Johannes Moser / Andrei Korobeinikov RACHMANINOV - PROKOFIEV Works for Cello and Piano

The achingly beautiful, haunting lyricism of early Rachmaninov and the soaring effusiveness of late Prokofiev are glowingly brought to life by the German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser and the Russian pianist Andrei Korobeinikov in this new release from PENTATONE of richly expressive 20th century cello sonatas and other works.
Composed during troubled periods in the composers’ lives, the cello sonatas are life-affirming works. Rachmaninov’s arresting sonata which he wrote following a nervous breakdown is not unlike his perennially popular Second Piano Concerto: a journey from brooding melancholy to untrammelled joy, with a transcendentally beautiful slow movement. Prokofiev wrote his outstanding sonata while labouring under considerable hardship. It is by turns restrained and movingly lyrical, but the hair-raising final movement with its bravura passagework ends the work in a blaze of defiance. 

“Both Rachmaninov and Prokofiev are genius musical storytellers,” Moser said in a recent interview. “Both have their own very personal and individual language, but they are at the same time deeply rooted in the epic Russian tradition…When we recorded the album, we were very inspired by images of wide open nature, Russian folklore, as well as the longing and humour that both composers share.”
“The Rachmaninov sonata is a piece that I’ve been avoiding for many  years,” he added, “because I was waiting for the right partnership. And so to have a champion of Rachmaninov’s music like Andrei … it’s been very exciting for me to go on that journey with him.”

Described by Gramophone as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists” and by the LA Times as a musician who “…connects with the audience in a way that only great artists do”, this is Johannes Moser’s second outing for PENTATONE. His first album of concertos by Dvořák and Lalo was widely praised for his “performance of enormous flair and effervescence” (BBC Music Magazine) and “his dazzling virtuosity, free, passionate phrasing and immense energy … that recalls Pablo Casals’ iconic 1937 recording” (Strings). And he electrified audiences at this year’s BBC Proms in a performance of Dutilleux’s ‘Tout un monde lointain ...’
About this recording, Moser said “When we were talking about repertoire with PENTATONE, I thought about doing a really core repertoire Russian disc with this amazing Russian pianist [Andrei Korobeinikov]…He is a true master and true champion of this music and I feel very honoured to have him as a partner on this disc.”
Johannes Moser plays on a cello by Andrea Guaneri, made in 1694, from a private collection.

Alexander Melnikov PAUL HINDEMITH Sonatas for...

If there is a Cinderella among Hindemith’s three dozen(ish) sonatas, it’s not that for double bass, tuba, or even the Canonic Sonatina for two flutes, but the Sonata for althorn (1943). A tenor instrument, known in the US as the alto horn, it is so rare that Hindemith accepted his sonata could be played on the horn or alto saxophone. It is a delightful work for a delightful instrument, beautifully rendered here. 

Melnikov’s role parallels that of Glenn Gould but his accounts are less wayward than the Canadian’s, his soloists generally stronger. Indeed, in most of the sonatas, the primary competition comes from one-off recordings (now that Ensemble Villa Musica’s almost-complete sonata set, with pianist Kalle Randalu, is unavailable). On BIS, Roland Pöntinen is accompanist for three rival accounts. In the 1935 Violin Sonata, Wallin may now have been overtaken by Zimmermann, Becker-Bender and now Isabelle Faust but choice will depend primarily on couplings since the margins between these contenders is so fine. 

So, too, with the others, though Wendy Warner remains peerless in the Cello Sonata despite a fine challenger here from Rudin. I would not want to be without Lindberg’s Trombone Sonata, though BIS’s sound is a tad over-resonant. Costes’s superb interpretation is the finest since Antonsen’s, accompanied by Sawallisch (EMI – sadly nla), and certainly a match for Laubin’s. I prefer Costes to Tine Thing Helseth’s driven account with Kathryn Stott, in a comparatively fierce recording. In short then, this is a magnificent disc, with leading or contending versions of all the works in terrific, beautifully balanced Harmonia Mundi sound. Let’s hope Melnikov & Co return to record some more. (Gramophone)

Benjamin Grosvenor HOMAGES

Benjamin Grosvenor's fourth album on the Decca Classics label, Homages explores works by great composers paying tribute to their predecessors.

Mendelssohn and Franck look back to the Prelude & Fugue form made so popular by Bach. Busoni takes Bach's great solo violin Chaconne and reinterprets it in a bold and imaginative transcription for piano. Chopin breathes new life into the traditional Barcarolle of Venetian gondoliers, followed ten years later by Liszt's tribute to Italian folk song, Venezia e Napoli.  

"Benjamin Grosvenor has the art (and the patience and courage) to plan ingenious programmes which offer a multicoloured zig zag between styles and moods ... His pianistic ingenuity, his lyrical voice and aristocratic distinction, remind one of the young Josef Hofmann or Ignaz Friedman. The whole recital is charged with Romantic élan. [In the Bach-Busoni Chaconne] Benjamin Grosvenor's way is highly articulate and grandiloquent, rendering a flaming vision ... a feeling of unity despite the abundance of motifs; infinite fantasy in the ornamentation yet exactitude in the outlining structure; a sonorous framework arranged with distinction, like the overlapping sculptures that adorn doorways; moments of sweetness or of solemnity."
- Diapason, September 2016 (awarded Diapason d'Or)

Rudolf Buchbinder / Zubin Mehta / Wiener Philharmoniker BRAHMS The Piano Concertos

This recording unites pianist Rudolf Buchbinder with his friend and conductor Zubin Mehta with whom he has built an intimate musical rapport. They are joined on this album by the Wiener Philharmoniker, an orchestra with which Buchbinder has appeared over many decades and enjoyed some of the greatest triumphs of his career.

Approaching his 70th birthday, Buchbinder once more revisits the concertos as a result of his increasing awareness of Brahms’ music.

“With Brahms, most people are struck only by the idea that his music is incredibly difficult and complex. But sometimes it requires a whole lifetime to become intimate with Brahms’ sound world and achieve the maturity that gives you a new freedom as a performer.” (Rudolf Buchbinder).

