For Russian musicians, the romances of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov have always been a test of their artistic maturity. The very name of the genre carries a great many shades of meaning in Russian, denoting what at times are very varied forms of musical utterance. The vocal chamber works by these two composers, who are usually mentioned in the same breath as luminaries of Russian music, really do exhibit the vast range in artistic expression of their creators. You listen to a recording by the young musicians Lena Belkina and Natalia Sidorenko, who have begun the difficult journey along the road that leads to a perfect blend of tone and the discovery of a personal inflexion in these diminutive, yet complex masterpieces. It is significant that the mezzo-soprano Lena Belkina - for whom Russian, with it's awkward intonation, is a mother tongue - lives and works in Austria, Germany, Italy and France. This has given her an awareness that romances by great Russian composers are part of a worldwide musical heritage. There are several themes running through the romances brought together on this disc that pose demanding artistic challenges for their performers. Spring: from tender green leaves that have barely sprouted to luxuriant blooms of flowering lilac, rushing streams and the burble of the nightingale's song. Night: descending on us with it's unexpected warmth, sometimes stifling, sometimes melancholy, giving rise even in the midst of a storm to cradle songs, serenades and dreams of a happy life, which often dissipate on awakening. Love: past and future, lamented and desired, 'familiar to everyone and eternally new', as one of the romances puts it.

From a 21st-century perspective, Sibelius may appear to stand more or less alone in the history of Finnish music. It is easy to forget that he could not have fulfilled his artistic potential if his environment had not been conducive to musical creativity. But much of the music that was part of that environment has been almost completely forgotten, often because its aesthetic didn’t accord with the prevailing nationalist trends of the late 19th century. In this programme of choral works, Nils Schweckendiek and his Helsinki Chamber Choir guide us through some 80 years of Finnish music for choir, from the period when the country formed part of the Russian Empire, as the Grand Duchy of Finland. It was during this time that a Finnish nationalist movement began to take form, in opposition towards the political and cultural dominance of Russia and Sweden respectively. This development can be traced in the way the idea of Spring – a staple in the songs of the Nordic countries – changes from a sense of joy at the end to the hardships of winter to a metaphor for liberation from political oppression. Another result was the Fennicization towards the end of the 19th century, during which many popular Swedish and German-language songs were translated into Finnish and the originals in effect suppressed – a case in point being the earliest piece on the disc, F. A. Ehrström’s Svanen (The Swan, 1833), which has had it’s original Swedish text restored for this recording.

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's reputation rests largely on his operas, but the instrumental music he composed at the beginning and end of his career deserves a wider currency. The influence of Brahms can be detected in the First and Second Violin Sonatas, though Wolf-Ferrari's distinctive long-breathed melodies and chromatic flow are clearly present; the dramatic and expressive Second also includes references to Wagner's Tristan. With it's neo-Bachian figuration, passages of intense melancholy and uplifting operatic fantasy, the final Third Sonata is an enigmatic work, and unlike any other in the repertoire.

London Jewish Male Choir presents regaling performances of classic cantorial and liturgical songs, Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish) songs, Chassidic pieces and modern Israeli compositions. Extensive information is included in English and German.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Canada’s entry into the First World War in 1914, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra embarked on a journey of remembrance through music and reflection. Keeping Faith is the theme for this commemoration tour, with special 2014-2015 performances in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, throughout New Brunswick and in our nation’s capital, for the official opening of the Canadian War Museum’s new permanent exhibition, The Home Front, 1917. Our “Keeping Faith” visual wordmark, presented in English, French, German and Czech, was commissioned by the NBYO to honour and respect the countries and cultures visited on the commemoration tour. As the centerpiece of the Commemoration Tour, the NBYO commissioned an orchestral work, “A Dream of Dawn,” by Canadian composer Kevin Lau. One of Canada's forefront emerging composers, Kevin Lau, whose music has been commissioned by numerous orchestras across Canada, including an original full-length score for the National Ballet of Canada, currently serves as Affiliate Composer of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Lau describes the commission as a grateful commemoration of a generation who served and sacrificed. "My intention", said Lau, "is to compliment the reflections of those pondering war in all its paradoxical facets, to recognize the horrors of human conflict while affirming our profound search for harmony in ourselves and abroad”. What better path than by harnessing the genius, hope and promise of our youth, to build the world of which their century-old counterparts could only dream – a dream of dawn.

