in Lüneberg, where Böhm was a central figure, and his first professional posting in Arnstadt. Not surprisingly, the first two discs feel a bit scattered and unfocused, while the third reveals the composer coming into his own and contains the most substantial of the early works.

Alard’s playing is a delight, clean and sensible, with striking agogic expressive power. On the early discs, his performances of works by Froberger and Kuhnau (a spare and melancholy little sonata) are even more striking than the sometimes more workmanlike chorales and early fugues. But the third disc is full of evidence that the rest of this cycle will be a collection to be reckoned with, including fine renditions of the Suite in A major, BWV832, and the early, delightfully naive Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV989. Both the organ (from the Sainte-Aurélie church in Strasbourg, originally built in 1718) and the harpsichord (by Émile Jobin, based on a 1612 Ruckers and a 1747 Joannes Dulken instrument) are colourful and well suited to the repertoire. This is a project to watch with anticipation. (Philip Kennicott / Gramophone)

Maria Farantouri / Cihan Türkoğlu BEYOND THE BORDERS

The album title is the programme in this meeting of remarkable artists brought together to interpret traditional music of Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Armenia, and to play original songs by Anatolian saz player Cihan Türkoğlu and lyricist Agathi Dimitroukas. In the spirit of the project, the new songs also bridge traditions and idioms and emphasize the potential of shared expression. Legendary Greek singer Maria Farantouri excels in this music beyond the borders, shaped also with the active participation of producer Manfred Eicher. German cellist Anja Lechner here draws on a knowledge of traditional folk forms gained partly through playing music of Armenian-Greek philosopher composer Gurdjieff. Armenian kanon (zither) player Meri Vardanyan has previously appeared on ECM as a member of the Gurdjieff Folk Instruments Ensemble. Ney player and ethnomusicologist Christos Barbas, from Thessaloniki, has played everything from music of the baroque to ragas. Percussionist İzzet Kızıl grew up in Eastern Turkey in an environment dominated by Sufi rhythms and has worked in many transcultural collaborations with artists from Natacha Atlas to Theodossi Spazzov, along the way evolving new approaches to traditional percussion.

Marco Ambrosini / Ensemble Supersonus RESONANCES

Led by nyckelharpa virtuoso Marco Ambrosini – first heard on ECM with Rolf Lislevand – Ensemble Supersonus applies its unique instrumental blend, capped by the otherworldly overtone singing of Anna-Maria Hefele, to very wide-ranging repertoire. Building bridges between cultures and traditions, Resonances sets compositions by Biber, Frescobaldi and Hildegard von Bingen next to Swedish folk music, Ottoman court music, and original pieces by the band members. Three pieces – “Ananada Rasa”, “Fjordene”, “Ritus” come from the pen of Wolf Janscha, the ensemble’s jew’s harp specialist. Ambrosini’s nyckleharpa solo “Fuga Xylocopae” opens the programme, leading on to a fresh and sparkling account of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s ”Rosary Sonata No. 1”. All of Ensemble Supersonus contribute to the spirited arrangements of the music.

David Lively / Quatuor Cambini-Paris / Thomas de Pierrefeu CHOPIN Concertos for Piano & String Quintet

Chopin’s Piano Concertos are works of a twenty year old composer and ambitious soloist. Powerful and challenging, their romantic dimension also carries sensitive effusions. This duality is highlighted here by an interpretation on period instruments in a chamber version.

Choices that are as many clues to recognize the musicians from the Cambini-Paris Quartet and their accomplices: pianist David Lively and double bassist Thomas de Pierrefeu.

Direct heir to Chopin’s piano teaching legacy, David Lively chose a vintage Érard piano to record both Concertos. Accompanied by a string quintet, he revives the tradition of the genre: before being performed in big concert halls, composers and pianists like Chopin played their latest scores in music lovers’ salons. The broad ambitus covered by the strings and the richness of the sound of the pianoforte respect the symphonic dimension of those two pieces.

A musical quest for fidelity and authenticity to music and musicians and a gift for the listener.

François Chaplin BRAHMS Intermezzi, Rhapsodies

Along with composers like Alexander Scriabin and Frederic Chopin, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) knew how to write for the left hand just as effectively as the right hand. With the focal point of most pieces being delegated to the right hand, most composers tend to assign the left hand the simple role of harmonic support. But you can tell, especially when playing his music yourself, that Brahms applied meticulous care to the left hand note selections. He was aware that, to a certain degree, the use of different or unusual notes in the left hand can alter the tone, character and color of the melodic line in the right hand, and used this to his advantage when composing. Even the most subtle changes produce that effect, and pianist François Chaplin instinctively knows when and where to emphasize that crucial yet fragile relationship between the two hands. Throughout each piece his close attention to details in the left hand is highly apparent. And nowhere is that more obvious than in the enigmatic final Intermezzo of the Op. 118, in which Chaplin's restrained use of the sustain pedal delivers a clear and unmuddled reading. (Jean-Yves Duperron)

Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Mariss Jansons RIHM Requiem-Strophen

More than any other comparable text, that for the Missa pro defunctis has assumed an existence outside of any strictly liturgical consideration. Wolfgang Rihm’s Requiem-Strophen (2016) is no exception, its treatment (rather than setting) informed by an essentially humanist approach reflected in the recourse to other and ostensibly secular writings. In this sense, his piece goes well beyond the conceptual template of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem to reference such ‘one-offs’ as Delius’s Requiem and Zimmermann’s Requiem für einen jungen Dichter. That the former emerged during the First World War and the latter was finished just over half a century after it may be significant in terms of Rihm’s work, which exudes an unmistakable aura of commemoration through its introspective and (albeit obliquely) devotional content.

Requiem-Strophen divides into four parts, over which the Requiem sequence is interspersed with numerous other writings ranging from the Psalms, via Michelangelo sonnets, to extracts from Rilke and the German lyric poet Johannes Bobrowski. Its consistently inward mood is leavened by the burnished instrumentation (with lower woodwind and brass to the fore) and the restrained fervency of its vocal writing. Reaching its emotional apex in ‘Lacrimosa II’, the work concludes with the poem ‘Strophen’ by Hans Sahl – the idea of ‘passing on’ here made explicit.

