Giacomo Puccini achieved global renown as an opera composer, but the choral, vocal and orchestral works recorded here reveal little-known aspects of his output, including several rarities. Puccini's early training was in church music, with the Messa di Gloria a clear indication of his great talent. The recently discovered Preludio a orchestra shows his wider ambitions, with the Germanic influences of the Capriccio sinfonico resulting in music destined to reappear in operas such as La Boheme. The elegiac and prescient aria Ad una morta contrasts with the celebratory Inno a Roma, a rousing occasional piece that features plenty of Puccini's characteristic melodic flourishes. A digital EP of the Preludio sinfonico and the Requiem is also available for download and streaming (9.70398)

This programme showcases the euphonium's warmth, emotive quality and astonishing agility with a vibrant tapestry of contemporary chamber music that amply demonstrates it's unique character. From the jazz-inflected grooves of Simon Parkin's Skunk to meditative reflections such as Einaudi's renowned evocation of sunsets in Due Tramonti, this collection brings together composers from diverse backgrounds whose works reimagine the sonic potential of this versatile instrument. Whether exploring nostalgia or joy, virtuoso fireworks or serene tranquillity, each piece contributes to a compelling narrative of the euphonium's modern journey.

Molter: Oratorio "Hochst schmerzensvoller Tag"

Heinrich Marschner was the leading German operatic composer between Weber and the rise of Wagner, but he also wrote prolifically for chamber forces. His Piano Trios No. 2 and No. 6 share similar qualities: both are in a minor key, they are rich in agitated melodies, and are full of inventive interplay between the three instruments. In contrast to the earlier light-hearted Trio No. 1 (available on 8.574612), No. 2 is a darker, more tension-filled work, albeit with Mendelssohnian grace. No. 6 also embodies elements of mid-19th-century Romanticism conveyed in music that ranges from the turbulent to the spectral.

Without doubt, the German lieder tradition came to maturity during the first decades of the 19th century. Examples exist throughout the 18th century, and the general song tradition in Europe goes back many centuries earlier. But the first significant outpouring of German song emerged with Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. Such is the great simplicity of the form - just voice with piano accompaniment, setting texts that touch on powerful emotions - that composing lieder remained relevant well into the 20th century and beyond. The present recording demonstrates the genre's enduring attraction for both composers and performers, as well as it's expressive range.

A prevailing feature of music of the 16th century and earlier was a split between the deployment of voices and instruments: occasionally replacing each other, or used in alternation - a more concerted effort in writing dedicated instrumental music with increasing degrees of complexity and virtuosity was taking place. The penchant for writing stories about love in it's many forms continued, finding a new home in the developing operatic works as well as the ever-popular madrigal genre, as composers continued to find ways to describe the joy, grief, despair and ecstasy of the human experience of love. Cupid's Ground Bass is a celebration of these developing musical aesthetics of early 17th century Italy, focusing particularly on the composers' language of love in all it's forms.

Agnes Tyrrel, the daughter of a British English teacher in Brno and his Czech spouse, did not have much time to put her creative talent into musical practice. She suffered from heart problems from a young age and was therefore unable to pursue an international career as a pianist. Thus, she dedicated herself to composition early on, which undoubtedly was not a pastime but a true calling. We already sense this in the first bars of the Impromptu, with which this detailed portrait of the artist begins. Here, someone boldly takes the stage without asking permission. This first, extremely flattering impression is followed by the beautifully radiant choruses, as well as her fantasias and her Grand Sonata. Ms. Tyrrel picks up the weaving that Chopin and Schumann left behind, spinning her own unique, colorful fabric.

Lieder by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Strauss, Wolf, Barber, Stahuljak, Ruzic, Skender, Durovic, Keprt Longing belongs to the deepest and most moving human emotions. Time and again, we are drawn back to the beautiful sensations we have already experienced-whether it is the love for a cherished person, the bond with our homeland, or memories of our birthplace. At the same time, we yearn for the unknown, for what lies ahead yet already captivates our hearts: love, passion, success, fame, or wealth.

