CHRIST IN GETHSEMANE - Two Gregorian chant offices of Maundy Thursday- the Office of Tenebrae and the Ceremony of Foot-washing- are presented here, sung in the dramatic style appropriate to the night before the Savior's Passion. "This recording... is utterly magnificent and the singing of this great choir is thrilling beyond words. Buy this album if you expend your last pence; it's better to starve to this music than to live without it." (Classics CD) "This album is a marvelous evocation of Holy Thursday's Tenebrae and foot-washing ceremonies, important for understanding the evolution of chant interpretation at the home base of chant restoration. Some of the antiphons have never been recorded before." (Fanfare) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

Known throughout the world as the leading masters of Gregorian chant, the monks of Solesmes present a 2-album set that includes “Learning about Gregorian Chant” and “Gregorian Chant Rediscovered”. “Learning About Gregorian Chant” simplifies and clarifies the world of chant for those to whom Gregorian chant is a mystery. The combination of a clearly understood text (read by Sarah Moule) with the fluidly sung examples (sung by the Benedictine monks of Solesmes) convinces the listener that Gregorian chant is open to everyone for enjoyment and prayer. The clear and concise presentation on this recording will make it a valuable resource for educators, musicologists, students of music and those who wish for a basic understanding of chant. "It is a marvelous, brief explanation of the various types and styles of the chant, going from its early, simple forms of recitation to the elaborate, soloistic forms. Dom Saulnier's historical explanations of the origins of the texts and their use in the service is especially interesting as is their development along the way into today's usage have always been amazed at the depth of his knowledge as to the whole history of chant performance and to hear his brief and very meaningful comments is a real pleasure. . . I need hardly say that the recordings of chant from the abbey are, to my mind, still the finest on the market, thanks to Dom Claire and it is good to hear them brought out again for the American public. For anyone interested in what the various forms of chant are and where and why they were used this is a wonderfully concise and informative recording." (Dr. Robert Fowells, Los Angeles Gregorian Schola (founder), California State University)

"A marvelous, brief explanation of the various types and styles of the chant, going from its early, simple forms of recitation to the elaborate, soloistic forms. Dom Saulnier's historical explanations of the origins of the texts and their use in the service is especially interesting as is their development along the way into today's usage have always been amazed at the depth of his knowledge as to the whole history of chant performance and to hear his brief and very meaningful comments is a real pleasure. . . I need hardly say that the recordings of chant from the abbey are, to my mind, still the finest on the market, thanks to Dom Claire and it is good to hear them brought out again for the American public. For anyone interested in what the various forms of chant are and where and why they were used this is a wonderfully concise and informative recording."
—Dr. Robert Fowells, Los Angeles Gregorian Schola (founder), California State University
"A very useful tool for helping people to understand what Gregorian chant really is, how it was created and for what purpose. The combination of spoken explanation (in plain English!) and the carefully chosen sung examples is the best way to begin one's acquaintance with Gregorian chant. When you finish listening to this CD, you will have a wonderful sense of just how rich and diverse is this artistic and religious treasure of Western civilization."
—Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, St. Meinrad Archabbey
“Solesmes sets the standard for Gregorian chant performance.”        
—American Record Guide

Since 1833, the research and study of Gregorian Chant by the Monks of the Abbey of St. Peter in Solesmes, France, has focused on making this sung form of prayer the finest possible offering for God, to whom it is addressed six times a day at the Abbey. These recordings include Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Sequences, Offertories, Communions, and Hymns from Easter Mass and the Mass for the First Sunday after Easter as well as a Hymn from the Masses of Eastertide and the seven Antiphons of the Resurrection according to the Gospels. “Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes. Each of these highly recommended exceptional recordings is flawlessly produced and showcases centuries of devotions, chants, celebrations, and the glorification of God.” (Reviewer’s Bookwatch)

