Donizetti went to Paris for the crowning achievement of his career. He composed a set of highly inspired songs and duets based on French and Italian texts, three of which were transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt in 1838.

1 multi-channel (5.1) SACD - Total time: 78'25 Packaged in a digipak DVD box The organ is not only a musical instrument; it's also a fascinating machine, whose complexity has increased along the centuries. This new collection aims to discover them, to get closely acquainted with them. But a great part of the magic, proper to the organ, refers to the context that surrounds the instrument. It's quite normal, when entering into a church, to look up and see if an instrument is installed in the building. An organ is not only about producing sounds, it occupies a place in space and in the architecture. In order to reflect the power of this spatiality, we have decided to use, on top of the standard stereo, a multi-channel sound in 5.1, for the music lovers who are equipped with SACD technology. The new collection will of course have the "Alpha touch": fine presentation, book-like, accurate and complete texts, numerous quality pictures. By introducing instruments chosen in the entire world for their exceptional features, we wish to create a close relationship with the public so as to make the personality of each instrument more reachable. The first reference of the collection (Alpha 650) will be devoted to the organ of Cintegabelle (France), a magnificent instrument build in the early 1740's, whose sound colours emphasizes an original programme of transcriptions compiled from Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas, interpreted by Yves Rechsteiner. Why the name of Ugab? Because the organ's original ancestor appears (presumably) under that name in the Old Testament, back in the mists of time...

With this new series entitled ‘Salon de musique’, Alpha presents recordings made by artists who have enlivened the Fesival of Salon de Provence for some years now: the pianist Eric le Sage, who has made many recordings for Alpha, the clarinettist Paul Meyer, and others. With cellist Claudio Bohórquez, they have now recorded two Beethoven trios. By 1798, the year Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Trio for piano, clarinet and cello op.11, he was already well-known in Vienna as a remarkable improviser and an ambitious young composer. The piece was clearly aimed at the enlightened aristocracy, as well as competent musical amateurs. This did not prevent the critics, though universally positive, from judging the score to be over-complex in places. Dedicated to the Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria, the Septet was published in 1802 by Hofmeister, and upon being well-received it was then rearranged for various combinations. Beethoven himself made a version for clarinet, cello and piano, op.38 in E Flat major – the one recorded here.

Closing the distance between classical music and Broadway, between the old world and the new, this album is born out of a stunning encounter between two performers. Kate Lindsey is an opera star whose career is skyrocketing. She has stunned audiences with her performances of Mozart and Purcell, but grew up steeped in the music of Broadway, from Gershwin to Cole Porter. Baptiste Trotignon is a multie award-winning jazz pianist who plays with big names like Brad Mehldau or Tom Harrell, but who has a long-held interest in classical music, even composing a piano concerto for Nicholas Angelich. Together, they have produced a rich and varied programme around the songs of Kurt Weill, from Nanna's Lied to trouble Man, as well as the classics from The Threepenny Opera and Lost in the Stars. This journey through three European languages brings the listener to the very beginnings of jazz, and features all-new arrangements and deft improvisations by pianist Baptiste Trotignon. Lindsey and Trotignon also pay homage to three composers who, like Weill, all emigrated to the United States: Alma Mahler, Zemlinsky and Korngold. London-based American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey joins Alpha Classics for several recordings over the coming years.

The works of the French lutenist and composer Charles Tessier give evidence of his vast curiosity and extensive travels in the years around 1600. His Premier livre de chansons & airs de cour tant en françois qu'en italien et en gascon à 4 & 5 parties appeared in London in 1597 with a preface in Italian; the title-page refers to him as musitien de la Chambre du Roy (i.e. musician to Henri IV of France). A second volume, entitled Airs et villanelles français, italiens, espagnols, suices et turcqs... a 3, 4 & 5 parties, was published in 1604. This set was dedicated to Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. Its second edition (1610) appeared with a dedication to King Matthias of Hungary. Charles Tessier achieved a happy balance in his works between the different cultures of his time, with popular songs and refined airs de cour, a mixture of rusticity and delicacy that reflects the tastes of the court of Henri IV. His Italian and Swiss villanelles, his Spanish and Turkish airs - echoed on this recording by pieces written by contemporaries John Dowland, Leo Hassler and Moritz of Hesse - show how men and their works travelled within Europe during that peaceful period between the wars of religion and the Thirty Years' War. With this recording Le Poème Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre invite us to take a look at the travels and the encounters that enriched the joyful works of this very interesting composer. Recorded 28 October-1 November 2005, Chapel of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, Paris Artistic direction, recording & editing: Hugues Deschaux.