Katia & Marielle Labèque SISTERS

“Whether Mozart or Stravinsky, their musical line always sounds as if it’s being woven for the very first time... But the illusion of improvisation is the genius of their performances. In all their recordings there is a deceptive sprezzatura that is born of throwing the preparation to the winds and hanging onto each others ears.” The Times

Katia and Marielle Labèque are sibling pianists renowned for their ensemble of synchronicity and energy. Their musical ambitions started at an early age and they rose to international fame with their contemporary rendition of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (one of the first gold records in classical music) and have since developed a stunning career with performances worldwide.

Katia and Marielle Labèque also launched the KML Foundation, aimed at furthering research and developing awareness of the duo piano repertoire through meetings between artists of all fields. One of the Foundation latest projects is a concert around Moondog's music, in collaboration with Kings Place in London, in continuity to their work on Minimalist composers.

In May 2015 the show Love Stories with the new piece Star-Cross'd Lovers by David Chalmin was premiered at the Paris Philharmonie. This original composition for two pianos, electric guitar and drums is based on the Shakespearean drama Romeo and Juliet. The choreography for 7 dancers is created by world-renowned break-dancer Yaman Okur (Madonna, Cirque du Soleil). The show was also presented in Paris in June 2016 at Chatelet, and the European tour will last until October 2016.

A record audience of more then 100.000 attended the Vienna Summer Night Concert 2016 in Schönbrunn (now available on CD and DVD by Sony), where Katia and Marielle played with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Semyon Bychkov. More then 1,5 Milliard viewer followed the event worldwide on the TV.

Labèque’s label KML Recordings joined in Summer 2016 the historical label Deutsche Grammophon. A 2 CDs re-edition of their album Minimalist Dream House follow their concert at the Philharmonie de Paris on the 25th of September together with the first recording of their project “Love Stories”.

Katia & Marielle Labèque MINIMALIST DREAM HOUSE

To be musically avant-garde in the 1950s meant to be difficult. Not by the end of the 1960s. That decade saw a group of American beatniks overthrow the musical givens of postwar Europe. In a series of disobediently straightforward compositions La Monte Young, Terry Jennings, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass declared that music could be clear, honest, pretty and experimental. Turning their backs on the conventional centres of musical power, the earliest minimalist works got their first public audience in La Monte Young's 1960-61 Chamber Street Series in Yoko Ono's New York loft. Through the 1960s in art galleries and alternative spaces, the minimalists slowly demystified, democratised and Americanised European modernism. They rejected the angst (what Philip Glass would call "crazy creepy music"). They rejected the invisible games. They rejected the theatricality. "I don't know any secrets of structure that you can't hear," wrote Steve Reich in his 1968 minimalist manifesto, Music as a Gradual Process. Minimalism claimed that there was enough interest in the sounding process itself and enough new territory to be explored in rhythmic patterning to sustain a work. If one removed the Baroque complications - the harmonic story-telling and thematic cleverness - that were obscuring the natural beauties of rhythm and sound, what would be revealed and discovered could provide classical music with a new lease of life. They were right. Minimalism was the last great musical revolution of the 20th century. And it became the most influential and successful ism of them all. In the spirit of the loft concerts we also present new works by David Chalmin, Raphael Seguinier.

Cho Seong-jin / London Symphony Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1 - Ballades

Cho Seong-jin, winner of this year's International Chopin Piano Competition, will release his debut album with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, Deutsche Grammophon announced, Monday. He had initially planned to make his debut studio recording with conductor Chung Myung-whun, former music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO). 

Cho was scheduled to start recording Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Chopin's four Ballades in April under the baton of maestro Chung and the Staatskapelle Dresden Orchestra where Chung has been principal guest conductor since the 2012-13 season.  

Chung reportedly canceled the recording because of personal reasons. 

Also Chung will no longer conduct Cho's Chopin performance with the SPO at Seoul Arts Center, July 15. He will be replaced by French conductor Yan Pascal Torteller. 

The pianist will be performing the award-winning Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 that shot him to fame last October by making him the first Korean to win the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. (Park Jin-hai)

I Solisti di Pavia / Enrico Dindo ANTONIO VIVALDI Cello Concertos

On the 9th December 2001, Mstislav Rostropovich accepted the honorary presidentship of the rising Chamber Orchestra I Solisti di Pavia, born from Enrico Dindo’s passion and the Banca del Monte di Lombardia Foundation’s sponsorship.

Thanks to the talent and enthusiasm of its conductor, Enrico Dindo, in over ten years of  activity I Solisti reached excellence, thus representing an important presence in Pavia and a well-established reality in the musical scenery, both in Italy and abroad.

In June 2002, I Solisti did their first international tour, performing in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Vilnius, followed by two important dates in Beirut and Algiers in 2002, where they played to celebrate the end of the six-month Italian Presidency of the European Union, and a long tour through the major South American theatres in 2006. In 2008 and 2009, they inaugurated the “Malta Festival” in the prestigious setting of Palace Cluyard.

In November 2011, I Solisti di Pavia debuted at La Scala in Milan and at the Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg.

In autumn, they often perform monographic cycles of three concerts in Pavia, including not only Bach’s Six Brandenburg Concertos, but also his Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, early Mendelssohn’s Thirteen String Symphonies, Händel’s Twelve Grand Concertos, and Corelli’s Twelve Grand Concertos op. 6, chamber music by L.V. Beethoven and J. Brahms, and the traditional Easter Concert.

Doric String Quartet / Allison Bell BRETT DEAN Epitaphs - String Quartet No. 1 - String Quartet No. 2

It is impossible to talk about the chamber music of the Australian composer Brett Dean without mentioning that he was principal viola of the Berlin Philharmonic. Inevitably he understands string textures from the inside, with compelling results. The excellent Doric Quartet rise to the challenges of these elegiac works. Eclipse (String Quartet No 1), particularly timely, conjures the despair of the boat people rescued from the Indian Ocean by the Norwegian freighter Tampa in 2001, then denied admission to Australia. The three movements flicker between light and dark, turbulence and calm. Five Epitaphs offer moving portraits of five dead friends, including the conductor Richard Hickox. The Quartet No 2, ”And once I played Ophelia” (2013), has a part, too, for soprano (Allison Bell) which began as the seeds of an unwritten Hamlet opera. Tense, tender and original, it’s a tough but rewarding listen. (The Guardian)

Giuseppe Albanese APRÈS UNE LECTURE DE LISZT

One of the most sought-after Italian pianists of his generation, Giuseppe Albanese has performed throughout Italy and abroad, with praise for his performances as "ravishingly beautiful" and "truly superlative". First prize winner at Premio Venezia, the most important national piano competition in Italy, Albanese also won the first prize at London 2003 Vendome Prize International Piano Competition, headed by Sir Jeffrey Tate and defined by Le Figaro as "the piano world's most prestigious award". He was also awarded the special prize for the 'best execution of contemporary music' at the 54th Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano.

