Johann Ernst, the third-born son of Johanna Sophia Siefer and Johann Bernhard Bach, was a musician and organist at the Georgenkirche in Eisenach. He was taught first by his father and then, from January 1737 in Leipzig by his uncle and godfather Johann Sebastian Bach, when he moved there to attend the Thomasschule and later to study law. He was forced to abandon his studies there in 1741 upon being called back to Eisenach to help his ill father, and though Ernst missed the musical activity at Leipzig he was persuaded by Johann Sebastian to remain by his father's side. He eventually succeeded him in the organist post at Eisenach in 1749. J.E. Bach's 6 Sonatas for fortepiano & violin are among the few works the composer managed to have published during his lifetime: the first three in 1770 and the remainder in 1772. Although critics deemed them to be 'too modern', they were received so well by the public that a new edition was released in 1775. Their title does not bear the designation 'with violin accompaniment' typical of the time but rather 'sonatas for fortepiano and a violin': the two instruments are afforded equal importance. In the final three sonatas, the structures become more complex and reveal inspiration from early proponents of classicism like C.P.E. Bach. Although Johann Ernst was known as an organist and harpsichordist, the writing in the fast movements and the lyricism of the slow sections, as well as his inclusion of dynamic markings, suggest that these works were designed for the newly invented fortepiano. All six sonatas are divided into three movements, alternating fast-slow-fast in line with Italian symphonic style. Other information: - Recorded July 2023, Capranica, Italy - Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by the artists, as well as their�biographies - Susanna Pisana plays a violin by Bernardo Calcagni (c.1740); Maurizio Paciariello plays a fortepiano built by Ugo Casiglia, after a model by Anton Walter (1798) - Johann Ernst Bach (1722-1777) was a distinguished composer of the Bach musical dynasty, though less recognized than his famous relatives. As the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach's half-brother, he inherited a legacy of musical genius. In his early life, Bach studied at the Lateinschule in Eisenach from 1732 to 1735. On 16 January 1737 he entered the Thomasschule in Leipzig, where he then became a pupil of his uncle Johann Sebastian Bach. Being a student of J.S Bach, he assisted his uncle in copying his music. Later he became Hofkapellmeister in Eisenach. - Johann Ernst's compositions, spanning vocal works, chamber music, and keyboard pieces, shows his innovative approach, blending the Baroque style of his family with emerging Classical elements. - This new recording presents 6 sonatas for violin and fortepiano. The writing of the fast movements and the cantabile of the slow ones, as well as the presence of dynamic indications, suggest that these works are aimed at the new piano, not the harpsichord. - Played by Maurizio Paciariello and Susanna Pisana.

First recordings of unpublished instrumental works by a master of verismo. Several recent albums on Brilliant Classics have expanded our understanding of Francesco Cilea beyond his status as the composer of L'Arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur. His piano music, chamber music and songs all bear witness to a quintessentially Italian voice and aesthetic philosophy. Cilea abandoned writing for the stage after the failure of his opera Gloria in 1907, despite the presence of Toscanini in the pit, and his lyric gifts cut against the grain of the prevailing trends of modernism. He turned to teaching, but he did not entirely abandon composition. Instead, he turned back to instrumental music, and the works on this album are among the fruits of this revived inspiration. Apart from Cilea's celebrated melodic vein, the Suite for Violin and the Piccola Suite for Orchestra reveal his (perhaps un-Italian) talent for counterpoint, as well as an approach to tonal harmony that reflects his awareness of innovation, especially among French composers of the period. Cilea orchestrated the Suite in 1946 from his Suite for violin and piano of nine years earlier. The four brief movements are cast in a neoclassical vein, enclosing an elegant minuet followed by an Andante sostenuto in the very un-classical key of C sharp minor. The Piccola Suite (1931) more thoroughly absorbs the idioms of French music of the period such as the early works of Messiaen, with it's modal harmony, whole-tone scales and sequences of seventh and ninth chords: again, far from what we would expect from the composer of Adriana Lecouvreur. The arrangement, revision and scoring of the Concerto in D major for cello by Leonardo Leo (written in 1737) bears witness to Cilea's deep connection with the Conservatoire in Naples where he had studied and where he became director until his retirement in 1935. It's generous orchestration, and yet respect for the 18th-century idiom of the writing, makes an intriguing and almost unknown parallel to the Cello Concerto in D recomposed by Schoenberg in 1931 after a 1746 work by Georg Matthias Monn. Completing this unique survey of Cilea's output is a modern work, the first recording of the Canto dell'amore by Raffaele Cacciola, born in 1965. The style of this sinfonia concertante in all but name is a homage to the example of Cilea: tonally unpredictable, yet always melodic. These Milanese musicians draw out it's intrinsically Italian character in the tradition of Cilea's verismo. - Italian composer Francesco Cilea (1866-1950) is best known for his operas, particularly "Adriana Lecouvreur." However, his contributions to instrumental music should not be overlooked. Though less renowned than his operatic output, Cilea's instrumental works exhibit a melodic richness and emotional depth characteristic of the Romantic era. - Cilea's orchestral works show his mastery of lyrical themes and dramatic expression. His works are imbued with a sense of Italianate warmth and passion, reflecting the composer's deep connection to his native land. - This new recording presents the Suite for Violin & Orchestra, Il Canto dell'Amore, Cilea's arrangement of a Cello Concerto by Leonardo Leo and the Piccola Suite for Cello & Orchestra. - Played by one of the foremost cellists of Italy, Enrico Bronzi, violinist Massimo Quarta, and the Virtuosi Della Scala, conducted by Filippo Arlia.

