Capella de la Torre / Katharina Bäuml UNA SERATA VENEXIANA

A native of Munich, Katharina Bäuml studied modern oboe, and baroque oboe and historical reed instruments, finishing both degrees with honors.  Since then she has specialized in myriad areas of early music, but her particular interest has been in wind music of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.  This interest led her, in 2005, to found the ensemble "Capella de la Torre," which has become the most important German ensemble for Renaissance music.  The group has produced twenty CDs, and since 2013 has recorded exclusively for Sony. In 2016 Katharine Bäuml won the ECHO Klassik award with Capella de la Torre for their CD "Water Music".  In addition to early music, her interests include contemporary music played on historical instruments, leading to numerous commissions for her ensemble "Duo Mixtura," which have been performed at such prestigious festivals as the Berlin "Ultraschall" festival, among others. 

Featuring the rarely heard music of the transition from Renaissance to Baroque, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi brings you Una Serata Venexiana (An Evening in Venice). Capella de la Torre, headed by Katharina Bäuml, received the Echo Klassik Award as “Ensemble of the Year” in 2016. This acclaimed group of musicians now spirits listeners away to 16th-century Venice, one of the most important and innovative musical capitals of its day.

Anne-Sophie Mutter / Berliner Philharmoniker / Manfred Honeck DVORÁK

Anne-Sophie Mutter is convinced that Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto exerted a particular influence on the structure of the movements of Dvořák’s concerto, too. “The directness of the violin’s first entry is unusual for this period, but this is just one aspect among many. The mini-recapitulation in the opening movement, followed immediately by the wonderful transition to the songlike Adagio, is very unusual but you find something similar in Mendelssohn. I genuinely hear in this work a kind of successor to Mendelssohn’s concerto, albeit an original piece that certainly does not obey classical concerto form in terms of its overall structure.” Why has Anne-Sophie Mutter waited until this relatively late date to record the Dvořák concerto? “There have been periods when I have been passionate about Dvořák, and the concerto has repeatedly been on my wish list, but other projects have got in the way. With many of the works that have been close to my heart since childhood – Mozart and Beethoven, above all – I now find that I have to a certain extent made my peace, and I should now like to devote myself to a repertory that is performed less often. The Dvořák concerto has become increasingly important to me in recent years. The time had come to record it, no doubt in part because of the Berlin Philharmonic and Manfred Honeck. They were ideal partners with whom to get to the heart of this splendid work. To make another recording with this orchestra after thirty years has stirred many wonderful memories. One cannot wish for more sensitive and at the same time more passionate musical partners – inspired by the wonderful conductor Manfred Honeck.” The element of Bohemian folk music is admittedly important with Dvořák, but Anne-Sophie Mutter has no wish to privilege it at the expense of other aspects. Rather, she sees a magnificent link not only with the Romance op. 11 that Dvořák completed in 1877 on the basis of the Andante from his String Quartet No. 5, but also with the striking Mazurek op. 49. “They embody two important elements in Dvořák’s output: the wonderfully cantabile Romance embodies the element of song, while the Mazurek represents the folk dance. These may be occasional works written on the spur of the moment, and there is no trace of the shadow of the composer’s great friend Brahms in either of them. Dvořák is entirely at home here in his very own musical language. (Oswald Beaujean)

Edgardo Espinosa CODIFICACIONES

Onix Ensamble is a recognized and award-winning ensemble of young Mexicans dedicated to spreading the best of the newest trends in contemporary music. All of its members, with the experience and international trajectory of a virtuoso soloist, work together as part of a sound collective that has been acclaimed by the specialized critic as unique in Latin America, exceptional… hypnotic… great expressive and musical intensity.. 

Edgardo Espinosa was born in Mexico City in 1963. He studied music at the National Music School of the UNAM with Victor Manuel Cortés, graduating with honors in 1991. As a recipient of scholarships from UNAM and FONCA, he pursued postgraduate studies in London at the London College of Music, with the teacher Richard Markson, and later in Thames Valley University, where he concluded his master’s degree in the year of 1995.

He has taken training courses with Ivan Monighetti, Alan Smith, Wolfgang Laufer, Maud Martin Tortelier and Joan Dickson, among others. He was the winner of the First and second places in the Open Competition for Soloists of the ENM Symphony Orchestra, third place in the First National Cello Competition and the 1992 London College of Music's annual string competition.

The courses and festivals in which he has participated include: the International Festival of Edinburgh, the Course of the Campus Internazionale di Musica of Sermoneta, Italy, the International Festival Cervantino, the Festival of Mexico City and the International Forum of New Music “Manuel Enríquez”.

GIYA KANCHELI In l’istesso tempo

“In l’istesso tempo” is an important addition to Giya Kancheli’s ECM discography. His ninth album for the New Series consists of “Time… and again” played, for the first time on disc by its dedicatees, Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and Ukrainian pianist Oleg Maisenberg, plus premiere recordings of “V & V” with Kremer and Kremeratica Baltica, and the Piano Quartet (subtitled ‘In l’istesso tempo’) performed by the Bridge Ensemble.

The Kremer/Kancheli connection is long-established. The Latvian violinist was one of the first to play the Georgian composer’s music in the West, and he has always seemed temperamentally attuned to Kancheli’s characteristic compositional gestures – the extreme dynamics, the Spartan textures, the emotional volatility, and the use of limited materials to attain a cumulative expressive power. Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin’s early assessment of Kancheli as "an ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist -- a restrained Vesuvius" is still very much to the point, as Kremer well understands.

The last time Kremer and Kancheli combined forces on disc was for the critically-lauded “Lament”, Kancheli’s memorial music for Luigi Nono. “Time…and Again” had a very different geneis. It was originally commissioned for the Schubert bicentennial celebrations at London’s Barbican theatre and intended to be performed as part of Gidon Kremer and Oleg Maisenberg’s Schubert cycle. Kancheli’s first thought was to load the work with “hidden or obvious references to Schubert” a plan he rather quickly abandoned: “It became clear this idea was provoking an inner resistance. Only one solution remained, to rely on my own experiences and work with them instead.” Giya Kancheli now views “Time…And Again” as the culmination of a creative period that began with “Trauerfarbenes Land”, a period in which a continuing preoccupation was the simplifying and clarifying of his harmonic language.

“V and V” was written at the urging of Yehudi Menuhin and first performed at the Menuhin Festival in Gstad Switzerland in 1995. Gidon Kremer has programmed the piece on many occasions – memorably performing it, for instance, alongside Pärt’s “Tabula rasa” at the 1999 London Proms. The present recording of “V & V” was made at Lockenhaus in 2003.

The Piano Quartet was commissioned by the Bridge Quartet, so named because they hoped to bridge Eastern and Western musical cultures, a goal with which Kancheli could sympathize. At the time of the recording the ensemble, formed in Seattle in the 1990s, was comprised of two Russians, David Tonkonogui (cello) and Mikhail Schmidt (violin), with British violist Helen Callus and American pianist Karen Sigers.

