The early 1780s saw the passion for Haydn across Europe reach it's first peak. Ten years later, the composer was considered the most important of his day. In places noted for their music, his latest works sold like hot cakes. And even out in the country, far from fashionable towns and cities, there was an insatiable demand for whatever he had just written. The small North Swabian principality of Oettingen-Wallerstein was no exception. Prince Kraft Ernst, who extravagantly maintained a court ensemble then regarded as one of the best in the German nation, was unstinting in his admiration of the composer and compiled an extensive collection of his works. At the beginning of 1788, Kraft Ernst commissioned his agent in Vienna, von M�ller, to ascertain from Haydn himself his price for three new symphonies of which the Prince was to be the sole owner: "as Joseph Haydn is demonstrably the greatest of Symphonists and I am thoroughly well disposed towards his Music, I should like to obtain three new Symphonies from him, which however nobody save myself should possess. My Court Agent shall tender this my Request to Joseph Haydn and advise me concerning what he will charge and when I shall receive these Symphonies." The composer accepted the commission but explained that he could not deliver at once on account of other obligations. More than a year and a half were to pass before Haydn delivered the commissioned symphonies. The Bavarian Chamber Orchestra (BKO) based in the idyllic spa resort of Bad Br�ckenau has made a name for itself with innovative projects since it's foundation in 1979. The orchestra consists of first-rate professional musicians from the nations of central Europe, who regularly come together as chamber orchestras or in various chamber ensembles.

Gerd Schaller writes of this new release: “Although extremely numerous and insightful, the surviving fragments of this movement, which were left at various stages of development, present a very incomplete picture of Bruckner’s Ninth. Nevertheless, throughout the decades in which I have theoretically and practically (as a conductor) studied Bruckner’s works, I have always found it regrettable that these fascinating sketches and ideas might never be played at all simply because they were not left in a playable form. Before I embarked on the task of filling in and completing the final movement, I did of course have to consider whether aspiring to finish such a masterpiece as Bruckner’s Ninth might be seen as somewhat presumptuous. A further exploration of the Ninth Symphony in the run-up to a performance is what eventually prompted me to assemble the final movement. Whilst it might be seen as presumption, I believed it to be altogether possible and even desirable to incorporate Bruckner’s incredibly daring and fascinating sketches and drafts into a playable and, most importantly, musically convincing form.“

Immediately after completing the Second Symphony, Anton Bruckner (1824 -1896) continued a fruitful compositional spree by starting the draft of his Third. He had no way of knowing then that this work would continue to occupy him for the rest of his life. Dedicated to Richard Wagner, the work was written in 1873, revised in 1877, and again in 1890. It is regarded by many as Bruckner's artistic breakthrough. According to Rudolf Kloiber, the third symphony "opens the sequence of Bruckner's masterpieces, in which his creativity meets monumental ability of symphonic construction." On this release, Gerd Schaller leads the Philharmonie Festiva in the performance of the Third Symphony in it's 1890 revised version. German conductor Gerd Schaller is best known for his performance and recording of rare works. He conducted the first full recordings of Bruckner's output.

Works for violin and piano occupy a special place in the compositional output of Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951). He wrote a large number of pieces for piano and voice. Where his chamber music is concerned, however, his emphasis was on the genre of the violin sonata. Medtner wrote three sonatas for violin and piano. They are written, like his one great piano quintet, on an almost symphonic scale. There are also the pieces for violin and piano that Medtner produced while he was working on a violin sonata. Presenting these works is Russian violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky. A soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and winner of international music contests, he represented Russia at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2002, which made him a household name in his home country. He is joined by esteemed pianist Ekaterina Derzhavina.

The four stylistically contrasting concertos of this recording represent the technical and expressive range achieved by Johann Joachim Quantz during his long career in the service of the King. Although the music of the Baroque period was becoming less fashionable and being favoured by the gallant style of composers like Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Quantz continued to write in a more conservative style, which pleased the Kings tastes. Flutist Eric Lamb is in demand internationally as a concerto soloist, recitalist, concert curator and chamber musician. In 2013, Eric left his post as a core member of the International Contemporary Ensemble - ICE to pursue a career as soloist and chamber musician. Eric is principal flutist of the Chineke! Orchestra London (Associate Orchestra of the Southbank Centre) and co-artistic director of ensemble paladino. Eric is on faculty of the University of Auckland School of Music as Lecturer in Flute and is coordinator of the student contemporary music ensemble.

