A comprehensive introduction to a foundational figure of early Romantic music: modern recordings of all the concertos and solo piano music by 'the father of the nocturne', the Irish pianist and composer John Field. Frederic Chopin was only the most celebrated of many pianist-composers to pay warm tribute to the musician who, more than any other, invented the genre which became synonymous with musical Romanticism. His exquisite tone-poetry on the page, as well as the brilliant imagination of his playing, proposed a new way of addressing the piano, and responded to the rapid advance in the instrument's technology during the first decades of the 19th century. Where Beethoven had sought to stretch and challenge and conquer the piano, Field drew from it a more intimate style which mirrored the cantabile and legato of Italian singing. Born in Dublin in 1782, Field received his earliest lessons in music from Tommaso Giordani, and then continued his studies in London with another Italian immigrant across the Channel, Muzio Clementi. While Field went on to achieve celebrity as a pianist across Europe before settling in St Petersburg, and dying of alcoholism in 1837, he left a legacy of music for his instrument which gradually fell from prominence. During the last half century, and the early-music revival's focus on this pivotal era in music history, Field has been re-assessed. This comprehensive collection presents Field as a major figure of early Romanticism: a witty virtuoso in the concertos, a master of form in the sonatas and nocturnes, and above all a mind which could translate impressions into notes, especially from the natural world. These recordings were enthusiastically welcomed for their detailed precision and sympathy with Field's idiom. 'The performances and recorded sound here are very fine... a lovely, leisurely listening experience.' (Restani's cycle of the concertos, reviewed by Fanfare). 'Tyler Hay relates to John Field's Nocturnes much as Claudio Arrau did to those of Chopin.' (Classics Today).

Cesar Guerra-Peixe (1914-1993) was a Brazilian composer, violinist, and musicologist whose work reflects a deep engagement with both European classical traditions and the rich diversity of Brazilian folk music. Initially influenced by modernist and serialist techniques, Guerra-Peixe later shifted toward a nationalist style, incorporating rhythms, melodies, and structures derived from regional traditions across Brazil. This transition marked a significant phase in his career, as he sought to create a distinctly Brazilian voice within the concert music tradition. Although Guerra-Peixe is not primarily known as a guitar composer, his contributions to the instrument are notable for their craftsmanship and cultural authenticity. His complete works for solo guitar are relatively few compared to major guitar composers, yet they hold an important place in the Brazilian guitar repertoire. These pieces reflect his ethnomusicological interests, often drawing on northeastern Brazilian musical idioms, such as baiao, maracatu, and frevo. Through these influences, Guerra-Peixe infused his guitar music with rhythmic vitality and expressive nuance. His guitar works demonstrate a clear understanding of the instrument's technical and expressive possibilities. Rather than treating the guitar merely as a harmonic accompaniment, he explores it's capacity for polyphony, timbral contrast, and rhythmic complexity. The writing is idiomatic, making effective use of open strings, varied articulations, and dynamic contrasts, while remaining accessible to skilled performers. Played with great feeling for the idiom by Flavio Nati, one of Italy's foremost guitarists, winner of the Golden Guitar. He played in Carnegie Hall New York as soloist in the guitar concerto of Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

The works for piano and orchestra by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) represent a distinctive part of his output and reflect his evolving musical style during the early twentieth century. Although Stravinsky is widely known for his revolutionary ballets such as The Rite of Spring, his compositions featuring piano and orchestra demonstrate his interest in rhythm, clarity, and neoclassical form. The most significant of these works is the Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1923-24). Unlike the traditional Romantic concerto that pairs the piano with a full symphony orchestra, Stravinsky scored this piece for piano and a large ensemble of winds, brass, timpani, and double basses. The absence of strings creates a bright, sharp sound that highlights the percussive nature of the piano. Stravinsky himself often performed the solo part, and the concerto reflects his own technical abilities as a pianist. Structurally, the work follows a clear three-movement design-Largo, Allegro, and Largo-blending Baroque inspiration with modern rhythmic vitality. Another important composition is the Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra (1928-29). Written again for Stravinsky's own performances, this piece is lighter and more playful than the earlier concerto. It consists of three continuous sections and features brilliant piano passages combined with lively orchestral textures. The title 'Capriccio' suggests a free and imaginative character, which is evident in the work's energetic rhythms and witty musical gestures. The orchestration includes a full orchestra, producing a richer sound than the wind-dominated concerto. Also presented are a selection of shorter works for piano solo: Tango, Ragtime, Circus Polka, Piano Rag Music, Valse pour les enfants: quasi-popular music, infused with Stravinsky's unique rhythms, dissonances and wit. Giuseppe Andaloro (Palermo, 1982) is one of the most acclaimed Italian pianists of his generation. Winner of prestigious international competitions - including the Ferruccio Busoni (Bolzano). He has performed in some of the world's leading venues: Teatro alla Scala and Sala Verdi in Milan, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Royal Festival Hall in London, Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo, Esplanade in Singapore, Concert Hall in Hong Kong. He has appeared at renowned festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, George Enescu Festival, Ravello Festival, and Beirut Al Bustan. As soloist, he has collaborated with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), under the direction of conductors like Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gianandrea Noseda, and Andrew Parrott.

Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841) was widely acknowledged in his time as a violin and -especially- viola virtuoso, composer and teacher. He gained great fame as a teacher of Paganini and some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola, octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla. In 1782 Alessandro Rolla was appointed principal viola and the leader of the Ducale Orchestra in Parma, playing violin and viola until 1802. He travelled around Europe both as a soloist and conductor and became known also abroad. His works were published in Paris and Vienna. In 1802, Rolla was offered a position as leader and orchestra director of the La Scala Orchestra in Milan, where he remained until 1833. Here he conducted the first Milanese performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Clemenza di Tito and Nozze di Figaro and Beethoven's first Symphonies. During this period he also conducted about eighteen operas of the then most loved opera composer, Gioacchino Rossini, as well as operas by Donizetti and Bellini, whom he got to know personally. Rolla's compositions are characterized by elegant melodies, clear structures, and increasing emotional depth, bridging the clarity of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the expressive intensity that would later define Ludwig van Beethoven. This delightful program presents chamber music in which the clarinet plays the leading role: a sextet, several duets of clarinet with other instruments, and a concerto for basset horn and string quartet. Brilliantly performed by Luigi Magistrelli, one of the leading clarinet players of Italy, seconded by a fine selection of Italian soloists. Magistrelli made many recordings for Brilliant Classics with works by C.P.E. Bach (95307), Giuliani (95541), Kummer (94472), Archduke Rudolph (94952), Rebay (94171) and Fuchs (96305). 'Luigi Magistrelli is a skilled artist, with the fingers and the enthusiasm for Weber.' Gramophone.

Pierre Fevrier (1696-1760) was a French composer and harpsichordist active during the late Baroque period, a time when France cultivated a highly refined keyboard tradition. Fevrier served as organist at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in Paris, a prestigious position that placed him within an important musical and cultural center. His work reflects the elegance and ornamentation characteristic of French Baroque music, while also demonstrating a personal sensitivity to melody and structure. Fevrier's writing is firmly rooted in the French harpsichord tradition as shaped by Louis Couperin and d'Anglebert, codified by Francois Couperin, and enriched by Rameau's harmonic innovations. Like his contemporaries, Fevrier adopts the structure of the suite or ordre, based on sequences of stylized dances-Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Minuet, Gavotte-augmented by character pieces with evocative titles (La Sonore, La Delectable, L'Intrepide). At the same time, his musical language reveals a perceptible evolution: textures become clearer, and often more homophonic, melodic lines grow increasingly songful, and counterpoint-still present-is never ostentatious. It yields primacy to a measured eloquence in keeping with the French ideal of bon goût. This aesthetic of restraint situates Fevrier at the threshold between late Baroque and emerging galant style, without ever abandoning the formal rigor inherited from his predecessors. This is another enterprising recording by Fernando de Luca, who has done a great deal to revive forgotten names from 18th-century music with complete surveys of their music on Brilliant Classics, among them Dufour, Foucquet, Jollage, Gravier and Siret. '[De Luca] thinks outside of the box, and he clearly is a man with discerning tastes. These extend to his playing, which is clear-headed and disciplined, but never rigid. 'Charm' is such an overused word, but I cannot think of a better one to describe this music and these performances.' (Fanfare on the Jollage album, January 2024). Fernando de Luca plays a French harpsichord after Blanchet (1754).

