Trio Aristos NORDSENDING

Nordsending was the name given by southern Norwegian people of the late Medieval and Early Modern period to magical attacks from the sorcerous sub-Arctic and Arctic. It was the ‘broadcast from the north’. Other peoples had other names for it, but they all understood it similarly: the invisible medium through which splinters of iron, stone arrowheads and little mice were shot into the bodies of the healthy by Northern witches.
With this programme of string trios – and one duo – by four Nordic composers, Trio Aristos has devised a nordsending of their own: thoroughly contemporary, but equally magical. The members of Trio Aristos have in various constellations worked with each of the composers – most extensively with Per Nørgård, the grand old man of Danish music, who is represented here with three works composed in the years around 1990, including the duo Tjampuan for violin and cello.
His younger colleagues all contribute one work each to the disc, written between 2009 and 2014. Kaija Saariaho found inspiration for her four-movement trio in different cloud formations, while Bent Sørensen added to a series of works inspired by Venice when he composed Gondole: its five movements are impressions of gondolas waltzing, mourning and falling in love. Gondole was commissioned by Trio Aristos, and so was Rift, by the Norwegian composer Henrik Hellstenius, who recomposed the piece for these performers from his earlier series Imprints.

Karin Kei Nagano J.S. BACH Inventions & Sinfonias

Ever since Johann Sebastian Bach wrote this collection of short works for his children and students as a means for mastering fundamental keyboard technique, his “Inventionen and Sinfonien” have remained a basis for keyboard pedagogical practice. In my own case, my piano teacher introduced me to Bach’s “Inventionen and Sinfonien” when my fingers could not even reach an octave. I remember making big arm gestures to reach the intervals that were too broad for my hands. My feet would dangle somewhere in the space between the bench and the pedals. Since that early encounter, these pieces have been a fundamental part of my repertoire and have accompanied my whole musical journey.

As I developed as a musician, I found that I could identify with these pieces not only because of their exceptional quality, but because Bach had intended them for the evolving apprenticeship of his pupils and his son, Wilhelm Friedemann. It has been my goal to reflect the youthful character of the music and seek to capture the purity and simplicity that are characteristic of a maturing pupil’s interpretation.

Concerning the order of pieces on this recording, I have deviated somewhat from the familiar sequence as arranged by Bach and published in 1723. Somehow I always felt that this standard succession of pieces was slightly inorganic, lacking fluidity. Around the time of recording, another version caught my attention: the arrangement from the Clavierbüchlein (keyboard book) for Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann, which is actually the original version of the pieces, published in 1720. In this 1720 version, it seems that Bach sought to introduce his son by stages to the various keys: accordingly, he starts with the keys with the fewest sharps and flats and then gradually adds more. This creates a symmetrical cycle of keys, first ascending and then descending: C, D, E, F, G, A, B – and then B-flat, A, G, F, E, E-flat, D, C, a framework that makes this version feel especially pleasing and fluid.

Many aspects of this collection of masterful pieces continue to fascinate me. Each invention and sinfonia creates a world of its own. For instance, the listener hears dances emanating through the counterpoint, as in the energetic rhythms of Invention No. 3, or senses an orchestral, Brandenburg Concerto-like quality in Sinfonia No. 2. Chorales are woven through the beautiful contrapuntal lines of Sinfonia No. 6.

One marvels at countless inventive qualities, recognizing with admiration how these pieces have guided many generations over 250 years through remarkable musical adventures always worthy of fresh exploration. Perhaps they will lead you as well to your own musical journey… (Karin Kei Nagano)

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra / Daniel Barenboim HOMMAGE À BOULEZ

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and co-founder Daniel Barenboim release Hommage à Boulez, a tribute to longtime collaborator Pierre Boulez. The album features a selection of the composer/conductor’s most iconic works.

The recording captures two live performances, at Boulez’s 85th birthday celebration in 2010 and at the BBC Proms in 2012. Barenboim conducts the Divan, and Boulez leads members of the orchestra alongside Hilary Summers in his Le Marteau sans maître.