This first recording of a selection of Gervais-Francois Couperin's keyboard works aims to give an overview of the youngest member of the Couperin family with works that have survived to the present day. The son of Armand-Louis Couperin (1727-1789), to whom Brilliant Records has also dedicated a release featuring his complete harpsichord works (see BC 95459), G.-F. Couperin (1759-1826) is the last known musician in the line of the greatest French musical dynasty of it's time. The selection of pieces presented here is meant to demonstrate his compositional exploration of the fortepiano. The four most employed forms in Couperin's keyboard oeuvre are the variations, the sonata, the rondo, and the piece in free form. This programme features the most important examples of these four types. The Two Sonatas Op.1, issued in 1788, were most probably intended to officially present the young composer to the French connoisseurs. They were conceived pour le clavecin ou forte-piano, with accompaniment of violin and cello ad libitum. Both sonatas consist of three movements, the first one in a large sonata form. A slower movement follows, the one in the second sonata consisting of a theme with 7 variations. A final movement in rondo form closes both sonatas. Stylistically, they are relatively close to other sonatas of the time, although they feature quasi-symphonic writing in the first movements. The highly virtuosic style exemplified in the two Sonatas Op.1 becomes even more evident in two single pieces, strictly related to one another: Les Incroyables Op.6 and Les Merveilleuses Op.7. The two pieces refer to adherents of a fashion trend highly favoured by the aristocracy in Paris during the French Directory (1795-99). The men were called Incroyables ("incredible") and the women Merveilleuses ("marvelous"), and they greeted the new regime with an outbreak of luxury, decadence, even silliness, perhaps as a reaction to the Terror period. The two pieces are in free form, with a ritornello in the first, shorter part. However, this form actually owes much to the rondo, which Couperin had already proved to master, both in his sonatas and in a short individual Rondo presented here, published in the Journal de Clavecin in 1782. This short and elegant piece, which may possibly be the first piece ever published by Couperin, is the closest one to the classical period, with it's almost-Viennese flavour. Two sets of variations both published in 1790, together with the slow movement of the Sonata Op.1 No.2, show Couperin's adeptness with this genre. It is worth noting that while the first set is based on one of the most emblematic of Revolutionary songs, 'Ah! Ca ira', the second is based on a royalist song, the Complainte bearnoise, a troubadour's protestations at King Louis XVI being housed in the Palais de Tuileries at the beginning of the revolution. Other information: - Recorded September 2023, Monte Compatri, Italy - Booklet in English contains liner notes by the artist, as well as his biography - Simone PIerini plays an original fortepiano by J. Haselmann (c.1800-10), tuned to A=430 Hz in the Young 1 temperament (1800) - This premiere recording of a selection of Gervais-Francois Couperin's works aims to give an overview of the latest member of the Couperin family whose works has survived to the present day. Son of Armand-Louis Couperin (1727-1789), Gervais-Francois Couperin (1759-1826) was the latest known musician of the greatest French musical dynasty of the time. He was a highly esteemed composer and musician, who played for Napoleon, and was organist of several important Churches in Paris (Saint-Gervais, St. Sulpice and others). - The four most employed forms in Couperin's keyboard oeuvre are the variations, the sonata, the rondo, and the piece in free form, each of which is represented in this new recording. The highly virtuosic style of the two sonatas Op.1 becomes even evident in Les Incroyables Op.6, and Les Merveilleuses Op.7. The two pieces refer to the followers of a fashion highly favoured by the aristocracy in Paris during the French Directory (1795-1799). The followers of this new fashion, the Incroyables (i. e., the "incredibles") as concerns men, the Merveilleuses (the "marvelous women") for the women, greeted the new regime with an outbreak of luxury, decadence, and even silliness. - Played on the fortepiano 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 and the complete piano sonatas by Helene de Montgeroult were very positively received by the press. Classic FM nominated him as one of the 30 best musicians under 30 in 2024.

