One of the most important sources to be copied in the 14th century, the Codex of Las Huelgas is an anthology of chants from the 13th century that are prime examples of the Ars Antiqua. It includes many original pieces, as well as some that can be found elsewhere in various Spanish sources, and others that originally came from the Notre-Dame school. Two specialist Italian vocal groups share in the epic project of recording the entire Codex, with these two discs constituting the first instalment.

The performing styles of Armoniosoincanto and the Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino are tonally different but share similarities in their approach to interpreting the various pieces. The young voices of the Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino offer a luminosity and a rhythmic effect that creates a brilliant, precise vocal quality, always expressive and communicative. Armoniosoincanto presents interpretative impulses that are more reflective and controlled – partly in response to the texts, and partly due to the group’s vocal timbre, which is more mature in certain respects. That is not to say that this timbre is any less brilliant where required, nor any less mellow in the psalmodic formulations.

These performances are based on the transcriptions published by the Codex’s first editor, Higinio Anglès, in El CoÌdex Musical de Las Huelgas (Muìsica a veus dels segles XIII–XIV) (1931) and on Juan Carlos Asensio’s work El Códice Polifonico de Las Huelgas: aspectos codicológicos y notacionales – La Música en el Monasterio de Las Huelgas en tiempos de su Códice Polifònico (Editorial Apuerto, 2001).

Though she gave piano recitals throughout Europe during her career, the name of Koharik Gazarossian has largely been forgotten today. Born to Armenian parents in 1907, she grew up in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and studied piano there with a Hungarian pupil of Liszt. Not yet 20, she was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers were Paul Dukas (composition) and Lazare Lévy (piano). Gazarossian proceeded to make a name and a career for herself as a pianist touring 24 ‘well-tempered’ recitals, arranged by tonality after the model of Bach’s keyboard manuals. But she also composed throughout this time, especially for her own instrument, in a tonal language influenced by her teachers and by Armenian folk melodies and harmonies. Many of these pieces have yet to be rediscovered, but this album of the 24 Etudes presents the most compelling case for her revival.

Gazarossian completed the Etudes in 1958, and they attracted the praise in particular of Armenia’s most renowned composer, Aram Khachaturian. Not only the pre-eminent exemplar of Chopin can be heard in the technique of the Etudes, but also the sound of Scriabin (No.1), Rachmaninov (No.3) and Prokofiev (No.10). Each of the Etudes is dedicated to a different friend, and the set thus testifies to a wide social circle of accomplished musicians from across Europe and Asia. Several of them are dedicated to the best of her pupils back in Istanbul, others to fellow female pianists such as Magdi Rufer and Idil Biret. It is all the more appropriate that they should be revived here by Nare Karoyan, who grew up in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, before studying in Cologne with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, among other distinguished teachers. Now based in Germany, she gives regular recitals in Berlin, Bonn and other major destinations.

Work began on the basilica of Saint-Clotilde in 1846, and only three years later, construction of the organ began under the supervision of the doyen of French organ builders, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. The instrument as it comes down to us is one of the most magnificent surviving examples of his art and craft – and crucially for the purposes of this album, influenced in its construction by César Franck, who played the dedicatory recital on the new organ in 1859, a decade after Cavaillé-Coll had begun work. Thus the Saint-Clotilde instrument can be definitively acclaimed as the Franck organ par excellence, the ideal home of his organ output. And who better to make a new recording of it than the current holder of the organ’s titular post, Olivier Penin?

Penin himself is thoroughly schooled in the lineage of French organ-playing. Born in 1981, Olivier Penin began playing the piano at the age of five and in 1987 he joined the Schola Cantorum in Caen. In 2004, he was appointed co-titular at Sainte Clotilde, and became the sole holder of the post in 2012. Thus he brings decades of experience to the recording of both this music and this instrument, each of which was designed for the other, as it were. In making this album of Franck at Saint-Clotilde, Penin follows in the footsteps of distinguished forebears such as the composer-organist Jean Langlais. Nevertheless, he brings his own, 21st-century appreciation for the composer’s elusive idiom, which relies on the gradual accumulation of mood and intensity in long, rhapsodic pieces such as the three Chorales and the Grand Pièce symphonique, and then rhythmic grip in the unstoppable momentum of the Pièce Héroïque and the Final Op.21.

