Brilliant Classics has long been renowned for reviving little-known figures from the Baroque and Renaissance eras. Little enough is now known about Alessandro Melani, and his music has almost been forgotten, but this beautifully prepared collection of his religious music should go some way to reviving his reputation. Born in 1639 in the city of Pistoia to the cathedral's bell-ringer, the youngest of seven sons, Alessandro Melani undertook his musical apprenticeship at the cathedral before taking up directorships in grander Italian cities. A move to Rome in 1667 changed his career and established his reputation; he came under the patronage of the Medici family, and published three collections of sacred music. The last of them now receives it's first-ever complete recording. This is Baroque vocal chamber music at once sombre and sumptuous, reverent and yet richly decorated like the basilicas where Melani worked. Marian hymns, penitential psalms and liturgical propers all receive lavish treatments in combinations of two, three and five voices, buttressed in this recording by a five-part continuo accompaniment designed to draw out every one of Melani's luscious harmonies and featuring organ, harpsichord, cello, string bass, archlute and theorbo. The recording is the work of a dynamic young Italian early-music group founded in 2017 and led by the prodigiously talented Samuele Lastrucci, formerly assistant to the mercurial Baroque expert Federico Maria Sardelli. Since 2015 he has been the artistic director of the Tuscan-based Da Vinci Baroque Festival; he is presently maestro di capella of the Church of Ss. Michele and Gaetano in Florence.

Medtner's legacy for solo piano is now widely esteemed alongside Rachmaninoff and other giants of the Russian 'silver age': melodists to their core, romantics at heart, yet rigorous craftsmen to their fingertips, who took their muse seriously and refined their inspiration to distil a peculiarly Russian spirit of melancholy in sound. However, around a third of Medtner's output, measured by opus numbers, was dedicated to voices, and this section of his music has received much less attention. Ekaterina Levental has dedicated herself to correcting this imbalance. The Uzbek-born, Dutch-resident mezzo-soprano has given all of Medtner's songs in concert with the pianist Frank Peters; together, they now embark on a recorded cycle. Medtner lacked nothing for self-sacrificing dedication to his art, and he chose to set the finest poets of his Russian homeland: Pushkin, Fet, Lermontov and others, and then Goethe and Eichendorff in German. Unlike Rachmaninoff he continued to write songs even after emigrating and settling in London. 'Medtner's musical vocabulary is very rich and expressive,' Levental and Peters explain in their own booklet note, which is printed together with English translations of the lyrics. 'Some songs immediately captivate you, others require a certain effort from the listener. Anyone who takes up the challenge, makes a discovery. Every song is a treasure and an intimate, spiritual confession from the composer to his listener.' In the category of 'immediate appeal' surely fall the two songs of Op.13: the ardent vocal response to Pushkin's Winter Evening perfectly underscored by the stormy piano part. No less unmistakably Russian in expression is the complementary Epitaph, triumphant even in it's mournfulness and like many other of the songs here not as stern as much of Medtner's piano music. Any listener looking for the composer's personal voice, behind the virtuoso keyboard fireworks, should start here.

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.

Better known now as a hugely influential theorist and codifier of the principles and performance practice of Baroque music, Johann Mattheson (1681-1764) was not just a scholar but a highly accomplished composer. This album of 12 harpsichord suites offers ample evidence of his creative gifts. The suites were published in two volumes in London in 1714. When Handel heard of this publication, he sent for a copy and in his own words, 'without hesitation, played it through': no mean compliment! Doubtless Handel recognized a kindred spirit. Mattheson's own style is genial and fluent, tending towards the more audience-pleasing character of Handel's suites rather than the more rigorous keyboard music of Bach. These suites also have their light-hearted and humorous moments, qualities which characterize many of Telemann's instrumental works: indeed it's notable how free Mattheson's music is from the pedantic and academic character of at least some of his writing. Several suites open with a prelude of showy, toccata-like character before the standard Baroque sequence of dance movements such as vigorous and syncopated gigues and gentle sarabandes. The last three suites are the grandest of the twelve, opening with spacious Overtures or in the case of No.10 a symphony, rejoicing in both counterpoint and a sense of high ceremony. Within the 12th are embedded adaptations of three pieces by Mattheson's contemporary Georg Ludwig B�hm: a stylish example of the borrowing that was common practice at the time.