“The most famous and ‘authentic’ recordings of Gregorian chant for generations have been those made by the Solesmes monks.”      
—The Boston Globe
“The music is utterly magnificent and the singing of this great choir is thrilling beyond words…it’s better to starve to this music than to live without it.”       
—Classic CD
“Supremely ethereal.”        
—USA Today

Solesmes' He Was Placed in the Tomb contains the Gregorian Office for Holy (or "Great") Saturday, the evening service that observes the time Christ spent in the bonds of death; it is signified by the lighting of the candle of Paschali... This performance of the Office is by the Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey in Solesmes, presumably from their own edition, which has been the Vatican standard since 1903... This one of the very last recordings of the Solesmes choir as led by it's longtime director, the late Dom Jean Claire, who retired shortly thereafter. The choir is in excellent voice; the pacing of the chant is as it should be and the acoustic in the Abbey Church at Solesmes is warm and bathes the voices in a benevolent ambience. This office consists of four Nocturnes, Lauds, and Vespers, with the pieces toward the ends of the Nocturnes being the most captivating within the office, particularly the Mode 4 and 5 Responsory at the end of the first Nocturne and the breathtakingly beautiful Responsories in Modes 8 and 4 that conclude the Second Nocturne. "As a representation of the Holy Saturday service in Gregorian terms, this is about as liturgically accurate, and as well performed, as it gets. Outside of it's purely religious context, Solesmes' He Was Placed In The Tomb would be an excellent album to accompany late-night reading or other nocturnal, quiet activities. " (AllMusic. Com)

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely regarded as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. He has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, among which are the Berliner Philharmoniker with whom he made his debut in 1985 with Daniel Barenboim; the Wiener Philharmoniker with whom he played first time in 1983 with Lorin Maazel in Salzburg; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all London orchestras, as well as all big American orchestras. Frank Peter Zimmermann is a regular guest at all major music festivals, including Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne.Over the years Frank Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography, and has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire. On this new release, he focuses on the original and reconstructed violin concertos of J. S. Bach. He plays on the 1711 Antonius Stradivari violin “Lady Inchiquin,” which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, “Kunst im Landesbesitz.”

There is a certain tradition of large-scale string chamber music in Russia. However, the diverse cultural history of Russia and Eastern Europe has concealed numerous forgotten and little known treasures, which got buried away in times of competing nationalisms and later of ideological cultural doctrines. The two works on this album, both originating in Russia, had been forgotten by musical history but can now be heard again. Franz Xaver Gebel (1787-1843) wrote his Double Quintet during the last years of his life in Moscow. The String Octet by Carl Schuberth (1811-1863) was written some time later, in the 1840s in St Petersburg, where Schuberth was active as a cello virtuoso and conductor. The works on this album are receiving here their world premiere recordings from the Hoffmeister Quartet and soloists of the Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were important for the development of the transverse flute: the technical improvements introduced by French and German flutists made the instrument become more accurate in its tuning, more powerful in its sound, and more agile in quick passages, so much so that it superseded the recorder and began to compete with the violin, even replacing it in some sonatas or concertos. Virtuoso flutists such as Philibert Rebillè, Michel de la Borre, Pierre Gabriel Buffordin, Michel Blavet, Johann Joachim Quantz and his noble pupil Frederick II of Prussia were undoubtedly a source of inspiration for the composers of the baroque and galant periods who composed music for the transverse flute and produced pieces that became landmarks in the history of music; but it was also thanks to the diffusion of the instrument among amateurs that the transverse flute repertoire was enriched by an extraordinary number of compositions, many of which were exquisite works. This is the case of these five unpublished concertos by Italian authors - some of them totally unknown, now rediscovered by the Baroque Ensemble “Carlo Antonio Marino”, led by Natale Arnoldi, and by the flute of Raffaele Trevisani.