Max Reger (1873-1916) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor whose music bridged the late Romantic and early modern eras. Deeply influenced by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, Reger was known for his contrapuntal mastery and harmonic richness. Though his reputation has often rested on his organ and chamber music, his output for piano four-hands offers a revealing glimpse into his compositional personality - both his intellectual rigor and his warmth of expression. Reger's four-hand works display his more lyrical and accessible side. These miniatures reveal his gift for melody and his subtle harmonic colorings, offering a contrast to the density often associated with his larger compositions. Across his four-hand output, Reger uses the medium not only as a vehicle for technical exploration but also as a form of musical conversation - a dialogue between two pianists that mirrors his complex yet humanistic musical voice. The works included are: Walzercapricen Op, 9, Deutsche Tanze Op.10, 6 Walzer Op.22, Cinq pieces pittoresques Op.34, Sechs Burlesken Op.58 and 6 Stucke Op.94. Of the Sechs Burlesken Reger himself wrote: "In order to give my 'harmonic' mood the freedom it deserves, I will [...] soon write Scenes burlesques pour piano à quatre mains, but I am already 'warning' all academies etc. About them; it will be a crazy thing, harmonically exuberant! Oh, there are still many, many 'north and south poles in harmonics'!". Played by Davide and Daniele Trivella, twins brothers, internationally known as one of the most interesting piano duos and winners in Miami of the most important competition for piano duo "Murray Dranoff". Their extraordinary performances have impressed juries of the most important national and international piano duet competitions.

A luscious pair of late-Romantic chamber works by a little-known pupil of Giuseppe Martucci, in new recordings by an Italian ensemble with a notable track record of success in reviving such rarities. Born in 1875, Guido Alberto Fano emulated the model of his teacher Martucci in pursuing a multi-faceted career as composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. At the age of 30 he became director of the conservatoire in Parma before transferring, in 1916, to the Sicilian city of Palermo. A year later he wrote this powerful and turbulent Piano Quintet, which sets out in a broad, contented and Brahmsian vein of expression before venturing into more troubled and chromatically contemporary harmonies, to which a finale brings resolution via a noble chorale theme. At the Quintet's climax, this theme soars over the texture on a solo trumpet, in a stroke of instrumental imagination which anticipates Honegger's Second Symphony by two decades - and indeed the 45-minute Quintet has the dimensions of a 'veiled symphony' in the manner of Brahms's early chamber works and sonatas. Wistful, major-minor Brahmsian motifs and harmonies still permeate the String Quartet which Fano composed in 1941 - another distinctively 'wartime' work - but whether through age or experience they are suffused with a late-style radiance which brings the style of the Quartet closer to Richard Strauss and Debussy. The Ensemble Mark Rothko is a flexible line-up of Italian musicians who specialising in reviving forgotten chamber works of the late 19th and early 20th century. Their discography includes albums dedicated to Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Karl Weigl, and this collection of Guido Alberto Fano marks their debut on Brilliant Classics.