In 2014, Albanese has made his debut on Deutsche Grammophon label with "Fantasia", a concept album featuring Beethoven's Sonata quasi una Fantasia Op. 27 No. 2, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy Op. 15 and Schumann's Fantasy Op. 17.

Steven Isserlis / Richard Egarr BACH – HANDEL – SCARLATTI Gamba Sonatas

None of these pieces was written for cello and harpsichord, and at no stage does that matter one bit. Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord may not have been conceived for that combination but they are such sublime creations that the identity of the instruments is perhaps the last thing that should worry us. Rather, it is the performers’ musicianship that counts, and in this case that is of high quality indeed. 

Steven Isserlis makes no attempt to make his cello imitate the wispy resonance of the gamba, instead claiming the music for his instrument with vigorously articulated lines, robust technical athleticism and ravishing cantabile. Indeed, it is this wondrous singing quality—which never loses its bearing and employs vibrato only as one of its discreet expressive elements—that stands out in these performances, its presence felt above all in the slow movements, of course, but also constantly governing the sense of line in busier ones. Also telling is the profound awareness of architecture and the inter-relationship of movements, for instance in the gathering joy with which the finale of BWV1027 picks us off the floor following the sudden shaft of desolation that has ended the preceding Andante (astutely likened by Isserlis to ‘Es ist vollbracht’ from the St John Passion). In short, these are full-blooded but sensitive readings which, far from being contrary to Bach’s spirit, seem rather to magnify it. 

Isserlis is excellently partnered at every turn by Richard Egarr’s bustling harpsichord-playing, though I would have liked a greater presence for it in the balance to give more definition to the unsupported bass-line. In the two non-Bach items—sonatas probably originally conceived for violin and continuo by Handel and Scarlatti (the latter working up a fiery head)—the balance works better, with Egarr typically inventive and Robin Michael’s lightly drawn doubling of the bass adding just enough weight without drawing attention to itself. Otherwise, they show the same quality in performance as the Bach—namely first-class. (Gramophone)

Jenny Lin FEDERICO MOMPOU Música Callada - Secreto

Música Callada (Music of Silence) is a very special work, one of the most beautiful and elusive in the entire piano repertoire. It is extremely difficult to perform. On the one hand, there’s the temptation to stretch each piece out hypnotically, if monotonously, while quicker speeds preserve the music’s melodic essence at the expense of much of its atmosphere and harmonic richness. For although much of the music is indeed quiet, and none of it moves quickly, it is all meaningful.

Mompou himself found the perfect balance between incident and repose, and of all the pianists since, Jenny Lin arguably comes closest to doing the same, only in much better sound. It’s not so much that her tempos match Mompou’s own (she’s actually not copying him–it would hardly be possible in a work containing 28 individual pieces), but rather that her phrasing and sense of timing let the music breathe and sing with its own special poetry. To take just one example, consider the sadness that Lin finds in the fourth piece, “Afflitto e penoso”, by allowing the piece’s harmonic color time to speak simply and eloquently.

Another secret of her success is the splendid equilibrium between left and right hands. The treble gleams, bell-like, while the sonorous bass lines carry the music right through the many pauses, aided in no small degree by discretely timed use of the pedals. “Secreto”, from the early Impresiones intimas, makes the perfect encore and rounds out the program in a most satisfying way. If Música Callada represents Mompou’s masterpiece, then this beautifully engineered disc must be its finest modern recording. It deserves a home in every serious piano music collection. (David Hurwitz / Classics Today)

Céline Frisch JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Variations Goldberg

Here is a package that satisfies intellectual curiosity and is musically delightful. This two-disc set begins with a precise, but still musical, harpsichord performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations by Céline Frisch. Her Aria is clean, with both the melody and the bass line countermelody clear and phrased so that everything comes together well. Her ornaments fit naturally into the melodies throughout the variations, without drawing attention away from the tune, and she always has a sense of direction and forward momentum. The second disc contains the 14 canons on the first eight notes of the bass of the Aria from the Goldberg Variations and the two songs that are contained in the quodlibet near the end of the Variations. The canons are rich and warm performed by Café Zimmermann, a string sextet that includes a double bass, with excellent contrasts in the feel of each canon. The song Cabbages and Turnips Have Driven Me Away is the highlight of the two discs. Period instruments accompany Dominique Visse as he sings about a hunter bringing a girl home to meet his mother. Visse switches from a jolly, idiomatic tenor voice for the hunter to a smooth alto for the girl, and a slightly grating alto for the mother, often in mid-verse. The humor he and the musicians put into the song will produce a smile, and perhaps actual laughter from those who follow the lyrics included in the notes. The second song, Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir gewest, is a dance that begins with a slow, improvisatory violin solo over a hurdy-gurdy drone. The Baroque guitar, cittern, flute, and percussion join in as the dance goes on and accelerates, in lively spirits, stopping before reaching a dizzying speed. Altogether, as well as being a good listen, the programming and the performances of this package give a little more insight into Bach's talent and what inspired him. (Patsy Morita)

Marie Hallynck / London Symphony Orchestra DIRK BROSSÉ Cello Concerto for Isabelle

To me music is an all encompassing vital need. This universal language has since time immemorial had the strength to unite people and cultures beyond the frontiers of time and space. It is contagious and has an addictive effect; it is ubiquitous and is never disappointing. It has become my master and gives the energy and inspiration to translate the world around me into sounds. Every day it gives the strength to move that one stone in the river one millimetre forward. It is the language that helps me articulate my thoughts and emotions and daily shows me the path towards greater wisdom and beauty.

Composing is a commitment; it is my life’s mission. For me composing means creating a vacuum around myself and allowing myself to be submerged by impressions. It is a continual struggle between fantasy and reality, between dream and reality. Out of chaos of sounds and emotions I try to order my thoughts by juggling shreds of melodies, original chords, striking sound colours and alternating rhythms. Melody, harmony, rhythm and sound colours are finally balanced to generate a harmonious universe. 

