Nominated for a GRAMMY® Award!

Tenor Karim Sulayman and guitarist Sean Shibe present Broken Branches, a conceptual album with music ranging from Dowland, Monteverdi, Britten, Rodrigo, Takemitsu, Harvey, and Chaker to traditional songs from the Middle East, scrutinizing the close cultural and musical ties between East and West. This musical exploration ties in with the artists’ personal experience of a dynamic, in-between identity, as they grew up in the West having ethnic roots in the East (Lebanon and Japan respectively). Broken Branches explores the wood of the guitar and its relatives, as well as the splintering of history known as diaspora. Karim Sulayman has garnered international attention as a sophisticated and versatile artist, and won a Grammy Award for Classical Solo Vocal in 2019. Multi-award-winning guitarist Sean Shibe brings a fresh and innovative approach to the traditional classical guitar, while also exploring contemporary music and repertoire for electric guitar. He continues his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE after his well-received Camino (2021) and Lost & Found (2022).

REVIEWS:

It’s a thoughtful and idiosyncratic project, one carried through in several arrangements and realizations by the two musicians that blur the line between song and art song into something broadly ‘folkish’.

-- Gramophone

This is an eclectic album, built on friendship, which explores the performers’ own sense of identity, memory, diaspora, often in their own arrangements. Sulayman, a Lebanese-American singer, light-voiced and flexible, brings intensity to traditional Sephardic song, and new inflections to John Dowland, Claudio Monteverdi and Benjamin Britten (his six songs from the Chinese).

-- The Observer (U.K.)

In 1610, the lutenist Robert Dowland, who had just turned 19, published two anthologies in quick succession that are today considered vital for our understanding of both the lute and Elizabethan vocal music. The first, A Varietie of Lute Lessons, which as the title suggests features lessons but also a long essay on European lute production, contains important information on lute performance, in part originating from his esteemed father, John Dowland. It is not far-fetched to imagine that Robert’s father also had a part to play in the second book, A Musicall Banquet – John had returned from the Danish court some time previously and is represented by several pieces in the anthology. Adhering to the culinary metaphor of the collection’s title, this Banquet comprises ‘recipes’ from different countries with different levels of technical difficulty, and is made up of ‘dishes’ already taste-tested so as not to poison ‘diners’, in other words, established pieces that were nonetheless as yet unknown to the English public. Robert opens his anthology with a large selection of English songs, taken from what was by that point a well-established repertoire: at the time Banquet was published, an impressive 24 books of songs had already been printed, beginning with John Dowland’s First Booke of Songes or Ayres, published in 1797. The next group of pieces in the collection belong to a genre that could be considered the most similar to the English song, the French air de cour, in the sense that the latter, at least in its most ancient form, influenced the development of the former. The air de cour for voice and lute was enjoying enormous success thanks to the scores Robert Ballard began publishing in 1608. The selection of Italian pieces is the most significant part of the collection.

2019 Grammy Award Winner - Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman’s neat encapsulation of the Orpheus myth infuses his solo recording debut, ‘Songs of Orpheus.’ Orpheus, the greatest singer of all time, famously followed his deceased beloved Eurydice to the gates of Hades in an attempt to bring her back to life. He was thwarted by the gods who forbade him to gaze at her during their journey back to earth. he could not resist, and the tale has been told in numerous musical interpretations including those of Monteverdi and his 17th-century compatriots who are represented on this imaginative album, performed with leading baroque interpreters Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire. Acclaim for Karim Sulayman and Apollo’s Fire has been widespread: “the soloists and instrumentalists are first class” (BBC Music Magazine) “an absorbing collection of early music, beautifully performed by the Cleveland-based instrumental-choral ensemble and vocal soloists” (Chicago Tribune)

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REVIEW:

Sulayman’s approach tends more towards the lyrical than the rhetorical – his lucid, velvety tenor and pop-star charisma best suited to melodious arias rather than the text-driven stile recitativo. Under the spirited direction of Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire provides slick and stylish continuo realisations.

– BBC Music Magazine

Inspired by the practice of Nuove Musiche advocated by Caccini in 1602, this album takes us to the foundations of modern Italian vocal music: a journey to the heart of the musical innovation that led to opera, presented by the singer Marco Beasley, the organist and harpsichordist Guido Morini and the Ensemble Accordone. After the success of the Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and White collections (a total of sixty reissues) which gave a new lease of life to the pearls of the Baroque catalogues from our house labels, here are fourteen new titles which offer a chance to discover other treasures, whether Baroque or dating from an earlier or later era. Like the most recent series, this sixth instalment opens out onto the Classical repertory (Mozart by Ensemble 415 and Chiara Banchini) and the Renaissance (Févin by Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre); recordings that are an integral part of Alpha’s identity and history. Fourteen reissues performed by the leading musicians in the field, most of which received one or more awards on their original release. Proper booklets accompany the discs, with notes in three languages (French, English, German). Photographers from all over the world have been selected to illustrate the covers, this time with the guiding thread of the color green, a symbol of nature, fertility... and hope!

