Music of Johann Sebastian Bach was always fundamental for Aliya Turetayeva. From the first listening of his Mass in B minor in her childhood, his music has accompanied her through her life. Almost every day she starts with the music of Bach in order to be "well-tuned" throughout the day. She always felt connected with eternity through his music and shared many happy and tragic moments during the years listening to his output. Bach's music was always a symbol of faith for the artist - many times in life his music gave Aliya Turetayeva strength to live further and not to give up; it will remain to be a symbol of faith for her, to be her Credo. Aliya Turetayeva was born in 1986 in Almaty, Kazakhstan and received her first piano lesson at the age of five. Aliya moved to Cologne, Germany to continue her studies at the Hochschule fur Musik und Tanz Koln as a student of Professor Pavel Gililov. She was awarded her Masters degree in 2010. As well as her work as a soloist, Aliya Turetayeva is a dedicated chamber musician. She recorded chamber music works by G. Crumb and A. Schnittke for WDR Radio Cologne. She also completed 2013 her postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg under the tutelage of Professor Gililov with the highest mark.

Argentine violinist Tomás Cotik now resides in the U.S. He is a professor of violin at Portland State University. Here, he performs his own arrangements for violin of the J.S. Bach Six Cello Suites. This is, of course, some of the greatest of all of the solo cello literature, beautifully arranged for and performed on violin.

A Thousand Charms invites listeners into two centuries of English song, from Campion's intimate ayres to Purcell's theatrical masterpieces and Handel's deeply expressive arias. The programme traces how solo song evolved from lute-inspired simplicity to richly ornamented drama, blending poetry with music of striking clarity and depth. Grace Davidson's pure, agile voice and Julian Perkins's sensitive harpsichord accompaniment bring freshness and immediacy to this repertoire, emphasising it's refinement, inventiveness and humanity. For anyone drawn to the beauty of early music, this recording offers an engaging journey through some of it's most timeless works.

The Art of Fugue emerges as the central instrumental project of the last decade of Bach’s life, after a gradual development over several years: the exploration in depth and with an overflowing musical imagination of the contrapuntal possibilities inherent in a single musical subject. In this work, the theoretical component of Bach’s thinking is at its clearest: theory and practice merge, old and new stylistic elements and compositional techniques are integrated and demonstrate in an incomparable way his individual approach to composition.

Since Bach gave no indication of the instrument, nor does his writing shed any further light on the subject, one might even wonder whether this work is a purely theoretical work, intended solely for musical analysis. However, since the composer’s rediscovery in the nineteenth century, musicians have appropriated the work, whatever their instrument. It is now generally accepted that the work was composed for the keyboard. A second harpsichord part is added for three fugues, played here by Masato Suzuki.

After several acclaimed recordings of Bach’s works for keyboard instruments, Masaaki Suzuki finally takes on this immense work, the pinnacle of the cantor’s art and one of the absolute peaks of Western music.

REVIEW:

Although Masaaki Suzuki’s solo harpsichord Bach recordings span several decades, his technical and musical consistency seems to defy time, as borne out in The Art of Fugue. He continues to use a Willem Kroesbergen harpsichord modeled after a Flemish Baroque-style instrument, whose transparent timbres befit the vocal orientation governing his phrasing. For example, his tempos never move faster nor slower than one can comfortably sing. As a result, the contrapuntal lines accommodate Suzuki’s breath pauses, arpeggiations, agogic adjustments, and ritards at cadences.

In lieu of Bach’s completion, Suzuki follows the tradition of placing Bach’s valedictory chorale prelude Wenn wir in höchstein Nöten sein at the end. All in all, a fine Art of Fugue that complements my harpsichord reference versions. BIS’s superb sonics and Bach scholar Christoph Wolff’s in-depth annotations also deserve kudos.