Kancheli travelled to Seattle to rehearse the work with the ensemble, a work of which he was to write, “Here you won’t find appeals for a bright future. Most likely you will find threads of sorrow caused by the imperfection of the world, which keeps disregarding the most horrendous examples from human history”. Critics found an austere beauty in the work, nonetheless: “Kancheli appreciates the power of silence,” said Gavin Borchert, in the Seattle Weekly. “The melodic lines, too, keep to small intervals, built mainly out of stepwise motion or obsessive repeated notes. The work preserves one steady pulse throughout; all tempo changes come as a doubling or halving of the pace. These artful restrictions build up an amazing tension, broken by just a few sudden upheavals, and a crushingly violent central passage, and later resolved into moments of melting loveliness.” (ECM Records)

Alessandro Stradella Consort / Estévan Velardi A. SCARLATTI Sedecia Re di Gerusalemme

Alessandro Scarlatti wrote his oratorio “Sedecia, re di Gerusalemme” during a period in which there was a Papal ban on operas (in 1706 an edict was issued to prohibit “under severe penalty all comedies, revelry and all sort of carnival entertainments”). However the sacred texts of the oratorio were just a thin disguise for the drama, vocal brilliance and intrigue of the opera, qualities Alessandro Scarlatti excelled in, as we know from all his oratorios ánd operas.

The oratorio deals with the biblical story of Zedekiah (from the Book of Kings) in his wars against the Babylonian kings. The music expresses all the drama of the heroic acts, ending in triumph or tragedy.

Performed by one of the leading protagonists of the revival of Alessandro Scarlatti: Estévan Velardi, conductor and scholar, and his instrumental ensemble Alessandro Stradella Consort, playing period instruments.

La Serenissima / Adrian Chandler VIVALDI The French Connection

Intriguing title? Well some, at least, of Vivaldi’s own French connections are known: the French ambassador to Venice was among his patrons, and he supplied 12 concertos without soloist to an unknown Parisian collector. Adrian Chandler has taken three of these last as a starting-point for a full disc of flute, bassoon and violin concertos in which, he reckons, references to the French style are apparent. But is a dotted rhythm here, a chaconne there and a sprinkling of Rameau-ish moments enough to make Vivaldi sound French? Wisely, Chandler does not claim so, though his concession that “Vivaldi’s style is rarely unrecognisable” puts it mildly; Vivaldi seldom sounds like anyone else, even in the grand overture-like first movement of the Violin Concerto RV211, by some margin the most French-drenched piece on this disc. The chaconnes and melodic frou frous found elsewhere may suggest Frenchness to one as sensitive to the composer’s style as Chandler, but to the average listener they will surely sound like Vivaldi from head to toe.

But if this disc works hard to justify its title, what care we when the results make such enjoyable listening? And who can blame Chandler for looking for a way to programme and market Vivaldi that avoids filling it with 10 works all of the same type? Here the three solo instruments come and go in various combinations, always pleasing us and never outstaying their welcome. They are played with skill and taste, lapsing only when the bassoon overpowers the flute in the slow movement of RV438. The orchestral sound, as always with La Serenissima, achieves bright attractiveness and vivacity without feeling the need to pursue the taut energy of some other groups. And that’s just fine. (Lindsay Kemp / Gramophone)

Isabel Favilla / Roberto Alonso / Giulio Quirici / Joao Rival DIEUPART Six Sonatas for a Flute with a Thorough Bass

Dieupart is best known today for his Six suittes de clavessin, partly because J.S. Bach copied them out, and was supposedly influenced by them in his English Suites. The suites were probably composed in 1701, whereas these less familiar sonatas are considerably later works, dating from 1717: we don’t know when Dieupart was born, but a contemporary biographer records that he died ‘far advanced in years, and in very necessitated circumstances, about the year 1740.’
Dieupart spent his entire career working in and around London as a harpsichordist and composer: He was a prominent member of the musical establishment in Drury Lane though he later became a founding and popular member of the orchestra in a rivalestablishment, the Queen’s Theatre in the Haymarket. It was probably once he had become a private music teacher in his later years that he wrote this highly attractive set of six sonatas, which are dedicated to Lady Essex Finch (d. 1721), the member of a noble English family who was likely a student of Dieupart and would have paid for the sonatas.
Even if Dieupart had not advertised himself as a ‘scholar’ of Arcangelo Corelli’s, his recorder sonatas betray the influence of the great Roman violinist and composer in the types of movements, the varied support of the bass, and an elegant simplicity. The dance movements often have an English flavour that is reminiscent of Purcell, but otherwise Dieupart’s French heritage predominates in the lively formality of his melodies.
This new studio album is led by the Brazilian recorder player Isabel Favilla, who has played with many distinguished early-music ensembles in Europe and South America. Since 2009 she has also played with Inês d'Avena in a recorder duo, Schifanoia: their debut recording was praised for its ‘highly musical phrasing and an entirely natural flow’ (MusicWeb International). 

Little is known about the life of Charles (or François, as he sometimes called himself..) Dieupart. The first mention of his name was as founder of the Opera Season at the Queen’s Theatre of Haymarket. He was much sought after as a harpsichord and violin player, who probably studied with the great Corelli, whose works he often performed. He died in poverty in 1740.
The set of “Six Sonatas for a Flute and Through Bass” were published by the famous publisher Walsh in London in 1717. This CD presents its first recording. The Sonatas consist of various movements, varying between 4 and 8, some of which are dance forms. The style is clearly inspired by his master Arcangelo Corelli, in its vivacious mood, instrumental brilliance and elegant simplicity.
Recorder player Isabel Favilla received her education in Brussels and The Hague. Since then she played in prestigious Early Music ensembles like La Sfera Armoniosa, Concerto d’Amsterdam and Les Muffatti. On this recording she is seconded by cello, theorbo and harpsichord.

Polina Osetinskaya SHOSTAKOVICH 24 Preludes, Op. 34 - Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 61

“A master jeweller. In her subtle, if not to say refined, refined interpretation the composer appeared as a philosophical intellectual, and it is thanks to these pensive and critical interpretations that Polina Osetinskaya proffers that Shostakovich’s music remains topical and even highly relevant art.” 

The life of pianist Polina Osetinskaya can be divided into two stages. The first – that of “wunderkind” (a word that Polina herself cannot abide) – was when Polina performed as a girl in huge halls filled with excited sensationalists. The second, which has continued to the present day, is essentially her victory over the first. It is both a reference to serious performing and to exacting audiences.

Mhairi Lawson / La Serenissima / Adrian Chandler ANTONIO VIVALDI L'Amore per Elvira

"L'Amore per Elvira" is the title La Serenissima have given this disc, referring to the fact that the three chamber cantatas it includes deal with the ups and downs of love for a lady of that name. Put together they tell a neat little story; the lover timidly declares his feelings; the lover must go on a journey and makes a tearful farewell; the lover returns for a joyous reunion. Each consists of a pair of recitatives and arias, and while the latter are full of the kind of striking and demanding vocal writing we have learnt to expect from Vivaldi, it is the opening recitatives which seem most determined to grab the attention. From the trembling trills at the start of Tremori al braccio or the slightly overwrought Elvira anima mia to the excitable Lungi del vago volto, each sets the mood for its ensuing cantata with memorable boldness and imagination.

