This album brings together works by composers closely associated with France and Paris, complemented by a reconstructed version of Mozart's unfinished sonata. The programme spans original compositions for two pianos, alternative arrangements created by the composers themselves, and a bold reimagining of Piazzolla's iconic Libertango by Aleami Piano Duo. In this innovative arrangement, the artists employ extended piano techniques, live looping, and improvisation, expanding the expressive possibilities of the two-piano medium. At the heart of the album lies the idea of encounter: the meeting of two pianos and two pianists, but also of cultures and musical traditions that inspired generations of composers-from the spiritual songs of enslaved African Americans to the passionate rhythms of Argentine tango. Despite their stylistic diversity, all the works are united by the distinctive sonority of two pianos, an ensemble capable of both orchestral grandeur and extraordinary intimacy. The rich palette of colours, vast dynamic range, and interplay between the instruments create a compelling musical dialogue throughout the recording. Aleami Piano Duo is among the most versatile young Polish piano ensembles of it's generation, performing repertoire that ranges from the classical canon to contemporary music and works influenced by jazz. This eclectic programme showcases the duo's interpretative freedom, virtuosity, and remarkable artistic synergy, offering a fresh and captivating perspective on the art of piano duo performance.

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski continues his critically acclaimed piano concertos series on Linn Records with a 'spectacular' (Bachtrack) live recording of Saint-Saens' Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5, both performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with Thomas Sondergard conducting the colourful and energetic Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It took Saint-Saens just seventeen days to compose the Second Concerto and practice for the premiere under the baton of Anton Rubinstein! A feat as impressive as the quality of the work itself whose well-balanced movements look back on Faure and Bach. The Fifth Concerto is the composer's answer to Wagner mania. Indeed, the work can almost be taken as a hint to his compatriots that there were plenty of other sources of inspiration available, such as the Nubian love song that Saint-Saens had heard sung by boatmen on the Nile and the sound of croaking frogs, which feature in the second movement and give the work it's title: 'The Egyptian'. This Concerto is a showcase of virtuosity for both composer and pianist.

Saint-Saëns holds a vital place in the history of French chamber music. At a time when his compatriots were more devoted to opera and song, Saint-Saëns (who wrote both, too) repeatedly produced chamber music of compelling individuality and lasting significance. The 1875 Piano Quartet in B flat major, Op 41 remains one of the great works in the chamber repertory, a masterful example of the composer’s organisational skill and lyric gifts. The gorgeous Barcarolle is followed by the youthful Piano Quintet in A minor, Op 14, a brilliantly confident work with a concerto-like role for the piano.

VIOLIN SHOWPIECES ERICK FRIED

Poème

Complete Works For Piano And W

Denmark’s leading instrumentalists Ulla Miilmann (flute) and Tine Rehling (harp) joined forces to record a superb collection of late romantic and impressionistic works by an alley of foremost composers of France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ulla Miilmann and Tine Rehling began their collaboration as duo in 2007. They have since been dazzling wide range of audiences with their pure and elegant interpretation of repertoire with a significant emphasis on French music.

I enjoyed this new Sony coupling of Saint-Saëns and Wieniawski concertos very much indeed. They are both highly rewarding works, well crafted in the best sense. Their special charm is that the quality of the invention and the manner in which the themes are discussed is exactly right for the music's modest scale. Julian Rachlin has their full measure and continually beguiles us with the spontaneous melodic flow. He is a Lithuanian prodigy (beginning his concert career at the age of ten!) and is utterly in command of the galaxy of colour his instrument can create in that special way that seems to come so readily and easily to Jewish fiddlers, when they are so naturally gifted. Not for a single bar throughout this music is his virtuosity displayed for its own sake: it is always put at the service of the two composers. The Saint-Saëns was taken from a live concert, although this is not made clear in the presentation material. Both concertos were recorded in the Mann Auditorium and there are subtle differences in the sound, although the balance is basically excellent throughout. In Saint-Saëns the audience absorbion cushions the orchestral textures, but also makes the solo image warmer, more seductive; in the Wieniawski the orchestra] focus is fresher, the body of the string tone has more tangibility, and the violin is made to 'stand tall', more positively up front. But Julian Rachlin's playing can take any amount of scrutiny and in the live performance, where there were no chances for retakes, he is just as technically assured as when recording under studio conditions. Mehta, too, is on top form and so is the orchestra.