In 1680, Francois Chaperon, maître de musique of the Sainte-Chapelle, entrusted the setting of some verses from the Lamentations of Jeremiah to Michel Richard de Lalande and Jean-Fery Rebel, Lalande’s brother in law. The Lecons de Tenebres of 1680, now lost, probably provided material for the Tenebrae compositions that have come down to us. Although Lalande had written his Lecons and his Miserere for solo voice for the nuns of the convent of the Assumption, they were actually sung- like many of his works for female voices- by his daughters. The Lecons de Tenebres and Miserere must have therefore been composed some time before 1711, for that year Jeanne and Marie Anne de Lalande died in the smallpox epidemic. For this interpretation of the Miserere, the musicians have chosen the version presented in Brossard’s autograph manuscript of 1711, in which the alternate verses are sung by three voices in faux-bourdon, a practice that was still in vogue at that time in France. Fragmentary notation for a treble instrument is found throughout this manuscript version, thus attesting the practice, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, of improvising the countermelody at sight.

Ensemble Nevermind made a good impression via the Alpha Classics label with their Conversations album, and this Telemann programme also surpasses expectations for range and sheer variety of musical content, showing how canny 18th century masters were in making the most out of small chamber ensembles.

Telemann’s influence as a composer spread throughout Europe in the first half of the 18th century in no small part due to distribution of his chamber music from his own publishing house. This quality of this work reached the attention of flautist and composer Michael Blavet, and an invitation went out to Germany for Telemann to join in the salons and Concerts Spirituel that represented the height of musical fashion in the French capital at the time.

The quartet format heard in this stylish recording might well have been cooked up between Blavet and Telemann, but whatever its origins the combination of flute, violin, viola da gamba or cello and harpsichord ticks all the boxes for contrast of timbre and flexibility when it comes to applying pretty much any compositional technique of the period. Concerto movements can be found, as in the Prélude to the Quatuor no. 4, variations appear in Quatuor no. 6, which opens with a French overture, and dance forms of various kinds that are disguised under French expression markings such as Coulant or tempo indications such as Vite.

Pieces intended for the consumption of elite concertgoers might be expected to be somewhat superficial, and while there is goodly entertainment to be had throughout, there are plenty of movements and passages which affect the emotions more strikingly that you might have anticipated. The solemn ecclesiastical origins of the Fuguette that opens this programme makes it a case in point, and while all too brief the fourth movement Largo from the Concerto No. 1 can compete with Telemann’s contemporary, J.S. Bach. Contrast is all, and hardly anything here lingers beyond a five minute duration. More substantial movements, such as the Prélude to Quatuor No. 6, have their contrasting sections, with improvisatory playing adding spice to slower tempi, and little rhythmic tricks adding spice to the faster sections, played with improvisatory flair by Nevermind’s expert musicians.

Recorded closely but with an excellent refinement of balance that blends the harpsichord with the other instruments, this is a production for long-term delight. The Sonate in F major TWV 43:F1 may be a world premiere recording, the present version being one adapted from an original scored for four strings and continuo. Documentation about the instruments played is included in the booklet, and all sound very nice indeed, the transverse flute played with sweet nuance by Anna Besson, who interestingly swaps for a piccolo in the Vite of Quatuor No. 4. For Telemann fans and those intrigued by what happens when German baroque meets French fashion, this is a must.

– MusicWeb International (Dominy Clements)

Georg Philipp Telemann, one of the most prolific composers of the Baroque era. Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico have taken this opportunity to pay tribute to his eclecticism in a programme juxtaposing works that move constantly between French and Italian stylistic traditions. On this disc, Giovanni Antonini not only directs the ensemble, but also returns to the recorder, his own instrument of choice (as it was the composer’s), and performs the Suite in A minor, the Concerto in C major and the Concerto da camera in G minor. We will also discover a curiosity, a sonata for chalumeaux. This instrument of folk origins is comparable to the clarinet, and Telemann was the first composer to show an interest in it.

With the participation of: Tindaro Capuano, Enrico Onofri.

The reserve collections of the Bibliothèque Royale of Brussels hold the sole printed copy of Telemann's Twelve Fantasies for solo flute...These fantasias considerably enrich the slender corpus of Baroque works for flute without bass, alongside two other gems, the Partita of J.S. Bach and the Sonata in A minor of C.P.E. Bach. A cycle for solo flute of this kind, arranged by tonalities and rising gradually from the key of A to that of G, is unique in the repertory...These fantasias, each with its own mood, are miniatures consisting of a succession of three or four movements in the same key. All of them have in common the concision, the formal brevity and the rapid alternation of their movements. Telemann plays on effects of contrast and surprise by switching between opposing characters and tempi. The open form of the fantasia offers teh composer an ideal field of freedom and expression for his inexhaustible imagination. A fervent champion of the reunion des gouts embracing German, Italian, French and Polish tastes, telemann covered all the genres, national styles and compositional idioms of his time. - Francois Lazarevitch