Mhairi Lawson brings to them her characteristically bright and powerful tone and strong sense of drama. The three instrumental works which interleave with the cantatas on this disc, and which Adrian Chandler presents with an engaging combination of keen-edged incisiveness and silky tone.

Amid the current welter of Vivaldi recordings, however, there is no doubt that with well programmed and performed releases such as this, La Serenissima are winning an important place for themselves. (Gramophone)

Profili Barocchi / Davide Ferella / Dorina Frati J.S. BACH Harpsichord Concertos Transcribed for Mandolin

Bach was a great transcriber and arranger of both his own works and those of other composers, something that is eloquently demonstrated in his output. For example, there are 6 concertos for organ (BWV 592-597) and 16 concertos for harpsichord (BWV 972-987), all transcribed from works by other composers. Bach generally favoured works by contemporary Italian composers for his transcriptions, including Vivaldi, Albinoni, Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello, Bonporti and others. On this album, the Italian mandolinist Davide Ferella has himself taken four of Bachs concertos for one and two harpsichords and arranged them for one and two mandolins, strings and basso continuo. Davide Ferella handles these transcriptions with both deftness and respect for Bach's originals, sometimes assigning passages to the strings that were originally for the harpsichord, in order not to lose any of the rich contrapuntal texture of Bach's writing.

ArteMandoline CONCERTI NAPOLETANI PER MANDOLINO

For their first album "Sospiri d'amanti" with Spanish soprano Nuria Rial the Early Music ensemble Artemandoline was highly praised: "Here the mandolins sing that it is a pleasure" (Opernwelt). With their second album they take their listeners on a musical journey to 18th century Naples. Whether in the opera house, in the theaters or conservatories - music was omnipresent in Naples. It played an important role in the numerous salons and palaces where the clergy, music lovers and patrons of the arts met. So it is not surprising that not only the famous opera style of the Neapolitan School, but also a "Neapolitan Mandolin School" with its own sound and specific techniques was developed. For the first time, the ensemble Artemandoline has recorded five Neapolitan concertos on original instruments as world premiere recording, showing unusual but highly interesting aspects of Italian instrumental music. These Baroque concertos by composers such as Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816), Giuseppe Giuliano (18th century), Domenico Caudioso (18th century) and Carlo Cecere (1706-1761) fascinate with their harmonic twists, ornate details and their own great melodic ingenuity.

Claudio Bohórquez / Péter Nagy BRAHMS Opus 38 & 99

Brahms - Opus 38 & 99 – a completely new and extraordinary interpretation by the inspiring duo with cellist Claudio Bohórquez and Péter Nagy. The new recording will raise a new star in the Brahms music heaven just today on the occasion of the lunar eclipse of the century. The sonatas for piano and cello by Johannes Brahms, Opus 38 and 99 are masterfully played and interpreted by two musical personalities who make the sonatas shine in a new light:

The German-born cellist Claudio Bohórquez with Peruvian-Uruguayan roots, who is one of the best in his field, makes the virtuosity of the cello sound as Brahms himself would have loved it. For his favourite instrument he has written many moving melodies and compositions, some of which are played on this recording. In the Hungarian pianist Péter Nagy, Bohórquez has the perfect partner at his side who captures the timbre of his homeland with feeling. This becomes particularly clear in the Hungarian dances, which are contrasted - as an encore, so to speak - with the two sonatas.

Especially for the connoisseurs of these Hungarian dances, which have become a success story and are recognized by almost everyone, the true mastery of the duo becomes apparent: in the arrangement by Alfredo Piatti in the version for cello and piano, the dances shine in a completely new, inspiring light. In any case, the mastery of Bohórquez over the special strings of his instrument becomes more than clear here. And one can be glad that this is a discography premiere, which should lead to further recordings. Brahms is consciously the beginning, back-to-the roots to the beginnings of his cellist career. After 30 years as a cellist, Claudio Bohórquez now sees the ideal moment to record his music after he has reached a certain personal maturity thanks to profound life experience, knowledge and personal development. (Berlin Classics)

Menuhin Duo THE VOICE OF REBELLION

Mookie Lee-Menuhin and Jeremy Menuhin already proved on their debut Genuin album that they are a great piano duo. And now the composer Jeremy Menuhin presents himself in that light for the first time on a recording as well: The duo's new Genuin release exclusively features world premiere recordings. There is a baroque suite, but it plays elaborately with our expectations and listening habits, and there are "transformations" of individual movements of the two string sextets by Johannes Brahms: real ear-openers! Also, there are colorful variations on a theme and a virtuoso fantasy that unites the styles: brilliantly played, true expansions of the repertoire! “As if entirely of one mind” (Primephonic) captures the essence of every performance by the dynamic Menuhim Duo. Whether performing on two pianos or side by side at the same keyboard, Mookie and Jeremy play as one, interpreting the classical repertoire with devotion and joy. The unique soundscape of the two-piano literature allows the Duo great flexibility of range, color and depth in their performances of works by Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, Lutoslawski, Bartok, and many others.

Joanna Klisowska / Andrea Noferini / Roberto Plano PIATTI Music for Cello and Piano - 2 Songs

Born in Bergamo in 1822, Carlo Alfredo Piatti was to the cello what Nicolò Paganini was to the violin: a musician who extended the possibilities of his instrument in performance and who inspired countless composers to do the same in writing for it. His remarkable talent was immediately evident, to the extent that by 1843 he was already travelling throughout Europe on concert tours, accompanied by his father. It was Franz Liszt who described him as ‘a Paganini of the Cello’, presenting him with an Amati instrument as a token of his admiration.
Piatti’s concert-tours culminated in a visit to London, where he settled in 1846. In the mid-1800s, musical life in the British capital was full of energy and opportunity. When Verdi learnt that it would be Piatti leading the cellos in the first performances of his new opera, I Masnadieri, he wrote a Prelude consisting of a cello solo with an orchestral accompaniment, which he dedicated to the great cellist.
In his own compositions Piatti reconciled virtuoso figurations with a highly lyrical approach to melody which is on show here in two of the songs he wrote for English audiences: O Swallow, Swallow (to a text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson) and La Sera (‘I love the hour of the dying day’), an evening-time, sentimental ballad incorporating a cello solo clearly modelled on the opening of Rossini’s William Tell Overture and astutely calculated to tug at the heartstrings of his well-to-do patrons, who would also want to perform such songs themselves.
However, the bulk of Piatti’s music was designed to show his own skill as a cellist to best advantage. This he triumphantly did with the stupendously virtuosic Capriccio Op.22 on a theme from Pacini’s Niobe. The better-known Capricci Op.25 are not included here; instead, the opportunity has been taken by Andrea Noferini to record some of Piatti’s lesser-known, standalone pieces such as the attractive Op.1 L’abbandono, and Notturno Op.20. Andrea Noferini’s previous recordings include a well-received set of cello duets by Offenbach, released on Brilliant Classics (BC94475). 

