The enchanting piano music of Francis Poulenc deserves to be better known. Perhaps the finest exponent it has enjoyed on record is the French artist Eric Le Sage. ClassicsToday.com called his recording of the concertos the finest single disc available, “better even than the composer’s recordings, and that’s saying a lot. They have everything: style, spirit, a vivid sense of fun, a touch of sentiment that never turns maudlin, and that ability to change moods every few bars that Poulenc always requires. Beautifully clean, well-balanced sonics round out this enticing picture.” BBC Music Magazine declared: “Eric Le Sage is an outstanding Poulenc pianist.” All his recordings of the composer are now brought together in this 6-CD box.

REVIEW:

As well as the piano music 0 which he plays with an ideal balance of insouciance and intensity - there are the two piano concertos and the Aubade, and all the sonatas, with a superb lineup of soloists. Buckets of charm here, in very good sound.

– Gramophone (12/2016)

To celebrate the 75th birthday of the Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich, Sony have released this 5 CD box of her complete commercial discography on RCA, Columbia and Sony. Each card sleeve is adorned with the original jacket. The recordings date from 1975-1992.

What attracts me to this set is that it presents the many faces of Argerich – as soloist, chamber musician and concerto collaborator. The Beethoven and Haydn concertos provide the only instance of the pianist directing from the keyboard, and the Scriabin Prométhée is the only example of this composer’s work she has recorded to date.

Argerich was born in 1941 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She started piano lessons at the age of three and played her debut concert at only eight. In 1955 her parents took up diplomatic posts in Vienna and the family travelled to Europe. Here Argerich was exposed to some of the greatest pianists of the time, studying with the likes of Friedrich Gulda, Stefan Askenase, Nikita Magaloff and later Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Within the space of three weeks in 1957 she won the Geneva International Music Competition and the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition. In 1965, at the age of twenty-four, she won the Seventh International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Since then her career has taken a stratospheric leap and she now has a secure place among the firmament of the foremost pianists of our age.

James Galway left his Berlin Philharmonic post in 1975 and embarked on a solo career. His first RCA solo release was this one with Argerich. For me, it is a highlight of the set, with a tangible rapport existing between the two players. The Prokofiev is the jewel. Completed in the summer of 1943, it was premiered in Moscow in December of that year by Nikolai Kharkovsky (flute) and Sviatoslav Richter (piano). A year later the composer, with the help of David Oistrakh, transcribed it for violin. Galway’s luscious tone and unforced brilliance are compelling. The Franck Sonata, originally for violin and piano, is here transcribed for flute. It works very well, and it is a pleasure to hear it in this unfamiliar guise. I have misgivings about the Argerich/Gitlis collaboration disc. My problem lies with the violinist. I don’t particularly care for the idiosyncratic rubato in the Debussy Sonata, and neither do I find Gitlis’ habit of arbitrary on-off vibrato to my taste.

Directing from the keyboard, the Beethoven and Haydn concertos were taped in London in 1980. They sound so fresh and vital, informed by grace, elegance and charm. Tempi are just right, and an ideal balance has been struck by the recording engineers between the piano and orchestra. The Beethoven is every bit as fine as her later traversal with Abbado on DG. The Schumann Op. 17 is impassioned and eloquent, and Argerich’s stunning technique fully does justice to the first two movements, with plenty of fantasy adding to the allure. The third movement, by contrast, is thoughtful and probing. The Fantasiestücke, Op.12 is no less convincing. I love the way she expressively phrases Des Abends, but I felt Aufschwung a little too frenetic. These Schumann recordings are the same as those released by EMI in 1990.

Dazzling virtuosity is the name of the game in the Strauss Burleske. The performance, which I have to say is the finest I’ve heard of this youthful showpiece, is fiery, capricious and volatile. Both players inject plenty of zest into the more energetic moments, whilst savouring the glorious melodies of the more lyrical sections. The Scriabin Prométhée is a gripping reading of this lushly orchestrated opus, with Abbado highlighting the richly varied pastels of the score. Argerich’s febrile delivery has passion, drama and intensity. It’s regrettable that she hasn’t recorded any more of the composer’s music. I’m pleased that the optional wordless chorus has been included.

This is a worthy tribute to a great pianist, and a must-have for pianophiles. The booklet notes, in English, German and French have been written by Jed Distler and include some interesting photographs.