'What touches and appeals to me most in the music of Monteverdi is the ultimate symbiosis between music and text,' says the Dutch soprano Wendy Roobol. 'He unites the two in such a way that the outcome is more than the sum of the parts. As a result, his music has enormous sincerity, richness and drama.' As a central member of the vocal consort Le nuove musiche directed by Krijn Koetsveld, the harpsichordist on this album, Wendy Roobol has performed the complete madrigals of Monteverdi in critically acclaimed recordings for Brilliant Classics. Her first solo album draws on that expertise to present a unique programme of Marian hymns from around Europe. The great names of the Italian school are naturally represented, opening with the title-song by Francesca Caccini (talented daughter of Giulio Caccini) and reaching a fitting climax with Salve, O Regina by Monteverdi and the Lament of the Madonna from his Selva morale e spirituale collection. In between those unchallenged masterpieces of the late Renaissance, Wendy Roobol ventures across Europe, first to Switzerland, for a sensuous Ave Maria by Johann Melchior Gletle, then to mid-Germany for a Magnificat by Philipp Friedrich Boddecker. These marvellous but little-known pieces have been recorded before, but not in their originally intended format of solo soprano with consort accompaniment, and these performances are graced by intense sensitivity and a spirit of intimacy that captures the devotional atmosphere of a Marian chapel. Giovanni Felice Sances is another little-known composer represented here, but whose 1636 Stabat mater is touched by rich and affective dissonance. It makes a fine complement to the plainer declamation of the Sancta mater by the German-Italian lutenist Girolamo Kapsberger.

Tigran Mansurian is without doubt the foremost composer of today's Armenia. His style is embedded in impressionism infused with folkloristic Armenian elements, and follows the minimalistic and spiritual line of fellow composers Arvo Part, Schnittke, Silvestrov. His music has many strong advocates in musicians like Leonidas Kavakos, Natialia Gutman, Jan Garbarek, Alexei Lubimov and Patricia Kopachinskaya. The cult label ECM regularly issues his new works. This new recording by Amenian mezzo-soprano Mariam Sarkissian features song cycles in chamber music and orchestral settings, hauntingly beautiful songs on texts by Armenian poets. The moving ''Agnus Dei'' for clarinet, piano, violin and cello is written in memoriam of Oleg Kagan. Mariam Sarkissian already received wonderful reviews of her previous album for Brilliant Classics of songs by Armenian composers Melikian, Avenesov and Mansurian.

CD premieres of songs and instrumental music by Mandyczewski! Eusebius Mandyczewski (born in Ukraine, but lived and worked in Germany) was an important musician, musicologist and publisher/editor in the 19th century. He was an assistant of the famous Grove, and helped compiling editions of Schubert and Beethoven. A close friend of Johannes Brahms it is no surprise to find a strong influence of his genius friend in Mandyczewski's works. There is a constant lyrical flow in the selection of songs, as presented on this disc, romantic songs in the tradition of Schubert, in Brahmsian colors and harmonies: pure beauty! Sung with great dedication and love by sopranos Denise Beck and Christina Baader, expertly seconded on the piano by Christian Lambour, playing an instrument from Brahms' time.

Alma Mahler-Werfel was born in Vienna 1879, the daughter of a soprano and a landscape painter. Her musical talent was soon recognized and she had lessons with a.o. Zemlinsky. In 1922 she married Gustav Mahler, who explicitly forbid her to continue her composing. Later however, seeing her withering, Mahler allowed her to publish a song cycle in 1910. Alma Mahler was a highly intelligent and cultured woman, surrounded by great artists like Klimt, Zemlinsky, Gropius and Werfel. Her salon in Vienna was the centre of high cultural life. After the war she settled in New York, where she became an iconic figure in the music scene till her death in 1964. Her songs reflect the Zeitgeist of composition: dramatic, brooding, the darkness occasionally lifted by visions of serenity and peace. These are beautiful performances by Catharina Kroeger and Monica Lonero, champions of neglected romantic music. As a bonus they perform a soprano-actress based work called “Penelope” by contemporary composer Patrizia Montanaro.

