Cascioli: 12 Etudes

Following the first in the Bock reads Bruckner series, which has already been released on CD and was dedicated to the composer's self-image and the Upper Austrian period of his life, and the second evening, which has also already been released, which showed the eternal bachelor as a suitor and shed light on his relationship with the 'fair sex', this is now the third recording of a total of five readings with music. Based on letters and diary entries, this time with distributed roles (Wolfgang Bock, Thomas Thieme), it deals with Anton Bruckner's almost unbridled admiration for Richard Wagner, which - of course - was only met by the latter to a limited extent, the encounters between the two composers, who were so fundamentally different, and Bruckner's regular 'pilgrimages' to Bayreuth. Musically, a little-known aspect of Wagner's oeuvre comes into focus: selected songs and piano pieces make it possible to get to know the great music dramatist as a creator of small-scale chamber music works (Daniel Linton-France, piano; Elisabeth Wimmer, soprano).

The German-Greek pianist Danae Dorken belongs to the elite of a new generation of internationally sought-after artists. The current album is a tribute to the great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis on the 100th anniversary of his birth, which is on 29 July 2025. Theodorakis compositions blended classical, folk, and modern elements, often expressing the struggles and spirit of the Greek people. The Staatskapelle Weimar under Kornilios Michailidis are accompanying the pianist with the Suite No. 1 and the Helikon Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra.

Johann Sebastian Bach took the opportunity to enhance the previously mediocre inventory of string instruments in Leipzig's two main churches in 1729 by purchasing four violins, two violas and two cellos from the workshop of Johann Christian Hoffmann (Leipzig 1683-1750). Three of these eight instruments, two violins and a viola, are still owned by the Thomaskirche. They could only be admired in a display case for decades, but here they can be heard in a recording for the first time. The Art of Fugue is framed by Bach's first and last Leipzig chorale arrangements, recorded on the Hildebrandt organ in Stormthal near Leipzig, which Bach had examined and inaugurated. Hearing these emblematic works on instruments that the Cantor himself had played is an extraordinary experience that provides direct historical testimony to the sound world of Johann Sebastian Bach.

This album presents a stunning collection of recent cantatas by acclaimed composer Cecilia McDowall, performed by the Choir of Royal Holloway, Orchestra Nova, and conductor George Vass. Known for her 'spicy rhythms and colours' (Gramophone), McDowall's music weaves vibrant textures and emotional depth, drawing listeners into a compelling journey. The featured works explore diverse themes, from the haunting beauty of ice in The Ice is Listening, to the celestial wonders of Music of the Stars. Also included is the chamber orchestra version of A Winter's Night, a joyful Christmas cantata. McDowall's distinct choral voice shines through, blending introspective reflection with exuberant energy, making this an essential addition to the choral repertoire.

As Janacek can be considered the most important Czech operatic composers of his time, Febel represents without doubt one of the most influential contemporary opera composers in the German-speaking countries. The fil rouge of this CD reveals itself in the mere choice of the pieces: all of them are compositions for piano and ensemble which try to construct the literal Hyperklavier Febel mentions in his title, a sound conglomerate that extends the semantic possibilities of a solo piano through the employment of different instruments. Many more, however, are the common points that bind the contemporary Febel to the historic Janacek. A further, more interesting parallelism, however, has to do with stylistic coordinates: as Janacek can be considered the most important Czech operatic composers of his time (we will just remember the titles Jenufa, Kata Kabanova and Vec Makropulos), Febel represents without doubt one of the most influential contemporary opera composers in the German-speaking countries. With performances at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Bonn, Landestheater Linz (among others), he has confronted himself with the most various themes and figures, so for example Euridice, Frida (Kahlo) and Benjamin Button. This interest in opera could be a subterrain reason for their similar rethinking of piano solo with instrumental ensemble: by avoiding the classical, dualistic "question-answer" rhetoric, they are able to carve an all-round figure - in other words a character - out of the piano. Through a particular employment of the ensemble, the keyboard gathers a new three-dimensional plasticity, like a singer immersed in a scenography and illuminated by multicoloured reflectors.