Gerd Schaller writes: “Bruckner conceived and composed his String Quintet in F major as a work of chamber music. It is accordingly different from his symphonies in its layout and its realization; one substantial difference, for instance, is in the lack of mysticism in the string quintet: on the contrary, there is a sense of radiant blossoming. The underlying atmosphere is brighter, more optimistic, clear, even a little livelier; there is a constant flow and current running through the work. The slow movement is so full of inner meaning and in my view is certainly one of the most beautiful pieces of music that Bruckner ever wrote. The heaven-storming events, the concentrations of sound and erratic blocks of the symphonies, will be sought in vain.“ The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest and most important Czech orchestras and is a welcome guest throughout the Czech Republic and on concert platforms abroad. The orchestra was established in 1926, three years after the foundation of Czechoslovak Radio. Gerd Schaller studied conducting and held positions at various German state theatres until 2006, and since then has been a freelance artist in constant demand as a guest conductor with well-known orchestras and at concert halls and opera houses at home and abroad.

On 22nd September 2018 the Staatskapelle Dresden celebrated its 470th jubilee. The orchestra was directed by Bernard Haitink from 2002 to 2004. (Haitink turns 90 in 2019.) Principal Conductor since the 2012/13 season has been Christian Thielemann. Founded by Prince Elector Moritz von Sachsen in 1548, it is one of the oldest orchestras in the world and steeped in tradition. Over its long history, many distinguished conductors and internationally celebrated instrumentalists have left their mark on this one-time court orchestra. Previous directors include Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, who called the ensemble his “miraculous harp”. The list of prominent conductors of the last 100 years includes Ernst von Schuch, Fritz Reiner, Fritz Busch, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Rudolf Kempe, Otmar Suitner, Kurt Sanderling, Herbert Blomstedt and Giuseppe Sinopoli.

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REVIEW:

Haitink has previously recorded all of the music on these six discs, but these new releases are still welcome. The Bruckner Eighth and Mahler Resurrection are particularly fine. The Bruckner is mighty indeed, Haitink’s finest available recording of the work. Throughout the engineers have captured a full, rich, well-balanced sound.

– ClassicalCDReview.com

Silvius Leopold Weiss is a composer whose compositions for the lute have been subject of much academic research and now enjoy an extensive discography. His early works, featured on this new release, show the new Italian influence on the young composer. Joachim Held is one of the foremost lute players of his generation. He captivates his audience with the refinement of his playing and moves the listener with expressing the different moods of the soul. In 2006 Joachim Held became the first ever lute player to receive the renowned German Echo- Klassik Award. He won in the category of "Best soloist recording of the year" for his album "Delightful Lute-Pleasure. Baroque Lute music from the lands of the Habsburgs," released by Hanssler Classic.

The German patrician von Uffenbach, during a visit to Venice for the carnival of 1715, at long last managed to meet with Vivaldi and order from him “10 concerti grossi”. Three days later, the composer reappeared with all of the requested music, assuring his patron that it had been expressly composed for him. Vivaldi was unquestionably a very quick composer, but he was also a barefaced and extremely capable promoter of his own talents. The collection of twelve concertos for strings, now preserved in Paris, also has all the earmarks of having been a rapidly and cleverly assembled series of previously composed works, with very little new music added. This same modus operandi would mark the genesis of op. 10 and many other collections by Vivaldi. But Vivaldi is an excellent composer, and like a great actor, he succeeds in taking on the appearance of a character by merely donning a hat or imitating a gesture. Thus he manages to outline with a few brushstrokes all of the force of a French entree in the opening of Concerto n. 5, or to fall suddenly into the most moving melancholy when his unusual Ciaccona modulates into the minor key. Even the last movement of Concerto n. 2, despite appearances, is a rare example of a menuet en rondeau camouflaged as an Italian allegro. The beginning of Concerto n. 1, although belonging to the older works, must have been chosen by Vivaldi to open the collection because it resembles a chaconne in binary meter. These, then, are the distinctive elements, obvious and yet quite effective, which render the idea of a well recognizable taste or style—the same style which informed the “Domine Fili” from the Gloria RV 589, the aria “Tornar voglio” from Arsilda, and the final chorus of Il Giustino. Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the famous baroque ensemble Modo Antiquo, in this amazing historical recording.

