Classical Music

FAURÉ Dolly for Piano Four-Hands. Masques et bergamasques for Piano Four-Hands. Fantaisie for Flute and Piano, op. 79. Morceau de concours for Flute and Piano. Piano Trio, op. 120. Aprés un rêve for Cello and Piano (trans. Casals). Pelléas et Mélisande: Sicilienne, for cello & piano. FAURÉ-MESSAGER Souvenirs de Bayreuth for Piano Four-Hands • Eric Le Sage (pn); Alexandre Tharaud (pn); Emmanuel Pahud (fl); Pierre Colombet (vn); Raphaël Merlin (vc); Françoise Salque (vc) • ALPHA 603 (70:32)


This comes wrapped in a certain air of carelessness. It might be called Eric Le Sage and Friends , and one assumes that Le Sage is the principal pianist, but there is no attempt to identify who plays what, on the jacket or in the booklet. Likewise, there is a reluctance to credit the arrangers and collaborators of several items, e.g., the contribution of André Meassager to the Souvenirs de Bayreuth ; some of which are taken at breakneck speed, thus obscuring their allusions to the Wagner operas they’re guying. In other pieces, however, gung-ho spontaneity is salutary. Going for the gusto, finesse occasionally takes a hit. Nestled amid the bonbons, a movingly elegiac reading of Fauré’s late Trio, too often dismissed as a feebly geriatric effort, makes a superb case for it and prompts one to hear Le Sage & Company’s three other Fauré albums. Despite occasional reservations, this gives pleasure. Recommended.


FANFARE: Adrian Corleonis

After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.In addition to the 13 titles shown below, the album FIRENZE 161 by LE POEME HARMONIQUE, VINCENT DUMESTRE, will also be reissued.

13 distinct titles introduce this exciting new series uniting the finest Alpha and ZZT Baroque recordings. Discover - or rediscover - universally known works as well as world premiere recordings of rarities. Newly conducted artist interviews allow for fresh perspectives on their recordings. All releases, digipak in format with trilingual booklets, feature photographs by great (Magnum Cooperative) contemporary artists adorning the covers and a strong �queen of colors� scheme, bringing to mind gods, kings, warriors, the devil, life, violence and death... Themes omnipresent in Baroque art!

A splendid new recording of 'Rappresentatione'...The impressive French early-music ensemble L'Arpeggiata is conducted by Christina Pluhar. Anyone interested in the genesis of opera should hear this elegant and refined breakthrough work. - NEW YORK TIMES

14 distinct titles introduce this exciting new series uniting the finest Alpha and ZZT Baroque recordings. Discover - or rediscover - universally known works as well as world premiere recordings of rarities. Newly conducted artist interviews allow for fresh perspectives on their recordings. All releases, digipak in format with trilingual booklets, feature photographs by great (Magnum Cooperative) contemporary artists adorning the covers and a strong 'queen of colors' scheme, bringing to mind gods, kings, warriors, the devil, life, violence and death... Themes omnipresent in Baroque art!

This tremendous, heady disc is provocative stuff; its emotional - at times emotive - impact immeasurably heightened by very careful programming. Gens and Niquet throw themselves into all this with an engrossing mix of abandon and restraint. Her trademark of purity of utterance and smoky tone speaks volumes.

At 56 minutes, the disc is on the short side, but any more would, I suspect, feel like overkill.

It's a spectacular achievement; whatever you do, don't hold back.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

BACH Italian Concerto, BWV 971; Overture in the French Manner, BWV 831 • Benjamin Alard (hpd) • ALPHA 180 (48:52)


The very first acquisition for any record collector seeking to build a library of harpsichord music should be Bach’s Clavier-Übung II . Published in Leipzig in 1735, it is Bach’s ultimate statement on the two prevailing styles of (secular) European music. At the very time that a bitter debate was raging in Paris on the relative merits of French and Italian music, German musicians such as Bach were embracing both styles by incorporating elements of Italian and French instrumental music into their works. Yet Bach went further than the rest; in the Italian Concerto, for example, he amalgamates the instrumental style of Corelli and Vivaldi with his own musical language, creating a one-of-a-kind piece that could never have been written by the likes of Telemann, Fasch, or Handel. Manfred Bukofzer calls Bach’s music “the fusion of national styles”, and the Italian Concerto is the perfect example of this. Aside from being tremendously exciting, BWV 971 is a pinnacle work of the Baroque that belongs in every library.


