Athene is proud to present Cantata (re)mixed for four hands, an exciting album of J.S. Bach's Cantatas arranged/re-composed by Chiahu Lee and Gyorgy Kurtag, and performed by piano Duo Vershinina-Lee (Chiahu Lee and Yulia Vershinina-Mukhopadhyay). This follows their acclaimed Diversions release in 2024 (re)inventions a deux pianos (DDV 24172), a complete recomposition for two pianos of J.S. Bach's 15 two-part inventions, praised by BBC Music Magazine as 'an invigorating and beguiling spring clean for the ears.' Yulia Vershinina first encountered Kurtag's transcription of the Sonatina from J.S. Bach's Cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit ten years ago, and drawn to it's intimacy, the Duo have longed to record it. It's included on the album alongside six new four-hand reimaginings of J.S. Bach cantata sections composed by Chiahu Lee, and in doing so the duo have formed an imagined cantata of their own, bringing Bach's vocal world into the shared space of one piano, embodying the joy, spontaneity, and trust of their unique partnership. The album opens with the exhilarating and joyful arrangement of Sinfonia 'Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir' (BWV 29), followed by the Chorale 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' (BWV 140), both bringing to mind the layered textures of electronic music. The Chorale Prelude 'Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein' (BWV 734) successfully manages the tricky task of translating the various different instrumental colours into one shared keyboard. Chorale Prelude 'Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ' (BWV 639) was inspired in part by Kurtag's transcription style: intimate, spare, and intensely concentrated, and is followed by his long-awaited arrangement of the Sonatina 'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit' (BWV 106). Chia- Chia has waited since childhood to play Aria 'Alles, was von Gott geboren' (BWV 80), and to bring this beloved vocal moment into the shared space of four hands. The final Chorale 'Alle Menschen mussen sterben' (BWV 262) was inspired by string instruments - Lee found ways to allow the piano to replicate their resonance and to suggest bowed sound. Chiahu-Lu Lee says 'Bach himself was a master of transcription: he arranged music by other composers and reworked his own. Seen in that light, the desire to carry Bach's vocal worlds into the hands of pianists felt less like an intrusion and more of a continuation - a way of entering a tradition rather than stepping outside of it.' Pianists Yulia Vershinina-Mukhopadhyay and Chiahu 'Chia-Chia' Lee met at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where a lasting friendship grew into an enduring musical partnership. United by a shared curiosity for reinvention and lesser-known repertoire, the duo explores music across centuries through performance, arrangement, and creative reimagining, with projects ranging from Baroque reinventions to works by contemporary women composers.
Tenor Haitham Haidar's debut solo album Zaytoun (meaning 'Olive' in Arabic) is a captivating collection of beautiful Baroque and Arabic songs, interlaced with poetry and musical improvisations, an exploration of the intersection between Baroque and Arabic music. Whether it be through instrumentation, ornamentation, or vocal production, Zaytoun highlights the natural connections between what we generally view as separate worlds. Haidar pairs Baroque arias and songs by Monteverdi, Purcell and Bach, with the traditional Arabic songs which were his first introduction to music. He has added arabic instrumentation to some of these Baroque standards, and even translated a Bach aria into Arabic, incorporating Arabic style into the Baroque structure. Alongside the music, are three poetry tracks (from Gibran Khalil Gibran's The Prophet) read over beautifully performed oud improvisation by Abdul-Wahab Kayyali. These tracks (prelude, intermezzo, and postlude) help present the music to follow and shape Haidar's narrative of his own immigrant story in the unique intertwining of Arabic and Baroque music. "As an Arab immigrant, life continues to be a journey of exploration of home, of belonging and this musical project encompasses all parts of my identity, allowing them to live and shine within one sphere rather than compartmentalized sections of myself." Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian Canadian tenor highly sought out for his musicality, "standout presence", and sensitive storytelling. He is a proud graduate of Yale's Institute of Sacred Music, McGill's Schulich School of Music, and the University of British Columbia and currently resides in Montreal, Quebec. Haitham is praised for his 'musical and linguistic versatility' and his 'bright' and 'innately lyrical voice' and enjoys performing oratorio, opera, and chamber music across North America, Europe, and Asia. His recordings as a soloist with the Conspirare and Skylark ensembles have received multiple GRAMMY® nominations.