The Saint-Saëns comes first and has many delights to offer. The first movement has a splendidly passionate lyrical impulse and the Andantino is sheer delight: it has one of the composer's most delicious inspirations, a siciliano which is relished here by one and all (including us). Note Rachlin's gentle reprise of the lovely lyrical theme, surrounded by delicate touches of woodwind colour at 4'53" and again his re-presentation at 6'41", high up and exquisite. This is what fine fiddling is all about. But the performance reaches its peak in the splendid finale, the longest movement, which has wit and fire and a memorable chorale melody thrown in for good measure. It appears ethereally on the violins at 3'55" (Mehta and his orchestra wonderfully persuasive); then at 4'18" the soloist relishes its beauty. When the brass finally get their teeth into it (843") they let rip with real gusto, and then the soloist admonishes them with a gentle riposte which includes a disarming pianissimo echo. The sinuously flowing opening of the Wieniawski is beautifully and naturally moulded by the orchestra, with fine contributions from the principal oboe and solo horn, and when the soloist arrives the music's rhapsodic feeling continues most pleasingly. The second subject is beguiling enough when it first appears, but at its reprise (6'14") Rachlin's 50110 voce playing makes one's toes curl with pleasure. At 1135" the orchestra's principal clarinet shows what he is made of in the preparation for the glorious Andante, where the violin enters gently but with a simmering, sultry tone. The chimerical finale is full of joy and has the lightest touch from all concerned. I have played this record a lot and shall return to it with much pleasure. Not all music has to move mountains like Beethoven's Eroica.

-- Gramophone [12/1992]

Ascanio is the student of Benvenuto Cellini, a legendary Florentine sculptor. This latter character’s genius and romances came to know a great operatic destiny. The name Ascanio is also the title of a grand lyrical drama by Camille Saint-Saëns which premiered in 1890, and is based on Paul Meurice’s play. The opera was abridged several times and reassembled despite the composer’s strong objections. It is a wonderful work, far too little-known, in which Italian lyricism, Wagnerian influence and French elegance combine. For the very first time, we will be able to hear the complete premiere performance of the version abiding by the 1888 autograph manuscript. It is brought to us by the impassioned conductor, Guillaume Tourniaire, and a topflight, French-speaking cast. They are accompanied by the Orchestra and Choirs from the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Haute École de Musique. All this has been meticulously and enthusiastically recorded by B Records.

Francescatti who was a year younger than Heifetz, was among the foremost violinists of the mid-20th century, from about 1935 to 1975. In the words of critic Henry Roth, there was "a special character, a vitality and a savoir faire to his playing that set him apart from a host of gifted virtuosi who possessed vibrant sound and creditable musicianship." The concert performances collected here, all of them previously unissued, provide good examples of his Italianate lyricism and ravishing tone.

This is one of those “sleeper” discs that you overlook to your disadvantage. Every cellist plays at least the two concertos, but there are surprisingly few truly excellent recordings. Christine Walevska not only plays wonderfully, but she gives us all of the composer’s major works for cello and orchestra, and the performances have that French crispness and polish that so many more famous soloists lack. She’s also very well recorded, and the Monte Carlo Orchestra has this musical idiom in its collective bones. It really is rewarding to hear these performances again, so lovingly remastered and repackaged.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This recording by Ciconia Consort, Couleurs de France, offers a rare and evocative journey through four lesser-known works for string orchestra by three prominent 20th-century French composers: André Jolivet, Jacques Castérède, and Daniel-Lesur. Jacques Castérède's connection to his French predecessors is evident in his use of modal, chromatic, and diatonic scales. A student of Olivier Messiaen, Castérède nonetheless forged a highly personal harmonic style within an extended tonal idiom, characterized by melodic clarity and accessibility. His compositions seem to harmoniously blend the various French styles of the 20th century. In his work, we hear the sonic fingerprints of Arthur Honegger, Daniel-Lesur, and his teacher Messiaen - all woven into a coherent, lyrical whole. Throughout his life, André Jolivet aimed to "restore to music it's original, ancient meaning, when it served as a magical, incantatory expression of the religious beliefs of human communities."* His later compositions continued this exploration, seeking music's original function as an emotional, ritualistic, and celebratory form of expression. His Symphonie pour cordes, commissioned by French radio and television, was composed in 1961 and premiered on January 9, 1962. The symphony demands exceptional technical skill from all performers. It is written in a freely atonal idiom and is characterized by intense dissonance. Daniel Jean Yves Lesur (1908-2002) was a French composer, organist, and teacher, closely linked to the group La Jeune France, alongside Olivier Messiaen and André Jolivet. His music often reflects a balance between tradition and modernity, combining rich harmonic language with a sense of spiritual depth. Lesur's output includes choral works, chamber music, and orchestral compositions, yet he remains less widely known than some of his contemporaries. Among his instrumental works is the Sérénade pour cordes (1949), a luminous piece that highlights his lyrical style and refined craftsmanship. Written for string orchestra, it embraces classical clarity while exploring colorful modal harmonies, characteristic of Lesur's personal voice. This recording is the fifth CD on Brilliant Classics by the Ciconia Consort (The Hague String Orchestra), a Dutch string orchestra conducted by Dick van Gasteren, an internationally active conductor who was Bernard Haitink's assistant during the Mahler Festival Amsterdam in 1995.