-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

Claude-Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799) published his first book of harpsichord pieces in 1759, nine years after a decisive move from his home city of Dijon to the metropolis of Paris. France had been inundated with Italian music and musicians for more than 50 years, and Balbastre's style is inflected by the latest Italian trends, while remaining unmistakably and deliciously French. The titles of the individual works refer to the surnames of distinguished and influential figures in the Parisian world of the mid- to late18th century. They are not necessarily portraits; the point here is rather the dedication, although this music indubitably represents a wonderful picture of the world surrounding Balbastre. One of the composer's biographers has remarked that 'More than portraits without words supposed to musically evoke a personality, the harpsichord pieces constitute a tribute or a sign of gratitude with regard to said personality. The portrait thus painted is only allusive and mysterious.' For example, one of Balbastre's most famous and spectacular works, the Italian-style gigue La Lugeac (F major), is probably a portrait of Louis XV's close companion, the Marquis Charles-Antoine de Guerin (1720-82), who had been born at the Chateau de Lugeac and was described by his contemporaries as 'Le beau Lugeac'. In his own booklet introduction to Balbastre's life and work, Marek Toporowski extols the First Book as 'a true masterpiece', combining French elegance of Classical style; imagery alluding to the operas of Rameau; virtuosity reminiscent of Scarlatti, Mozart and Rameau; mastery of form and textural richness. Compared to other surviving music by Balbastre, Toporowski finds these pieces 'less simple in the sense of Classical economy of texture, more sophisticated and Baroque.' The Polish harpsichordist, organist, chamber musician, and conductor Marek Toporowski was a pupil of both Bob van Asperen and Daniel Roth, He has made this new recording on a copy of a French harpsichord, completed in 1984 for harpsichordist, pianist and painter Julitta Slendzinska by Zygmunt Kaczmarski. 'It is a fascinating, exceptional instrument,' he says, 'in terms of timbral class, with a full, juicy sound and enchanting dynamic capabilities.' - Claude Balbastre was a prominent French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He studied under Claude Rameau, the brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose influence is evident in his music. - Among his most notable works are his Pieces de clavecin, published in 1759. These pieces exemplify the refined and expressive style of the French harpsichord tradition, combining lyrical melodies with intricate ornamentation and lively rhythms. Like those of Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Balbastre's harpsichord works often feature evocative titles, such as La d'Hericourt, La de Caze, and La Lugeac, referring to prominent figures of the time. His Pieces de clavecin display a wide range of textures and moods, from playful and lighthearted dances to deeply expressive movements. He incorporated elements of the galant style, characterized by clarity and grace, alongside more dramatic and virtuosic passages, sometimes even adapting orchestral effects to the harpsichord. - Marek Toporowski is a harpsichordist, organist, pianist and conductor, one of Poland's foremost performers in the Historical Performance movement. He is a scholar and a well-known collector of historical instruments. Also available by Marek Toporowski are the Complete Piano Music by Pinto, keyboard sonatas by Hyacinthe Jadin, and violin sonatas by Ferdinand Ries.

Deluxe edition in lavish packaging and an extensive booklet lovingly furnished with full-color pictures, including complete vocal texts. This recording from 1974/1975, which was highly praised by the specialist press, unites outstanding soloists (Arleen Auger, Annelies Burmeister, Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, Michael Wittig) with the Dresdner Kreuzchor and the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra (first trumpeter is once again Ludwig Guttler). Under the direction of Martin Flamig, the ensemble reaches top form here. Radiant chorales, yet with great attention to detail, and powerful arias characterize the recording, which also leaves little to be desired in terms of recording technology. A well-balanced overall sound, clear weighting of vocal solos and orchestral accompaniment. The members of the orchestra deserve to be mentioned individually, as each instrument is excellently cast.