The series of the Mahler Symphonies with the Dusseldorf Symphonic under the baton of Adam Fischer has come to this end with the release of the Symphony No. 6.

Over the last four years Adam Fischer's Mahler recordings grew to a most successful recording project, winning the BBC Music Magazine Award, and the OPUS KLASSIK Trophy in Germany and many splendid and outstanding reviews from around the world.

In the Dusseldorf Tonhalle in late February and early March 2020, we gave Mahler's Sixth Symphony in three live concert performances which we recorded for this CD. This date in the calendar had special significance: the first lockdown period due to the Corona pandemic set in immediately thereafter.

The orchestra was playing in full line-up in front of a full house for the last time for a long while. The mood was ominous: we all felt something was amiss, and the next day everything had to be cancelled. We strongly associate those circumstances with our work on the Sixth, and with the foreboding we felt of a catastrophe that has since ruined the livelihoods of many musician colleagues and deprived us all of a meaningful period in our lives. Mahler's Sixth is always a major event for the orchestra and for the audience. One leaves the concert hall weary and exhausted; time is required to regain one's composure. This symphony requires a gigantic orchestra: here, once more, Mahler was attempting to stretch the boundaries of what was possible in his day.

Not to achieve a mere effect, but simply because he needed such a gigantic instrumental apparatus to express his feelings. The sheer amount of emotions we deal with in this symphony is almost unbearable. The controversial third hammer blow provides a good example: Mahler most certainly crossed it out after a rehearsal, overcome by emotion, afraid of dying. In his very bones he thought and felt that this symphony would prompt his demise.

Composers search for inspiration in the past- they study and learn from their predecessors, often borrowing ideas and taking them in new directions. The two praeludia by Dietrich Buxtehude, both composed in the stylus phantasticus (fantasy style) serve as a basis for us to follow some such musical borrowings. Buxtehude's compositional style had a direct influence in J.S. Bach and his successors. New ideas grew out of the stylus phantasticus, influencing later composers such as Franz Liszt and Petr Eben, who heralded the past and proclaimed the future by writing new forms of the praeludium inspired by Buxtehude's style. Gayle Martin is Associate Professor of Music at Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, where she is University Organist and teaches organ performance, musicianship, choral conducting, introduction to conducting, and music history. She also directs the Elliott Chorale, and coaches the early music group, Opella Nova.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra celebrates its 20th anniversary by giving a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie with world-renowned artists: Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto together with Maestro Barenboim and the young musicians. Yo-Yo Ma, who played with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at their first concert 20 years ago, and Anne-Sophie Mutter, who made her debut with the orchestra only this year, were named as honorary members of the orchestra on the occasion of this event. “It is fascinating to experience how brilliant, concentrated and at the same time relaxed these three world stars make music together and listen to each other. A masterpiece of harmony“ (RBB24). The second part of the concert features Bruckner's 9th Symphony, transcendental music which the composer himself dedicated to “the dear God“. The symphony is unfinished not only because Bruckner died during the process of composition, but especially because it seems to perish in nothingness. The musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are excellently prepared and play technically and tonal flawlessly. A magic moment.

Tolstoy described Alexander Scriabin’s music as “a sincere expression of genius” while Scriabin described himself as “all impulse, all desire...” His virtuosity rivalling that of Rachmaninov, the young and colorful musician and composer found inspiration in his idol, Chopin, while still touching his compositions with Russian darkness and sensuous passion. This album of his less-popular compositions also includes the child prodigy’s Canon in D Minor, composed when Scriabin was only 11 years old.