Alfredo Piatti was the “Paganini of the Cello”, as his admirer Franz Liszt called him, having given him a valuable Amati cello. Piatti was born in 1822 in Bergamo. His talent was soon evident, and he became a famous cellist, traveling all over Europe, meeting influential artists like Mendelssohn, Joachim, Grieg, Clara Schumann and Liszt. In 1846 he settled in London where he was appointed First Cello in Her Majesty’s Theatre and Covent Garden.
Piatti’s cello works are high quality salon pieces, of a great melodic invention and stunning and ground-breaking virtuosity.
Italian cellist Andrea Noferini and pianist Roberto Plano deliver exciting performances of these highly attractive works. Noferini already recorded several successful Brilliant Classics albums with works by Sgambati, Martucci and Offenbach (Duos with Giovanni Sollima).

Paolo Pandolfo BACH The Six Suites

Originally released in 2001 but unavailable for almost two years, Glossa has designed gorgeous new packaging for this most important of Paolo Pandolfo’s projects, possibly a milestone in the recording history of Bach’s music. Everybody seems to know these discs – despite almost no marketing effort, they are perceived with such benchmarks as Glenn Gould’s or Gustav Leonhardt’s renderings of the Goldberg Variations or Anner Bylsma’s performances of the original cello suites.

The fact that these suites sound so well on the viola da gamba is of course to a great extent due to Pandolfo’s magic touch. The rich sonority of the viola da gamba truly seems to enrich these pieces and Pandolfo’s remarkable transcription gives weight to his theory that Bach originally composed them with this instrument in mind. (GLOSSA)

Joyce Didonato / Alexander String Quartet JAKE HEGGIE Camille Claudel: Into the Fire

American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is currently one of the undisputed stars of the contemporary operatic scene, with frequent appearances in the world's premier venues. Her liquid coloratura vocal palette has left critics gasping for superlatives. She is the Barbican’s Artist Spotlight awardee for the 2014-5 season, and has curated this performance for herself as the finale of her residency. 

American composer Jake Heggie, a friend of DiDonato’s, is the most distinguished contemporary creator of the art song cycle. His Camille Claudel: Into the Fire has been written specifically for DiDonato. It tells the story of the titular sculptor. For many years she was both model and lover to Auguste Rodin, before coming into her own as one of the most important French artists of the early twentieth century. In 1913, her poet brother committed her to an asylum, where she remained for the remaining 30 years of her life, despite the insistence of her friends that she was well. 

The piece consists of seven movements, six of which are based on individual sculptures by Claudel.

Yoon Kyung Cho MEDITATION

Cellist Yoon-Kyung Cho was born in Seoul and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at major venues across the Europe and South Korea. She has been accepted to the "Classe d'excellence de violoncelle"(2014-2015) of Gautier Capuçon in cooperation with Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. Also, Yoon-Kyung has been selected from the prestigious audition for a Musicians' Company Concert 2015/16 series and she will give her Wigmore Hall recital debut next year. She also won Second Prize at the Johannes Brahms International Competition in Pörtschach (Austria) and the Concerto Competition at Royal College of Music and performed Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1 with RCM Philharmonic Orchestra with Martin André in London. Not only this, Yoon-Kyung has won numerous competitions including Silver Medal at the prestigious KBS-KEPCO Music Competition in Seoul and First Prize in the Busan Times Competition, the Seoul Soloists Cello Ensemble Competition, the Korea Times Music Competition, the Sung-Jung Music Competition, and the Segye Times Music Competition.

Ann Hallenberg / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis HIDDEN HANDEL

Most of the Handel pieces on this release are "hidden" in that if you go to the editions of the operas from which they are taken, you won't find them. Many of them were "insertion arias," written for revivals of Handel operas where the new singers wanted something tailor made. Two were written for insertion into the opera of someone else, namely Alessandro Scarlatti, and there are several miscellaneous rarities and rather odd instrumental pieces for interludes. It might sound like an excursion into the dustier corners of the Handel repertory on the part of the historical-instrument group Il Complesso Barocco and their conductor Alan Curtis, who has been at this kind of thing since most of the current crop of Baroque opera conductors were toddlers and who presumably has earned the right to do what he wants. No fewer than nine of the pieces are claimed to be world premieres. Yet this music is generally first-rate. It is by its very nature difficult, even more so than usual for Handel, for the insertion arias were expressly written for vocalists with formidable talent. On top of that, Swedish mezzo soprano Ann Hallenberg has to contend with music in a variety of ranges. Fortunately, her voice is ideal for the project, and she emerges as the star of the show; Curtis' conducting is a bit mannered. Hallenberg combines agility at the top of her range with a rich, powerful sound in the lower phases, and the real rewards come in a piece like "Vieni, o caro, che senza il tuo core," written for Rinaldo, HWV 7, where she gets to make full use of each register. You might buy this album just to hear Hallenberg in fine form, or to hear some Handel that nobody else has recorded; either of those is reason enough. (James Manheim)

Ronn McFarlane THE CELTIC LUTE

"I’ve always loved this music. In the early 1980s I began performing and recording Scottish music, since there is a written repertory of Scottish tunes written out for the lute in a number of manuscripts dating from the 17th century. But alas, there is no repertory of Irish lute music. Yet there is an obvious sympathy between the music of Ireland and Scotland, so I undertook to make arrangements of some of my favorite Irish and Scottish tunes that had never quite made it into the historical lute repertory. (An oversight, I’m sure.)

The harp music of Turlough O’Carolan often fits the lute amazingly well, and the traditional Scottish and Irish dance music can also be a good fit, though one needs to choose the tunes with care. The arrangements of Scottish music found in the Balcarres Lute Book (compiled around 1700) make a great example of how to arrange popular melodies and dances for the lute. I used that as my model when I started out on this project."

"The Kid on the Mountain" is a popular Irish slip jig about a young goat on a mountainside. Celtic music aficionados may recognize it from the 1976 album, Old Hag You Have Killed Me, by The Bothy Band. 

“Carolan’s Welcome” was originally composed by Irish harper/songwriter Turlough O'Carolan in the late 17th or early 18th century, though it had no known title until it was adapted by The Chieftains in 1979. Ronn has created this all-new arrangement of piece for The Celtic Lute, which includes several other O’Carolan compositions.

Ann Hallenberg / Il Pomo d'Oro / Riccardo Minasi AGRIPPINA

The programme presented by Ann Hallenberg (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) is a homage to the historical roman figures of Agrippina, one of the earliest historical women to inspire the fantasy of librettists and composers. Ann Hallenberg and her husband Holger Schmitt-Hallenberg, musicologist, researched the musical archives to unearth all surviving operatic manuscripts containing the figure of Agrippina (two sisters and one daugther).

