WORKS FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) focused on instrumental music at the beginning and towards the end of a career that was otherwise largely devoted to opera. The two trios for violin, cello and piano are early works, written at the time he was studying in Munich, or shortly afterwards. The first Trio in D major dates back to 1896, was premiered at the Tonk�nstlerverein in Stuttgart in September of that same year and published as Op.5 in 1902 by Leuckart in Leipzig. The four movements of Op.5 abound in richly embroidered, Brahmsian melodies and impassioned statements and developments, free of the naivety that is often a feature of early works. That said, they do embody a certain innocence, a degree of gentleness, even a lightness of spirit that sets them apart from their composer's study of German models with teachers such as the organist Joseph Rheinberger. Parts of the Op.7 Trio may in fact have been written before Op.5, but the expression of the three-movement work as a whole is more individual, dominated as it is by a huge opening movement (almost 20 minutes in length), and often colored by a bitter chromaticism that Wolf-Ferrari would later relinquish in favor of a more light-hearted and lyrical idiom. Here is a technically gifted young composer stretching his creative muscles - and for all the breadth of expression, his writing for the notoriously tricky combination of instruments is notably sympathetic, allowing the two string instruments to flourish without being overwhelmed by the piano. This new studio album is the second recording of Trio Arch� for Brilliant Classics after their well-received debut of trios by another Italian composer, now even less familiar than Wolf-Ferrari, Marco Enrico Bossi. Both albums make a ready appeal to all those listeners who travel the musical byways of late Romanticism.

How many labels can boast not one but two recordings of Wolf-Ferrari's piano trios? But they're so good, they're worth recording (and hearing) more than once. As Norman Lebrecht remarked of the well-received album of Trio Arche (BC95624), 'The two trios... put an instant summer's smile on the sourest of faces. The gift for melody is abundant and the interaction of piano, violin and cello is as infectious and irresistible as a well-made goal in football. Barely half an hour long, either of these trios will make your day... Go on, treat yourself.' Both written early in his career, the trios share the inventiveness and communicative vibrancy of his better-known operas and symphonic works such as the wind concertos on another recent Brilliant Classics release (BC95875). The Op. 5 Trio shows off the confidence of Wolf-Ferrari with quirky juxtapositions of key and an abruptly offhand conclusion to the Scherzo, and a whimsical discursiveness of the Finale that might be described as the lovechild of Schubert and Faure. More ambitious in scope, the Op.7 F sharp minor Trio opens with an expansive, brooding opening movement (lots of harmonic unrest reminiscent of Cesar Franck) followed by two much briefer movements of uncomplicated charm. Wolf-Ferrari's writing for the notoriously tricky combination of instruments is notably sympathetic, allowing the two string instruments to flourish without being overwhelmed by the piano. This ensemble, highly praised in the pages of La Stampa, is led by Franco Mezzena, whose extensive discography of lesser- known Italian chamber music includes most recently the complete quartets of Viotti (BC95264).

This collection of rarely recorded Wagner repertoire, the master’s work for voice and piano, includes the famed Wesendonck-Lieder in both its original German and an Arrigo Boito Italian version. Also featured are the famed ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’, ‘Melodram’, the complex ‘Dors, mon enfant’ and further works with texts by writers including Hugo, Heine, de Ronsard and Scheurlin. Michela Sburlati - ‘a fine dramatic soprano’ (NYT) and fellow Italian maestro Marco Scolastra perform. Booklet includes liner notes, sung texts and artist biographies.

Robert de Visee (1655-1733) was a French lutenist, guitarist, and composer who worked as a chamber musician to Louis XIV, often playing lute or guitar at the king's bedside. This collection of suites was published in Paris in 1716, the recording project of which, helmed by recorder player Manuel Starpoli, is completed in this volume. Manuel Staropoli thoughtfully performs on an array of eight different instruments throughout, each tailored in tessitura and tone color to the particular dance being performed, and is accompanied by an authentic continuo ensemble of the orbo, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Starpoli's performance particularly highlights de Visee's gift for the composition of tunes of simple beauty, which is made clear in the performance of one suite entirely with solo flute.