The career of conductor Rafael Kubelik (1914 – 1996) provides an interesting insight into the world of music in the twentieth century. Born the eighth child of the then world-famous violin virtuoso Jan Kubelik and his wife Countess Marianne Csaky-Szell, he was already commanding attention while he was studying piano, violin and composition at the Prague Conservatory between 1929 and 1933. In 1935 he embarked on a tour of the United States as his father's accompanist. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (which Vaclav Talich raised to the status of a top European orchestra) hired him as its conductor in 1936. When, the following year, Talich fell ill during a tour of western Europe, Kubelik filled in for him and began consolidating his international reputation. Despite his tendency towards subversive programming (he often included works by banned composers), he was able to retain the post after taking it over in 1941. In the post-war period Kubelik’s work with the orchestra enriched the cultural life of his country and in 1946 he became one of the founders of the Prague Spring Festival. Kubelik defected in 1948, though, in protest against the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia. His three-year term as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ended as a result of the ill will born him by the music critic Claudia Cassidy. His time as Music Director of The Royal Opera at Covent Garden was brought to an end because of opposition from Sir Thomas Beecham. Nevertheless, among orchestra musicians he was one of the most well-liked and esteemed conductors. His openness, fair moral principles and the friendly working atmosphere he created brought him a degree of recognition which even produced award-winning results in the recording studio.

The Antonio Castiglione (Casteliono) anthology, printed for the lute in Milan in 1536, is one of the most important documents of the period, testifying to how relevant the use of this instrument became - the very first to be dedicated 'intavolatura' - starting the diffusion for that 'home' use of music that will be the fortune of the main printers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The skill and knowledge of the performance practice of luteist Paolo Cherici - already a star of the interpretation of the music by Vincenzo Capirola (TC470301) - reveal to us in all it's freshness this musical cross-section of the Italian renaissance through the sounds and timbres of the lute and the vihuela. Paolo Cherici studied guitar under Ruggero Chiesa, then lute at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith and Eugen M. Combois. He has made a large number of recordings, some of which have received high honors. He currently teaches at the Milan Conservatory.

The Russian word romans ("romance") denotes an art song whose lyrics usually - but not always! - deal with the subject of Romantic love. A counterpart to the German Lied or French romance, the Russian romans embarked on it's journey late in the 18th century. Predictably, the earliest romansy imitated the Western models and were set in French and Italian. As it happens time and again in Russian history, a Western innovation timidly arrived in Russia, steeped in the country's unique culture, and after years of evolution re-entered the West as something strikingly new, fresh, and... yes, indeed "Russian." When it comes to the genre in question, the West discovered the dramatic romansy by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff not so long ago. Our album L'histoire de la romance russe is designed to show what preceded these glorious masterpieces.

Among practices distinguishing the European music scene in the second half of the eighteenth century, the performance of music for two players on the same keyboard is certainly one of the more remarkable and, in some ways, significant examples. The rendition of a four-handed piece on the harpsichord or the fortepiano can be considered an example of the direction that music of the second half of the eighteenth century was about to take: light-hearted, convivial, and educational, in which quality existed alongside the intention to satisfy the new “galant” tastes of the aristocracy, as well as the needs of the rising middle class. The four-handed genre becomes, in this regard, an ideal setting to express the new musical feeling. Four hands can double possibilities and exploit the keyboard’s full range. The search for expressivity is maintained by combining extended melodies with arpeggios or broken chords. In the case of performance on the harpsichord, the increased opportunity to “mix” the stops facilitates the search for unexplored colors and contrasts. On a historical copy of the famous harpsichord maker Martin Sassmann, Alberto Firrincieli and Mario Stefano Tonda perform the singular repertoire that sees protagonists Nicolò Jommelli, Muzio Clementi and Giovanni Maria Rutini, in these compositions reflecting their different peculiarities.

