Franz Liszt was not necessarily known for the composition of sacred music. Piano pieces are what etched his name into history. The piano pieces included on this release, however, are works that were inspired by the Divine. A deeply religious man, particularly in his older age, Liszt composed a great deal of “religious” piano music, including his Ave Maria, Angelus, Miserere, Legendes, Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, and many more. Performing these works is Italian pianist Irene Russo, who is making her Brilliant Classics debut with this two-disc release. The album also includes extensive liner notes and an artist biography.

It was not until the 20th century that the viola became the object of truly serious attention as a solo instrument. Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) – himself an excellent violist – was largely responsible for rescuing the instrument from relative oblivion. This CD features a selection of his viola sonatas composed during Europe’s interwar decades. Violist Luca Sanzò and pianist Maurizio Paciariello are both in-demand contemporary music interpreters as well as conservatoire professors in their native Italy.

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.

Herbert Blomstedt's Beethoven cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden is one of the great ones, as much for the magnificent playing of this finest of all German orchestras as for Blomstedt's effortlessly musical interpretations. The only possible weak link here might be the first movement of the Fifth, which lacks the sheer intensity that, say, Carlos Kleiber brings to it. On the other hand, Blomstedt's more emotionally balanced conception is so well realized that I'm inclined to give him credit for bringing off an unconventional interpretation, particularly as the remainder of the symphony lacks for nothing in excitement or sheer power.

Highlights of this cycle are many: a grand and glorious Eroica, a lithe and lyrical Second and Fourth, a pellucid Sixth with luminous wind playing, an exciting Ninth sporting fantastically buoyant strings in the Scherzo and a marvelously well sung finale, and a transcendentally great performance of the Seventh, with rip-roaring horns and perfect pacing throughout. The recordings, made in Dresden's Lucaskirche in the late 1970s and early '80s, put a silvery sheen around the players (winds especially) and strike an excellent balance between clarity and warmth. At the Brilliant Classics price, you can't afford not to own this set. [6/23/2002]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing this set previously released as Brilliant 99927

----------

Beethoven's nine symphonies -- composed between 1800 and 1824 -- are true cornerstones of the classical canon. Marking an irrefutable turning point in the history of music, they transformed audiences' expectations of the symphony and influenced the genre's future development through their experimental, dramatic and expressive weight. Conductors have long been drawn to the profundity of these works: a complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies is viewed as one of the ultimate challenges in the repertoire, and the performances in this set are undoubtedly among the greatest to have been recorded, illuminating the skill of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Herbert Blomstedt, one of the most distinguished conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The symphonies trace Beethoven's development as a composer, from the earlier works that document his emergence from the Viennese tradition, through to his experimental and critically divisive late style. Particularly famed for its landmark status in the history of music is the 'Eroica' Symphony (No.3), notable for its innovative approach to sonata form and embodiment of Beethoven's 'heroic' style. Also included are the legendary Symphony No.5, known for its distinctive opening motif and rigorous large-scale structure, the dramatic 'Pastoral' Symphony, and the sophisticated Seventh Symphony. The collection is, of course, concluded by the monumental Symphony No.9 -- known as the 'Choral' Symphony because of its ground-breaking, transcendent finale, sung here by the Dresden State Opera Chorus and a group of acclaimed soloists.

Over 30 years after their initial release, these recordings have remained one of the ultimate Beethoven symphony cycles, a testament to the quality of the performances and Blomstedt's interpretations. Brought together in a set of excellent value, this 5-disc collection is a must-have addition to the libraries of classical music fans, old and new.

Other information:
- Recordings made in Lucaskirche, Dresden, 1975--1980

After Buxtehude in the 17th century and prior to Nielsen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Niels Gade (1817-1890) was the most famous Danish composer. His extraordinary 1st Symphony of 1843 was premiered in Leipzig at the Gewandhaus conducted by Mendelssohn, who promptly offered Gade a post at his new conservatory. Gade later conducted the premiers of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Schumann's Piano Concerto. His music (he composed 8 symphonies, the 5th having an important piano part, a violin concerto and a Spring Fantasy for piano, orchestra and voices and a quantity of chamber and orchestra works) is superbly crafted, romantic but with a classical poise and form. The influence of his friends Mendelssohn and Schumann can be detetected, but there is a very definate Scandinavian feel to his music. Schumann wrote that he could detect 'the lovely beechwoods of Denmark' in Gade's music.