Giovanni Battista Viotti was a man of humble origins who studied with Gaetano Pugnani in the tradition of the Corelli school. By the age of 20 he was already an esteemed violinist, performing concerts in Geneva, Bern, Berlin and Saint Petersburg, and he eventually chose to settle in Paris. However, as a court musician for Marie Antoniette, he was forced to flee to London in 1792, where, a short while later, he was accused of spying on behalf of the Jacobins. He returned to Paris and was celebrated during the Restoration period, but eventually came back to London, where he died in poverty. Compositionally he serves as a bridge between the Classical period and the first signs of Romanticism, and he wrote an impressive 29 concertos for his own instrument, the violin. The 22nd, in A minor, shows his renowned compositional intelligence at it's peak. Brahms, by no means known for the generosity of his opinions, wrote in a letter to Clara Schumann: "This concerto... is a magnificent piece, of remarkable freedom in it's invention; it sounds as if [Viotti] were fantasising, and everything is masterfully conceived and executed". The work is divided into three movements: the first of these, an Allegro moderato, abandons the tradition of an energetic and virtuosic opening, and instead introduces a meditative, highly refined atmosphere. The cantabile violin theme soon evolves into a flourish that pre-empts the subsequent bright and complex dramatic beauty of the cadenza. Only the third movement, Agitato assai, is Classical in it's inspiration, featuring a nimble dialogue between soloist and orchestra, albeit with strong contrapuntal hints, while the vibrant central Adagio's echoes of Mozart are pulled in the direction of pre-Romantic angst. Luigi Maria Cherubini, perhaps best known today for his monumental Requiem, like Viotti suffered the consequences of being culturally close to an overthrown ancien r�gime, in his case that of Napoleon. The arrival of King Louis XVIII gave him respite, and indeed he became one of France's greatest musicians, despite his Italian origins. His Symphony in D major's four movements convey that "dual compositional nationality" right from the initial Moderato, straying at times into pomposity but with plenty of moments of progressive expressive intimacy. Cherubini was admired by Haydn, and even by the moody Beethoven, who appreciated the "dramaticism" of his work. The coupling on this album reflects a real-life acquaintance: Cherubini directed a theatre in Paris with Viotti for a period. The two were also both initiated into French masonic orders, joining the ranks of many other freemason musicians from Haydn and Mozart to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Both men were significant figures in the history of music, producing a wealth of content and materials yet to be fully explored.

VIOLIN SONATAS

VIOLIN CONCERTOS

Verdi begun composition on his Messa da requiem on the occasion of Gioachino Rossini's death and finished it following the death of nationally revered writer Alessandro Manzoni; It received a full performance in 1874 and was an instant triumph. The work itself is stylistically varied, dramatically operatic in some parts and tending toward sacred polyphony in others. This classic recording features the excellent Rundfunkchor Leipzig conducted by the famed operatic and symphonic conductor, Giuseppe Patane.

This fascinating programme is an homage to the literary genius from Madrid, Miguel Cervantes, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death. Presented here are vocal works by some of the greatest composers of the Spanish Baroque, Marin, Del Vado, Parades, Duron, next to instrumental pieces by way of transition, all linked by extracts from a number of Cervantes’ works, each of which evokes, in a variety of manner, the theme and character of the piece that can be heard immediately after it. This is the debut of an exciting new group Luz y Norte, specializing in the research and performance of vocal and instrumental works from the Renaissance and Early Baroque, with a special focus on Spain. The group consists of a tenor, historical harp, viola da gamba and percussion.

