Sol Gabetta / Patricia Kopatchinskaja SOL & PAT

 

SOL & PAT

 

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sol Gabetta, Francisco Coll, Camerata Bern PLAISIRS ILLUMINÉS

 

PLAISIRS ILLUMINÉS

 

DIE KLASSIK-BESTEN

"Klassik-Besten" presents the highlights of the current classical music scene and combines the glamor of big stars with the stars of tomorrow in the starry sky of classical music. The exclusive double CD presents famous melodies - interpreted by outstanding world-class artists. The sexy spectrum ranges from classic top stars like Anna Netrebko and Lang Lang to young stars like Sheku Kanneh-Mason and offers only the best of the best in the classical world: With Cecilia Bartoli, Jonas Kaufmann, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniil Trifonov, Andrea Bocelli , David Garrett, Daniel Hope, Joyce DiDonato, Il Divo, Sol Gabetta and many more.

Selected masterpieces invite to sensual experience, immersion and relaxation. In addition to Beethoven's fabulous "Moonlight Sonata" or "Solveig's Song" from the Peer Gynt Suite, the excellent selection features immortal moving melodies, such as the enchanting "Ave Maria" by Bach and Gounod, the famous aria "Nessun dorma" by Puccini or Benny Andersson World Success "Thank You For The Music". Both classical and curious people can discover and enjoy great masterpieces with this high-quality album - a glittering firework of classical music.

Sol Gabetta / Bertrand Chamayou / Giovanni Antonini / Kammerorchester Basel SCHUMANN

Schumann is the new album from the critically acclaimed, Grammy nominated cellist Sol Gabetta. This recording features a recording of Schumann’s cello concerto with the renowned Kammerorchester Basel under the direction of Giovanni Antonini. Sol Gabetta also teams up with the wonderful French pianist, Bertrand Chamayou to record Fantasy Pieces op. 73, the Adagio and Allegro op. 70 and the Five Pieces in Folk Style op. 102. 

Sol Gabetta has performed at many prestigious venues across the globe including Wigmore Hall in London, Lucerne, Verbier, Schwetzingen and Rheingau festivals, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and Beethovenfest Bonn. Gabetta has received many awards including the Herbert von Karajan prize awarded at the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award in 2010.

Cecilia Bartoli / Sol Gabetta DOLCE DUELLO

Cecilia Bartoli and Sol Gabetta – two of the most captivating women in classical music – are joining together for a new album ‘Dolce Duello’ to be released on Decca Classics on 10th November. It is a collection of Baroque masterpieces which showcase the stunning combination of voice and cello in a series of dazzling duels and wondrous arias. To coincide with the release, Bartoli and Gabetta will be performing on a European tour with Cappella Gabetta and conductor and violinist Andrés Gabetta.

‘Dolce Duello’ covers almost a century of music. The new album features works by Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Domenico Gabrielli, Tomaso Albinoni and Luigi Boccherini, as well as three world premiere recordings: Nicola Antonio Porpora’s ‘Giusto Amor, tu che m’accendi’ from the serenata Gli orti esperidi, and two compositions by Antonio Caldara – ‘Fortuna e speranza’ from his opera Nitocri and ‘Tanto, e con sì gran piena’ from Gianguir.

The composers of these works make a variety of requirements on their soloists, demanding equal commitment from both singer and instrumentalist – engaging them in a friendly duel. If the concerto is the most elaborate and extended of musical duels, the 18^th century’s obbligato aria, with its pugnacious instrumental solo part, is easily the most spectacular. From the dawn of the Baroque, the voice and cello were inseparable companions, whether they appeared together for practical reasons (the cello being part of the continuo) or for expressive purposes. The sound of the cello is often considered to be the closest to the human voice, one elegantly complimenting the other. But when they are pitted against each other something extraordinary happens – the cello pushes the voice to its physical limits, while the singer demands raw emotion from wood and strings as if it were nature’s own instrument.

Reflected in the music of ‘Dolce Duello’ is the great friendship between Bartoli and Gabetta. They have known each other for years and had long been looking for a project to collaborate on. Together with a musicologist, they unearthed some beautiful works for voice and cello – three of which had never been recorded before. There are touching laments, as in Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, as well as more energetic arias such as ‘Di verde ulivo’ by Vivaldi. Bartoli and Gabetta sparkle when they play together.