There are several sets of pieces that Bach collated (also) with his lessons in mind, amongst them the 'Orgelbuchlein', the 'Little Organ Book', which he started whilst working in Weimar in 1708, and the so-called 'Inventions and Sinfonias', composed in the 1720s in Cothen for his son Wilhelm Friedemann and for "lovers of the clavier, and particularly those who desire to learn". He worked on the 'Orgelbuchlein' over many years, adding to it and making changes, presumably adapting to his student's needs. His inscription on the title page proclaims in a rhyming couplet that his compositions were "in praise for the Almighty's will, and for my neighbour's greater skill". In the context of this programme two choral preludes and two 'Sinfonias' are used as "warm-ups", or preludes for five imagined lessons, functioning as the binding of the student's portfolio.

L'Orfeo Barockorchester and it's director Michi Gaigg have created an impressive discography through their close collaboration with cpo. Their repertoire spans from Baroque and Classical instrumental works to Schubert's symphonies and includes rarely performed compositions by Telemann and Haydn's delightful Incontro improvviso. New to the cpo catalog is their exploration of Johann Sebastian Bach by this refined, spirited ensemble. Seven sacred solo cantatas form the program, featuring two proven specialists in early music who sing the vocal part: Dutch bass-baritone Peter Kooij, awarded the Leipzig Bach Medal in 2016, and Austrian alto Margot Oitzinger compellingly demonstrate how people in the time of the great Thomaskantor strove to guide Christians on the right path.

Early music specialist Federico Maria Sardelli conducts his Modo Antiquo ensemble in this live performance of Cavalli’s Il Xerse – a highly innovative dramma per musica premiered in 1655. Recorded during the the 48th Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca, Italy, the cast includes the countertenor Carlo Vistoli and soprano Ekaterina Protsenko. A Blu-ray and DVD of this performance were released in June this year on the Dynamic label (DYN-57983 & DYN-37983).

REVIEW:

Francesco Cavalli’s Il Xerxe was first performed in Venice in 1655. The plot essentially consists of the efforts of the Persian Xerxes to win over the beautiful vassal Romilda, who is, however, in love with the king’s brother, Arsamene. The other main characters are also involved in the intrigues: Amastre, the woman already promised to the Persian king, and Adelanta, Romilda’s sister, who would love to see herself on the Thorn.

Countertenor Carlo Vistoli sings the title role with a warm and round, well-managed voice, which also convincingly conveys the character of the fickle figure. With her powerful voice, Gaia Petrone succeeds in interpreting Arsamene in a vocally worthy and credible manner. Ekaterina Protsenko sings a very attractive Amastre, and Caterina Lippo is also convincing as Romilda. The other roles are satisfactorily cast as well. Frederico Maria Sardelli leads the excellent Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiquo in a spirited, flowing and energetic performance.

-- Pizzicato

The album "Inner Spaces" is the third album of the Istanbul-born pianist Serra Tavsanli. With great certainty one can claim that it is her most personal album. With the works by Johann Sebastian Bach recorded here, she not only presents a masterful interpretation on a modern grand piano, but also connects the music with her own history and origins. In doing so, she reveals her innermost self and provides insight into very personal spaces of thought.

Based on the initials B A C H, Serra Tavsanli has selected the pieces that match the key. Even more, because in the album's booklet she writes: "Pieces that for me stand for different concepts that make up being human and play a role in all traditions and religions. B (Partita in B flat major) symbolizes faith; A (Partita in A minor) stands for hope. C (Toccata in C minor) represents love. B (French Overture in B minor) symbolizes our present. With this selection, the pianist takes her audience directly into her emotional worlds, into her "Inner Spaces".

Serra Tavsanli has ventured deeply into the world of Bach and is completely absorbed in it while playing. In a certain way, she also intentionally makes herself vulnerable. Her playing is narrative, it opens up associative spaces and is at the same time effortless, yet completely uncompromising. In the booklet she writes: "I was suddenly there, where everything succeeds, where it is safe and free. A place that is accessible to everyone, and where origin, religion, skin color or gender no longer play a role. A place where we are not alone." Serra Tavsanli decided to share her insights and experiences, which made her become an exceptional pianist, with her audience. At concerts, she likes to recite texts that she wrote in collaboration with cultural manager and Bach specialist Folkert Uhde to give the works even more context, but also to bring them into our time.