Classical Music

Siemens AG and the Orchestra Academy of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester are linked by a partnership spanning many years. What began with the family of the firm's founder Werner von Siemens, has continued across the generations through to today's company. The intensive fostering of young talent, be it in science, research, art, culture, business or technology, is today Siemens' credo, one that sees the company live it's social responsibility in a sustainable manner. Siemens can look back on a long tradition in the promotion of music in particular. Now, the Siemens Arts Program is going still further in this direction by initiating it's own projects, in which new work is created in direct collaboration with artists. The focus here is on contemporary visual arts, cultural education and classical music. The present recording, which also came about within this framework, offered the Orchestra Academy of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and it's young scholarship holders the opportunity to record an album under exceptional production conditions, bringing harmony to the well-known cello repertoire with a technically innovative audio method. Intensive collaboration between the Orchestra Academy and the Siemens Arts Program, it's artistic director Stephan Frucht, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester solo cellist Jakob Spahn, and the Immersive Audio Network IAN, has here given rise to a completely new aural experience, lending the symphonically arranged cello works of Tchaikovsky and Gulda a transparency redolent of chamber music.

On 9 October 1943, NBC Radio in New York broadcast the world premiere of a one-act opera by Italo Montemezzi (1875-1952), L’incantesimo, (The Spell), with Italian libretto by playwright Sem Benelli (1877-1949). The broadcast was a belated form of recognition, because by that time Montemezzi was widely famous in the United States. Conducted by Arturo Toscanini, this opera ran in New York for 25 seasons - an extraordinarily long-lived success, with such major names as Serafin, Stokowsky, De Sabata and Bruno Walter conducting quality editions of the work to widespread critical approval. In the New York Times, the respected critic Olin Downs echoed the general enthusiasm, praising the music, action and style as eminently suited to performance on the radio, adding that the work's lyricism was as strong as in L’Amore dei tre re, although perhaps less immediate than Puccini's. Montemezzi's moderately modern music follows a middle path between a freely declamatory approach for the main characters and more markedly melodic passages for tenor and soprano which might easily pass for short concert pieces or in the great narrative scene of the description of the hunt. Nonetheless, Montemezzi's real capacity for invention lies in his orchestral writing which evokes Wagnerian “infinite melody” and, in certain sections, the imaginative symphonic approach of Richard Strauss with its variety, wealth of color, modulation, rhythmic phrasing, and solo instrumental gesture.

Antonio Smareglia was born in Pola in the Istria region in 1854 and after his early studies in Vienna, (he was of course a citizen of the Hapsburg empire), like the composer Catalani from Lucca he moved to Milan, where he had the support of Franco Faccio and Arrigo Boito, and soon made a fairly successful debut at La Scala. La Falena was premiered in Venice on September 6, 1897 and proved not only in step with the literature and painting of the time but also anticipated coming trends in opera: Pelléas et Mélisande would not appear until 1902, Salome not until 1905. Even Illica & Mascagni’s Iris with its floral-inspired symbolism was not staged until 1898. The truly new and most original element of La Falena is the extraordinary presence of the orchestra and its life-giving language, which is all modulation and excursions into rare key signatures, leading many experts to dub Smareglia a Wagnerian. This was not simply because of the three evocative preludes but also Smareglia’s use of the orchestra. With timbres ranging from harsh and violent to delicate and refined, the Leit-Motiv technique applied throughout as the orchestra provides the structure that holds the opera up rather than merely the accompaniment for this or that musical number.

