Classical Music

Fanned by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, the longing for pure wilderness and the cultivation of rural life, the Nordic National Romanticism arises. All three composers on this album are descendants of this Nordic Romanticism. Although they did not all have the same nationality, their lives are intertwined. In their compositions, Svendsen and Halvorsen remain in form and harmony close to the music of their good friend Edvard Grieg and the distinctive Nordic use of melody; Carl Nielsen, however, goes on a voyage of discovery towards a new idiom with a strong desire for renewal on the one hand and a great need for the revival of the pure archaic on the other. His violin concerto clearly shows this conflict. In a neo-classical 4-part form, reminiscent of the setup of the Baroque concerto grosso, with seemingly simple classical-like themes and references to both Bach and Mozart, he takes the listeners on an incredible adventure throughout Nordic landscapes of pure wilderness and takes all sorts of harmonic and rhythmic twists and turns. Lisa Jacobs writes: "Since the first time I performed the Nielsen violin concerto in 2007, I have been overwhelmed from the very first note. Such an incredible connection with the whimsical Nordic nature that is displayed in this music, such as a natural use of the violin as both a lyrical and virtuoso instrument and such an originality."

Classical Music

A delightful and thoughtful selection of works from C.P.E. Bach's famous Collections for Connoisseurs and Amateurs! C.P.E. Bach's keyboard music is always eventful, unpredictable, and thought-provoking. On this disc, Riccardo Cecchetti - a member of the Voces Intimae trio, often called "the best piano trio in the world" - plays a wonderful fortepiano by anonymous, built in 1785, restored, and part of the well-known Edwin Beunk Collection.

2019- an anniversary year. For three exceptional musicians 2019 brings cause for great joy and gratitude for several reasons. Ton Koopman, internationally renowned as a harpsichordist, organist, conductor, professor and musicologist, celebrates his 75th birthday. He also looks back on 40 highly successful years with the ensemble he founded, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. His wife, Tini Mathot, an outstandingly gifted harpsichord and fortepiano virtuoso as well as a very successful producer of countless international albums, celebrates her 70th birthday. Klaus Mertens, acclaimed for over four decades as an international concert singer with an admirably wide repertoire stretching from Monteverdi to contemporary composers, also celebrates his 70th birthday. "As the ideal conveyor of Bach's cantatas and passion texts..." he also receives the Bach-Medaille of the city of Leipzig in 2019. As if this were not sufficient cause to celebrate an anniversary, these three musicians cap it all by looking back on 40 years of successful and amicable music-making together in concerts and recording studios by presenting an anniversary album as well as several chamber concerts.

Here we present the follow-up to the critically acclaimed first volume of Bach's Harpsichord Concertos by Fabio Bonizzoni and his group La Risonanza. This second volume includes a more varied range of works as it starts with the most famous Brandenburg Fifth, which is the first ever harpsichord concert. After the BWV 1054, we have the rather rare BWV 1057, which is the harpsichord version of the Brandenburg Fourth. To end Bonizzoni's survey of all Bach's harpsichord concertos, we find the famous and beloved Triple concerto, with violin and flute. Of the first volume, critics wrote: "Harpsichordist Fabio Bonizzoni does a credible job in integrating the concertos so that they appear not as a soloist versus the ensemble, but rather as an integral part." (Fanfare) "Bonizzoni achieves the difficult task of combining subtle artifice and interpretative joie de vivre with a manner that appears natural and uncomplicated... enticing for it's musical strengths." (Gramophone)

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Raaf Hekkema writes of his new release: "Since I started teaching at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, I have become more conscious of my self-chosen mission: to create a place for the saxophone within the classical music tradition. One way to do this is to forge a stronger bond between the players and the classical tradition, in the knowledge that the saxophone repertoire too is indebted to the great composers of the past. The most influential of them all is, without a doubt, Johann Sebastian Bach. The path to this recording was long, windy and fascinating. It started with the awareness that the cello suites provide exceptional playing material for saxophonists. But I long felt that for playing Bach on the saxophone, only the light-sounding soprano saxophone would do- which was, I believed, incompatible with the instrument for which the suites were written. During preparations for my previous recording of Bach's partitas for violin, I discovered that the alto sax- fitted with an old-style mouthpiece- could reproduce the refined articulation of the violin. Vintage mouthpieces represent the sound ideal of days gone by. Then came the idea to play the suites on six different saxophones, each of which holds a unique place in the history of the instrument. After that, much time went into working out a usable assignment of transpositions and an appropriate choice of instruments, the resulting sound character being the deciding factor.