Duets from thousand years of musical history for young people from 0-100 years. Patricia Kopatchinskaja invites us to join her for a musical experience that mixes composers spanning the eleventh century to present day. This album and book tell the story of this utterly crazy recording with the help of a rich selection of photos by Marco Borggreve. The barefoot violin player is joined by many musician friends including a clarinet player, playing the ocarina, an improvisatory harpsichordist, an electro musician, a toy piano player, and even her daughter, Alice. Take Two includes compositions from Bach, Miljaud, Cage, Sanchez-Chiong, and many more. It is said that Patricia Kopatchinskaja is as irresistible as a force of nature: passionate, challenging and totally original in her approach; (RPS Music Awards) a statement that is ever apparent on this album!

A thrilling performance of both physical impact and deep emotional intensity.

Conductor Krzysztof Urbanski writes: “Shostakovich’s Fifth is without doubt one of the greatest symphonies ever written, and it is also one of my personal favorites. This genuine masterpiece represents a mirror image of the world around Shostakovich: in it he depicted in music the reality of life in Leningrad in 1937 from his own perspective. For him this was the ‘worst of times’. After the premiere of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and the official denunciation of the opera prompted by Stalin’s stormy reaction to the work, the composer was closely watched by the Party… This sense of threat however did not silence his need to compose. He had to find a way to cope with the sense of pressure, and to create new music which would please the authorities and keep the danger of public criticism at a safe distance. His Fourth Symphony had been denounced for its dissonances, its bleak atmosphere, and its ending, fading away into silence. So for his Fifth Symphony the composer deliberately simplified his musical language in order to produce a work that might be considered ‘accessible’ by the Party: one that would be perceived as full of positive spirit, with a resoundingly triumphant conclusion. One might imagine that such dubious circumstances could have destroyed the talented young composer, and turned him into a Soviet propagandist. For on the surface, the piece appears to be full of orchestral bravura, optimistic, ‘happy’. On the contrary, I believe the symphony to be actually extremely tragic….”

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REVIEW:

A thrilling performance from NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester of both physical impact and deep emotional intensity.

– MusicWeb International

In Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s catalogue, the music for solo keyboard and the chamber music occupy central positions. In his youth, Carl Philipp Emanuel, who was left-handed, did not play string instruments such as the violin or viola, but rather the harpsichord and organ (not to overlook the flute). It was as a harpsichordist that, in 1738, he joined the entourage of the future King of Prussia, Frederick II, before following him to Berlin upon his accession two years later and then formally entering his service. In 1767, he was offered the succession of his godfather, Telemann, as director of music in Hamburg. He arrived in the Hanseatic city in March 1768, and for the last twenty years of his life, it was church music that occupied much of his time and effort. The symphonies of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach are all in three movements, quite often linked without a break. Highly original and typical of north Germany, the symphonies turn their back on the style gallant, on Johann Stamitz, founder of the Mannheim School, and on the Viennese style. The Concerto in A major was originally written for harpsichord and strings, but was later transcribed for cello by the composer, likely for the cellist Christian Friedrich Schale, who hosted a Musikalische Assemblee in his Berlin home every week.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the ‘English’ Suites during his period in the employ of the Prince of Cothen (1717-23). As the prevailing Calvinist atmosphere at the court prevented Bach from writing religious music, he turned exclusively to instrumental music at this time. But the Prince’s chamber did not occupy all of Bach’s time. In Cothen he was officially discharged from any ad horam obligations to the church, and was thus able to devote part of his time to teaching. His two Clavier-Buchlein, written for Wilhelm Friedemann and Anna Magdalena Bach, respectively, bear witness to this activity. The English Suites are, above all, suites. Their movements include the prelude, the allemande, the courante, the sarabande, and the gigue. Bourrees, gavottes, minuets, and passepieds appear between the sarabande and the gigue. A surprising addition to Suites II and III is an ornamented version of the Sarabande, which Bach inserted just after the first, plain version.

'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...

This programme of Neapolitan music, covering a vast historical span (from the Renaissance to the 20th century) is a 'manifesto' of the musical influences that have nurtured Marco Beasley. Guido Morini's arrangements, written especially for him, make the programme particularly appealing. In addition, it offers an original coherence by setting up 'bridges' between genres that are sometimes opposed from a musicological point of view but which have continued to provide food each other. For the first time, the musician explores the paths of crossover in the broadest sense and without complex: here, Marco Beasley confirms his nickname of 'the Baroque crooner' con brio. He also opens up new ways, proposing original orchestrations and making his a part of the colossal heritage that has influenced the modern cultures of the western world.