Mario Brunello JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violoncello Piccolo

Since winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1986, Mario Brunello has established himself as one of the foremost living cellists. An eclectic musician, for some years Brunello has also taken an interest in the world of historically informed performance practice and the rediscovery of the four-string ‘violoncello piccolo’. This instrument, slightly smaller than the cello, is known today for its presence in some sacred cantatas of Bach, but it was surely used much more widely in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than the currently known repertory would lead us to think.This recording of the Sonate & Partite per violino solo inaugurates the collaboration on the Arcana label with a ‘Bach Brunello Series’ of three CDs, in which important compositions for the violin from his catalogue will be performed on the violoncello piccolo. The booklet includes texts by Bach scholar Peter Wollny and Italian writer Alessandro Baricco.

‘I want to approach the Sonatas and Partitas “from the ground up”, in every sense. Violinists “fly high”, they are always on top of the melody, they see the music from above. I am therefore not proposing an imitation of the violin, but rather a specular reading, a conquest of the summit by another route. A mountain seen from the south or from the north changes the perspective, but not the substance.’ – Mario Brunello

Voces Suaves / Concerto Scirocco STEFANO BERNARDI Lux Æterna - Ein Salzburger Requiem

After rediscovering the music of Giovanni Croce, maestro di cappella at St Mark’s cathedral in Venice, Ensembles Voces Suaves & Concerto Scirocco take us to Salzburg and put the spotlight on the Verona-born composer Stefano Bernardi, a contemporary of Monteverdi. Bernardi reached the peak of his career in Salzburg, when he was appointed the first Kapellmeister of its newly constructed cathedral, a position he held from 1628 to 1634.

Bernardi contributed greatly to the integration of the Italian nuovo stile in Salzburg, especially of features such as polychorality and the stile concertato, and may therefore be seen as the musical forefather of later, more famous Salzburg musicians. The outstanding stature of his music is clearly evident from his majestic Requiem, the manuscript of which is still preserved in the Salzburg cathedral archives. Particularly impressive is the Sequentia, which forms the core of the work and opens with an elaborate Dies irae section, based on the famous chant melody. The Requiem, as well as a number of Motets by Bernardi, is recorded here for the very first time.

Marina Rebeka / Latvian Festival Orchestra / Michael Balke VERDI La Traviata

A new studio recording of Verdi’s La Traviata is released by Prima Classic, soprano Marina Rebeka’s own label. Believed to be the first complete recording of the opera for 26 years not based on an existing production, it is certainly unprecedented for a small independent label to take on such a massive project so early in its existence. This studio recording, released on 1 November, is only Prima Classic’s third release and its first full opera.

The stellar cast for La Traviata is headed by Marina Rebeka as Violetta, Charles Castronovo as Alfredo, and George Petean as Germont, along with the recently formed Latvian Festival Orchestra and the world-renowned State Choir Latvija under the baton of Michael Balke.

La Traviata is one of the top three most famous and performed operas worldwide, and Marina Rebeka has been singing the role of Violetta to great acclaim almost every season since 2007. She has performed the role in seventeen different productions of La Traviata, singing in houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, The Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Operá National de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Hamburg State Opera, among many others in Europe, Asia, and the USA.

This ambitious project involved musicians from Latvia, Romania, Spain, Germany, the USA, and Russia. The newly-formed Latvian Festival Orchestra is made up of the best players chosen from several Latvian chamber and symphony orchestras. The VAK State Choir Latvija is widely known the world over for upholding the high standards of the great Baltic choral tradition. The three leading singers – Marina Rebeka, Charles Castronovo, and George Petean – are also cast in the upcoming La Traviata production, conducted by Zubin Mehta, at La Scala, Milan in 2020.

The full opera, in its uncut version, was recorded specifically for this album, meaning that it is not a live performance that has been put onto disc, as is usually the case with most opera recordings nowadays. The closed-doors recording took place at the picturesque and iconic Great Guild Concert Hall in Riga, Latvia, between 24 March and 3 April 2019. Recorded using some of today’s most advanced audio technology, the set aims to shed fresh light on La Traviata. “We hope it will become the current times’ chapter in the long line of great recordings of this timeless masterpiece,” says executive producer Edgardo Vertanessian.

