Volga-Tatar-born Canadian composer and conductor Airat Ichmouratov conducts the London Symphony Orchestra for this recording of two of his major works, Chandos’ third album dedicated to the works of this outstanding composer. Both concertos are recorded here by the soloists who premiered each work. Ichmouratov’s first viola concerto was conceived in 2004, whilst he was a conducting student at the Université de Montréal. His fellow Ph.D. candidate, the violist Elvira Misbakhova, wanted something new for her doctoral performance, preferably a concerto that combined lyrical impulses and virtuoso challenges. The resulting work is a large-scale piece in three movements that exploits and celebrated the naturally sombre character of the instrument. The Piano Concerto was written in six months in 2012 – 13 and then lingered in a drawer for almost a decade awaiting a soloist who could both do it justice and add finishing touches to the solo part. Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, a Montrealer with a fondness for the virtuoso tradition, was himself looking for a new concerto to champion. Ichmouratov gratefully acknowledges the contributions made to the solo part by Sylvestre, the concerto’s dedicatee.

The lavish princely entertainments that were given in Italy since the Renaissance, and in particular at the Medici Court in Florence, were famous throughout Europe. The musical interludes that adorned them were already true dramatic masterpieces which marvelously combined music and poetry. They set a frame for the birth of the Italian Opera, Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607) being their direct heir with its almost perfect architecture, the depth of its expression and the immanent beauty of its music. In a state of grace, Raphaël Pichon invites you to discover these Italian splendors, by imagining a princely interlude conceived with the most sumptuous pieces of music of the turn of the 1600s that is both true opera scenes but also gigantic polychoral pieces for thirty voices. All of them filmed here in the most beautiful palatial Gallery in the World: namely, we invite you on a dreamlike musical journey in the Hall of Mirrors of the Château de Versailles.

PLEYEL String Quartets: in E?, op. 2/4; in B?, op. 2/5; in D, op. 2/6 ? Ens? Quartet ? NAXOS 8557497 (56:38)


Throughout his long and distinguished career, Ignaz Pleyel (1757?1831) composed a total of 57 string quartets, and by the time he wrote the half-dozen quartets that were engraved in 1784 by Graeffer in Vienna as op. 2, Haydn had already composed his ops. 20 and 33 sets, both of which expanded the scope and breadth of the form. Mozart was familiar with Pleyel?s work and it may have been Pleyel?s op. 2 that prompted Mozart to write his father, ?You will find them [the quartets] worth the trouble. They are very well written and most pleasing to listen to. You will also see at once who [Haydn] was his master. It will be a lucky day for music if later on Pleyel should be able to replace Haydn.?


Indeed, the presence of Haydn is unmistakable in these works, although it is not as if he were guiding Pleyel?s quill, for these quartets are not knock-offs. Rather they are as annotator Allan Badley noted, ?a remarkable achievement for a young composer and it is one of the cruel quirks of fate that works of such vitality and imagination could be forgotten for so long.? I add to Dr. Badley?s remarks that this music impresses immediately by way of its tunefulness, memorability, and tight, but never pedantic structure. It flows beautifully from page to page and movement to movement with the ease of a brook gently making its way down a hillside


The Ens? String Quartet?an American ensemble, by the way?is made up of violinists Maureen Nelson and Tereza Stanislav, violist Robert Brophy, and cellist Richard Belcher. The quartet takes its name from a Japanese zen painting of a circle ?that represents many things, perfection as well as imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness of the spirit.? In 2003, the group won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and in the same year was awarded top prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs in Ohio. They have appeared in leading venues across the land including Lincoln Center and the Merkin Concert Hall (New York) and have been the guests of Bill McLaughlin on St. Paul Sunday Morning , heard nationwide on member stations of National Public Radio.


Lacking the first of the two Naxos discs that make up Pleyel?s op. 2, I placed this arrival in my player with no preconceptions as to what I might hear. It didn?t take long for me to determine that I was privy to extraordinary talent. The performances are replete with enthusiasm and momentum and, drawing upon a winning combination of instinct and convention, they evoke not only a distinct personality, but also exhibit poise, coupled with an exceptional sense of vitality and elegance. The energy generated by these young musicians is obvious from the get-go, as is their commitment to the repertoire. Vital and intellectually challenging, these curiosities repay the listener?s interest time after time by way of their memorable and affable nature.


Without doubt, these quartets stand their ground with similar works of Haydn and Mozart, and with advocacy this strong, they will certainly begin to emerge from musical oblivion, taking their long overdue place in the repertoire.