Siberia is known for its vast distances and the unfathomable dimensions of its unspoiled landscapes of rivers and lakes, forests and mountains, and tundra and taiga. The city of Krasnoyarsk is at the center of Eurasia between Moscow and Beijing and has a surprisingly vibrant musical life. In 2019, the city commissioned two works by Enjott Schneider, one of Germany’s most multifaceted composers. For the “Asia-Siberia-Europe Festival”, Schneider composed “Spirits of Siberia” for trumpet, strings, and percussion. In this work, trumpet virtuoso Reinhold Friedrich embodies the world of shamanistic mysteries. In the piece’s four movements, the soloist conjures the Siberian flora and fauna with mystical sound worlds that take us far beyond the reality of our normal physical senses. “Leporello & Giovanni” was commissioned by the Trans-Siberian Art Festival. The double continent of Eurasia is symbolized in this double concerto by double bass and contrabass balalaika played by two of the world’s finest virtuosos: Artem Chirkov, the principal double bass player of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, and Mikhail Dzyudze, whose innovations have brought the balalaika from folk music into the classical concert halls of the world. The music moves against the background of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, with the soloists energetically personifying the complicated relationship between Don Giovanni and his servant Leporello.

The outstanding English composer working in the mid-20th century, Benjamin Britten won a significant international reputation, whilst remaining thoroughly English in inspiration.

German pianist Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy is one of the leading pianists of his generation. His concert activities and recordings mark him as an extremely intelligent musician with immense technical powers. His recordings of Brahms, Schumann and Rachmaninoff have won him rave reviews all over the world. His Chopin interpretations on this new recording breathe an air of improvisation, vision and imagination. Listening to his interpretation of the Preludes evokes a synesthetic experience: The sounds, views and smells of Mallorca (where they were composed) merge into one feeling of beauty, bliss and melancholy.

A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, young French pianist Lucas Debargue became the most talked-about artist of the fifteenth International Tchaikovsky Competition. Placed Fourth in the final round, he was however awarded the coveted Moscow Music Critic's Prize as a player whose 'incredible gift, artistic vision, and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience.' This film offers unique insights into Debargue's life as a musician at the beginning of a remarkable career, with rehearsals and concerts from Moscow to Chicago via Weimar and Salerno, revealing talents as a composer and jazz improvisor and his first-time entry into a world of recording studios, touring and fame, in a crucial year of discoveries. TRACKS on Blu-ray - 1.���Lucas Debargue - To Music 2.���Caravan 3.���Piano Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5 (excerpts)

One of the highlights of the 1956 Mozart Week was the concert, which brought together Herbert von Karajan, Clara Haskil and the Philharmonia Orchestra London. Karajan knew how to project the qualities of the orchestra using the pieces he selected. The slow introduction of the Symphony No 39 gave him an early opportunity to demonstrate the precision and aural splendor of the orchestra. Those listening to the Piano Concerto No 20 experienced an enchanting hour with Clara Haskil at the piano. On no other occasion did she play the slow movement in such a calm and heartfelt manner so expressively, as on that evening. In the slow movement, above which hung a “frisson of eternal beauty”, the artist managed to excel herself. Now, this historic concert is available on this release.

Classical Music

The iconic guitarist Julian Bream commissioned music from a number of British composers with international reputations, thus creating a whole new repertoire of guitar music. He also played an important role in the revival of interest in the Elizabethan lute, his recitals bringing Early Music to a new audience. John Dowland’s beautiful Pavanis followed by Britten’s Nocturnal after John Dowland, written for Bream and one of the most significant guitar works of the 20th century. Cyril Scott’s Sonatina, overlooked for decades, is heard here in the premiere recording of Bream’s revised edition. Volume 1 can be heard on 8.557040.

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

L’épreuve villageoise – which, in its original form, was first performed before Marie Antoinette at Versailles - was one of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s most popular works. For a century after its 1784 premiere it enjoyed huge acclaim across Europe and even travelled to the New World, where it captivated audiences in New York. Grétry was a master of eighteenth-century opéra comique and his crisp and lively farce centres on a clever farmer’s daughter and her two competing suitors. Employing divergent stylistic registers – finesse and naiveté, music reminiscent of popular song, and extended ensembles – Grétry fashioned a score of sophisticated wit and huge charm.