The album you hold in your hands charts a journey that is, in more than one sense, the cartography of a life. Not only does it span both the first and one of the last piano works of Johannes Brahms, but beneath it's design lies a deeper meditation on the nature of time. The young Italian pianist Elia Cecino does not merely confront the pianistic and expressive challenges of these works; he assumes the role of a narrator, shaping, through the poetry of sound, a tale of fullness and nostalgia, of youth and age, of promises and memories dissolving into the ether. The Sonata No. 1, written in the ardor of youth, still resounds with echoes of Beethoven-it opens with a direct citation from the Hammerklavier-revealing a Brahms who raises his voice with impassioned fervor, boldly claiming the great classical legacy with the audacity of one who knows he has something to say. At the heart of the program, the Variations on a Theme by Schumann dwell in a space of reverence and sorrow, where a more mature Brahms converses with his friend and mentor in a gesture of tribute and love, of confidences and affinities, of encounters and brotherhood. Finally, the Pieces, Op. 119 transport us to a realm where the urgency of performance and virtuosity has given way to the most intimate contemplation, a kind of personal, confessional journal, in which every note is almost a whisper, a thought suspended in time. Through these three great works, Elia traces the arc of a life and, in doing so, invites us to share in the experience of an entire existence in each listening-to traverse, in little more than an hour, the distance that separates youth from twilight, certainty from doubt, fullness from farewell.

This album is the second release in a series of three, that encompass the entire 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Pianist Moritz Winkelmann is a Prize Winner at the International Beethoven Competition Bonn and also part of an exclusive educational linneage that can be traced back directly to Beethoven himself.

This recording presents a selection of arias and instrumental pieces taken from Handel's operas, from the early Agrippina (1709) to the late Imeneo (1740), including also an example from the mythological oratorio Hercules (1745). L'Apotheose: From the classrooms of a conservatory to winning a dozen of high profile international prizes and becoming artists in residence of the biggest classical music institution in Spain. That is the unique story of L'Apotheose. The Spanish baroque ensemble has become the newest reference in historicist interpretation in the European music scene. L'Apotheose proudly counts with honours that includes the First Prize, EUBO Development Trust prize and the Friends of York Early Music Festival Prize at the 2019 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition (United Kingdom), Second Prize at the prestigious Internationaal Van Wassenaer Competition 2018 within the Oude Muziek festival in Utrecht (Netherlands), First Prize at the Gottingen Handel Competition 2017 (Germany), and the Second Prize at the Concours International de Musique Ancienne de Val de Loire 2017 (France) chaired by William Christie. Lucia Caihuela, mezzosoprano Born in Madrid, Lucia grew up surrounded by music, singing at home with her mother and grandmother, covering everything from The Sound of Music and El Barberillo de Lavapies to the Beatles and West Side Story. At 19, she decided to pursue a career in singing, completing her first degree at the Arturo Soria Conservatory in Madrid. She then moved to the Netherlands, where she graduated cum laude in historical singing from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam under the guidance of Xenia Meijer. Lucia frequently collaborates with ensembles such as The Netherlands Bach Society, Collegium 1704, L'Apotheose, Al Ayre Espanol, El Afecto Ilustrado, and La Guirlande, among others.

GRAMMY� Award-winning American soprano Susan Narucki is one of today's most committed advocates of the music of our time. Her deep and lasting working relationship with Gyo�rgy Kurta�g dates to 1986, the year the Hungarian composer penned his iconoclastic chamber work Kafka Fragments. Susan instinctively imbues the work with the widely varied moods of anguish, longing and rage alongside humour, absurdity and ecstasy that the texts convey. Arranged over four sections, Kurta�g sets 40 extracts from the diaries and letters of the mercurial novelist Franz Kafka. Despite being his largest song-cycle, Kurta�g deploys his signature miniature style: many of the movements last less than a minute long. Joining Susan is one of today's foremost interpreters of contemporary classical music, violinist Curtis Macomber. Together they prove to be the perfect proponents of Kurta�g's idiosyncratic fusion of poetry and music.