The premiere is directed by Mariss Jansons with a keen sense of expressive continuity across the whole. Jan Brachmann essays a detailed booklet note; while there are no translations of the texts, these can be found online. A work which should amply repay repeated listening. (Richard Whitehouse / Gramophone)

LUDOVICO EINAUDI Seven Days Walking - Day Four

Seven Days Walking ‘DAY 4’ includes 12 tracks. It has been recorded at the Air Studio in London.

“I was interested in exploring the music in a more independent and ongoing way,

like it was a long conversation”

LUDOVICO EINAUDI Seven Days Walking - Day Three

Seven Days Walking ‘DAY 3’ includes 12 tracks, 10 of them are variations of some pieces from the previous days and 2 of them are new, original tracks, “Full Moon” and “View From The Other Side”.

“The nicest season starts now. The Spring.

The nature is transforming day by day. Around here in two weeks it’ll be wonderful. Unfortunately I won’t be here…”

LUDOVICO EINAUDI Seven Days Walking - Day Two

Some things have their own hidden genesis

And just through this work of listening and analysis….I had almost 30 hours of music to listen back.

It’s like when you walk into a room filled with clutter and try to understand if there will be that one priceless piece that I need.

In order to find the right one you need to clean up and throw things away,

but always be careful cause you might throw away something important….

Keith Jarrett / Stuttgarter Kammerorchester / Dennis Russell Davies MOZART Piano Concertos K.271, 453, 466 - Adagio and Fugue K.546

Pianist Keith Jarrett and conductor Dennis Russell Davies - musical collaborators for 20 yerars - have both singled out this second round of Mozart Piano Concertos as an exceptional experience in their recording history. Jarrett: 'I feel it's some of the best work I've done. There were things happening that were magic. The orchestra was taken by surprise, Dennis was taken by surprise, I was taken by surprise.' The emphasis is on communicative interplay between the soloist and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under the inspired direction of Davies.

Keith Jarrett J.S. BACH Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Buch I

Keith Jarrett is not the first pianist to establish himself as a jazz musician and fluent improviser before seeking public recognition as a scaler of 'classical' peaks, as my old 78s of the Andre Previn Trio testify, but to attempt the Eiger by the north face at such an early stage might be regarded as an act of veritable foolhardiness. Maybe so, but here you will find no dead or maimed body at the foot of the mountain. The annotation assumes that the reader does not need to be told the what and the why of the work, and focuses instead on Jarrest's approach to the music, beginning with his statement that ''This music does not need my assistance''. Well of course any music needs the performer's help to bring it to audible life but the leading question is: 'what kind of help is needed?'. Jarrett's answer is that the per former's duty is to understand the structure of this music, to grasp the expressive meaning of the lines without exaggeration and to allow the notes to speak for themselves without imposing extraneous notions. In my review of Schiff's recording (Decca) I commented that: ''If clarity is truly in the mind it will emerge through the fingers'', a view that Jarrett overtly shares and puts into practice; his lines emerge clearly, without the help of pianistic coloration, as does structure without the aid of bloated dynamics. He believes also that, in presenting music written for the harpsichord: ''the piano should not go beyond a certain limit of expression. And a piano version should not be played with the intention: 'Look here what the piano can do for this piece'. The piece is better than the piano.''
These are, then, performances in which tempos, phrasing, articulation and the execution of ornaments are convincing, and in which both instrument and performer serve as unobtrusive media through which the music emerges without 'enhancement'. They may seem too 'cool' for those accustomed to the variously 'personal' utterances of most pianists, even the respectful Schiff, but they accord with Bloch's (quoted) observation that: ''Bach's yearning was not outwardly burning fire, but a deep spirituality remaining within'', and as such I find them deeply rewarding. The piano sound is warmly 'neutral', neither hard nor supersoft, and it is finely recorded. May we have Book 2 please? (John Duarte, Gramophone 10/1988)

Keith Jarrett J.S. BACH Das Wohltemperierte Klavier Buch II

If, as I do, you enjoy Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues played on a variety of keyboard instruments, then Keith Jarrett's choice of a piano for Book 1 and a harpsichord for Book 2 may well appeal to you. I have been listening to his performances, especially of Book 1—which has been available for some time ((CD) 835 246-2, 10/88)—many times over and find much both to admire and enjoy. Jarrett seems to me to have successfully bridged the jazz world with the classical, proving himself in the process to be quite a formidable Bach player. There is nothing gimmicky or shallow in his playing; indeed, his fine rhythmic sense allied to a lively feeling for gesture, his grasp of ornament and his sheer spontaneity are aspects of the jazz musician's craft as much as the classical player's and they serve Bach's music extremely well.
If I have a criticism to make of Jarrett's Bach playing, it is that rhythmically he errs on the side of caution, seldom if ever allowing himself that degree of latitude—an effective and important aspect of style—favoured by more seasoned harpsichordists. On the other hand, there is no lack of vitality in his pulse and some readers I know will appreciate his keeping to the straight and narrow. The poetic C sharp major and the D minor Preludes (Book 2) provide good examples.
Listening to Book 2, one cannot but be impressed by Jarrett's fluency and seemingly effortless grasp of a technique which is, after all, quite different from that demanded by the piano. His is gentle, clearly articulated, unfussy and unpretentious playing which reaches the heart of the music without distraction or detour. This is demonstrated in the lovely E flat Prelude, where I distinctly hear Jarrett doing a Glenn Gould and humming along—a good sign rather than a bad one, I always feel.
I part company with him in a mild way over his execution of the grace-note in the three places where it occurs in this same Prelude; but he is in the best company, with players like Davitt Moroney (Harmonia Mundi) offering the same solution. My preference though, is for Kenneth Gilbert (Archiv Produktion) who, along with Wanda Landowska (RCA), Gustav Leonhardt (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/BMG) and Colin Tilney (Hyperion), fit the passing note more comfortably into the prevailing motion. But, as I implied earlier on, these are performances which are likely to give enduring pleasure, above all, perhaps, for Jarrett's awareness of the music's poetic content. There is a serenity and a sensibility in his playing of the E major Prelude and Fugue, for example, which convey variously the grandeur, the delicate tracery and the poetry of Bach's music while also underlining its timelessness.
In short, an impressive and mainly satisfying release which stands up to comparison with the many fine performances currently available. My first choices remain Moroney (harpsichord), Tilney (clavichord, Book 1; harpsichord, Book 2), Gilbert (harpsichord) and Edwin Fischer (piano—EMI), but Jarrett's interpretation is not far behind in my affection and esteem. The instrument sounds well, but is described rather in the manner of a cheap and probably undrinkable EC wine as Italian/German style. A fine release. (Nicholas Anderson, Gramophone 9/1991)