Claude-Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799) published his first book of harpsichord pieces in 1759, nine years after a decisive move from his home city of Dijon to the metropolis of Paris. France had been inundated with Italian music and musicians for more than 50 years, and Balbastre's style is inflected by the latest Italian trends, while remaining unmistakably and deliciously French. The titles of the individual works refer to the surnames of distinguished and influential figures in the Parisian world of the mid- to late18th century. They are not necessarily portraits; the point here is rather the dedication, although this music indubitably represents a wonderful picture of the world surrounding Balbastre. One of the composer's biographers has remarked that 'More than portraits without words supposed to musically evoke a personality, the harpsichord pieces constitute a tribute or a sign of gratitude with regard to said personality. The portrait thus painted is only allusive and mysterious.' For example, one of Balbastre's most famous and spectacular works, the Italian-style gigue La Lugeac (F major), is probably a portrait of Louis XV's close companion, the Marquis Charles-Antoine de Guerin (1720-82), who had been born at the Chateau de Lugeac and was described by his contemporaries as 'Le beau Lugeac'. In his own booklet introduction to Balbastre's life and work, Marek Toporowski extols the First Book as 'a true masterpiece', combining French elegance of Classical style; imagery alluding to the operas of Rameau; virtuosity reminiscent of Scarlatti, Mozart and Rameau; mastery of form and textural richness. Compared to other surviving music by Balbastre, Toporowski finds these pieces 'less simple in the sense of Classical economy of texture, more sophisticated and Baroque.' The Polish harpsichordist, organist, chamber musician, and conductor Marek Toporowski was a pupil of both Bob van Asperen and Daniel Roth, He has made this new recording on a copy of a French harpsichord, completed in 1984 for harpsichordist, pianist and painter Julitta Slendzinska by Zygmunt Kaczmarski. 'It is a fascinating, exceptional instrument,' he says, 'in terms of timbral class, with a full, juicy sound and enchanting dynamic capabilities.' - Claude Balbastre was a prominent French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He studied under Claude Rameau, the brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose influence is evident in his music. - Among his most notable works are his Pieces de clavecin, published in 1759. These pieces exemplify the refined and expressive style of the French harpsichord tradition, combining lyrical melodies with intricate ornamentation and lively rhythms. Like those of Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Balbastre's harpsichord works often feature evocative titles, such as La d'Hericourt, La de Caze, and La Lugeac, referring to prominent figures of the time. His Pieces de clavecin display a wide range of textures and moods, from playful and lighthearted dances to deeply expressive movements. He incorporated elements of the galant style, characterized by clarity and grace, alongside more dramatic and virtuosic passages, sometimes even adapting orchestral effects to the harpsichord. - Marek Toporowski is a harpsichordist, organist, pianist and conductor, one of Poland's foremost performers in the Historical Performance movement. He is a scholar and a well-known collector of historical instruments. Also available by Marek Toporowski are the Complete Piano Music by Pinto, keyboard sonatas by Hyacinthe Jadin, and violin sonatas by Ferdinand Ries.

Franco Alfano was born in Naples on 8 March 1875 and soon showed musical aptitude, studying piano with Alessandro Longo at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples and composition with Camillo de Nardis. In 1895 he moved to Leipzig to study with Salomon Jadassohn, where he was able to undertake deeper study of Bach and Wagner, as well as Busoni, Richard Strauss and other composers still little known in Italy. In the summer of 1899 he moved to Paris, encountering an even more stimulating environment where musical debate between such names as Massenet, Bizet, Charpentier and Debussy aroused his curiosity. His long career saw it's greatest successes in the field of opera, his most successful being 1904's Resurrection, based on Leo Tolstoy's novel of the same name, L'ombra di Don Giovanni (1913 rev. 1941), La leggenda di Sakùntala (1921 rev. 1952, his masterpiece) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1936), along with eight other operas. In spite of this prolific operatic output, Alfano owes his fame today mainly to his completion of Puccini's Turandot on the basis of notes left by the deceased composer. The decision to have Alfano complete the opera was taken by Arturo Toscanini and the publisher Ricordi because of affinities that Alfano's Sakùntala had with the unfinished finale of Turandot. Alfano died in San Remo on 17 October 1954. Begun in 1929 and quickly completed, the Concerto in A for Violin, Cello & Piano was performed on 31 May 1930 at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Luca Ballerini (violin) and Benedetto Mazzacurati (cello) along with Alfano himself on piano. It had a warm critical reception for it's clarity, expressive intensity, powerful construction and 'it's effusive cantabile and substantial episodes', all distinctive traits of the composer. Particularly appreciated was Alfano's use of the ancient modes - a different one for each movement: Phrygian for the first ('Con dolce malinconia'), Dorian for the second ('Allegretto fantastico') and Hypolydian for the last ('Presto, con grande vigoria'). This concerto also displays absolutely masterful writing for the three instruments, which take up a truly animated discourse, each with a defined role and interesting individual timbral solutions and combinations. Alfano's final chamber music composition, the Piano Quintet in A flat for strings and piano dates from 1945. Written after a ten-year gap in Alfano's chamber music output, the difference between the trio on this album and this piano quintet is evident. He uses less elaborate solutions in the later work, in fact, including doublings and emphatic unison tutti at resolutions and cadences. Ornamental material is more conspicuous here than before, lending the work a certain Art Nouveau flavor. Alfano displays a desire to return to a stylistic idea from the past, as of one consciously wanting to fall back on old certainties, idealizing and emphasizing them while distinctive Alfano traits remain evident, such as the genuineness of the lyrical impulse and the quality of the technical craftsmanship. Other information: - Recorded December 2023 in Bernareggio, Italy - Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains notes compiled by Marcello Miramonti & Enrico Graziani and profiles of the ensemble and it's musicians - Franco Alfano (1875-1954) was an Italian composer best known for completing Puccini's opera Turandot after the composer's death. His own works, particularly his chamber music, show a deeply personal lyricism and rich harmonic language. Among these, his Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano and Piano Quintet stand out as exceptional examples of his late-Romantic style infused with Impressionist and modernist influences. - The Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano, composed in the 1930s, blends lyrical expressiveness with intricate counterpoint, weaving dense textures while maintaining clarity between the three instruments. The dialogues between the violin, cello, and piano are filled with emotional intensity and virtuosic passages. - His Piano Quintet, composed in 1945, is marked by soaring melodies, rich harmonic color, and dramatic contrasts, the piano playing an integral role rather than merely accompanying the strings. Alfano's harmonic language in this work is both forward-thinking and rooted in late-Romantic tradition. - Played with passion and commitment by the Italian Davinci Ensemble.