I wish to share this new music with all of you now, later and forever… 

My approach to conducting is altogether different. The notes help me to discover the person behind the composer. I try to decipher their codes until I perceive their sole. Only then can you truly understand and perform their music. This is the path I have adopted. 

I look forward to you joining me on this voyage of discovery…  (Dirk Brossé)

Jamie Barton / Brian Zeger ALL WHO WANDER

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton burst upon the global opera and concert scene in recent years after having won many of the world's most prestigious prizes for vocal excellence and accomplishments. Delos has scored a major coup in releasing her debut album. Jamie's well-chosen program of late-Romantic repertoire begins with eight of Gustav Mahler's finest lieder- including his wonderful Five Ruckert Songs- before treating us to the rare delights of Antonin Dvorak's song cycle Gypsy Songs. Her album concludes with even more seldom-heard selections from the many lovely Swedish-language songs of Finnish master Jean Sibelius. This sublime release- further graced by pianist Brian Zeger's peerless collaboration- will take your breath away, and leave you hungry for more from Jamie Barton, considered by many of the world's top vocal and operatic experts to be the rising mezzo of our time.  

"A great artist, no question, with an imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance that invites comparison not so much with her contemporaries as with mid-20th century greats such as Kirsten Flagstad.” (The Guardian) 

“The world has been waiting for this voice for a long time – one that reminds you of how capable the human voice is of creating something of absolute beauty. Jamie pours all of her heart into every phrase of this deeply personal debut album. You will be utterly transported.” (Joyce DiDonato)

Cappella Amsterdam / Daniel Reuss ARVO PÄRT Kanon Pokajanen

Since his conversion to the Orthodox faith in the early 1970s, Arvo Pärt has composed a large number of works of religious inspiration. He is attached to the Latin language, and has borrowed numerous texts from the Roman Catholic liturgy (masses, Stabat Mater, Salve Regina and others), but he naturally feels particularly close to Orthodox spirituality, which has been the source of both instrumental compositions (Silouan’s Song, Trisagion) and vocal works. In his settings of Orthodox prayers, Pärt sometimes makes use of English translations (Litany, Triodion), but on certain occasions he prefers to retain Church Slavonic, the of cial language of the Russian Orthodox liturgy. This is the case with the Kanon Pokajanen (Canon of Repentance), at once his most monumental work and one of the very rare musical settings of a canon (kānon), a poetico-liturgical genre dating from the Byzantine era.

The Kanon Pokajanen (Canon of Repentance), premiered in March 1998, is Arvo Pärt’s most monumental composition. Its prolonged genesis, a meticulous process of assimilation of the text in Church Slavonic, the austerity and subtlety of its style embody the same sincerity, the same spiritual and contemplative radiance as icon painting. A dialogue with the Sacred in which time stands still.

Jérôme Pernoo / Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo / Jean-Christophe Spinosi GUILLAUME CONNESSON Lucifer

Listen blind and you’d never guess this was music by a Frenchman operating in the post-Boulez era, the best clues being the iridescent sonorities achieved throughout and the reliance on early Messiaen as a model for the paradisiacal element of the third movement of the Cello Concerto (2008). As Guillaume Connesson himself admits, Shostakovich, John Adams, pop and jazz mean more to him than his intellectualising predecessors, so it is perhaps inevitable that the great Russian should influence key moments in his own Cello Concerto. Of course Shostakovich was writing for Rostropovich in a very different, anti-hedonistic cultural climate. Connesson’s more accessible piece is dedicated to Jérôme Pernoo, who plays it here with evident authority and commitment. 

Now in his forties, Connesson is a professional to his fingertips, and should you warm to the work of the classier commercial composers and orchestrators you may find his world wholly congenial. It is those sympathetic to the traditional contemporary music scene who might be taken aback by the brazenness of it all. Connesson’s retro, razzle-dazzle eclecticism knows no bounds: a bouncy rhythm borrowed here, a shiny instrumental effect there, glass harmonica and all. Dangerously familiar shards of Adams, Lutosawski et al can be the one ‘modern’ element enlivening a conventional romantic texture. Blink and Lucifer (2011) reverts back into Daphnis or Jeux or Spartacus or The Rite of Spring. The list is almost endless. For a ballet score contemplating Satan’s casting out of heaven alongside the legends of Prometheus and the Grail, Connesson would seem to have gone easy on the metaphysics. 

Is his really a major voice? There’s no doubting the enormous effectiveness of the ballet music in particular. Unprofound yet glamorous and self-evidently danceable, it makes several recent full-length scores of its type seem that much thinner. But whatever happened to the old idea that a composer should craft an idiom if not indubitably new then at least indubitably his own? On its own terms the present disc is a conspicuous success. The Monte Carlo forces are galvanised by Jean-Christophe Spinosi into playing of fire and energy, and the booklet takes in a helpful composer interview. Non-sceptics should seek out the earlier Cosmic Trilogy (Chandos, 3/10), immortalising Connesson’s association with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and its erstwhile Music Director Stéphane Denève. DG’s sound is a little less spacious, its physical presentation oddly flawed. The album’s French-language text is not difficult to read but the English translation, grey then brown on grubbily framed off-white, is presumably not intended for the over-fifties. Perhaps we oldies aren’t expected to dabble in postmodernism. (Gramophone)

Daniel Barenboim ON MY NEW PIANO

Daniel Barenboim’s first solo recording on the remarkable new concert grand Barenboim-Maene which he developed in collaboration with instrument maker Chris Maene. 

Barenboim has selected works by four keyboard masters to display his piano’s timbral and tonal capabilities: 

“I’ve fallen in love with my new piano”, he exclaims, “and want to spend as much time with it as possible.” 

Conceived and commissioned by Barenboim himself, the new piano was developed and built by esteemed Belgian instrument maker Chris Maene, with support from Steinway & Sons. 

Barenboim was inspired to create a new piano after playing Franz Liszt’s restored grand piano during a trip to Siena in September 2011. Struck by the vital differences in sound of an instrument constructed with straight, parallel strings rather than the diagonal crossed ones of a contemporary instrument, he set out to create a brand new instrument that combines the best of the old and the new and offers a real alternative for pianists and music-lovers in the 21st century. 