Alia Mens Ensemble / Olivier Spilmont LA CITÉ CÉLESTE

The Alia Mens Ensemble features singers and period instrumentalists led by Olivier Spilmont. The ensemble has performed at numerous festivals and national concert halls, including Lille Opera, ”Embaroquement immédiat”, Festival de la Chabotterie, the Mont-Blanc Festival, Midsummer Festival, le Bateau feu-Dunkerque, le Phénix-Valenciennes, Arras Theater, the ”Musique et Mémoire” Festival, Teatro de Vicenza, Bozar Brussels, ”Tage alter Musik” Regensburg and many others.

Since 2012 the Alia Mens Ensemble has dedicated a substantial part of its activities to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Weimar cantatas in particular. The ensemble also regularly performs Bach’s multi-keyboard concertos with harpsichordists Pierre Hantaï, Maude Gratton and Olivier Spilmont.

The group of Weimar cantatas is exciting on many levels. The purpose Bach expressed in his Mühlhausen resignation letter – which became a master beam of the musical edi ce he built throughout his life – is expressed with an even more seminal vigour, due to the restrictions it suffered previously. Besides the beauty of the surviving works, which renders the loss of the missing ones all the more bitter, it is moving to see the musician engage, with each new piece, in experiments with form, ideas, and the language for expressing the word of God through the most sensitive possible texts. The choice of developing themes dear to him enabled him to affirm and deepen his faith.

Trio Khaldei VERKLÄRTE NACHT

This CD is a double journey through time. On one hand, the three pieces selected span a century in the history of the Viennese piano trio; Hummel’s work, composed in 1799, keeps a foot firmly in the classical era; Brahms’ second piano trio, written in 1882, is a crown jewel of Viennese romanticism, and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht is a perfect example of the atmosphere that reigned in the city at the turn of the century. In addition, the three works mirror the intensities of the day. Hummel’s light and sparkling trio evokes the morning, Brahms’ resplendent and well-worked piece represents the afternoon and evening and Schoenberg’s composition, as the title already indicates, relates to the dark, moonlit night.

Joanna Goodale BACH IN A CIRCLE

Born into a British-Turkish family, Joanna Goodale is a French-Swiss pianist with an eclectic and creative identity, opening up the classical repertoire to traditional world music and to her own comprovisations. 

She has been invited to perform in Switzerland, in France, in Germany, in Turkey, in Spain and in the United Kingdom. Graduate of a Master of Arts in Piano (Geneva) and a Master of Arts in Anthropology (London), she has benefitted from the support of the Fondation L’ABRI in Geneva and of the advice of internationally renowned pianists such as Alice Ader, Alain Kremksi, Cedric Pescia, Menahem Pressler and Anne Queffélec. Deeply convinced that music can transcend borders and touch the sublime, she invites her public to enter in communion with sound and silence in a space-time of rare intensity. 

BACH IN A CIRCLE proposes an encounter between the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Sufi whirling dervishes, weaved around a programme where the pieces are in a dialogue, questioning the mysteries of the human soul and reflecting the movements of the Universe. 

After visiting Turkey many times, I realised that Sufi music brought out in me similar emotions to those I feel when listening to Johann Sebastian Bach. This led me to do some research and then highlight the similarities between these two universes which, at first glance, can seem very different. Indeed, sacred Sufi songs and the works of Bach are both characterized by an expression of deep spirituality, a quest to represent the cosmic order and the use of repetitive cyclical patterns in perpetual movement, leading to a sense of transcendence and inner silence. (Joanna Goodale)

Seattle Symphony Orchestra / Ludovic Morlot JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Desert

Become Desert is the much-anticipated sequel to Adams’ Pulitzer-winning Become Ocean, and a major milestone in the creative partnership between the composer and the Seattle Symphony with Ludovic Morlot.

For Adams, who has been called “one of the most original musical thinkers of the new century” by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross, the 40-minute work completes a trilogy he hadn’t intended to write, and yet it emerges as one of his most expansive and consciousness-raising musical statements to date.

In 2010, Adams created musical streams both aurally and visually with Become River. He followed with Become Ocean, which divides the orchestra into three parts to create a vast sense of undulating space and rhythm. The 2014 recording by Morlot and the Seattle Symphony debuted atop the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, and won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

With Become Desert, space is once again a fundamental compositional element, but on a larger scale, with five different ensembles moving at five different tempos. The work features a large orchestra and choir that are deployed as five ensembles that surround the audience.

Seattle Symphony Orchestra / Ludovic Morlot JOHN LUTHER ADAMS Become Ocean

Awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music, Become Ocean is set to finally extricate John Luther Adams from the shadow of his near-namesake. In fact the two lie at polar ends of the post-minimal spectrum. JLA composes slowly evolving, monumental sound creations that seem somehow to emerge from the essence of the earth. His lifelong engagement with elemental forces and the power of nature stems from years living in the Alaskan wilderness, where he has evolved a ‘music of place’ grounded in its physical, cultural and spiritual attributes.