Experience the beauty and tranquility of Spain with a captivating collection of peaceful guitar music, crafted by some of the country's most iconic composers. This unique compilation brings together over three hours of enchanting melodies that celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Spain. Perfect for creating a serene atmosphere, this collection will transport you to a world of timeless elegance and natural beauty. The Spanish guitar is more than just an instrument; it is a symbol of Spain's soul, evoking images of sun-drenched landscapes, vibrant festivals, and quiet evenings under starlit skies. This collection showcases the works of legendary composers such as Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Francisco Tárrega, Federico Moreno-Torroba, and many others. Their compositions capture the essence of Spanish folklore and traditions, blending passion and grace in every note. Featured in this collection are some of the most beloved pieces in classical guitar repertoire. From the mesmerizing arpeggios of Recuerdos de la Alhambra to the dynamic energy of Asturias, each piece tells it's own story. Discover the heartfelt melodies of La Paloma and immerse yourself in the delicate harmonies of Mompou's works. Whether you are a connoisseur of classical music or a casual listener, these timeless compositions will captivate your heart. Whether you're looking to enhance your own music collection or searching for a thoughtful gift, this compilation is a treasure trove of artistry and emotion. It's ideal for anyone who appreciates the beauty of classical guitar and the rich traditions of Spanish music. Let the timeless melodies of Spain inspire your soul. Add this extraordinary collection to your playlist today and embark on a musical journey you'll want to revisit time and time again. - An extensive and highly attractive collection of quiet and peaceful music by Spanish composers, played on the country's iconic instrument, the guitar. - Featured are famous works such as La Paloma, Recuerdos de Alhambra and Asturias, by composers Albeniz, de Falla, Sainz de la Maza, Tarrega, Mompou, Moreno-Torroba and many more. - More than 3 hours of atmospheric Spanish music, inspired by the sounds, smells and colors of the Spanish landscape and folklore.

