Classical Music

For approaching a century and a half in France – across the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI – the Palace of Versailles played host, both indoors and outdoors, for an extraordinary sequence of dramatic musical performances. Un Opera pour trois rois, conducted by György Vashegyi, represents the legacy of that time, a specially constructed operatic entertainment drawn from works by composers from Lully to Gluck, commissioned – and even, on occasion, performed – by kings, their queens and inamoratas. There are plenty of firm favourites here – Rameau’s “Tristes apprêts” (Castor et Pollux) and “Forêts paisibles” (Les Indes galantes), but one of the additional attractions of this double-disc extravaganza released by Glossa is the chance to hear music of quality by hitherto woefully ignored compositions (Le Retour du printemps, Antoine Dauvergne, Les Caracteres de la Folie, Bernard de Bury or Le Pouvoir de l’Amour, Pancrace Royer), all demonstrating the depths of quality still waiting to be rediscovered. And there are selections to be had from operas by Mondonville, Destouches, Leclair and Francoeur and Rebel as well. Further attractions are the performances from the three soloists (each adopting the role of an allegorical figure for the event): Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Emöke Barath and Thomas Dolie, along with Vashegyi’s Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra. In his booklet essay, Benoît Dratwicki draws on his immense knowledge in order to set the scene in the royal residence of Versailles for this imaginary fête musicale of lyricism and duets, music both sombre and joyful, symphonies and orages.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Of immense cultural importance, the Het Sweelinck Monument Project, curated by Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam founder Harry van der Kamp and focusing on the enormous output and impact of the Dutch master, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck comes to a stunning conclusion with this 6 CD set of his complete works for keyboard. The set includes performances by eminent specialists, including Pieter-Jan Belder, Bob van Asperen, the late Gustav Leonhardt and more. Sweelinck’s life was caught between the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and his enduring influence is brilliantly conveyed with these works.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Popular madrigals and chansons of the 16th century served as models for richly embellished "alla bastarda" versions on the viola da gamba. In this recording, the vocal originals are presented together with the extremely virtuoso instrumental versions which represent the first and hardly surpassed apex of solo literature for viola da gamba. For 25 years, Paolo Pandolfo has been one of the leading viola da gambists of his generation, researching and promoting the repertoire of his instruments in all directions. The thorough knowledge of all aspects of the viola da gamba repertoire becomes clear in his extensive discography. Not only has he recorded the most important works of the viol literature, but also very personal musical statements in which he combined the youthful experiences as a double bass player and guitarist with compositions and improvisations that are just as influenced by jazz as they are by the historical repertoire. With the bastarda diminutions, he now proffers an early milestone of the solo viol literature in which the exuberant virtuosity serves to present enchantingly beautiful music. On this very special project, with instruments built ad hoc, he is joined by some of the finest continuo players of the early music scene (Boysen, Granata, Chemin, Pedrini) and the exquisite vocal ensemble La Pedrina, together producing what definitely will be considered as a key recording of repertoire for the viola da gamba.

Classical Music

The genre of the grand motet, which was set in place by Lalande and Lully, was furthered and developed in French tradition by Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville. Four of his motets have been recorded here by Gyorgy Vashegyi alongside the Orfeo Orchestra and the Purcell Choir. Louis Castelain provides an overview of Mondonville’s life for this recording.

Classical Music

Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne, premiered at the Teatro Tron di San Cassiano in Venice in 1640, marked the first collaboration between two geniuses, the poet Giovan Francesco Busenello and the composer Francesco Cavalli. The value of this first libretto, magnified by the superb music of Cavalli, lies above all in the beauty and rich poetry of it's literary style. Musically, the work is still, in certain respects, dependent on the Florentine tradition of recitar cantando: until fairly late in the Seicento, recitative remained the most important and prestigious musical and stylistic tool in opera. Nonetheless, closed forms are fairly widespread, and the opera abounds in ensembles. The rhythmic and metrical richness of the text allows Cavalli to give free rein to his creative genius: arias, lamenti, duets, even trios, choruses - the variety of strophic forms is as great as the expressiveness of the recitative... Glossa now reissues a fine recording of this opera, performed by the Argentinian Gabriel Garrido and his Ensemble Elyma, with a splendid vocal cast including Anders Dahlin, Rosa Dom�nguez, Emanuela Galli, Paola Quagliata and Salvo Vitale.

Classical Music

The surviving musical edition of Dutch Golden Age "Renaissance Man", Constantijn Huygens receives a fresh new recording from a singer who has become a connoisseur of vocal music from the seventeenth century: Cyril Auvity. The remarkable Huygens, alive for much of that century, was a poet, composer and musician whose "day job" was as a diplomat working for the Princes of Orange and who was an assiduous correspondent with leading thinkers such as Descartes, Rubens and Corneille. Huygens' "Pathodia sacra et profana" encompasses a collection of songs in Italian, French and Latin whose simplicity belies the complexity of the emotions carried within them. Those emotions are admirably conveyed by a singer whose inquisitive musical intellect takes him down less frequented paths and whose voice is rich and coloured and employed with a mastery of line. Reflecting the contemporary performances of such works by wealthy amateurs in the Dutch Republic, Myriam Rignol plays viola da gamba whilst Marie van Rhijn plays harpsichord, positive organ and the enigmatic Lautenwerck (a luteharpsichord). Each of these instruments is additionally given an opportunity to be heard in solo music from Huygens' time.