"As an artist, I want to open this place to everyone, to share with anyone and everyone the experience that fear becomes strength, that paralysis becomes strength. A place of hope, of freedom, of doing well. A place where no one is excluded," Serra Tavsanli describes her concern. With this recording, she will certainly succeed in this.

Gluck's Orphee et Euridice is a masterpiece of the operatic canon, inspired by one of the most mysterious and cruel stories in Greek mythology. The gods allow Orpheus to descend into the underworld to revive his beloved wife Eurydice, but on condition that he must not look at her while returning. This production from Florence re-imagines this myth as a story for our times. It explores each character anew, highlighting the music and text as a more sophisticated psychological thriller than previously imagined, creating a moving and transformative narrative with which we can all identify.

I have devoted this most recent recording to dance. The pieces that I perform here are all linked to the art of dance from different eras and different cultures. Throughout history and in most people's perception, dance has always been a source of entertainment and joy, but it can also represent more sombre occasions, with pomp and grandeur. The Chaconne, for example, has become both tragic and sublime over time and today it's rhythm has mellowed! Chopin's Mazurkas can be rustic and folkloric, haunting or lyrical, even dramatic. In short, dance can express diametric opposites and unite those opposites at the same time. That's why I also want to pay homage to Shiva's dance, for this god, the symbol of destruction, illusion and ignorance, destroys in order to awaken human beings and lead them to create a new world. Shiva's divine dance, Tandava Nritya, is regarded by Hinduism as the origin of the cycle of creation, preservation and devastation. Vagharshapat Dance is based upon a melody from 'Yerangi' found in "Six Dances for Piano" (1906) by the legendary Armenian composer Komitas (1869?935). Vagharshapat is the location of Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the fourth largest city in Armenia located 11 miles west of Yerevan. My recording ends with Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", in an arrangement of my own. The duality of this piece's character is obvious, as while the sabers suggest the idea of death, the dance becomes a 'living dance? one that enchants us or, a dance that comes alive. I hope that the current times of wars, destruction and social upheaval will soon be replaced by peace and the joy that comes with it, and I hope that this recording brings a form of respite and quietude and with it lightness, joy and happiness. Vardan Mamikonian "Vardan Mamikonian demonstrates a technique that combines power and poetry... and flashes of interpretive genius." New York Times Vardan Mamikonian has come to the attention of the international press and public thanks to his prestigious technique and extraordinary musicality. He has performed in the United States with such renowned orchestras as the Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit, Pacific, Houston and National Symphonies, as well as with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He is a guest at major international festivals such as Verbier and St. Moritz in Switzerland, Ravinia in the USA, La Roque d'Antheron in France, the Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival in Germany, and the Hong Kong Arts Festival. He gives recitals in some of the world's most prestigious music venues: Musikverein Vienna, Carnegie Hall New York, Theatre des Champs-elysees Paris, Herkulessaal Munich, Wigmore Hall London, Tonhalle Zurich, Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco and Kennedy Center Washington, to name but a few. Born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians, Vardan Mamikonian began studying piano at the Spendiarian School of Music in his hometown, under Arkui Haroutunian. He continued his studies at the Moscow Central Music School and the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with Valery Kastelsky, one of the last proteges of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus. He then went on to perfect his skills at the Piano Academy in Imola, Italy, under the guidance of Lazar Berman. In 1991, Vardan moved to Paris, and in 1992, he won the World Music Masters Competition in Monte Carlo, reserved exclusively for winners of international competitions. Vardan Mamikonian has taken part in numerous recordings for radio and television, as well as for the German label Orfeo. Several of his recordings have been praised by the international press.