These first recordings galore on a comprehensive survey of a major 20th-century Ukrainian composer. Born in Kiev in 1925, Igor Shamo studied with the elder statesman of modern Ukrainian art music, Boris Lyatoshinsky. Schumann, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov were the giants of the past who seized the young Shamo's attention, and traces of their impassioned, lyrically centred idioms may be discerned throughout the early works on CD1 of this new recording such as the Ukrainian Suite, Classical Suite and Shamo's own take on Pictures at an Exhibition in his suite of Pictures by Russian Painters. The second CD is occupied by two more substantial cycles, of 12 Preludes from 1962 and six impressionistic Aquarelles from a decade later - both the appreciation and execution of painting was important to Shamo throughout his life. The final CD gathers up piano pieces throughout Shamo's career, from the Marche fantastique, which so impressed the professors of the Kiev Conservatoire when the composer elected at the last minute to play it for his entrance exam, to three dances composed in 1972 and inspired by the folk culture of nearby Soviet republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. A counterpoint to their uncomplicated charms may be found in the three Songs of Friendship from 1954, in which Shamo treats melodies from Poland, Romania and what was then Czechoslovakia. Though jazz and minimalist techniques periodically surface in Shamo's music, it bears the stamp of it's Soviet times in it's generally sunny character and clearly laid-out forms - though the serenity of the Ninth Prelude is answered by the machine-gun-fire Tenth, and Bartok casts a shadow over this music almost as often as Prokofiev. Dmitri Tchesnokov is, like Shamo, a native of Kiev, born in 1982 and long resident in France, where he pursues a career as both composer and pianist, as well as founding a directing a well-established festival of contemporary piano music in Paris. - Igor Shamo (1925-1982) was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where his composition teacher at the national Conservatory was the famous composer Boris Lyatoshinsky. Attached to his home land he declined an invitation to move to Moscow, and he stayed the rest of his life in his native Kiev, where he became a highly respected composer and teacher. - Shamo wrote orchestral works, chamber music, songs and works for film and theatre. His piano works however form the core of his oeuvre. His musical language is tonal and based on classical principles (his favourite composer was J.S. Bach). The melodies have a strong narrative character, the harmonies are based on classical and popular modes, enriched by chromaticism and jazz. All his works are rooted in the rich folklore of his native country Ukraine, the moods alternating between melancholic sadness and gloom and dance-inspired frenzy. - Dimitri Tchesnokov is an excellent pianist and an important composers himself as well. His works are increasingly noted, especially his haunting and mystical choral works. He wrote the extensive liner notes for this set himself, in English and French.

Sand and Foam by William Knight uses words from Kahlil Gibran's book of the same name. The book is made up of hundreds of aphorisms, each beautiful and thought provoking. With all my music I try to follow the words of the poet and bring out the natu-ral rhythm and beauty of the text. Each aphorism can be taken by itself and offers the reader or listener a chance to reflect. My compilation of the aphorisms is an observation on the creation and fall of mankind: It presents a warning. However, when the apocalypse comes this is not in a calamitous way, what will come will come. Life and death present the beginning and the end but not apart from each other. After we are gone life will carry on and our footsteps betwixt the sand and the foam will be washed away by the sea. Missa pro defunctis by Victor Kioulaphides. Death is as univer-sally inevitable as it is generally misunderstood. Art and music helps- or does it? Vivid imagery and dramatic sounds capture the heartbreak, the devasta-ting loss felt by those left behind. Yet for the one that actually passes, often little is expressed. The Requiem Mass speaks of the eternal peace, the perfect conclusion, the ethereal serenity that is death. And this is the story this score retells. If the listener is left at peace, the music has succeeded. Het Nederlands Bach Consort shows courage in it's productions and does not shy away from experimentation. Artistic directors Heleen Koele (sop-rano) and Sytse Buwalda (counter-tenor) have both earned their spurs as singers and complement each other well with their different areas of expertise. All this leads to a daring approach based on the old foundation of Bach: "As a consort, we feel the urgency to translate our observations of social trends into an artistic form. In doing so, we always draw on the power of music. Raw, tranquil, abrasive, and comforting. In line with current trends, we commission compositions from established and young compo-sers, such as Victor Kioulaphides, Monique Krus, William Knight, and Lotte Pen. We give the resounding past a foundation in the present... Always accessible, never easy." - "Sand and Foam" by William Knight (b.1987) sets selected aphorisms from Kahlil Gibran to music, inviting reflection on humanity's creation, fall, and the quiet inevitability of the end. - In Knight's vision, life and death are inseparable, and after we are gone the traces of our existence are ultimately washed away "betwixt the sand and the foam." - "Missa pro defunctis" by Victor Kioulaphides (b.1961) retells the Requi-em's promise of eternal peace, aiming to leave the listener with serenity rather than spectacle. - Het Nederlands Bach Consort is known for courageous, experimental Bach-rooted programming that translates social trends into accessible, never-easy performances and commissions from both established and emerging composers.