Luka Šulić / Archi dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia / Luigi Piovano ANTONIO VIVALDI The Four Seasons

After seven years of touring the world as part of the critically acclaimed duo 2CELLOS, Luka Šulić returns to his classical roots with his first solo album for Sony Classical.  A graduate of London's Royal Academy of Music and a prize-winning cellist, Luka Šulić takes on one of the most iconic works in classical music for his first independent recording project. Available everywhere Friday, October 25, his dramatic interpretation of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is the first complete recording of the popular cycle of Baroque concertos arranged for a cello soloist.

"I've loved Vivaldi's Four Seasons since I was a child," says Luka Šulić of his newest project, adding, "I've always wanted to play the piece on the cello and love taking on new challenges."

Even in a Baroque masterpiece, Luka Šulić is ready to defy expectations and shatter boundaries. Though hundreds of traditional recordings exist of The Four Seasons with a violin soloist, Luka Šulić's recording will be the first complete version – his own painstaking work – that reimagines all four concertos of The Four Seasons for a cello soloist.

"Four Seasons is a very demanding piece for violin, let alone cello, so it was a long and difficult process for me," says Luka Šulić.  "I spent two years preparing the arrangement, little by little, piece by piece.  In the end, I hope listeners will feel the same excitement I did while making this album and bringing Vivaldi's iconic work to the cello for the first time."

Joining Luka Šulić for the recording is the Archi dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Maestro Luigi Piovano, himself a cellist and musical director of the chamber ensemble and Rome's renowned Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.  Luigi Piovano commends Luka Šulić's ambitious undertaking, remarking, "If Vivaldi was alive, he would probably say, 'Wow, that's a great idea!'"

"Throughout my career, I'm always trying to introduce new audiences to the music I love and grew up with, selecting pieces I connect with on an emotional level," says Luka Šulić.  "Vivaldi's Four Seasons is an instantly recognizable piece, making it a perfect entry point to classical music.  I truly think it can make anyone fall in love with classical music and I look forward to releasing the album and performing it for audiences around the world."

Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen / Johannes Klumpp MOZART Symphonies Nos. 13, 16, 29 and 40

On its 60th birthday, the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen is giving itself and its audience a youthful present: virtuoso orchestral music by the ever-young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The elite chamber orchestra's second GENUIN release, following the highly acclaimed recording of Mozart's Horn Concertos with Christoph Ess as soloist, features symphonies from all phases of Mozart's life: from early works to the great symphony in G minor. The award-winning conductor Johannes Klumpp lets his ensemble play this filigree yet passionate music extremely fast and at the same time with deep feelings. A real pleasure! Energetic concerts, bold and inquisitive programming and musical excellence are the trademarks of the Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen. In its concerts, the young international ensemble under the direction of Principal Conductor Johannes Klumpp explores musical boundaries and introduces experimental formats, genres, and styles with considerable success.

Veronika Shoot JOURNEY THROUGH CHILDHOOD

Born in Moscow, Veronika moved to the UK at the age of five when her father Vladislav Shoot became the composer-in-residence at Dartington Hall. By the age of seven years old she had performed her first recital at the Dartington International Summer School music festival.

Veronika is dedicated to creating compelling and innovative programmes that can be performed to a wide audience. She is also a strong believer in the importance of musical education, and has a great joy in sharing her passion for music. In recent projects she devised a series of workshops in schools combining music and art that the students found “the most exciting” of its kind. Veronika was recently appointed ‘Music Ambassador’ for SaMM (the Saturday morning music school at King Edward VI Community College).

Her debut album “Journey Through Childhood” featuring an array of childhood-inspired music, including well-known masterpieces by Debussy and Schumman, rarely heard musical gems by Lyadov, Korngold and Takemitsu, and the first ever recording of “Children’s Album” by Vladislav Shoot, the Artist’s father, is released on May 10th 2019 on the Ulysses Arts record label and is available for purchase on iTunes, Idagio and all major streaming platforms.

Diana Tishchenko / Zoltán Fejérvári STRANGERS IN PARadISe

This enticing album of sonatas by Ravel, Enescu, Ysaÿe and Prokofiev emerged from violinist Diana Tishchenko’s victory at the 2018 Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris. Born in Ukraine, and trained in Kiev and Berlin, she has been noted by The Strad for her " power to mesmerize the audience with her large gesture and strong personality”. Her musical partnership with the Hungarian pianist Zoltán Fejérvári is extraordinarily close and potent. In the words of the French online journal Toute la musique, they are “not two interpreters playing together, but a true musical entity, an artistic fusion … They played as if each note were being created in real time … deploying an infinitely large palette of colours and nuance – the possibilities were inexhaustible.”