Surprising, therefore, that Adams’s recent composition is inspired by the sea rather than the earth. Become Ocean takes the sense of scale and space that captured the composer’s imagination when he first visited Alaska in the 1970s and applies it to the deep, dark and hidden depths of the oceans surrounding the Pacific Northwest.

This is not ersatz programmatic music, however. Adams’s ‘sonic geography’ is a by-product of what can only be described as a keenly felt musical osmosis. If ever an orchestra sounded like an immense sonic object, slowly floating across a vast area, then this must be it. Become Ocean is divided into six seven-minute segments, with each one forming a kind of slow-motion wave. Some of these waves swell up into enormous, thunderous crashes, as heard around the 21' and 35' marks, causing changes in the music’s environment – like shifting glaciers in a frozen sea. As if to demonstrate the connection, there’s also a DVD consisting of six oceanic images looped in sequence to the music.

Of course, a strong cautionary message lies behind Become Ocean. To quote the composer himself: ‘As the polar ice melts and sea level rises, we humans find ourselves facing the prospect that once again we may quite literally become ocean.’ (Gramophone)

{oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna / Martyna Pastuszka CONCERTO GROSSO

This CD sketches a portrait of the musical reality of the British Isles during the first half of the 18th century. The eight concerti grossi in this programme have been chosen for the features they possess in common, a primordial position being accorded to the work of Francesco Scarlatti. These are pieces of Italian origin in sonata form; the concerto grosso being the émigré of this programme.
The huge success of the Italian concerto grosso was a response to the necessity of freeing music from a secondary role to which it found itself confined, notably in France with ballet music. Unaffected by the rivalry between French and Italian music that was then raging, the British seemed to be attracted by purely instrumental music; the concerto grosso consequently afforded them a freshness, a boldness, and a hint of unique maestria that held an immediate appeal. Thus it was that the concerto grosso emigrated, as did a number of Italian composers who responded to the emotional needs and the demands of an English ‘market’ that encouraged artistic initiative, promised financial satisfaction, and offered the opportunity of achieving fame.
This was the case with Francesco Scarlatti; born in Palermo, the brother of the celebrated Alessandro, he made almost his whole career in London and Dublin, never, however, really achieving the expected fame. Few of his works have survived beyond the six concerti grossi featured on this CD; two concerto grosso arrangements of sonatas by Geminiani and Corelli complete this programme, the remodeling of one and the same material being very frequent at this time.
You are invited by the young Polish ensemble {oh!} Orkiestra Historyczna, conducted by its first violin Martyna Pastuszka, to journey from Italy to the United Kingdom. Warm, varied sonorities highlight the splendour and expressivity of music that is now lively or dancelike, now gentle, melancholic or meditative. To be discovered!

Vivi Vassileva SINGIN' RHYTHM

The percussionist Vivi Vassileva is one of the most fascinating classical soloists of her generation, and she now releases her debut CD, entitled "singin' rhythm", on the alpha classics label.  Born in 1994 to a Bulgarian family of musicians – her mother is a pianist, her father and brother are violinists, her sister plays violin too and she herself learned the instrument – Vivi was captivated by music at an early age especially when she heard some hand drummers playing on a remote, unspoiled beach at the black sea where her parents own a house. It was then that she decided to change from the violin to percussion. With her dynamic, infectious way of making music, Vivi exudes a sense of enjoyment that is in no way limited to the elaboration of rhythms or the igniting of a display of tonal pyrotechnics. Her main aim is to touch people, to tell stories expressed in terms of melodies, harmonies and rhythms. Vivi is motivated and inspired by the diversity of tonal colours and the opportunities they offer, and that is why she is so convinced that percussion is the instrument of the 21st century.  However, since the repertoire for percussion is limited, Vivi Vassileva not only commissions new compositions; she arranges and composes herself, constantly on the lookout for new formations and heading up various chamber music groups. As a result, this new album features works by Guillo Espel, Eric Sammut, Oriol Cruixent and Keiko Abe, most of them premiere recordings, alongside some rarely heard or premiere arrangements and compositions by Vivi Vassileva herself.

Ulf Wallin / Roland Pöntinen JOHANNES BRAHMS The Five Sonatas for Violin & Piano Vol. 1

Asked the question ‘How many sonatas for violin and piano did Johannes Brahms compose?’, many lovers of chamber music would probably answer three, and maybe also add their respective keys and opus numbers. When pressed, a number of them would also remember the so-called F.A.E. Sonata, a collaborative effort by the young Brahms, Albert Dietrich and their mentor Robert Schumann. But very few would probably think of the two Opus 120 sonatas, composed in 1894 for clarinet (or viola) and piano, but a year later published in the composer’s own versions for the violin. As the range of the B flat clarinet goes a fourth lower than that of the violin, Brahms had been forced to make considerable revisions to the clarinet part – which in turned entailed changes in the piano part, and consequently the printing of a new piano score.
The seasoned team of violinist Ulf Wallin and pianist Roland Pöntinen have now decided to record all the Brahms sonatas, and the results are being released on two discs, the first one including the first of the ‘official’ sonatas, No. 1 in G major, Op. 78, the F minor Sonata from Op. 120 and Brahms’s Scherzo from the F.A.E. Sonata. Wallin and Pöntinen round off the programme with transcriptions of two of Brahms’s more lyrical songs.

Leonard Elschenbroich / Alexei Grynyuk BEETHOVEN Sonatas for Cello and Piano

The five cello sonatas span Beethoven’s three creative periods, with the audacious op.5 sonatas dating from the early years on his time in Vienna as a piano virtuoso and aspiring composer (1792-9), the great op.69 sonata is from the period that saw the composition of symphonies 4-8, the violin concerto, Mass in C and the String Quartets op59. The two op102 sonatas are from the cusp of the ‘late’ period, this is the time of the 9th Symphony, the Missa Solemnis, the great string quartets op127 – 135 and the last five piano sonatas.