Twelve the arias are WORLD PREMIERE RECORDINGS. Apart from Handel’s famous opera ‘Agrippina’ and Telemann’s ‘Germanicus’, all music on this album has been recorded for the first time. This album is also a fascinating journey through the history of baroque opera. The earliest piece, Legrenzi’s ‘Germanico sul Reno’ dates from 1676 and is a typical example of early baroque style. The latest work, Graun’s ‘Britannico’ from 1752, was written only four years before the birth of Mozart, at the very end of the musical baroque period.

The Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg regularly appears in opera houses and festivals all over the world. Her repertoire includes a large number of leading roles in operas by Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, Handel, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Purcell, Bizet and Massenet. Equally at home on the concert platform she has built an unusually vast repertoire that spans music from the early 17th century with Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Berlioz to 20th century composers such as Mahler and Waxman.

Violonist and conductor Riccardo Minasi was born in Rome in 1978. He has performed both as soloist as well as concertmaster with many period orchestras. As a conductor he directed the Orchestra and Choir of the Opéra National de Lyon, Kammerakademie of Potsdam, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble. In 2010 he worked as assistant conductor, concertmaster, curator and editor of the critical edition of the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini with Cecilia Bartoli and Thomas Hengelbrock. Since its foundation in 2012 he is the conductor of the ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, with whom he has a full calendar of performances and has already realized many highly awarded recordings.

Wilhelm Kempff JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Goldberg Variations

Say what you will about the 75-year-old Wilhelm Kempff's "old school" Goldberg Variations, with its unembellished Aria, seeming surface plainness, and avoidance of virtuosic sheen. However, I say that this 1970 recording remains among the most beautiful and heartfelt piano versions of Bach's keyboard tour-de-force. Within Kempff's straight-laced, intimate parameters you encounter the most subtle nuances, changes of color, dynamic gradations, and accents. I've rarely heard Variation 9's lines (the canon at the fourth) sing out so calmly and naturally, or the three minor-key variations emerge with comparable ease, fluidity, and melodic cogency. Yet in Variation 27 (the canon at the ninth) Kempff also reveals how well he can deliver rapid, detaché playing when so inclined. Observing the A-section repeats, Kempff doesn't embellish them so much as he refocuses voicings and balances between hands, to convincing effect. (Jed Distler)

Ann Hallenberg / Il Pomo d'Oro / Stefano Montanari CARNEVALE 1729

Where to begin listing the virtues of this gorgeous double-CD release by mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg? Perhaps with the unique programming concept, re-creating the operas staged during Carnival season in the year 1729 in Venice, a special year because all the big stars of Italian opera had come back home after disagreements with their impresario, Handel, in England. The arias, written for the likes of the castrato Senesino and the soprano Faustina Bordoni, have all the technical fireworks of the Handel operas of the 1720s that have gained popularity. And consider that the music is virtually unknown, with much of it here receiving its premiere on recordings; much of the research was done by Hallenberg herself, along with her husband, with performers once again leaving musicology in the dust. Is it second-order opera? Hardly, and here you can rely on the opinion of Handel himself, who dropped in to hear this remarkable stretch of music and took some of it back to London to make pastiches out of it. You can stop in anywhere for vocal heroics, but sample one of the more melodic pieces, such as "Bel piacer saria d'un core", from Semiramide riconosciuta of Nicola Porpora, Haydn's teacher. The program is intelligently put together, with most of the pieces grouped together by individual opera, but two altogether fascinating selections from Gianguir, by the all-but-unknown Geminiano Giacomelli framing the arias from Giuseppe Maria Orlandini's Adelaide on CD 1. The sharp, sensitive orchestral work of Il Pomo d'Oro under Stefano Montanari is a major attraction. And last, but certainly not least, is the voice of Hallenberg herself, arguably at its absolute peak, easily tackling arias across a wide range, delivering plenty of power in the big runs and yet entering into each character. Oh, yes, Pentatone's audiophile-quality sound, recorded at the entirely appropriate Villa San Fermo in Lonigo, is superb. Sit back and enjoy, says Pentatone's little logo. Indeed: this is one of those rare recordings that breaks entirely new ground yet remains a pure pleasure, fully realized on its own terms. (James Manheim)

Yukyeong Ji REFLECTIONS

The young pianist Yukeong Ji has already had an impressive career. However, despite all the prizes and hymns of praise from the critics, she does not lose her footing. Her debut CD, featuring extremely rare repertoire by Uzong Choe, Toru Takemitsu, Bertold Hummel, Maurice Ravel and Olivier Messiaen, proves this. These are fascinating reflections in music, shedding new light on the works. Yukeong Ji plays crystal clear and with broad phrases. She breathes life into sophisticated literature and captivates the listener.

Inbal Segev / Juho Pohjonen CHOPIN - SCHUMANN - GRIEG

Cellist Inbal Segev’s debut release for Avie features the lush and romantic sonatas by Chopin and Grieg, and the Fantasiestucke by Robert Schumann. She is joined by Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen, a fitting partner for the pianistic Chopin and the virtuosic Grieg. In Schumann’s own transcription of his “Fantasy Pieces,” originally for clarinet, the lyrical quality shines through on Inbal’s 1673 Ruggieri cello. Inbal Segev reaches thousands of people across continents through her influential YouTube video masterclass series Musings with Inbal, teaching core repertoire, cello technique and new works. Her many honors include top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo and Washington International Competitions. She began playing cello in Israel at five and at sixteen was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her studies in the US. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University. “first class… richly inspired… very moving indeed…” (Gramophone) “Her playing is characterized by a strong and warm tone…delivered with impressive fluency and style.” (The Strad) “This young artist is, beyond doubt, a star in the making- her tone golden and unstrained in the high positions, her phrasing that of a born musician.” (Musical Opinion)

Dmitry Kouzov / Peter Laul FRENCH FAVORITES

Three major masterpieces—sonatas for cello and piano by renowned French composers—make up this passionate, turbulent, tender, exuberant, and optimistic album.

Debussy’s forward-looking sonata is one of the best examples of the master’s late style. The transcription of Franck’s violin sonata for cello will make you wonder if the piece wasn’t originally planned for cello and piano (there is some evidence that it was). And Chopin’s sonata represents a rare foray into chamber music by everyone’s favorite composer of piano music. For good measure, Ravel’s short Cuban dance piece is included.

Cellist Dmitry Kouzov and pianist Peter Laul deliver breathtaking interpretations of these towering masterpieces.

