Award-winning Baroque violinist Rachel Podger takes the resurgence of the Arts in England post -1660 as the compelling inspiration for her new album, The Muses Restor’d. Adopting its title as its theme, Rachel and her vivacious Brecon Baroque take the listener on a journey of captivating violinled chamber music from Jacobean to Early Georgian England. Ranging from the gentle intimacy of consort idioms to the full-blown instrumental virtuosity of the evolving Baroque period, this album uncovers little known glories of English instrumental music and its influences. This refined and intimately chiselled chamber music celebrates a rich tradition where the violin joins a plethora of keyboards, lutes, viol and continuo cello reinstating these sonatas, fantasies, suites, grounds and popular tunes to the mainstream of English cultural life of the time. Together with four musicians from Brecon Baroque, Rachel Podger performs works by Handel, Lawes, Blow, Locke, Purcell, Schop, Jenkins, Baltzar and Jones.

“This oeuvre provides a deeply satisfying kaleidoscope of musical expression over a century of British
musical life."
- Rachel Podger

Violinists Simone Lamsma and Candida Thompson explore connections between J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt on their new release, 'Pärt über Bach,' with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Arvo Pärt’s groundbreaking 'Tabula Rasa' is presented alongside Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin in the version for two violins, and Pärt’s own 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' written in 1964, wherein the Estonian master intertwines his own modernist music with phrases from J.S. Bach’s music.

"Turning to Bach was for me a way of stating my position regarding my experience with twelve-tone music. In my state of extreme discomfort at that time, I wanted to prove to myself how beautiful Bach’s music was, and how hateful mine was. [...] I was convinced that through this musical sacrifice I could gain a clearer vision of my own contradictions." - Arvo Pärt

Continuing his cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer releases Symphony No. 3, ‘Eroica’ paired with the Coriolan Overture. These warhorses of the symphonic repertoire showcase how Beethoven writes not only dramatically, but also profoundly lyrically. Fischer’s process of recording the cycle has been notably drawn out, having first insisted on performing and touring the music with his outstanding orchestra before committing to a studio recording. Previous releases feature Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. They have been roundly praised, with The Guardian saying “the performance of the Seventh ranks, without question, among the greatest ever recorded. Utterly compelling.”

Ragazze Quartet perform works by two female composers Rhiannon Giddens (*1977) and Florence Price (1887-1953), combined with the ‘American’ String Quartet No. 12 by Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904). Florence Price was the first African-American woman to be recognized for her symphonies, yet her music was forgotten for many years. Her String Quartet No. 2 is a mix of European romanticism, her ‘Southern’ roots, the emerging blues and African-American spirituals.

The title of the album derives from a song Rhiannon Giddens wrote after seeing a 19th-century advertisement for a 22-year-old female slave whose 9-month-old baby was also for sale, but 'at the purchaser’s option'. One of the lines of the song is: "You can take my blood. But not my soul." The string quartet arrangement was made by Jacob Garchik in 2016, commissioned by the Kronos Quartet’s ‘50 For The Future’ project.

“This album is a tribute to composers who, despite opposition, have always remained true to their soul. Our own souls are not directly related to the work songs of African slaves, Czech folk music, or African-American spirituals. But we want to contribute to making the voices, souls and music heard.”

REVIEWS:

But Not My Soul is the ninth album Ragazze Quartet (violinists Rosa Arnold and Jeanita Vriens-Van Tongeren, violist Annemijn Bergkotte, cellist Rebecca Wise) has recorded for Channel Classics, and the group has...received acclaim for its performances and collaborations.

The story of Price's rescue from obscurity is now familiar...her ongoing rediscovery continues. Though she wrote almost 400 pieces for orchestra, chamber ensemble, and piano, as well as art songs and arrangements of spirituals, most of the compositions by the Little Rock-born Price were unpublished at the time of her 1953 death. The discovery in 2009 of an abundance of lost pieces was instrumental in seeing her music undergo its current renaissance. The String Quartet No. 2 in A minor presented [here] was not performed in her lifetime and first published in 2019. Characteristic of her writing, there is European classicism as well as lyrical themes drawn from African American spirituals and folk songs.

After the opening “Moderato” arrests the ear with a chromatic ostinato in the second violin and a less ominous theme in the first, the music swells with a lyrical outpouring before a theme emerges indebted to negro spirituals and then episodes of urgency and yearning. After entering with a ghost-like delicacy, Ragazze's rendering grows ever more luminous and expansive, even at tempestuous moments suggesting kinship with Mahler.