We begin with one of Shostakovich's earliest chamber works, the Cello Sonata, originally premiered by cellist Viktor Kubatsky with the composer at the piano. Kubatsky later transcribed the cello part for the viola with Shostakovich's approval. His version, along with subsequent transcriptions by Evgeny Strakov and Annette Bartholdy, adapted certain passages to suit the viola. For this recording, I chose to remain as faithful as possible to the original cello version, raising some passages by an octave to accommodate the viola's range. This is followed by Shostakovich's Impromptu, a brief but captivating piece discovered in 2017. The album concludes with Shostakovich's Viola Sonata, which stands as one of the cornerstones of the viola repertoire. Not only is it his final composition, but it's also one of his most profound. In this work, Shostakovich seems to bid a poignant farewell, weaving in quotations from his earlier pieces and even paying tribute to Beethoven in the final movement.

Choirs of spirits, wild passions, unshakeable loyalty, a gruesome act of murder, and the eternal triumph of love over death - these are the thoroughly familiar ingredients of the libretto that Ethel Smyth wrote (in German) for her one-act opera Der Wald (The Forest). The music, however, is anything but gruesome. Echoes of Robert Schumann, some striking reminiscences of Richard Wagner, and, particularly in the prologue, an unmistakable touch of Art Nouveau carry the drama. It had it's premiere at the Berlin Court Opera on 9 April 1902. It was subsequently staged at the Royal Opera House in London and presented with triumphant success at the Met in New York in March 1903. There were standing ovations and a veritable sea of flowers for the 44-year-old Englishwoman, who was the first woman to conquer the classical music temple on Broadway with her work. Talent can achieve anything.

'In Mozart's Footsteps' - A Life Between Pop, Jazz and Dodecaphony Few composers have been able to express themselves musically as skilfully as Matyas Seiber: he was the world's first professor of jazz, later becoming active and influential in the International Society for Contemporary Music and a regular presence at major festivals. In his adopted home of England, he turned his hand to a song that can confidently be described as a schmaltzy ballad, subsequently receiving the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for his work. Seiber was also creatively diverse in terms of genres: pieces for an a cappella choir stand alongside chamber and solo pieces, songs, radio and film music, and orchestral works with and without solo instruments.

