Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words simply defy ordinary description. Refined and nuanced, they constitute some of the composer’s finest and best-known works. For nearly two hundred years, they were regarded as charming relics, select romantic gems performed in small concert halls and salons. While their subtle, ornamental qualities certainly shine brightest in more intimate settings, closer inspection reveals an unexpected depth and complexity to these miniature masterpieces. Their interpretive and technical demands are considerable, requiring sensitivity to voicing, pedaling and dynamic control. Meant to enchant rather than dazzle, they evoke myriad dreams revealing some of the composer’s innermost reflections. Like private entries in a musical diary, they offer a rare glimpse into this reserved but passionate artist’s thoughts.

REVIEW:

The Mendelssohn gems of course I was familiar with and very fond of, while Price Walden’s music was a most rewarding discovery of compositions that reflect keen sensitivity, a delicate overall feel, and expansive melodies underpinned by equally clear and open harmonies that never muscle into the crystalline quality of the melodies. These are intensely American works and a joy to listen to.

Bruce Levingston’s insights into Mendelssohn provide many moments of delight – his ever-sensitive approach bringing out everything that is joyful about that chapter of Mendelssohn’s oeuvre.

As is always the case the engineering of the album is peerless and the album itself well annotated.

A winner through and through.

-- All About The Arts (Rafael de Acha)

William Byrd's work stands out above all for the variety of genres and structural principles. This is particularly evident in his unique keyboard music. The influence that Byrd also had on the continental development of piano music remains remarkable. To commemorate the quadricentenary of Byrd's death, this album presents a special collection of the works of Byrd as well as two of his close contemporaries, by his long-time mentor Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585) and the younger Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625).

With William Byrd, Friederike Chylek follows up on her last albums Byrd –Keyboard works (OC1724) From Byrd To Byrd (OC1704) and Time stands still (OC1864). Friederike Chylek plays on an organ by Johann Christoph Leu, Klosterkirche Rheinau, 1715 and on a harpsichord by Boccalari, Napoli 1699, restored by Matthias Griewisch, 2019.

José Antonio Bottiroli’s protégé Fabio Banegas returns for the latest volume in his exploration of the composer’s complete music for piano. These world premiere recordings focus on Bottiroli’s elegiacal works – laments in tribute to the memory of his loved ones. World premiere recordings. Volumes 1 and 2 can be heard on GP833 and GP871.

How do we even measure time? It is sometimes said that time is as old as humankind, but of course it isn’t. It’s just something we created out of a need for... what exactly? Earliest known evidence suggests we were measuring time already 5000 years ago. That way we could create predictability, for example concerning planting and harvesting. From there on we could more easily schedule and organize, which then helped us building a more sustainable life. When we had found a mutual understanding of what we would call time then other systems could be developed, kind of like a third-party software.

Music notation works as a fine example. Today our life is synchronized “to the beat.” Not only is every single footstep kept track of by our telephones or every breath by our smart wrist watches – even our thoughts are as good as monitored as we scroll casually through advertisements on social media. Without us even realizing, the idea of time and synchronicity is apparently encrypted so deep in our consciousness that the thought of viewing the world without it is beyond our comprehension. That doesn’t change the fact that time as we understand it has not always been the same. Our ideas on time have changed throughout the centuries and will most probably continue to do so. The works on Sonic Alchemy are of composers who offer a new perspective on how we can perceive time, each in their own way. - Páll Ragnar Pálsson

This acclaimed edition covering the early 20th century’s fashionable wave of hot dance music from America into Europe now takes us to Switzerland. 20th Century Foxtrots - 5 presents more evocative piano rarities from this decadent era, performed with panache and grace by Gottlieb Wallisch, and features numerous world premiere recordings and a plethora of rarely heard pieces. Volunes 1–4 can be heard on GP813, 814, 854 and 855.

Edward Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture portrays London at the turn of the 20th century as a pulsating world metropolis. Cheerful and colorful, it takes the listener on a stroll through the hustle and bustle of the city. Premiered in Manchester in 1908, Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 quickly found its way into the concert repertoire. His second and final symphony followed three years later. This is the second album from Alexander Soddy and the Mannheim National Theatre Orchestra, produced in cooperation with the Musikalische Akademie Mannheim.