Prior to BWV 831, Bach had written many pieces in the French style, although he seldom used the characteristic double-dotted, bipartite ouverture as the opening movement. In the French Suites, for example, Bach typically begins with an allemande, in the English Suites with a prelude. The Fourth Partita, BWV 828, does begin with a grand ouverture , but this is a relatively isolated example. At 13 minutes, the opening Ouverture of BWV 831 is much longer than anything Bach had written previously in the form, a signal, perhaps, of how important this work was to him. The rest of the suite is filled with characteristic dances (gavotte, passepied, sarabande, bourée), many with doubles, although interestingly, there is no allemande. The work concludes with a Gigue and a joyous Echo; if the latter is played with proper spirit, it’s enough to get you up out of your chair and dancing around the room.


Benjamin Alard is a young French harpsichordist and organist who has a number of titles to his credit on the Alpha label. He has exactly one prior mention in Fanfare : Jerry Dubins called Alard’s recording of the partitas “the end-all and be-all” in 34:1. I haven’t heard that set yet (it’s on my “to-do” list), but I’m prepared to believe what Dubins says, because Alard’s playing on the present CD is very strong indeed. The watchwords are grace, precision, and a real sense of personality. For most recorded performances of the Italian Concerto , there exists a kind of consensus tempo in the outer movements; most performers, Alard included, cleave to the norm by adopting a healthy allegro and presto . The middle Andante is where the harpsichordist has an opportunity to make the performance his own. Alard plays the recurring bass motif (two eighth-note Ds) less ponderously than most; he does this by shortening the notes ever so slightly and inserting some daylight between them. The effect is perfect, because the music never stagnates, it moves along at a proper clip (the verb andante means, after all, to walk or move along). In BWV 831, all is well until the concluding Echo; Alard’s laid-back tempo here robs the music of a certain amount of drive and spark. It’s an interesting interpretative choice, but I refer the reader to the remarkable David Cates on Wildboar as an example of how outrageously exciting this piece can be in the right hands.


In Fanfare 34:2, I reviewed a Ramée CD with a similar program— Clavier-Übung II plus the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue—played by another young Frenchman, Pascal Dubreuil. Equally impressive—in fact, if you were to compare passages from the two CDs side-by-side, I suspect the tempos and other interpretative details would match up quite well. Choosing between the two comes down to the instruments, and perhaps price and availability. Dubreuil’s harpsichord, a copy of a Ruckers mis à grand ravalement , is sonorous and ideally recorded. Alard’s instrument, a copy of an unspecified German original by Anthony Sidey, has a singing treble and a slightly acerbic bass, making Bach’s part-writing unusually clear. The engineering is equally good. You pays yer money and makes yer choice.


FANFARE: Christopher Brodersen

In 1638 Louis-Dieudonné, destined to become King of France under the name of Louis XIV, was born at last. Louis XIII instructed his ambassadors to celebrate the event with pomp and circumstance. In Venice, whose commercial vitality gave it a dominant role in Europe, four days of festivities were organised in honor of the French Dauphin, culminating in the performance at San Giorgio Maggiore of a solemn mass specially composed by Giovanni Rovetta, Monteverdi’s deputy maestro di cappella at San Marco, who was to succeed him in 1644 and become one of the leading musicians in Venice.

That mass, never sung again since its first performance, was reconstructed by Benjamin Chénier in 2015 for the tercentenary of the death of Louis XIV. It is a grandiose, typically Venetian work, with all the splendor appropriate to the spirit of La Serenissima Repubblica.

The Galilei Consort, founded by the violinist Benjamin Chénier, is principally dedicated to the reconstruction of musical practices and works of seventeenth-century Italy. Such practices emerged from the humanist movement, and are personified by Vincenzo Galilei, father of the famous Galileo, who advocated a return to the Greek conception of music with primary importance accorded to the meaning of the text.

The German soprano Juliane Banse has sung the Lieder of Brahms, Schubert, Wolf, Ullmann, Strauss, Schumann, Loewe and Berg, earning a reputation for both the quality of her interpretations and the warmth of her timbre. She and her regular partner Martin Helmchen, who has just joined Alpha, have chosen to record Paul Hindemith’s song cycle Das Marienleben, composed in 1923 and revised by the composer in 1948. The piece is a bewitching, sometimes disturbing cycle whose texts, taken from the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, retrace the life of the Virgin Mary. Fifteen poems, fifteen episodes tinged with mysticism and lyricism. They proved to be the ideal inspiration for Hindemith, whose compositional style here draws on both the power of Wagner’s operas and the subtle nuances of Debussy.

