Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, although considered an isolated phenomenon, transformed Amsterdam into the center of interest for keyboard music. Today, Sweelinck is considered not only one of the most famous organists, but also one of the leading composers of his time and the last great master of Dutch and Flemish polyphony. His work is not conceivable without Venetian and, most importantly, English models. Even though he was not widely travelled, Sweelinck remained amazingly well informed throughout his life. Despite his fame and importance, not a single work for keyboard instruments survives in an autograph source, not even in a copy authorized by the composer. His keyboard works have survived in some thirty scattered and not always reliable manuscripts.

This body of work is far from complete, and the copies mostly date from after the composer’s death. It is thanks to Sweelinck’s pedagogical activity and his numerous students, that the compositions have survived at all. Among Sweelinck’s pieces for keyboard instruments, the variations cycles form a significant group. They include variations on chorale melodies, melodies from the Genevan Psalter, Lutheran songs, as well as on secular models. The latter, however, are undoubtedly the most delightful pieces Sweelinck ever composed, for they reveal the composer’s lighter, sometimes humorous side. It seems that Sweelinck composed most of the keyboard works in the last two decades of his life. This is evidenced by a mature style, compositional perfection, and unity.

George Frideric Handel made a name for himself as a brilliant organist and harpsichordist early on in his career. As a young man, he travelled from Germany to Italy in 1707. We do not know exactly how much or what Handel composed for harpsichord while in Italy, but we know more starting from the time he settled in England. Handel composed all sorts of works for harpsichord in England, In November 1720, he published the Suites de Piecespour le Clavecin, now known as the Eight Great Suites, his most important work for harpsichord. The spectacular Eight Great Suites show Handel the harpsichordist at his best.

The suites are made up not only of newly composed movements, but also of improved versions of pieces he had written before and of harpsichord arrangements of his own compositions for other instruments. One theme central to interpreting Handel’s works for harpsichord (and the rest of his œuvre, for that matter) is what to do with the dotted rhythms. In Handel’s music, we regularly see a theme appearing in different rhythmic variants – sometimes dotted, sometimes not, or only partially, dotted. The question, therefore, is whether to perform these rhythms uniformly throughout the piece or to play them as they were written out in each instance by the composer. I have in large part chosen the latter.

The present release is the third and final instalment in Foyle/Štšura’s complete recording of Beethoven’s Piano and Violin Sonatas. The sonatas on the first two albums were emblematic of Beethoven’s early and middle periods, showcasing the composer’s command of the Classicalidiom. The last two sonatas push the boundaries of the genre even further, resulting in artistic efforts of increased emotional intensity, cyclical scope, and lyrical intimacy. They are also considered among the most dramatic and challenging works in the duo repertoire. An early review of Sonata no. 9 in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung was rude: ‘The addition to the title ‘scritta in uno stile molto concertante, quasicome d’un concerto’ appears eccentric, presumptuous and ostentatious’. However, to modern audiences this ‘like a concerto’ element that describes the equality and democratic dialogue between the two instruments is now integral to our understanding of the notion of chamber music and in this, Beethoven was a trailblazer. According to the great violinist Carl Flesch, ‘a flower must blossom in the souls’ of those performing Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in G major Op. 96. The work dates from 1812, a full decade after previous six sonatas, and in its sublime beauty and pathos represents the transformation in Beethoven’s later works from the heroic, defiant drama immortalized in works like the ‘Kreutzer’ to something far more searching and spiritual, rather akin to his late quartets.

Amandus Ivanschiz was baptized Matthias Leopold Ivanschiz on 24 December 1727 in the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt. As early as 1742, at the age of fifteen, Matthias decided to join the Pauline Order and took the name Amandus. On 25 December 1743 Amandus took his vows and was then sent to Maria Trost and Wiener Neustadt to study for the priesthood. The extensive oeuvre of this master, who only lived to the age of 31, is astonishing. In total, more than 300 copies of his works can be found in Central and Eastern Europe. His modern style and great compositional mastery probably explain the wide dissemination of his music. Ivanschiz might therefore also have served as a model in the development of the young Mozart. Amadeus’ first visit to the monastery is documented on 12 September 1767, after which we know he returned at least another three times.