The Chinese baritone Wang Huandong has conquered stages across Europe with golden tone, magnificent projection and dynamic stage presence. In this debut recital on record, he presents a personal selection of arias from the bel canto repertoire, including both audience favourites and rarities. Having graduated from his initial training in Beijing, Wang Huandong continued his studies with the tenor Angelo Lofrese. He won prizes in several European competitions before making impressive debuts with major companies such as the Arena di Verona and the Opera National de Bordeaux. He is undoubtedly one of the most exciting operatic talents to emerge from China in recent years, and has specialised in the Romantic Italian tradition from Donizetti to Puccini. This album thus makes a captivating showcase for Wang Huandong, and for the full range of his technical abilities and musicianship. The authenticity of it's style is further enhanced by the participation of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria, who are steeped in this style. The conductor Filippo Arlia has his own extensive experience in the field of Italian opera; as does the producer Ra?aele Cacciolla, the resident sound engineer for the Opera alla Scala in Milan. The album opens with the showpiece for Enrico in the first act of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The sombre atmosphere of 'Cruda e funesta smania' dissolves into the furious outburst of virtuosity in the cabaletta, 'La pietade in suo favor'. Much less familiar is the first-act scena for Severo in Donizetti's Poliuto. Then the aria 'Resta immobile' captures the moment of highest tension at the heart of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, as the eponymous hero attempts to shoot an apple placed on the head of his son. Wang Huandong returns to Donizetti for a pair of contrasting scenes from La Favorita, and then the superb Romanza from the composer's final opera, Dom Sebastian. On more familiar territory, he also presents 'Ah per sempre io ti perdei' from Bellini's last opera, I Puritani. Further demonstrations of Wang Huandong's versatility, adventurousness and Italianate feeling include excerpts from Bellini's Il pirata and Donizetti's Il duca d'Alba, before this showcase concludes in time-honoured fashion with the celebrated 'Largo al factotum' from Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Christian Flor (1626-1697) was a German Baroque composer and organist whose work reflects the stylistic transition between early and high Baroque music in northern Europe. Although not as widely known today as some of his contemporaries, Flor held important musical positions during his lifetime, serving as an organist and contributing to the rich liturgical and instrumental traditions of 17th-century Germany. Among his surviving works, Flor's ten suites for harpsichord stand out as a significant contribution to the development of the Baroque suite. These suites follow the typical structure of the time, generally consisting of a sequence of dance movements such as allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Each movement contrasts in tempo and character, creating a balanced and varied musical experience within a unified tonal framework. Flor's writing for harpsichord is notable for it's clarity and elegance. Rather than focusing on virtuosic display, his suites emphasize melodic development, harmonic richness, and rhythmic vitality. This approach makes his music both accessible and expressive, while his use of ornamentation is tasteful and idiomatic, enhancing the musical line without overwhelming it. The ten suites also illustrate the broader European influences present in German Baroque music. Elements of French dance style and Italian melodic expressiveness can be found throughout, showing Flor's awareness of international trends. At the same time, his music retains a distinctly German contrapuntal sensibility. Played on the harpsichord by Simone Pierini. Born in Rome in 1996, Pierini began studying music at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome, with highest honors. He afterwards grew interest in historically informed piano practice, attending masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Stefano Fiuzzi. Subsequently, his interest about historical keyboards in general grew further, and he began studying harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. His recordings with music by Cherubini (BC96246), the complete piano sonatas by Helene de Montgeroult (BC96247) and the complete Piano Sonatas by Cramer were very positively received by the press. Classic FM nominated him as one of the 30 best musicians under 30 in 2024.

A comprehensive, budget-priced introduction to the world of a Dutch master of the early Baroque, in modern and critically acclaimed recordings. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) stands at the head of the North German school of composers which produced Dieterich Buxtehude and the Bach family. We know next to nothing about the specific circumstances for which he wrote most of his music, as organist at Amsterdam's Oude Kerk from the late 1570s until his death over 40 years later. Amsterdam during this time was a colourful, cosmopolitan port, full of international influences and religious diversity, and Sweelinck's keyboard music mirrors this culture. Even more than a contemporary such as William Byrd, Sweelinck delights in dividing and subdividing his melodic material such as chorale hymns, accumulating intensity through rapidly moving variants on a given theme. Faster music sometimes passes by in a virtuoso flourish, and sometimes stretches the musical arc in search of greater expression. In his complete recording, first released in 2020, Daniele Boccaccio pays careful attention to the details of old fingering techniques; the resultant variety in phrasing and articulation gives new life to figurations that with a more modern legato approach can seem plain. At times, he applies discreet ornamentation to enhance the music's impact and elsewhere let's Sweelinck's notes speak for themselves. Particularly in the fantasias, he captures some of the freshness with which Sweelinck's music must have struck it's first listeners. Sweelinck's psalm settings were likely written with professional singers in mind, such as the voices of the Netherlands Chamber Choir. The sense of bejewelled light and brilliance is nearly unrivalled in music of the time save in the Venetian school exemplified by the Gabrieli family. When the NCC undertook the major project of recording Sweelinck's complete psalm settings, they engaged an array of early-music luminaries, each of whom contributes their own refined musical intelligence to the colour and articulation of these pieces. According to Fanfare's original review, 'Less expert ensembles need not apply. Let the Netherlands Chamber Choir do it. Very highly recommended.'

