If the String Symphonies, collected on the accompanying release SACD1738, are the works by the young Mendelssohn on his way to becoming a fully-fledged composer, the concertos give a more all-round picture of the composer. Beginning in 1822, when he composed the Concerto in D minor for Violin and the Concerto in A minor for Piano, Mendelssohn kept returning to the concertante format throughout his life, until the great E minor Violin Concerto, written three years before his death, in 1844. Between these works can be found the two rarely heard Concertos for Two Pianos - youthful, but surprisingly mature works - as well as his two piano concertos Opp 25 and 40, and three concert pieces for piano and orchestra. Soloist in these is Ronald Brautigam, who will be well-known for his acclaimed surveys of the solo piano music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Isabelle van Keulen takes on the works involving solo violin, and was at the time of the original release described as a 'winning soloist with a soft tone like the finest-spun silk - plus strength to match, when required' (Gramophone). Swedish pianists Roland Pöntinen and Love Derwinger partner each other in the concertos for two pianos, virtuosic works first performed by Felix and his sister Fanny. The accompaniments throughout are provided by Amsterdam Sinfonietta, under Lev Markiz, and were characterized as 'both polished and warmly supportive' (Gramophone).

These exuberant works were all composed between 1821 and 1824, by a composer who had not yet turned 15. They were performed in the Mendelssohn family residence in Berlin, at Sunday concerts during which musicians from the court orchestra performed and the young Felix and his sister Fanny would appear as soloists when called upon. The opportunity to trace the development of an extremely talented prodigy into a confident composer makes this collection highly interesting. But first and foremost it is a source of tremendous pleasure, with delightful music incorporating influences from Mozart and Haydn, as well as from the Baroque up to and including C.P.E. Bach in expert performances by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta (formerly known as Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam) and Lev Markiz. As described at the time of the original release by the reviewer in Gramophone it consists of 'life-enhancing music from the adolescent fast on his way to such miracles as the Octet and Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream. And performances to match from a group with brilliance of execution and beautiful even tone as a starting-point for the classical athletic grace, joie de vivre, and often striking ideas.'

“I wish to be a living work of art,” reads the famous comment made by Luisa Casati, the extravagant marchesa who drew everyone's attention to herself as a high society personality in the early 20th century and who inspired a number of leading artists to take up their writing pens, paintbrushes and cameras: Casati was the most prolifically portrayed woman of her age. She was both Muse and Maecenas who gathered an extensive coterie of famous artists around herself – an egregious set of people, some of whom were also her lovers. She led a split existence. On the one hand, she turned herself into a living work of art and organized grotesque parties as the backdrops to her own performances; on the other hand, she commissioned artists to immortalize her as a “piece of art” – and artists were queuing up at her door as she had enormous wealth at her fingertips to realize these whims. In the opera, Casati’s biography is compressed into a single party evening at her Venetian palazzo. Over seven scenes, we see a melange of events from the heroine’s life that actually occurred over many decades, to which the creators then added their own dreamed-up plot. Jeths’s palette as a composer has become ever richer and more dramatic as the years have passed. His spectrum ranges from attention to sound and color to a subtle use of harmonic tension. His musical language was originally more atonal, but he has always flirted with tonality. And now more than ever, his notes are at the service of the text, the theatrical impression and the beauty of the human voice. In his music, Jeths employs multiple references to existing music.

Violinists Simone Lamsma and Candida Thompson explore connections between J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt on their new release, 'Pärt über Bach,' with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Arvo Pärt’s groundbreaking 'Tabula Rasa' is presented alongside Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin in the version for two violins, and Pärt’s own 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' written in 1964, wherein the Estonian master intertwines his own modernist music with phrases from J.S. Bach’s music.

"Turning to Bach was for me a way of stating my position regarding my experience with twelve-tone music. In my state of extreme discomfort at that time, I wanted to prove to myself how beautiful Bach’s music was, and how hateful mine was. [...] I was convinced that through this musical sacrifice I could gain a clearer vision of my own contradictions." - Arvo Pärt