– MusicWeb International (Stephen Greenbank)

HOROWITZ: THE CELEBRATED SCARL

Murray Perahia and Radu Lupu first teamed up on disc in 1984 with the Mozart D major sonata and Schubert Fantasia, setting benchmark standards for sharply honed and tonally cultivated piano ensemble playing. The gorgeous engineering gains warmth and amplitude in this new transfer for Sony's Masterworks Expanded Edition series. Likewise, the not-inconsiderable Mozart-Busoni and unhyphenated Mozart fillers yield sonic improvement. My list of all the wonderful things that transpire through the pianists' sublimely synchronized fingers, minds, and hearts would take longer to read than for you to listen to this disc all the way through.


Where do I start? The effortless, impeccably calibrated runs tossing back and forth in the Mozart sonata's first movement? The exquisitely scaled dynamics, acute harmonic and linear cogency, and split-second timing of transitions and phrase endings in the Schubert? Or the pianists' mutual sixth sense for divining perfect tempos? Two-piano mavens familiar with Busoni's retooling of the Mozart F minor Fantasia for Mechanical Organ will notice that Perahia and Lupu rightly restore passages from Mozart's original score that Busoni cut (notably in the finale). If you love the piano, you need this disc. [2/21/2004]
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Reviewing Sony 93015

On Bach Inventions & Sinfonias, pianist Simone Dinnerstein reconnects with the foundation of her musical career and what she’s best known for – a solo album of J.S. Bach’s keyboard works. Dinnerstein gained an international following with the remarkable success of her self-funded recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Released in 2007, the album was #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many “Best of” lists including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker. Her Sony Classical debut album, Bach: A Strange Beauty, was also #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart when it was released in 2011. Bach Inventions & Sinfonias (commonly known as the 3-part inventions), features beautiful, well-known music by one of the most popular composers of all time, performed by the pianist that is one of the top Bach interpreters of all time.

Simone Dinnerstein, a graduate of the Juilliard School, is an inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The Independent praises the “majestic originality of her vision” and NPR reports “She actively listens to every note she plays, and the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation.” Dinnerstein’s schedule has taken her around the world since her tri- umphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2005, performing with such world famous orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and she has also performed at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and the Ravinia Festival.

2015 album from the acclaimed Argentinian cellist. On Prayer, Sol Gabetta takes the listener with her on a meditative musical journey. The repertoire on Prayer is a selection of classical music inspired by Jewish melodies. Wherever Gabetta plays, she impresses with her captivating interpretations, her passionate, full-bodied play and her charismatic conquering personality. Her great versatilityof style and repertoire distinguishes her and she can grip an audience through her music.

Prophets of the New is a series from Sony focusing on classic recordings of the 20th century's most revolutionary works.

Available for the first time in the United States, this set from the Sony Classical Masters Series features Alicia de Larrocha playing the works of Mozart, including the Complete Piano Sonatas, Rondos K 485 and 511 and Fantasias K 397 and 475. The Sony Classical Masters is a new series offering a huge wealth of recordings at a very attractive price. Combining the greatest recordings from the RCA, BMG, and Sony Classical labels in one series for the first time, the series houses the performances of the best-loved repertoire by preeminent artists such as James Galway, John Williams, Julian Bream, Lorin Maazel, Yo Yo Ma, Evgeny Kissin, Isaac Stern, James Levine and Glenn Gould, to name but a few. With 42 single-disc releases and 28 box sets, this is a truly all-encompassing range and a complete classical collection in itself, and includes many titles which have not been available for some time.

Superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann could easily fill his performance calendar with Verdi, Wagner and Puccini. But, for Kaufmann, however much he loves opera, interpreting the classical lieder repertory is the highest order of singing. It demands far more detailed work than any other vocal discipline, more color, more nuances and a greater range of dynamics. On Kaufmann’s new album, Schubert: Winterreise, the opera star tackles what is generally regarded as the pinnacle of lieder singing. It is considered the composer’s greatest contribution to the Lied repertoire. The Winterreise (Winter Journey) song cycle is set to twenty-four poems by the poet Wilhelm Muller and was completed by Schubert in 1827. Says Kaufmann, “I think that Winterreise has the same sort of cathartic effect as a Greek drama: the emotional experience purges the soul. For me, the work has an almost meditative effect because Schubert expressed these emotional depths that allow me to regain my own inner balance.”

After working together closely for more than twenty years and giving a number of recitals of Schubert’s great song cycles, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch make their first recording of Winterreise which documents their special partnership.