The cello and piano are truly equal partners in all these works, and Beethoven exploited the full range of the cello placing great demands on the player. The op.17 sonatas from the 1790s was composed for horn and piano. The transcription is believed to be by the composer, or at least approved by him.

Bamberger Symphoniker / Herbert Blomstedt MAHLER IX

For Gustav Mahler, composing his early symphonies meant „building a world”. His Ninth, however, seems more concerned with the deconstruction of this world – a look back, a long farewell. In the draft of his score, he noted words like „O youth! Vanished! O love! Blown away!“. In 1909, his idyllic world was destroyed, having been diagnosed with a heart valve defect two years earlier – a disease that would ultimately lead to his death.

While his last completed symphony still contains some folksy elements, Mahler composed a heartbreaking Adagio as its Finale. Herbert Blomstedt, honorary conductor of the
Bamberger Symphoniker, guides the orchestra through this rollercoaster of emotions, ranging between deep sadness, comfort and melancholia. This exceptional recording is the first CD release with the Bamberger Symphoniker and their honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt!

Olli-Pekka Tuomisalo and his Orchestra LOST SAXOPHONE ORCHESTRA

A large number of saxophone concertos have been written, but only a handful are regularly performed. With these premiere recordings Olli-Pekka Tuomisalo showcases five works that, had circumstances been different, might easily have established themselves as repertoire pieces. John Beach Cragun’s beautifully voiced work is the first saxophone concerto by an American and, like Yrjö Gunaropulos’ concerto – which enjoyed celebrity in the 1930s – was only rediscovered in 2016. The concertos by Eilert Lindorff-Larsen and Leopold van der Pals are compact, varied and exciting, while that by Phyllis Tate is considered her first major work.

Xianji Liu LATIN GUITAR SONATAS

When Xianji Liu became the first Chinese-born winner of the prestigious Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition in 2016, a new star emerged in the world of the classical guitar.

Latin sonatas is a journey through the popular music of Brazil, Cuba and Puerto Rico, its rhythms, harmonies and colours, in a contemporary language breathing new life into the old form.

Réka Kristóf IN FURORE

Born in Slovakia, Hungarian soprano Réka Kristóf graduated in Singing from the Hochschule für Künste Bremen with Prof. Krisztina Laki and Prof. Thomas Mohr, and took master classes by Prof. Krisztina Laki.

Currently, she is studying Music Theater / Opera Performance at The Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding, in cooperation with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, class of Prof. Fenna Kügel Seifried.

While studying, she has already performed several roles on stage, including Gretel in E. Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Lisette in Puccini's La Rondine.

She was heard on the stages of the Bremer Konzerthaus "Die Glocke", the garden room of the Prinzregententheater in Munich and the Philharmonie in Gasteig Munich, with vast repertoire of songs and oratorios from early composers to contemporary music.

Most recent and upcoming projects include among the others the role of Grisostomo in the rare Telemann's opera Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho with Theater Osnabrück as well as Modistin in Der Rosenkavalier and Charlotte in Krenek's Der Diktator for Bayerische Staatsoper München.

Judith Howarth / Àngel Òdena / Oviedo Filarmonía / Friedrich Haider ERMANNO WOLF-FERRARI Il Segreto di Susanna

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s prolific early career succeeded in launching a fundamental renewal of opera buffa, offering a clear alternative to the dominance of Wagner and Puccini, while his Venetian upbringing inspired a songlike and lyrical style. With its subtle orchestration and vivacious Mediterranean charm, Il segreto di Susanna (‘Susanna’s Secret’) is a magical comic opera that became a box office success in its day and remains one of Wolf-Ferrari’s most frequently performed works. The early Serenade reveals his innate gift for inspired melody, expressing both carefree bliss and bitter melancholy.

Trio Zimmermann JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Goldberg Variations

For close to 300 years Bach’s Goldberg Variations have awed performers as well as listeners, through an unparalleled combination of a dazzling variety of expression and breath-taking virtuosity with stupendous polyphonic mastery. No wonder then that other musicians than harpsichordists have wanted to make it their own – pianists, first and foremost, but also accordion players and guitarists, flautists and harpists. 

Having performed and recorded much of the classical as well as the modern string trio repertoire, Trio Zimmermann began working on the Goldberg Variations several years ago, playing an existing arrangement. But in their own words, the three members – among the leading string players of our time – ‘soon became captivated by the original score and its innumerable beauties and details’. As a result they have jointly prepared a performing version which here receives its first recording. Playing an important part on this disc are also the Trio’s instruments – all by Antonio Stradivarius, and featured in close-up on the cover.

Lorenda Ramou FROM BERLIN TO ATHENS

The choice of works on this amply filled disc, as well as the performances are the result of Lorenda Ramou’s research into the artistic environment of Nikos Skalkottas, in Berlin (1921–33) and in Athens (1933–49). The programme is organized as a triptych, focusing on three distinctive compositional styles. First, all surviving Berlin works for piano solo are presented in chronological order, showing how the young composer was reacting to the new and exciting jazz/dance music, but also to the people around him and to events in the musical world of Berlin in the 1920s. This is followed by Suites Nos 2, 3 and 4, a group of mature works composed at the beginning of World War II (1940–41). Closing the disc, finally, is the dance suite The Gnomes, probably composed in 1939 and one of a group of piano scores for ballets with Greek subjects. Lorenda Ramou has previously released ‘The Land and the Sea of Greece’ – a disc of precisely such scores by Skalkottas – which earned her praise from the reviewer in Gramophone: ‘Her playing is full of verve and alive to the delicacy of Skalkottas’s writing.’

A double-disc set of orchestral, choral and organ music by one of the most distinguished English composers of the 20th century. Herbert Howells’ An English Mass is presented by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge with the Britten Sinfonia, recorded in the sublime acoustic of King’s College Chapel. Alongside the work is the magnificent orchestrated Te Deum from the Collegium Regale service, and a premiere recording of the Magnificat from the same service, orchestrated by John Rutter. For both these recordings, the Choir and orchestra are joined additionally by the King’s College mixed voice choir, King’s Voices.