Le Nuove Musiche, a vibrant young ensemble from the Netherlands, specializes in music from the first half of the 17th century. While seeking to maintain authentic performance standards, the ensemble brings the music very much into the present, arguing that artistic questions of the past still permeate the musical landscape today. Featuring a captivating group of solo singers, who between them have performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and The Bach Choir & Orchestra of The Netherlands, the ensemble is headed by Krijn Koetsveld, leader and harpsichordist, who has previously collaborated with the Groot Omroepkoor and the prestigious Netherlands Chamber Choir. This is the second of a planned release of Claudio Monteverdi's complete madrigals. The fifth and sixth book - already released on Brilliant Classics as 93799 - were the first to break with tradition and herald 'la seconda pratica', the era of the basso continuo. From then on, the publication of Monteverdi's innovative settings were eagerly awaited, as they set the stage for more instrumental ritornellos, a newly important basso continuo and the addition of ornamentation around the bass and vocal parts. The book finishes with a ballo, Tirsi e Clori, a love duet with a five-part accompaniment, highly elaborate, with a chatty Tirsi contrasting with a sweet and melodic Clori. When the two singers come together with the rest of the ensemble, the listener is treated to the pinnacle of the madrigal era. This new installment of the Monteverdi Complete Madrigals contains the complete Book VII, on two CD's. Monteverdi is the Master of the Madrigal, the unaccompanied vocal composition for up to 5 voices, on secular texts. Monteverdi developed the Renaissance form of a static, strictly polyphonic setting into a dramatic work in which the expression of feeling is prominent, paving the way for the Baroque Monody, the setting of a solo melody to the accompaniment of the other voices. The range of sentiments, the boldness of harmony and counterpoint and the dramatic impact of these works mark Monteverdi as one of the first geniuses of Western Music. In the 7th Book Monteverdi breaks away from the traditional Madrigal. The set contains vocal duets with more instrumental ritornellos in concertante style, a complex worked-out bass and highly developed ornamentation of the vocal lines. The vocal ensemble Le Nuove Musiche consists of the elite of Dutch Early Music vocalists, led by eminent conductor and scholar Krijn Koetsveld. Their first Monteverdi recording, the Books 5 & 6 (BC93799) received excellent reviews in the international press, among which a "5 star" in the French Diapason. The extensive booklet notes include texts on the works as well as the complete sung texts in Italian and English.

To keep the listener's attention one needs interpreters with an excellent voice and a convincing, theatrical presentation. Eberhard Buchner and Theo Adam hold their audience spellbound in their unfolding of these tales of love, honor, tragedy and bliss.

On this new recording, Coro Victoria offers a portrait of Alonso Lobo (1555-1617) through a cross-section of his sacred output (his works in Spanish are all lost). The group also illustrates the variety of interpretative practices of the period. The concluding O quam suavis est Domine is sung by a single soprano while the vihuela accompaniment supplies the remaining five parts. Church choirs sang this music in the liturgy, but minstrels also played it during processions, and there was free traffic between sacred and secular contexts. Coro Victoria was founded by it's director, Ana Fern�ndez-Vega, to recover and preserve a native, historically informed tradition of singing Spanish polyphony from it's Renaissance-era high noon, exemplified not only by Victoria himself but also his contemporaries such as the Seville-born and bred Alonso Lobo (indeed, Victoria considered Lobo his equal). He is now best known for a haunting, six-voice setting of the Requiem, and his magnificent motet for the obsequies of King Philip II, Versa est in luctum shares the Requiem's tone of mourning and remembrance, established by a dense mesh of overlapping counterpoint. Coro Victoria also presents other sides to a composer whose style is far more various than is commonly assumed. As well as the beautifully handled techniques of canon and counterpoint in Marian motets such as Ave Maria and Ave Regina coelorum, distinguishing features of Lobo's style are his jagged melodic lines, a far cry from Palestrina's smooth curves, and his more animated conclusions, both vividly demonstrated by Vivo ego, dicit Dominus. There is also a complete, portmanteau setting of the Mass, drawn from his Missa O Rex gloriae, Missa Petre ego pro te rogavi and Missa Simile est regnum caelorum, with the Credo filled in by the separate Credo Romano, which is underpinned by a figured bass and continued to be popular long after his death. These polished performances should renew wider interest in Lobo's music.