The Saint-Saens series, with young talents continues with it's third release. All recordings are made with ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, conducted by Howard Griffiths. This third album includes 'The Carnival of the animals', 'Op. 33 Concerto for Cello and Orch. No 1 in A Minor' and 'Op. 17 Concerto for piano and Orch. No 1 in D major'. The young talents are Yilan Zhao Hayoung Choi and piano duo Arya Su Gulenc and Ilyun Burkev.

STRING QUARTETS

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

Saint-Saens wrote five symphonies between the years 1850 and 1886. The cycle began with the Mozart-influenced Symphony in A but as a precocious composer of 17 he wrote his first numbered symphony, a work much admired by Berlioz and Gounod. He progressed to his most popular piece in the genre, the ground-breaking Symphony No. 3 with its inclusion of organ and piano. This critically admired cycle includes a sequence of atmospheric and dramatic symphonic poems, including Phaeton and the ever-popular Danse macabre.

REVIEWS:

The standard reference versions for these works have been Martinon’s EMI (now Warner) recordings, but Soustrot’s are different enough to justify duplication. In the First Symphony, particularly, Soustrot adopts a very slow, dreamy tempo for the Adagio, but it works very well, particularly in contrast to the bold and brassy finale which follows without a break. Soustrot correctly highlights the adventurous writing for the harps, but never tastelessly, and some listeners may feel that the interpretation finds additional expressive depth in music often denigrated as merely sentimental. It’s good to hear it played with no apologies.

In the Second Symphony Soustrot comes closer to Martinon in terms of timing, but there’s no denying the extra clarity and nimbleness of the Malmö ensemble as compared to the old French National Radio and Television Orchestra for EMI. Soustrot’s exciting and rhythmically sharp reading of Phaéton makes a welcome bonus. This is unquestionably one of the best recordings of the piece, with an especially effective thunderbolt as Zeus hurls the hapless chariot (of the sun) driver from his seat. Attractively natural sonics round out a very promising start to this new series.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz; in an earlier review of the CD release of Symphonies 1 & 2)

Marc Soustrot has some very good ideas about how the music should go. Soustrot prefers urgency even at the expense of some occasionally blurred articulation. The very slow tempo for the introduction followed by that agitated allegro highlights the broad range of contrasts typical of the performance more generally. The organ, excellently played by Carl Adam Landström, is very well balanced by the Naxos engineers. All told, this is a very fine performance of the Thrid.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz; in an earlier review of the CD release of Symphony No. 3)

Paris - the city of so many dreams and promises - has its own special ring in the ears of harpists. In hardly any other place in the world has the harp been played so much, had so many compositions written for it and been so popular. It is no coincidence that all the great works for harp on this album were written in Paris - for that is its home town.

Margit-Anna Süss has a busy international career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. Karl-Heinz Schütz is Solo Flute of Wiener Philharmoniker and therefor in the same position at the Wiener Staatsoper, having held the same position with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker or four years, and with the Wiener Symphoniker from 2005 to 2011. For more than five decades, the Berliner Symphoniker have been an integral part of Berlin’s musical and cultural life and enrich the German orchestra landscape. Alongside his career as a soloist he has also, for many years, been much in demand all over the world as a conductor. From 2012 to 2022 he was chief conductor of the Okayama Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently chief conductor of the Berlin Symphonic. He is also a guest conductor with the Camerata Salzburg, the Spanish national orchestra, the Deutsche Radio-Philharmonie Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern and other world-class orchestras. In May 2022 he was on the podium with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra at its truly historic concert in Dubai. In 2018 Professor Hansjörg Schellenberger received the prestigious Verdienstkreuz am Bande der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.