Gaetano Valeri is a composer who has only fully come to public attention over the course of the last three decades, thanks to the interest generated by a growing body of musicological research. Prolific and inventive, Valeri wrote a huge number of pieces for orchestra, organ, harpsichord and piano. Writing at a time of musical transition, Valeri had one foot firmly in his own era –which we would now regard as Classical – following the teachings of the Viennese school, and with some of his pieces bearing the hallmarks of Haydn's and Mozart's influence. At the same time, he remained attached to the then outmoded but still charming galant style, more prone to lavish ornamentation, popular earlier in the 18th century. Valeri was also very much a composer rooted in the land in which he lived – the Veneto region of north-eastern Italy. He wrote many works with specific organs in mind, as can be seen in the use in his scores of rare stops found particularly in the local area. On this recording, Paolo Bottini plays on carefully chosen instruments from churches in the same region, built by the same organ-builder, and with many features in common with those on which the composer would have played, in order to give us an authentic impression of what the music might have sounded like in Valeri's time. At the same time, Bottini makes some of his own decisions regarding sonic balance and use of stops independently of the composer's indications, creating a distinctive rendering of Valeri's music for organ. Bottini is a multi-keyboardist with a particular interest in historical organs. He is an "expert player" (Arkiv Music) who delivers "engaging" performances” (Music Web International), with a varied discography across a number of Italian record labels. This is his second recording for Brilliant Classics.

Following the resounding success of their previous four volumes, the Diogenes Quartet is proud to release the penultimate in the series of Schubert's complete string quartets. Most of the pieces from this collection come from the start of the Austrian composer's career, written while he was still in his teens. Despite this, they still show a remarkable level of maturity and experimentation, with each piece markedly different from the next. One of four quartets from 1813 (the year Schubert was just turning 16), the String Quartet in C D46 stands out for it's technique, development and dramatic pacing, as well as Schubert's unconventional use of C major as a key of depth and seriousness rather than jollity and warmth. The String Quartet in G minor D173, from 1815, was written in just eight days, and is a nod back to Haydn and Mozart. Schubert subverts the traditional sonata form, however, by unexpectedly making use of the relative B flat major, creating a dual tonality that lasts the whole of the first movement. The latest piece in this collection is the String Quartet in C minor D703 (fragment), otherwise known as the Quartettsatz. Despite only being one movement of a never-completed quartet, it reveals one of the earliest examples of the composer's 'mature' style, with an expressive tonality that only comes to rest in the home key in the last few bars of the movement. The quartet have achieved highly positive reviews for their previous Schubert volumes, with ArkivMusic giving an 'enthusiastic nod of approval', the reviewer saying 'I cannot recommend this release [Volume 2] too highly.' Their release of music for string quartet by Engelbert Humperdinck was praised by Musicweb International, who wrote 'I couldn't fault the beautiful playing of the Diogenes Quartet' and praised their 'glorious string tone and impeccable ensemble.' This up-and-coming group is certainly one to watch out for. This new installment of Schubert's Complete String Quartets by the German Diogenes Quartet contains his early quartets, from the youthful Overture D8a to the C minor Quartettsatz. Comparing the early works with Schubert's "late" and mature quartets may find the earlier compositions lacking in profundity, but judged by themselves they are delightful works, in the spirit of Haydn, tinged here and there with Schubert's melancholy and deep romantic feelings of love and death. The Schubert cycle by the German Quartet Diogenes Quartet is highly regarded, critics praise their superb unity of ensemble and style, their impeccable intonation and their fiery and passionate music making.

Marking the centenary of his birth, this 17-CD box celebrates the long life and passionate, exotic music of this treasured French composer (who was also one of the greatest organists and pianists of his time). His rich romanticism and rhythmically complex creations depict what he called "the marvelous aspects of the faith" (he was a devout Roman Catholic); the artists here who tackle his complete organ works, piano works and songs include Willem Tanke, Peter Hill, Ingrid Kappelle and Hakon Austbo. Festivals worldwide are currently honoring Messiaen's legacy; join them as you hear L'Ascension; La Nativite Du Seigneur; Les Corps Glorieux; Livre D'Orgue; Messe de la Pentecote; Meditations Sur Le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite; Livre Du Saint Sacrement; Petites Esquisses D'Oiseaux; Visions de L'Amen; Harawi Chants D'Amour Et de la Mort; Chants de Terre Et de Ciel; Poems Pour Mi Premier Livre, and more!

Classical Music

V 7: STRING QUARTETS, OPUS 17