Heavy Pedal: Works for Organ

John Carollo: Starry Night

On his latest Navona Records release, Ritornello, composer and pianist Curt Cacioppo revisits his beloved Italy, recalling places, friends, Italian tales, Don Giovanni and more to create a detailed sonic story about his experiences and Italian heritage. Divertimenti in Italia reflect on different regions of Italy. From the Dalle Dolomiti All' Etna comes a group of seven piano pieces. Women at the Cross is a collection of depictions of women who are significant in the Passion of Jesus Christ.

A stroll along the Seine – Notre Dame reflected in the waters below – the Eiffel Tower illuminated in evening skies – bistro conversations echoing in the streets of the Left Bank. + Parisian scenes such as these come to mind when listening to the nuances of pianist Kathryn Goodson’s debut Navona Records release, Belle Nuit, a collection of works from La Belle Époque and beyond, with arrangements for piano and wind instruments. + Ms. Goodson & friends express the imagery of love, loss, and passion through works by Debussy, Duparc, Fauré, Franck, Messiaen and more.

S. SCOTT Afternoon of a Fire 1. New York Drones. Vocalise on “In a Silent Way” 2. Aurora Ficta. “La Guitarra” 2. Baltic Sketches • Bowed Piano Ens; 1 Saraiya Ruano (native American fl); 2 Victoria Hansen (sop) • NAVONA 5937 (51:30)


Sad to say, this may be the final recording released by the Colorado-based Bowed Piano Ensemble, as Stephen Scott, its founder, director, and in-house composer, will be retiring this year, and no one is in line waiting to fill his shoes. A performance by this ensemble looks something like a team of doctors performing open heart surgery on a grand piano. Up to 10 musicians simultaneously brush, pluck, or strike its strings (or other parts of the piano), or bow its strings using nylon filaments or other implements. In fact, the only way in which the piano is not played is by means of its 88 keys! This is not a stunt, however. The results are musically viable, thanks to Scott’s strengths as a composer—he has been influenced both by Steve Reich and by jazz—and to the nearly orchestral range of sounds the Ensemble produces. Electric and acoustic guitars, harpsichords, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, percussion instruments, synthesizer-like effects, even eerie approximations of the human voice all live within the Ensemble’s piano. The Ensemble was founded in 1977.


This CD, which goes by the title Fire & Ice , in an excellent introduction to the Ensemble’s work, even as it brings its output to a close. The most recent work, Afternoon of a Fire , was inspired by a devastating fire that occurred in Waldo Canyon, just outside of Colorado Springs, in the summer of 2012. Scott’s eight-minute composition is, to a degree, illustrative, but it is more a reaction to the fire than a description of it. Three passages for native American flute complement the music, and are an allusion to Ute Indian tribe, which had been associated with the area. There are several passages that are reminiscent of Reich (who is specifically honored in New York Drones , the following work on the CD). The oldest work, Baltic Sketches , is a continuous set of five short pieces that Scott composed for Estonian and Lithuanian musicians in 1997. Much of Scott’s music for the Bowed Piano Ensemble tends to unfold slowly, perhaps because of his interest in jazz, but the Baltic Sketches are precise and immediately effective.


Two of the works include Scott’s wife, soprano Victoria Hansen. In Vocalise on “In a Silent Way,” she sings several wordless phrases from the Weather Report composition to the Ensemble’s accompaniment, before the Ensemble itself takes up the melody. In “La Guitarra,” she adopts a flamenco-like singing style to produce an earthier effect. These works demonstrate how well the Ensemble can play both starring and supporting roles.


Aurora Ficta is the “false dawn,” an astronomical phenomenon also known as zodiacal light, in which light from the sun reflects off dust particles, and a dim triangle of light rises above the horizon, although it is still night. Scott reserves some of his strangest and most interesting sounds for this work, which is a true and uncanny tone poem.