The LP version: When Baroque Meets Folk Energy In 'folk baroque', the music of Georg Philipp Telemann encounters the vibrant dance traditions of central Europe. The program grew out of a collaboration between recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf and the Italian ensemble filoBarocco during the Gottingen International Handel Festival, initiated within the European support programme EEEMERGING+. At the heart of the project lies the fascinating Rostock Manuscript, a historical source long associated with Telemann's fascination with Central European folk traditions. For Bosgraaf and filoBarocco, the manuscript offers the perfect point of departure for exploring the meeting ground between Baroque repertoire and living folk music traditions. The ensemble shares a deep enthusiasm not only for historical performance practice but also for music that retains the energy, spontaneity, and expressive freedom of traditional dance music. Telemann himself was renowned for his openness to musical influences from across Europe. During his travels he encountered Polish and Hanna folk traditions that left a lasting impression on him. In his autobiographical writings, he vividly describes the impact of this music: it's rhythmic vitality, it's improvisatory spirit, and it's powerful melodic expression. These qualities fascinated him and found their way, sometimes subtly, sometimes quite directly, into his own compositions. Yet reconstructing the sound world of the eighteenth century presents a unique challenge. Unlike music from the twentieth or twenty-first centuries, there are no recordings to tell us exactly how this repertoire once sounded. Historically informed performance with this repertoire therefore requires re-composition. Musicians must piece together clues from written scores, historical treatises, instrument research, and contemporary descriptions. On the recording 'folk baroque' the musicians expand this process further by drawing inspiration from living folk traditions. Many rhythmic patterns, ornamentations, and expressive gestures that appear in Baroque music still survive today in Central European dance music. These traditions offer valuable insights into how such musical gestures might function in performance. The goal is not to recreate a supposedly 'authentic' past because that would be inherently impossible, but to create a musical interpretation that feels convincing, vibrant, and alive for modern listeners inspired by the timeless melodies of the Rostock Manuscript. For this reason, the program includes elements of improvisation and experimental playing techniques. While this approach may initially seem unusual in a Baroque context, it reflects the spirit of exploration that shaped the music of Telemann's own time. The musical notation in the Rostock Manuscript often provides only a framework rather than a fully fixed sound image. It invites performers to engage creatively with the material and rediscover it's inherent energy. The result is a concert experience that feels both historical and contemporary. The music is rooted in eighteenth-century sources, yet interpreted by musicians who are equally at home in the traditions of early music and in modern sonic experimentation. Ultimately, what connects this repertoire with today's audience is emotion. Instruments and styles may change over time, but the fundamental human passions expressed through music remain the same: joy, melancholy, longing, passion, and the irresistible urge to dance. When listeners begin to grasp the expressive language behind these works, the music suddenly feels remarkably immediate. It ceases to be merely a historical artefact and becomes a living experience, almost as if a sleeping frog had been awakened with a kiss

Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) was an Italian composer, writer, and magistrate of the late Baroque period. Born in Venice into a noble family, Marcello was expected to pursue a career in public service rather than music. Nevertheless, he received an excellent musical education and developed into one of the most respected composers of his time. Although he held various governmental positions in the Republic of Venice and later served as a governor in cities such as Pola and Brescia, Marcello remained deeply devoted to music throughout his life. Marcello is particularly known for his collection Estro Poetico-Armonico (Poetic-Harmonic Inspiration), published between 1724 and 1727. This monumental work consists of musical settings of the first fifty Psalms, based on Italian poetic paraphrases by the writer Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani. The collection was highly admired across Europe because of it's expressive style and it's blending of sacred tradition with contemporary musical language. Marcello combined elements of Gregorian chant, Baroque harmony, and operatic expressiveness, creating works that were both devotional and dramatically vivid. One of the pieces from this collection is Psalm XVII a tres, written for three voices and basso continuo. The term a tres indicates that the work is composed for three vocal parts, often performed by combinations such as soprano, alto, and bass. In this psalm setting, Marcello demonstrates his ability to write clear yet expressive vocal lines. Each voice contributes to a transparent polyphonic texture, where the text remains understandable while the music retains harmonic richness. The composition reflects the emotional depth of the psalm text, which expresses a plea for divine justice and protection. Marcello emphasizes these themes through expressive melodic contours and carefully shaped phrasing. Performed by Ensemble Salomone Rossi, conducted by Lydia Cevidalli, with an instrumental ensemble consisting of violin, cello, double bass, violone, theorbo and harpsichord, playing together with the Odhecaton vocal ensemble.