'The senses reign, and Reason now is dead' (Petrarch). Giovanni Antonini, flautist and founder of the legendary Italian ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, enjoys musical voyages, the discursiveness of music. He begins with an anonymous 16th century pavane, La Morte della Ragione (The Death of Reason), which he believes refers to In Praise of Folly, in which it's author Erasmus distinguishes between two forms of madness: 'a sweet illusion of the spirit,' and a negative form, 'one that the vengeful Furies conjure up from hell... ' This succession of 'musical pictures' leads us to the threshold of the baroque era, starting out with the Puzzle Canon by John Dunstable (1390- ca.1453), whose manuscript is an enigma, via the 'bizarre' style of Alexander Agricola (1446- ca.1506) and his obsessive, ostinato rhythm - almost an anticipation of minimalist music... to the improvisatory freedom of the Galliard Battaglia de Scheidt (1587-1654), a battle piece involving a great many diminutions or 'divisions', a common technique of improvisation in the Renaissance... This grand instrumental musical fresco of time and space is a kind of self-portrait of Giovanni Antonini and his longstanding musical colleagues.

Following a first recording on Alpha devoted to Brahms which garnered much praise – ‘real duo playing’ said Gramophone, while Classica discerned ‘shared music making . . . a world full of nuances and subtlety, boundless sonic imagination (Marie-Elisabeth Hecker), playing of rare intelligence (Martin Helmchen)’ and awarded the disc a ‘Choc’ – the duo is reunited. Its new programme features two summits of chamber music: Schubert’s famous Arpeggione Sonata – named after a now obsolete instrument that was a cross between the guitar and the cello – and his no less celebrated Trio no.2 D929, which achieved even greater popularity thanks to Stanley Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon. In the latter, the duo is joined by an eminent musician with whom they enjoy playing, Antje Weithaas, ‘one of the great violinists of our time’ (Fonoforum) and also one of the teachers most sought after by the young generation. For example, she taught Tobias Feldmann, the young violinist recently signed by Alpha.

FAURÉ Cello Sonatas No. 1 & 2. Romance. Elégie. Sérénade. Papillon. Berceuse. Clarinet Trio, op. 120 1 • François Salque (vc); Éric Le Sage (pn); 1 Paul Meyer (cl) • ALPHA 600 (74:02)


Here we have the type of recital that has almost disappeared from the face of the earth: quintessentially French performances of quintessentially French music. As an analogy, I should also point out that quintessentially German, Italian, Austrian, Dutch, and British performances have also faded to a precious few. The standardization of both instrumental style and sound has, by and large, imposed a generically pretty but nationally ambiguous style and sound on orchestras, solo musicians, and chamber groups the world over. Heck, we even have a hard enough time coming up with a quintessentially American sound anymore.


But Éric Le Sage and François Salque are indeed throwbacks to at least the 1940s. Salque’s cello avoids the generically rich, dark sort of timbre one hears from most such players the world over nowadays, but has rather a lean, edgy sonority not unlike Pierre Fournier. This does not mean that Salque’s low range lacks depth of tone, just that it’s not a basso profundo sound; it’s more like a basso cantate, which is fine by me. Likewise, Le Sage’s piano plays with light and shade, color and nuance, in a way that, fortunately, has never entirely disappeared from the lexicon of French pianists on record, from Cortot to Thibaudet.


Thus these performances reach inside the music not just in terms of emotional response but also in terms of coloristic response. They do not lack for energy or excitement when the music calls for it, even in such a piece as the op. 69 Romance, yet despite a CD cover that is almost completely black with white and blood-red lettering, their playing is a virtual rainbow. Some modern listeners, more used to the plush generic quality of many musicians nowadays, may find this approach foreign to them or difficult to comprehend, but as the expression goes, “this is the real deal.” As good as the recording of mostly the same music by cellist Ina-Esther Joost Ben-Sasson is (Naxos 8570545), my decision in favor of this release is predicated by exactly the virtues (or, if you prefer, idiosyncrasies) mentioned in the second paragraph. I should also add that Paul Meyer manages to fit in very well indeed in the performance of the Clarinet Trio. You simply can’t sing Italian comic patter like an Italian, you can’t conduct Má Vlast as well as a Czech-born conductor can, and you can’t play French music any better than the French do it.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Classical Music

Missa votive is among a handful of liturgical works composed late in the life of Jan Dismas Zelenka, the Bohemian musician who arrived at the Dresden court in or about 1710 as a violone player in the celebrated Hofkapelle of August II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Throughout the 1720s, and whilst still employed as a performing musician, Zelenka composed constantly, mostly producing music for the recently established Catholic court church in Dresden. After the death of Dresden Kapellmeister Johann David Heinichen Zelenka became responsible for the direction of music in this royal chapel, a task at which he worked untiringly with neither appropriate title nor remuneration. The Missa votive draws attention to the health of the composer who had experienced at least two major bouts of illness during the 1730s. The autograph inscription on the cover of the score reads ‘Vota mea Domino reddam. Psal: 115. Versu 5…’ The fifth verse of Psalm 115 is ‘Vota mea Domino reddam coram omni populo ejus’ (I will pay my vows to the Lord, before all his people). Another Latin note at the end of the score states that the mass was composed in fulfillment of a vow. The work is one of the great masses created by Zelenka during the final years of his life.