Colleagues who had the opportunity to hear Niccolò Castiglioni play can vouch for his excellence as a pianist, in particular his skill in performing Cangianti, a work he presented in Darmstadt in September 1959. It is a highly demanding work, not only due to its keyboard acrobatics but also because of its broad-ranging timbres. It is clear Castiglioni possessed an acute sensitivity for the instrument’s qualities which he developed during his studies in Salzburg under Gulda and Zecchi. His was a conscious yet primarily “natural” pianism, in a Chopinesque sense, endowed with precious distillations of timbre that are no longer mere ornament but a surprising and mysterious creative element. This development was to extend to Debussy; the late Debussy would not have eluded Castiglioni’s prehensile hands when he was attracted to the spell of Webern’s labyrinths. This release collects all operas that this great author has written for piano and orchestra.

Within this new album the Armonia delle Sfere ensemble is delivering to us the complete Produzioni Armoniche work by Antonia Bembo, a collection of 41 motets dedicated in 1701 to Louis XIV, in whose court she landed after a series of vicissitudes occurred in Venice, her hometown, including the failure of a marriage and important family disputes, for which she was deprived of her paternal inheritance. After being trained under the musical guidance of Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676), organist of the ducal chapel of San Marco, Antonia secretly married Lorenzo Bembo, a Venetian nobleman, from whom she had two children, and from whom in 1672 she herself asked divorce, due to the continuing absence of her husband, whom she also accused of continuing abuse and betrayal. She then moved to Paris, perhaps following the guitarist Francesco Corbetta, where she concentrated on music and composition, and where she had the opportunity to perform in the presence of Louis xiv, at the court of which she would find acceptance and protection until the end of her life. It is the fascinating story of a strong personality that sought and found its way overcoming the difficult condition of a seventeenth century woman artist.

Nobody could challenge the fact that Vivaldi loved the Bassoon: his 39 concerts are the proof of it. There is no doubt that the mellow and warm resonance of the Bassoon, it's technical elasticity, and it's potential expressiveness come together harmoniously in these musical jewels. Was it due to the fashion of the time or the need to satisfy a patron that these were written and printed for the string instrument? It is difficult to say. However, we should never forget that authors such as Galliard, Boismortier, Corrette, etc. Published their Sonatas with the captions: "for cello and bassoon," "for bassoon and cello," and "for cello, viola, and bassoon." They would not limit their execution to one single instrument: the composition itself would leave the option open. The compositions of Geminani, Boccherini, Breval, and others would not allow this possibility: the constant use of chords and the range would impose the string instrument. In these six Sonatas by Vivaldi too, we find the use of some chords and bichords, but these seem to be added to justify the caption "Sonatas for Cello" rather than for a real musical necessity. Bassoonist Mauro Monguzzi beautifully performs these works alongside pianist Walter Mammarella Giordano.

Pietro Antonio Locatelli's arrival on the musical scene of the first half of the eighteenth century was like a bolt from the blue. He wrote and performed things which had never been heard before on a violin; he was able to play in such acute regions "that a canary lost it's balance and fell off it's perch" according to an anecdote of the times. His contemporaries had nicknamed him "Earthquake", and he possessed great performing power and charisma. Reliable sources inform us that he used to wear a heavy, dark blue housecoat with a sword at his side for his performances, and that his concerts lasted three hours with no interval. His ability as a composer enabled him, moreover, to give a polished form to virtuosity, as yet uncommon; he gave it organisation and published it under the name of "Capricci" (is the first example of a sample range of bold dexterities for solo violin, and it was not until a hundred years later that Paganini produced his 24 Capricci, and still longer for Chopin's 24 Etudes and 24 Preludes). This is not all. Locatelli' 24 Capricci are also the cadences of 12 concertos for violin and strings, quite dissimilar, given that they were written over a long period of time; all together they take the name of "The Art of the Violin" (another title which appears for the first time in the history of music, but certainly not for the last.).The entire opera III is delivered within this triple album by the talent of Diego Conti, leading the Archi di Firenze ensemble and playing a precious violin of the Bolognese school.

