Deutscher Schallplattenpreis - The jury's statement: "Comprehensive and highly "Comprehensive and interpretatively high-ranking insight into the central creative field of an unjustly forgotten composer of the Schonberg generation, who stood in the Reger tradition and continued it not without a pronounced will to experiment. The edition of a young label enriches the record repertoire in an exemplary way and has a high information value." (Orgelwerke); "Excellent performance." (American Record Guide)

Chamber music, in it's centuries-long course, presents the most varied and surprising instrumental combinations: strings, woodwinds, percussion and keyboard instruments have, over time, found almost infinite possibilities of combination. If we wanted to limit ourselves to music composed for three instruments, the differences in instrumentation that tradition allows us to know would even number in the hundreds. In spite of this, however, a trio consisting of guitar, piano and harp has never before been thought of or realised by anyone, in any sphere or in any era. The recording proposal presented here therefore offers the listener a unique instrumental perspective, completely new: thanks to the original resourcefulness of the Trio Gynaika, the birth of a new, highly original chamber ensemble is celebrated. Historical tradition offers a multitude of musical examples in which the guitar or harp or piano are used, avoiding the simultaneous use of all three or even just two of these three instruments. Dania Carissimi on guitar, Domenica Bellantone on harp and Chiara Di Muzio on piano are the performers in this original production by the award-winning composers Biagio Putignano and Beatrice Campodonico.

'I was drawn to an approach of dealing with the history of slavery within one's family, the ownership of a name and it's 'rebranding' - reflecting on the American Slave and how Black Americans deal with creating a sense of pride, familial storytelling and lineage in contemporary America. This notion of 'rebranding' extends to the 'Negro Melody' My intent with these arrangements is to acknowledge the impact of those melodies on current popular culture, and reflect that influence onto the orchestral stage - to create moments where listeners may participate vocally, with movement, or rhythmically clapping along - to maintain a sense of belonging and recognition - to create community around this music in the classical concert hall - to embrace where all contemporary American Concert music extends from, in my belief - America's mother-music: the Blues.' - Curtis Stewart

Sueye Park is no stranger to solo violin recitals. After her recording of the Paganini Caprices (BIS-2282) and a recital entitled Journey through a Century (BIS-2492), both critically acclaimed, she brings us another solo project, Echoes of Exile, an undertaking that finds it's raison d'�tre in today's very turbulent times. Park offers us different perspectives on the topic of exile with works composed between the 1920s and 1950s, by great composers who left their country as a result of political circumstances as well as by others who went into their own inner exile. Two pieces by composers who left their native lands for artistic reasons, Enescu and Ysaye, frame three substantial and very contrasting works by composers forced into exile, either because their existence was threatened or because of a feeling of alienation within their respective countries. The works of Bartok and Ben-Haim show composers who, in their longing for their homelands, succeeded not only in emphasising the value of their culture even more strongly, but also in anchoring it within the environment into which they had entered. Zimmermann's sonata, with it's unique expressive language, evokes the concerns of a young composer in the devastated Germany of the post-war period.

Chopin's 21 Nocturnes, often described as 'songs of the night', are among the most well-known and beautiful of Chopin's short solo piano works. Divine Art is thrilled to present pianist Tom Hicks' insightful new recording of these works which synthesizes his research into Chopin's performance and composition practices with modern listeners' expectations via a 'stunning technical agility' (American Record Guide). Dr Kim Sauberlich's excellent liner notes delve deeper into this often-forgotten performance, teaching, and historical recording practice and, together with the 21 pieces on this album, pose fascinating questions about authenticity and interpretation. Chopin's practice of sending manuscripts to publishers in multiple countries, while continuing to edit, led to multiple, authentic first editions which are not often heard in performance today, and even less in recordings.� In this recording, Tom has tastefully incorporated some of these variants, alongside historically informed choices about tempo rubato and pedaling, to create a version of the Nocturnes that feels fresh, individual, and truly authentic. He has even included minor and occasional improvisations, paying homage to the composer's multifaceted creative process, in which improvisation was central. Tom Hicks has said "All of this led me to see Chopin as a highly creative and spontaneous musician for whom the score is one representation of the work and for whom the score is only the starting point of an interpretation, not the end." The album was recorded at night and the engineers have captured an intimacy of sound. The recording process relied upon minimal editing and longer 'live' takes to recreate the intimate feel of the salon where these pieces were most often heard. Guernsey-born pianist Tom Hicks has an expansive repertoire and has been praised for his "brilliantly evocative"(International Piano) and "gorgeously creative playing" (Fanfare). He has won many awards and competitions and has appeared at the Wigmore Hall in London, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and many other venues throughout Europe and the United States. This new album follows his March 2022 albums centered around the Liszt and Ireland Piano Sonatas and Camden Reeves' 'Blue Sounds'.