It’s sad to think that there will be no more releases from the Bowed Piano Ensemble, but perhaps someone will step into Scott’s position after all, or perhaps a similar ensemble will be founded somewhere else. Fire & Ice makes an excellent case for the worth of what Scott and his Ensemble have been doing for almost four decades. One might approach their work with skepticism, but one responds to it with amazement.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

As the title of this album suggests, An Arc of Quartets gives listeners unique access to a continuum of composer Michael G. Cunningham's intricate and inviting string music. Five international string ensembles present the album's seven compositions, including Sirius Quartet, the Moravian Quartet, the Millennium Quartet, the Pedroia Quartet and New England String Quartet. These groups' performances of Cunningham's work present the hallmarks of his style of string writing, which is defined by a focus on rhythm, melody, and texture, as well as his gentle yet often dissonant, harmonic language. Although these quartets contain a wide range of sounds and styles, Cunningham maintains a reliable attraction to tense, lyrical melodies, and energetic rhythms. One specific string effect that pervades these works is the glissando, or slide sound, that is produced easily on string instruments. In the middle of String Quartet No. 3, we can hear glissandi spangle an all-pizzicato section, while in the "Zestful" movement of String Quartet No. 5, these sliding gestures are decorated with a trill. This piece's marriage of Cunningham's typical style with uncontrollable, rhythmic energy marks it as one of the more abstract works on the album. Cunningham's quartets utilize special sounds as accents to a core of intriguing textures, evocative melodies, and momentum-building rhythms, all of which remain compelling throughout the album. The composer's impressive skill at creating musical lines is displayed particularly strong in the "Song and Fantasia" movement of his String Quartet No. 1, a piece defined by both soulful lyricism and intense contrapuntal motion.

Navona Records proudly presents renowned composer Ruth Lomon's Shadowing, her debut album on the label. The release showcases her remarkable skill in writing for the piano, pushing the instrument's timbre and color to its limits to create animated sound worlds such as those of the title work, Shadowing. Lomon writes of the colors in the pieces: "'Shadowing' means to have such a light touch, such a light tread, that one can move freely through the forest, observing without being observed...It is the equivalent of manifesting and then becoming like smoke, and then manifesting again..." Lomon incorporates more radical colors - such as prepared piano - in Five Ceremonial Masks, which is inspired by masks used by the Navajo people in their Yeibichai Night Chant ceremonies. Native American imagery also appears in the second movement of Esquisses, "La Fête," in which the rhythmic and melodic properties of the music are inspired by the Turtle Dance as seen by Lomon at New Mexico's Taos Pueblo. The first movement of Esquisses, "Les Cloches," incorporates overtone partials and change-ringing patterns of European flared tower bells, creating a distinctive pianistic color, culminating in the introspective, balladic "Memoires de..." to conclude the piece.

Sound and space are two elements that emerge at the heart of Jane O’Leary’s THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER. The collection showcases O’Leary’s compositional gifts through a variety of her chamber compositions. O’Leary’s string writing soars in THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER, and demonstrates her remarkable sensitivity to the instruments’ sonic palette and expressive potential. Every color, from ethereal natural harmonics to frenetic bowing, is at O’Leary’s disposal, and is exploited beautifully to produce evocative and compelling soundscapes.O’Leary is imaginative and creative in her string writing, resonating the instruments’ strings in a wide variety of ways. Harmonics and arpeggiations create vast open spaces.  In the case of A Winter Sketchbook, violin sounds are integrated with those of the alto flute, matching colors and creating new blends of sound. A Winter Sketchbook resonates profoundly as it casts the indelible image of deep winter.THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER’s title track is composed for string quartet, which makes it a shining and exemplary representation of O’Leary’s expressive string writing. The Passing Sound of Forever, originating from a motif found in a Beethoven quartet, plays with fragmentary gestures which emerge and disappear, echo and reflect. The work is filled with a deep yearning, which is communicated by the accumulated gestures and sounds of the quartet’s four string instruments. The Passing Sound of Forever epitomizes O’Leary’s unique ability to evoke vivid emotions from the simplest aspects of string instruments’ sound.Not every work on THE PASSING SOUND OF FOREVER features strings, but all seem to engage with the same themes of space and sound. O’Leary’s clarinet and piano duo Murmurs and Echoes, for example, creates the sense that its two instruments are communicating across great time and distance, most notably so in its last movement.  When their respective gestures mirror one another’s, they do so with the distortion of an echo crossing a vast space. In this way, Murmurs and Echoes reminds of A Winter Sketchbook, as both works use modest forces to generate a surprisingly resonant musical space.