The 2 Novelletten are among his most successful works. Beautifully crafted, elegant and warm they are rewarding discoveries, and a good introduction to this neglected but important figure in 19th century Scandinavian music.

-----

Very pleasant additions to the romantic string-serenade repertoire.

Niels W. Gade’s Novelettes are charming, fresh additions to the romantic string-serenade repertoire. There are two sets, the first in F and the second in E, both dating from fairly late in Gade’s career. For those listeners who enjoy Grieg’s Holberg Suite, or the serenades of Suk, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, and Robert Fuchs, this style will need no introduction: elegant dances, lyrical melodies which rise and fall with a cool outdoor loveliness, the minor keys used merely for spice.

A standout moment might be the beginning of the second set, with its ambiguous slow introduction opening up to brighter things; the second set also features a gorgeous andante with a fine role for the cellos. The first also opens with a lovely slow introduction, and it closes with a finale that brings to mind Mendelssohn’s Octet with its light-hearted fugato opening and perpetual-motion effects.

This isn’t exactly at the top of the string-serenade ladder, not next to Tchaikovsky, Suk, and Dvorák. It’s not even on the second rung, where Fuchs and Dag Wirén reside. The first two Fuchs serenades were just released on a gorgeous Naxos CD which I’d recommend over this one if you only buy one pretty string music disc per year. It doesn’t help that the recorded sound, analog from 1981, is slightly glassy, or that the Aarhus Chamber Orchestra’s work as an ensemble isn’t as polished as that of the best chamber orchestras we have today. Another cause for slight hesitation is the booklet note, which profiles Gade so strongly that we only get 18 words about the actual Novelettes. The CD lasts just 43 minutes.

But please notice I only said slight hesitation! This is still lovely music, fresh and totally enjoyable, and an unquestionably fine way to pass 43 minutes’ time. It’s at Brilliant’s usual bargain price. That said, the same price gets you ten minutes’ more music (and more colorful music too) on the Naxos Fuchs album; though I usually wouldn’t recommend one composer over another in a review, I do listen to my romantic string music to satisfy a particular craving, or mood, and other composers fulfil that mood better than does Niels W. Gade. Still, this is very nice, and there is nothing wrong with very nice!

– Brian Reinhart, MusicWeb International

Telemann was a prolific composer, writing over 40 Passions for the Church of Hamburg alone. His six Passion oratorios differ in that they do not strictly adhere to the literal text of the Gospels. A delightful work that deserves to be heard more often, Das selige Erwägen, was in its time one of Telemann’s most popular and frequently performed compositions. This recording is the perfect starting-point to explore the rich landscape this 18th-century German music.

Mozart: Gehn wir i'm Prater, Secular Canons, Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Artist Chamber Choir Of Europe, Nicol Matt conductor, Format 1 CD, Mozart considered canon-writing an essential compositional skill. Though canons are often small chamber works to be performed in company, Mozart's sketches of some of these works show that the composer carefully considered them before completion, giving them as much thought as his larger and more famous works. This collection includes Mozart's complete canons. The works vary in instrumentation and character; among the vocal ones are puzzle canons (which show one line of music and text, along with only the entry points of the other parts), the ambitious 12-part V'amo di core and the multi-lingual Bona nox! Bist a rechta Ox. Mozart's sense of humor is demonstrated in the two canons written to the daringly-named text of Leck mir den Arsch, as well as in the Difficile lectu mihi mars et jonicu difficile which, provided that the singer has the right accent, provides much hilarity. Aside from the vocal canons, there are several written for instruments, including the Adagio in F major, composed for two basset horns and bassoon. The vocal canons are performed here by the acclaimed Chamber Choir of Europe, directed by Nicol Matt. The collection also boasts performances by the Klarinetten-Trio der Musikschule Achern-Oberkirch and distinguished soloists of the Württembergischen Philharmonie Reutlingen. Recorded November 2002, Alte Kirche Fautenbach, Germany. That Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not the angelic Wunderkind living in his musical heaven of divine inspiration is proven by his secular canons, which he wrote as a personal pastime entertainment. This is the other side of the genius, essential in order to get the complete picture of Mozart the man and musician. Not all canons bear titles like "leck mir den Arsch", some others are extremely witty and inventive musical jokes. Expertly sung and performed by the Chamber Choir of Europe, conducted by Nicol Matt.