Giuseppe Tartini was born in Pirano d’Istria in 1692 but spent the majority of his life in Padua. He was not a lover of fame: indeed, it took Padre Martini a great deal of time and convincing before managing to obtain a portrait of Tartini for his private collection (this original portrait, painted by Vincenzo Rota, is the only one we have today). Despite all this, however, young musicians arrived from all over Europe to study with this musician who, essentially self-taught, had dedicated his life to perfecting the violin from both a technical and theoretical standpoint. In the not insignificant output of this “Master of Nations” (as he was called), the violin predominates, for Tartini composed few works other than the concertos and sonatas dedicated to this noble instrument. The justification for this choice may be found in his theoretical writings, which represented for the eighteenth century a new moment of discovery and evolution. Implored by many to compose for the opera in Venice, he responded that “a throat is not a neck of a violin,” and this comment was followed by a strong criticism of Vivaldi, who instead tried his hand at virtually every genre. This album features the concertos for flute, for strings, and various sonatas including the famous “Trillo del Diavolo.” The two soloists Massimo Mercelli and Marco Rogliano are accompanied by the Ensemble Respighi from Bologna.

“Bel canto” and operatic reminiscences are present in all the compositions included in this cd. These works, in the wake of the melodic technicality that was typical of the nineteenth century Italian clarinet school, give the virtuoso Giovanni Punzi (First Soloist Clarinet of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Copenaghen) the chance to offer us a broad range of bravura displays. The album is a world premiere by Italian composers that with these “living room” fantasies are protagonists of the fervent musical life that underwent the powerful influence of the Italian melodrama that between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will hold the absolute primacy of the world music scene. Punzi is accompanied by pianist Amedeo Salvato and Calogero Presti at the small clarinet (for the duet from the Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini).

Frescobaldi’s book of Capricci from 1624 was intended as a continuation of his 1615 Book of Ricercari. It was clearly conceived, however, for the keyboard, an idiom for which this work is a masterpiece, both in regard to contrapuntal technique and to the exceedingly refined art and skill of harpsichord and organ writing. The interdependence of these two books is underlined by their publishing history already beginning with the second edition of the Capricci of 1626, and continuing for the later ones of 1628 and 1642. The first editions of the Ricercari (1615 and 1618) included five canzonas, after which the planned “second book” in actuality took on such particular characteristics that Frescobaldi decided to give the work its own title, that of “Capricci”: “In these compositions entitled Capricci, I have not kept to as simple a style as in my Ricercari.” Once again, by Frescobaldi’s own admission in his dedication to the Modenese prince Alfonso d’Este, the guiding hand of Luzzaschi is to be found at the origin of this work: “I owe to Your Highness, as Prince, who from birth has retained from his ancestors the ancient and hereditary protection of the arts, the fruit of these musical labors to which I dedicated myself in my early years under the discipline of Signor Luzzasco, most rare organist and dearest servant of the Most Serene House of Este.”

It was in the mid-eighteen century London that the eclectic figure of Felice Giardini (or Degiardino: Turin, 1716 – Moscow, 1796) made his first appearance. He was a violin virtuoso with eye-catching executive skills, conductor, composer, impresario in contact with leading intellectuals. His musical production is multifaced. He experimented mainly with duet, trio, string quartet. His music is a perfect mixture of Italian and German tradition (Johann Christian Bach, Johann Stamitz and Manheim School that has typical features of the “Style Galant”). Evidence of this can be found in the Six Duos for Two Violins Op. II (1751), dedicated to Prince Heinrich of Prussia. Giardini’s style is spontaneous, easy to listen to, characterized by freshness and lyricism cantabile, joyous naturalness and refinement. Generally, it appears to be an essential musical writing, coming back to the formal clarity and to the contrapuntal simplicity. It develops a great tonal sensibility, supported by a dynamic rhythmic structure: the pure melody, without ornaments, is becoming increasingly important. The notoriety of his music is verified by Charles Burney: “I find all over Italy that Giardini’s solos are in great repute, and very justly so, as I heard nothing equal to them of kind, on the continent” (The Present State of Music in France and Italy, 1771).