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REVIEW:

Every so often it’s nice to take a break from operas with deep meanings and just feel like a bit of French royalty at Versailles in 1784, where this sweet, fluffy operetta was first performed. L’épreuve villageoise (The Village Trial) has simple country folk in a sitcom situation: soprano Denise is engaged to tenor André, but his jealousy, recently ignited by the attentions being shown Denise by the more sophisticated Monsieur de la France, is really getting on her nerves.

Soprano Madame Hubert, Denise’s mother, until recently was being wooed by de la France, so mother and daughter plot to get back at both men. Denise pretends to care for de la France and André claims to have found another girlfriend, which makes Denise sad and reflective (in a lovely aria). She then overhears de la France tell the town’s finer ladies that he has found a “rural” girl, and this angers her and her mother. Denise publicly denounces de la France and he leaves, making way for André and Denise to live a jolly life. Dancing ensues.

Sophie Junker’s bright voice is ideal for Denise; Talise Trevigne’s more darkly colored tone gives Mme Hubert a certain wisdom. Thomas Dolié sings with “attitude” and a fine baritone, while André is sung by a rather timid Francisco Fernandez-Rueda.

Nothing here will change your life, and you’ll be happy to learn that all we get on this 54-minute CD is the opera’s music, shorn of its spoken dialogue. There are two fine ensembles and a duet or two. Nothing outstays its welcome. A bon-bon, nothing deep, that’s good for you. Ryan Brown leads his Opera Lafayette–24 strong, with lovely flutes–and small chorus spiritedly.

– ClassicsToday (Robert Levine)

In addition to some 47 keyboard sonatas, Haydn wrote a variety of other pieces including arrangements of earlier orchestral or chamber works, and dances intended for occasional use. The 10 kleine Klavierstucke (10 Little Piano Pieces) contain five symphonic movements- including the second movement from one of his most popular, No. 53 in D major, known as L’Imperiale- a single movement from a string quartet and three extracts from his witty Eszterhaza opera La vera constanza. The dance movements were popular in Vienna’s many ballrooms. This is the penultimate release in Jeno Jando’s project of recording the complete solo piano music by Joseph Haydn. Of the complete piano sonatas release, Audiophile Audition commented: “Jando is every inch the professional, his years of experience and his muscular playing full these [works] with vivacious life.”

Yevhen Stankovych is one of teh Ukraine's leading contemporary composers. His music for violin and piano is recorded here almost all of it for the first time. The works on this album cover a wide range of emotions, from wild highland dances that distantly recall Szymanowski to the plangent, lyrical lament of Maydan Fresco, protesting the deaths of demonstrators in Maydan Square in 2013. The musicians here - wife and husband team Ukrainian Solomia Soroka and American Arthur Greene - have consulted the composer on the preparation of this program, giving their interpretations a rare authenticity. Solomia Soroka was born in Lviv, Ukraine. She earned her master's degree and completed her postgraduate studies in the Kiev Conservatoire, and later served on its staff in the department of chamber music. Since her American debut in 1997, she has performed throughout the United States as well.

REVIEW:

Both Solomia Soroka and Arthur Greene play with sensitivity and passion and have been well recorded. The violinist’s own booklet notes are customarily excellent. This is a valuable addition to the roster of approachable and valuable new violin music available on the Toccata label.

-- MusicWeb International

Featuring composers such as Piazzolla, Brouwer, Arcas, and Barrios, this album is an exciting adventure through pieces with latin musical roots. Guitarist Luciano Tortorelli is a professor of classical guitar and also performs frequently in concertos. He is one of Italy’s foremost guitarists. Tortorelli also performs an original piece on this album: Dobru noc Brno, which was composed as an homage to the Brno Guitar Festival.