We are familiar with the flamboyant baritone Laurent Naouri, a distinguished exponent of the four villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann from Paris to The Metropolitan Opera New York and an unforgettable Golaud in Pell�as et M�lisande. But here it is a much more intimate Naouri, the lover of melodies by Faure, Debussy and Poulenc, who invites us to a rendezvous: 'Here is a repertory I've been performing for more than thirty years, sometimes not without a certain frustration: for how can you achieve the intimacy suggested by a poem like Baudelaire's Le Jet d'eau- it almost pillow talk- when the vocal style forces you to "project" the voice? Although classical art song authorizes you to sing piano or pianissimo, it's still inconceivable to whisper in the listener's ear. To whisper, you need a microphone, and there we leave the world of the melodie and enter the world of "chanson," as that term was understood at the beginning of the radio era. I had already been thinking about these questions for a few years when I met the jazz guitarist Frederic Loiseau. We started off our collaboration with Les Berceaux, a melodie that Yves Montand had already sung in a "chanson" style. Encouraged by the result, we looked for other songs that we felt could benefit from this intimate treatment."

Composed in 1824 by Hector Berlioz at the age of twenty-one and premiered at the church of Saint-Roch in Paris in 1825, the Messe solennelle has come down to us following an eventful history. After Berlioz declared that he had destroyed the score, the mass was considered lost until it was rediscovered in Antwerp in 1992. This remarkable work helps us both to appreciate the development of Berlioz's style- already revolutionary in his early years- and to understand what he owed to his contemporaries, notably Cherubini, whose monumental Requiem Herve Niquet has already recorded. Scored for three soloists, chorus, and orchestra, the work consists of thirteen movements, material from which Berlioz was to reuse in several later works, notably in the Scene aux champs of the Symphonie fantastique, which quotes the 'Gratias.' On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Berlioz's death, Herve Niquet, fascinated by this work- "There's nothing he doesn't know about dramaturgy and vocal style. At the age of twenty!"- decided to programme it (the concert at the famous Berlioz Festival of La Cote Saint-Andre was a memorable occasion) and record it in the Chapelle Royale of the Chateau de Versailles.

Classical Music

After the Second Piano Concerto (Alpha 395), Nelson Goerner presents here his first solo Brahms recital with the Sonata op.5, a youthful composition that is 'impetuous, full of ardour and vitality', says Goerner, 'but which requires an interpreter who has reached maturity in his or her development to express all that it contains'. In fact, the Argentinian pianist has had this sonata in his repertory since the start of his career and has played it extensively in concert. Many composers have taken an interest in Paganini and written variations on his famous theme: Liszt before Brahms, and Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski after him. 'Brahms displays exuberant invention in his Variations, which are at once highly virtuosic and very profound, and above all overflowing with imagination. Brahms gives the name "�tudes" to these variations which, like the �tudes of Chopin and Liszt, go far beyond the superficially off-putting nature of the title', concludes the pianist. 'It's a marvel of inventiveness!'

Two years after releasing her album dedicated to Book I of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, C�line Frisch now presents the second volume of this musical landmark. Bach compiled Book II in 1744, twenty-two years after Book I. It took until 1801 for both volumes to be printed: from then until the present day they have inspired countless composers. After a series of recordings with the Ensemble Zimmermann she helped to found, C�line Frisch returns to the harpsichord recital, for a programme of this, her very favourite music. Through these preludes and fugues, she reminds us that far from being technical exercises, the Well- Tempered Clavier is a work of pure pleasure and constant renewed discovery. As Robert Schumann declared: 'You should frequently play the fugues of the great masters, particularly those of J.S. Bach. Make the Well-Tempered Clavier your daily bread.'

This album combines a well known pianist who has already recorded multiple successful albums and a conductor whose ventures into Mozart are always equally successful. Olivier Cave was a student of Nelson Goerner, Maria Tipo, and Aldo Ciccolini. His playing is refined and virtuosic, and his recordings of Clementi, Haydn, and Scarlatti have all been praised by audiences and critics alike. Conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini formed this orchestra specifically for this recording. He and the ensemble Divertissement will embark on a European tour centered around this program me along with Mozart’s symphonies. This program me follow’s the composer from his youth to his maturity, from Concerto no. 5 was written when Mozart was only 17, all the way to No. 25 which was written at his peak in the same year as Le Nozze di Figaro. All of these works are stylishly performed by all musicians involved.

In the course of the eight recordings released by Alpha, the Orchester Wiener Akademie, conducted by Martin Haselb�ck, has accomplished it's objective of recording the complete Beethoven symphonies on period instruments, in the very venues where they were premiered, scrupulously respecting the orchestral forces of 200 years ago. The symphonies take us back to nineteenth-century Vienna for a tour of the Lobkowitz, Hofburg and Niederosterreich palaces, as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Theater in der Josefstadt.

The Dubhlinn Gardens: an evening in the high society of 18th century Dublin, where traditional music was 'civilizing' itself for the salon... This programme was inspired by the passion for traditional Irish music that flautist Anna Besson has felt since she was a child. Surprising as it may seem, it was playing the Irish flute that led her to study the baroque instrument... For the past few years Reinoud Van Mechelen too has begun to train himself in the traditional Irish song with Karan Casey and other singers who have specialized in the unaccompanied Sean-n�s. This twofold practice of early as well as traditional music has led the ensemble A Nocte Temporis to offer a programme that is both vivacious and extremely touching.