This is the second album of the Saint-Saens series, with young talents?. All recordings were made with the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, conducted by Howard Griffiths. The repertoire inludes: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in G minor op. 22, Morceau de Concert in F minor op. 94, Romance in F major op. 36, Romance in E major op. 67 and Suite for Violoncello and Orchestra op. 16b?

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of the important French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, the Basel Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Ivor Bolton had set itself the goal of giving its audience an insight into the composer's well-known and lesser-known symphonic works. In addition to the symphonies and various concertos, the orchestra has explicitly focused on the symphonic poems of the composer of the "Carnival of the Animals". For the first time, these works as well as the well-known "Bacchanale" from the opera "Samson et Dalila" have been recorded according to Hugh Macdonalds' new critical edition published by Bärenreiter. Camille Saint-Saëns - who also performed several times at the Stadtcasino Basel - was very old when he died in 1921 at the age of 86. He had an eventful life behind him. He lost his father when he was still a baby. He entered the world of music as a child prodigy. Later, as an adult, his two young sons die. After the death of his mother shortly afterwards, he dissolves his flat in Paris, gives away and sells his furniture and goes into hiding. He spends fifteen years in a travel fever in ship cabins and train compartments. He travels from North Africa to China, from Russia to America - and composes. With the four works he composed between 1872 and 1877, "Le Rouet d'Omphale", "Phaéton", "Danse macabre" and "La Jeunesse d'Hercule", Camille Saint-Saëns placed himself firmly in the tradition of Hector Berlioz, who had ushered in a new era in France with his "Symphonie fantastique", premiered in 1830, as well as the symphonic poems of Franz Liszt, who had established the genre in Germany. During Saint-Saëns' lifetime, his four "Poèmes symphoniques" became repertoire works that were heard around the world, but only the "Danse macabre" has remained in the concert programme to this day. This work with its pictorial depiction of a witches' sabbath - though clearly ironically broken - was a true scandalous piece at the time of its creation, not so far removed from Stravinsky's Sacre in this respect. His own mother fainted with indignation at the premiere and the hall audience went wild. In Germany, Carl Reinecke refused to perform the work because he considered the pictorial representation of skeletons by means of a xylophone immoral. Compared to the "Danse macabre", "Phaéton" is certainly more moderate. It describes Phaéton's high-spirited ride on Helios' sun chariot, which of course - danger of crashing! - does not end well. A rousing and concise orchestral piece. The critical first editions, which have just been published by Bärenreiter within the "Œuvres complètes instrumentales", offer the opportunity for new interpretations of these works on a reliable source basis. About the orchestra: the Süddeutsche Zeitung describes it perfectly: "You only have to experience the Basel Symphony Orchestra with its principal conductor Ivor Bolton once to know what this fabulous orchestra is capable of." Whether in its own concert series, at the Stadtcasino Basel or in guest performances at home and abroad, the innovative ensemble repeatedly confirms its high level of sound culture. The Briton Ivor Bolton has been the orchestra's principal conductor since the 2016/2017 season. Conductors with whom the Basel Symphony Orchestra has been closely associated include personalities such as Johannes Brahms, Felix Weingartner, Gustav Mahler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Gary Bertini, Walter Weller, Armin Jordan, Horst Stein, Otto Klemperer, Nello Santi, Pierre Boulez, Mario Venzago and Dennis Russell Davies.

This album is the fulfilment of a dream and the result of over five years of planning, developing and preparing a unique collaborative project between composers, arrangers and musicians – 6 pieces, 6 composers, 4 premieres – What inspired me to record this album was the fascinating way the sound of the bassoon blends with the string quartet. My choice of repertoire was based on pure pleasure – I chose works that I love to play, some original, others arranged, and asked composers I admire so much to write for this combination.

In two of the works I added the double bass, which enriches them very much and helps immensely to encounter different sound worlds. To create this with musicians of this calibre was simply wonderful. Their interest, curiosity and flexibility together with the skill, calm and experience of our sound engineer, Andreas Werner, and the fact that we were able to record in the legendary Radiostudio in Zurich, makes me feel so privileged. I couldn't be happier with the result which I hope you too will enjoy!

Farasha is the debut release of the award-winning (e.g. Anton Rubinstein International Competition) soloist and chamber musician Sindy Mohamed on Berlin Classics. The violist recalls her Egyptian, French and German roots and reflects this in a diverse selection of pieces for the viola. The album contains Sonatas for Viola and Piano by Breville and Hinemith, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Spring Song and a transcribed version of Saint-Saens' Sonata for bassoon and piano op. 168. In addition Sindy Mohamed presents a newly comissioned work by Khaled Al Kammar "Faten Amal Harby" for oud, viola, req and piano.