The opulent Second Symphony of Sergei Rachmaninoff in the compelling guise of a piano concerto: the only available recording, now available as a single CD. Rachmaninoff achieved a breakthrough, both for himself and in the genre of the Russian symphony, with the completion of the Second in 1908. This is music of a positively Brucknerian scale and paragraphing which needs space and breadth to unfold and climax. However, the symphony gained popularity through heavily cut performances and recordings, and it was only in 1973, with the recordings conducted by Ormandy and Previn, that the strength of the original, uncut Second revealed itself to new audiences. Rachmaninoff himself was hardly averse to making radical cuts and alterations both to his own music and the scores of his predecessors. Thus Alexander Warenberg followed suit in a long and distinguished Romantic tradition, when he transformed the symphony into a piano concerto. As completed in 2007, and recorded shortly afterwards by these musicians, this concerto can be compared to a cinematic adaptation of a great novel, as Ates Orga remarks in his booklet essay, 'with the main personalities, scenes and action retained, but subsidiary figures, incidents and detail omitted.' Thus the symphony's four movements are ingeniously condensed into the concerto's conventional three, with the central slow movement enclosing both the Symphony's Adagio, with it's unforgettably lugubrious opening clarinet melody, and the scherzo, as an interlude. With the symphonic argument shared between soloist and orchestra, Warenberg achieves a remarkably smooth idiomatic transition between the genres. The performance itself is driven and passionate in the best Rachmaninoff tradition, as the work of musicians entirely at home in the composer's world. Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy has made many fine recordings for Piano Classics, attracting lavish critical praise. 'Schmitt-Leonardy's collection of the three Chopin piano sonatas is the best single-disc version I have ever heard' (Fanfare). On his album of Schumann, the Etudes symphoniques 'have a formal integrity and sense of connectedness often missing in the hands of lesser artists' (Fanfare).

These first recordings galore on a comprehensive survey of a major 20th-century Ukrainian composer. Born in Kiev in 1925, Igor Shamo studied with the elder statesman of modern Ukrainian art music, Boris Lyatoshinsky. Schumann, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov were the giants of the past who seized the young Shamo's attention, and traces of their impassioned, lyrically centred idioms may be discerned throughout the early works on CD1 of this new recording such as the Ukrainian Suite, Classical Suite and Shamo's own take on Pictures at an Exhibition in his suite of Pictures by Russian Painters. The second CD is occupied by two more substantial cycles, of 12 Preludes from 1962 and six impressionistic Aquarelles from a decade later - both the appreciation and execution of painting was important to Shamo throughout his life. The final CD gathers up piano pieces throughout Shamo's career, from the Marche fantastique, which so impressed the professors of the Kiev Conservatoire when the composer elected at the last minute to play it for his entrance exam, to three dances composed in 1972 and inspired by the folk culture of nearby Soviet republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. A counterpoint to their uncomplicated charms may be found in the three Songs of Friendship from 1954, in which Shamo treats melodies from Poland, Romania and what was then Czechoslovakia. Though jazz and minimalist techniques periodically surface in Shamo's music, it bears the stamp of it's Soviet times in it's generally sunny character and clearly laid-out forms - though the serenity of the Ninth Prelude is answered by the machine-gun-fire Tenth, and Bartok casts a shadow over this music almost as often as Prokofiev. Dmitri Tchesnokov is, like Shamo, a native of Kiev, born in 1982 and long resident in France, where he pursues a career as both composer and pianist, as well as founding a directing a well-established festival of contemporary piano music in Paris. - Igor Shamo (1925-1982) was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where his composition teacher at the national Conservatory was the famous composer Boris Lyatoshinsky. Attached to his home land he declined an invitation to move to Moscow, and he stayed the rest of his life in his native Kiev, where he became a highly respected composer and teacher. - Shamo wrote orchestral works, chamber music, songs and works for film and theatre. His piano works however form the core of his oeuvre. His musical language is tonal and based on classical principles (his favourite composer was J.S. Bach). The melodies have a strong narrative character, the harmonies are based on classical and popular modes, enriched by chromaticism and jazz. All his works are rooted in the rich folklore of his native country Ukraine, the moods alternating between melancholic sadness and gloom and dance-inspired frenzy. - Dimitri Tchesnokov is an excellent pianist and an important composers himself as well. His works are increasingly noted, especially his haunting and mystical choral works. He wrote the extensive liner notes for this set himself, in English and French.

This set is the second instalment of an ambitious project: the recording of the complete codex of Las Huelgas, one of the most important sources of music of the High Middle Ages, an anthology of songs from the 13th century representative of the Ars Antiqua. The manuscript was written in the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, with the authorisation of Alfonso VIII King of Castile. The manuscript contains 45 monophonic pieces (20 sequences, 5 conductus, 10 Benedicamus tropes) and 141 polyphonic compositions. Most of the music dates from the late 13th century, with some music from the first half of the 13th century (Notre Dame repertory), and a few later additions from the first quarter of the 14th century. Many of the pieces are not found in any other manuscripts. This second volume contains two CDs with performances by the Gruppo Vocale Armoniosoincanto and the Gruppo Vocale Garda Trentino. We find two tonally different types of performance: the young voices of Garda Trentino offer a luminosity and rhythmic precision, always expressive and communicative. Armoniosoincanto presents a more reflective and controlled interpretation, strongly linked to the texts. The instrumental ensemble includes medieval harp and portative organ.