Fourth and final volume in de Vriend’s survey of Schubert’s symphonies. It includes symphonies no. 5 (composed in 1816) and no. 6 (1817). They represent an important step towards the composer’s maturity. As a fill-up you will find the Overture in D in the Italian style, a ‘Rossinian’ piece. de Vriend’s complete edition of Schubert’s symphonies has so far received a widespread acclaim from international press.

BBC Music Magazine on CC 72863 (Symphony no. 9): the feeling is of musical values leading at every point. Fanfare on CC 72802 (Symphonies no. 1,3,8): the performances, with their odd combination of delicacy, decisiveness and drive, really work. Pizzicato on CC 72739 (Symphonies nos. 2,4): with fluid, agile and vivid performances, de Vriend takes a promising start into a new complete cycle of Schubert’s symphonies.

After Bach's Goldberg Variations, which won him worldwide honors (including a Diapason d'Or from France's Diapason Magazine), Hannes Minnaar challenges and confronts what has become a 'classic' of the 20th century repertoire: Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, composed in 1951. Here again, the qualities of his pianism, for which he is recognized as one of the leading musicians of our time, come under the spotlight: the diversity of touch and the suppleness between tension and tranquility to characterize every Prelude and Fugue, the precision of tone, the lack of any affectation, a natural finesse in phrasing and articulation, and a familiarity with the score going hand in hand with a freshness that conjures a sense of improvisation. Here we encounter a new landmark in the crowded field of interpretations of this wonderful music.

Schreker is well known for his operas and wrote the libretto and composed his opera "Der Schatzgräber" after the great success of "Der ferne Klang" (1912) and "Die Gezeichneten" (1918). "Der Schatzgräber", questioning the value of materialism versus love, was to prove particularly powerful in post-War Europe. Musicweb International raves: “... this is one of those operas and recordings which ‘has it all’, from the drama and sublime beauty of the music to the glorious performance and sumptuous recording. If you are a fan of opera on record from any period this is a treat, but if you love your music-dramas exciting, moving and Romantic with a big-boned ‘R’ then this is one you will want to keep close to your media player for a long time to come.”

The present release by baritone Sergio Foresti on Challenge Classics. The second where he is accompanied by the remarkable Abchordis Ensemble, conducted by Andrrea Buccarella. This recording is devoted to the arias composed by Nicola Porpora, probably the greatest of the Neapolitan composers as much as the voice is concerned. A selection of arias of different moods and characters that ceaselessly tantalize and intrigue the listener. A disc you can listen to with constant pleasure and commitment from start to end, thanks also to the orchestral accompaniment (and overtures) and the impeccable recording and production.

Veronica Kuijken writes: “There was more than one surprise in store for me as I took a closer look at the chronology of the works Héléna and I have recorded here. For instance, the timeline I had spontaneously imagined for the years in which the works were written turned out not to correspond to the actual chronology at all, and the ages of the composers at the time they wrote them do not coincide with the youth or maturity they communicate. But these surprises actually make me rather happy, since they so beautifully illustrate the uniqueness of every person, quite apart from textbook music history! Despite the ‘frozen’ aspect of a recording, we do very much hope that we have succeeded in bringing out the living, breathing quality of the music here. Compositions, we think, are a bit like children: having complete ‘power’ over them is impossible, since they have their own lives. Even composers can only send a work out into the world for it to live on independently – since every time we listen, we hear a different version, don’t we?”

This amazing box celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the most influential and seminal Baroque ensembles of the recording history: La Petite Bande. The box contains the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in b minor. All these works are performed according to the individual and musicologically based criteria elaborated by that great musician, also a great scholar, who goes by the name Sigiswald Kuijken.

"When I look back now, I'm astonished and grateful that this unusual birth of our 'little band' – obviously more the result of happy circumstance than premeditated decision – has continued to define the character and ambience of our collaboration over the entire 50 years of our existence as an 'action group'.

"When you're a musician, or playing in a group of musicians, you need to play every concert as if it were the very first, but at the same time perhaps the very last. This keeps the work mint-fresh and banishes any suffocating routine. The real, deep reason for playing any music at all (even if you play on your own) is your connection to the situation you're transcending, which gives you the most personal, inner satisfaction. If this feeling ever starts to evaporate, where's the fun?