Premonitions American Chamber Works

In collaboration with educator and physicist Dr. Robert Davies, the Fry Street Quartet two composers, Libby Larsen and Laura Kaminsky, to create musical landscapes which speak to the crisis of an imminently unsustainable human world and move the listener toward a meaningful response. Kaminsky’s CROSSROADS | Rising Tide unfolds in a series of four vignettes, titled H20, Bios, Forage, and Societas, together forming a meditative space for audiences to explore connections between the human world we’ve created and the natural world we inhabit. Weaving together a chorus of artistic and scientific voices responding to one of society’s greatest challenges, the work of the quartet, Dr. Davies, Kaminsky, and Larsen presents a deep, profound contemplation of the choices before us, the paths they forge, and the dramatically different landscapes to which they lead.

When appraoching his latest chamber album Bliss Point, Polish-born violinist and composer Piotr Szewczyk turned to a unique lens of inspiration - food science. His interpretation of a "bliss point" in the culinary sense embodies the technique's saturation ofa flavor just before the poitn of diminished potency. Of course, he trades in the contents of his spice cabinet in favor of diverse instrumental pairings, and in doing so, the composer explores the "saturation limits in teh full spectrum of emotions, textures, and characters." In doing so, Szewczyk is confident that the resulting collection of chamber works "covers the entire expressive range of my vocabulary and artistic sensitivity." Naturally, Szewczyk's violin stylings are included in this spectrum, as he appears on nearly all the album's compositions. He keeps true to his stated inspirations on Bliss Point and exemplifies these goals on the title track. Accompanied by clarinet, cello and piano, the violinist leads the quartet through a set of intertwined sections that stakly differ in their pacing. An ostinato bookend aids in structuring the piece, opening with a gentle pulsation and closing with tranquility after a midsection of contrasting instrumental textures. Contrasting moods also appear on the album's first two mixed ensemble pieces. The four shot, ever-shifting movements of Twisted Dances are brought alive by oboe, violin, cello and piano, and the scattered themes of Images from a Journey - which retains the same instrumentation save for a flute replacing the oboe - range from explorations of darkness to a similarly dance-inspired movement based on gypsy performers. These ensembles are only a sample of Szewczyk's use of contrast on teh album, with a strong example arrivign on Piano Trio No. 1's bricolage of disparate movements. The composer cycles through passages of intense, rhythmic virtuosity; then meditative jazz piano obscured by melancholic tendencies; and lastly, an explosive finale with unbridled energy as its ignition. His vibrant writing for strings echoes this trend as well, including the viscous, atonal sonorities of a string quartet in the octatonic scale on Half-Diminished Scherzo and the fury of a lively string trio on the appropriately titled Furioso. These types of musical personification all exhibit the itnense imagery of Szewczyk's compositions. Even without knowing the title of Very Angry Birds, the way the violinist's extended techniques glide over propulsive piano chords will prompt listeners to point their imaginations skyward. This tendency also holds true for the composer's dialogue between instruments, such as the furious battle of violin and viola on Conundrum and the marital themes of Nimbus, which tests the polarity of wedding vows with passages full of both joy and bickering.

Les Barbares was premièred at the Paris Opéra (Palais Garnier) in October 1901, having originally been intended for the Roman theatre of Orange, in Provence. + Rather than concentrating on bloodshed and slaughter, the plot focuses on the evolution of the relationship between Floria, the chief vestal, and Marcomir, the leader of the Barbarians, with the musical interest of the opera culminating furthermore in their splendid duet at the end of Act II. + Saint-Saëns, like Massenet too at that time, shows here his ability to adapt his style to suit his literary inspiration. + Les Barbares is in the same vein as Berlioz’s Les Troyens and contemporary with Fauré’s Pénélope. + The composer does not hesitate to call the work a tragédie lyrique, since it has features of that 18th c. genre. + Also noted is an allusion to the 1870 Franco-Prussian war.

An admirer of Mozart and a great reformer of music education at the recently opened Paris Conservatoire (1795), Charles-Simon Catel composed in 1810 Les Bayadères, an operatic masterpiece set in India, which competed successfully with Spontini’s La Vestale, which was then at the height of its popularity. Tinged with orientalism, it turns the page on Classicism and uses new musical and dramatic structures to create emotion. In a work full of action and excitement, the heroine of the opera, the bayadère Laméa – a ‘star’ role (then a new concept) – shows remarkable presence. On his arrival in Paris in the 1820s, the young and very discerning Hector Berlioz was filled with enthusiasm by this work. - Ediciones Singulares