Among those composers contemporary to Mozart and Beethoven, Jan Ladislaus Dussek counts as the most original, imaginative and often extreme. His life, as turbulent and eventful as his music, took him across Europe, from Bohemia to Paris to London, winning along the way a reputation as a dazzling keyboard virtuoso at a time when the piano itself was undergoing rapid evolution. His own music, written to exploit that virtuosity but also to appeal to the expanding market among Europe's middle-class for domestic music-making, mirrors the temper of his times - not least in his violin sonatas, which Julia Huber and Miriam Altmann have been documenting in this ground-breaking cycle on Brilliant Classics. Volume 5 of the cycle opens with the Sonatas Op.5 Nos. 1 and 2, which Dussek completed in 1788 and dedicated to the aristocratic French pianist Helene de Montgeroult, who went on to survive the Revolution and become the first female teacher of piano at the Paris Conservatoire. Her own compositions are now belatedly winning justified admiration, and their originality may owe something to Dussek's example. These sonatas do not follow the convention for the time of compliant violin writing as an accompaniment to flashy keyboard fireworks: rather they are composed with the two instruments as equals: a balance which can be appreciated all the more satisfyingly when played, as here, on the instruments of Dussek's own time. While dating from two years later, published in 1790, the Op.12 sonatas are less ambitious in scale: two movements each, and dedicated to one of Dussek's wealthy patrons in London, Maria Cosway. The B-flat major Sonata Op.12 No.2 is particularly appealing with it's variation set on 'God Save the King', which Beethoven would soon treat as the subject for piano variations with similarly shrewd commercial motives in mind. Anyone following the series will be eager to collect the latest volume, but newcomers to the fascinating world of Dussek can start here, secure in the expectation of rich entertainment.

Published in 1739, Johann Sebastian Bach's Dritter Teil der Clavierubung (Third Part of the Keyboard Practice) is one of the most profound monuments of organ literature. Conceived as a theological and musical summa, this cycle of chorale preludes framed by a majestic Prelude and Fugue reflects Bach's deep Lutheran faith and his consummate mastery of counterpoint. Intended 'for amateurs and especially for connoisseurs for the recreation of the spirit,' it invites us into a world where intellect and devotion meet in perfect harmony. This collection is not merely a set of organ pieces-it is a spiritual architecture in sound. Every element, from it's opening tri-thematic Prelude to it's closing five-voice Fugue, is imbued with symbolism, theological meaning, and artistic grandeur. For Bach, music was never just ornament; it was a language of faith, capable of expressing the mysteries of doctrine with clarity and beauty. Bach's models for this work were inspired from two great traditions: Italian Liturgical Collections - Above all, Girolamo Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali (1635), which provided organ music for the Catholic Mass. Frescobaldi's influence is evident in the structural parallels: preludes before the service, organ verses alternating with chant, and pieces for specific liturgical moments. The other influence is the French Baroque Livres d'Orgue - Especially Nicolas de Grigny's Premier Livre d'Orgue (1699), which Bach copied in his youth, and Francois Couperin's organ masses. These works introduced Bach to the elegance of French ornamentation, the grandeur of the plein jeu, and the expressive possibilities of contrasting registrations. Bach absorbed these influences and reimagined them within the Lutheran framework, creating a cycle that parallels the structure of the Mass but substitutes chorales central to Reformed doctrine. In doing so, he forged a synthesis of Italian rhetorical expressiveness, French coloristic refinement, and German contrapuntal rigor. Played with intense devotion and understanding by Sergio Vartolo. Sergio Vartolo is an Italian organist, harpsichordist, and conductor known for his expertise in early music, especially the works of Baroque composers. Born in Bologna in 1944, he studied organ, composition, and musicology, developing a deep interest in historically informed performance. Vartolo has performed widely across Europe and recorded extensively, bringing renewed attention to lesser-known Italian composers. His interpretations combine scholarly research with expressive musicianship, making him an influential figure in the early music movement.

