The pedal harp was presented in 1749 in a concert spiritual in Paris with unexpected, sensational success. Contrary to the earlier rattling, clattering harps equipped with a "manual switch", the semitones on the newly invented harp could be changed by foot, almost inaudibly. Experiments continued to be carried out for decades after, but this harp of single-action pedals completely changed the fate of the instrument. From the first great classical era of the harp, that being the second half of the 18th c., comes this presents selection of works for harp. Csilla Gulyás is a regular and oft-heard performer on the Hungarian musical scene; Classical Sonatas for Harp is her fourth Hungaroton recording.

Although we know of at least five concertos J.S. Bach wrote for solo organ we have no surviving Bach organ concertos with orchestral accompaniment. Contrast this with the 200+ cantatas: of these, 18 feature organ obbligato, which Bach uses as a solo instrument in arias, choral sections and sinfonias. The most obviously conspicuous date to 1726. In May to November of that year, Bach composed six cantatas which assign a prominent solo role to the organ. Most of these are reworkings of movements of lost violin and oboe concertos written in Bach's time at Weimar and Köthen. Why Bach wrote such a number of obbligato organ cantatas in such a short period remains unknown. One possible explanation may lie in Dresden, where Bach had given a concert on the new Silbermann organ in the Sophienkirche in 1725. Some scholars think that, in addition to other organ works, he also performed organ concertos, or at least a few earlier versions of the sinfonias, with obbligato organ and strings in order to show off the organ. From the cantatas mentioned above, along with the related violin and harpsichord concertos, it is perfectly possible to reconstruct a number of three-movement organ concertos of this type. By using this method, we hope to bring some of the music which Bach may have performed in Dresden in 1725 back to life on this release.

The present album constitutes a juxtaposition of works of two musical families: the greatest one, without which it would be hard to imagine the history of modern music - the Bach family - and the Podbielski family, of Polish origin, who have almost been completely forgotten and pushed to the margin of consciousness. Four unique personalities emerge from this compilation - each immersed in their own time and operating with their individual expression style. The common denominator of the works presented on the album is a unique instrument, considered to be perfect in the times of Johann Sebastian Bach - the viola da gamba. The listener will hear it together with the harpsichord in the interpretation of a marriage of musicians specializing in Early Music performance - Krzysztof and Anna Firlus.

By the time Bach relocated to Leipzig, he had already composed a number of masterpiece works. During his pivotal years at Köthen, he composed his Inventions and Sinfonias. These pieces, although typically overshadowed by his larger works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier, show Bach’s maturity as they serve as a fundamental tool for learning the piano.On this album, recorded in Leipzig, pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei does an extraordinary job of bringing out the musical density in these pieces.

When recording Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Anastasia Voltchok was keen to play right through the work only twice on one and the same day, the advantages of avoiding short takes self-evident. She prefers avoiding long pauses between variation groups, though feels it advisable to take time before starting the work’s second half. She believes it vital to have studied as many of Bach’s works as possible. Ms. Voltchok, who studied with, among others, Rudolf Buchbinder in Basel and Santiago Rodriguez in Maryland, prefers to allow herself to be guided by the spirit of the moment.