“Andante cantabile” is distinguished by a plaintive melody that's presented in a rocking motion, the overall feel gentle, serene, and warm. Ragazze enlivens the earthy material...with fiddle-like inflections and bluesy phrasing. “Finale: Allegro” drives the work home with muscular force, rousing dance elements again part of the mix and a calming Andantino surfacing in the middle.

The resilience theme implicitly associated with the Price work extends to the two others on But Not My Soul. The worlds of Price and Antonín Dvorák might seem far apart, but there is, as Ragazze itself argues, kinship between them. It's easily explained: the Czech composer wrote his String Quartet in F Major Op. 96, No. 12—aka the “American”—in the United States, where he'd been invited to research original American music and discovered a treasure trove of material among the black population. Elements thereof materialize in the string quartet and in doing so collapse the temporal and geographical divides between the composers. The concluding piece is At the Purchaser's Option, a Rhiannon Giddens song Jacob Garchik recast for the Kronos Quartet as a string quartet arrangement. She wrote the song after seeing a nineteenth-century advertisement for a young female slave whose nine-month-old baby was also for sale, but “at the purchaser's option” (key lyrics: “You can take my body / You can take my bones / You can take my blood / But not my soul”).

Written about a dozen years after Dvorák's eleventh string quartet, his 1893 “American” enraptures immediately with a singing melody in the opening allegro that establishes an outdoorsy character. The languid passage that follows deepens the idyllic tone before the violist and violinist again pass the opening melody back and forth. While peaceful moments do re-emerge to amplify the romantic tone, the movement largely exudes energetic uplift and hope. The melancholic sorrow of the theme in “Lento” conjures the image of plantation workers singing to ease their burden; animated with joy by comparison are “Molto vivace,” whose fluttering violin figures could pass for birdsong, and robust “Finale—vivace ma non troppo,” which moves at an at times furious clip. Once again, the Ragazze members infuse their playing with dynamism and vibrancy as they bring Dvorák's material to life, and their high-energy execution of the final movement is impressive. At album's end, pizzicato, percussive knocks, and blues-fiddle flourishes make At the Purchaser's Option the memorable set-closer it is. Its tone is not as sombre as one might expect given the story that inspired it, but it's no less engaging for that.

-- Textura

Channel Classics reissues the 8-CD box-set of Mozart’s complete Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin. Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper make this difficult music sound effortless, witty and elegant on the first-ever recording of the complete sonatas on historical instruments. The inclusion of early, middle and late sonatas in this set conveys a balanced survey of Mozart's music for violin and keyboard. Each sonata stands out in its own right, revealing a snapshot in time of his developing personality. Of the original releases, Gramophone Magazine said that "it's impossible to ignore the individuality, vitality and commitment of their performances", while BBC Music Magazine noted that these are "characteristically intelligent and insightful performances".

What are the origins of the Mexican/Dutch/Russian violist Dana Zemtsov and Ukrainian/Dutch pianist Anna Fedorova? Throughout years of friendship, they discovered many similarities in their upbringing. Both Dana and Anna’s parents met in Moscow’s conservatory. Dana’s parents - Julia Dinerstein and Mikhail Zemtsov - are both renowned violists. Anna’s parents - Tatiana Abayeva and Borys Fedorov - are incredible pianists and famous piano professors. With the album Fathers & Daughters, they embark on a journey through generations of the two families! It features works performed by each daughter with her father, the fathers together, the daughters together, and the daughters with their fathers. With music by Evgeny Zemtsov, Frédéric Chopin, Nikolai Roslavets, Alexander Glazunov, Alexander Scriabin, Michael Kugel and Mikhail Zemtsov, plus a piece written by Borys Fedorov especially for this album, it is a perfect, nostalgic portrayal of the environment in which Dana & Anna’s ancestors grew up in.

Imagining how Bach himself might have transformed the Goldberg Variations for a chamber group, Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque present a pioneering new arrangement of the Goldberg Variations by Chad Kelly. Employing a variety of instrumental combinations from a typical Bach ensemble of single strings, oboe, flute, bassoon, and harpsichord, these newly-crafted Goldbergs illuminate exquisite responses to the various historical genres inherent in Bach’s scores.