In Johann Sebastian Bach's six organ sonatas, three independent voices sound interchangeably. The right hand plays the highest voice, the left hand the middle voice and the feet the bass. A true musician wants to play each voice as if for the first time, responding spontaneously to what the others bring up. To bring such a sung conversation to life with hands and feet, he listens with equal attention and love to all the voices simultaneously. It is a miracle that it can be done. When it succeeds, it all seems simple and natural. A world opens up to the listener, in which it is hardly imaginable that there is anything more beautiful than a trio sonata by Bach.

The celebrated Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg is a two-time winner of the 'Best Operatic Recital' Award at the International Opera Awards, while Ian Page's previous Gluck recording with The Mozartists ('Blessed Spirit - a Gluck retrospective') was selected by Gramophone magazine among the top 10 Gluck recordings of all time. Following previous partnerships in the opera house and the concert hall, Hallenberg and Page are now collaborating in the recording studio for the first time on a new recital disc of Gluck arias. The backbone of the programme is provided by three arias from Il trionfo di Clelia (Bologna, 1763) that were written for the renowned castrato Giovanni Manzuoli (1720-1782) - one of the greatest singers of his day - and the album also includes previously unrecorded arias from Ipermestra (Venice, 1744 and Le nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe (Dresden, 1747). Also featured is Gluck's revised version of the exquisite "Che puro ciel" from Orfeo ed Euridice (written for Parma in 1769), and the popular "O del mio dolce ardor" from the last of the composer's three so-called 'reform' operas, Paride ed Elena. "In an age where so much music of the past is being explored and made available, Gluck nevertheless remains one of the most neglected and undervalued of the great composers, a name that continues to crop up more often in textbooks than in opera houses or concert halls. We very much hope that you will find this music to be of far more than merely historical interest, and that you enjoy listening to this recording." - Ian Page

Johann Sebastian Bach's stature as a composer of extraordinary talent and widespread influence is so firmly established in Western culture that it is difficult to believe that only 150 years ago his works lay in veritable obscurity, unknown to all but a small group of scholars. It is largely thanks to ohn, who essentially effected a revival of the composer's music through his rediscovery and promulgation of the St Matthew Passion, besides other pieces, that his works are today regarded as pinnacles of music expression. That they are among the most performed and widely attended is in no doubt; in Holland alone, thousands of singers and musicians are involved in dozens of performances of the St Matthew Passion in Holy Week, with hundreds of thousands listening in churches and concert halls, or gathered around the radio, to what has been described as 'the Gospel according to Bach'. Bringing together all of his works, this dynamic 142-CD set offers a resounding impression of this great spirit of our Western culture, presenting dynamic performances - many period-based, many acclaimed by the international press - that are divided according to genre, thus making for a highly user-friendly compendium. The set draws on all periods of his career, tracing the development of a style that was much influenced by contemporary and past fashions but which was always adapted to Bach's own purpose, often far surpassing the models on which he drew. The German composer travelled a great deal from city to city, and the different circumstances of his various positions are reflected in the great range of works comprising his output: while his early years are dominated by much keyboard music, on account of the numerous organist posts he held during this period, later positions at various courts accorded him more personal and artistic freedom - in Cothen, for example, Prince Leopold's passion for music-making and his renowned resident orchestra resulted in a string of unforgettable works including the Brandenburg Concertos, the Solo Cello Suites and the Well-Tempered Clavier Part 1, beside many others. Bach was a master of all genres, whether sacred, secular, instrumental or vocal, and his oeuvre is a rich mixture of severe Baroque craftsmanship and expressive Romanticism. Thomas Zehetmair, Kristof Barati, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Rene Jacobs, Peter Schreier and Lucia Popp are just a handful of the first-class performers and ensembles gracing this set. At the bargain price of €100, it is a collection not to be passed up. Other information: - 142 CDs representing the entirety of Johann Sebastian Bach's oeuvre in historically informed performances. This includes all 200 sacred cantatas recorded for Brilliant Classics on period instruments and sung by the Holland Boys Choir. - For reasons of completeness, pure musical enjoyment, scholarly research, attractive, spacesaving design and price, you cannot afford to be without Brilliant Classics' Complete Bach Edition. - Extensive liner notes, sungs texts and complete tracklisting with performers available for download, by clicking on 'Download booklet' below the cover.