FANFARE: Michael Carter

Despite his many successes, Antonin Dvorak always claimed to have remained a "simple Bohemian musician" - a self-description that, ironically, has made it harder for posterity to appreciate the breadth of his work fully.�This is particularly evident in the realm of chamber music, a field Dvorak explored even more extensively than his mentor, Johannes Brahms. With more than a dozen string quartets alone, alongside various other smaller and larger formats, Dvorak's body of work offers a broad spectrum, where the so-called "Slavic" tones are by no means always the dominant voice.�With this fifth double album, the Hagen Quartet concludes it's acclaimed complete recording, which spans the fascinating range from Dvorak's early grapplings with Wagner and Liszt to his later reflections on the "New World", revealing unexpected depths behind the face of the "humble musician".

The Simply Quartet is among the most sought-after ensembles of the younger generation. It regularly graces the stages of leading concert venues and receives widespread acclaim. On their new GENUIN album, the young musicians devote themselves to two mature works: the final quartets of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Antonin Dvorak. With interpretations marked by great fidelity to the works, they show how they combine youthful energy with sweeping musical lines, resulting in a genuinely electrifying chamber music recording!

Paavo Jarvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich present the second volume of their complete Mahler Symphonies, with his First Symphony, known as the "Titan" in reference to the eponymous novel by the poet Jean-Paul that Mahler greatly admired. Although he abandoned this title three years after the symphony's premiere in 1893, the symphony has, like many of Mahler's works, "a clearly programmatic character" according to Paavo Jarvi: "Mahler was a composer who was truly able to explore the inner world of human beings and to question what goes on inside us."

Award-winning Canadian composer Christopher Tyler Nickel scales heights and plumbs depths with his novel new recording of concertos, for piccolo and for four Wagner tubas. Following his recently released Requiem, last year's epic seven-hour Gospel According to Mark, and concertante works for all ranges for his own instrument - oboe, oboe d'amore and bass oboe - Chris' new recording includes a dazzling Concerto for Piccolo featuring principal piccolo player of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Sarah Jackson, paired with an astounding assemblage of four players of the Wagner tuba, a hybrid tuba-French horn instrument commissioned by the namesake composer for his opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Both Jackson and the four Wagner tuba soloists - Oliver de Clercq, Laurel Spencer, Valerie Whitney, Holly Bryan - are superbly supported by conductor Clyde Mitchell and the Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra.

For her 24th recording for Cedille Records, violinist Rachel Barton Pine joins forces with period instrument specialists David Schrader, John Mark Rozendaal, and Brandon Acker to record Arcangelo Corelli's seminal set of 12 Violin Sonatas, Op. 5. "An exciting, boundary-defying performer" (Washington Post), Pine has been described as "a most accomplished Baroque violinist, fully the equal of the foremost specialists" (Gramophone). Known for her versatility across a vast repertoire - from Renaissance to heavy metal - she has studied period performance practice extensively and performs on the viola d'amore, renaissance violin, and medieval rebec. She has appeared as soloist with Apollo's Fire, the Seattle and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestras, Baroque Band, and Ars Antigua, and has performed concertos with Nicholas McGegan, Jeannette Sorrell, and Frans Bruggen. Published in 1700, Corelli's Twelve Violin Sonatas are foundational in the evolution of both the sonata and concerto forms. This recording explores these compositions through a historically informed approach, utilizing an array of period instruments, each chosen to enhance the expressive nuances of Corelli's music. Reflecting the era's experimental spirit, the ensemble embraces the interpretative freedom suggested by Corelli's original scores. Schrader alternates between organ and harpsichord, Rozendaal between violoncello and viola da gamba, and Acker performs on theorbo, archlute, and baroque guitar. Pine, inspired by the versatility of her colleagues, performs the famous "Follia" variations (Sonata No. 12) on an original-condition Gagliano viola d'amore, exploring this rarely used instrument in an authentic historical context. Corelli: Violin Sonatas, Op. 5, was produced and engineered by the Grammy-winning team of James Ginsburg and Bill Maylone. It was recorded on February 21, 23, and 25, 2024 and April 29-May 2, 2024, at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston, IL.

...one of the supreme achievements of 20th-century music...

-- Andrew Clements, The Guardian
on Le Marteau Sans Maître

Also available on Blu-ray

Jacques Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène (1864) has always been one of its composer’s most successful works.

• Its first, slightly scandalizing performance in Paris was quickly followed by productions in Vienna, Berlin, London, Milan and New York.

• A satire of middle-class values, this opéra bouffe – told through the story of Paris and Helen, and her abduction by the Trojan prince disguised as a shepherd – pillories narrow-mindedness in society.

