The maestro of Minimalist piano music has done it again, with an album of gentle melodies and soothing sounds from Yann Tiersen. Tiersen’s music is often melancholy and reflective, but there are many lighter and more up tempo numbers on this wide-ranging survey of his output, which is sure to share the popular success of Jeroen van Veen’s many other albums for Brilliant Classics such as his Minimalist Piano Collections. ‘The music needs to speak for itself, and that it does, in this consistently enjoyable collection, I have no reservations in recommending to anyone who enjoys minimalism’ (Fanfare).

Even in the extensive library of little-known composers whose music has found a niche on Brilliant Classics, the name of Bianca Maria Meda (1661-1732/33) counts as obscure. Little is known about Meda other than the scant details printed on the title page of the edition of these motets, printed in 1691: her name; her title: donna (indicating her position as professa in a Benedictine convent); and the name of the monastery where she lived: San Martino del Leano, in Pavia. She probably took holy orders as a teenager, and she was followed by several other members of her family. These motets are sacred but not designed for liturgical use, setting first-person texts (possibly by Meda herself) on themes such as the renunciation of worldly pleasures, an ardent love for Jesus the bridegroom, and requests for intercession by Mary, the Queen of Heaven. The wide range of the vocal lines, as well as the difficulty of the vocal and instrumental parts, indicate that both singers and instrumentalists in Meda's convent were highly skilled. Although the scores can be performed by a mixed voice ensemble, this recording restores them to the kind of performance that would have been heard in the convent of San Martino del Leano, with a light instrumental ensemble accompanying an all-female choir. The album is an absorbing sequel to Capella Artemisia's debut on Brilliant Classics with 'Weep and Rejoice,' also reviving little-known Italian 17th- and 18th- century composers. "The musical range and dramatic impetus present in these performances by Cappella Artemisia is quite extraordinary. [...] Many [names of composers] are obscure and richly deserve this superb reading. [...] The all-female vocalists (predominantly native Italian speakers) work in various permutations and when en masse produce an appealing rich sound [...] Wholeheartedly recommended." (Early Music Today)

A beautiful selection of Ricercares, Fantasias, Gagliardes and Madrigals from Renaissance Italy, played by a lute consort of 4 lutes. In Italian renaissance vocal and instrumental music were not strongly devided: the popular vocal madrigals of the day were often played by instrumental ensembles, in rich polyphonic writing of high complexity. Presented are works by well-known composers (Palestrina, Da Milano) and some by more obscure composers, a lively alteration of bright and festive dances and melancholic, bitter sweet songs on subjects of Love, Life and Death. • Beautifully played by the Quartetto di Liuti da Milano, a joy to listen to! An extensive booklet text in English and Italian, on the historical background of the music, the instruments used and biographies of the artists.

Classical Music

For many collectors in the 1960s, the budget priced Vox Turnabout LPs of the Beethoven Sonatas and Concertos were a revelation, and introduced an amazing young talent to the public.

Alfred Brendel was born in 1931 in Wiesenberg, and won the Concorso Busoni in 1949. He studied with Edwin Fischer, Paul Baumgartner and Edward Steuermann. The Vox Beethoven recordings won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1965, and were praised by critics world-wide.

These early recordings illustrate clearly all the characteristics that would become a hallmark of Brendel's playing. A refusal to fall back on 'flashy' bravura, and the intellectual rigour he brings to the Beethoven sonatas marked him out even in these early recordings as one of the very great pianists of the 20th century. Brendel retired from the musical scene in 2009 at the height of his powers, leaving a recorded legacy without parallel in the music of Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert.