Barenboim says: 

“The transparency and tonal characteristics of the traditional straight-strung instruments is so different from the homogenous tone produced by the modern piano across its entire range. The clearly distinguishable voices and color across its registers of Liszt’s piano inspired me to explore the possibility of combining these qualities with the power, looks, evenness of touch, stability of tuning and other technical advantages of the modern Steinway…”

PHILIP GLASS Book of Longing

Leonard and I first began talking about a poetry and music collaboration more than six years ago. We met at that time in Los Angeles, and he had with him a manuscript that became the basis of the collection of poetry now published as the Book of Longing. In the course of an afternoon that stretched into the evening, he read virtually the whole book to me. I found the work intensely beautiful, personal, and inspiring. On the spot, I proposed an evening-length work of poetry, music, and image based on this work. Leonard liked my idea, and we agreed to begin. Now, six years later, our stars are in alignment, the book is published, and I have composed the music.

For me, this work is both a departure from past work and a fulfillment of an artistic dream. (Philip Glass)

Alina Ibragimova / Cédric Tiberghien RAVEL Complete Music for Violin & Piano LEKEU Sonata

Maurice Ravel’s mature works for violin and piano have established a central place in the core recital repertoire and are considered among the most popular of the genre. These diverse works acknowledge the influences of a range of musical styles from jazz to Impressionism and fuse the tonal colours of Debussy with the lyricism of Franck.

The posthumously published one-movement Violin Sonata, written by Ravel as a student, is a lyrical precursor to the composer’s stunning Violin Sonata in G major with its unique character and adoption of the ‘blues’ idiom. The spontaneity, tonal colours and exotic soundscapes in Ravel’s violin music call for immense skill in interpretation, and passages in the frenzied Tzigane test the limits of the performers’ virtuosity.

Violinist Alina Ibragmiova rises to these challenges with extraordinary verve. Recent winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Young Artist of the Year’ award, she displays a vast expressive range and interpretative maturity. She is accompanied by pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who gives elegant and flawless performances and relishes Ravel’s iridescent piano parts.

The addition of Guillaume Lekeu’s masterwork, the extensive and engaging Violin Sonata, makes this major new release a chamber disc to treasure. (Hyperion Records)

Sirius Viols CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON The Four Seasons

Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons is one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire worldwide but Vivaldi wasn’t the only composer to be inspired by the change of seasons. Christopher Simpson (1605–1669) was one of the best viola da gamba players of the early English Baroque. His Four Seasons is one of those fascinating works that take us on a musical journey through the recurring parts of the year. Now Hille Perl and her ensemble, Sirius Viols, have recorded this colourful piece. Hille Perl is a German virtuoso performer of the viola da gamba and lirone. She is considered to be one of the world's finest viola da gamba players. The Sirius Viols was founded by Hille Perl, consisting of Perl alongside Marthe Perl and Frauke Hess.

Yehudi Menuhin THE ART OF MENUHIN

“Now I know there is a God in heaven!”, exclaimed Albert Einstein when he heard the young Yehudi Menuhin play the violin. Not only was Menuhin an extraordinary musician, he lived through – and helped to shape – a momentous period in history. The Warner Classics catalog contains 70 years’ worth of his recordings and this 3-CD collection, Yehudi: The Art of Menuhin, provides a fascinating perspective on his achievements: Menuhin was a man of ideals who changed the world through music. (Arkiv Music)

As a musician, as a man of ideals, and as a citizen of the world, Yehudi Menuhin made an extraordinary mark on his era. 22nd April 2016 will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. YEHUDI explores Yehudi Menuhin’s genius and artistry through his legendary recordings – the best-loved violin masterpieces, famed duets and collaborations and exclusive unpublished material - in a specially priced 3-CD compilation for the great violinist’s centenary year. (Presto Classical)

Anaïs Gaudemard / Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Normandie / Leo Hussain GINASTERA - DEBUSSY - BOIELDIEU Harp Concertos

An internationally recognized soloist, Anaïs Gaudemard quickly stood out in the musical world among the best current harpists.

In 2012, she wins the First Prize at the prestigious International Harp Contest in Israel, and the special award for the best interpretation of The Crown of Ariadne by Murray Schafer, then in 2016 she wins the 2nd Prize and the Münchener Kammerorchester Prize at ARD Competition in Munich.

 In 2015, Anaïs wins the « Thierry Scherz Prize » at the Festival des Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad. This prize, awarded by the Foundation Scientia Pro Arte, offers to her the opportunity to record a CD with orchestra. Anaïs has chosen to dedicate it to the Concertos for Harp by Debussy, Boieldieu and Ginastera with the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie. It will be released the November 4, 2016 on the Claves Records label.

Anaïs Gaudemard has the privilege to collaborate with orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Symphonie-Orchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie ; under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Leonard Slatkin, Kazushi Ono, Nir Kabaretti, Leo Hussain, Emmanuel Krivine, Constantin Trinks. She performs as soloist and gives master classes in China, Canada, Israel, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, USA, …

Anaïs Gaudemard studied at the CNSMD in Lyon, France (First prize unanimously awarded with the congratulations of the jury in 2013) then she continued her studies at the HEMU in Lausanne where she obtained the Master of Arts specialized « Soloist » with the highest honors and the First Jost Prize which recognizes the best performance of a concerto in 2015.

Since 2014, she is laureate of the Fondation d’Entreprise Banque Populaire which grants her an award to pursue this commitment in creation and the command of works for the harp.

Christian Tetzlaff / Tanja Tetzlaff / Lars Vogt BRAHMS The Piano Trios

Award-winning violinist Christian Tetzlaff and pianist Lars Vogt are joined together with Tanja Tetzlaff in this exciting new recording of the Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Piano Trios.

The Brahms Piano Trios belong to the very core of the romantic chamber music repertoire. They span a period from the 1850s (the 1st version of Op. 8) to the 1880s, Op. 101 being completed during the last decade of Brahms' active career as a composer. Piano Trio No. 1 was also revised by the composer as late as in 1889.

Christian Tetzlaff has been considered as one of the world's leading international violinists for many years, and still maintains a most extensive performing schedule. Musical America named him "Instrumentalist of the Year" in 2005 and his recording of the violin concertos by Mendelssohn and Schumann, released on Ondine in 2011, received the "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik". Gramophone Magazine chose his recording of the Schumann Violin Sonatas with Lars Vogtas "Disc of the Month" in January 2014. In addition, in 2015 ICMA awarded Christian Tetzlaff as the "Artist of the Year".