From the 17th to 19th centuries Naples was counted among the European capitals of music; traditions of both composition and performance were fostered, supporting a local culture that was hungry for music, and the city's conservatoires started to produce musicians who occupied positions of prestige both in their home city and at the courts and theatres across the continent.

Out of the recently founded 'Neapolitan School' came a wealth of celebrated composers as well as the gradual romanticisation of the organ, which acquired new 'concert stops' in addition to a complete pedalboard; this release focuses on bringing to light the variety of music that started to be written for the newly improved instrument. As well as including the esteemed names of Pergolesi, Scarlatti and Durante, the recording takes in contemporaries whose music proves no less lively or elegant: from Porpora, particularly famed for his vocal music, to de Majo, from Alitieri to Zingarelli, the latter of whose sonatas reflect the prevalent style galante, the lively and brilliant style of the works draws attention to the then dominance of operatic culture across all musical genres.

The pieces are performed by keyboardist Emanuele Cardi, a Renaissance and Baroque specialist who also takes an active interest in the restoration of ancient organs. The recording was made in the Church of San Nicola di Bari in Italy, whose 1889 Giuseppe Picardi organ faithfully reflects the stylistic evolution detailed above.

Other information:
- Recorded 27--28 January 2013.
- A fascinating picture of musical life in Naples in the second half of the 18th century. Naples was then one of the musical capitals of Europe, housing a wealth of musicians, composers and an audience hungry for new music.
- The new style, as introduced by composers like Pergolesi, Scarlatti and Durante was a brilliant mixture of elegance, wit and the innate Italian flair for a good tune.
- Organist Emanuele Cardi finds the right sunny touch on the historic Giuseppe Picardi Organ (1889) in Bari, Italy.
Booklet contains information on the works, the organ and the artist.

Pianist Emanuele Torquati immerses himself deeply into these pieces, giving them life and lift.

Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920) was endowed with a creative vein that allowed him to produce, in the space of a decade, works for the piano that were to become a point of reference for the following generation of American composers, especially Charles Ives and Aaron Copland. Indeed, Copland paid him posthumous tribute at Harvard in 1952: "what he gave those of us who came after him was a sense of the adventurous in composition, of being thoroughly alive to the newest trends in world music and to the stimulus that might be derived from such contact."

Such exuberance and influence is most vividly apparent in the three-movement Sonata which is the most forward-looking work on the disc. In its bitonality and untameable energy lie the seeds of a modern American music waiting to be nurtured by Ives and Elliott Carter. Earlier works are poetically inspired, such as teh Roman Sketches, Op. 7, which became repertoire items for the likes of Olga Samaroff and Dame Myra Hess. With its overlapping chords, "Nightfall" conjures up an aura of mystery, while "The Fountain of Acqua Paola" is a virtuoso piece somewhat reminiscent of Liszt's Les jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este. No less a figure than Ferruccio Busoni was greatly struck by Griffes's music, especially the three-movement cycle of tone poems from which this album draws its evocative title, The Vale of Dreams.

-----

REVIEW:

This CD may very well be an introduction for many listeners to Griffes’ unique sound world. It covers a lot of ground in Griffes’ career, and some of the pieces included, such as the piano versions of the 3 Tone Pictures (which impressed Ferruccio Busoni so much when he toured the U.S. that he helped Griffes get them published), the Winter Landscape, De Profundis and Rhapsody in B minor are far from common. He was consistently interesting and high-minded; he never wrote a single piece that was cheap, common, or purposely aimed at popular tastes; and thus his music remains fascinating because it communicated something deeply touching and deeply human about this sad and often lonely man who lived his life for art and beauty.

