To celebrate his long and fruitful partnership with the Analekta recording label, the great harpsichordist and organist Luc Beausejour delves into his recordings from the past 25 years and proposes three excellent programs. 1 – THE HARPSICHORD Works by Couperin, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Rameau, and Bach organ music on pedal harpsichord. 2 – THE VOICE Featuring Julie Boulianne, Karina Gauvin, Philippe Sly, Shannon Mercer, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux in excerpts from operas, cantatas, and sacred works with Clavecin en concert. 3 – CHAMBER AND ORGAN MUSIC Bach with James Ehnes, Couperin and Rameau with Clavecin en concert, and organ works.
For this new album, Philippe Sly and the Chimera Project revisit Schubert's ultimate masterpiece, Winterreise, and offer a captivating version of the story of a wanderer who embarks on a journey through a winter landscape. From Schubert's score, only the vocal part remains intact and bass-baritone Philippe Sly's reading of it is touching and impressive. The piano part is replaced by the Chimera Project, an ensemble that comprises of trombone, violin, accordion, clarinet and a hurdy-gurdy. This delightful instrumentation brings this great work into musical territories that are both familiar and foreign. The result is an exceptional album. French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly is already gaining international notoriety for his "beautiful, blooming tone and magnetic stage presence" (San Francisco Chronicle). Mr. Sly is the first prize winner of the prestigious Concours Musical International de Montréal and a grand prize winner Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions singing the varied repertoire of Mozart, Bach, Handel, Stravinsky and Wagner. Recently, he was awarded Concert of the Year in Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist Music at the 16th annual ceremony of the Prix Opus in Québec.
Adagio - A Consideration Of A Serious Matter / Ensemble Caprice
Analekta
CD
$15.99$20.99Save 25%Oct 22, 2013
Under the artistic direction of Matthias Maute, Ensemble Caprice is renowned for its innovative interpretations of baroque music. Centered around Bach’s aria Ich habe genug, this recording of adagios presents choral and orchestral pieces, mostly well-known to the general public, all having one element in common: they are all meditations on the fundamental questions of life and death. Throughout history composers have attempted to express the seemingly endless pain of human suffering through music. All performed on baroque instruments, the examples contained on this recording are among some of the most powerful explorations of this emotional space.
Into the Wonder features the world premiere recordings of two works by Canadian Jordan Pal, one of the most promising composers of his generation, performed by the Gryphon Trio and the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Arthur Post. Strongly inspired by nature's beauty and the mysteries of the universe, Jordan Pal offers two fascinating pieces, imbued with a vivifying lyricism and great finesse. Described as "One of Canada's most interesting young composers" (Ludwig-Van Toronto), "the country's current it-boy composer" (Musical Toronto), and "one to watch" (LaPresse), Pal (b. Toronto, Canada) is a leading voice of his generation in the Canadian concert music scene. An award winning composer, he has had the privilege of being commissioned and performed by many of Canada's finest orchestras and ensembles, including the Gryphon Trio, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Sonate 1704 was formed in 2003 by baroque violinist Olivier Brault with Dorothea Ventura (harpsichord) and Mélisande Corriveau (bass viol), with the particular objective of exploring and promoting French music for violin and continuo. Their repertory catalog features more than 100 works, many of which have been first modern performances. 1704 refers to the year in which the first book of French violin sonatas, composed by Francois Duval, was published. While the inspiration for Op. 20, published in 1727, is clearly Italian, the fact remains that French taste intervenes through the use of figures, ornamental possibilities, rhythmic variety, and the use of dance movements such as the tender gavotte, the loure, the passepied or the sarabande.
A new release from Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà is always something to look forward to – this time playing the music of John Adams. Here is an ensemble that gives listeners that rare, giddy feeling of expectation as when one realizes at the start of a good book or movie: "This is going to be good!"
Stunning contemporary music from the French-Canadian violinist – a ClassicFM Album of the Week
After a fight against cancer, the French-Canadian violinist Angèle Dubeau has produced an album of beautiful contemporary pieces that are linked by their common evocation of light and peace - all works that she says have personally helped her through her illness.
The album consists of 14 pieces from 12 different composers including international movie maestros - Ennio Morricone, Joe Hisaishi and Ryuichi Sakamato - and such varied genres as jazz and folk, as exemplified by the music of Dave Brubeck and Cat Stevens.
Angèle Dubeau is a sensational violinist and the selection here is serene and heartfelt. She is ably accompanied by her all-female string ensemble La Pietà, who turn "Morning Has Broken" into a rolling, pastoral rhapsody.
– classicfm.com
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"Blanc like purity, serenity. Blanc for light music which, by their size and their evocative power, can bring inner peace. Of emotions on skin that reflect this strange loneliness qu'amène disease. After months of struggle against cancer, music has help me stay on track, music brought me comfort, tranquility and often Escape necessary. These songs, which are those of Brubeck, Dompierre, Golijov, Hisaishi, Morricone, Mozetich, Munsey, O'Connor, Phillips, Sakamoto, Schyman and Stevens. Musical moments without artifice, true and hopeful. This album tells a story, my story, that of a woman who, like so many others had to fight against the disease, and serenely grown spring." – Angele Dubeau
“An album that features composers whose music speaks deeply to me. Music in which I have found a refuge and a wellspring of goodness. Music that is sometimes imbued with finesse, or even purity, fragility, or with meditative gentleness and that can provide an introspection into one's emotions. An IMMERSION in oneself.” (Angèle Dubeau) Angèle Dubeau has pursued a career as a classical musician for over 40 years and has played in as many countries, always with the same passion, zest and generosity. Beyond her virtuosity as a musician, this exceptional woman has other qualities that have earned her a special place in the hearts of her audiences. While her virtuosity and musicality have won over critics, audiences adore Angèle Dubeau for her captivating music, her uncommon gift as a communicator, her generosity, and her outstanding ability to connect with listeners. She has garnered many awards over the years, and she is one of the few classical violinists in the world to earn gold records. She has sold over 600,000 albums over her career, and works from her discography have been streamed over 100 million times in over 100 countries.
The early 1870s saw Saint-Saëns driven by a constant desire to surpass himself, which led to several powerful compositions, including the Cello Concerto No. 1. His creative decisions—the expressive treatment of the solo part, the thematic concentration, the concise orchestral developments, the juxtaposition of contrasts, the lack of a traditional orchestral introduction, and the merging of the usual three movements into one—place this concerto in a class of its own.
When German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen—a colleague of Tchaikovsky’s at the Moscow Conservatory who took part in the premieres of three of the latter’s string quartets—received the Variations on a Rococo Theme in 1877, which he had commissioned from Tchaikovsky, he immediately took it on tour.
Quickly realizing how deeply moving audiences found the third variation, “Andante” (they frequently applauded it), Fitzenhagen decided to rework the score by moving this variation to the end and rewriting certain transitions. Tchaikovsky was unaware of this until the work was published in 1889.
Although outraged, the composer let the publication stand, and Tchaikovsky’s original version would not be heard again before 1941; indeed, most cellists did not start playing the original version until the late 1970s.