Chamber music plays a significant part in Tanja Tetzlaff's career. She gives regular recitals in renowned concert series and festivals. In addition to successes in many international competitions, she has collaborated with world-renowed orchestras and conductors.

Lars Vogt was appointed the first ever "Pianist in Residence" by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2003/04 and enjoys a high profile as a soloist and chamber musician. (Ondine)

Clara-Jumi Kang / Yeol Eum Son SCHUMANN - BRAHMS Sonatas - Romances

A double Second Prize winner at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 2011 and at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 Yeol Eum Son’s graceful interpretations, crystalline touch and versatile, thrilling performances have caught the attention of audiences worldwide.Yeol Eum first drew international attention in 2004, when she was chosen as the soloist for the New York Philharmonic’s tour of Asia; she subsequently reappeared with the Philharmonic and maestro Lorin Maazel in 2008. A favorite among other international orchestras, Yeol Eum has appeared with the Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Svetlanov Symphony (former USSR State Symphony), NDR Radio Philharmonie, St. Petersburg Academic Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony and Seattle Symphony Orchestra among others.

Albrecht Mayer VOCALISE

Vocalise is a compilation of favourite pieces from Albrecht Mayer's recent releases in which the oboe more than lives up to its reputation as a wind instrument remarkable for its singing tone

The artist personally selected this collection ranging widely from Baroque arias of great virtuosity to the charm of the French chanson

Even as a boy soprano with the Bamberg Cathedral Choir, Albrecht Mayer was already fascinated by the human voice, and although he later decided against pursuing a career as a singer and chose instead to become an oboist, he is unquestionably a magician who as soon as he breathes life into his instrument casts his spell on his listeners’ hearts and minds with the beauty of his playing, transforming the oboe into an irresistible Vox Humana.

Anneleen Lenaerts / Dionysis Grammenos SCHUMANN & SCHUBERT Transcriptions for Clarinet & Harp

Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts is one of the leading soloists of her instrument. In 2010 she was appointed Principal Harpist of the Vienna Philharmonic. She won no fewer than twenty-three prizes, amongst them the “Grand Prix International Lily Laskine”. Hailed by Télérama, France, as “the new Prince of the clarinet”, Dionysis Grammenos was the first ever wind player to win the Grand Prix d’Eurovision from the European Broadcasting Union. 

Anneleen Lenaerts released a first album on Warner Classics in 2014, with concertos by Jongen, Glière and Rodrigo. For this second album, Anneleen and Dionysis selected some of the most beautiful Romantic chamber music pages, amongst them Schumanns Fantasiestücke Op. 73 and Romanzen Op. 94, and Schuberts Arpeggione Sonata D 821.

Western art music has, in one way or another, always been recreative. It is about the spark between the musician(s) and the composer, be this through brilliant extemporisation on an early music Urtext, or a beautifully expressive performance of a Romantic work. Rarer instrumental combinations have always gravitated notably towards transcriptions. Sensitively-chosen transcriptions shed new light on their originals, because of the sounds, colours and identities they bring to the text. In the case of the harp and the clarinet, these colours are warmly unified, profoundly evocative of the works’ epoch, and of the emotional intensity of the music itself. (Warner Classics)

TCHAIKOVSKY The Essentials

Five new collections of the most important works from the most popular composers performed by DG’s legendary artists – that’s ‘The Essentials’. The collections of 25 tracks display each inimitable master composer. 

Enjoy Chopin from the ‘Minute Waltz’ to the ‘Military Polonaise’, Debussy from the much-loved piano music to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces, as well as Beethoven’s landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music, Puccini’s most performed operas and Tchaikovsky’s most important works. 

This album takes you through the most important of Tchaikovsky’s works: the groundbreaking ballets and monumental symphonies, the concertos and works for string orchestra, arias from Eugene Onegin and of course the 1812 Overture. Performers include Hilary Hahn, Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Mikhail Pletnev, Msitislav Rostropovich and many others.

PUCCINI The Essentials

Five new collections of the most important works from the most popular composers performed by DG’s legendary artists – that’s ‘The Essentials’. The collections of 25 tracks display each inimitable master composer. 

Enjoy Chopin from the ‘Minute Waltz’ to the ‘Military Polonaise’, Debussy from the much-loved piano music to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces, as well as Beethoven’s landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music, Puccini’s most performed operas and Tchaikovsky’s most important works. 

 Puccini wrote arias like no other composer, from O Soave Fanciulla to O Mio Babbino Caro and of course Nessun Dorma. His operas are among the most performed worldwide – La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Manon Lescaut and Tosca are all featured here. Singers include Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo, Mirella Freni, José Carreras and Monsterrat Caballé among others.

DEBUSSY The Essentials

Five new collections of the most important works from the most popular composers performed by DG’s legendary artists – that’s ‘The Essentials’. The collections of 25 tracks display each inimitable master composer. 

Enjoy Chopin from the ‘Minute Waltz’ to the ‘Military Polonaise’, Debussy from the much-loved piano music to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces, as well as Beethoven’s landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music, Puccini’s most performed operas and Tchaikovsky’s most important works. 

These 25 tracks demonstrate Debussy’s incomparable ability to create atmosphere, drama and beautiful melodies. From the much-loved piano music, including Clair de Lune and La Cathédrale Engloutie, to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces – La Mer, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Sonata for Violin & Piano – all are featured here in landmark performances.

CHOPIN The Essentials

Five new collections of the most important works from the most popular composers performed by DG’s legendary artists – that’s ‘The Essentials’. The collections of 25 tracks display each inimitable master composer. 

Enjoy Chopin from the ‘Minute Waltz’ to the ‘Military Polonaise’, Debussy from the much-loved piano music to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces, as well as Beethoven’s landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music, Puccini’s most performed operas and Tchaikovsky’s most important works. 

From the Minute Waltz to the Military Polonaise these 25 tracks display the inimitable master composer for the piano at his best in performances from some of the greatest Chopin interpreters: Martha Argerich, Emil Gilels, Maria João Pires, Maurizio Pollini, Yundi and more.

BEETHOVEN The Essentials

Five new collections of the most important works from the most popular composers performed by DG’s legendary artists – that’s ‘The Essentials’. The collections of 25 tracks display each inimitable master composer. 