Helen Callus / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Marc Taddei BRITISH MUSIC FOR VIOLA AND ORCHESTRA

The British-American violist Helen Callus has an intensely lyrical tone that instantly grabs your attention in the excerpts from the 1934 Suite for viola and orchestra of Vaughan Williams, a pastoral work in the truest sense. One of the few questionable moves here is that the work is presented in excerpted form, although there isn't room for the whole thing on a single CD, and it's hard to make a case for omitting any of the other works. The mood deepens and darkens in Herbert Howells' Elegy for viola, string quartet, and string orchestra, Op. 15, written in memory of a young musician killed in action in World War I. Callus applies the same lyrical approach to the Walton Viola Concerto in A minor, which comes in zippier renderings, but the consistent passion here is impressive. And it effectively sets up the less common Viola Concerto in C minor, Op. 25, of York Bowen, composed in 1907. This is a neglected gem of the viola repertory, a broad, Brahmsian work with splendid melodies. Sample the slow movement of Andante cantabile or the finale with a new cadenza by Callus herself. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under Marc Taddei provide idiomatic support in their home base of Wellington, and in all, if the idea of a program of British viola music doesn't fill you with excitement, listen and reconsider. (James Manheim)

Jacob Greenberg HANGING GARDENS

Claude Debussy and the Second Viennese composers followed different paths of philosophical development, inspired by the trends of art and literature in their age, but they were aligned by a common embrace of sensuality in music. Theirs was a strongly shared language, and my interest as a pianist is to explore fields of intersection between these two musical worlds often thought to be opposite in character. Writing for the piano, an instrument equally wide-ranging and intimate, helped all these composers to explore decadent dimensions of harmony, form, and sound color.

For this recording, Debussy’s two books of Préludes and selected individual pieces offer a chance to view the music of Arnold Schoenberg’s school, assumed to be arid and formalist, through a tinted lens. The Préludes, influenced by otherworldly Symbolist poetry and the aesthetic of ancient classical art, give snapshots of places, objects, natural phenomena, and fleeting moods. Small musical forms bely the ambition of Debussy’s endeavor: he conjures minutely detailed scenes, each of the twenty-four pieces wholly distinct in feeling.

Both Schoenberg and Anton Webern thrive in similarly miniature constructions. Schoenberg’s song cycle The Book of the Hanging Gardens portrays a doomed, desperate romance in brief tableaus set in a mythic, lush landscape. Featuring some of Schoenberg’s earliest atonal pieces, the cycle is energized by its intentional instability. Its richly ambiguous harmonic language is well-matched to Stefan George’s poetry of emotions stretched to the breaking point. The heightened poetic sensitivity is reflected in the composer’s tactile approach to sound: this can be heard especially in number 11 of the set, which depicts the lovers touching each other lightly in the afterglow of passion. This movement can be compared to the exotic flirtation of Debussy’s Voiles, and the heat of La puerta del vino.

Alban Berg’s whole-tone patterns in his early Sonata draw a clear link to Debussy. The innovative, pervasive development of a simple motive leads Berg to coloristic extremes. And Webern’s Variations finds expressive continuity and intense energy in spare sounds or silence. Webern forges a totally original piano texture: notes become points of light, forming shapes in a gorgeous void. Debussy and the Second Viennese opened music to a sensual, seductive unreality that diverse composers, to our own age, have accepted as a promise of possibility. ( Jacob Greenberg)

STEVE SWELL Music for Six Musicians: Hommage à Olivier Messiaen

« What we have here is new music. Free music. Ellington and Armstrong were right in not wanting to call it anything else but Music. Why put it in a sub-category? This belongs with the best of any new music, period. And this new music is created (with the assistance of Swell’s scores and direction) by an ensemble that knows how to both play and listen geometric and mystical constructions: some preconceived by the skillful pen of Steve Swell and some spontaneously shaped and formed. Lean in. Listen again. And swim upstream and down with the band – it’s completely worth it. » (Ann Arbor, July 2017)

Frankfurt Radio Symphony / Andrés Orozco-Estrada RICHARD STRAUSS Eine Alpensinfonie

With its epic sweep and grandeur and compelling drama, there has rarely been such a spine-tingling and vivid depiction of nature as found in Richard Strauss’s magnificent tone poem, An Alpine Symphony. Calling for gargantuan orchestral forces, this lavishly illustrated journey is Strauss’s crowning orchestral achievement. Using a vast musical canvas packed with vivid and exquisite details, it’s a bold, optimistic and passionate work, unleashing ecstatic blazes of orchestral colour alongside moments of awestruck contemplation in a continuous narrative of 22 sections, which Strauss threads together with his usual mastery and aplomb.
The work is performed by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony conducted by podium sensation Andrés Orozco-Estrada. It marks their fourth release in a critically acclaimed series for PENTATONE. Their performance of Strauss’s Salome earned Gramophone magazine’s Editor’s Choice (January 2018). Gramophone also praised their Ein Heldenleben “...the playing has an easy virtuosity … the love music swells and swoons magnificently”. And for their first recording, the Stravinsky ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring, Gramophone lauded their ability “to unearth an astonishing amount of detail at relatively spacious tempi” and “PENTATONE’s awesomely precise recording”.

Rest Ensemble ROBIN HOLLOWAY Trios

 “As a young composer I wanted to be a Modern among the Moderns. Now I don’t want to shock anyone - I want to please, to stir, to delight, to move and to invigorate.” (Robin Holloway)

An introspective, brooding work, it's compellingly played by young violist Henrietta Hill. Performances throughout are excellent, with wind soloists Oliver Pashley and Rees Webster outstanding in the two trios. Holloway’s own sleeve notes are informative and unpretentious. (The Arts Desk, July 2018)

Polina Osetinskaya ROTA - DESYATNIKOV

This disc of pieces played by the pianist Polina Osetinskaya brings together the music of Giovanni (“Nino”) Rota and Leonid Desyatnikov. An odd combination? – actually, no, Rota (1911-1979) lived entirely in the 20th century; Desyatnikov was born in 1955; but what these composers have in common is not just the century they lived in but the way their work challenges what academic music had become. Neither Rota nor Desyatnikov has ever been part of any musical movement and they have written no theoretical tracts, as was all the rage in the 20th century but we can still see their music as a riposte to contemporary isolationism, arrogance and fear of the listener.

At the conservatoire in Rome the student Rota was groomed to become the next Puccini. At the age of 12 this wunderkind wrote an oratorio which was instantly performed in Rome and Paris but by the middle of the 20th century, with the triumphant avant garde on one side and bloodless traditionalism on the other, there was no place for a second Puccini and Rota’s ten operas (the first written in 1942, the last in 1977) were always overshadowed by his film music. Rota was arguably the most important film composer of the 20th century, Federico Fellini’s friend and in many ways his co-author.

Like Nino Rota, Leonid Desyatnikov has a comprehensive list of works in traditional forms to his credit: symphonies, operas, ballets. In his early days the composer worked in a number of different theatres in Leningrad and beyond. Later he reworked several of these scores as a piano cycle, which is how his concert suite Echoes of the Theatre came about. Here, eccentrically but with a certain artistic inevitability, he brought together music from puppet shows, a vaudeville for Conservatoire students, a cartoon and motifs from the songs of Vertinsky and Efim Rosenfeld.

The waltz In honour of Dickens was created from music written for the Leningrad Youth Theatre play The Cricket on the Hearth. Titry is from the soundtrack to Valery Todorovsky’s film Moscow Nights. Nocturne comes from Alexei Uchitel’s film Giselle Obsession. Happiness is the only solo piano number from Alexandr Zeldovich’s film The Target. Albumblatt was written for the birthday of Yulia Volk-Boreiko, wife of the conductor Andrei Boreiko.