This album, Galdosiana, not only compiles three of the most significant orchestral works by Gran Canarian composer Laura Vega, but it also highlights female interpretation with the esteemed conductor Lucia Marin from Jaen leading the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, alongside the prestigious Spanish soloists Maria Esther Guzman on guitar and Marta Zabaleta on piano. Four women spearheading the recording of three musical creations can be classified as a "trilogy" characterised by programmatic and interdisciplinary elements: the bright dawn of Caelum in terra, the mature and reflective sophistication of Galdosiana, and the mystical elevation found in Luz, Amor y extasis. Born in Gran Canaria, Laura Vega studied under composers such as Daniel Roca, Xavier Zoghbi, Jose Luis de Delas, and Jose Maria Sanchez Verdu. From 2008 to 2011, she served as President of the Las Palmas Association of Composers, Promuscan. Between 2003 and 2021, she was a professor in the Composition Department at the Canary Islands Higher Conservatory of Music, and in 2016, she earned her doctorate in Art History and Philosophy from the University of La Laguna. Since 2011, she has been a full member of the Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts, and in 2023, she began teaching at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Niels Rosing-Schow (b. 1954) crafts chamber music of sensual, organic allure, rich with contrast and sonic elegance. This album unveils four works - from the vibrant 'Dance and Signs in the Air' to the soulful 'Respiro ergo sum' - crowned by his exquisite take on Debussy's 'Six epigraphes antiques'. Through kinetic archetypes and seamless musical arcs, Rosing-Schow shapes an immediate, evocative voice, timeless yet fresh, speaking vividly on music's own terms.

Antonio Salieri was influential as an opera composer and later in life as a teacher to the likes of Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt - quite unlike the sinister and entirely fictional portrayal he received in the film Amadeus. Both of his keyboard concertos were composed during his early years in Vienna and reflect influences from Haydn and the galant style of Johann Christian Bach. The Harpsichord Concerto in B flat major is broader and more elaborate but lighter in mood when compared with the stormy first movement of the Harpsichord Concerto in C major. Heard here in it's world premiere recording, the Keyboard Sonata in C major presents as a suite of short independent pieces, while the short March in D major has only recently been discovered in a Berlin archive.

Naji Hakim: A New Voice for the Cello Gwendeline Lumaret explores the fusion of Eastern and Western traditions in Hakim's striking solo and chamber works. This album presents a striking collection of solo and chamber works for cello by�Naji Hakim, performed by�Gwendeline Lumaret�with clarity, virtuosity, and deep expressive insight. Known for his distinctive synthesis of Western classical traditions and Middle Eastern influences, Hakim's writing is both intricate and immediate, drawing on sources as diverse as Gregorian chant, Levantine folk music, and the harmonic innovations of French modernism. The album opens with�Arabesque et Variations, a vivid solo work inspired by the Egyptian song�Ya Chadi el Alhhan�by Sayyed Darwish. The piece moves through four contrasting variations, shifting from playful dance to contemplative lyricism before concluding with an intimate, improvisatory coda.�Missa Cum Jubilo, also for solo cello, takes it's themes from the Gregorian Mass IX. Each movement transforms the chant material into distinct sound worlds, from the expressive ornamentation of the�Kyrie�to the perpetual motion of the�Sanctus�and the luminous tranquillity of the�Agnus Dei. In�Prelude et Habanera, Hakim pays homage to both Bach and the Spanish-inflected harmonies of Ravel and Debussy. The�Prelude�unfolds with the clarity of a Baroque toccata, while the�Habanera�evokes a sultry, shifting landscape of rhythm and color.�Montmartre, written in 2023, is a deeply personal reflection on the history and spiritual resonance of the Parisian district where Hakim served as organist of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. The album concludes with�Levantine Variations�for cello and piano, a work rooted in the popular song�Bint El Shalabiya. The melody's modal inflections and asymmetrical rhythms are explored through five transformations, ranging from contrapuntal chorale to martial intensity and a dazzling final movement that merges symphonic variation with sonata form. With world premiere recordings of these works, this album is a significant contribution to the contemporary cello repertoire. Gwendeline Lumaret, a performer of remarkable versatility, brings out the rhythmic and expressive richness of Hakim's writing, illuminating the music's interplay of Eastern and Western traditions with precision and artistry.

Since 2017, violinist Emmanuelle Dauvin plays whilst accompanying herself on the organ pedalboard - recalling the musical technique of Nicolaus Bruhns at the end of the seventeenth century. This is OVNI Baroque : a spectacular yet forgotten musical practice. Alongside soprano Heather Newhouse, she created Cantata a 2 : a concert programme of arias and instrumental pieces, for soprano, violin and bass, by J.S. Bach, presented here in an innovative arrangement. The arias bring a consolidating balance to the sonata trio in which the text unfolds from the vocal line. From the purity of the trio by two, emerges a bounteous expression.