Alessandro Longo (1864-1945) was an influential Italian composer, pianist, and musicologist whose legacy is often linked to his scholarly editions of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard works. Yet his own compositions reveal a refined musical voice shaped by late-Romantic lyricism, classical balance, and Italian melodic elegance. Central to Longo's style is a clear, singing melodic line, often entrusted to the violin while the piano provides a harmonically rich and supportive texture. His works frequently employ a warm tonal language, with occasional excursions into modal or chromatic inflections that reflect the broader European trends of his time. Rather than pursuing virtuosic display for it's own sake, Longo typically emphasizes expressive nuance and poised interaction between the two instruments. Among his most representative compositions for this ensemble are his character pieces and salon-style works, which combine lyrical charm with formal clarity. These include graceful miniatures such as the Romanza, shaped by a cantabile violin line and elegantly crafted accompaniment. In these pieces, Longo demonstrates his gift for shaping compact musical forms that evoke atmosphere and emotional depth without excess. His more expansive works-such as the larger-scale multi-movement suites-display a broader architectural sense, often organizing thematic materials through subtle variation and motivic development. Played by the Gran Duo Italiano, Mauro Tortorelli (violin) and Angela Meluso (piano), whose previous recordings for Brilliant Classics (Saint-Saëns, Milhaud, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Scalero, Santoliquido, Caetani, Fano) were highly praised in the international press. "Tortorelli is equally impressive on viola and on violin... On both instruments he spins a flawless, silky line with perfect intonation." (Fanfare, May 2017 - Milhaud). "This release is not just for violinists and lovers of violin music; it's for everyone. Urgently recommended." (Fanfare, July 2021 - Scalero), "Sympathetic performance... employing many idiomatic (at least to the period) expressive devices." (Fanfare, May 2015 - Saint-Saëns)

Eugenio Visnoviz (1906-1931) belongs to the poignant group of early twentieth-century composers whose promise was cut short by an untimely death. Born in Italy at a moment of intense cultural transformation, Visnoviz grew up in an environment shaped by the late Romantic legacy and the emerging modernist currents that were redefining European music. Although his surviving output is small, it reveals a composer of striking sensitivity and technical awareness. Written at the age of only 17 by Visnoviz, a fragile and tormented musician whose life would end just eight years later, probably by his own hand, the Sonata contains the seeds of genius. Large in scale, in four movements, permeated with a late Romantic spirit but with stylistic features reminiscent of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and especially Brahms (with some harmonic exploration, a legacy of the post-war period), the Sonata presents a language that is both lyrical and dramatic. The program pairs the Sonata, with it's vast proportions, with the light piano aphorisms of the Klavierstücke. Despite his pianistic expertise, Visnoviz the composer did not leave any large-scale works for his instrument, preferring to focus on it's intimate and lyrical dimension. He condenses musical ideas into concise gestures, exploring contrasting moods, textures, and colors. The pieces frequently juxtapose delicate, introspective passages with more rhythmically driven or harmonically bold sections. This new recording is a labor of love by the two musicians Valentina Danelon (violin) and Cristina Santin (piano), who, during their study time, discovered Visnoviz's works in the Visnoviz Collection held by the Tartini Conservatory in Trieste.