Other information
- 'They are lively, direct, forceful and stylish; and nowhere do they find Brendel wanting in brilliance or facility. He certainly sounds as if he enjoys playing the piano.' Gramophone June 1964
- 'This is a strikingly polished performance of the "Hammerklavier" Sonata' Gramophone April 1962
- 'Principally it is the earlier sonatas which are included here, and these benefit very much from Brendel's strong attack. But the slow movements, too, seem more fully satisfying now than they did in the last box: those of the C major and E flat Sonatas, particularly, take their rightful place as forerunners of Beethoven's adagio style to come. Again Brendel is generous with repeats' Gramophone March 1965
- The sonatas in this present box are most beautifully played. Particularly, perhaps, the quicker and more forthright movements; here there is a splendid rhythmic firmness, helped along by strong accents and by an effective habit of spreading an occasional chord for extra stress (this must have been clone in Beethoven's time, you would think, with harpsichord techniques still in the air). The rhythmic control is especially rewarding in contrapuntal sections of the music, where Brendel's left hand projects the whole music firmly forward' Gramophone February 1965
- Comprehensive booklet essay

The two Passion cantatas featured on this new CD, Hor ch'il Ciel fra densi horrori and Padre, Signore e Dio, were composed for Holy Week at the Borghese Chapel, and comprise miniature oratorios. Although the chapel was relatively small, the instrumental forces used at the time for large-scale oratorios could reach 150 players. Here, the forces are much more modest, but the richness of Pasquini's scoring and the textures he created make for a lush and sumptuous sound. The music is sensual, dramatic and extremely beautiful: Pasquini was a composer of great skill, and his depictions of thunder and lightening as well as stormy seas are truly impressive.

The increasing popularity of consort music and lute songs at the 16th-century English court gave rise to a specific type of song, usually sung by a boy soprano together with a consort of 3 to 5 viols. These ‘consort songs’ flourished particularly during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and her son James I (1603–1625). Especially attractive examples of such songs are gathered and arranged here, and sung by the Dutch soprano Klaartje van Veldhoven, who specializes in early and Baroque music, having regularly sung as a soloist with many of Europe’s foremost early-music ensembles and conductors such as Sigiswald Kuijken and Ton Koopman. This is the fourth album on Brilliant Classics by the Dutch-based recorder quintet Seldom Sene. Having come from all over Europe to study at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, they draw upon the particularly rich performing tradition for recorder music established in that country during the 1960s by the late Frans Bruggen. In fact they take their name from the last track on this album, Seldom Sene by Tye: a short work full of beauty, precision and striking rhythmic complexity that the musicians felt captured the essence of their vision, which is to perform unique and compelling repertoire at a standard that is seldom seen and heard.

Classical Music

Conductor, virtuoso pianist, founder of the St Petersburg Conservatory and composer of solo works, symphonies and operas, Anton Rubinstein (1829–1894) is a key figure in Russian musical culture and achieved international celebrity during his lifetime. In the midst of a busy world touring schedule, he also found time to be composition teacher to Tchaikovsky. Often only selected pieces from Rubinstein’s piano four-hands repertoire are performed, but in a rare feat, Duo Pianistico di Firenze take on the full 20 movements of the epic suite Bal Costumé. Excluding the opening and closing movements, the Suite is a musical depiction of the fashionable masked balls frequented by the elite. The elaborate costumes, the dancing and, in particular, the interaction between two characters, one male and the other female are represented in the music. Each movement references different historical periods from the 12th to the 18th century and although largely romantic in style, the movements nod to their corresponding era with baroque inflections. Toréador et Andalouse, with its distinctly Spanish feel, is the most famous movement and is often performed as a stand-alone piece. The movement is fast-paced and concise, complimented by a memorable melody-line sprinkled with chromaticisms. Although Bal Costumé can work as a collection of individual pieces, the effect is most profound when appreciated as a whole, transporting the listener to Rubinstein’s musical plane. The Introduction sets the scene in a bold symphonic mood, then moves through folk-songs, Arabian dances and a military parade before reaching the climatic final movement: Danses. This extravagant finale begins as a Great Waltz becoming a jubilant Polka and then a whirling Galop. Coupled with the recording of Rubinstein’s sonatas and Characteristic Pieces that launched this series (Rubinstein: Music for Piano 4 Hands Volume 1 BC95016), this new release is unique in its dedication to the composer and his repertoire. Admired by Mendelssohn, Schonberg, Rachmaninov and Chopin, friends with Liszt and Saint-Saëns and adored by fans around the globe, Rubinstein has had a monumental impact on Russian musical traditions and education. The breadth and depth of his music deserves to be heard today.