• Adopting a pro-active stance, director Renaud Doucet and designer André Barbe treat the piece as a “great show” with numerous choreographic elements, relocating the action of Offenbach's classical spoof and setting it on a cruise ship in the 1960s, when Flower Power, love and drugs were all the rage.

• “La Belle Hélène is a firework display for ears and eyes...” (Hamburger Morgenpost), “opulent and amusing” (Bild), and, in the title role, Jennifer Larmore convinces with her “fantastic vocal performance.” (Das Opernglas)

Subtitles: French (orig.), English, German, Spanish, Chinese Korean
Booklet: English, German, French
No. of Discs: 1
Run time: 117 minutes
Picture Format: NTSC, 16:9
Audio Format: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Klaudia Rabiega: Dona Nobis Pacem Sacred Choral Works

This series is the first to attempt documenting the highlights of Leo Ornstein's career. On this release Arsentiy Kharitonov plays all 17 waltzes, varying from the sexily languorous to the boldly tempestuous. Fanfare praised volume one saying, "This is a distinguished and fascinating start to what should prove to be an important series of recordings."

The feats of King Arthur and his Knights have inspired artistic creation in many art forms. In this disc we hear how troubadours spread their stories and we journey through twelfth-, thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Europe to encounter the Arthurian musical traditions of Germany, Spain, France and England. Full of allusions to legend, and also to contemporary events, the songs are masterpieces of their time. The composers include Alonso X el Sabio of Spain and Richard the Lionheart, whose Je nulls homs priz is one of the most beautiful of all medieval songs.

BERNSTEIN FAVORITES- TCHAIKOVS

The euphonium played a key part in the brass band movement of the mid-19th century due to it's playability, affordability and ease of mass production. The historical lack of original compositions for euphonium was made up for with a wide variety of transcriptions. Virtuoso embraces this heritage in a celebration of the instrument's unique depth and versatility. The renowned virtuoso, David Childs, is united with the legendary Black Dyke Band in a collection of classical and contemporary repertoire that ranges from much-loved traditional songs to dazzling showpieces.

This set is offered at a special price - two discs for the price of one.

Soloists were principals of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy.

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and it's chief conductor Karina Canellakis continue their Bartok journey with the composer's only opera, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, starring mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham (Judith) and bass-baritone Gabor Bretz (Bluebeard). One man, one woman, and a dark castle with seven mysterious doors are all it takes to create a psychological thriller full of suspense and intense emotion. Karina Canellakis and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra received a Grammy nomination for their recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and 4 Orchestral Pieces, which BBC Music Magazine praised as "enticing and brilliantly engineered", while Gramophone lauded how orchestra and conductor "paint the soundscapes with both finesse and fire." For Canellakis, Bartok's opera recorded here is "an homage to life itself, to life's brevity and fleeting beauty, to being human, to love, and to death." Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. She returns to PENTATONE as Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra continuing their Bartok cycle that began with the aforementioned Concerto for Orchestra in 2023. Rinat Shaham and Gabor Bretz are sought after by the world's greatest opera houses and have long-standing experience performing Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle with various orchestras and conductors around the world.

While Rodolfo Ritter's repertoire encompasses many well-known and unfamiliar composers, he has made a speciality of Ponce's piano music. He recorded the two piano concertos (for Sterling) in 2013, as well as several solo pieces. Now, for Piano Classics, he embarks on a new adventure, which should win new friends everywhere for an idiom full of charm and optimism, essentially Romantic in spirit and piquantly coloured by the composer's Mexican heritage. A social and cultural revolution followed on the heels of Mexico's political revolution of 1910-1917, as a once largely rural nation became, within a matter of years, predominantly urban. Born in 1882, Manuel Ponce in some ways embodied the outward-facing spirit of that revolution, as the country's first internationally renowned composer of European-style art music ('classical'), and yet in the nostalgia-soaked language of that music evoked a romanticized past. This is the tension explored by Rodolfo Ritter as he begins a multi-volume journey through Ponce's piano output - only the second pianist to do so on record. Ponce was something of a child prodigy, already accomplished and cultivated as both a pianist and composer before he entered the national conservatoire in 1901. Take the dance for the left hand titled Malgre tout, which Ponce was inspired to write in 1900 as a homage to the sculpture of the same name by Jes�s F. Contreras - a resonant depiction of a chained and defenceless woman who, "despite everything", looks up with hope (not so oblique as a politically charged metaphor). Earlier still is the bel-canto style lyricism of the Misterio doloroso (1899). Another pivotal work for the left hand dates from a full quarter-century later, the Prelude and Fugue which Ponce wrote in Paris while under the tutelage of Paul Dukas. No less schooled by an earlier period of study in Europe, as a pupil of Martin Krause in Berlin, comes the Variations on a Theme by Handel (1906). In the interim, Ponce channelled this classical technique through the melodies and rhythms of his home country in pieces such as the Rapsodia Mexicana No. 1 of 1911. Volume 1 of Rodolfo Ritter's survey contains all these and many more exciting discoveries. As a Mexican pianist, teacher and scholar of German heritage, Rodolfo Ritter is ideally placed to guide us through such unfamiliar territory.