“I have always viewed Dr. Weigl as one of the best composers of the old generation; one of those continuing the illustrious Viennese tradition.” (Arnold Schönberg) In terms of style, with his works linked to basic tonalities, Weigl drew on the sound realm of late Romanticism, from whose aesthetics he never departed in favor of more progressive contemporary trends. The Symphony No. 1 in E major op. 5, written in 1908, is also far removed from any avant-garde experiments in the Romantic tradition, as epitomized among the Austrian composers of that time in the field of the symphony by composers such as Alexander von Zemlinsky, Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek or Franz Schmidt. On this release, the work is performed by the formidable Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz under the baton of Jurgen Bruns.

Towards the end of the 16th c., Emperor Rudolf II moved the Habsburg capital from Vienna to Prague, inviting to his court the finest contemporary artists and turning the provincial city into a European culture center. The core of this recording is the Missa Confitebor tibi Domine for 8 voices by the Rudolfine Kapellmeister Philippe de Monte (1521–1603), the last of the great creators of Franco-Flemish polyphony. The Cappella Mariana presents a repertoire typical of their focus - discovering and performing lesser-known Renaissance polyphonic pieces; often giving their modern-day premieres.

Padre Davide da Bergamo (Felice Moretti) has been the most representative figure of the Italian nineteenth century organ music. Having become a minor friar after studying organ music with Davide Bianchi and Antonio Gonzales, and composition with Simone Mayr, he began a flamboyant career throughout northern Italy as excellent performer and improviser. Soon he became the major reference of his time for consulting, tests and inaugurations of new organs. Lauded by the crowds and by the musicians (in Milan for an inauguration he played almost uninterruptedly for eight days!), he was the greatest and most famous organist of the Italian Risorgimento, the absolute champion of that sound that took the theatrical style to permeate the the organ music and the instrument itself. Marco Ruggeri presents here an interesting selection of works for the liturgy and for the concert, performing them on the Serassi organ of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna in Piacenza: the organ designed by Father Davide himself, where he served until his death.

The way Richard Strauss spoke of his “beloved Dresdeners” rang of Bavarian humor blended with a subtle touch of mischievous irony and, first and foremost, a good dose of respect and appreciation. Home to the Königliche musikalische Kapelle (“Royal Musical Ensemble”) and the Court Opera, Dresden soon became a center of Strauss’s music; many of his works were given their premiere there. Ernst von Schuch, Strauss’s “most loyal conductor of choice”, was a key figure: at the symphony concerts given by the Kapelle, the Dresden General Music Director soon acquainted audiences with all of Strauss’s tone poems, from Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche through Also sprach Zarathustra to Sinfonia domestica. Strauss enthused that, years later, it was “the brilliant Schuch’s untiring magic wand” that eventually opened the series of “exemplary premieres” of his operas in Dresden. Works including Salome, Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier made Strauss the leading musical dramatist of his time. He had no fewer than nine operas premiered in Dresden, his “Eldorado for premieres”, and dedicated the Alpine Symphony to the Dresden Kapelle as a token of his gratitude. The present release is the 44th volume in the Staatskapelle Dresden’s exploration of Strauss’s work, and includes, most notably, his Konzert fur Horn und Orchester op. 11.

Antonio Bazzini, violinist and composer, was born in Brescia on 11 March 1818 and died in Milan on 10 February. At the age of eight, he began to study the violin under the guidance of Fausto Camesani (or Camisani); at thirteen, he published his first composition; and at seventeen, he had six symphonies for great orchestra performed at the theatre of Brescia. In 1836, when he was eighteen, he was auditioned by Paganini, who encouraged him to embark on a career as a concert performer. From that time onwards, he was constantly successful. He held concerts in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, England and Belgium. He met many contemporary composers, one of whom was Robert Schumann, who praised him saying: “Since many years no virtuoso has given me such an intimate joy and such pleasant, happy moments as Antonio Bazzini has done. It seems to me that he is too little known, and that, even here, he has not been appreciated as much as he deserves.” The works for string quartet performed by Quartetto Bazzini in this recording are no. 1 without an opus number and no. 3 op. 76. On listening to these two works, we can understand and appreciate Bazzini’s mastery as a composer: the solo parts are skillfully distributed among the string instruments, and we can detect an influence of French and German instrumental music, filtered by his creative genius, which is never predictable or recognisable.