This disc couples the last Violin Concerto (1769) by Joseph Haydn with the Double Concerto for Viola and Harpsichord (1762) by his brother Michael: two rarely recorded early Classical gems. This is the debut recording of Pearls in Baroque Chamber Orchestra, composed by some of the best Baroque music players in the Netherlands. The artistic and performance direction is entrusted to two experienced musicians like Ryo Terakado and Noriko Amano.

Elena Denisova is recognised as one of the most charismatic personalities of the international violin elite and sees herself as an ambassador of the magic of sound. She realises this as a passionate motto in all her interpretations of classical and 21st century works. It also applies to Bach's three sonatas for solo violin, which she performs here entirely in this spirit.

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A prevailing feature of music of the 16th century and earlier was a split between the deployment of voices and instruments: occasionally replacing each other, or used in alternation - a more concerted effort in writing dedicated instrumental music with increasing degrees of complexity and virtuosity was taking place. The penchant for writing stories about love in it's many forms continued, finding a new home in the developing operatic works as well as the ever-popular madrigal genre, as composers continued to find ways to describe the joy, grief, despair and ecstasy of the human experience of love. Cupid's Ground Bass is a celebration of these developing musical aesthetics of early 17th century Italy, focusing particularly on the composers' language of love in all it's forms.

Fantastic worlds - Organ transformations - Bach organ Regensburg The human imagination opens up worlds full of enchanting beauty, threatening dreams, night and sun - and the organ is the ideal companion for this! From Frescobaldi to Saint-Saens, this CD follows capricious and passionately winding paths in "Fantastic worlds". Roman Emilius on the versatile Ahrend organ (2020) of the Trinity Church in Regensburg takes us into the fleeting realm of fantasy. Imagination is a special human gift. Fantasizing about things and making up stories is the basic requirement for all art. The words 'fantasy' and 'fantastic' have positive connotations today, but that wasn't always the case. "Fantastic" in the sense of imagined, invented, without plan or purpose was not reconcilable with the regularity of art. Yet "fantastic worlds" are often responses to the overly ordered, constructed, and lifeless, always focussing on depicting humans with all their mood swings. The organ as an instrument of the church has to transform itself for this because anything too human was to be kept out of the church. That is why this CD is subtitled "Organ transformations". "Stylus phantasticus" was the name given in the 17th century to a style of music that called for boundaries to be crossed and rules to be broken in favour of increasing expressiveness. This goes hand in hand with freedom of presentation. Two masters of this style are Frescobaldi in his toccatas and Buxtehude in his major works. The famous "Air" by Bach is an encore that, at the end of the recording, leaves the reconciliatory word to the namesake of the Ahrend organ in Regensburg's Trinity Church, known as the "Bach organ". Roman Emilius was born in Nuremberg in 1963. He studied church music at the Frankfurt/Main University of Music with Edgar Krapp (organ), Wolfgang Schafer (choral conducting), Irina Edelstein (piano), and Jiri Starek (orchestral conducting). Following the church music exam, he completed the organ graduate degree course (Konzertexamen) and the Diplom degree in orchestral conducting. He was awarded the cultural study award (Kulturforderpreis) of the city of Erlangen in 1988. After one year as an assistant in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, he received a scholarship from the Bavarian Ministry of Culture in 1992 for the "Cite Internationale des Arts" in Paris. In addition to his position as cantor at the Auferstehungskirche (Church of the Resurrection) in Furth, he was the pianist with the ars-nova-ensemble in Nuremberg from 1994 to 1998. In 1997, he became cantor at the Christuskirche (Christ Church) in Munich, where he was subsequently appointed church music director and started to teach choral conducting in the church music ? eld of study at the Munich University of Music. Since 2008, he has been the Protestant city and deanery cantor in Regensburg and director of theRegensburger Kantorei and the Raselius-Chor church choirs. Together with a panel of experts, he designed the Ahrend organ (Bach organ Regensburg) for the Trinity Church in Regensburg, which was inaugurated in 2020.