Andrey Osipovich Sychra (1773-1850) was born in Vilnius in 1773. As a nobleman, he was well-educated and played the guitar, harp, violin and piano masterfully. Sychra concentrated most of his creative energy on developing a playing technique and a repertoire for the seven-string guitar (tuned to a G major chord), which became known as the Russian guitar. No later than 1810, Sychra moved to St Petersburg, where he found fame and left a mark on history as the patriarch of the Russian guitar. In 1817-1845, when Sychra was at his most prolific, he created his masterpieces Four Exercises, Grand Fantasia on Motifs from the Opera Der Freischutz, Fantasia Dedicated to Count Lunin and Variations on the Russian Folk Song "Amidst the Flat Valley", among others. Another important contribution Sychra made to the seven-string guitar repertoire was through his transcriptions of widely popular Western European and Russian music by Mozart, Pleyel, Haydn, Beethoven and etc. These played an important role in the creation of the general concert repertoire in 19th-century Russia. Sychra's transcriptions for ensembles with guitar were very popular among amateur musicians. The second section of this programme mainly contains Sychra's transcriptions for various instrumental ensembles. Ensembles of two identical guitars, and those with violin or flute, were most popular in Italy, Austria, Germany and other European countries of the 19th century. Sychra's contribution was that he also introduced guitars tuned up by a second, minor third (terz) and fourth (quart), which then became a guitar consort commonly used by Russian performers and composers. Today, the uniquely rich Russian culture of the 19th century is an integral part of the cultural heritage of modern civilisation, in which the Russian seven-string guitar occupies it's well-deserved place. The rich and diverse legacy of A.O. Sychra, as part of this culture, largely reflects artistic trends of his time, while his personal influence on the history of the guitar in Russia was as significant and important as the artistically valuable repertoire that he created for the seven-string guitar. - Recorded MONTH YEAR in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia - Booklet in English contains liner notes by Aynur Begutov and profiles of the musicians - Aynur Begutov plays seven-string guitars by Ivan Krasnoshekov (1855), Fedor Arhuzen (1890, 1891), Michail Eroshkin (1909) and Igor Budantsev (2021) - Andrey Osipovich Sychra (1773-1850) was an important figure in the history of classical guitar, particularly within the Russian Empire. Born in Vilnius, he began his musical journey as a harpist before turning his focus to the guitar-a relatively new and evolving instrument at the time. Sychra became one of the first virtuoso guitarists and composers to adopt and promote the seven-string Russian guitar, which distinguished itself from the more common six-string Spanish guitar by it's tuning and resonant sound. - Sychra wrote over a thousand pieces for the seven-string guitar, including preludes, etudes, variations, and arrangements of popular melodies and folk tunes. His works combined technical sophistication with lyrical expressiveness, helping to establish a serious repertoire for the instrument. As a performer, he was highly respected for his virtuosity and expressiveness, and his concerts contributed significantly to the guitar's popularity in 19th-century Russia. - As an influential teacher Sychra laid the foundation for a Russian school of guitar playing. His method books and pedagogical approach influenced a generation of guitarists, and he played a crucial role in legitimizing the guitar as an instrument suitable for concert performance and academic study. - Played by Russian guitarist Aynur Begutov, seconded by singers Julia Ziganshina and Anna Halldorsdottir, Asiya Gareeva and Valeriy Ksenofontov. - Aynur Begutov successfully recorded a 3-CD set with guitar music by Sergei Rudnev.

Sueye Park is no stranger to solo violin recitals. After her recording of the Paganini Caprices (BIS-2282) and a recital entitled Journey through a Century (BIS-2492), both critically acclaimed, she brings us another solo project, Echoes of Exile, an undertaking that finds it's raison d'�tre in today's very turbulent times. Park offers us different perspectives on the topic of exile with works composed between the 1920s and 1950s, by great composers who left their country as a result of political circumstances as well as by others who went into their own inner exile. Two pieces by composers who left their native lands for artistic reasons, Enescu and Ysaye, frame three substantial and very contrasting works by composers forced into exile, either because their existence was threatened or because of a feeling of alienation within their respective countries. The works of Bartok and Ben-Haim show composers who, in their longing for their homelands, succeeded not only in emphasising the value of their culture even more strongly, but also in anchoring it within the environment into which they had entered. Zimmermann's sonata, with it's unique expressive language, evokes the concerns of a young composer in the devastated Germany of the post-war period.

This disc contains a selection of beautiful and very individual music for violin and harpsichord by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The performers are two among the most distinguished musicians of the Baroque on HIP (Historical Informed Practice). The music is mostly surprising, as always with CPE Bach. Especially the starting Fantasia is a piece of great freedom that clearly foreshadows the Romanticism. Ryo Terakado and Fabio Bonizzoni already recorded on Challenge Classics the Complete Sonatas for violin and harpsichord by J. S. Bach. Artalinna (FR):�So here we have the new major complete recording of these Sonatas, a landmark achievement because everything about it seems both obvious and moving.

Each composer on this album encounters the season differently: Schumann with rapture, Grieg with grace, Schubert with introspection, Suk with radiant yearning, Sinding with luminous vitality. In "Fruhlingsrauschen", Nareh Arghamanyan brings together these diverse voices to celebrate not one single vision of spring, but a dialogue of many: an unfolding of human feeling in harmony with the turning of the seasons. Lieder are at the centre of the album: from Schumann's Spring Night to songs about spring by Schubert, transcribed for solo piano by Liszt, Godowsky, Frederic Meinders, and Nareh herself.