While it maybe an album of duels, the true winner is surely the listener – who can bask in the joyous music from two wondrous women. ‘Dolce Duello’ is full of sweet treats for every taste.

Sol Gabetta / Berliner Philharmoniker / Sir Simon Rattle / Krysztof Urbanski LIVE

Sol Gabetta achieved international acclaim upon winning the Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2004 and making her debut with Wiener Philharmoniker and Valery Gergiev. Born in Argentina, Gabetta won her first competition at the a ge of ten, soon followed by the Natalia Gutman Award as well as commendations at Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. A Grammy Award nominee, she received the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award in 2 010 and the Würth -­ Preis of the Jeunesses Musicales in 2012. 

Sol Gabetta (who starred in this year’s first night of the Proms) releases this album with Sir Simon Rattle, Krzystof Urbanski and the Berlin Philharmoniker. Featuring two treasures of the cello repertoire, Gabetta places Elgar’s stunning Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 alongside Martinů’s first cello concerto, H. 196.

Sol Gabetta / Amsterdam Sinfonietta VASKS Presence

Cellist Sol Gabetta has long wanted Pēteris Vasks to compose a concerto for her and on 25 October 2012, Gabetta, in collaboration with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and its Artistic Director Candida Thompson, presented the new work at last. Klātbūtne (‘Presence’), for cello and string orchestra, was premiered at the music centre De Bijloke in Gent.

Latvian composer Vasks stands out among his contemporaries as an especially versatile composer, writing in different timbres and tunings to create hugely varied sound worlds. This can be heard in his eight works for string orchestra and three concertos for violin and strings. Klātbūtne is the first of Vasks’ works for the combination of solo cello and strings, and the three movement work was commissioned by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Eduard van Beinum Foundation and the International Istanbul Music Festival.

Gabetta and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta gave the German premiere of Klātbūtne on 26 October at the Forum am Schlosspark, Ludwigsburg, and two further performances took place on 27 October at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and on 29 October at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam.

Carmignola / Gabetta / Lazic BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto

Cello superstar Sol Gabetta teams up with the celebrated musicians Giuliano Carmignola, violin, and Dejan Lazić, piano, to form a formidably talented ensemble for this new all-Beethoven recording. They will be joined by conductor Giovanni Antonini and the Kammerorchester Basel, a team who have great pedigree recording Beethoven’s works to critical acclaim.
The centrepiece of this album is Beethoven’s ‘Triple Concerto’, the Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 56. The choice of the three solo instruments effectively makes this a concerto for piano trio, and it is the only concerto Beethoven ever completed for more than one solo instrument.
The album also includes a number of Beethoven’s most well-known overtures. The famous Coriolan Overture features alongside ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’ and the Egmont overtures.

Sol Gabetta / Bertrand Chamayou THE CHOPIN ALBUM

On her new album, cello superstar Sol Gabetta teams up with one of the best young artists, French pianist Bertrand Chamayou. Gabetta and Chamayou have played together on many occasions and quickly became both friends and artistic partners. They collaborated on the album concept and will tour this repertoire in Europe throughout 2015. The Chopin Album contains a selection of pieces by well-loved composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) as well as music by his close friend, the composer and cellist Auguste-Joseph Franchomme.

The centrepiece of this album is Chopin's striking sonata for cello and piano in G minor, op. 65, written in 1846; one of the rare pieces Chopin wrote for a solo instrument other than the piano. The duration is over 30 minutes and was written for and dedicated to Chopin's close friend Franchomme. The cello sonata was the last work published during Chopin's lifetime before he died in October 1849.

The Grand Duo concertant in E major, B. 70 was written jointly by Chopin and Franchomme in 1832. Chopin had initially been contracted by his publishers to write a work for piano based on Meyerbeers opera ‘Robert le diable’. He had attended a performance and liked the work, but was disinclined to write a ‘fantasia’ on another composer's music. Franchomme persuaded him to jointly write a piece for cello and piano, using themes from the opera. Chopin delivered the general structure of the piece and wrote the piano part and Franchomme wrote the cello part. The piece was published under both their names, and was favourably reviewed by Robert Schumann.