'Impatience', 'Jealous Mars' and 'Héracliet & Démocrite' are three French Cantatas composed between 1706 and 1714 by Jean-Baptiste Stuck (1680-1755), also known as Batistin. This composer of Tuscan origin spent most of his career working for the Régent and his ambition was to 'unite the taste for Italian music with French texts'. The theme of this record is jealousy, which contrives to somehow disturb the harmonious landscapes of a French garden...

After a first disc devoted to Schmelzer, enthusiastically hailed by the critics ('Editor's Choice' Gramophone, 'Choc' of Classica), the ensemble Masques, conducted by Olivier Fortin, returns to Alpha with a programme combining works by Muffat, Kerll and Pachelbel along with those of a composer who has remained largely unknown and totally forgotten: Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706). Benedictine monk, prefect and official composer of the Benedictine abbey of S�ben, Romanus Weichlein left several collections of sonatas and masses as well as large chaconnes, magnificent works in the tradition of his compatriots Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky� and Georg Muffat. In this new program, Masques presents both ensemble pieces and others for solo or two harpsichords (the second harpsichord being played by Skip Semp�), always featuring the expressiveness, eloquence and profound interpretation for which it is known.

Happy birthday, Mister Jos! Jos van Immerseel is celebrating his 70th birthday with three important releases that will punctuate the end of the year at Alpha: a symphonic programme (Janácek, Dvorák), a chamber music programme (Schubert) and a set grouping the rereleases of his recordings of French music. These anthologies once again demonstrate everything the pianofortist brings to the interpretation of the symphonic and chamber repertoires.

4 CD’s, 17 musicians, 32 master pieces: these are the main ingredients of Schubertiade - a compilation of vocal and instrumental chamber music by Schubert, hand-picked and assembled by Jos van Immerseel to form the soundtrack to 4 imaginary Schubertian salons.
An ode to the master of Ständchen and Forellenquintett, this recording is also a celebration of Anima Eterna Brugge’s maestro, who, over the past 25 years, has led the orchestra to many happy encounters with his favorite composer.

When Henry Madin’s Te Deum for the victories of Louis XV was performed in the Chapelle Royale at Versailles in 2015, it was the first time it had been performed since its premiere in the eighteenth century. Reviving this work for the modern day is Stradivaria, the Baroque ensemble of Nantes, and Les Cris de Paris, the latter two conducted by Daniel Cuiller and Geoffroy Jourdain, respectively. Along with Te Deum, this album also features Madin’s Diligam te, Domine, a grand motet for large chorus.

Named after the legendary violinist Adolf Busch (1891-1952), this young trio has already established itself on the international scene as one of the most talented of the new generation. Under the aegis of Alpha Classics and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the group set itself a challenge: to record the complete chamber music with keyboard of Anton�n Dvor�k. They managed to complete this project in four years and four albums: two albums of the piano trios, one of the piano quartets and one of the quintets. They were joined where necessary by the violist Miguel da Silva (founder of the famous Quatuor Ysa�e) and the violinist Maria Milstein. The four albums are assembled here in a set, providing an opportunity to listen to all ten opuses that make up the Czech composer's output of chamber music with piano. Throughout these recordings, there is an obvious rapport between the musicians, who share with us their passion for this repertory and their pleasure in playing together.

The works of Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), an outstanding composer and great innovator, have mainly come to the contemporary publics attention thanks to his collection of dances under the name of 'Terpischore' and to his theoretical writings. Jean-Charles Ablitzer here gives us the first recording of ten organ pieces selected from his 'Musae Soniae' (phantasies on Lutherian melodies) and from his 'Hymnodia Sonia (Latin hymns). This interpretation, already acclaimed by a 'Choc' from the Monde de la Musique, reveals Praetorius as an inspired and gentle colourist, whose musical idiom will leave a deep imprint on the first generation of baroque composers. the musicological rigour and the great sensitivity of the interpreter is further expressed by the choice of the historic organ of the church of St. Stephan in Tangermünde. Not only is it contemporary of the composer, but an identical model by the same maker is extensively described in Praetorius' 'Syntagma Musicum'. For once, as a unique exception, Alpha forfeits its role as a producer in order to bring this record to the public. It has been auto-produced by the artist but never commercialized while its unique quality soon turned it into an absolute, although unavailable reference.

Classical Music

Classical Music