Introducing Leia Zhu, a remarkable wunderkind on the violin, in her highly anticipated first release of an 8-album series dedicated to the captivating solo concertos of Saint-Saens. This album is a celebration of talent and artistry, showcasing the extraordinary capabilities of one of today's most promising young musicians. Delve into the virtuosic and challenging repertoire of Saint-Saens, featuring his Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2, along with the enchanting Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 and the lively Havanaise, Op. 83. Leia Zhu's interpretations bring a fresh perspective to these masterpieces, blending technical prowess with emotional depth. Join us as we embark on this exciting musical journey through Saint-Saens' works, and witness the emergence of a new star in the classical music world.

When Christian Ferras died at age 49. his friend and colleague Yehudi Menuhin wrote that Ferras was"possessed by music, immensely talented, and of both a generous and intense temperament."

Christian Ferras was one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Born in 1933, he was a guest soloist of the Nice Symphony orchestra in1942. In 1948 he won the First Prize at the International Scheveningen (Holland) Violin Competition and in 1949 won the top prize at the International Long-Thibaud Competition. Thereafter, he pursued a successful career as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and in recitals with his long time accompanist, pianist Pierre Barbizet. He recorded for EMI and from 1964 for DG where he recorded the four main repertoire violin concertos, Brahms, Sibelius, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Fortunately, Christian Ferras left behind a rich recorded legacy, that enable us to continue to enjoy his great artistry.

'The repertoire we have chosen for this album consists mainly of pieces that have been with me since my childhood.' With this recital, Johan Dalene, accompanied by Peter Friis Johansson, offers us a selection of popular violin pieces that have accompanied him since his early years. After hearing them in the family car on long journeys, he went on to learn them and then play them in competitions and in concerts. He Johan Dalene now gives us (and himself) a treat and continues the tradition of great violinists such as Heifetz, Perlman and Vengerov, who have all made recordings of favourite encores and recital pieces. Finally to record them himself proved to be an 'extremely inspiring and challenging project', says Dalene. The programme is built around three virtuoso works, Tzigane (Ravel), Introduction and Rondo capriccioso (Saint-Saens) and Carmen Fantasy (Waxman), alongside which more reflective pieces by Massenet, Tchaikovsky, Falla and Kreisler have been included. Also featured is a rarely played miniature by Swedish composer Amanda Maier - a work which, according to Dalene, 'is a gem full of spirit!' A programme that celebrates the multiple sides of the violin, at times virtuoso, at times lyrical, always seductive.

The present album is a multifaceted homage to French cello music, and features heavyweights of French cello literature, recorded by one of today's leading cellists: from Camille Saint-Saëns' "The Swan," perhaps the most famous cello solo ever, to Léon Boëllmann's Variations symphoniques, combining playful wit with highly original form, contrasted by the sense of tragedy in Gabriel Fauré's Élégie. The two concertos by Saint-Saëns and Lalo represent weighty warhorses of the French cello repertoire which require not only technical mastery but, above all, musical penetration in order to highlight their subtleties. As an advocate of the ars gallica movement, Saint-Saëns included in his first cello concerto several allusions to the French baroque tradition, but also showed commitment to French clarity, turning his back on any bombast which was considered "Teutonic". Lalo's cello concerto, on the other hand, is highly expressive, energetic and very romantic, with the solo cello almost depicting the literary heroes of the time who populated the novels of Balzac, Hugo and Dumas père and fils.

REVIEWS:

A distinguished French cellist and a French orchestra present a fine programme which celebrates the important role of the cello in late 19^th century France. This is a shrewd selection: the works by Saint-Saëns and Fauré are familiar, that by Lalo less so, and (outside the organ loft) the music of Léon Boëllmann remains obscure.

I was very glad to discover Boëllmann’s concertante work, as I suspect will be many music lovers. Its thirteen minutes contain plenty of rewarding music, and no note-spinning. The title pays homage to Franck’s piece for piano and orchestra, and it sounds to me almost in the same class as that work.

Is there a finer cello concerto than Saint-Saëns’s A minor? Maybe, but few that are over in less than twenty minutes and offer such opportunities for a skilled cellist. The soloist has a showcase for all the instrument can offer, including becoming a chamber musician, or one who is primus inter pares. Coppey’s playing is impressive. In particular, there is a rapturous quality to his playing of the lyrical music in both of this work’s outer movements. The disc inevitably [also] offers Saint-Saëns’s The Swan. This perhaps best known of all cello works is played here in Paul Vidal’s arrangement for cello and chamber orchestra, and it casts the usual serene spell.