This is an exciting new album bundle of five previously released albums from Navona Records. What Are They Doing To That Piano? features composers and artists dedicated to finding the most adventurous and compelling sounds that the piano has to offer. Opening with works composed by John Cage, the virtual godfather of prepared piano, and performed by the virtuosic Kate Boyd, this bundle contains one of the most eclectic collections of solo piano music a listener will ever encounter. Ice & Fire, first released in 2013 by Navona Records, features six compositions by Stephen Scott for the Bowed Piano Ensemble, including Afternoon of a Fire, written for bowed piano and improvised native american flute in memory of a wildfire that occurred in his native Colorado. The album also includes experimental works that interpret the concept of drones, a piece with five miniatures for bowed piano, and Scott's first written piece for voice and bowed piano. Originally released on Ravello Records in 2016, 16-2-60-N-5: Works for Electronics & Piano, by composer and pianist Sidney Bailin, shows how musical technique can exist solely to help him tell his secrets. A combination of piano and electroacoustic works, 16-2-60-N-5 transforms patterns and structures into a viscerally and emotionally gripping sound experience. Felt, a compilation for solo piano first offered by Navona Records in 2015, presents the works of a number of composers including Matthew Durrant and Byron Petty. With each composer comes a subtly different perception of what the piano is capable, a degree of variation that presents itself repeatedly in the kaleidoscopic collection of pieces included on this release. On An Evolving Cycle, Gheorghe Costinescu's second Ravello Records album, first released in 2013, the composer explores the manner in which keyboard idioms evolved from Baroque to 21st-century contemporary, charting the evolution of form and technique with a deft control of style. Throughout this collection, the composers and performers run the gamut of stylistic and physical variations possible for the piano and its repertoire. It seems only fitting that these albums would ultimately be combined into a single compendium of the piano at its finest, and we are pleased to finally offer, in collected form, What Are They Doing To That Piano?

Spells, a new retrospective collection highlighting the music of poet and composer Juli Nunlist, marks a touching journey through the earnest, romantic, and dramatic sounds of the late artist's compositional language. The album's works demonstrate Nunlist's appreciation for tradition and grandeur, and are driven by her remarkable gift for melody and clear fascination with instrumental texture. Nunlist's literary background seems to inform the potency of the album's vocal works, including the intimate a cappella choral arrangement on the title track, a choral setting of six poems by the English poet Kathleen Raine; and the epic Six Chansons from Prières dans l'arches, for vocal soloists and orchestra. Though these pieces feature contrasting instrumentations, they both display the composer's effortless text setting and brilliantly sensitive orchestration. In each, her compelling writing brings the given text to life, and activates the nuance of its narrative and symbolism with intricate vocal an dinstrumental arrangements. To this end, Spells uses subtle melodic, harmonic, and textural recurrences to convey an enveloping and somewhat cyclical form. The Six Chansons, on the other hand, build vast sonic wonderlands, imaged through Nunlist's incredible command of orchestral space and density. Each of the Chansons pairs vocalists and a large instrumental ensemble, with some of the work's most compelling moments arising from these unique and highly exposed pairings, such as solo mezzo-soprano and celeste. The album's romantic centerpiece arrives with Nunlist's String Quartet, a piece which hearkens back to the genre's seminal nineteenth century masterpiece with its captivating melodies and gripping subversions of functional harmony. Moreover, in a structural sense. Nunlist's String Quartet is one of the most impressive works on Spells, especially in its dramatic closing movement. In the final moments of this piece, the music refuses to repose, and, on the strength of a new theme, the quartet gains energy and determination. This surprising turn in the work's formal trajectory is unquestionably meaningful, and seems to demonstrate a fearless quality in Nunlist's compositional perspective.

In the midst of the artistic debate between the German and Italian styles, as the Age of Enlightenment was lighting up its final fires during the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, Johann Christian Bach (the youngest of the sons of the great Johann Sebastian) was presenting to Paris his Amadis de Gaule. Reduced and revised from a libretto of Quinault for Lully, this operatic work is shot through from one end to the other with the first frissons of the awakening Romanticism. Under the direction of Didier Talpain, a leading specialist in this repertoire, and played on period instruments, Amadis de Gaule demanded a solo team seasoned in the heroism of the tragédies lyriques in the Gluckian manner. In Pierre-Yves Pruvot, Hjördis Thébault, Philippe Do and Katia Vellétaz one finds on this recording a quartet remarkable for their range of colours and balance, all four equipped with exemplary diction and a shared dramatic sensibility which is both poignant and passionate.