A unique combination on record of chamber music by the Swiss composer, surveying the development of his voice and career through the medium of the flute. One of music's late starters, Martin grew up as the tenth child of a Swiss pastor and his wife, surrounded by the music of Bach and Mozart. Only once Ernest Ansermet had founded the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande in 1918 did the 28-year-old Martin begin to discover and become captivated by the sensuality of Debussy and Ravel, and this stylistic dichotomy continued to play out in his own music. Among the most polished and individual of his early works is the set of four love-sonnets composed in 1921 to poems by the 16th-century balladeer Pierre de Ronsard. Already the influence of modernism is apparent on the angular and even ascetic shape of Martin's melodic invention, and yet a gentle, atmospheric mood pervades the cycle; this, too, would become a hallmark of his sound-world. In 1939, Martin began what would become a series of instrumental ballades with the competition piece which is still his best-known work for flute. In the same year, he followed it up with a Ballade for alto saxophone which he then arranged for flute; both works are fine examples of Martin's ability to reconcile serialism with tonality. A neoclassical (or rather, neo-Baroque) spirit infuses the Sonata da Chiesa of 1940 with solemn, Protestant gravity, yet the flute part still sings with the lyricism of the early Sonnets. From after the war, the Trois Chants de Noel (1947) distil the mystery of Christmas into three brief settings of texts by the Swiss poet Albert Rudhardt (1894-1944). A trio of Minnelieder (1961) masterfully strips Martin's language to the bone in a distinctive 'late style', where flute and guitar support and punctuate the sung line with an archaically flavoured modernity. Almost all these works have attracted no more than one or two recordings, but gathered together by these expert Italian musicians, they paint a new and compelling portrait of Martin as a spiritually engaged modernist. - Frank Martin (1890-1974) was a Swiss composer, who lived for most of his life in The Netherlands. Hs oeuvre spans orchestral works, oratorios, and chamber music. Martin's style defies easy categorization, blending elements of neoclassicism, serialism, and Gregorian chant. His vocal works reflect his spiritual depth and musical mastery. - Frank Martin wrote a not a large but a significant number of works for flute, including the Ballade for flute and piano (1939), the Deuxieme Ballade for flute and piano (1939) and the Church Sonata for flute and organ (1941). Of these three, only the Ballade is an original work for flute, as the Deuxieme Ballade and the Church Sonata are the author's transcriptions of earlier scores. Also included in this new recording are works for soprano and instrumental ensemble, featuring flute, oboe, harp, viola and cello. - A fascinating collection of a highly original voice in 20th century music! - Played by Daniele Ruggieri, Monica Bacelli and several excellent Italian instrumentalists.