When Baroque Meets Folk Energy In 'folk baroque', the music of Georg Philipp Telemann encounters the vibrant dance traditions of central Europe. The program grew out of a collaboration between recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf and the Italian ensemble filoBarocco during the Gottingen International Handel Festival, initiated within the European support programme EEEMERGING+. At the heart of the project lies the fascinating Rostock Manuscript, a historical source long associated with Telemann's fascination with Central European folk traditions. For Bosgraaf and filoBarocco, the manuscript offers the perfect point of departure for exploring the meeting ground between Baroque repertoire and living folk music traditions. The ensemble shares a deep enthusiasm not only for historical performance practice but also for music that retains the energy, spontaneity, and expressive freedom of traditional dance music. Telemann himself was renowned for his openness to musical influences from across Europe. During his travels he encountered Polish and Hanna folk traditions that left a lasting impression on him. In his autobiographical writings, he vividly describes the impact of this music: it's rhythmic vitality, it's improvisatory spirit, and it's powerful melodic expression. These qualities fascinated him and found their way, sometimes subtly, sometimes quite directly, into his own compositions. Yet reconstructing the sound world of the eighteenth century presents a unique challenge. Unlike music from the twentieth or twenty-first centuries, there are no recordings to tell us exactly how this repertoire once sounded. Historically informed performance with this repertoire therefore requires re-composition. Musicians must piece together clues from written scores, historical treatises, instrument research, and contemporary descriptions. On the recording 'folk baroque' the musicians expand this process further by drawing inspiration from living folk traditions. Many rhythmic patterns, ornamentations, and expressive gestures that appear in Baroque music still survive today in Central European dance music. These traditions offer valuable insights into how such musical gestures might function in performance. The goal is not to recreate a supposedly "authentic" past because that would be inherently impossible, but to create a musical interpretation that feels convincing, vibrant, and alive for modern listeners inspired by the timeless melodies of the Rostock Manuscript. For this reason, the program includes elements of improvisation and experimental playing techniques. While this approach may initially seem unusual in a Baroque context, it reflects the spirit of exploration that shaped the music of Telemann's own time. The musical notation in the Rostock Manuscript often provides only a framework rather than a fully fixed sound image. It invites performers to engage creatively with the material and rediscover it's inherent energy. The result is a concert experience that feels both historical and contemporary. The music is rooted in eighteenth-century sources, yet interpreted by musicians who are equally at home in the traditions of early music and in modern sonic experimentation. Ultimately, what connects this repertoire with today's audience is emotion. Instruments and styles may change over time, but the fundamental human passions expressed through music remain the same: joy, melancholy, longing, passion, and the irresistible urge to dance. When listeners begin to grasp the expressive language behind these works, the music suddenly feels remarkably immediate. It ceases to be merely a historical artefact and becomes a living experience, almost as if a sleeping frog had been awakened with a kiss

Outside Italy-perhaps beyond the shores of his native Sicily-the name of Eliodoro Sollima (1926-2000) has not traveled widely, beyond the accomplishments of his five musical children, and in particular the cellist Giovanni Sollima. On a previous Brilliant Classics album (96287) from 2022, Giovanni paid a touching tribute to his father's memory with a collection of chamber music. "This album is a winner!" reported Fanfare magazine, and noted how the "compositional style of this substantial and serious composer developed significantly" between 1945 and 1995. This new album of Eliodoro Sollima's orchestral music covers a similar period, between the Aria for cello and strings (1945) and Attesa (1997). Attesa ("Waiting") is the most substantial piece on the album, scored for the unusual combination of piano, horns, strings, and percussion: a powerful seven-movement suite inspired by the suffering of a man given the death penalty in the US state of Virginia and executed in 1997. Sollima worked within a tonal framework to evoke, in his words, "the frantic sequence of images, memories and emotions that torment the last hours of a condemned man's life." The pianist and musicologist Anna Maria Sollima (sister to Giovanni) supplies insightful annotations, which trace the course of Eliodoro's life and career through the works recorded here. World premieres on record include the early Ouverture da camera (1948/50) and Rondò burlesco (1951) for piano and orchestra, carried forward by strong, cinematically flavored melodies. From 1968, the Concerto per archi (Concerto for strings) is another work with a political subtext, inspired by the shock arising from the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. But Sollima always stayed true to his Sicilian roots and continued to translate the idioms of local folk music in his own contemporary style: a commitment exemplified by Nenia e recitativo, a concertante piece for cello and strings. Seekers of 20th-century tonal voices will find in Eliodoro Sollima a distinctive and compelling personality, to which these performers do full justice.