Enjoy Chopin from the ‘Minute Waltz’ to the ‘Military Polonaise’, Debussy from the much-loved piano music to orchestral and chamber music masterpieces, as well as Beethoven’s landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music, Puccini’s most performed operas and Tchaikovsky’s most important works. 

Beethoven is undoubtedly one of the most influential and important composers of all time. This album features the landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music from this giant of music, all performed by the greatest interpreters – Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, Wilhelm Kempff, Carlos Kleiber, Rafael Kubelik and many others.

Juliette Bausor / Royal Northern Sinfonia / Jaime Martin MOZART - NIELSEN Flute Concertos

Widely recognised as one of Britain’s leading flute players, Juliette Bausor began her studies with Anna Pope at the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music and Purcell School of Music, before going on to study with Philippa Davies, Paul Edmund Davies and Samuel Coles at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She continued her tuition at the Conservatoire Nationale Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, with Sophie Cherrier and Vincent Lucas.

Following international success in competitions, including early recognition in reaching the televised Concerto Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and winning the Gold Medal in both the Shell LSO Competition and the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, Juliette has appeared as a concerto soloist with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Academy of St Martins in the Fields, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, with conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Thomas Zehetmair, Mario Venzago and Sir Neville Marriner. Success on an international scale is reflected in tours around Europe and beyond, to Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand.

Joyce DiDonato IN WAR & PEACE

The pendulum of human history has continuously swung between despair and hope, horror and bliss, chaos and tranquility. We are a restless bunch, prone to desperation, isolation and violence in some moments, and yet, mercifully, to optimism and generosity in others.

As a citizen of the world in 2016, at times I am overwhelmed by the temptation to spiral down into the turmoil and pessimism that seemingly invades all corners of our lives, pulling me into the dispiriting din of upheaval which can devastate the spirit. And yet, I’m a belligerent, proud, willing optimist. I resist.

And so I ask myself: Is it possible to find a sincere and lasting peace within such deafening chaos? And if so, how can I access it? Is there an alternative to simply surrendering to the inevitable noise and our base fears, instead choosing serenity, audaciously silencing those fears?

For centuries, creators of great art have been depicting atrocity and pandemonium alongside tranquility and harmony for centuries, boldly showing us both our brutal nature and our elevated humanity. Art unifies, transcends borders, connects the disconnected, eliminates status, soothes turmoil, threatens power and the status-quo, and gloriously exalts the spirit. Art is a valiant path to peace.

With the help of Handel and Purcell, among other masters, I respectfully invite you look at the interwoven worlds of external conflict and serenity, internal war and peace, and to contemplate where you wish to reside within yourself.

As I have tried to convey in this selection of music, the power to bravely tip the scales towards peace lies firmly within every single one of us. (Joyce DiDonato)

Alison Balsom JUBILO Bach - Corelli - Torelli - Fasch

With this release Alison records on the natural trumpet for the first time since the hugely successful album Sound the Trumpet. Inspired by seasonal Baroque repertoire, the recording includes Bach’s concertos by Corelli, Torelli, and Fasch performed with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk. The Schübler Chorales and In dulce jubilo by Bach, performed in arrangements for trumpet and organ played here by Stephen Cleobury, act as a beautiful foil to the full orchestral sound of the concertos. Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring featuring Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge tops off this Christmas cracker of an album. This classy winter-themed album is a perfect core classical seasonal offering. The release coincides with a major tour of Germany.

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.

Lisa Batiashvili / Daniel Barenboim / Staatskapelle Berlin TCHAIKOVSKY - SIBELIUS Violin Concertos

On their latest album release, General Music Director Daniel Barenboim leads the Staatskapelle Berlin with violinist Lisa Batiashvili in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. 

Barenboim first heard Batiashvili perform with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, which inspired their future collaborations. “There are few violinists with better taste,” says Barenboim. 

The album, released on 4 November, 2016 on Deutsche Grammophon, marks Barenboim and Batiashvili’s first recording project together.

Elīna Garanča / Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana / Roberto Abbado REVIVE

In Revive, her latest album for Deutsche Grammophon, Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča explores the storms raging in the lives of some of the strong women of opera. A world-class performer approaching the peak of her form, she channels her experience and insight into a collection of arias drawn from the great Romantic repertoire, complete with captivating rarities and genuine showstoppers. Revive, released 04 November via Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, charts the impassioned responses of characters blown off course or thrown into emotional turmoil by events beyond their control.

Bookended by arias from Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Saint-Saëns’s Henri VIII, the album also takes in music from Leoncavallo’s La Bohème and Massenet’s Hérodiade, as well as celebrated set-pieces from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, Massenet’s Werther, Berlioz’s Les Troyens and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, among others.

This breadth of repertoire bears witness to Elīna Garanča’s vocal versatility and range. Her programme choices amount to a projection of her personal passions and interests at the time of creating the recording. “I feel confident that at this moment I can approach the women in the opera literature who are strong, whom I understand, with whom I can share my own life experience,” she comments. “This has been the guideline in everything I do: I go onstage when I am confident that I understand why I’m going to present a character. I hope that everyone listening to this recording can find something particular: it’s enough if they can relate to only one aria.”

Revive casts light on powerful women to reveal their vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Garanča’s strikingly individual interpretations arise from her empathy for each character and are underpinned by her admiration for their desire always to stand tall, even in moments of despair or apparent defeat.

“All these women are, I think, about exploring an inner world, about people finding themselves in a weak moment, for whatever reason – unhappy love, betrayal, losing power, saying goodbye to loved ones. In my everyday life, I’m everything: I can be jealous, I can be angry, I can be funny, I can be sad. Life is like a big colourful book. So the women on this album belong to a big colourful book.”

Revive was made in company with Roberto Abbado and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Elīna Garanča welcomed a fresh opportunity to work with Abbado, and was delighted by the absolute focus shown by the orchestra throughout the sessions. The recording process allowed the singer to dig deep into dramatic roles destined to become part of her future work in the opera house, notably Mascagni’s Santuzza and Verdi’s Princess Eboli, two powerful roles she is preparing to perform for the first time onstage, at the Paris Opéra (in the autumn of 2016 and 2017, respectively).

