This new release from Brilliant Classics features Vivaldi’s complete Cello Sonatas on period instruments. Antonio Vivaldi was one of the first composers to feature the cello, then a relatively new instrument, as a mature solo instrument. This new release contains the six sonatas for cello and basso continuo. Vivaldi displays an astonishing variety and inventiveness in these works, using the instrument’s possibilities to the utmost; these sonatas still offer a serious challenge, both technical and musical, for any professional cellist. Apart from that they are vintage Vivaldi, they also feature an enormous range of emotional extremes, from deep heartfelt sadness to infectious joy. These are performances on period instruments by one of the leading cellists in this field, Francesco Galligioni. Galligioni is the solo cellist of the Venice Baroque Orchestra led by Andrea Marcon, and has recorded for Archiv/DH and other prestigious labels. Federico Guglielmo, the Early Music veteran, inspires his L’Arte dell’Arco to brilliant and passionate playing.

This fascinating release is a unique project: the combination of church organ and percussion instruments performing early Italian keyboard music. This exciting and entertaining music has never been heard performed in this way by renowned organist Luca Scandali and percussionist Mauro Occhionero. The early keyboard music manuscripts not only included organ music for liturgical use, but also collections of dances, such as pavana, gagliarda, ricercada, saltarello, balletto, and canzona. The strong rhythmical element in these works is enhanced on this new recording by the use of percussion instruments as were in use in popular music of that period: drums, rattles, sticks, castagnets, claves, sistrum and such exotic instruments as def, djembe, darbuka, and tammorra. This music by Giovanni Picchi, Marco Cavazzoni, Gioseffo Guami, Christofano Malvezzi, and Giovanni Trabaci is recorded on a historical instrument built in 1551 by Onofrio Zeffirini.

Marco Antonio Mazzone (1556-1626) was a composer, musician, clergyman, and author of several literary works. In his book of Madrigals for four voices he places the text and the music on the same level, the consanguinity of these two arts: “notes are the body of music and words are the soul, and as the soul must be followed and imitated by the body to be more worthy of it, so the notes must follow and imitate the words.” The first Madrigal book contains both secular and sacred songs. The performance by the ensemble “Le vaghe ninfe” follows the performance practice of the period, in which much importance was laid on variety: a cappella, voice and organ, tablature for guitar or harpsichord, alternating voices and instrumental ensemble. When the madrigal is performd with instruments only the music is preceded by the reading of the poem.

John Dowland is without doubt one of the most famous English composers, the foremost exponent of the Golden Age of the Elizabethan Era of the 16th and 17th Century. Dowland’s songs fully reflect the spirit and tastes of the Elizabethan age, with their tendency towards deep melancholy and their pronounced focus on darkness, moonlight and night time. Despite the predominance of grief, sadness, tears and death there are also songs in which a sense of optimism, lightness and joy prevail. This new recording uses the classical guitar as accompanying instrument, played by Adriano Sebastiani. The young soprano Siphiwe McKenzie was twice nominated by the prestigious magazine Opernwelt as “Young Singer of the Year.” She sang in important theatres such as the Wiener Volksoper, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Teatro Regio di Parma, Leipzig State Opera and many more.

Leopold Kozeluch (1747-1818) was born in Bohemia but spent his professional life in Vienna, where he became a famous musician and composer, for a time even eclipsing Mozart’s fame. The sonatas included in this second volume have 3 or 4 movements, of the same scope as Haydn’s sonatas. They are written in the Galante Style, with easy flowing melodies, featuring a highly developed keyboard virtuosity in the abundance of scales, arpeggios, runs in thirds and sixths, repeated notes and tremolos. Jenny Soonjin Kim plays a fortepiano (Kozeluch preferred fortepianos to harpsichords). The first volume of the complete Kozeluch Sonatas was praised by the press for its spontaneity, keen sense of the style and effortless and brilliant technique.

Napoleon Coste (1805-1883) was one of the most important and influential protagonists of the guitar in the 19th century. He was a prodigy, touring Europe in his early years giving highly successful concerts, publishing his own music, inventing new types of guitars and hybrid instruments such as the Heptacode and Decacorde, a musicologist and a highly respected teacher. His most important oeuvre for the guitar are the “25 Etudes de Genre,” concert pieces composed over the whole period of his life, miniatures of great attraction, charm, melodic inventiveness and virtuosity. Also included is the Grande Serenade Op. 30, a multi-movement concert piece to show off the player’s skills and sentiment. This recording is played with great conviction, technical command and apparent joy by the wonderful Flavio Apro, one of Brazil’s foremost guitarists, who has already successfully recorded for Brilliant Classics.