Avec Mes Soeurs, Stephanie prend le contrepied de son premier album : plus sombre, plus epure, plus urgent. Ce nouveau disque explore � la lumiere du crepuscule les themes chers � l'artiste : le desir, la fuite, l'�tre au monde. La voix s'y libere, fr�le parfois le parler, au coeur d'arrangements ciseles par Fred Pallem, � la maniere d'une Marie Lafor�t passee par Berlin-Est. Une matiere vive et sensuelle, o� l'elegance de l'orchestration revele la tension et l'energie des textes. Patrick FReMEAUX With Mes Soeurs, Stephanie takes the opposite tack to her first album: darker, more refined, more urgent. This new record explores, in the twilight, themes that the artist holds dear: desire, escape, being in the world. Her voice is liberated, sometimes verging on speech, at the heart of arrangements crafted by Fred Pallem, in the style of a Marie Lafor�t who has passed through East Berlin. It is lively and sensual material, where the elegance of the orchestration reveals the tension and energy of the lyrics. Patrick FReMEAUX AMOUR CHARNEL - MES SOEURS - IL N'Y A PAS D'AILLEURS - SOUVIENS-TOI - CHACUN POUR SOI (RADIO EDIT). eCRIT ET COMPOSe PAR Stephanie Acquette - ARRANGe ET ReALISe PAR FRED PALLEM

According to current knowledge, the St. Aegidius organ in Berne has the world's only surviving pipes by the Brabant organ builder Reinhard Lampeler van Mill (1596); it also possesses a significant amount of historical substance from Harmen Kr�ger (1643) and Christian Vater (1714). This organ is an important historical document of North German organ building prior to Arp Schnitger-an instrument full of power, intensity, tone color, and "sweet sharpness." The aim of this recording is not to invent a new instrument for Buxtehude's organ works, but rather to show how the sound of the late 16th and early 17th century Berne organ influences our hearing of Buxtehude's music-his instrument in L�beck also had registers that dated back to this period. The use of pure meantone temperament, registrations based on 16th and 17th century sources, as well as ornamentation and diminutions, also play an essential role here. The meantone temperament also necessitated the transposition of some pieces, a practice also practice also to be found in works by Johann Sebastian Bach.

A native of Germany, Robert Volkmann was virtually unknown as a composer until the 1840s, when he moved to Hungary. It was there that Volkmann achieved wider recognition, due in part to Franz Liszt, Hans von B�low, and Richard Wagner expressing admiration for his Piano Trio, Op. 5. Volkmann's music straddles the radical and conservative camps in the music of his era, with the early Fantasiebilder influenced by Schumann and Mendelssohn, and the scintillating Piano Sonata in C minor retaining the Classical roots of Beethoven and Schubert. From the cimbalom effects in the Ungarische Lieder to the whimsy in Lieder der Gro�mutter, Volkmann's expressive potency is always infused with a compulsive rhythmic verve.

When Jan van Gilse completed his studies in Cologne in 1902, he devoted himself to his prizewinning First Symphony along with a dramatic scene based on the prose poem Sulamith by Prince Erich von Sch�naich-Carolath, in which Satan realises that there is still love on earth despite his machinations. Judging by his impressive music, this must have been the innermost conviction of the composer, who never found it easy in his life to bridge the gap between his German education and the prevailing taste of his fellow countrymen. Combative and vulnerable, quick-tempered and desperate, he strove for a truth that few heard - a loner even when, in 1929, he wrote the poignant Kreis des Lebens (Circle of Life) after Rainer Maria Rilke, which had had to wait for a hundred years to receive an adequate performance and deserved recognition. Now it has arrived.

A deep dive into the vibrant heart of the "nueva canci�n" movement, paying tribute to the artists-like Violeta Parra, V�ctor Jara, and Mercedes Sosa-who shaped Latin American history. Vidala brilliantly conveys the symbolic and liberating power of these songs, which blend popular folklore with protest music.