Francesco Palmieri has gathered in this album pieces that are special to him, with which he has sustained an intimate, lasting relationship - one might even say, of friendship. This is testified also by his fruitful collaboration with some of the composers presented here. The collection's title, Sans dire, taken from one of the works, evokes the familiarity that sometimes arises between friends; or, at times, between a performer and, through their instrument, a piece of music. As the composer himself notes: "Sans dire is a confidential, wordless conversation between intertwined souls, taking place around the body of the guitar - the instrument that, more than any other, reminds me of the tone of friendship and of those intimate connections that render words effective even when only hinted at." The program presents works for guitar or e-guitar, in some cases with added electronics. Composers include Luciano Berio (the famous Sequenzia), Salvatore Sciarrino, Marco Momi, Fausto Romitelli, and Pierluigi Billone. A fascinating journey through a sometimes hallucinating soundscape of unheard-of colours, timbres, and soundscapes. Francesco Palmieri (b. 1996) is a Berlin-based classical and electric guitarist whose work intertwines with contemporary music. He has performed at major festivals and concert halls, including Festival d'Automne, ManiFeste, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Ruhrtriennale, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Staatsoper Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Bregenzer Festspiele, ZeitRäume Basel, Musikfestival Bern, Festival di Nuova Consonanza, and Milano Musica.

An unrivalled collection of lesser-known 20th-century piano concertos in both Romantic and modern styles, in definitive recordings by Dutch artists. This survey of Dutch piano concertos actually begins in 1886, with the A minor work by Carl Smulders (1863-1934). Smulders sidesteps convention by opening not with a grand gesture but a slow, expectant build-up, breaking the template for A minor piano concertos established first by Schumann and then Grieg. The piano writing itself has a lyrically Griegian flavour, however, which Ivo Janssen brings out in this 1994 recording. The collection steps confidently into the last century with a glittering 13-minute concerto of 1927 by Willem Pijper, and a punchy neoclassical concertino from 1928 by Henriette Bosmans, who brings sumptuous, Rachmaninoff-style lyricism to the contrasting episodes. The shadows of Bartok and Ravel continue to fall on Kees van Baaren's 1934 Concertino, and Leo Smit's 1937 concerto for piano and wind ensemble. Another chronological leap forward takes the collection to 1964, with a second concerto by Van Baaren, who by now had adopted an angular serial idiom in tune with the times. From the same year, Henk Badings' Concerto for Two Pianos casts a retrospective look at the age of expressionist film scores in a dark and turbulent but conventionally structured work. Coming further up to date, the collection embraces the personal engagements with both modernism and the concerto tradition crafted by Tristan Keuris in 1980, and Ton de Leeuw in 1990. Finally, the 1991 concerto by Jan van Vlijmen encapsulates the musical journey of the 20th century into modernism and then towards an accommodation of it's principles with tonality. Like several other composers in this set, the name of Van Vlijmen deserves to be known far wider than his native Netherlands, and this superbly prepared recording presents the most compelling case for his music. Long unavailable since it's original 1994 release on the specialist NM Classics label, this reissue by Brilliant Classics includes full booklet introductions to each composer and their work. - "Piano concertos by 20th-century Dutch composers" reflect the dynamic evolution of classical music during this period, marked by a blend of modernism, neoclassicism, and unique national character. - This 3 CD set offers a comprehensive collection of Piano Concertos written by 20-th century Dutch composers: Henriette Bosmans (1895-1952), Kees van Baaren (1906-1970), Ton de Leeuw (1926-1996), Leo Smit (1900-1943), Carl Smulders (1863-1934), Willem Pijpers (1894-1947), Henk Badings (1907-1987), Tristan Keuris (1946-1996) and Jan van Vlijmen (1935-2004). - Stylistically ranging from the Late-Romantic to the experimental and jazz, these concertos offer a testimony of the rich cultural life of the Netherlands. - Played by top Dutch pianists: Ronald Brautigam, David Kuyken, Ivo Janssen, Sepp Grotenhuis, Ellen Corver and Rene Eckhardt. The Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra and Radio Philharmonic Orchestra are conducted by Lucas Vis, Jac van Steen, Ed Spanjaard, Kees Bakels and Alexander Vedernikov. - Licensed from the rich catalogue of NM Classics, the label for music from The Netherlands.