Little is known about the life of Spanish composer Juan Vasquez, fl. 16th century. A skilled and successful composer, he was in the service of the King of Spain. His compositions are mainly secular, in the form of polyphonic madrigals and “Villancicos,” popular songs set for a vocal ensemble of 3 or 4 voices. The Villancicos are based on folk music and traditional texts, peasant melodies brimming with joy, happiness and Spanish vitality. The works on this release have been taken from Vasquez’s two collections, published in 1551 and 1560. This release includes several previously unrecorded items. Spanish Early Music group Vandalia performs this music with infectious enthusiasm. The group consists of 4 excellent vocal soloists, accompanied by the Iberian Harp.

Prominent Italian composer Paolo Ugoletti (b. 1956) describes his music as follows: “It consists of a theatre of sound, narration, fables and slashes of the imagination. It has something in common with the folly of the Baroque universe, the magical union of creativity and harmony: serried groups of notes, rapid developments, the skillful handling of chiaroscuro and snatched phrases all contribute the effects that culminate in the building of climaxes.” This new release presents three concertos by Ugoletti: a violin concerto and two concertos for instruments which seldom get a solo role in classical music, the soprano saxophone and the bass trombone. This is attractive, atmospheric music of great imagination. Marshalled by an experienced Italian conductor, the strings of the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by a multinational array of soloists, including saxophonist Gianni Alberti who was born in Ugoletti’s hometown of Brescia.

Mario Gangi’s work as a performer and a scholar solidified his place as one of the most important Italian guitar figures of the twentieth century. His extensive scholarly work promoted the publication and performances of contemporary works for guitar. These 22 studies deal with every technical aspect of the instrument, from scales and arpeggios to polyphony and use of the thumb. Far from being dry etudes, however, each of these exercises shows a warm musical personality. Master guitarist Andrea Pace performs these works with consummate skill and feeling. His previous recording with Brilliant Classics was very well received and contained works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

This new release features four masterpieces from twentieth century composers: Bartok’s Divertimento, Rota’s Concerto for Strings, Ghedini’s Violin Concerto Il Belprato, and Hindemith’s Trauermusik for viola and strings. While these four works are vastly different in character and emotional nuances, all of the works share the Neo-classical style, in which baroque and classical form attaches itself to modern elements such as atonality and polyrhythms. I Solisti Aquilani are known for their instrumental freedom and imaginative performances. This elite ensemble performs these works with a strong and homogeneous ensemble discipline.

Angelo Gilardino’s unique blend of folk and contemporary earned him a spot among the most important guitar composers of the last fifty years. His works are marked by a Mediterranean glow and a feeling of a love for life. This new release shows the composer’s affinity for Sicily. Especially notable are the first three tracks, which are receiving here their world premiere recording. Gilardino wrote his own illuminating liner notes for this album. His previous recordings have been heralded as “…surreal in nature and open in texture…This is a treat for adventurous pursuers of the guitar concerto on the look-out for refreshing and distinctive contemporary additions to the repertoire.” (MusicWeb)

Over the course of musical history, the Prelude developed from a short, semi-improvised introduction to a larger scale work into a work of art in its own right. Champion of Minimal Music Jeroen van Veen writes about his preludes: “composed in a major and minor keys in the order of Chopin’s Preludes the basic idea was to see if I would limit myself to just a few chords and techniques if I could create different works.” The booklet contains informative liner notes by the composer, himself.

Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 was dedicated to Pope Paul V, and remains one of the great sacred masterpieces of the Baroque era. Monteverdi’s score features a stylistic variety uncommon to that time, grand choral and instrumental, solo motets, two settings of the Magnificat, duets and trios, and more than anything a sense of theater, which hearkens to the composition of Monteverdi’s operas which were being written around the same time. This new recording features authentic instrumentation, and is wonderfully interpreted by the Ensemble San Felice.

Along with Petrali, Davide di Bergamo and Fumagalli, Giovanni Morandi was one of the most influential organ composers of the 18th century. During his time as Master of Music at the cathedral of Senigallia, he wrote a great deal of liturgical works for organ. Morandi’s organ pieces feature brilliant melodies, pianistic writing, and sonic effects which mirrored the Italian opera world that was thriving around Morandi. This particular recording is made on an organ built by Gaetano Callido for the Paris church of SS Simon and Thaddeus in Borca di Cadore, as well as on an 1830 organ built by Antonio and Angelo Amati. Full organ specifications are included in the booklet.

Italian singer, guitarist, and composer Luigi Legnani (1790-1877) gave concerts across Europe, frequently with his friend Niccolo Paganini. Legnani’s compositions continue the style of Mauro Giuliani, who pioneered serious works for the guitar. This release includes original works by Legnani and fantasies on opera melodies for flute and guitar, a brilliantly complimentary combination.