Will this be enough to encourage other pianists, and orchestras, to start programming Griffes? Probably not. He’s still one of those hothouse flowers of the classical world who apparently only appeals to the most high-minded, but this is truly great music that shouldn’t be missed.

– Art Music Lounge (Lynn René Bayley)

During Haydn's successful stays in London he recognized the need for high quality chamber music for a variety of instruments, among which the flute, which rapidly gained popularity in bourgeois circles. For this purpose he cleverly arranged his own Duos for two violins Op. 99 for two flutes. These delightful flute duos, full of Haydnesque wit and invention, are here recorded for the first time by father and daughter Petrucci, Gian-Luca and Ginevra, who obviously enjoy their superb music making. Ginevra Petrucci already recorded for Brilliant Classics the Flute Quintets by Kuhlau to great critical acclaim.

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.

A frequently ignored instrument, the Flauto d’Amore first appeared during the Baroque era, when chamber ensembles frequently included woodwind instruments. Built in B-flat, A, and A-flat, the flute is pitched between the standard concert flute in c and the alto flute, and is sometimes called the tenor flute. Several composers favored the flauto d’amore for its warm and full-bodied tone, including Quantz, a masterful flute composer whose literature is still standard in the repertoire. Ginevra Petrucci is widely recognized for her innovative programs. The flute she performs on for this recording is a solid silver flauto d’amore made by albert Cooper in 1990.

Read full review from earlier release of this complete set of the Shostakovich Complete String Quartets below.

When it comes to this music, how the quartet plays technically is just as important as what it does interpretively, and I very much like the way that the Rubio Quartet plays. Unlike so many groups in this music, they never hack or slash their way through the more violent moments, always maintaining excellent balances, smooth legato, and a warm tone. Combine this with lively tempos throughout, and the result achieves all of the necessary intensity without ugliness or distortion, realizing the composer’s intentions far more effectively than many a more rough and edgy approach. The result may well appeal to Shostakovich fans who respect rather than love these pieces (and I know that there are many), finding concentrated listening to four strings perpetually in extremis something of an ordeal (at least as compared to the symphonies, with their wider range of contrasts).

This emphasis on the classical virtues of fine chamber music playing means that those famous “crazy” moments, such as the second movement of the Eighth Quartet, erupt naturally and sound well-placed in their context with no loss of excitement, while the gentler passages in the First and Seventh Quartets, or the opening of the Fourth, are notably lovely and full of feeling. In the late quartets (Nos. 12-15) the Rubio’s emphasis on lyricism goes far toward making the music’s bleakness and dark emotional demeanor more palatable (and consequently more expressively direct) than many less ingratiating interpretations. Very natural recorded sound, happily not too close to the players, ideally complements the ensemble’s approach. You can find more gut-wrenching versions of these works (the Borodin Quartet, for example), but this set does the music full justice while also placing it within the great quartet tradition to which Shostakovich so often pays homage. An excellent achievement and a tremendous bargain.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz)

Classical Music

Along with sonatas by Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Prokofiev, the Second Sonata Op.81 is a repertoire work for cellists, Russian or otherwise, for its vein of melancholy Romanticism that is yet not so dark and introverted as most of the 27 symphonies for which Myaskovsky is best known. Meanwhile the First Sonata has been almost entirely neglected, even by performers so committed to the promotion of their musical heritage as Rostropovich, Gutman and Geringas. However, as this new recording reveals, it too belongs to the distinctively Russian tradition of soulful and affecting music for the cello; an early example (written in 1911, when Myaskovsky was 30 years of age and yet to graduate; he was a late developer as a composer) of the special empathy for the instrument that would also produce a wonderfully moody and atmospheric cello concerto: the Russian Elgar, perhaps. The Op.12 Sonata is unusually structured as two movements linked by a tempestuous recitative section. The perfect relationship between the simplicity of the themes and the intensity of the dialogue between soloist and accompaniment is such that the two instruments seem locked in a flurry of warmth and passion. In the finale there is a return to the opening material, culminating in a serene D major conclusion. Though this is an early work, it reveals on various occasions a remarkable degree of maturity. While the Sonata Op.12 emanates all the captivating freshness of an important work dating from the dawn of the composer’s output, his second sonata is entirely different in mood. It was written between 1948 and 1949, when Myaskovsky was 69, and in the throes of the health problems that were to bring him to his grave the following year. This is Luca Magariello’s second album for Brilliant Classics, after his participation in the album of complete piano trios by Hummel (BC94898).