The industrious Simone Stella has produced critically acclaimed complete sets of keyboard music by Buxtehude, Bohm, Reincken, Walther, Froberger and Pachelbel. Now he ventures further off the beaten track with the complete surviving organ music of Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712), a Leipzig-born musician long known to posterity almost exclusively as the first and formative teacher of the prodigious George Frideric Handel. Over the course of Handel’s teenage years he became a proficient violinist and organist as well as composer, thanks to the efforts of Zachow, whose library included much of the best music then published in Europe. His own music has remained undeservedly in the shadows, for Zachow can be counted among the most distinguished and original composers of keyboard music in the generation before J.S. Bach. There are three- and four-voice chorale settings and variations, devotional in spirit but full of lively contrasts. More ambitious are the chorale fugues and partitas, which demonstrate considerable ingenuity on Zachow’s part as he embeds the old themes within intricate textures while maintaining a vividly drawn musical line. Most interesting in this respect are the 12 variations on Jesu meine Freude, which inevitable invite and by no means suffer from comparison with Bach’s motet. Zachow’s music evidently exploits the untempered tuning and the bright timbres of the instruments of his day, which Simone Stella has respected in his choice of a modern Pinchi organ at the Auditorium Varrone (former church of San Giorgio) in Rieti. With only a single rival recording available (at full price), Simone Stella’s new set commends itself to all collectors of Baroque organ music.

Brilliant Classics proudly presents the brand-new 5-album sets series: QUINTESSENCE, attractively priced compact box sets containing essential core classical repertoire in outstanding performances. Aimed at attracting both the discerning classical connoisseur and the classical newcomer it presents the pillars of classical music: Beethoven complete symphonies, Bach Passions, Schubert symphonies, Mozart piano sonatas, Telemann Tafelmusik, Vivaldi 4 Seasons plus concertos, Shostakovich string quartets, Dvorak symphonies, Grieg Lyric Pieces, and Haydn London Symphonies. World class performers include Staatskapelle Dresden with Herbert Blomstedt, Staatskapelle Berlin with Otmar Suitner, Klara Wurtz, Hakon Austbo, Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra with Adam Fischer, Rubio Quartet and others. The fresh and colorful artwork is eye-catching while the booklet contains liner notes in English. A new series at an unbeatable price! The present installment features Edvard Grieg’s complete lyric pieces and piano music, performed by Hakon Austbo.

GIUSTINI Keyboard Sonatas: Nos. 1–12 • Andrea Coen (fp) • BRILLIANT 94021 (3 CDs: 176:32)