Howells’ completed Cello Concerto is performed by former King’s chorister Guy Johnston, one of the UK’s best solo cellists, with the Britten Sinfonia directed by Christopher Seaman. Also recorded in King’s College Chapel, the surround-sound recording presents this glorious, but lesser-known work in a way never before heard, but in an environment perfectly suited to Howells’ music. Stephen Cleobury rounds off the second part of the album with three of Howells’ best-known organ works, performed on the recently-restored Harrison & Harrison organ, also presented here in surround-sound.

Accompanying the album are specially-written essays by two of the foremost experts on the composer. Paul Spicer explores how the thrilling Te Deum came about as the result of a bet between Howells and the Dean of King’s, and the subsequent canticle settings for cathedrals and foundations across the land for which Howells became so well-known. An English Mass, in contrast, is one of Howells’ darkest religious works, with an agonising and troubled presentation of much of the Mass, and Spicer’s essay considers Howells’ state of mind and some of the possible reasons for this. Jonathan Clinch’s essay describes the fascinating journey of completing Howells’ Cello Concerto, giving a remarkable insight into the mind of the composer and the history of the work itself.

Keith Jarret J.S. BACH The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1

A previously unreleased live concert recording of Keith Jarrett performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 is out now. The live concert was recorded in March 1987 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in New York state, a venue renowned for its beautiful acoustics. Keith Jarrett’s studio recording of JS Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier was made one month before the live concert recording, in February 1987, and was the first in a series of his acclaimed Bach recordings.

When the studio album was released, Jarrett’s manner in these iconic preludes and fugues surprised many listeners with its poetic restraint. Jarrett said, “When I play Bach, I do not hear the music, I hear almost the process of thought.” The pianist was deeply attuned to what he called “the process of thought” in Bach; by not imposing his personality unduly on the music, Jarrett allowed every note of the score to come through via the natural lyricism of the contrapuntal melodic lines, the dance-like pulse of the rhythmic flow. These qualities are strikingly apparent in Keith Jarrett’s live recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier, with its added electricity of a concert performance. Jarrett always points out that Bach was an improviser and, in some ways, Jarrett’s genius as an improviser brings him closer in spirit to the composer.

“These are performances in which tempos, phrasing, articulation and the execution of ornaments are convincing,” wrote Gramophone of Keith Jarrett’s first recorded account of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. “Both instrument and performer serve as unobtrusive media through which the music emerges without enhancement.”

Le Nuove Musiche / Krijn Koetsveld ARVO PÄRT Magnificat - Stabat Mater

Arvo Pärt (born 1935) is without doubt one of the best-known and –loved composer of today. His highly personal style, influenced by Gregorian Chant, is based on slowly shifting patterns, tintinnabuli (little bells), creating a meditative and hallucinatory effect, a visionary world of spiritual contemplation. Pärt’s sacred choral works enjoy a huge popularity with both the traditional classical audience as well as an open- minded new generation.

This new recording presents two of Pärt’s choral masterworks: the Stabat Mater and Magnificat, as well as the Maria-Antifonen and the Nunc Dimittis, all dealing with the complex emotions of Maria, Mother of God, in deepest sorrow and bliss.

Excellent performances by Le Nuove Musiche, conducted by Krijn Koetsveld, who delivered a remarkable achievement in recording the complete Madrigals by Monteverdi for Brilliant Classics. Their experience in performing Renaissance vocal music is paying off in these deeply felt performances of 20th century choral masterworks.

Mari Samuelsen MARI

MARI by Mari Samuelsen explores our longing to feel grounded, to escape into nature, and how that sits with the modern notion of global citizens and the busy, fulfilling lives we wish to lead. “This contrast is something we’ll see more and more of”, says Mari. “The urge to live slow is going to become more important in order to keep yourself, your life and your mind in balance. But when you are conscious of these two, contrasting worlds, one can experience ‘a moment of flow’, where you are able reconcile these opposites, if only fleetingly.”

MARI was conceived over the course of a year and a half, a process that was constantly evolving. Mindful of the power music has to transport people back in time or to certain places, Mari sought out pieces and composers that were evocative of dreams and a childlike innocence, as well as the contrast inherent in our perceptions of modern living and culture. “Things that are beautiful but not tangible” was one criterion; “places and memories that are pure and untouched” another.

“…MARI is just one step in the direction that I will continue in for years to come; it’s the beginning of a journey, and I’m constantly exploring new ideas and widening my musical horizon.” – Mari Samuelsen

Fumito Nunoya / Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester / Johannes Schlaefli CONCERTOS ON MARIMBA

Fumito Nunoya is considered the custodian of the marimba. In the preface to this album, the Japanese musician explains why the marimba is still not a main instrument in the classical music scene. But with an exciting programme ranging from the Baroque to Modernism, he impressively proves the opposite, at least for the inclined listener of this recording. Marimbist Fumito Nunoya is gaining international recognition as one of today’s leading marimbists. Born in Odate, Japan, he currently lives in Kreis Herford, Germany. He has taught marimba at the Hochschule fur Musik Detmold in Germany since 2009. In addition to performances in Germany and around Europe, he regularly travels to perform in Japan and the United States.

This gloriously played disc explores the marimba in various guises, from nimble Baroque stick-work in a transcription of Vivaldi to Nobunaga’s atmospheric concerto. — BBC Music Magazine

Riccardo Chailly / Filarmonica della Scala THE FELLINI ALBUM

This is good! Eighty-one minutes of Nino Rota’s music for the films of Federico Fellini – played superbly by the La Scala Philharmonic, conducted with relish and affection by Riccardo Chailly (he first met the composer in 1974), and given vivid, up-front sound-quality, albeit with a resonant overhang in tow.

The film music of Rota (1911-79, he wrote for the concert-hall and opera-house, too), whatever its merits in complementing the moving image, transcends the silver-screen medium for listening pleasure on its own terms (although a caveat might be a certain sameness across the whole).