This program offers a generous and varied selection of arias by three of the greatest composers of the Baroque: Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Presented are dramatic and moving arias from Handel's Theodora, Jephta and Acis & Galatea, Purcell's King Arthur, Oedipus and Diocletian, and Bach's St. John and St. Matthew Passion. This recording is a vocal showcase of two of the most prominent young vocalists of today: tenor Guy Cutting and baritone Alvar Tiisler. Guy Cutting is recognised internationally for his compelling performances and refined musicianship, with a particular reputation in the music of J.S. Bach. A regular soloist with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe, he has performed across Europe's leading concert halls and festivals including La Scala Milan, the BBC Proms, The Philharmonie Berlin, Tonhalle Zurich, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has collaborated with many of the world's foremost period conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Maasaki Suzuki, John Butt, Paul McCreesh, Jos van Veldhoven and Marcus Creed. Baritone Alvar Tiisler has performed with orchestras such as the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Camerata, the Sinfonietta Riga, the Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra, the Barrocade Ensemble, and the Estonian Sinfonietta. Ensemble Floridante is an Estonian Early Music ensemble founded in Tallinn in 2014. It is anchored by two core members: harpsichordist Saale Fischer and viola da gamba and cello player Villu Vihermae. The ensemble brings together several dozen professional Estonian musicians united by their passion for Early Music.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787) was a German composer and virtuoso of the viola da gamba, remembered as one of the last great exponents of the instrument. Born in Kothen, he was the son of Christian Ferdinand Abel, a musician in the court orchestra once directed by J.S. Bach. Abel's early exposure to music within this distinguished environment shaped his refined style and command of counterpoint, while his career later flourished in London, where he became a prominent figure in the city's cultural life. Abel is best known for his partnership with Johann Christian Bach in organizing the famous Bach-Abel Concerts (1765-1781), the first subscription concerts in London, which greatly influenced the city's musical culture. These gatherings introduced audiences to both established and contemporary works, laying foundations for the public concert tradition. Abel's music reflects the elegance and clarity of the galant style, bridging the late Baroque and early Classical periods. His compositions emphasize lyrical melody, balanced phrasing, and transparent textures, qualities that made them appealing to both connoisseurs and amateur performers. This 3CD set offers reissues of successful Brilliant Classics recordings with works by Abel: works for flute and orchestra, a symphony, concertos for harpsichord, viola da gamba and orchestra, trio sonatas and sonatas for viola da gamba and B.C. Performers include Nordic Affect (Georgia Brown), La Spagna Baroque Orchestra (Alejandro Marias) and viola da gamba player Marco Casonato and Massimo Marchese (Theorbo). 'Affectionate explorations of seldom performed pieces by mid-18th century composer' (BBC Music Magazine about Nordic Affect).

V 10: COMPLETE SONATAS, K 428-

GRAN PARTITA

PIANO CONCERTOS 1 & 2

SYMPHONIES, PIANO CONCERTOS, V

A first-ever complete recording for keyboard collections which capture the elegance and cosmopolitan style of Georgian-era English music. Maurice Greene (1696-1755) belongs to the generation that followed Henry Purcell and preceded Handel. Becoming organist of St Paul's Cathedral in 1719, and in 1735 organist and composer to the Chapel Royal, he wrote a good deal of church music which is still in use today: memorably simple but effective anthems such as Thou visitest the earth and Lord, let me know mine end. Much less well known-and most of it previously unrecorded-is Greene's corpus of instrumental music. Published in 1745, his Six Overtures in Seven Parts alternate a slow and solemn French-style overture with fugal allegros and elegant dance movements such as minuets, gavottes, or airs. The original orchestral scores have recently attracted a recording: Fernando de Luca has made his own arrangements for solo harpsichord, following a long-standing practice and retaining the essential exuberance of the overtures while inflecting them with refined dynamic shading. Rarer still are the 15 keyboard "Lessons": Italianate suites which bear witness to a transition from the contrapuntal Baroque style to a more galant idiom, under the influence of Italian exemplars such as Corelli and Geminiani, as well as the seductive charms of French culture which captivated the upper end of Georgian society and culture. William Boyce (1711-1779) studied with Greene and followed in the footsteps of his teacher by attaining the same distinguished posts at St Paul's and the Chapel Royal. Again principally known for his church music, he also wrote a collection of overtures which have retained popularity on the fringes of the catalogue. His Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord (published posthumously in London, c. 1779) represent one of the final great expressions of the genre in their refined counterpoint and graceful harmonies. "Harpsichordist Fernando de Luca does a splendid job," remarked Fanfare magazine in a review of the Brilliant Classics album dedicated to the music of Pierre-Claude Foucquet: one of many comprehensive collections through which de Luca has revived lesser-known composers of the eighteenth century. This volume of Boyce and Greene stands as a notable addition to the library.