This disc demonstrates that Stravinsky’s famous dictum – “Film music exists only to enrich the composer” – was really just an idle slander. Actually, even Stravinsky’s own greatest compositions exist in genres which before Tchaikovsky, were considered merely decorative. After Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky nobody ever again spoke in a derogatory way about ballet music, for example.

In one way at least Rota and Desyatnikov are both like Stravinsky – their music can stand perfectly well on its own and in Desyatnikov’s case it always surpasses the genre it was born from.

Alexei Ogrintchouk W.A. MOZART Oboe Concerto - Quartet - Sonata

Chamber recordings of major repertory on modern instruments is becoming increasingly rare on recordings, but Russian-born oboist Alexeï Ogrintchouk shows there's still considerable life in the genre with this selection of Mozart works for oboe. The underperformed Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370, is a real highlight here. This work blends sparkling melody and virtuosity (it was composed for a famed oboist of Mozart's time) in a way that clearly looks forward to, and is nearly on a par with, the clarinet masterpieces of Mozart's last years, and Ogrintchouk plays it to the hilt in a performance that remains relaxed despite the very high technical demands placed on the soloist. The Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314, probably better known in its D major version for flute and orchestra, is very nearly as good. There was no reason for BIS' engineers to mike Ogrintchouk quite so closely in the large Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall, picking up a good number of clicking keys, but in both the quartet and the concerto he serves as a talented leader (and conductor in the concerto, which is rare for wind players), generating ensemble work well beyond the norm in each case. The transcription of the Violin Sonata in B flat major, K. 378, is not quite so successful, even if, as the notes point out, this work was transcribed for various instruments going back to Mozart's own time. The piano is the dominant partner in the work, and the odd timbre of the oboe makes a slightly strange impression as an accompanying instrument. There is, however, nothing to complain about in any of the performances by Ogrintchouk, the lead oboist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and clearly both a technically and interpretively gifted player. The recording of the Oboe Quartet here is worth the price of admission by itself. (James Manheim)

Musique des Lumières / Facundo Agudin VIKTOR ULLMANN Der Kaiser von Atlantis

Viktor Ullmann arrived in Theresienstadt on 8 September 1942. He was 44 years old, a Jew and a former officer of the Austrian army. Being an accomplished composer, well known for his organizational skills, he was immediately solicited by the Freizeitgestaltung to organize concerts and conferences, to write musical reviews (he authored 26 such texts), and to compose. In fact, during the two years before his transport to Auschwitz, he wrote several instrumental and vocal works, including song cycles for baritone and piano, one sonata for violin and piano, his third string quartet, three piano sonatas (numbers 5, 6 and 7) as well as an opera in one act on a libretto by the young poet Peter Kien Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder die Tod-Verweigerung (The Emperor of Atlantis, or the Disobedience of Death). Ever since his arrival in the ghetto, Ullmann seems aware of the precariousness of his future, as is shown in the quite openly ironic remark on the manuscript of his piano sonata nº 7, dated 22 August 1944: “The performance rights are reserved by the composer until his death”, so, not for long.

François Salque / Eric Le Sage BEETHOVEN Les Sonates pour Violoncelle et Piano

Beethoven's cello sonatas were among the first works to explore the potential of the cello as a solo chamber instrument. French cellist François Salque catches the nature of this status in his splendid recordings of the early Op. 5 sonatas on this two-disc Sony set: it's a lively recording in which the cello seems to grow into its new role. Sample the unexpectedly massive (16-minute) opening movement of the Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5, No. 1, a sort of extended essay in the development of new sonorities for cello and piano; in Salque's hands the cello seems constantly to be stepping to the forefront in unexpected ways. Salque and pianist Eric Le Sage deliver suave readings in a classic French tradition, and their approach works wonderfully in the Op. 5 sonatas, less well in the middle-period Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69, and once again excitingly in the late fourth and fifth sonatas, which also were stylistically transitional works and among the first in which Beethoven's late style really showed itself. Here again, the precise ways of Salque and Le Sage yield results in terms of clarity in the big new fugal finale of the Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102, No. 2, and especially in the complex ebb and flow of the two-movement (or is it four?) Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 102, No. 1. With fine sound from the Salle de la Conservatoire de Liège, this is Gallic Beethoven playing at a high level. (James Manheim)

Adrian Chandler / La Serenissima VIVALDI X2

The Vivaldi recordings by Adrian Chandler and his British period instrument ensemble La Serenissima, named after the nickname of the Venetian Republic and specializing in its music, are breaking new ground. Give this one a try if you haven't heard the group before: it's wonderful. Chandler focuses on double concertos, which Vivaldi produced in profusion for his players as the Osepale della Pietà, but which have been largely neglected on recordings. Chandler digs up unusual and interesting pieces; there isn't an overplayed item in the bunch. And the big news is his overall style: 180 degrees removed from muscular Italian Vivaldi approaches derived from operatic styles. For Chandler, the Vivaldi concerto is a playful, subtle affair, with soloists neither blending into the ensemble, as in some small-group readings, nor standing up to it in big contrasts. Instead, Chandler's soloists react flexibly to the orchestral tutti, catching the variety in Vivaldi's solo treatments. The work on Chandler's period horn and wind players is notable; hornists Anneke Scott and Jocelyn Lightfoot tame the temperamental natural horn and produce gentle sounds that fit perfectly with Chandler's approach. Sample one of the two-oboe concerts, such as the first movement of the Concerto in D minor, RV 535, or the finale of one of a pair of violin-and-cello concertos included, the Concerto in B flat major, RV 547, to hear how Chandler and La Serenissima weave the solo line into the orchestral texture rather than setting it apart. Also included is a notorious puzzle, the Concerto S.A.S.I.S.P.G.M.D.G.S.M.B. in F major for two horns, two oboes, bassoon, violin, cello, strings, and continuo, RV 574. This work has been the subject of speculation because of its title (it may stand for Per Sua Altezza Serenissima il Signor Principe Giuseppe. Maria de' Gonzaga Signor Mio Benignissimo, but then again maybe not), but its real interest lies in the truly virtuosic mixing of the solo parts, and in this performance, where Chandler has explored just that aspect of Vivaldi's double concertos on the program up to that point, and it makes an entrancing finale. Bravo! (James Manheim)

Polina Osetinskaya PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY The Seasons - Children's Album

Polina Osetinskaya started to play on stage at the age of six. At eight, she performed with an orchestra (at the hall of the Vilnius Philharmonic Society). She finished the lyceum school of the St. Petersburg Conservatory where she studied with the famous teacher of the Leningrad piano school Marina Wolf (she attended her class at the conservatory as well) and then took a course in Moscow with professor Vera Gornostayeva. The pianist believes that period of her life and studies in St. Petersburg, when she matured both musically and spiritually, was a true beginning of her artistic career. Today, Polina Osetinskaya is a winner of a Triumph award and active concert musician. She performs in Russia and overseas and regularly takes part in prestigious international festivals. She has performed with some leading orchestras and collaborated with well-known European conductors, including Saulius Sondeckis, Teodor Currentzis, Tugan Sokhiev, Vassily Sinaisky, Thomas Sanderling and Andrei Boreiko. The pianist’s repertoire comprises numerous works by contemporary composers that she intentionally combines with classical music in her concert programmes. Her interpretations of Tchaikovsky’s popular piano cycles are directed at radical revision of the customary renditions. Performing some of the composer’s pieces since she was a child, she, in her own words, has just gained an informed and deep insight into his music. Tchaikovsky in an inseparable unity of “human” and “musical” is a deeply tragic personality who was acutely aware of his loneliness and unachievable happiness. That is how Polina Osetinskaya interprets the composer’s inner world leaving no true judge of music untouched.