The 'Juvenilia' programme centres around the early works of Johann Sebastian Bach. While much attention is given to his later works, his youthful keyboard compositions remain vastly underappreciated, being seldom performed and even more seldom recorded. Despite this, they exhibit a richness of inventiveness, youthful spirit and experimentation, while simultaneously foreshadowing the compositional hallmarks of his mature style. This album contains early compositions by Bach as well as pieces by Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reincken and Georg Böhm, who had a significant impact on Bach's artistic development and musical identity. The programme is rounded off by two anonymous and never-before-recorded pieces from the Andreas Bach Buch.

Reissue. Originally released in 2014. The audio clip below associated with this release is from the original issuance of this title. - ArkivMusic

An account that reflects the latest information and researches on 'period instruments' practice. A 'one to a part' standard - for both voices and instruments.

The Christmas Oratorio is actually not an ‘oratorio’ in the mold of, for instance, Bach’s Ascension Oratorio or Handel’s Messiah. It is a series of 6 separate cantatas, collectively relating the story from Christmas through to Twelfth Night. Bach wrote the work in Leipzig in 1734 and 1735 for Christmas Day (I), Boxing day (II), the third day of Christmas (III), New Year (IV), the Sunday after New Year (V), and Twelfth Night (VI).

As with the Passions, the texts here are drawn from three sources: (1) the evangelical texts (primarily Luke and Matthew) intoned by the Evangelist (tenor) as recitatives, (2) chorales from the Lutheran tradition and (3) free texts for arias and some choral passages, written by the poet Picander.

Johann Sebastian Bach took the opportunity to enhance the previously mediocre inventory of string instruments in Leipzig's two main churches in 1729 by purchasing four violins, two violas and two cellos from the workshop of Johann Christian Hoffmann (Leipzig 1683-1750). Three of these eight instruments, two violins and a viola, are still owned by the Thomaskirche. They could only be admired in a display case for decades, but here they can be heard in a recording for the first time. The Art of Fugue is framed by Bach's first and last Leipzig chorale arrangements, recorded on the Hildebrandt organ in Stormthal near Leipzig, which Bach had examined and inaugurated. Hearing these emblematic works on instruments that the Cantor himself had played is an extraordinary experience that provides direct historical testimony to the sound world of Johann Sebastian Bach.

With the present programme we want to explore the history of the German Lied throughout a period spanning some 800 years, from that first light of dawn represented by the earliest music scored with modern notation - courtly love songs by Walther von der Vogelweide (1170-1230) and Oswald von Wolkenstein (1377-1445) - down to such present-day emissaries of the Lied tradition as Aribert Reimann and Wolfgang Rihm. In between we find: J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Hensel, Wolf, Berg, and Eisler.

The term violoncello was particularly fluid in the early 18th century: it referred to a wide range of bowed stringed instruments of different sizes and shapes, generally with four or five strings; some of these instruments were held between the knees and others were supported by the arm. So when Bach's wife, Anna Magdalena, wrote Suites à Violoncello Solo senza Basso (Suites for Solo Cello without Bass) on the title page of her manuscript copy, we cannot be entirely sure what type of instrument she was referring to. It is said that Bach himself played both the violin and the viola exceptionally well, and it is quite possible that he originally composed the suites for his own use and played them on a violoncello piccolo held on the arm, using viola fingerings. It is, however, also possible that he composed these works for other virtuosi known to him, these including Gregor Christoph Eylenstein, concertmaster of the Weimar court orchestra, and the Leipzig violinist Carl Gotthelf Gerlach. While being excellent violinists, they were also known as experts on the cello and viola d'amore. These considerations-and the observation that certain suites seem particularly well suited to specific instruments-inspired Ronan Kernoa to record the six suites on six different instruments.