Johann Jakob Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 4
Athene
CD · 2 discs
$25.99Oct 10, 2025
The fourth and final volume in Gilbert Rowland's acclaimed Froberger series completes the landmark recording project on specialist early music label Athene. This double album is the latest instalment of Rowland's authoritative traversal of the complete Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger - a composer of profound influence whose innovations shaped the very form of the Baroque suite later adopted by Bach and Handel. Praised for it's "glorious sound" and "energy and a good forward drive", the series has garnered widespread critical recognition. Recorded in the sympathetic acoustic of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, in October 2024, the album reunites Rowland with engineer John Taylor, whose audiophile-standard production has underpinned the previous volumes. Rowland's playing combines historical insight with expressive vitality, delivering performances marked by "impeccable clarity, flawless articulation, and period-perfect embellishments". His interpretations illuminate the elegance and inventiveness of Froberger's writing, making this collection an essential reference for enthusiasts and scholars of early keyboard music. This release is a vital addition for fans of Froberger, Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and historically informed performances, offering both continuity for collectors and a compelling entry point into one of the Baroque's most fascinating keyboard oeuvres.
Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 3 / Rowland
Athene
CD · 2 discs
$27.99Apr 14, 2023
English harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland has completed the third volume in his ongoing series of the complete Suites for Harpsichord by Johann Jakob Froberger. The album was recorded at Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire on 11-14 July 2022, with engineer John Taylor who produced all of Gilbert’s previous Divine Art and Athene recordings. The first two volumes of the series has attracted much praise from critics for its "glorious sound" and "energy and a good forward drive" of Rowland's playing.
Johann Jakob Froberger was a highly accomplished composer of the middle Baroque period and credited with inventing the ‘baroque suite’ used with variations by Bach, Handel and countless other composers. He was extremely prolific and several of his works, including the Harpsichord Suites, have been discovered recently.
Gilbert Rowland first studied the harpsichord with Millicent Silver. He made his debut at Fenton House in 1970 and first appeared at the Wigmore Hall in 1973. He has made numerous recordings of works by Scarlatti, Soler, Rameau and
Fischer which have received considerable acclaim from the national press. He joined Divine Art in 2010 to record the harpsichord suites by Handel, followed by those of Froberger and Mattheson and was assigned to Divine Art’s specialist
early music label, Athene.
Colombi & Vitali: The Violin in Modena / Sheppard Skærved
Athene
CD · 1 disc
$20.99Oct 14, 2022
As well as being internationally recognized as a leading interpreter of music new and old, Peter Sheppard Skærved is the only violinist to have performed on the personal violins of Viotti, Paganini, Joachim, Kreisler and Ole Bull. He is a renowned soloist, musicologist, writer, painter and educator at the Royal Academy, and in 2022 appointed as Honorary Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music. This album features perhaps some of the best (certainly best-known) works by the top two violin composers working in Modena, Italy, at the end of the 17th century.
Vitali and Colombi were both quite prolific and produced pieces of wide variety of form, not whittled down to the standard ‘dance suite’ of the middle and late baroque. While the Vitali works have been recorded previously in a version for ensemble, this is the first recording of the pieces in their solo format – and the same applies to the Colombi and anonymous pieces. The album is a fine and fitting sequel to Skærved’s previous solo recording “Florish in the Key” (Athene ATH 23211) which presented contemporaneous (late 17th century) solo violin music from London. “Genuinely intriguing” – Early Music Review; “Excellent… instantly attractive… uniformly high quality” – Infodad)
Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 2 / Rowland [2 CDs]
Athene
CD · 2 discs
$27.99May 14, 2021
Gilbert Rowland is one of Europe’s most senior and accomplished exponents of the harpsichord. Following his critically acclaimed 6-album series of the Harpsichord Suites of Handel for Divine Art, he moved to the Athene imprint which now specializes in baroque music and ‘period’ instruments for his well-received album of Suites by Johann Mattheson and his first volume of Froberger’s Suites. This 2-album set is the second volume in a projected complete survey of the Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger, whose organ and harpsichord music is individual in nature and ground breaking – he was one of the first composers to settle the ‘dance-movement’ style of Suite taken up by Couperin, Bach, and Handel among many others. There are 12 Suites in this collection. Gilbert Rowland plays a 2 manual French style harpsichord made by Andrew Wooderson after an instrument by Goemans (Paris, 1750)