In the 19th century, the first violin section in Dutch orchestras often contained amateur players. In fact, even the "orchestra associations" in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam were not composed entirely of professional musicians, with a significant number of members being amateurs. This mixed line-up of musicians and a strong leaning towards German and French composers had a profound effect on the choice of repertoire, and a marked preference developed for programmes containing a large number of short and contrasting pieces. This explains the success of the overture, a genre that included both the compressed piece of orchestral foreplay to an opera as well as independent pieces. Dutch overtures differ from those of foreign origin in that they tend generally to be mild in tone and lacking in theatricality. The orchestra often has a transparent sound quality, the major sources of inspiration being Weber, Mendelssohn and Boieldieu. Two fine examples are the two overtures on this album by Johannes van Bree (1801-1857). His output features four independent orchestral overtures, including this one in B minor. Van Bree also composed a number of operas, including Le Bandit, whose overture contains obvious influences from Weber's overtures. On the other hand, the overture in B minor is closer to the French opera overtures of Cherubini and Boieldieu. Johannes Verhulst (1816-1891) was a friend of Robert and Clara Schumann and his music was acclaimed by Mendelssohn. Judging by his overture to Vondel's play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel he had listened carefully to Mendelssohn's 'Hebrides' overture. A series of robust brass chords in a punctuated rhythm also recalls a passage from Schumann's First Symphony. When Johan Wagenaar (1862-1941) embarked on his career, the music of his German contemporaries still played an important role in symphonic concerts, and German influence in Wagenaar's music pervades his entire symphonic oeuvre, which includes a number of overtures. Frithjof's Meerfahrt (Op.5) is Wagenaar's first orchestral work, written around 1884. The later Concert Overture Op.11 'Fruhlingsgewalt' seems to have been highly coloured by the idyllic nature paintings of Mendelssohn and is striking in it's enormous contrasts in tempo and instrumentation. Even more than Wagenaar, Jan van Gilse (1881-1944) was a product of the conservative faction in German music in the decade around 1900. Shortly before the turn of the century he studied at the conservatory in Cologne under Franz Wullner, also Willem Mengelberg's teacher ten years earlier. Van Gilse's Concert Overture in C minor was written at the end of his conservatory studies. The music begins in a minor key and ends in the major, developing, in Beethovian terms, from darkness to the light. Despite episodes of turbulence in his music, it always displays an often suppressed but sometimes overt longing for liberation and fulfilment. Other information: - Recorded August 1996, August 1997, June 1998, Hilversum, Netherlands - Trilingual Booklet in English, German and Dutch contains liner notes by Emanuel Overbeeke - A highly enjoyable selection of orchestral Overtures by Dutch composers from the Romantic Era. - Presented are Overtures by Johannes van Bree, Johan Wagenaar, Johannes Verhulst and Jan van Gilse. Their works are inspired by the great examples of romantic overtures by Mendelssohn, Von Weber and Schumann: strong thematic characterization, passionate feelings, tone painting and brilliant orchestration: a feast of orchestral virtuosity! - Played by the Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by maestro Jac van Steen, a champion of neglected orchestral music of the 19th century. - Reissue from the NM Classics catalogue, the label for Music from the Netherlands.

