Composer Boris Tishchenko’s prolific output includes, importantly, eleven piano sonatas: the First, his Op.3, the final his last completed score. Most are extensive, almost symphonic in scale. The unusual three-movement No. 7, Op.85 (1982) is a sonata ‘for piano with bells’, the pianist joined by a percussionist playing large bells, tubular bells and glockenspiel. No. 8, Op.99 (1986) is also a three-movement work, but that is where the similarities end. Their juxtaposition pays him perfect tribute, bearing in mind how deeply he respected tradition while also tearing up its rulebook.

An important centre for iron production in 17th-century Sweden, Leufsta Bruk came into the hands of the De Geers, a Dutch family, in the 1640s. In 1730 the young Charles De Geer inherited the estate and the ironworks, and it was here that he kept his extensive collection of sheet music, including many volumes imported from Amsterdam but also works by composers based in or visiting Sweden, such as Hinrich Philip Johnsen and Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch. Charles played the cello and the harpsichord, and it is probable that much of the music in the Leufsta collection will have been performed by members of the De Geer family themselves. The collection, now housed in the library of the University of Uppsala, thus offers fascinating insights into domestic music-making in 18th-century Sweden. This is the third album to present music from the collection, and the first to focus on vocal music. It also features the famous organ in the church belonging to the estate, built in 1728 by Johan Niclas Cahman. Ranging from Swedish chorales to French opera, the varied selection is performed by soprano Elin Rombo and members of Rebaroque, one of the leading baroque ensembles in Sweden.

The myth of the modern tenor was born at an 1837 Paris performance of Rossini’s William Tell when Gilbert Duprez first sang a top C in the chest register. The hitherto unknown expressive power provoked a massive audience reaction, and the tenor voice soon became a trademark of the young, valiant hero. Yinjia Gong grew up in Guizhou province, China, developing an interest in music early on. While studying Chinese traditional music he became fascinated with Western opera. In 2008 his admiration for Jussi Björling and Nicolai Gedda took him to Sweden. There Gong's impressive top register soon attracted attention, and in 2011 he was invited to perform at a gala concert at the Royal Swedish Opera, commemorating the centennial of Björling's birth. Gong was given the honour of performing Puccini’s Nessun dorma – one of Björling’s ‘greatest hits’. Naturally, Nessun dorma is also part of the program on Gong's début recording, along with a series of other jewels of the tenor repertoire.