As well as being internationally recognized as a leading interpreter of music new and old, Peter Sheppard Skærved is the only violinist to have performed on the personal violins of Viotti, Paganini, Joachim, Kreisler and Ole Bull. In this new series, he plays music on these and many more instruments, many of which only he has access to. Probably the best known work of J.J. Vilsmaÿr, his set of six partitas of 1715 are perfect and relatively early examples of the baroque dance suite, and have found more popularity than many other contemporary works for the solo violin. Peter plays a superb instrument labelled 'Amati Brothers' but in fact made by Girolamo (his brother had died by 1610) with the help of his son and successor Niccolò; it was probably one of the last violins on which Girolamo worked as he died in 1630. 1629 was the year in which the Great Plague swept through Italy; Nicolò found himself a lucky survivor and inheritor of the great Amati tradition. The spectacular instrument has a spruce front and single-piece maple back, with scroll and ribs in the early Cremona fashion. Skærved says that it's extraordinary qualities (he has played it since 2013) have profoundly influenced his love for the violin and his understanding of what it can do. The violin is held in the collection of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
The Great Violins, Vol. 3: Stradivarius 1685 - The Klagenfur
Athene
CD · 2 discs
$13.99$27.99Save 50%Mar 13, 2020
As well as being internationally recognized as a leading interpreter of music new and old, Peter Sheppard Skærved is the only violinist to have performed on the personal violins of Viotti, Paganini, Joachim, Kreisler and Ole Bull. In this new series, he plays music on these and many more instruments, many of which only he has access to. This double album contains 96 (short) pieces which are all of the works for solo instrument contained in the Klagenfurt Manuscript, a substantial folio dated circa 1685 and which the violinist believes may have been composed by a nun - we will probably never know. He plays these works which mainly consist of individual movements of a style typically found in the baroque Dance Suite; some seem to 'fit' into multi-movement suites, others clearly do not. For the purposes of this recording each movement is listed and tracked separately. This is the world premiere recording. Peter plays a wonderful Stradivari instrument of 1685 (thus exactly contemporary with the music). In those days violins were made in several sizes and this one measures 328mm (the modern standard being 350mm). It's design and construction is clearly influenced by Nicola Amati. Though 'modernized; in the 19th century, it is hear played with a period-design bow and gut strings for authenticity. The violin is from the historic instruments collection of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England.
Gilbert Rowland is one of Europe's most senior and accomplished exponents of the harpsichord. Following his critically acclaimed 6-album series of the Harpischord Suites of Handel for Divine Art, he moved to the Athene imprint specializing now in baroque music and 'period' instruments for his well received album of Suites by Johann Mattheson. This 2-album set is the first volume in a projected complete survey of the Harpsichord Suites by Johann Jakob Froberger, whose organ and harpsichord music is individual in nature and ground breaking - he was one of the first composers to settle the 'dance-movement' style of Suite taken up by Couperin, Bach, and Handel among many others. There are 12 Suites in this collection. Gilbert Rowland plays a 2 manual French style harpsichord made by Andrew Wooderson after an instrument by Goemans (Paris, 1750).
Brilliant Japanese pianist Mariko Terashi has loved the music of the baroque since a very early age. This new album presents her beautifully warm yet virtuosic playing on a modern piano of classics by three composers central to the development of baroque keyboard music: the French masters Couperin and Rameau, and the Portuguese Carlos de Seixas. This is truly a superlative concert program. This album was released to great success in Japan only (Nami Records) in 2016, and it is now receiving it's global release. Mariko Terashi studied in France and has lived in the UK since 1995 where she enjoys an active concert career as soloist and chamber musician. She is particularly interested in piano adaptations of harpsichord music of the 17th and 18th centuries and has been described as 'offering fresh insights into the music' and displaying 'tremendous emotional depth'.
This disc fits into the semi-authentic category – that is, the instrument is from the past and is therefore authentic of its own period, but it is not specifically linked to the repertoire on the disc. The piano is Leach's own Stodhart square piano of 1823.
Leach's performances are characterised by clarity of thought and texture; they are intimate, measured, satisfying. Their neat musicality lacks the last grain of virtuosity. Many Scarlatti ‘favourites', such as Kk380 and Kk491 are to be found on the disc.
Some intellectual sleight of hand is usually necessary to link a period instrument contingently available with what is recorded, since the connection is by definition post hoc . In this case, one could easily argue that Scarlatti wrote demonstrably virtuosic, display pieces, and wrote them in a context of domestic performance (it is well known that his keyboard sonatas were principally written for Princess Maria Barbara of Portugal , who became Queen of Spain). The square piano clearly gives a suitably intimate sound, and its light action suits the rapidity of the notes. Great pianists of the past, such as Horowitz, who frequently programmed Scarlatti, themselves favoured light pianos.
As the booklet explains, Leach was originally a performer on modern pianos, but found period instruments suited her approach. The Athene label, which is now part of the Divine Art stable, was a way of setting down her distinctive and thoughtful interpretations, among which her Haydn and John Field are especially well regarded.
Good modern recorded sound, and Divine Art's usual crisp presentation. We also learn from the notes that Joanna Leach's long and distinguished career has been seriously threatened by illness; her determination to continue recording is all the more to be commended.
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![Froberger: Suites for Harpsichord, Vol. 2 / Rowland [2 CDs]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3953046-2695803.jpg?v=1786680032&width=400)