The 'grande dame of the guitar' remembered through a new recording of her own music. Maria Luisa Anido (1907-1996) was born in Argentina and grew up in a household where the guitar was central. Her father brought home many of the great performers, whom she heard and who heard her. Miguel Llobet, himself a student of Tarrega, became one of her early teachers, though the most important was Domingo Prat. She met Andres Segovia after one of his concerts when she was about 10 and he was in his early 20s, and her own recordings rival those of Segovia's for both technical finesse and a natural feeling for the colours and rhythms of the Spanish guitar tradition. Cinzia Milani remarks, in an introduction to her new recording of Anido's own compositions, that 'there are moments when the technical essence of Anido's handing of the fretboard, especially in the higher registers, is so particular that one has the impression of knowing exactly what her hands were like.' Milani concludes her album with Anido's first and perhaps best-known piece, the Barcarola which she composed at the age of 20. Llobet lavished well-earned praise on her in response: 'I have read and played your Barcarola; the voices are carried magnificently with admirable taste of their natural characteristics; the tone colours are perfect. Bravo, very well done.' This is only the second album ever dedicated to Anido's music, making Cinzia Milani's recording a landmark contribution to guitar music on record, and to the extensive guitar library on Brilliant Classics. The most substantial collection here is a sequence of nine Impresiones Argentinas, which effectively form a survey of the folk music of her native land. Individual movements take up Indian, mestizo, pampan and North-western Creole melodies and rhythms. The Impresiones Argentinas are marvellously relaxed and earthy pieces, speaking unaffectedly of everyday experience, and no wonder that Anido charmed Soviet audiences with them during her 1960s tours, before settling for a while in Cuba. The Aire Norte�o and Cancion del Yucatan equally draw on south-American roots, while a trio of Preludios Nostalgicos belong to the repertoire of many modern guitarists. Anido was a major figure on the landscape of the 20th-century guitar, and Cinzia Milani has made a devoted tribute to her art. - Maria Luisa Anido (1907-1996) was born in Moron, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied guitar with Domingo Prat in Argentina and Miguel Llobet in Spain. From 1925, she frequently performed in Argentina together with Llobet. Her first London appearance was in 1952 at the Wigmore Hall, and she spent several years in the 1960s performing and teaching in Russia. Later she became professor at the conservatory of Buenos Aires. By the mid-1980s she moved to Spain, where she spent the rest of her life. - Maria Luisa Anido has been one of the few female composer-performers of her time. Her works for guitar, exquisite miniatures, are inspired by the rich folklore and music of her native Argentina. - Played with winning affection by Cinzia Milani, one of the foremost female guitarists of today, who has already issued a Tribute to Ida Presti, and Teresa de Rogatis, issued on Brilliant Classics.

As an old man Charles Koechlin wrote: "One of the most dreadful diseases of our day is the desire to be modern", but he was no starchy conservative. Far from it, in fact - Koechlin counted among his friends virtually all the leading French musicians of his day, old and young, adventurous and less so, and acknowledged and even assimilated all the trends. He was a big fan of the burgeoning Hollywood film industry - witness the many works or movements named after popular actresses - and became president of the Popular Music Federation in France.

He also wrote a fair bit for Adolphe Sax's recently-invented instrument, praising it in his academic writing as "a timbre that no other can replace". All such solo works in his corpus are brought together on this new bargain-priced triple CD from Brilliant Classics, one of a wave of recent releases featuring this most underrated of French composers' music.

In fact, although this set has much to recommend it musically, it is not quite the bargain it might have been. For one thing, there is a fair amount of 'recycling', from the piano and chamber orchestra versions of the two saxophone sonatinas to the Sept Pièces, originally intended for horn. More importantly, though, the array of recording dates and venues has thrown up some inconsistencies in sound quality. There is actually quite severe distortion towards the end of the Wind Septet, where the microphones just cannot cope with a combination of volume and high pitches. There is similar loss at the end of op.165bis, and a small amount in the flute during Epitaphe. Timpani's engineers, on their virtually simultaneous recording of the Septet (1C1193), show Brilliant how it should be done.

On the whole, however, considering that this release can be found on the internet, by the alert shopper, for around the same price as a single Naxos disc, these audio issues, once noted, may be worth disregarding for access to Koechlin's marvellous music, certainly until new recordings come along. After all, the aforementioned distortion only affects a few minutes' worth of music, and sound quality of the first two CDs is uniformly impressive. Capturing well both saxophone and piano is no simple task.

In any case, it is hard to imagine anyone not liking Koechlin's music, whether for saxophone or any other instruments: all of the late-period pieces heard here are immensely melodic and idiomatic, uncomplicated on the surface yet expressive of a considered intelligence that writes for listeners and performers as well as self. In this way he can be compared with Saint-Saëns, to whom he came to bear a physical likeness in later years - though with a much more impressive beard.

There are many highlights, such as the 24 Duos, which combine SATB instruments in various pairings. These should be required study for all saxophonists, yet they are far superior to mere didactics. Ditto the 15 Etudes, which are a collection of beautiful cameos rather than studies in the more academic sense. The 7 Pieces are even more strikingly memorable, like Koechlin's most popular Epitaphe: nostalgic, sometimes haunting works that are however "full of the visionary hope that leads to optimism, energy and joy as vital antidotes to the problems of everyday life", as annotator Robert Orledge aptly sums up the composer's music. It is worth noting that, unlike some, nowhere in any of these works does Koechlin make use of the platitudes and clichés of the jazz instrument.