The 'Eric Clapton of the lute' (BBC Magazine) comes back to the Alpha microphones, this time with the soprano Anna Reinhold. Here, Thomas Dunford applies his truly prodigious virtuosity to the eight Toccatas from the first book by Meister Kapsberger, giving us a veritable concert such as the composer himself might have proposed with, in counterpoint to the toccatas, a few of he loveliest airs by Caccini, Merula et al. The beauty of Anna Reinhold's voice (a young talent noticed especially in William Christie's 'Jardin des voix') has a freshness and energy that bring to mind the young performers at work in Alpha's earliest recordings. This goes to prove that there still remains much distance to cover in the discovery of Baroque art.

Tribal migration – or, in today’s world, globalization and the associated travel – have always brought about cultural exchanges, enrichment, and adaptation, contributing to, the sciences, or simply to attaining a broader horizon. In all that, a desire for discovering the unknown has generally outweighed the fear of things “other”. Much of this exchange has taken place subconsciously: foreign traits were adapted into one’s own culture, got to mingle, some were discarded again, and other elements remained permanently. With this album, Baroque Arabesque, the ensemble Fiori Musicali Austria invites a variety of thought-experiments along the following lines: Baroque music of the occident – specifically from central and southern Europe – meets oriental music from the Middle East and especially the Sephardic culture of the Iberian Peninsula.

Songs and instrumental pieces demonstrate both, the connections between them and what separates them. Creating this exchange of geographically shaped sounds, the ensemble raises the question: What might Haendel’s compositions have sounded like, had he not emigrated to England but Spain, instead? How might he have handled (no pun intended) the local instruments, the rhythms, and the local musical language in general? Or how might musicians from the orient have interpreted works of their Baroque composer counterparts, had they settled in a central European metropolis rather than being imported later, then invariably labeled “exotic”?

Includes work(s) by Stephen Paulus, various composers, Giulio Caccini. Ensemble: Turtle Creek Chorale. Conductor: Timothy Seelig.

David H Park, ‘a soloist with extraordinary artistic gifts’, (Pulitzer Prize winner-Salt Lake Tribune), ‘that commands respect … of the highest order,’ (Le Journal Sud Ouest, DN), started playing the violin at the age of five in Seoul, Korea. Park has studied with two of the most distinguished pedagogues, Josef Gingold and Dorothy Delay. He received his Bachelor of Music at the University of Indiana, where he also studied with Yuval Yaron, and Master of Music at the Juilliard School. At the age of 14, he was one of the youngest students of the legendary Jascha Heifetz. Park maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras throughout the world and his recital and chamber music activities. Park has performed solos and recitals in many of the world's great concert halls including Carnegie Recital Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, Salle Pleyel in Paris, and Sejong Music Center in Seoul. Park has also performed on national television and radio broadcasts in the United States, France, Hong Kong and Korea. Park was featured on KUTV CBS News; where according to the website blog, his performance brought tears to the news anchor, commenting ‘so pure and perfect.’

CONTENTS:

• Consuelo Velasquez: Besame Mucho

• Kreisler: Praeludium and Allegro
  

• Piazzólla: Tanti anni prima ('Ave Maria')

• Caccini: Ave Maria

• Monti: Csárdás

• Django Reinhardt: Echoes of Spain

• Albéniz: Tango

• Piazzólla: Vuelvo al sur

• Bart Howard: Fly Me to the Moon

• Kosma: Les feuilles mortes

• Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Summer

• Guglielmi, L: La vie en rose

The Meditation collection was created to feature famous classical melodies in an original dialogue between two distinctive instruments. These beautiful recordings will encourage a sense of calmness and serenity during meditation. This edition combining cello and harp is one of the top five best sellers from the Meditation collection. You will be transported by the beautiful performances of Frédérick Dupuis on cello and Joanna Kozielska on harp. "Prelude in C major" by Bach, Bellini's "Nocturne for Cello and Harp," and Caccini's "Ave Maria" are just a few of the treasured titles from this fine assortmen tof the most recognized and beloved melodies in classical music.

The Italian Dramatic Lament is a collection of early music, primarily vocal music that was popular in 17th century Italy. Composers wrote and often performed music that was meant to move the audience to tears (thus the name lament). This new group, winner of the Early Music America Competition in 2003, picks both vocal and instrumental laments from the Lament literature and performs them beautifully in the style and appropriate instrumentation. Catherine Webster, the soprano, handles all this music and ornamentation with ease, and the ensemble plays at top notch performance level.

Le Miroir De Musique is an ensemble specialized in the music of the late middle ages and Renaissance, from the golden age of the troubadours to the humanist movements of the 16th century. The ensemble is based in Basel (CH) and brings together the most prolific of early music performers, many of whom are graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The image of a "Mirror of Music" is borrowed from Jacques de Li�ge's treatise (Speculum Musicae), and reflects our goal of painting a vivid picture of medieval and Renaissance music, in a spirit of fidelity to the original sources. This project was first conceived for the Festtage Alter Musik in Basel in 2013, at the suggestion of Peter Reidemeister. The program was developed in close collaboration between the five musicians and the musicologist Martin Kirnbauer.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Canada’s largest classical music label, Analekta, is releasing a 3 CD compilation of music magnificently interpreted by its major artists, such as Angèle Dubeau, Alain Lefèvre, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Luc Beauséjour, Valérie Milot and many others who have contributed to the reputation of excellence of Analekta. Featuring works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Bach, Dvorak, Liszt, Schubert, Mozart, Chopin and more.