Cappella Romana, a vocal chamber ensemble renowned for its ''robust and intriguing music'' (Washington Post), releases its latest recording ''Live in Greece.'' Its previous release ''Music of Byzantium'' sold over 14,000 copies. A 1000-year journey from Constantinople to California, ancient Byzantine chants are followed by musical encounters with Crusaders and Venetians, including Greek and Latin polyphony from Renaissance Crete. East meets West again at St. Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles, where Frank Desby founded a tradition, continued by his Californian peers of Greek-American choral music.

Sofja Gulbadamova's recording of a total of 14 Humoresques by the composers Edvard Grieg, Max Reger, Antonin Dvorak and Robert Schumann demonstrate the very wide range that music bearing this title could have in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. While the literary humoresque was a popular and entertaining, relatively short-lived "Biedermeier-style narrative form" (Appel), musical humoresques covered a whole range of forms - from the small-scale to the large-scale, multi-part format, from the amusing and lively through to the enigmatic and ambiguous. Be prepared for contrasts, exaggerations, the OTT and the seemingly incompatible, for pieces that can cause you to laugh or indeed to cry, and which plumb the depths of the abysmal, the desperate and the gloomy - music that speaks both directly and sometimes between the lines.

In the late 19th century Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian chant according to the original 10th and 11th century manuscript. Today, the Abbey continues to be a vibrant source of this art. This recording of Christmas chants reflects the unmatched authenticity of Gregorian scholarship and performance by the Monks of Solesmes. It includes Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Offertories, Communions, Responses, Sequences, Hymns, and Tropes from the Midnight Mass and Mass of the Day. "The Choir of the Monks of Solesmes remains a highly respected and widely recognized performing ensemble, with an international following among devotees of Gregorian chant and religious music in general, just as the Abbey occupies a unique place in religious music scholarship and study. "The center from which modern theories of medieval chant performance have emanated is undoubtedly the Abbey of Solesmes in France. " (The Gregorian Association) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance. " (American Record Guide)

A rich experience of the church's liturgical year through Gregorian chant. This release delivers a stirring collection of Gregorian chants, celebrating "Ordinary Time" - the season of the liturgical year between the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord and Lent, and from Pentecost Sunday until the beginning of the Advent season. Ordinary Time is the thread of the liturgical year, commemorating each Sunday with the Resurrection and the Paschal mystery. Expertly sung by the world-renowned monastic choir of Solesmes, France, this Gregorian chant recording enables listeners to participate in a rich experience of the church's liturgical year. "This recording has remained a touchstone of chant singing... It's elegance, it's utter rightness once more becoming evident." (Fanfare)

Felix Mendelssohn's string symphonies can be broadly split into two groups: the first six all have a three-movement structure; the movements of the first three are ordered fast-slow-fast and are thus based on the pre-Classical models. The second group of string symphonies comprises more substantial compositions. This release features no. 7 in D minor, no. 9 in C major, and no. 12 in G minor. There are several ways through these three symphonies when we hear Mendelssohn's ingenuity break fresh ground. The Bolzano String Academy was established in 1987 by the South Tyrolean Music Association under the artistic direction of Georg Egger. The string orchestra consists mainly of South Tyrolean musicians who have gained a wealth of experience in prominent chamber ensembles and orchestras at national and international level and pass on their experience in joint projects with budding young artists. The String Academy usually performs without a conductor. Some of the String Academy's members also play in the Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart, and this connection has led to collaboration with the conductor Frieder Bernius.