As the CD cover implies, star of the show on these three discs is saxophonist David Brutti, who appears as soloist, as one half of the Duo Disecheis, a quarter of the Atem Saxophone Quartet and even in the ensemble of the Orchestra Città Aperta. His tonal colourings are lustrous and luxurious, his phrasing natural and gratifying. Running a close second is Filippo Farinelli, pianist or conductor on numerous tracks. The booklet notes are in English only, but informative and well written, supplemented by detailed biographies of all performers.

Of Koechlin - whose Alsace-originating name is pronounced as if spelt Kéclin (rhyming with French 'né' and nasal 'vin') - British critic Wilfrid Mellers wrote that he counts "among the very select number of contemporary composers who really matter". For 1942 this was a particularly prescient remark, and it is high time he was allowed to take his rightful place in the pantheon alongside Fauré, Debussy, Ravel and Saint-Saëns.

– Byzantion, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

This sublime recording of Henri Duparc's complete m�lodies spans the entirety of the composer's musical career - a career tragically cut short by mental illness. Duparc was plagued by nervousness, and his frequent changes of opinion or of heart led him to destroy most of the music he composed, leaving relatively little to posterity. What we do have are a collection of songs wonderfully varied in style and inspiration, balancing the composer's French roots with the German influences that were so often predominant in his oeuvre. From the intensely Wagnerian 'Au Pays o� se fait la guerre' to the distinctly Gounodian 'S�r�nade'; from the drama of the 'Chanson triste' to the seductive yearning of the 'S�r�nade florentine'; from the feverish 'Le Manoir de Rosemonde' to the solemn and moving 'Lamento' -these settings of more than a dozen different poets carry us enthrallingly through Duparc's ever-changing poetic universe. Andrea Mastroni and Mattia Ometto have an established track record in performing 19th-century chamber music together, particularly Schubert Lieder. 'Golden-touch' pianist Ometto (American Record Guide) also recorded the complete m�lodies of C�sar Franck for Brilliant Classics in 2013. Bass Andrea Mastroni is one of the foremost young vocalists of Italy, he performed at world famous stages like La Scala Milano, La Fenice, Bayerische Staatsoper, Theatre de Champs-Elys�es, Opera National de Paris. He is expertly seconded by pianist Mattia Ometto, a well known soloist, here in the role of a sympathetic duo partner.

Casella was, if it isn’t a contradiction in terms, a kind of neoclassical Romantic; of sufficient pianistic skill that he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 13 and thus perhaps escaped from the pressure to plough the furrow of operatic verismo already so well tilled by his countrymen. Instead he made his mark as a composer of abstract, instrumental music such as these two cello sonatas.

The First Sonata, like his other youthful compositions, reveals various stylistic influences: there are hints of Debussy, Mahler and Strauss, as well as traces of what Casella had learnt from Fauré. Even in these early works, however, the composer’s own personality comes across clearly in the search for what was new and hitherto unexplored ground. The Second Sonata reveals a change in compositional approach. In fact, it bears witness to his interest in a style that he defined as ‘baroque in its monumentality’. With its four movements it is more extensive, with dynamics based on deep contrasts between passages that are passionate and vigorous, and others in which the atmosphere is quietly intimate. The same rhythmic energy returns in the Tarantella, composed in 1929 along with the Notturno for violin and piano, transcribed by Luigi Silva in 1931, and ultimately reworked by Casella for cello and orchestra in 1934.

Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro are young Italian musicians who regularly play together in a fruitful artistic partnership that has won them international recognition and numerous awards.

Other information:
- Recorded in 2013.
- The music of Alfredo Casella is experiencing a true revival: labels like Chandos and Naxos issue his large scale orchestral works to great critical and public acclaim, and this new recording presents his wonderful works for cello and piano.
- Casella’s musical language is often called “Neoclassical”: clear structures, open and strong melodic lines, vibrant and sharply edged rhythms, music of great vitality and power.
- The cello sonatas receive a passionate and convincing performance by two young Italians, Andrea Favalessa and Maria Semeraro, a duo already for many years, having won several international prizes at chamber music competitions.
- Booklet includes notes on the music by Maria Semeraro.