"Yes, this is the breath that keeps us musicians alive, and we've always chosen musicians who can share this same breath with us. The mentality – that common philosophy about the work – is absolutely the most important aspect; it very largely determines the quality that can then be communicated to our audience. In the most literal sense, a musician must always remain an amateur – a dilettante – as only then will the listener share in the enjoyment." -Sigiswald Kuijken

Pieter Hellendaal, concertmaster of Handel’s orchestra, was born in 1721 on the milk market of the Dutch city Rotterdam. Exactly 300 years later, this album with his sumptuous Grand Concertos was recorded live in Rotterdam. The Dutch Masters Project by the baroque orchestra La Sfera Armoniosa aims at discovering Dutch hidden treasures: this second volume follows one devoted to De Fesch's Concerti Grossi (CC 72829: "There is much to enjoy in this excellent disc" Scherzo, Spain)

This is a ‘concept-album’ around Maurice Ravel and his special relation with Hélène Jourdan Mourhange, a dear friend and violinist nicknamed "Moune." The program is set-up in order to take the listener by the hand into Ravel’s musical world through a series of pieces which are gradually more deep and complex. The music is played on a 1935 Hautrive piano, while violin and cello are played on gut strings. The Tzigane is in the rare version for Luthéal (Pleyel, 1910), a period prepared piano with a distinct character. About Lina Tur Bonet, Diapason writes: “Impressive: Lina Tur Bonet’s discography aligns beautiful achievements’. Indeed her previous releases have already collected all European awards.

This release is a journey through the history of the solo viola da gamba, starting with its birth (1553) and finishing at the end of 17th Century. Besides the pieces by Diego Ortiz and Tobias Hume, there are some world premiere recordings of music by Benjamin Hely and Angelo Bertalotti. Matteo Cicchitti is the leader of Musica Elegentia, already responsible for a previous Wagenseil disc on Challenge Classics (CC 72896). Pieces were selected in the light of their austere and meditative mood. They perfectly match the character of the remote 12th Century Abruzzian church that hosted the musician and the strictness of the 'live' recording process that required only lightest editing.

Julia Hartig writes: “This album can be seen as an autobiographical story. It is a reflection of my Yugoslav and Dutch identity described in 10 pieces by 8 composers. All of these pieces have their unique musical language and way of expressing thoughts and feelings. From pure honest most tender love to the unearthly sounds in search of answers. Some of them speak about deep sorrow of loss, passionate greed for love and life, brutally distorted decomposed beauty or simply pure wild untamed joy. One thing that is common to all of them is that they were written or arranged for me with a deep understanding of my way of playing which is always intense, honest and expressive. I love them all like my children and enjoy watching them grow. In addition to the selection of already composed music from 1990 on, three new works were written for me, especially as a part of this project.”

It is remarkable that listeners in later ages hardly ever share the preferences of a composer’s contemporaries. This is also true to a certain extent in the case of Antonio Vivaldi. The twelve concertos op. 8, Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione of which The Four Seasons are the first four, were only printed four times. The first edition, published in Amsterdam by Michel Charles le Cene, appeared in 1725, and it was reprinted three times by the Paris publisher Le Clerc. L’Estro’s popularity was equaled by Il Cimento only in France. This great success in France was undoubtedly due partly to the fact that French theoreticians often were less skeptical about the onomatopoeic potential of music than for instance their English colleagues. We do not know how Vivaldi himself regarded these theoretical questions. There are hardly any quotations extant from the Venetian master in which he airs his views on composition of aesthetics. Even the relation between the score of The Four Seasons and the four “explanatory sonnets” that Vivaldi had printed along with the first edition, is not quite clear. Did Vivaldi, in writing the Four Seasons, base himself on a specific programme? From the countless special effects the score offers it appears that this must have been the case. Yet the fact that some sonnet lines have no parallel in the music suggests the programme was not as well-defined as the sonnets would lead us to believe. One of the world’s most sought-after conductors, Jaap van Zweden has been Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2012.