Sand and Foam by William Knight uses words from Kahlil Gibran's book of the same name. The book is made up of hundreds of aphorisms, each beautiful and thought provoking. With all my music I try to follow the words of the poet and bring out the natu-ral rhythm and beauty of the text. Each aphorism can be taken by itself and offers the reader or listener a chance to reflect. My compilation of the aphorisms is an observation on the creation and fall of mankind: It presents a warning. However, when the apocalypse comes this is not in a calamitous way, what will come will come. Life and death present the beginning and the end but not apart from each other. After we are gone life will carry on and our footsteps betwixt the sand and the foam will be washed away by the sea. Missa pro defunctis by Victor Kioulaphides. Death is as univer-sally inevitable as it is generally misunderstood. Art and music helps- or does it? Vivid imagery and dramatic sounds capture the heartbreak, the devasta-ting loss felt by those left behind. Yet for the one that actually passes, often little is expressed. The Requiem Mass speaks of the eternal peace, the perfect conclusion, the ethereal serenity that is death. And this is the story this score retells. If the listener is left at peace, the music has succeeded. Het Nederlands Bach Consort shows courage in it's productions and does not shy away from experimentation. Artistic directors Heleen Koele (sop-rano) and Sytse Buwalda (counter-tenor) have both earned their spurs as singers and complement each other well with their different areas of expertise. All this leads to a daring approach based on the old foundation of Bach: "As a consort, we feel the urgency to translate our observations of social trends into an artistic form. In doing so, we always draw on the power of music. Raw, tranquil, abrasive, and comforting. In line with current trends, we commission compositions from established and young compo-sers, such as Victor Kioulaphides, Monique Krus, William Knight, and Lotte Pen. We give the resounding past a foundation in the present... Always accessible, never easy." - "Sand and Foam" by William Knight (b.1987) sets selected aphorisms from Kahlil Gibran to music, inviting reflection on humanity's creation, fall, and the quiet inevitability of the end. - In Knight's vision, life and death are inseparable, and after we are gone the traces of our existence are ultimately washed away "betwixt the sand and the foam." - "Missa pro defunctis" by Victor Kioulaphides (b.1961) retells the Requi-em's promise of eternal peace, aiming to leave the listener with serenity rather than spectacle. - Het Nederlands Bach Consort is known for courageous, experimental Bach-rooted programming that translates social trends into accessible, never-easy performances and commissions from both established and emerging composers.

Anton Rubinstein and Alexander Adolfovich Winkler represent two generations of Russian Romanticism, and their sonatas for viola and piano reveal contrasting yet complementary approaches to chamber music and to the expressive potential of the viola. Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894), one of the founders of the Russian conservatory system and a towering figure as pianist, conductor, and composer, approached chamber music with a distinctly European Romantic sensibility. His Sonata for Viola and Piano is notable for it's lyrical breadth and dramatic contrasts. Rubinstein treats the viola not merely as an accompanying voice but as a fully expressive partner to the piano, exploiting it's warm, dark timbre and vocal qualities. The sonata's sweeping melodies, rich harmonic language, and expansive formal design reflect Rubinstein's admiration for composers such as Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms. At the same time, moments of intense lyricism and emotional weight highlight his belief in music as a direct vehicle for personal expression. Alexander Adolfovich Winkler (1865-1935), a student of Sergei Taneyev and a representative of a later Russian school, brings a more refined and introspective character to his Sonata for Viola and Piano. Winkler's writing is marked by structural clarity, contrapuntal skill, and subtle harmonic color. His sonata emphasizes the viola's expressive nuance, often favoring intimate dialogue between the instruments rather than virtuosic display. The work blends Romantic warmth with Classical balance, revealing Winkler's interest in formal discipline and textural transparency. Luca Sanzò is a pupil of Bruno Giuranna. His concert career has taken him to the world's major concert halls, both as a soloist and in collaboration with leading musicians. He has collaborated as principal viola soloist with various orchestras, including those of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, and the early music orchestra Concerto Italiano. He teaches viola at the Conservatorio di S. Cecilia in Rome. He has recorded for Nuova Era, Bottega Discantica, BMG Ricordi, Opus 111, Tactus, Edi Pan, Stradivarius, Naïve, Chandos, and Naxos. Italian pianist Maurizio Paciariello, schooled by Aldo Ciccolini and Paul Badura-Skoda and prizewinner of the ARD Competition, is a champion of rare repertoire and a specialist on period instruments.

Eugenio Visnoviz (1906-1931) belongs to the poignant group of early twentieth-century composers whose promise was cut short by an untimely death. Born in Italy at a moment of intense cultural transformation, Visnoviz grew up in an environment shaped by the late Romantic legacy and the emerging modernist currents that were redefining European music. Although his surviving output is small, it reveals a composer of striking sensitivity and technical awareness. Written at the age of only 17 by Visnoviz, a fragile and tormented musician whose life would end just eight years later, probably by his own hand, the Sonata contains the seeds of genius. Large in scale, in four movements, permeated with a late Romantic spirit but with stylistic features reminiscent of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and especially Brahms (with some harmonic exploration, a legacy of the post-war period), the Sonata presents a language that is both lyrical and dramatic. The program pairs the Sonata, with it's vast proportions, with the light piano aphorisms of the Klavierstücke. Despite his pianistic expertise, Visnoviz the composer did not leave any large-scale works for his instrument, preferring to focus on it's intimate and lyrical dimension. He condenses musical ideas into concise gestures, exploring contrasting moods, textures, and colors. The pieces frequently juxtapose delicate, introspective passages with more rhythmically driven or harmonically bold sections. This new recording is a labor of love by the two musicians Valentina Danelon (violin) and Cristina Santin (piano), who, during their study time, discovered Visnoviz's works in the Visnoviz Collection held by the Tartini Conservatory in Trieste.