A former pupil of Pasquini who also came into contact with Corelli, Georg Muffat -- born in Savoy in 1653 -- was the first example of a truly international composer who brought together elements of the German, French and Italian styles. He was primarily an organist, working in cities such as Paris, Vienna and Prague, and his Apparatus musico-organisticus, to which this release is dedicated, was the largest corpus of organ works published at the time -- an enormously popular volume, to the extent that it was considered among the foremost compilations of its sort in southern Germany.

The Apparatus originally consisted of 12 toccatas, but in a later edition three pieces were added to the set: Ciacona, Passacaglia and Nova Cyclopeias Harmonica. The organist is certainly put to the test, what with the scales, the leaps, double trills and a wide variety of figures that express 'contrasting affections' in the works -- the last of which alludes to the story of Pythagoras, who discovered the foundations of musical tuning by listening to the hammering of a blacksmith on various anvils. Brilliant Classics regular, Adriano Falcioni -- whose previous recordings for the label include Duruflé's Complete Music for Choir and Organ (9264) -- performs this magnum opus with aplomb, revealing the skill of a composer who is credited with being the first musician to introduce the Italian concerto grosso and the French suite to the German-speaking countries.

Other information:
- Recorded 15--17 May 2013.
- Georg Muffat was a cosmopolitan artist. In a time when no work permits were needed he travelled Europe and worked in Strassbourg, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Rome and ultimately in Salzburg, at the court of the Archbishop.
- Like a musical sponge he absorbed every current style of his time in his music, which contains Italian melodiousness, French ornamentations and Germany's severe structures and counterpoint. He published a volume of organ works which became immensely popular among musicians, containing a series of Toccatas, Ciaconas and Passacaglias, works of the highest technical order: the Apparatus Musico-organisticus, a survey of all instrumental and compositional tricks and accomplishments of the time.
- Adriano Falcioni, one of the foremost organists of Italy, offers impressive performances of this complete collection, showing great insight into the styles and performance practice.
- Booklet contains information on the music, artist and the organ.

This comprehensive collection showcases one of the most fascinating and renowned conductors of the Soviet Era. A founding member of the Borodin Quartet, Rudolf Barshai was born in Russia in 1924 and was regarded as the leading violist of is generation by his early 20s. He founded the legendary Moscow Chamber Orchestra before emigrating to Israel in 1977 and denouncing Soviet authorities. Today his recordings, especially of Shostakovich, stand out as some of the greatest of all time. Those recordings and many others, all performed live from 1956-1974, are included in this 10-CD set.

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.

Based on 33 years of scholarship and promotion by the Istituto Nazionale Tostiano and a lifetime of studies on the part of Francesco Sanvitale, this volume lives up to its predecessors in bringing to wider attention the work of a born songsmith, at home in the English and French tongues as well as his native Italian, and one who brought the genre of salon song to a peak of perfection. No one, not even the most dedicated Tosti singers such as Gigli and Caruso, had ever addressed Tosti’s oeuvre with anything near a comprehensive approach. Yet the chronological approach to his work taken by this project proves that he was certainly not confined within the limited universe of love requited, rejected, desired, misunderstood, suffered or unspoken. The songs in this third volume cover the last decade of the 19th century, by which time Tosti had settled in London, been appointed singing teacher to the royal family and to a professorship at the Royal Academy of Music. Despite their relative youth, the singers chosen to record this project are all Tosti experts, having won various editions of Ortona’s international voice competition devoted to the interpretation of drawingroom songs and ballads. Other actors of lesser skill almost always seem to be portraying the same person. Much the same thing can happen with music, but not here, thanks to the light, graceful and lively address of the singers to the wide range of poets set by Tosti, including Victor Hugo, Jules Barbier, Alfred de Musset and Frederic Weatherly as well as less-familiar lyricists such as Barry Cornwall and Ada Negri.