This new release is a committing recital by young Dutch pianist, Camiel Boomsma, already praised by BBC Music Magazine for his previous release: “Camiel Boomsma plays beautifully”. Chopin’s Nocturnes and Schubert last Sonata emphasize Boomsma’s natural talent for a singing phrasing. Camiel Boomsma writes: “Musings signifies dreams, reveries, being immersed in thought. It’s the process that the composer experiences while writing the work and also what I experience when studying and performing this music. As I play, I try in turn to pass on this process, this quest for insight, to my audience. Despite the major differences in musical background, these two composers are remarkably close in spirit. The most important aspect here is their ability to create beautiful balanced melodies on the piano. They make the instrument sing more than anyone else.”

Classical Music

This program around the Missa Unitatis represents a meeting of many different musical travellers. Shortly after making it's home in the southern Dutch city of Hertogenbosch in 2006, Cappella Pratensis renewed it's acquaintance with an organization that has been travelling through some 700 years of history, the Confraternity of the Illustrious Lady. To celebrate the Year of Religious Heritage in 2008, the Confraternity commissioned a work by the British composer Antony Pitts. The commemoration, in 2016, of 500 years since the death of Hieronymus Bosch was the ideal opportunity to premiere the version of the Missa Unitatis for double chorus. The Nederlands Kamerkoor graciously accepted the invitation to join forces with Cappella Pratensis, and the celebrated British musician Stephen Layton brought his wealth of choral experience as conductor.

Philippe Elan was born in Gascony, in the south-west of France, in 1960 and moved to the Netherlands in 1986. Ever since, he has frequently been giving solo programmes of French chansons in theatres together with arranger, producer and regular accompanist Reyer Zwart. Philippe is a frequent guest on radio and television programmes, where he champions the French chanson. Over the years, Philippe has recorded 12 albums and 2 DVDs. Philippe Elan: "Singing with a symphony orchestra is a unique, different and exciting experience... and that was certainly the case with the Residentie Orkest. I was given the chance to choose the songs I wanted to sing and the talented Marijn van Prooijen and Max Knigge wrote exclusive arrangements for us. They both came to my house and we talked at length about my preferences in musical colors: a collaboration in which I had a very satisfying input... This way, I was able to tell my story in one concert... my story as a man and as a singer, and I am delighted that this recording can spread my story even further. I have always sung, mostly in French, my mother tongue, conscious that it was the best way, at least the most emotional and organic one for me to express myself as an artist. My mother tongue and my country France are intimately linked to my singing and I can honestly say that the title of this album Ma France is a genuine one. On this album I sing about my attachment to France, my heroes, my migration to Amsterdam, my prayers, my poems, my fears, my hopes and, of course, love."

While offering little suggestion of the symphonic mastery he would attain less than a decade later, the First Symphony, influenced by Mozart's last symphonies and completed in October 1813, is a remarkable achievement. Schubert composed his Third Symphony over a period of about two months, completing the work in July 1815. The Third Symphony is generally characterized by an increased rhythmic intensity, at times bordering on obsession. We may well think of Schubert primarily as a wonderful melodist, but driving, sometimes overpowering rhythm is just as strong a feature of many of his greatest works. The question of why Schubert left this B minor symphony unfinished has continued to exercise scholars. The most convincing explanation is that he simply found himself unable to continue on the same exalted level and resigned himself to leaving the symphony as it was- two movements of breathtaking quality and imagination. There is no evidence that he ever wished, in his remaining six years, to return to the work, or that he regarded it as "unfinished." Beethoven's influence on the historic development of the symphony was staggering. His own examples, widening the expressive range of the genre, opened up a new world. Against this background, Schubert conceived a work of much greater poetry, drama and profundity than he had attempted in his previous symphonies. Over-familiarity may well have blunted our appreciation of this symphony, which is strikingly original from almost every aspect. Apart from the concentrated, expressive quality, there is also an enhanced sense of tone color, with much richer sonorities, and a new spaciousness.