Éric Le Sage / Paul Meyer / Claudio Bohórquez BEETHOVEN Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano

With this new series entitled ‘Salon de musique’, Alpha presents recordings made by artists who have enlivened the Festival of Salon de Provence for some years now: the pianist Eric le Sage, who has made many recordings for Alpha, the clarinettist Paul Meyer etc… with cellist Claudio Bohórquez, they have now put two Beethoven trios on disc.

By 1798, the year Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Trio for piano, clarinet and cello op.11, he was already well-known in Vienna as a remarkable improviser and an ambitious young composer. the piece was clearly aimed at the enlightened aristocracy, as well as competent musical amateurs. This did not prevent the critics, though universally positive, from judging the score to be over-complex in places. Dedicated to the Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria, the Septet was published in 1802 by Hofmeister, and on being well-received it was then rearranged for various combinations. Beethoven himself made a version for clarinet, cello and piano, op.38 in E Flat major – the one recorded here.

Reiko Fujisawa BACH Goldberg Variations TAKEMITSU Rain Tree Sketch II

Bach’s Goldberg Variations consists of an aria and 30 dazzling variations. The opening aria is a highly ornamented Sarabande. Melodic contour is wonderfully crafted as Bach explores a descending five-note pattern in a typically French style. However, from the first variation it becomes clear that melody is not the theme. Instead Bach produces variations on the bass line and its chord progression. In other words, it is a harmonic universe that Bach explores.

The thirty variations are generally divided into three groups: dance, canon and arabesque. Every third variation in the set is a canon that increases by its intervallic answer, beginning at the unison until Variation 27 which is a canon at the ninth. This final canon is particularly impressive as Bach leaves out the bass line, leaving a ‘pure’ canon between the upper voices. Such a feat is in itself a contrapuntal exercise in genius; more so as these variations are not heavy with cerebral skill, but instead, dance with sparkling lightness.

Tōru Takemitsu composed his Rain Tree Sketch II in 1992, in memory of Olivier Messiaen, the French composer who was a strong influence on Takemitsu. The title of the work was probably inspired by a quotation from a novel by Kenzaburo Oe, Atama no ii, Ame no Ki: “it was named the ‘rain tree’, for its abundant foliage continued to let fall rain drops from the previous night’s shower until the following midday. Its hundreds of thousands of tiny, finger-like leaves store up moisture, whereas other trees dry out at once.” The work is a dreamy meditation on the flow of life, and was Takemitsu’s last piano piece.

Polina Osetinskaya / Ilya Hoffman SERGEY AKHUNOV Sketches

Art tends to elude direct expression. 

Or, rather those ideas appealing to artistic language are scarcely ever plain and direct. Therefrom a musical statement grows metaphorical. 

Yet what elements – language and style – are inherent to this statement? And what integral challenges emerge for the artist and interpreter? 

At first we take a metaphor as somewhat complex, deliberately ambiguous, however, when the statement engenders new degrees of comprehension the metaphor takes root, appearing conventional and natural - similar to a math proposition, proven and evolved into a world-renowned theorem...

Then a new rank metaphors stems from the previously established layer... Presumably, the artist may again face the alternative? Whether to plunge into the metaphorical language evolution? Or withdraw to supposedly well-known tools yet creating a completely new context? 

The author, indubitably, opts for the latter. 

Ultimately, his music remains unprotected and particularly susceptible to the performance. The slightest interpretation inaccuracy may invoke a spurious association thus frustrate the statement’s metaphoricity... 

I hope our efforts succeeded to reveal author’s conception in its modern rendition where archaisms along with contemporary expression and avant-garde ideas give birth to a new dramaturgy.  (Ilya Hoffman)

Carson Cooman CARLOTTA FERRARI Women of History

Divine Art Records continues its series of recordings with American organist Carson Cooman, who is organist at the Memorial Church at Harvard, as well as being a teacher, writer, speaker, music critic and incredibly prolific composer. Following three recordings including organ works by German composers Andreas Willscher and Raimund Schächer, Cooman has recorded an album of music by the Italian composer Carlotta Ferrari (b.1975). Ferrari’s compositions have been performed frequently around the word and appear on many recordings including six all-Ferrari CDs. She is currently professor of music composition at the European School of Economics in Florence, Italy.

Ferrari has written many works based on historical figures, and the five works on this album are all inspired by the lives and works of famous women, lending to the album’s title, ‘Women of History’. She writes in a distinctive modal style, utilising the modal harmonic system of ‘Restarting Pitch Space’ which was actually developed by Cooman in 2005.

Cooman’s own compositions continue to appear, performed by Erik Simmons, in the ongoing series from Divine Art, with three more volumes scheduled for 2018.

The release is also timely as 2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein which is the inspiration for the first piece.

Vivica Genaux / Bach Consort Wien / Rubén Dubrovsky HOMMAGE À VIVALDI

With an unique personal narrative beginning in Fairbanks, Alaska, and an international career now spanning more than two decades, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux beguiles audiences and critics alike with her charisma, dedication, and astounding vocal technique. After noting that she 'has stage presence in spades,' Clive Paget wrote in Australia's Limelight Magazine that Vivica 'demonstrated complete mastery with her exemplary phrasing and effortless vocal dexterity. Add to that a voice of great richness, easy at the top, yet with an ability to plunge at will into a beefy bottom register, and you have what can only be described as the real deal.' 

During 2018, Vivica's concert and recital itineraries take her to Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the USA. Duelo Barroco partnered her with Ann Hallenberg in performances in Spain of music by Händel and Vivaldi. Concerts featuring music made famous by Farinelli and Senesino, the latter's music being interpreted by Sonia Prina, transport Vivica to Denmark, France, Germany, and London's Wigmore Hall. A collaboration with Les Accents and Thibault Noally premièred in Paris's Salle Gaveau, Deux genies en Italie explored arias composed by Alessandro Scarlatti and the young Händel. After visits to Chicago and Miami, a tour of Asia with Europa Galante, and a series of concert performances of Händel's Serse with Il pomo d'oro, Vivica ends 2018 in Australia with her rôle début as Mandane in Johann Adolf Hasse's Artaserse with Sydney's Pinchgut Opera.