After two years of solo touring, Yaron Herman presents his new album Radio Paradise. He returns with an exceptional ensemble, joining forces with two of the finest saxophonists in the world: Maria Grand, a rising international star, and Alexandra Grimal, a major figure in improvised music. This album takes us on a quest for lyricism, depth and sincerity, with elegant melodies and powerful rhythms, in a project that is both spiritual and deeply moving. "When I started working on this album, the first thing that came to my mind was melody. I have been writing a lot over the last few years, mostly in my notebooks, for myself. On the road or at home, anything from long lines to short fragments. With time, (and hard work) these "motifs" started to take shape and turn into "songs". While playing them, exploring what they could become, I realized I was looking for a sound that wasn't "just� the piano. These melodies required another voice. Saxophonists Maria Grand and Alexandra Grimal have different approaches, yet both have a mysterious, powerful and lyrical quality that I was looking for. Those qualities, combined with Haggai Cohen Milo's beautiful tone and rhythmic versatility and the playing and precious ideas throughout the Process of my longtime musical brother, Ziv Ravitz, made these songs truly come to life. In the studio we were fortunate to have the experience and perspective of producer Daniel Yvinec who encouraged us to push the music further, taking risks. I imagined each composition as a different scenario, a landscape offering a fertile ground from which improvisation could grow. Improvisation: a quest for the sweet spot between freedom and constraint. The playfulness of it all. Providing the tools but not the final edifice, providing the canvas but not dictating what to paint on it. That's how Radio Paradise happened. We stumbled upon the title in the studio, while discussing how opposites complete each other, and how our role as artists is to try and reconcile that which seems in opposition. To find the space where music flows effortlessly, and from the heart." YARON HERMAN

SCHUBERT: QUINTET IN C, RONDO

LEONARD BERNSTEIN - THE ROYAL

An audiophile-grade LP transfer of another hit album of contemporary chillout from the master of piano minimalism, Jeroen van Veen. Perhaps the most influential composer of his generation (certainly among the most successful), electro-acoustic polymath Max Richter defies definition: composer, pianist, producer, remixer, and one of the most prolific of contemporary musical artists. Inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica, Richter has built a unique sonic world, which blends the rigour of a formal classical training with the production wizardry of modern technology. Richter came to fame in the classical sphere with his recomposition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. He has shown an unerring feel for the chillout vibe which many listeners seek in the contemporary classical genre, resulting in commissions for dozens of television and film soundtracks, ballet scores, and a number of long-form original works, including Sleep, an "eight-hour cradle song" influenced by Mahler. In making this survey of Richter's output on and for the piano, Jeroen van Veen has chosen 18 pieces from Richter's earlier work. His selection includes all of Richter's published music for solo piano, plus Waltz with Bashir: an arrangement by Richter of a Schubert sonata movement, further rearranged for solo piano by Van Veen himself. Each of the pieces is illuminated in the sleeve note with commentary from Richter himself. The aesthetic of Richter's soft melodic swirls is complemented by the medium of LP, which gives a gentle, moody vibe to this recording originally made in 2016. When first released, it received enthusiastic critical recommendations: 'Van Veen knows exactly how to play this music, and I am talking about both his fingers and his head.' (Fanfare) - Max Richter (born in 1966) is one of the most influential composers of his generation. Electro-acoustic polymath Max Richter defies definition: composer, pianist, producer, remixer, and collaborator, and beyond argument one of the most prolific of contemporary musical artists. Inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica, Richter's sonic world blends a formal classical training (he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, and was a pupil of renowned composer Luciano Berio) with modern technology. - This recording presents Richter's solo piano music up to date. - Dutchman Jeroen van Veen is one of the leading pianists of today focusing on Minimalism and championing a new generation of composers, easily crossing borders between musical styles.

Piazzolla: La Calle 92

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 "Scottish" & Symphony No. 4 "Ita