Bach's virtuoso skill as an organist was world renowned, and he was particularly celebrated for his use of registration. Spanning 2 CDs, this compilation is dedicated to some of his best-known Preludes and Fugues, and also features the celebrated Schübler Chorales. While the former works betray the composer's unparalleled ability to give distinctive qualities to each of the fugal voices, the latter collection - compiled by the publisher Johann Georg Schübler in 1748 - is largely made up of chorales based on melodies from Bach's cantatas, and was intended for concert performance. The celebrated Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV357 and Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV538, which Bach himself is said to have held in high esteem, complete the line-up. One of Europe's leading organists, Matteo Messori has recorded widely for Brilliant Classics. Here he combines energy with artistic flair to deliver consummate readings of these engaging works: a must-buy for the keyboard and Baroque connoisseur. Recorded in June 2011. Organs: Johannes Creutzburg (1735), St. Cyriakus church of Duderstadt; Eilert Köhler (1738), Kreuzkirche of Suhl. Unique historical organs located in Germany, which have a strong link with the great composer himself, organs which Bach might have known, and whose builders he greatly respected. Matteo Messori is one of the leading Baroque organists of Europe; his previous recordings for Brilliant Classics (Kunst der Fuge, and Clavierübung, have been awarded 5 star reviews in international classical magazines.

Born in Paris in 1749, Jean-Louis Duport, cellist and composer, also known as 'le jeune' -- to distinguish him from his elder brother Jean-Pierre (1741--1818), called 'l'ainé' -- is today regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the development and evolution of cello technique. In 1806 he published his cello treatise Essai sur le doigté du violoncelle et sur la conduite de l'archet, a work that became the fundamental reference point for all subsequent schools of cello teaching. At the end of the treatise, we find the 21 Etudes for Violoncello (with a second cello part as accompaniment), works that explain and put into practice the methods described within. They are very difficult, highly virtuosic exercises that present a wide selection of tones and bowings as well as an extraordinary richness of compositional ideas, and in this way the Essai can be viewed as an anthology of concert pieces with real artistic value rather than just a mere practical handbook.

Made following precise philological criteria and with attention to the performing practice of the age, this recording includes a second cello as accompaniment (the instrument assumes the role of continuo, developing the performance and enlivening the listening experience) and employs original instruments with gut strings and historical bows. Thanks more to their difficulty and pedagogical reputation, the Etudes may have been rarely recorded, a fact which only adds value to the present issue, but they repay repeated listening for their élan, and will be required listening not only for cello students seeking to master the Etudes themselves but also for anyone with a passing interest in the music of Classical-era France.

Other information:
- New recording made in 2013.
- Jean Louis Duport was one of the most important and influential composers for the cello in the first half of the 19th century. A virtuoso himself, he wrote a treatise on the cello, introducing new techniques, expanding the possibilities of the instrument to a great extent.
- As a demonstration of his new instrumental style he wrote 21 Etudes, in which all his inventions are incorporated. They are extremely difficult, requiring a virtuoso technique and deep musical insight, lifting the etude above the level of a mere exercise to a work of art.
- This recording, a world premiere, uses a second cello as a continuo basis, and is played with gut strings, as was usual in Duport's time.
- A must for cellists, cello lovers and anyone interested in early 19th-century French instrumental music!