The rather singular figure of Gaetano Pugnani (prone to luxury, exhibitionist, and with a lively desire for glory) stands out remarkably in the eighteenth-century music scene. Prodigy child (at the age of ten he was already in the orchestra of the Teatro Regio of Turin) he became one of the leading violinists and composers of the time in Piedmont. He was born in 1731 in Turin where he lived most of his life and where he died. Yet, his great violinistic virtuosity crossed the Italian borders as he toured and held concerts in all major European capitals where he was highly appreciated by the greatest critics and musicians of the era. His violinistic style tributes Corelli through the mediation of his master Giovanni Battista Somis. The Concerti included in this album perfectly represent the virtuosity and musicality of the Italian style that also allowed Somis to enchant all major theaters in Europe. Roberto Noferini, an exceptional performer, plays the solo violin improvising in the style of the era. He is accompanied by the Orchestra Nuove Assonanze directed by Alan Freiles Magnatta.

With this release continues the publication of Marco Enrico Bossi's opera omnia for organ. Here we have more transcriptions of various authors such as Handel, Wagner, Debussy and Saint Saens that deeply fascinated Marco Enrico Bossi in his personal discovery of symphonic and chamber music. For this work Andrea Macinanti uses an important historical instrument: the Cavaill�-Coll organ of the Saint-Antoine des Quinze-Vingts Church in Paris, an instrument specifically built in 1894 for the very wealthy Albert de l'Ep�e baron for performing Wagner transcriptions that, same as Marco Enrico Bossi, the baron passionately loved. Andrea Macinanti was born in Bologna in 1958. He attained diplomas in organ, harpsichord and voice from the Bologna and Parma Conservatories, and completed his studies with Klemens Schnorr in Munich. He obtained a first class degree in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Bologna. He has recorded numerous albums; the most successful include recordings for two organs (with Francesco Tasini) and others released on the TACTUS label of the complete organ works by Ottorino Respighi and Goffredo Giarda, as well as previous recordings of Marco Enrico Bossi.

“AMERICAN SOUL: from Broadway to Paris” is the title of Duo Rosa’s second opus, featuring art songs, Broadway melodies and cabaret tunes. In this new project, the two musicians maintain a concept that was one of the keys to the previous album’s success: a blend of classical and popular music in a varied, accessible programme that pleases audiences of all ages, regardless of whether they are classical music lovers or not. Concertgoers were mesmerized by the energy exuded by Duo Rosa on their first tour — Return World Tour — and by the theatrical effects with which they infused classical melodies and Latin American popular songs. Thus it is only natural that they would now turn to North American repertoire, in all its flamboyance, to present a recital brimming with emotions: happiness, nostalgia, humour, sadness…and many other surprises! To grasp the audience’s attention and hold them spellbound, the duo has selected a series of highly popular songs combined with less well-known classical melodies. They perform famous Broadway tunes such as I feel pretty and Somewhere by Bernstein from West Side Story, or Gershwin songs including The man I love and I got rhythm from An American in Paris. The cabaret genre is likewise present, with numbers by Kurt Weill (Buddy on the nightshift and Je ne t’aime pas) and William Bolcom’s humorous Amor. Léna Kollmeier also displays her skill as a solo pianist in two attractive, demanding pieces filled with imagery.

Following a breathtaking Vivaldi album, Russian violinist and countertenor Dmitry Sinkovsky is turning to Bach music. Once again, he combines his unrivalled virtuosity in both arts to create an outstanding recording in which 3 famous violin concertos are paired with vocal hits by Bach: "Erbarme Dich", "Es ist vollbracht" and "Agnus Dei" from B minor mass. Russian virtuoso violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky has been a prizewinner in multiple international competitions, including the Bach Competition, Musica Antiqua Competition, and Romanus Weichlein. In 2011 he founded the La Voca Strumentale ensemble in Moscow, and was a conductor of Il Complesso Barocco from 2012 to 2014. He currently serves as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory where he teaches both violin and viola.