The Orchester Wiener Akademie and its conductor Martin Haselbock continue their Resound Beethoven series with this release, the fourth volume in the series. The aim of the Resound Beethoven series is to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on period instruments and in the venues where they were first performed, scrupulously respecting the layout of the orchestra used 200 years ago and meticulously following historical performance practices. This volume is devoted to the magnificent Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” and the Septet op: 20. The recording took place in May 2016 in the Eroica Saal at the Palais Lobkowitz, where each work was premiered in 1804 and 1907, in private performances.

In Rome between the late seventeenth century and the early eighteenth, academies and 'conversazioni' (artistic gatherings) organized by aristocrats and cardinals attracted the leading writers and musicians. The names of Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti and the young G. F. Handel stand out among many others. Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier (Rome, c.1660-1700), a cellist and composer known as 'Giovanni del Violone', participated in this intensive musical activity. When he entered the entourage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, in 1690, Lulier already had a decade of compositional activity behind him in the genres of oratorio, opera and above all the chamber cantata. Originally consisting of a succession of strophic arias, the cantata gradually established itself as a poetic and musical genre characterized by alternating recitatives and arias. As is well known, the conversazioni of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries also included the performance of instrumental music. On this release, Lulier's cantatas are coupled with his sonatas and beautifully performed by Francesca Boncompagni, Accademia Ottoboni, and Marco Ceccato.

Following his recording of J.S. Bach's solo cantatas for alto BWV 35 and 170 (issued by Outhere in 2009), and building on the success of that release - still a benchmark even today - countertenor Damien Guillon has continued his work of research and interpretation, devoting his second album to the Cantata BWV 169 for alto solo, and to the famous BWV 82 Ich habe genug; though better known in it's 1727 version for bass, from 1735 onwards it was also performed by an alto voice. To complement this cantata programme, organist Maude Gratton performs Bach's Prelude and Fugue BWV 543, as well as the chorales Allein Gott in der H�h sei Ehr, BWV 662, BWV 663 & BWV 664.

Alpha continues its collaboration with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and its Academy, which will celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2018. We invite you to discover artists of great talent who take us on a trip to Auvergne, Sicily, Armenia and Azerbaijan thanks to Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs, to Andalusia with Falla’s Psyché on a poem of Georges-Jean Aubry, and to the world of Jules Renard with Ravel’s Histoires naturelles. The last-named are recorded in a version for chamber ensemble: ‘Since Ravel gave Manuel Rosenthal to make an arrangement for large orchestra which we found rather overblown, we set out to find a “chasseur d’images” (to quote the title of one of Renard’s Histoires naturelles poems) who could transcribe the work without losing its intimate, delicate aspect. . . . We hope you will be as charmed as we are by Arthur Lavandier’s work, which beautifully conveys the immensely refined timbres and nuances of Ravel’, says the oboist Clément Noël, a member of the Swiss Ensemble Labyrinth. Anna Stéphany is a true revelation, performing this programme with the technique, the sensuality and the emotional impact that earned her a huge triumph in Mozart at last summer’s Glyndebourne Festival.

The debut of the Taracea ensemble creates a bridge between past and present. The Madrid-based trio's artistic project is to combine early music, jazz and improvisation. It's founder Rainer Seiferth, a German musician who lives in Spain, plays the vihuela, the Spanish counterpart of the Renaissance lute. Bel�n Nieto is a flute and recorder specialist and a regular member of Jordi Savall's ensembles. The double bass player Miguel Rodriga�ez is at home in jazz, flamenco and classical music. If there is a movement for 'new' early music, Michel Godard was one of it's founders: the French virtuoso of the serpent blends in perfectly with the group. Percussionist David Mayoral combines East and West on zarb, riq and darbuka. The young Spanish singer and percussionist Isabel Mart�n performs a song by the Spanish Renaissance composer Juan del Encina. This album is called 'Ako�' - 'Listening' in ancient Greek: each of the musicians brings his or her own sound and ideas and becomes an integral part of an inextricably interwoven texture.

For more than a century, from the last Valois kings to the early years of the reign of Louis XIV, the air de cour was truly the emblematic genre of French secular music. The term bears witness to the influence on and transformation by worldly and literate circles of vocal genres of popular origin such as the vaudeville, combined with Italian influences (the villanella), based on the principles of a simple strophic musical setting that facilitated understanding of the poetic text. Three composers dominated the production of airs de cour in the reigns of Henry IV and Louis XIII, bringing the genre to it's peak: Pierre Gu�dron (1565-1620), Antoine Boesset (1587-1643) and �tienne Moulini� (1599-1676). To mark the twentieth anniversary of his ensemble, Vincent Dumestre has chosen to celebrate the air de cour by bringing together excerpts from his five recordings devoted to the genre. A book accompanies this double album, including an article written by Thomas Leconte of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, a rich array of illustrations and an article on the historical context by Alexandre Maral, Curator General at the Mus�e National du Ch�teau de Versailles.

Following a first recording devoted to Dvorak’s Dumky Trio and Trio no.3, Omri Epstein, Mathieu van Bellen and Ori Epstein are joined by one of their former teachers at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the violist Miguel da Silva, a founing member of the famous Quatuor Ysaye. Together they pursue this series of the Czech composer’s complete chamber music with piano: there is an obvious close rapport between the musicians, who share with us their passion for this repertory and their pleasure in playing together. The Piano Quartet no.1 in D major op.23 of 1875 was one of the first works in which the young Dvorak, inspired by Schubert, laid the foundations of the compositional style which he would conserve for the rest of his life. Fourteen years later, he composed the Piano Quartet no.2 in E flat major op.87, completed under pressure from his publisher. This work, influenced by Brahms, is one of the masterpieces of his maturity. Two further recordings will complete this quadriptych of the Czech composer’s keyboard trios, quartets and quintets.