CORO ALLEGRO: WE ARE HERE is a stirring choral album that amplifies voices of resistance, resilience, and remembrance. Featuring Kareem Roustom's Rage Against the tyrant(s) and Eric Banks' Aluta Continua: The Passion of David Kato Kisule, this collection weaves together protest chants, poetry, and sacred texts to confront oppression and honor those who fight for justice. With performances by Coro Allegro under the direction of David Hodgkins and a constellation of guest artists, CORO ALLEGRO: WE ARE HERE is a call to action, an evocative tribute to the power of music to bear witness and inspire change.

The name of Domenico Ferrari (1722-1780) was well known throughout Europe in the second half of the 18th century. He was considered one of the finest violin virtuosos as well as a sublime composer. One of Tartini's best Italian pupils, Ferrari quickly gained fame first at the imperial court in Vienna and later at the Wurttemberg court in Stuttgart. After his successful debut at the Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1754, he was granted a ten-year royal privilege to publish his works in France, where he remained until the end of his life, never to return to his native Piacenza. During his stay in Paris, Ferrari published six sets of sonatas for violin with continuo. His Op. 3, featured on this CD, dates back to 1760 and consists of six sonatas. These works showcase a blend of late Baroque and Classical characteristics.

Bohuslav Martinu - a matter of the heart for Vilem Vlcek In 1910, when the director of the Prague Conservatoire expelled Martinu from the school because of his "incorrigible negligence", he assuredly had no idea the 20-year-old youth would become one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. Three years later, the young student sold his violin in Paris to be able to concentrate fully on composition. About his beginnings, the composer later declared that he was "simply unable to learn those things", and instead had to "come up with my own feeling somehow". Martinu devoted himself more to the cello than any other composer of his generation, writing both chamber works and concertos. The present recording of his complete works for cello and piano was made at the Musik Akademie Basel, just a few kilometres from Schonenberg, where Martinu spent the last years of his life. The works were mostly written for famous cellists who were often the composer's friends (Frank, Cassado, Fournier, Honegger, Piatigorsky, S�dlo etc.). He wrote five compositions in a lighter character in Paris between 1929 and 1931. The more serious works (three sonatas and two compositions in variation form) were written between 1939 and the end of the composer's life; the Variations on a Slovak Folk Song became his last chamber work, and in it one hears unmistakeably his yearning for the homeland to which he could not return. The young Vilem Vlcek has enjoyed success at competitions (victory at the Penderecki Cello Competition in Krakow, the 2023 Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition, the 2022 Rahn Musikpreis etc.) and has worked with top orchestras (the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra etc.), but above all, what wins over listeners is the expressive depth of his playing, inspired on this recording by the musicianship of the wonderful pianist Denis Linnik.

Arthur Honegger's song output falls into two distinct periods. The first spans his apprentice years from 1914 - the date of the first of the 4 Poemes H.7 - to 1924. He returned to art song on the eve of the Second World War, and Eleni-Lydia Stamellou sings two further sets of songs originally conceived as film accompaniments. In the 4 Poems there is a Debussyan turn to the harmony which mirrors the symbolist flavour of the text. More distinct from the model of Debussy is the album's title track, 'Petite Chapelle', with it's avowedly spiritual character. Honegger conceived his 3 Poemes de Paul Fort in the autumn of 1916. Here the relationship between music and text is more directly illustrative, as in the distant hunting horns to accompany the hunter lost in the forest. From February 1917, Nature morte stands alone as a musical still-life, a brief sketch of a bowl of peaches and white grapes. No less epigrammatic, but more musically adventurous as befitting the text, are Honegger's settings of the 6 Poemes d'Apollinaire which he composed between August 1915 and March 1917. But, for all Apollinaire's influence over the composers of 'Les Six' - Honegger included - Jean Cocteau was far more instrumental in determining their aesthetic aims. And though it was Apollinaire who had coined sur-realisme in response to seeing the premiere of Satie's ballet Parade in 1917, this new, mischievous spirit courses through Honegger's deft settings of Cocteau. Honegger makes a sincere tribute to one of France's most celebrated Renaissance-era poets in the Chanson de Ronsard from February 1924. From 1926, the 3 Chansons de La Petite Sirene feature whole-tone rising harmonies in the opening song, and the even briefer companions uphold a Satie-like inscrutability. At this point, Honegger continued in vocal music (operas, operettas and oratorio) but left song alone. However, in 1937, his soundtrack to Jean Choux 'talkie' remake of Louis Mercanton's 1920 silent film Miarka, la fille � l'ourse afforded an opportunity to write two brief songs. Eleni Lydia Stamellou's recital closes with another pair of songs written for the cinema, the Romances sentimentales for Un seul amour, a story by Balzac very loosely adapted for the screen by Pierre Blanchar. In a genre all their own are the settings of 3 Psaumes, which Honegger composed in occupied Paris over the winter of 1940/1. The sound of the organ underpins the Bachian flow accompanying Psalm 34 and the misty F minor chords beneath Psalm 140, even if the vocal line itself harks back to Honegger's song-writing of the 1920s. Other information: - Recorded April-December 2024 in St Petersburg, Russia - Booklet in English contains liner notes by Peter Quantrill and profiles of the musicians - Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) was a Swiss composer associated with the French musical movement Les Six. Known for his eclectic style, he blended elements of French impressionism, German romanticism, and modernist techniques. While Honegger is best known for his orchestral works, such as Pacific 231 and Jeanne d'Arc au b�cher, his vocal compositions show a more intimate and lyrical side of his artistry. - Honegger's songs reflect his deep sensitivity to poetry and text, setting works by prominent French poets like Paul Fort and Jean Cocteau. His melodies for voice and piano exhibit rich harmonic textures and expressive phrasing, demonstrating both refinement and emotional depth. Unlike his orchestral pieces, which can be complex and rhythmically driven, his songs favor clarity and directness, allowing the poetry to shine through. - Greek soprano Eleni Lydia Stamellou was Prize Winner at the Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition in Austria, with Dame Joan Sutherland as the president of the jury. She subsequently attended masterclasses given by Teresa Berganza, Edda Moser and Christa Ludwig. She sang in opera productions with MusicAeterna conducted by Teodor Currentzis. Her specialization is Renaissance/Baroque and Contemporary Music. She sang in productions of Berio and Hersant.

