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Two previous albums on Brilliant Classics have introduced audiences to the music of Bartolomeo Campagnoli (1751-1827), an early-Classical violinist and composer whose music had until recently been almost entirely lost to history. And yet these recordings of string quartets (BC95037) and flute quartets (BC95399) have shown how charming, unaffected, original and enjoyable is Campagnoli's voice, at least in performances sympathetic to the performing style of his time. The quartets album was awarded five stars and nominated for Album of the Month by CdClassico. Com: 'Required listening'. The duos on this new recording are two- or three-movement sonatas in all but name. Some of them have been recorded before, but Stefano and Francesco Parrino present here the only available complete recording. The works illustrate how Campagnoli could write of his own music as combining 'German erudition and Italian soul', and without false modesty. Spohr heard him play in 1804 and described his style as elegant and fluid but somewhat old-fashioned, which fits Campagnoli's duos too. He wrote them between 1780 and 1796 while in the employ of Charles of Saxony, Duke of Courland, in Dresden, and they are expertly calibrated to appeal to aristocratic tastes for pleasant and lively music in the galant style, always falling easily upon the ear. As well as performing and recording in duet for many years, the Parrino brothers have been members of orchestras across Italy and beyond. As one half of the Quartet DuePi�Due they recorded the Flute Quartets of Cambini for Brilliant Classics (BC95081), 'a close-knit and well balanced ensemble,' according to the Critica Classica website, 'producing excellent interpretations which should delight a wider public without courting banality. '

Giuseppe Maria Cambini was probably active in Naples in the mid-1760s, but nothing certain is known of him until his move to Paris in the early 1770s, where his Op.1, a set of string quartets, was published shortly afterwards. Within the next 35 years upwards of 600 instrumental works had appeared under his name - enough to stretch even the famous Brilliant catalogue of 'complete' composer boxes... But Cambini's well-crafted melodies and good-humored charm are well worthy of investigation, and from this set of quartets with flute, it is easy to see why his music was so popular: he was the gallant Parisian composer par excellence. His life was even more anonymous than his music, and his death still more so; he may have died in Paris in 1825, or perhaps a decade earlier in the Netherlands. The structure of these quartets is generally in no more than two movements, often both quick and in the same key. The themes are easy on the ear, with a natural, simple, unsurprising language and characterized by part-writing of unfailing sympathy. There is a strong stylistic elegance, touching inspiration and pre-Romantic feeling with hints of proto-Schubertian inspiration. In these historically informed performances, Stefano Parrino plays on a modern Yamaha copy of a Classical-model wooden flute. He is himself a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied with Patrick Gallois. This music is not otherwise available on CD: another Brilliant original, and a disc of guaranteed if undemanding pleasure. Giuseppe Cambini was born in Naples, but settled early in his life in Paris, where he became a well known musician, teacher and composer of an astonishing quantity of works, mainly of instrumental chamber music. His flute quartets are delightful works, light, sprightly, charming, full of good tunes and interesting instrumental flourishes. A true composer of the Galant Style, in Parisian spirit. Played by a young and enthousiastic Italian ensemble DuePiuDue, playing original instruments, obviously enjoying these highly entertaining works. World premieres!

C.P.E. Bach: Keyboard Symphonies / Andrea Chezzi / Composer: Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach / Performer: Andrea Chezzi / Number of Discs: 1. Andrea Chezzi is a solo harpsichordist and organist based in Parma, where he is titular organist for the Church of Santa Maria Annunziata in Mezzano Rondani in the Comune di Colorno, Parma, artistic director of the comune's cultural association La Compagnia del Lorno, and a founding member of the Giuseppe Serassi cultural association for the appreciation of organs and early instruments. Rarely recorded arrangements and repertoire. The symphonies by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach span the bridge between the Baroque and the Classical period. They are relatively short 3 movement works and abound in originality, caprice and virtuosity. In order to satisfy the need of the upcoming class of bourgeois amateur players he transcribed several of these symphonies for harpsichord solo, altering or omitting little or nothing, and fully preserving the boldness and drama of the original. After all Carl Philipp was a phenomenal harpsichord player himself... Italian keyboard player Andrea Chezzi plays these works with full drive and conviction on a magnificent harpsichord of orchestral allure. New recording, released to coincide with the great upsurge of interest in C.P.E. Bach on the 300th anniversary of his birth.