The piano is a beautiful instrument, and this special release brings together some of the most moving and romantic classics in the piano repertoire. With over two hours of this enchanting music to enjoy, sit back, relax and lose yourself in the timeless melodies of masters including Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Scarlatti, Schubert and Schumann. Savour the tender lyricism of Liszt's famous 'Liebestraum', Debussy's elegant Arabesques and evocative 'Clair de lune', the emotional drama of some of Beethoven's best-loved Adagios for the piano, and the beguiling melodies of Schubert's Impromptus and Chopin's 'Raindrop' Prelude - to name but a few of the many wonderful moments in this collection. These captivating piano works are performed by Misha Goldstein, who has made many acclaimed recordings for Brilliant Classics.

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.

An anthology of recent compositions for organ, written during the last seven decades, is showcased here on the new Dell’Orto & Lanzini organ (2011) at the Madonna di Fatima Parish Church in the town of Pinerolo, near Turin in Italy’s Piedmont region. Yet this exiting new material is not without acknowledgement of the past, as some of the selected pieces pay homage to styles, musical languages and composers of yesteryear. Likewise the organ, though newly constructed, is modelled on those crafted by celebrated 17th-century builder Arp Schnitger, whose instruments abounded in the Hanseatic area of northern Europe during the Baroque era. Apart from the renowned, late composers Ligeti and Eben, the music is by living authors from a variety of European backgrounds. György Ligeti’s popular Musica ricercata, from early in the Hungarian composer’s career, is represented here by three of its movements, transcribed for organ by the artist, Luca Scandali, himself. Themes by the great Baroque musician Buxtehude provide material for Czech composer–organist Petr Eben. The two youngest composers on the programme, Pier Damiano Peretti and Daniele Venturi hail from Italy, while the German-speaking pair, Jürgen Essl and Franz Danksagmüller, both studied with Michael Radulescu in Vienna. Dutch composer Bert Matter contributes a theme and variations on a 16th-century French song, and Belgian Bernard Foccroulle’s O quam pulchra es is written in the style of Baroque vocal music.

L'Incoronazione di Poppea is renowned not only as Monteverdi's last work but also his most affecting. Almost equally famous, however, is the historical oddity that it's sublime conclusion is almost certainly not his work. Sung as Nero and his new wife drift off in amoral bliss, 'Pur ti miro' has been attributed to various of Monteverdi's Venetian contemporaries. However, among the most plausible candidates is Filiberto Laurenzi. Very little is known of his life except for his encounter with the soprano Anna Renzi, considered the first diva in the history of opera. She not only studied under Laurenzi, but also let him manage her career, following him when he left Rome for Venice. The duet is featured here alongside excerpts from an entertainment conceived when the genre of opera was still in it's infancy. Like Poppea, La finta savia was first performed during the 1643 Venetian carnival season. It may be counted an early example of the pasticcio genre, in which a dramatic piece is the work of several hands, among them in this case Leardini, Pozzi, Ferrari, Giovan Battista Crivelli and Tarquinio Merula alongside Laurenzi. This recording includes five virtuoso arias making use of dance rhythms, some of them intimate in atmosphere and others that are more brilliant, such as 'Tant'armi inventate'. These operatic excerpts are complemented by arias from a 1641 collection dedicated to Laurenzi's work. The highlight is probably 'Cos� mi lasci ingrato', a deeply affecting lament for lost love on words by Ottaviano Castelli.