Another arrangement for cello and orchestra, this time by the composer, is Fauré’s noble Élégie, originally a fragment of an abandoned cello and piano sonata. Coppey gives it a spontaneous-sounding account, at times almost improvisatory in feeling. The cellist’s tone and line are deployed in the service of a haunting interpretation, aided by touching flute and oboe contributions from the Strasbourg players under John Nelson, attentive collaborators throughout.

Lalo is best known for a single work, his Symphonie espagnole. His Cello Concerto could well stand alongside it if it received more performances as good as this one. The stormy opening is stirring, and the lyrical passages silken[.]

-- MusicWeb International

Idil Biret's first concerto recording

A journey through passion, vision, and sensuality, this album brings together three luminous works for voice and orchestra. At it's heart is Ernest Chausson's Poeme de l'amour et de la mer, Op. 19-a sweeping, late-Romantic meditation on love and loss, where human emotion dissolves into the vastness of the sea. Benjamin Britten's Les illuminations, Op. 18, follows with electric intensity, setting Rimbaud's vivid, surreal poetry in music that is both incisive and radiant. The program closes with Camille Saint-Saens' rare and intimate Extase, a delicate song of rapture and surrender. Tenor Edgaras Montvidas brings refined lyricism and emotional depth to this richly poetic repertoire, joined by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (for the Chausson), and conductor Modestas Pitrenas. An exploration of love, language, and longing-where music becomes poetry, and poetry sings. Recorded at Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall June 2021

Encouraged by Camille Saint-Saëns, violist/composer Henri Casadesus founded the Société des Instruments Anciens in 1901. Casadesus played viola d'amore, his brother Marius played quinton, and additional Casadesus family members and friends played viols, keyboards, and plucked strings. Unlike other early period-instrument revivals, the Casadesus ensemble performed not only baroque pastiche, but also new works which they commissioned and composed for their rediscovered instruments. This disc presents the premiere recordings of music written in the first decades of the twentieth century by Henri Casadesus and Ottorino Respighi for a "quartet of viols."

A pair of great Danish pianists and celebrated violinists contribute to a wide-ranging program, which demonstrates Thomas Jensen’s versatility and command of his orchestras in both pillars of the repertoire by Grieg and Tchaikovsky, and a stirring but unfamiliar piano-concerto movement by the Dane August Winding. Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegelis new to the Jensen discography: a stunning live performance from 1952, newly remastered from the original tapes. This collection brings together live DRSO broadcasts from the 1950s and the 1960swith earlier gramophone recordings, made before Jensen’s DRSO tenure when he was principal conductor of the Aarhus Civic Orchestra (documented on Volume 8 of the series.)

Review:

It’s fortunate – and generous – of Danacord to offer their twofers ‘as for one’ as of late they have been engaged in wholesale reshuffling of their packs.

The only previously unissued item in CD1 is August Winding’s Concert Allegro, preformed by Boris Linderud (1915-95) in 1960. This fluid rhapsodic piece is cast in a Schumannesque mould with plenty of right-hand filigree. The only non-studio live performance on CD2 is Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel, in a very competent 1952 reading in the characteristic acoustic of Denmark’s Radio Concert Hall. The remainder of the programme is largely given over to the violin repertoire on the Tono label, played by the country’s then leading player, Emil Telmányi, between 1947 and 1951. He plays Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with plenty of slides but also a sure awareness of style. You will find the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso on DACOCD851 where you’ll also find recordings made by Telmányi’s great teacher, Hubay – the recording Telmányi made of Hubay’s Hejre Kati in that disc is a later one than the 1947 Tono here, which features his Chamber Orchestra and offers a less successful accompaniment.

Svendsen’s Romance is in the secure hands of Carlo Andersen in his famous 1939 HMV recording which must have sold by the bucketload as it always turns up on record lists to this day. It’s a valuable snapshot of Andersen’s playing as he only ever recorded a couple of pieces by Lumbye so far as I’m aware. Finally, there’s Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812’, spread across four 78 sides, recorded a few days after the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso. Nothing unduly odd happens in the ‘1812’ – strong, decisive conducting and well recorded. Till is newly remastered, and everything comes up sounding good.

--MusicWeb International (Jonathan Woolf)

This album features four great orchestral works that are inspired by works of art. The Saint-Saens, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt works are well-known. Also included is a work by contemporary composer William Popp, who is also well-known as an accordionist.