Viardot: Melodies / Composer: Pauline Viardot / Performer: Elisa Triulzi, Marina Comparato / Number of Discs: 1 / Length: 1 Hours 19 Mins. Recorded: December 2012, Auditorium Matteo d'Acquasparta, Acquasparta, Terni, Italy. Pauline Viardot (1821-1910) was one of the most celebrated, cosmopolitan artists of the 19th century. Daughter of the famous tenor Garcia (favorite tenor of Rossini) and sister of Maria Malibran (the most famous soprano of her time) she travelled Europe as an opera singer, maintained a passionate relationship with the Russian writer Ivan Turgenyev, and held legendary "salons" in Paris, frequented by George Sand, de Musset, Rossini, Chopin, Berlioz and many others. As a composer she wrote a fine body of "lieder", several of which are based on Chopin's Mazurkas (which she performed with the composer at the piano). This CD presents a substantial selection of these delightful songs. Beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Marina Comparato, who made her debut under Claudio Abbado, and has performed in the world's foremost opera houses.

In the 19th century, Paris consolidated its position as the leading city of opera. Composers from Germany (Meyerbeer, Paer and Wagner, who famously had a very unhappy time there) and Italy (Rossini, Verdi, Spontini, Cimarosa and Cherubini) worked there alongside native composers, vying for public favour in the years following the French Revolution.

Opera was performed in Paris’s major theatres (the Opera, Opera-Comique, Theatre- Lyrique and Theatre-Italien) and divided into two varieties – serious works on heroic themes and lighter works based on the lives of ordinary people or events. This divide developed into two fully defined styles: opera comiques and drama lyrique.

The programme of this new recording is shaped around rarities of the French operatic repertoire. Among these are the duet between Adam and Eve from Massenet’s Eve, a fascinating number with remarkable scoring for soprano saxophone, harp, woodwind, horns and cellos, giving the music a profoundly poetic and supremely lyrical quality. Also included is a duet from the second act of Gounod’s Polyeucte, a work that failed to gain widespread popularity due to its combination of opera and oratorio as well as its musical quality.

The title of this disc – Patrie! – is taken from an opera of the same name by the now-forgotten composer Émile Paladilhe. Cast in 5 acts and performed on a huge scale, this tale of the Flemish uprising against Spain was one of the Paris Opera’s most successful works, which continued to be staged until the 1920s, when it rapidly sank into obscurity. Heard on this disc is the supremely intense duet from the first scene of act two.

This recording features further duets by Halévy, Massenet, Gounod and Thomas, shedding light on a number of forgotten gems from French romantic opera.

OTHER INFORMATION:
• New recordings made in 2010.
• Fascinating and rare repertoire, a must-have disc for opera enthusiasts.
• Comprehensive booklet notes.
• Sung texts and biographies available at www.brilliantclassics.com.

In the generation after Paganini, Antonio Bazzini (1818-1897) sustained a peerless reputation for flying fingerwork and astonishing feats of legerdemain on the violin. As both a virtuoso violinist and composer, he was a product of his time and place, working in a musical culture dominated by opera. His ‘Dance of the Goblins’ has long been a mainstay of the recital repertoire for violinists seeking to send their audiences on their way with gasps of astonishment, but his transcriptions are much more developed and extensive pieces. They rework not only some of the defining passages of 19th-century Italian opera, but many themes and arias that are now less familiar. Bazzini found in the operas of Bellini a particularly fruitful source of inspiration, writing no fewer than three separate fantasias on themes from La sonnambula through the course of his career, as well as pieces based on Norma, I puritani, La straniera, Beatrice di Tenda, Il pirata and (when he was just 16 years old) I Capuleti e i Montecchi: an astonishingly vivid and precocious piece of work, handled here with sovereign mastery by the young Romanian violinist Anca Vasile Caraman. Accompanied here by the Mantovan-born pianist Alessandro Trebeschi, Caraman is equally impressive in Bazzini’s extended, improvisatory reworkings of climactic moments in Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena by Donizetti. Having taken a cold attitude towards the young Verdi, Bazzini was later won over by the genius of La traviata, which resulted in a truly concerto-like fantasia as well as no less technically demanding fantasias on Attila and I masnadieri. In these works, as in the three fantasies on themes from Pacini’s Saffo, Bazzini emulates Franz Liszt in venturing far beyond literal fidelity to the notes, towards an expressive fidelity to the original dramas.

Classical Music