Lodovico Giustini (1685–1743) was born in the same year as Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti. But, whereas their music has remained firmly entrenched in many a musician’s active repertoire, Giustini’s has long faded into musical oblivion. He is, perhaps, best known as the composer of the works here, the 12 Sonate da Cimbalo di piano e forte, op. 1. These works have their importance, not only in their odd mixtures of Baroque traits and those of the then-developing g alant style, but also because they are the first known compositions written expressly for the fortepiano rather than the harpsichord—a distinction that was unique to them for decades to come, as they were some of the only works specifically designated for the instrument. The sonatas are similar to Baroque keyboard suites with alternating movements of slow and fast sections—mostly made up of dance-movements, though sometimes having movements classified by tempo markings. In addition, these works have some quirky in-between stylistic traits ranging from simple harmonies, florid figuration, and small, elegant phrases of the cantabiles to the more contrapuntally elaborate and “endless” melodic invention of the following movements (see for example the 12th sonata). Here and there, things resonate in one’s ear, allowing one to catch a glimpse of certain characteristics that were yet to come, but one never loses sight, completely, of the composer’s Baroque heritage. Andrea Coen, an organist, harpsichordist, and fortepianist, who has studied with such distinguished artists as Ton Koopman and Alan Curtis, and has collaborated with such figures as Christopher Hogwood and Monica Huggett, is a fine advocate for this music. He brings good taste and the elegance required for this music, while also maintaining a fine sense of the quirky rhythms and dramatic side (to fine effect, for example, in the opening movement of the first sonata). He never plays down those effects that Giustini specifically asks for in these works—those of dynamics, and specifically, the sudden contrasts from one extreme to the other. Though I think that this recording would appeal mostly to those interested in early keyboard music, at the bargain price (running from around $14 to $17 in my searches) for these three CDs, there’s no reason—at least financially—for one to stop oneself from giving this music a chance.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Assistant leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra since 2016, Fabrizio Falasca studied with Salvatore Accardo at the Walter Stauffer Academy and has subsequently played chamber music with him on many occasions. He has made concerto appearances across Europe and in the USA, China and South America, as well as making appearances as leader of the Suisse Romande and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, among others. For his debut on Brilliant Classics, Fabrizio Falasca has chosen to record the two sonatas by his countryman Ferruccio Busoni. They form separate landmarks in Busoni's career despite their relatively close opus numbers. Adolf Brodsky accepted the dedication of the First Sonata Op.29 from the 24-year-old Busoni despite being the pre-eminent German soloist of his day; but then the composer had a prodigious childhood behind him and could already be counted an experienced composer - as one may hear from the Sonata's sophisticated translation of sonata form and it's references to the German musical tradition from Bach and Mozart onwards. Also from this early period but much less familiar is the collection of four graceful Bagatelles which Busoni dedicated to the seven-year-old Egon Petri, who would become, as a pianist, the composer's foremost disciple and interpreter on record. Both works, however, shrink somewhat beside the mastery of the Second Sonata which Busoni completed in 1898 shortly before the move to Berlin where, as a teacher, he would exercise a decisive influence over a generation of composers and performers. The Sonata opens with a serene and intensely lyrical slow movement, followed by a brief and Beethovenian bridge to the keystone of the sonata, a spacious set of six variations on a Bach chorale. Here is all the depth of feeling, dark humour and harmonic ambiguity that underpin Busoni's mature style.

There is much to commend this set and it would be well worth seeking out even at three times the price. As can be seen, the cast is a star-studded group of fine singers and instrumentalists who are very much a part of the early music business. Also it should be noted that the chorus from Kings College Cambridge is an all male choir and therefore has boys on the top part, a rarity amongst versions elsewhere. These boys are excellent as you would expect and their sound seems just right, especially in the chorales. Although I must admit that the ladies of the Scholars have such an unimpeachably pure tone that it is almost impossible to tell them apart from the boys... I can only repeat what I wrote above, that if you like the modern approach to Bach on original instruments this will prove to be a very enjoyable and enriching recording.

-- Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International

Brilliant Classics proudly presents the brand-new 5-album sets series: QUINTESSENCE, attractively priced compact box sets containing essential core classical repertoire in outstanding performances. Aimed at attracting both the discerning classical connoisseur and the classical newcomer it presents the pillars of classical music: Bach Famous Cantatas, Dvorák Complete Concertos and Symphonic Poems. Mozart Complete Wind Concertos and Serenades, Beethoven Complete Violin Sonatas and Cello Sonatas and Sibelius Complete Symphonies and Symphonic Poems. World class performers include Staatskapelle Dresden with Herbert Blomstedt, Netherlands Bach Collegium with Pieter Jan Leusink, Klára Würtz, Timora Rosler, Kristóf Baráti, Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester with Kurt Sanderling and others. The fresh and colorful artwork is eye-catching while the booklet contains liner notes in English. A new series at an unbeatable price! The present release features famous cantatas by J. S. Bach, performed by the Holland Boys Choir, the Netherlands Bach Collegium, and an array of stunning soloists.