Innumerable transcriptions of Bach’s music were made in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many of them bear the signatures of both well-known and lesser-known composers. Among the former are Bruno G. Seidhofler’s notable piano 4-hands version of The Art of Fugue (1937) and the splendid transcription of the Orgel-Büchlein by Bernhard Friedrich Richter (1902) that is featured on this recording. The artists’ approach here – in an advanced vein of historically informed performance – takes inspiration from well-established Bach performance practice and then filters that through two specific media: the chosen instrument of an early 20th-century upright piano and the set of performance indications scrupulously laid down by Richter, which range from tempo indications assigned to each chorale and numerous (yet not too intrusive) agogic signs, to the octave doubling he often added in the soprano and/or bass.

I dream of forever being able to build programmes and recordings, as I do here, out of a pure desire to play. These mischievous, naive desires for play and musical pleasure are the only things that drive me. In this new album devoted to J.S. Bach, I explore a wide variety of works, each telling it's own story, which could be arranged in different ways or listened to separately. The aim of this new album, my first solo work devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach, is simple but so important to me: to delight the ears and, may I hope, the heart, with a few pieces that I place in the pantheon of the Kantor and that have been with me for a long time, recorded here on a magnificent harpsichord by Philippe Humeau. And a new adventure with Ramee - an invaluable label if there ever was one - is just beginning! Bertrand Cuiller

This album traces pianist Alexandra Dariescu's journey through discovery, memory, and celebration, uniting masterworks with neglected gems and world premieres. Mozart's radiant Rondo in D major, K. 382, opens the programme, paired with Emmy Schäfer Klein's long-forgotten Child's Dream and James Lee III's newly composed Humble Birth. Music by Clara Schumann, Nadia Boulanger, Florence Price, Amy Beach, Germaine Tailleferre, Leokadiya Kashperova, and others highlights the voices of women across centuries. Interwoven are personal favourites-Bach/Siloti's Prelude in E minor, Villa-Lobos's sparkling O polichinelo-alongside youthful treasures by Carl Filtsch and Tudor Ciortea. Together, they form a vivid portrait of music as dream, memory, and renewal.

Three instruments, three emblematic works, and three excellent soloists! With Sophie Gent on violin, Frank Theuns on traverso and Bertrand Cuiller on harpsichord, Les Muffatti offer a fresh interpretation of Bach's Triple Concerto, the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto and the Orchestral Suite in B minor. They provide a variety of orchestral textures, appropriate to the more soloistic style in the Brandenburg Concerto, and the alternating ripieno-tutti settings in the Triple Concerto and the Suite.

While the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto was composed during Bach's time in Köthen and can be regarded as the first piano concerto ever written, the other two works date from his later years in Leipzig. In these works, Bach exploits the full range of compositional possibilities he had acquired during his lifetime; the highly individual combination of contrapuntal artistry and heightened expressiveness already points to the works composed in the last years of his life.

Les Muffatti have been one of the leading artists on the Ramée label from its beginnings; this, their tenth album for Ramée, also marks the label’s 20th anniversary.

It's been a long time coming for this second part of Johann Sebastian Bach's partitas played by Evgeni Koroliov. The Steinway D grand piano from the first volume is now permanently installed in a beautiful church in Wernigerode. The recordings of Partitas 3 and 5 were made there. Other issues also delayed progress, including the relocation of TACET's premises. And finally, we're all not getting any younger. Who could say otherwise? This takes it's toll in the form of slower work. Only a few things are timeless, and that includes the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The way in which Evgeni Koroliov immerses himself in this 'eternal' music, elevating it to a timeless presence, as if it were created in this very moment, changes my perception of time. I absorb it's flow. I agree with it's passing