Handel, Scarlatti, Corelli, Stradella, Muffat ... From 1650 to the beginning of the eighteenth century, Rome exercised an immense power in attracting composers from all over Europe and experienced an intense moment of musical activity, because of - or in spite of - the papal administration. It was a prosperous period with a melting pot of influences. The programme devised here by the Roman conductor, Rinaldo Alessandrini, offers a complete and personal vision of the time, passionate and secular, lyrical (made sublime by Sandrine Piau) and orchestral, romantic in every way. Rinaldo Alessandrini is one of the leading figures in the international early music scene. His predilection for the Italian repertory and his constant preoccupation with the expressive characteristics specific to the Italian style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are the decisive factors that orientate his musical approach and interpretative options, both as the head of Concerto Italiano, of which he is the founder and director, and as a soloist and guest conductor.

Cantiones sacrae is the long-awaited follow up to Magnificat’s critically acclaimed 25th anniversary recording, Scattered Ashes. The Cantiones sacrae is an unusual work that stands quite apart from Schütz’s other published sacred music in both scale and style. The collection comprises forty Latin motets for four voices, plus a figured bass for continuo accompaniment (realized on this recording by lute, violone and organ), which was added later by the composer. The perfectly crafted works are composed in a learned, contrapuntal style rich in dissonance and range of expression. Schütz cleverly mirrors the intensely intimate nature of the texts using a musical language that looks to inward expression rather than to external effect. Schütz takes every opportunity to exploit vocal timbre and technique in the service of word-painting, with the virtuosic vocal lines ranging from a conservative imitative style to the most avant-garde, chromatic style of the Italian madrigal. Magnificat’s performance of the Opus 4 motets reveals Schütz to be a composer with an imagination of extraordinary variety.

About Giovan Battista Gervasio's life we have only a few, fragmentary pieces of information. We do not know the exact years or places of his birth or death, and can only surmise that he was born in Naples in the third decade of the eighteenth century, and that he died after 1786, year of the publication of the last printed composition of his that is available to us. The music recorded here is a performance of the six sonatas in manuscript form preserved in Uppsala and Paris, the complete corpus of Gervasio's currently known sonatas. The InchordisTrio has been performing Giovan Battista Gervasio's sonatas for mandolin and basso continuo since it's establishment, including them in it's concert programmes. It is a very interesting, sometimes even surprising, music. In spite of it's rough formal simplicity, it turns out to be particularly effective and able to evoke the eighteenth-century Neapolitan Baroque atmosphere, through a series of stylistic features that belong to the typically Neapolitan composition procedure, with melodic solutions that are enjoyable, captivating, and pleasantly engrossing for both listeners and performers. The structure of the InchordisTrio, which is formed exclusively of plucked string instruments, stimulates a performance research and a rather distinctive construction of the basso continuo, based on an alternation of accompanying instruments, of empty and full parts, of timbres, and also on little melodic exchanges between the mandolin, the archlute and the harpsichord.

Leone Sinigaglia is a musician who deserves to be rediscovered. He was a Jewish composer who was born in Turin on 14 August 1868 and died there on 16 May 1944 in front of the military force that had come to arrest him in the Ospedale Mauriziano, where he had sought shelter from the Nazi-Fascist persecution. During the period of his education in his native town, Sinigaglia often stayed in Milan, where he struck up important friendships with Antonio Bazzini (a violinist and composer who was professor of composition from 1873 and became director of the Conservatory of Milan from 1881 onwards), and with his pupils Alfredo Catalani and Giacomo Puccini. Bazzini urged him to travel to Europe to complete his training with the great names of the era, first of all Brahms, who, however, not accepting pupils but recognizing their value, diverted him to Eusebius Mandyczewski, a teacher of great fame and professor of composition at the Vienna Conservatory. From these years in Vienna came the great masterpiece by Sinigaglia: the concert for violin and orchestra included in this prestigious live performance by the young world star Laura Marzadori, first violin of La Scala in Milan. The album includes two pieces for cello and orchestra performed by the refined soloist Fernando Caida Greco, and the delicate orchestral piece "Regenlied." Marco Zuccarini leads with great confidence the Citta di Ferrara Orchestra in this live concert organized by the "Comitato dei grandi Maestri".