Chopin's Polonaise brillante in C major, op. 3 for cello and piano is one of Chopin's first published compositions and was written in October 1829, dedicated to the Austrian cellist Joseph Merk. Chopin composed the famous Nocturne in F major, op. 15, no.1 for piano in 1832. The transcription for cello and piano on this album was done by Franchomme.

Auguste Franchomme was one of the best and most celebrated cellists and persons of the musical life in Paris of his time. He also worked as a composer and published around 50 works for cello, among them his Nocturne for Cello and Piano, op. 15, no.1 which Gabetta and Chamayou selected for this album. Chopin's Étude, op. 25, no.7 (1836) for piano solo is part of the famous 12 etudes op. 25 and was arranged by composer Alexander Glazunov for cello and piano. (Presto Classical)

Sol Gabetta PRAYER

On her new album "Prayer" Sol Gabetta takes the listener with her on a meditative musical journey. Accompanied by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Orchestre National de Lyon, she has recorded a selection of Classical music inspired by Jewish melodies. It was Ernest Bloch's (1880-1959) piece "Prayer" that first gave Sol Gabetta the idea for this album: "I often played 'Prayer' as an encore in concert, and could feel that many people in the audience were greatly moved by it. This is music that is both sensual and reflective." In addition to the three-part cycle "From Jewish Life", of which "Prayer" is the first movement, Gabetta's CD recital includes Bloch's "Meditation hebräique", "Nigun", and the famous "Schelomo" for cello and orchestra. The programme is delightfully rounded off by four songs Gabetta has chosen from Dmitri Shostakovich's cycle "From Jewish Folk Poetry" and a Catalan folk song full of yearning by the famous cellist Pablo Casals.
Sol Gabetta recorded "Prayer" together with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. In Bloch's "Schelomo" she is accompanied by the Orchestre National de Lyon under Leonard Slatkin; it was with this conductor that she originally played the work, which dates from 1916. Gabetta says: "This is a sweeping, large-scale cello concerto in which the cello takes the role of King Solomon".
The Jewish pieces by Bloch with their religious undertones contrast with folk songs from the pen of Shostakovich, which he published in 1948 under the title "From Jewish Folk Poetry". From the total of 11 songs, Sol Gabetta chose four for her recital which were then specially arranged for cello and string orchestra by Mikhail Bronner. The original poems that Shostakovich set to music tell of the hardships of Jewish life in tsarist Russian. The Catalan folk song "Song of the Birds" is a tale of human longing. The Spanish cellist Pablo Casals arranged it for his instrument, and from 1939 onwards he used it to open many of the concerts he gave in exile. Gabetta has recorded the piece together with the cello ensemble of the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Sol Gabetta / Lorin Maazel / Olga Kern SHOSTAKOVICH - RACHMANINOV

With this recording Argentine-Swiss cellist Sol Gabetta completes her pair of Shostakovich's cello concertos, recorded in reverse order. Perhaps she has simply been aware of Shostakovich's still growing popularity, or perhaps she felt it was a unique challenge to apply her somewhat impetuous style to Shostakovich, who could certainly be called sober and perhaps even dour. This is a strong reading of the Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 107, which was composed in 1959 and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. It's probably preferable to Gabetta's recording of the second concerto, which doesn't quite catch Shostakovich's expansive late manner. Here she is in her element, with plenty of facility in the spectacular cadenza that introduces the finale, and an interpretation that stands out in comparison with Russian ones. As is her way, Gabetta plays fast and loose with tempi, but what she finds here is one of the Shostakovich works that seem to be rather angry assertions of identity, underlined by the dense repetitions of the D-S-C-H motif (in the German note-naming system, "Es" is E flat), which is, unusually, transposed and manipulated through the eventful opening movement. Another attractive feature of the release is the sympathy between the young and charismatic Gabetta, who seems to be getting the full star treatment from Sony Classical, and conductor Lorin Maazel, leading the Munich Philharmonic and turning the orchestra's percussion section loose in some loud noises that fit very well with what Gabetta is trying to do. There are some reservations to be had: the Rachmaninov Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19, with pianist Olga Kern, makes an unconvincing conclusion. And it's not quite clear in what sense the Shostakovich was a "live" recording if it was recorded over three days in Munich. But this is in the main a strong outing by an exciting developing artist. (James Manheim)