Amarcord opens the show, saxophones, brass, an accordion and a mandolin to the fore (Rota’s original orchestration is used) – smoochy (this is a La Scala love-in), marching-bands (La Scala players know how to swagger), popular-song a mainstay (Stormy Weather being one), and if your dance-card isn’t full, take your partners, for Rota can tango-hoof it with the best of them.

He can also be relied upon for description, atmosphere, tunefulness, foot-tapping rhythms and a palette of colour that is generously broad-brushed. Take 8½ (Otto e Mezzo), dripping in picturesque sentiment and electric emotions, tinged ethereally – music that rip-roars and seduces in equal measure – and with the purloining of another well-known ditty (The Sheik of Araby, from 1921, perchance?) and a movement that owes to Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance.

The score for La dolce vita (as arranged into Suite form by William Ross, who also upgrades Amarcord for the final track) is immensely stirring and powerful, lyrically entrancing too, not forgetting hot-swing (trumpet and sax). As for Fellini’s Casanova, the music for it is sometimes like the aural equivalent of a distorting mirror, aided by Bruno Moretti’s scoring which includes harpsichord and bass guitar; there’s an off-kilter waltz, and much that is whimsical and always attractive, edgy and confrontational too, a range of emotions and situations – makes me want to see the film!

Finally, The Clowns – if you like Shostakovich in Dance/Film/Jazz mode (Chailly already has a trio of such Albums available), then you are in business; the music tumbles along irresistibly along, with an element of exotic buffoonery, and introducing Fučík’s Entry of the Gladiators (circus music par excellence) – a bit of a Thieving Magpie was Rota, but not from Rossini (that I came across here). (Colin Anderson)

Trio SR9 ALORS, ON DANSE?

For their second album on Naïve, the three percussionists (marimba players) of Trio SR9 have chosen to shine the light on the theme of dance, in all its rich variety throughout the history of Western classical music: from Rameau and Bach, to Debussy, Satie and Borodin.

So, shall we dance?

The first part of the album is a set of Baroque dances (Gavotte, Sarabande, Minuet, Gigue...) drawn from the legacy of various European composers. These pieces are presented in the form of a large suite, as was the tradition at the time.

Then we move on to explore Europe of the nineteenth century. A taste for exoticism and folk dance rhythms are here made even more sublime by Claude Debussy with his Tarentelle Styrienne, Béla Bartok with the Romanian Dances and Alexander Borodin with his Polovtsian Dances.

The last part of the disc is dedicated to the mysticism of dance and begins, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the Ritual Fire Dance by Manuel de Falla. It is followed by Narnchygäer, a new work for three marimbas and the first of its kind composed by François Tashdjian especially for the SR9 Trio.

Lastly, it is around the three Danse de Travers by Erik Satie that this programme is weaved. This common thread punctuates each part of the album with sweetness and melancholy.

After a highly-regarded first album, Bach on the marimba, this new programme allows us to go one step further in revealing the many riches of the marimba, the sumptuously-crafted five-octave rosewood instrument. It's via the sound of three marimbas that the Trio SR9 demonstrates its ability to develop the reputation of percussion, all in one choreographed gesture …

Bart Jacobs / Les Muffatti JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Concertos for Organ and Strings

Although we know of at least five concertos J.S. Bach wrote for solo organ we have no surviving Bach organ concertos with orchestral accompaniment. Contrast this with the 200+ cantatas: of these, 18 feature organ obbligato, which Bach uses as a solo instrument in arias, choral sections and sinfonias. The most obviously conspicuous date to 1726. In May to November of that year, Bach composed six cantatas which assign a prominent solo role to the organ. Most of these are reworkings of movements of lost violin and oboe concertos written in Bach’s time at Weimar and Köthen. Why Bach wrote such a number of obbligato organ cantatas in such a short period remains unknown. One possible explanation may lie in Dresden, where Bach had given a concert on the new Silbermann organ in the Sophienkirche in 1725. Some scholars think that, in addition to other organ works, he also performed organ concertos, or at least a few earlier versions of the sinfonias, with obbligato organ and strings in order to show off the organ. From the cantatas mentioned above, along with the related violin and harpsichord concertos, it is perfectly possible to reconstruct a number of three-movement organ concertos of this type. By using this method, we hope to bring some of the music which Bach may have performed in Dresden in 1725 back to life on this CD.

Thomanerchor Leipzig / Sächsisches Barockorchester / Gotthold Schwarz BACH Cantatas BWV 33 - 17 - 99

“Dealing with the Bach cantatas is a lifelong and wonderful task and challenge. Despite decades of experience with the works, new aspects are being discovered every day,” says Gotthold Schwarz, 17th Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach. The cantatas on this first recording of the Thomanerchor Leipzig under the musical direction of Schwarz, speak about the human certainty of being secure in/with God (BWV 17: “How a father has mercy on his young children”) and the confidence that God will deliver man from all trouble (BWV 33: “I call on thee in whom I trust”). There is no better credo that the Thomanerchor Leipzig and their Thomaskantor could base their joint path on.

Quatuor Diotima BÉLA BARTÓK Intégrale des quatuors à cordes

The Bartók string quartet cycle has been a career rite for quartets since the 1960s, and you can find any number of sets on the market by famed ensembles. There is quite a variety, from very sober, classical readings that emphasize the polyphony and take a very elevated tone (works well in the final String Quartet No. 6, on the dawn of war, where each movement is marked "Mesto," sad), to those that emphasize Bartók the folk music collector. France's Quatuor Diotima come up with often original readings that stand up to those of more famous groups. There are commonalities among the Bartók quartets, but Quatuor Diotima treat each one as an individual and play up the ways in which the composer responded to what was going on around him stylistically. The String Quartet No. 1 shows how Bartók emerged from an essentially French context, and the next three quartets get slashing, intense readings that derive from an Expressionist environment. Bartók's late return to Classical forms draws from Quatuor Diotima a Beethovenian tone. Sample the finale of the String Quartet No. 5, which is one of the most exciting readings out there. In general, you might disagree with a thing or two here, but "exciting" is a good general word. Naïve delivers ideal sound from the Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal in Cologne. (James Manheim)

Christophe Rousset FRESCOBALDI Toccate e partite d'intavolatura di cimbalo, libro primo

Frescobaldi brilliantly combines improvisation and architecture. These qualities resonate with the discography of harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, whose choice of repertoire and interpretation are adventurous and serious at the same time.

