Eric Lesage continues the flamboyant exploration of Robert Schumann's solo piano repertoire, all of them cornerstones of 19th century musical history. This momentous endeavour receives more and more critical acclaim and is recorded in optimal conditions (the outstanding acoustics of La Chaux-de-Fonds and brilliant sound by Jean-Marc Laisné). The complete recording of these works will come to an end by 2010 (the anniversary of Schumann's birth) and so crown its festivities.

Luis de Briceño’s arrival in France was marked by a wave of enthusiasm. The Spaniard was at the heart of a polemic that questioned the supremacy of the lute, an instrument cherished by French music lovers at the beginning of the 17th century. Our rekindled interest lies not in this controversy, but in the beauty of Briceño’s compositions and the freedom they offer the musicians who play them. On this album, we discover Le Poème Harmonique in a repertoire bearing the marked touch of popular Spanish music, accompanied by the delightful song of Isabelle Druet and Claire Lefilliâtre.

For his first release on Alpha, the clarinetist and conductor Jörg Widmann celebrates the music of a composer who wrote some of the finest pieces ever devoted to his instrument: Carl Maria von Weber. With the ensemble of which he is principal conductor, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, he has recorded the Clarinet Quintet (in its version with string ensemble) and the Concertino, composed in 1811 and 1815 respectively, along with the ever-popular Overture to Der Freischütz. The pianist Denis Kozhukhin joins Widmann to perform the Grand Duo concertant. This album is the first in a series of recordings that will also give us a chance to meet Jörg Widmann in his role as one of the most active composers of his generation.

After the success of the recent recording of works by Veress and Bartók, which won both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2020, the Lockenhaus Festival series, curated by its artistic director Nicolas Altstaedt, continues its journey through central Europe with Antonín Dvorák and his famous ‘Dumky’ Trio, named after a genre of Slavonic folksong generally performed by blind wandering minstrels who accompanied themselves on the kobza or bandura (twelve-string lute). Dvorák, whose father played the zither, immersed himself in this music and creatively translated its substance into his own music. The trio was premiered in 1891 and, in response to its ecstatic reception, Dvorák decided to perform it during his grand farewell tour before leaving for the United States. Zoltán Kodály’s Duo for violin and cello (1914), which completes the program, also bears witness to the influence of folk music.

REVIEWS:

Barnabás Kelemen has the passion, the imagination, the intelligence, the sense of place and ethnicity, the style, and the allfacilitating technique to bring the 'earth and-air' masterpieces of Bartók and Kodály fully to life, the loose-limbed manner of his phrasing as flexible as any folk fiddler, his tonal range and the agility of his bow varying from bar to bar. No player currently treading the boards is quite as exciting and this extraordinary disc finds him in intimate and animated musical conversation with like-minded musicians.

– Gramophone

Every phrase is carefully considered, and each one is communicated with passion. Everywhere there is a wealth of fascinating detail…Some may find the players’ approach a little too intense, but for wholehearted commitment these performances are outstanding.

Vittorio Ghielmi, one of today’s most admired viola da gamba soloists, comes from a family of musicians (his brother founded Il Giardino Armonico with Giovanni Antonini). In parallel with his erudite and virtuoso readings of Marais or Graun, Vittorio Ghielmi is an artist who enjoys crossing borders. With his ensemble, Il Suonar Parlante, he seeks new musical languages and collaborates with leading figures of jazz (Uri Caine) and the masters of traditional music (Khaled Arman, Dhruba Ghosh). With Gypsy Baroque, he and his gypsy friends present a dazzling album bubbling over with life. He has gone to Transylvania in search of the gypsy music of the eighteenth century that was played on the frontiers of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires – music that influenced composers like Mozart and Haydn for their famous ‘Janissary’ pieces. For this recording, he places these gypsy tunes (only the melody is written) in perspective with orchestrations of the period. The Baroque specialists of his ensemble are joined by longstanding guest artists (the soprano Graciela Gibelli and the recorder player Dorothee Oberlinger) and traditional musicians like the Slovak violinist Stanislav Palúch and Marcel Comendant, a virtuoso exponent of the cimbalom and of improvisation. Going beyond the ‘documentary’ aspect, already fascinating, here is a genuine musical recreation!