C.P.E. Bach: Chamber Music with Transverse Flute, Composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Artist Helianthus Ensemble, Laura Pontecorvo transverse flute, Elisa Citterio violin & viola, Francesco Galligioni cello, Guido Morini harpsichord. During the last years of his life, CPE, not unlike his father, was not interested in following fashions or the market, his main aim being to leave posterity a meaningful musical heritage. In a letter written in 1787 he declared that he had concluded his 'work for the public and now wished to abandon the pen' not least because the desire to see certain works published that would 'bring him honor after his death' had been fulfilled by the publication in 1786 of the Zwey Litaneien Wq204 and in 1787 of the cantata Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu Wq240. The three quartets on this disc, written in 1788, the last year of his life and apparently without commission, can thus be considered the pearls of the composer's chamber output, and one of the finest fruits of a period of creativity in which he was able to express precisely what he wanted without constraints. The choice of instruments is particularly interesting - indeed, practically unique as a genre and highly original in terms of timbre. Laura Pontecorvo, a baroque flute specialist, has played first flute with the Concerto Italiano and regularly collaborates with ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, Divino Sospiro, Europa Galante and L'Arte dell'arco. She has performed as a soloist all over the world and has recorded for several record labels including Opus 111 and Stradivarius. As part of the Helianthus Ensemble, she has already made a fine recording for Brilliant Classics, of chamber music by Giovanni Battista Buonamente (94478), featuring performances with copies of the instruments of the Sacro Convento of Assisi's collection. Recorded in 2013. These beautiful quartets were written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in the last year before his death, not on commission but purely as a kind of musical testament, the purest and most individual outpour of his creative genius. The three Quartets in this recording are very different compositions. Because all three instruments play an essential role in the development of the musical discourse, even though the main part is entrusted to the keyboard, these works could never be performed ad libitum. Moreover, the choice of instruments is particularly interesting - indeed, practically unique as a genre and highly original in terms of timbre. Flutist Laura Pontecorvo is first flutist of the famous Concerto Italiano (Rinaldo Alessandrini), and plays regularly with such eminent ensembles like Accademia Bizantina, Europa Galante and L'Arte dell'Arco.

Recorded in the beautiful acoustics of the Villa Contucci in Montepulciano (2011 - 2012), by Eleonora Contucci, soprano, and veteran forte pianist Costantino Mastroprimiano, playing a superb Graf piano from 1826, since it's build, in the possession of the Contucci family. - Norbert Burgm�ller's early death in 1836 at the age of 26 was greatly lamented by his famous contemporaries Mendelssohn and Schumann, the latter comparing the tragedy of his death with that of Schubert. He was considered a major talent, and he left a substantial oeuvre of orchestral, vocal and instrumental works. This CD features his songs, and the grand scale Piano Sonata in F minor Op. 8 in the style of Weber and Hummel. His songs remind us of Schubert in their freshness and naturalness, though not without personal touches in some of the more daring modulations.

This double-disc set of new recordings includes the world premier recording of Cello Sonata in A, composed by Britten as a boy of 13 years of age. A culminating release in celebration of Britten's centenary. The booklet's liner notes were written by the artists. 

BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS 1-2-3

Brahms: Violin Sonatas

Brahms: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 3, Composer Johannes Brahms, Artist Gutman Trio, Sviatoslav Moroz violin, Natalia Gutman cello, Dmitri Vinnik piano, Format 1 CD, Here's an opportunity to hear two cornerstones of the chamber repertoire performed by one of today's leading ensembles, the Gutman Trio. The music in question: Brahms' First and Third Piano Trios, works which, separated by 33 years, effectively date from the extremes of the composer's career. A chronological gap such as this automatically invites judgment on stylistic development, and indeed No.1 in B major is a youthful work, one which succeeds in capturing the brave, witty and passionate nature of it's fictional dedicatee, E.T.A Hoffmann's Kapellmeister Kreisler. It's evident sophistication, however, is the fruit of a more mature composer, for Brahms - dissatisfied with the trio he had composed as a 20-year-old - decided to rework the music some 40 years later, seven years after writing his final effort in the form. As a result, this release offers a fascinating juxtaposition of Brahms the young composer and Brahms the master, one that isn't just limited to a comparison of the two works contained on the CD. Founded in 2000 by Natalia Gutman, a former pupil of Mstislav Rostropovich and who often performed with the piano titan Sviatoslav Richter, the Gutman Trio made it's highly successful debut in the international Oleg Kagan Music Festival in Kreuth, Bavaria, and has been thrilling audiences across the world ever since. The group has appeared at such prestigious venues at Geneva's Victoria Hall and the concert halls of the Moscow Conservatory and St Petersburg Philharmonic. This release marks their first recording for Brilliant Classics. Recorded 2012, Muzichi Studio, Kiev, Ukraine. The first of a series of recordings with the Gutman Trio. This recording presents the CD debut on Brilliant Classics of the Gutman Trio, named after Natalia Gutman, world famous cellist, one of the few surviving of the generation of 20th century soviet musicians, like Richter, Gilels, Kogan, Kagan, Rostropovich and Oistrakh. For their debut CD they chose two of the cornerstones of the romantic piano trio repertoire, the first and third piano trio by Brahms. The first trio Op. 8 is a gorgeous work from Brahms' early years, brimming with youthful passion and vitality; the third trio is in C minor mood, dark, grim and powerful.

Although Johannes Brahms is best known for his symphonies, string quartets and piano music, he was also a prolific writer of lieder, composing over 200 pieces in the medium. This charming collection celebrates his wonderfully rich; lyrical style through detailing 27 such works - ones which span much of his 40-year song career.

Brahms, like most composers, had no scruple about arranging his own music for other forces, whether to disseminate it further or earn useful income or both. Sometimes he undertook the transcription of his orchestral works for the popular domestic market of piano duet; on other occasions he left the work to trusted friends and colleagues. Although the composer did not apparently have any other instrument in mind when he wrote the First Violin Sonata, the piece sits peculiarly well on the cello once transposed to the key of D major by the cellist Paul Klengel; it's pervasive mood of profound melancholy is even enhanced by the cello's voice. Clara Schumann recognized the sonata as one of Brahms's most tender yet regretful tributes to her, and wished that it should be played at her funeral, to which purpose Klengel's transcription is eminently suited. Norbert Salter (1868-1935) was a cellist who played under Mahler in both Budapest and Hamburg; this is his only published transcription, a set of six Lieder by Brahms which may well have been made under the elderly composer's supervision. Like the Brahms/Klengel Sonata, this is a sensitive yet now little-known piece of work which deserves modern appreciation. Francesco Dillon and Emanuele Torquati conclude their fourth album for Brilliant Classics in a lighter vein, with nine of the ever-popular Hungarian Dances, arranged to stylish effect by the Italian virtuoso Alfredo Piatti who did so much to advance the cause of the cello as a solo instrument in the 19th century.

Eugene Bozza was a 20th-century successor to Giulio Briccialdi, the Italian flautist who is celebrated in 2018, the 200th anniversary of his birth. Born to an Italian father in Nice in 1905, Bozza studied violin and piano in Rome as a child before winning a place at the Paris Conservatoire, where he excelled on the violin. It was in France that he made his career, initially as an orchestra leader, conductor and composer. In 1931 he won the prestigious Prix de Rome and he was later decorated by the Republic as a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur for his services to French music. Having become director of the conservatoire in Valenciennes at the age of 45, he wrote prolifically for chamber ensembles, producing the kind of music which students could study and play together. However, his style was not an academic one, nor was it especially influenced by the artistic upheavals of the century in which he lived.

Image is the earliest work here, dating from 1939 and sharing with later studies a full understanding of the instrument’s technical possibilities. There are many allusions in the 14 etudes-Arabesques (1960) to famous flute solos of the past as composed by the likes of Mendelssohn, Debussy and Ravel, as well as demanding tests of flutter-tonguing and other flute techniques. The 10 Studies in Karnatic Modes (1972) are much more experimental and modernist, including sparing use of quarter-tones, and employing Indian modes such as may be discovered in some of Debussy’s music. The technical challenges include wide leaps, frequent dynamic changes and extremely high flute-writing.

This release includes three world premier recordings of spiritual cantatas based on biblical texts or scenes by composer Rene de Bousset. The title of the CD refers to the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in pursuit of the people of Moses, de Bousset vividly and brilliantly painting these dramatic events.

Hotel Terminus performed by Yuri Honing, known as "one of the most creative and fearless saxophonists of the moment". -The Times.