Classical Music

Chopin's beloved waltzes present a creative challenge for pianists, on the one hand presenting the option to stay on the surface where the light glimmers bathed in the beautiful melodies that Chopin wrote, or to delve into the still accessible sophistication and exquisite piano-isms that bubble underneath the surfaces of these waltzes written throughout Chopin's brief life. The Italian pianist Alessandro Deljavan's artistry and eloquence lead him to the deeper depths of Chopin in these compelling performances that add to his already wide ranging and still young discography.

This stirring new CD sets Gregorian, Ambrosian chant and two episodes from the life of St Agnes, creating a musical memorial to female victims of violence and abuse, raising a plea for freedom, respect and peace to be established in today's world. Poems and texts by Tehlia Lieberman and Marthe Link, read in English, punctuate the chants, and there are moving accounts by women raped in Central Africa and girls forced to enter homes for single mothers and give up their children. - Recording made in 2011, A moving and powerful program of the old and new, dealing with an important and shocking issue that is still with us in the 21st century.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968) may still be regarded primarily as a composer for guitar, best known through his working partnership with Andres Segovia, but Brilliant Classics has illuminated other sides to this prolific musician through first recordings and modern rediscoveries of his piano music (BC94811) and his songs, most notably his settings of Shakespeare (BC95548). Now the focus falls on his chamber music, with these new studio recordings of suites, sonatas, tone-poems and fantasies. From the piquant miniatures of the two Signorine Op.10 to the neoclassically economical Suite 508 Op.170, all the works here abound in the bitter-sweet harmonies and soaring melodic rapture which gave a distinctive flavour to Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music throughout his long career. Song without words is another thread to his output, first encountered here in the Tre canti all’aria aperta from 1919. Tuscan folksong and medieval troubadour tradition are spiced with Bartokian harmony in a fresh and appealing combination. The writing for the string instruments is reliably extrovert and idiomatic, influenced by the music’s dedicatees and first performers such as Jascha Heifetz, Albert Spalding and Adila Fachiri, grandniece of Joseph Joachim. Notturno Adriatico is a tranquil, dream-like tone-picture with a tenuous hold on the repertoire, like the virtuoso flourish of Exotica: A Rhapsody of the South Seas. However, the extensive fantasy on themes from Donizetti’s La fille du regiment is a substantial rarity which deserves much wider currency. In the same tradition of the operatic fantasy is a paraphrase of Rossini’s ‘Largo al factotum’; like the two deft miniatures from a series of Greetings Cards Op.170, the paraphrase was issued in print, whereas most of the five-movement Donizetti fantasy remains unpublished. So does the Suite 508 for viola and piano, composed in 1960. With typical ingenuity, Castelnuovo-Tedesco works in the name of the different dedicatees to each of the seven movements, resulting in chromaticism on the verge of atonality at times, but reliably handled with verve and melodic prominence.

Bartolomeo Campagnoli was a violinist by training, who worked in the courts and capitals of Baroque-era Europe, with posts in Rome, Dresden and then in Leipzig, where he was leader of the venerable Gewandhaus orchestra. Thus most of his own compositions are for strings, focused on his own instrument, and often with pedagogical or commercial aims in mind, such as the 41 Capricci for solo viola and the 7 Divertimenti for solo violin. There is also an extensive Method – in 132 separate lessons! – which was first published by Ricordi in 1797, and reprinted and translated many times. It was around this time that he wrote the six delightful, serenade-like works on this album, scored for flute and string trio. Often the flute engages in vivacious dialogue with the upper voice of the trio, within the tradition of similar works by Tartini, Rolla and Mercadante. The predominant mood is light, the expression airy and untroubled. The exception to this is the Fourth Sonata in E minor – the only minor-key quartet of the set, and the only one cast in three movements, with a central Andante grazioso of a suave gravity that would not have disgraced the young Mozart. Founded by the violinist Maurizio Schiavo, the ensemble Il Demetrio is a historically informed chamber group specializing in music of the Baroque era, undertaking much original research of their own to unearth little-known compositions from Italian libraries.