Elsa Barraine (1910-1999) must have been a musical prodigy. At 18, she placed second in the competition for the coveted Prix de Rome; by 19, she had it in the bag. While studying under Paul Dukas in the Eternal City, she composed, among other works, a first symphony of remarkable quality and individuality, unmistakably neoclassical. There is no question that this was no mere talent but the manifestation of an outstanding figure. And she lived up to the high expectations placed upon her: The "symphonic illustration of Andre Spire's poem Pogrom" proves to be a gripping tone poem, and the second symphony from 1938 unleashes a force one neither wants nor can resist. And there remains La Mise au tombeau du Titien (The Entombment of Titian") from 1953 - a passacaglia whose expressive power and intensity take one's breath away.

Suk, Martinu, and Fiser in the creative hands of young virtuosos The Supraphon debut of 18-year-old Daniel Matejca (Ysaye - Violin Sonatas, 2023) has attracted great attention with critics around the world writing about his remarkable talent, comparing his recording with the very best. That same year, the 17-year-old pianist Jan Schulmeister came away from Texas with third prize at the prestigious Cliburn Junior Competition. And also that year, the Matejca - Schulmeister duo celebrated victory in the chamber music category at the competition Concertino Praga; that opened them the door to the studio for the making of this recording. Instead of brilliant, virtuosic show pieces, the young artists chose challenging Czech repertoire of the 20th century with pivotal works by Suk, Martinu, and Lubos Fiser. Martinu composed his Czech Rhapsody in the USA just after the end of the Second World War for Fritz Kreisler, who was 70 years old by then. Even today, this beautiful composition is a great technical challenge for the soloist. Martinu's First Violin Sonata (1929) still belongs to the composer's Paris period, as can be seen from jazz elements and the sometimes impressionistic mood of the piano part. The third composer, Lubos Fiser, is known mainly in his homeland, but his music also earned international awards (UNESCO prize, Prix d'Italia). His violin sonata The Hands was originally supposed to have been titled Crux, but that was completely unacceptable during the period of harsh communist rule. In the words of Ivan straus, who premiered the sonata, "the composition could be interpreted as a loose depiction of the Stations of the Cross at Easter with dramatic moments of whipping, hatred, and anxiety followed by a funeral procession (pizzicato) and then the glorious Resurrection in the concluding apotheosis to the sound of bells."

Pieces for Lutha" Anders Ericson plays this unique instrument from the Gustavian era, and presents an unknown part of the late 18th century Swedish musical landscape to the modern audience. Lute player Anders Ericson plays recently restored instruments by Swedish 18th century master luthier Johan Jerner, that take us back to an intriguing and intimate sonority from another time. Swedish composers Cloos, Ankar and Wikmanson clearly display the high musical and technical level of early Swedish "Luthenists". Each work on "Solo Pieces for Lutha" is a world premiere recording, which makes this disc truly exciting. An unknown musical treasure and an unheard instrument resounds!

Composer Kay Rhie releases�Cereus,��a portrait album of chamber works, two including voice, featuring soprano Leela Subramaniam, Winsor Music and the Aperture Duo. Rhie's music draws on her experience as a South Korean born artist living in Los Angeles, responding to the lived environment in outward ways through text setting and thematic context, as well as inward impacts on her compositional process.

Joly Braga Santos (1924-88) was one of the most important composers in twentieth-century Portugal. In his early works his fondness for modal harmony, absorbed from the Portuguese masters of the Renaissance, and his busy counterpoint combine to make him sound surprisingly close to such particularly English composers as Vaughan Williams and Moeran. Although his harmonic language became more astringent with time, it retained a burly sense of humour and a powerful charge of energy, often infused with the spirit of Portuguese folk-dance. [Volumes 1-3: TOCC 0207, 0428, 0588]

This is already the third recording by a highly unusual ensemble. Perhaps the only ensemble in the world featuring guitar and harp. A truly distinctive sound combination. Both artists are also represented on Musicaphon with solo recordings; Maximilian Mangold now has well over ten. And both have a passion for contemporary music. All the works on this CD were composed specifically for them.