“I’m lucky enough to have a mezzo-soprano voice that has the potential for development,” she comments. “I started with Baroque, Mozart and bel canto repertoire, with a little bit more dramatic stuff, too. I have never done Verdi on the stage or really done verismo opera, so there’s something new for me. Now, I feel it is really time to explore further, so the repertoire that is coming now is a new Elīna with new, exciting challenges.” Verdi and verismo, she adds, offer fresh territory for rewarding exploration. “I’m very happy that I can embrace it. It feels right at this moment to move on and reach other mountains!”

Max Emanuel Cencic / Armonia Atenea / George Petrou HANDEL Arminio

A number of recent DECCA recordings of Baroque repertory have benefited from the playing of Armonia Atenea and the conducting of George Petrou, but their work in this "Arminio" sets new standards for performances of Händel's operas . . . the orchestra's efforts serve as a catalyst to the opera's drama, not just an accompaniment . . . a whirring, invigorating performance that honors the best elements of historically-informed performance practices without compromising listeners' enjoyment with the acerbic sounds, faltering intonation, and exaggerated rhythms that constitute the worst aspects of period-appropriate methods . . . The singers truly perform the opera: in recitatives, here rendered as engagingly as on any recording of a Baroque opera, they seem to listen to one another, something that too few singers bother to do even in staged performances. Whether the music being sung is by Händel or Henze, opera is a team sport. With Max Emanuel Cencic and George Petrou as its co-captains and a team of all-stars playing all positions, this "Arminio" never misses an opportunity to score. (Joseph Newsome)

Jean-Guihen Queyras / BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jirí Belohlávek EDWARD ELGAR Cello Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Rococo Variations

French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras explores the late Romantic repertoire on this 2013 Harmonia Mundi release and finds a kind of mirroring of intentions and expressions between Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, and Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto, Op. 85. While this is a rather subjective understanding of the music that listeners can either take or leave, there's no denying that Queyras, conductor Jirí Belohlávek, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra offer performances of both works that are evocative and beautiful, with or without any underlying connections. Indeed, the polished soloist and the committed orchestra play effectively in both pieces, and Queyras' intense but controlled playing is well balanced by the orchestral accompaniment, which never overwhelms. For a break between the two heavyweight pieces, Queyras plays Antonín Dvorák's Rondo, Op. 94, and the tone poem, Silent Woods, Op. 68/5, which provide a lighter mood. Harmonia Mundi's reproduction is immaculate, with central placement for the soloist and realistic depth for the orchestral sections. (Blair Sanderson)

Ilya Gringolts / PKF-Prague Philarmonia / Nicola Guerini ANTONIN DVORAK A Bohemian Rhapsody

Nicola Guerini was born in Verona. He studied Piano, Organ and Organ Composition, Conducting and Composition at the Conservatory C.Pollini, Padua and at the Conservatory G.Verdi, Milan; he then perfected his studies at the Accademia Chigiana, at the Mozarteum Salzburg, at the Accademia Pescarese with Donato Renzetti. In 2010 he achieved a Master of Arts in Music Conducting at Lugano Musikhochschule (Switzerland) with Giorgio Bernasconi and Arturo Tamayo. His début was at 24 as composer and conductor for the Fondazione Arena, Verona. He was assistant to Ralf Weikart, Giorgio Bernasconi and Donato Renzetti in Italy and international productions at Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell’Opera Roma and Lyric Opera Chicago. He has taken part in festivals and prestigious concert seasons with important orchestras including the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra, the Targu Mures Philarmonia, the HRT Zagreb Orchestra, the Divertimento Ensemble, the Mozart Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble ‘900 di Lugano, the ICARUS Ensemble, the Targu Mures Philarmonia Orchestra, the Sofia Philarmonie, the Berliner Symphoniker and the PKF Prague Philarmonia. 

He is President of the "Peter Maag" Music Fund and artistic director of the lyric opera laboratory “La Bottega”, which revives Maag’s well-known workshop for young talents. He has founded Maria Callas International Competition and Maria Callas International Festival.

Marianne Crebassa / Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg / Marc Minkowski OH, BOY!

Marianne Crebassa has signed an exclusive recording contract with Erato. Hailed “splendidly charismatic” by The New York Times, the young French mezzo-soprano is “an absolute revelation” (Forum Opéra), praised for her “luscious voice” (Financial Times).

Within a broad repertory encompassing Handel, Gluck, Berlioz, Debussy and Offenbach, Crebassa has nonetheless made a name for herself above all in Mozart.  An alumnus of the Montpellier Conservatoire, she sang opposite Rolando Villazón in the acclaimed 2013 Lucio Silla at the Festwoche Salzburg, conducted by Marc Minkowski and reprised at the Salzburg Festival the same year. She made her La Scala debut in the same production in 2015; later that year, she portrayed Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

Crebassa’s first collaboration with maestro Minkowski was in a Salzburg performance of Handel’s Tamerlano in 2012, in which she sang alongside Plácido Domingo. The mezzo-soprano and conductor have continued to explore lesser-known Mozart repertoire together, most recently in a pioneering production based on his oratorio Davide penitente for the 2015 Salzburg Mozart Week, featuring equestrian choreography restoring the stage of the Salzburg Felsenreitschule (Horseriding School) to its original function.

Marc Minkowski and the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, then, were the ideal partners for Crebassa’s debut aria recital recording. For this project, the mezzo-soprano takes as a starting point the Mozart ‘trouser roles’ that have already won her acclaim on stage – Lucio Silla’s Cecilio (originally written for a soprano castrato) and Ramiro from La finta giardiniera and Cherubino. The theme continues with male characters from French grand operas by Chabrier, Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach.

Alain Lanceron, President of Warner Classics and Erato, said: “Since her first appearances in concert and on stage, Marianne Crebassa has captivated the international music scene, thanks to the exceptional quality of her vocal timbre and her innate musicality. We are delighted to welcome this jewel into the Erato family and look forward to a stellar future with her.”

Crebassa added: “I couldn't have hoped for greater luck than to bring my first recording to fruition with Erato. This album is close to my heart – it feels like a natural continuation of the personal and artistic connections I've made since my debut at the Salzburg Festival. This great musical city and the Mozarteum have supported me unfailingly from the beginning, as well as Marc Minkowski, with whom I have shared the stage many times. Let the adventure begin!” (IMG Artists)

Thibault Cauvin DANSE AVEC SCARLATTI

Download Danse avec Scarlatti