This beloved masterpiece was composed through a period of personal tumult for Bach; two unsuccessful job applications, the premature death of his son Gottfried, and criticism of his music in a prominent Hamburg publication. Bach’s outpouring of beauty in the Goldberg Variations has long captured audience’s imaginations - Chad Kelly, Rachel Podger, and her fleet Brecon Baroque preserve the work’s exquisite intricacy whilst adding breadth, texture and color to its emotional backdrop. This revisioning of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a perfect transformation of the work for the modern era.

Between 2020 and 2023, Anna Fedorova released all of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concertos together with the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen and Modestas Pitrenas on Channel Classics Records. BBC Music Magazine gave five star reviews for Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, Preludes, and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as well as Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4, noting that “Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova is clearly not only a fine human being ... but also a remarkable artist". It was also Classic FM’s Album of the Weekend, Album of the Week on Scala Radio, received Luister Magazine’s 10 star-review and Anna was highly praised in International Piano for her "passionate, spontaneously phrased and radiant reading". Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was released in the spring of 2023 and quickly became a bestseller at Tower Records in Japan and at NativeDSD Music. With over 38 million views, Anna Fedorova’s live recording of Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw is the most frequently watched concerto on YouTube. Anna Fedorova, Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen and Modestas Pitrenas raise their glass to Rachmaninoff by releasing their complete 3 CD box-set in 2023; the 150th birthday year of the composer.

On this collection of three albums; Jos van Immerseel performs the music by seven masters of 18th century Paris on three historical harpsichords - some of the finest jewels in the Musée de la musique of Philharmonie de Paris: Jean-Henri Hemsch harpsichord; 1761; Ruckers-Taskin harpsichord; 1646/1780; Goujon harpsichord; 1749; restored by Swanen in 1784. Jos van Immerseel; who reappears on Channel Classics Records where he released his first recordings in the 1990s; pays homage to some of the composers who have accompanied him since the beginning of his prestigious career as a harpsichordist. The composers featured on these albums are often mentioned in the same breath; yet each has their own and completely unique style. In Jos van Immerseel's words: "Louis Marchand has whimsical and surprising turns; François Couperin is known for musical regality; Jean-Philippe Rameau portrays theatrical and folk influences; Antoine Forqueray speaks a daring language of the devil's gamba; Jacques Duphly makes the harpsichord sing; Claude Balbastre is a revolutionary challenger; and Armand-Louis Couperin wavers between brilliance and parting pain".

The album Solitude features music of Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann. Dutch violinist Niek Baar and American pianist Ben Kim tell us: “Robert Schumann brought us together as duo partners and as friends. His writing, obsessively swinging between fiery turmoil and tender longing, gave us a common language to communicate with one another”. On this recording, Robert Schumann's Violin Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3 are paired with Clara Schumann's 3 Romances, Op. 22. Listening to her romances, we note that Clara quotes Robert's Violin Sonata No. 1. This romantic gesture underlines the artistic bond between Clara and Robert Schumann.

Copenhagen-based early music ensemble Camerata Øresund takes a musical voyage throughout baroque Europe on their debut recording Pas de bourrée. Suites of dances by Campra, Roman and Purcell alternate with concertos by Bach and Vivaldi and a programme work by Telemann. A theme of travel and journeying unites these pieces. Camerata Øresund cannot keep their feet still even in the most virtuoso of concertos. They dance an energetic "pas de bourrée" to the Allegro of Bach's Harpsichord Concerto, whilst the slow movement from Vivaldi's L’estro armonico is transformed into a hypnotic Sarabande. Pas de bourrée is a colourful kaleidoscope of moods, emotions, characters and stories. Camerata Øresund remains true to their promise that everything they touch will turn into a dance.

Achtung, Aufnahme!! is the Ebony Band’s final album. Conductor and oboist Werner Herbers leaves behind a legacy of discovering, archiving, performing and recording works of ‘forgotten’ composers from the interbellum era. Herbers and the Ebony Band have given over 200 concerts around the world promoting the compositions of that time: often absurdist, Jazz-influenced and dadaistic - styles and influences that the Nazis labelled as ‘perverse’. Just as they were gaining public popularity, many composers of that time were banned, had to flee or were killed in concentration camps. The archive of the Ebony Band’s information and discovered ensemble works of over 125 composers will be transferred to the Netherlands Music Institute in The Hague, where Herbers’ life’s work will remain accessible for generations to come. All the pieces on this recording were written around 1930, have rarely been heard live and are world premiere recordings: Achtung, Aufnahme!! by Wilhelm Grosz, "Komödien aus Europa" by Walter Goehr, and "Die vertauschten Manuskripte" by Mátyás Seiber.