Also available on Blu-ray

The Elbphilharmonie, the ''hall of wonders'' (The Guardian), is undoubtedly the new landmark of Hamburg, a monumental synthesis of breath-taking architecture, a unique location and a world-class concert hall. In varying instrumentation of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the baton of Principal Conductor Thomas Hengelbrock and several top-class soloists explores in the opening concert the possibilities of the Elbphilharmonie's Grand Hall and its acoustics with an exciting programme, created especially for this occasion by the most important living German composer, Wolfgang Rihm. ''A striking building, a scintillating concert!'' (The New York Times).

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REVIEW:

An unequivocal success is the way the drama of the leaps between the centuries remains absolutely undiluted. As a concert recording this may not represent absolute as-it-was perfection but as a package with the documentary, and as a record of an extraordinary musical event, it comes highly recommended.

– Gramophone

This reissue is a very useful reminder that there is much more to the world of early seventeenth century Florence than just the great work of Monteverdi, who composed Orfeo as a court opera in 1607. Sung drama was a special development in Florence, and music lovers looked for the right combination between poetry and music. The role of the camerate would have considerable significance in that development, which would lead, in full development, to opera as we know it.

There are special problems of setting words to music which remain potent for composers of all times. Is the priority music or text? In a preface of 1605, Monteverdi contrasted prima prattica with seconda prattica. In the former, the word must subordinate itself to the music, with emotional compass limited by musical values. In the latter, things are the other way about (a bit of a simplification, but sound enough), even if the expressiveness of the text means an unevenness in balance and harmony. Monteverdi’s Orfeo exemplifies seconda prattica. So too, in its own way, does Belli’s L’Orfeo Dolente, of 1616, the main piece on this recording, supplemented by extracts from contemporary works.

Belli’s work is not an opera in the sense that Monteverdi’s Orfeo is. Rather, it has the character of incidental music to Tasso’s play, Arminta, a set of numbers to draw out and heighten the key moments of the drama. The text of these verses is not by Tasso, but by Gabriello Chiabrera. Belli is today not well-known, but he was clearly a composer of distinctive voice; he worked at the Florentine Basilica of San Lorenzo from 1610 until 1613.

But this music is not just a piece of archaeological interest; it stands on its own very well in performances as varied, as musical and attractive as those on this disc. Singers are uniformly fine, both individually and in ensemble, with good diction and security of tone. Performances are informed, both musically and historically, as one would expect from such fine musicians.

– MusicWeb International (MusicWeb International)

“Imitar col canto chi parla” (“imitating in song one who speaks”): that ideal, expressed by Jacopo Peri in the preface to his setting of Euridice, heralded a veritable revolution in vocal music, beginning with the experiments, towards the end of the sixteenth century, of the Florentine Camerata – a group of intellectuals and musicians led by Count Giovanni de’ Bardi, who aimed to revive the glorious art of ancient Greek tragedy. According to written accounts, the latter was sung, or spoken, in such a way that the words, while remaining intelligible at all times, were emotionally heightened. The members of the Camerata wished thus to break with the polyphonic madrigal tradition of the Renaissance and turn to accompanied monody, recitar cantando, thereby returning to the pre-eminence of the word as the means of conveying human emotions, with the music, henceforth subordinate to speech, serving to magnify and amplify it.

In this expert recording, singer Roberto Balconi and group Fantasyas approach Giulio Caccini’s (1551-1618) Le Nuove Musiche with a focus on authentic performance practice as specified in great detail by the composer himself in the preface to the work. Dated 1601 and published in 1602, Le Nuove Musiche contains madrigals and arias for solo voice with basso continuo accompaniment and is a seminal collection in the establishment of the new Baroque style of monody which broke with Renaissance practices in many significant ways. In the preface, Caccini exhorts the performers to honour the primacy of speech and speech rhythm. Balconi explains: ‘Monody is more about words and metre than singing, focusing on the declamation of the semantic, rhetorical and prosodic elements of the poetic text rather than constructing a melody.’ This was a departure from the combined voices of Renaissance counterpoint, a move towards solo poetic recitation with the nuance of music in service of the meaning. Caccini lays out guidelines for the retrained and appropriate use of the improvised ornamentation that was the vogue in his day but which he considered too often gratuitous and overly virtuosic at the expense of the music. He stresses these should be used judiciously so that the singer can ‘almost speak in harmony’, in other words recite the text more or less normally using music. In adhering assiduously to Caccini’s compositional concept, Balconi and Fantazyas create an authentic and powerfully moving document of the birth of monody, which not only inspired the invention of opera but changed the entire course of music history.