Boulez was the first musician invited by Barenboim to share in conducting the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

Barbara Kortmann INNER LIGHTS Chamber Music for Flute

For me, “inner lights” are the inner forces of being alive. They accompany us during carefree moments of joy, lead us along paths through uncertainty, and help us so we do not lose our inner clarity. Each of the works on this CD has been a special “inner light” for me over the past years. I heard the Vivaldi concertos for the first time when I was a child, performed by Sir James Galway. Both the works and Galway’s incomparable flute playing, which I have deeply admired since, awakened my love for the flute and strengthened my desire to eventually become a musician myself. For this reason I wish to dedicate the two con - certos to Sir James and his wife, Lady Jeanne Galway. I would like to thank them: for their guidance as flutists and as human beings, and for their warmth and joy of living that they shared with me over the last few years. They have been a source of wonderful enrichment in my life.

Marin Marais’ Folies d’Espagne and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering are both works that played a special role during my studies. I am performing them on this CD in remembrance of a period that was not always easy, demanded quite a bit from my “inner lights,” but in looking back, also made me stronger and had a decisive influence on my whole being. Today I am grateful for this.

Bach’s Sonata in G minor was my first Bach sonata. I was full of curiosity and excitement when I discovered it as a fifteen-year-old, and through it I learned to love Baroque music. It is the “inner light” of my beginnings as a flutist. The two Handel arias I arranged are my “inner lights” of here and now. When I play them, I am totally with myself —happy and content in the being of the moment. I look back at my life up until now, always accompanied by the power of music which has never left me, and am at the same time full of openness and enthusiasm toward everything that awaits me in the future. (Barbara Kortmann)

Danusha Waskiewicz / Andrea Rebaudengo SONGS FOR VIOLA AND PIANO

Born in Würzburg (Germany) in 1973, Danusha Waskiewicz began to study the violin at the age of 6 and the viola at the age of 10.
From 1992 to 1994 she was the pupil of the violinist Walter Forchert, concertmaster of the Bamberger Sinfoniker, at the University of Frankfurt, while from 1994 to 1999 she studied with the violist Tabea Zimmermann.

During her carrier she has won numerous competitions such as the Competition Lenzewski and the Deutsche Violagesellschaft. Internationally she affirmed herself in the 2000 ARD competition in Munich, receiving also the Brüder Busch Gesellschaft and Wilhelm Weichsler special prizes.

Danusha Waskiewicz began her orchestral experience with Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, going on to become first viola in various orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, the Orchestra della Scala of Milan, the Münchener Philharmoniker and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

At only 25 years of age she became a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and after two years she won the qualifying competition for the leadership of the viola section.
Since 2004, at the invitation of Claudio Abbado, she is the first viola of the Orchestra Mozart of Bologna. With them she recorded the Sinfonia Concertante by Mozart in 2007 for “Deutsche Grammophon” and later Bach’s Brandenburg concertos for the “Euro Arts” label.
Since 2010 she is also a member of the Luzern Festival Orchestra. 

Andrea Rebaudengo was born in Pesaro, Italy, in 1972. He is the winner of the International Piano Competition in Pescara (1998) and he was tributed the third prize at the Robert Schumann International Piano Competition in Zwickau in 2000. He took part into several Italian music seasons such as Serate Musicali in Milan, Unione Musicale in Turin; Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona, Amici della Musica in Verona, Amici della Musica in Ancona. As a soloist, he was invited by the Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Philharmonic Orchestra in Zwickau, Philarmonic Orchestra in Pescara, Symphony Orchestra “G. Verdi” in Milan and Accademia Filarmonica Urbinate. He performed in Germany, U.S.A., Spain, England, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Serbia, Emirates. He performs regularly with the ensemble Sentieri Selvaggi in contemporary music festivals and seasons (Accademia Filarmonica Romana, Rome; Settembre Musica, Turin; Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Biennale Musica, Venice; Skif Festival, St. Petersburg; Illkhom Festival, Tashkent). In duo with Cristina Zavalloni they performed in Rome, Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Aterforum Festival in Ferrara, Cheltenham Festival, Music Garden Festival in Warsaw and more. He graduated in Milan at the Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” with Paolo Bordoni. He then attended master- classes in Salzburg with Andrzej Jasinski and Lazar Berman at the Accademia pianistica in Imola, Italy. He has just released a cd on piano solo, published by Bottega Discantica, with music by Stravinsky, Bartòk, Milhaud, De Falla.