Frescobaldi’s counterpoint goes along with the finest art of singing, inherited from the Italian madrigal and the flexibility of his language highlights the virtuosity of his compositions.

Christophe Rousset recorded toccate and partite on a beautiful and original harpsichord of the late 16th Century. Its sound faithfully testifies for the significant place of this First Book of harpsichord pieces in the nascent modernity of Frescobaldi. If the modal harmonies are still old-fashioned, the free beat and subtle melodies make it an indisputable baroque master, admired from Italy to France and Germany: Bach is said to have had a copy of his Fiori musicali.

This new disc by Christophe Rousset reveals the first treasures composed specifically for the harpsichord. Its repertoire was served from the beginning by musicians whose expressive boldness recalls in a musical way Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro.

Judith Ingolfsson / Vladimir Stoupel POULENC - FERROUD - RAVEL

There is one thing that all the three works here have in common: they stand out clearly from an entire French tradition of sonatas for violin and piano. Each, in its way, represents an affirmation of aesthetic independence as well as a fascinating and at times cruel or bitter reflection of its era. The sonatas of Poulenc, Ferroud and Ravel, without foregoing a lofty elegance, are freed from a certain number of rules and forms that had been long imposed.

Judith Ingolfsson and Vladimir Stoupel are both soloists with strong profiles, who search passionately for new paths in the intimate atmosphere of the chamber music recital. After the “Concert-Centenaire” trilogy this is the fourth CD of the renowned duo on the Accentus Music label.

Accentus Austria COMMEDIA DELL'AUSTRIA

This internationally renowned early music group specializes in the powerfully gripping music of the Sephardic romances passed on by an oral tradition, as well as the court and sacred music of the early sixteenth century (Juan del Encina, Juan de Anchieta, Antonio de Cabezón, etc.) and the more complex polyphony belonging to the later part of that same period. The Accentus Ensemble itself was founded in Vienna in 1988. The total group has 13 members who appear in different combinations depending on the demands of the particular compositions and there are also guest artists who are asked to assist in certain performances that draw upon their special skills. The various members of the Accentus Ensemble are especially adept at the improvisational elements native to the performance practice of the early music of Spain. The group has appeared at early music festivals throughout Europe, at the important Semana de Musica Antigua in Seville, and in Israel.

Lise Davidsen / Philharmonia Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen LISE DAVIDSEN

Lyric dramatic soprano Lise Davidsen has attracted serious attention since she was crowned winner of both the Operalia and the Queen Sonja competitions in 2015. Growing up in Stokke, a rural town in south-eastern Norway, Lise has been an artist to watch since she began her musical training.

Lise began studying guitar and singing at age fifteen. At first she favoured the guitar but, with more training, singing took prominence. Lise’s early teachers included Mona Skatteboe and Runa Skramstad, who gave her an excellent foundation in classical music.

Lise achieved her bachelor’s degree in classical singing in 2010 from the Grieg Academy of Music in Bergen, Norway. During this time she worked with many notable singers including Bettina Smith and Hilde Haraldsen Sveen and joined the Norwegian Soloists Choir as a mezzo soprano, under artistic director Grete Pedersen.

While studying for a master’s degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Lise’s teacher, Susanna Eken, urged her to develop her voice for the world of opera as a soprano. Lise’s first major engagement as a soprano was in 2011 at the Young Talent Concert in Bergen, singing arias by Strauss and Wagner with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Rory Macdonald.

Hildur Guðnadóttir CHERNOBYL

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir went the extra distance for her score for Chernobyl = taking a real power plant as inspiration for her haunting score.

In a fascinating interview for Score: The Podcast, Guðnadóttir recounts how she followed the film crew to a decommissioned nuclear power plant in Lithuania – even donning a Haz-Mat suit for the research. (Lithuania here is a stand-in for the original site in Ukraine.)

Guðnadóttir, the composer and cellist was joined by Chris Watson on field recording. But this wasn’t just about gathering cool samples, but as she puts it, about listening. So every sound you hear is indeed drawn from the landscape of a similar Soviet-era nuclear plant, but as she tells it, the act of observing was just as important.

“I wanted to experience what it feels like to be inside a power plant,” she says. “Trying to make music out of a story – most of it is about listening.” So they go into this world just to listen – with a man who records ants.

And yes, this finally gets us away from Geiger counters and other cliches.

It’s funny to be here in Riga, just last night talking to Erica Synths founder Girts about his experience of the documentary – having lived through the incident within reach of radiation fallout.

Luc Beauséjour MOMENTS BAROQUES AU PIANO

 The repertoire on this recording was written for harpsichord during the Baroque period, generally considered to span the years 1600 to 1750. While many pianists have played Bach, Scarlatti, Handel, Rameau, and even Couperin and Froberger, few harpsichordists have come to the defence of the harpsichord repertoire on the modern piano.

The idea was born during a meeting with Analekta president, François Mario Labbé. I was submitting some recording proposals for harpsichord and clavichord, and he asked me, “Why not make a CD of piano music?” Somewhat taken aback, I asked for a few days to think about it.

Not long after, I suggested a program that would not only include harpsichord repertoire already covered by pianists–Bach, Scarlatti, and Handel– but would also feature some lesser-known works. In compiling this program, I played for several friends on various occasions to get their opinions. After reading through quite a number of works, I selected those that appealed to me most and that I felt worked best on the piano.

Some pieces borrowed from the harpsichord repertoire sound very good on the piano, but I quickly realized that not all Baroque repertoire lends itself to the modern instrument with equal satisfaction.  (Luc Beauséjour)