Marie-Nicole Lemieux ROSSINI Si, Si, Si, Si!

“Rossini has been a revelation for me,” says Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux. The first fruit of her exclusive Erato contract is this live recording from Montpellier of arias and duets from Tancredi, Semiramide, L’italiana in Algeri and other serious and comic operas by the composer. She is joined by soprano Patrizia Ciofi and conductor Enrique Mazzola, also her partners for a 2014 staging of Tancredi in Paris, which prompted La Croix to praise her as “a generous artist with a voice that is both ample and easily produced across its entire tessitura … from the depths to top notes that flash like a cavalier’s sabre.”

Marie-Nicole Lemieux triumphantly defies the frequent assertion that the contralto is a dying breed. Moreover, with this live recital of Rossini arias and duets, the Canadian singer proves that a deep, rich, voluminous female voice can move with the same dazzling agility as a light, bright soprano.

Since she first came to the world’s attention in 2000, when she won the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition for Opera in Brussels, Lemieux, who has been praised by Gramophone for her “velvet-like voice and generosity in phrasing and thought”, has established herself in a wide variety of operatic roles. (Warner Classics)

Neave Trio AMERICAN MOMENTS

Hailed by the magazine Fanfare as ‘having exceeded the Gold Standard and moved on to Platinum’, the Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of its generation. It has been praised for its ‘bright and radiant music making’ by the critic Robert Sherman (WQXR Radio), and described as ‘a consummate ensemble’ by the Palm Beach Daily News and ‘a brilliant trio’ by MusicWeb International. Its debut at the Rockport International Chamber Music Festival was cited among the ‘Best of 2014’ by The Boston Musical Intelligencer, which wrote: ‘it is inconceivable that they will not soon be among the busiest chamber ensembles going.’ Its members originating from the US, Russia, and Japan, the Trio has performed on concert stages from Carnegie Hall in New York to venues in the UK, continental Europe, and Russia, bringing audiences to their feet and receiving the highest critical acclaim. Performances have been broadcast on radio stations across the United States and abroad, notably on American Public Media’s Performance Today, The McGraw-Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase on WQXR Radio (New York), as well as on WGBH Radio (Boston) and WXXI and WCNY Radio (New York). Previous recordings have been met with critical acclaim, included on the 2014 ‘Want List’ in Fanfare, and made Recording of the Month by MusicWeb International. The Trio has held artist residency positions at Brown University, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, San Diego State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and Concord Academy. As part of its mission to create new pathways for classical music and engage a wider audience, the Neave Trio frequently works with artists of all mediums. Notable collaborations include the world premiere performance of Klee Musings, a work dedicated to the Trio by the American composer Augusta Read Thomas, as well as multiple award-winning productions with dance companies and filmmakers.

Engage, Exchange, Connect. That is what this young American piano trio is all about, on stage as well as on this album, its very first.

Experience the group at its revelatory best in these idiomatic and fresh interpretations of early-twentieth-century American piano trios, by Foote, Korngold, and Bernstein.

As reported by WXQR radio, ‘Neave is actually a Gaelic name meaning “bright” and “radiant”, both of which certainly apply to this trio’s music making’. Praised for its ‘heart-on-sleeve performances’ (Classical New Jersey), the Neave Trio has been described as ‘A consummate ensemble’ (Palm Beach Daily News), ‘A revelation’ (San Diego Story), and ‘A brilliant trio…’ (MusicWeb International), one that has ‘exceeded the gold standard and moved on to platinum’ (Fanfare).