Classical Music

We know now that Purcell's three Funeral Sentences were not written for the funeral of Queen Mary in 1695. Following the tradition of the English court, it was pieces by Thomas Morley, originally written for the funeral of Elizabeth I, that were sung there. Purcell's only contribution to the ceremony was the composition of two pieces for slide trumpets (March and Canzona), and the anthem in the archaic style Thou knowest, Lord. During the funeral procession to Westminster Abbey, a band of oboes played two marches written by John Paisible and Thomas Tollet. This recording assembles the music composed for the funeral of Queen Mary and that used at the funeral of Elizabeth I in 1603. The programme is completed by Purcell's sublime a cappella anthems and a moving anthem by Weelkes on the death of Thomas Morley. After the success of the recording of Schütz's Musicalische Exequien, voted Record of the Year by Gramophone magazine, this disc will be one of the major events of spring 2013.

Mozart: Complete Pianoforte Works

Mozart: Piano Music, Vol. 1

This release presents the best music of Ludovico Einaudi, whose aesthetic of emptiness has won him legions of fans worldwide, and Jeroen van Veen’s survey of the piano music which is central to Einaudi’s style belongs with his survey of minimalists including Glass and Nyman who are less concerned in music as an expressive language than as a commercial artefact. Likewise, his listeners absorb the music less in the sense of engaging with meaning than as backdrop to activity or release from stress.

Ludovico Einaudi may well become the “Satie of the 21st century”. His minimalist, deceptively simple piano works reach a massive audience well beyond the strict boundaries of traditional classical music. CDs with Einaudi's music break sales records, the hypnotic calmness of his works being the perfect recipe against modern world’s stress and fatigue.

Other information:

– Recorded in 2013.
– Notes on the composer.
– Notes on the artist.

Messiaen’s artistic mission was to invent new musical languages to explore and portray the mysteries of the Christian faith. These “languages” employed many compositional techniques, including modes of limited transposition, Hindu rhythms, Greek rhythms, plainsong, birdsong, “communicable language,’ and serialism. Born in Avignon to Pierre Messiaen, a Shakespeare scholar, and the poet Cecile Sauvage, Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) exhibited a rare musical talent from an early age. He was admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age eleven, where he won five First Prizes- notably in classes with Marcel Dupre, Maurice Emmanuel, and Paul Dukas. In 1930, he was appointed Organiste Titulaire of Sainte Trinite Church in Paris, a position he held until the early 1970s. At the outbreak of WWII, he became a French army hospital attendance, and in 1941 was taken prisoner and held in a POW camp in Silesia (where he composed Quartet for the End of Time). Upon his repatriation in 1942, he was appointed professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory. During his lifetime, Messiaen was famed as an organist and pianist and frequently performed his own difficult compositions in concerts around the world. Colin Andrews is an internationally famous concert artist, with extensive experience in the music of Messiaen. One of only four organists to have recorded Messiaen’s complete organ works, Andrews was recently named “Membre d’Honneur” of the Association Grand Orgue Trinite Messiaen, based at Messiaen’s church in Paris.

DEBUSSY 12 Etudes. Estampes. Deux Arabesques. L’Isle Joyeuse • Mariangela Vacatello (pn) • BRILLIANT 94371 (76:40)


Every so often—perhaps inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’s eponymous poem—I contemplate things that might have been, and quite frequently my contemplations involve music: What would Beethoven’s 10th have sounded like? How much richer would we be today had Brahms not destroyed his early string quartets out of mortal fear of being called an epigone? Would the world be a different place had Dinu Lipatti been able to carry out his wish to record The Well-Tempered Clavier ? One of the reasons I find these questions so fascinating is because we can neither know their answer nor can we rely on what we do know to hypothesize it—after all, Beethoven’s Ninth is strikingly different from his Eighth; Brahms’s lost string quartets are forever gone; and Lipatti never got around to record a single prelude and fugue by Bach. Before hearing this new recording featuring the young pianist Mariangela Vacatello, it had never dawned on me that Debussy’s late piano works—his set of 12 Etudes for piano—present the perfect Borgesian riddle: Would Debussy have abandoned the Impressionist idiom had he lived another few years, or would we be speaking of Debussy’s Impressionism merely as a phase that eventually yielded to a new musical language?


You may be wondering how my musings about where Debussy’s music may have ended up had the composer not succumbed to cancer at age 56 relate to the task at hand. Well, I respectfully submit that they are relevant here because what I enjoyed the most about Vacatello’s recording is how exquisitely and unapologetically she conveys the striking novelty of these masterpieces. Like Mitsuko Uchida in her classic Philips recording, Vacatello does not unduly look for Impressionism in the etudes, nor does she try to tame these visionary and occasionally wild scores. She does not over-pedal, she does not soft-pedal, she does not play legato when Debussy calls for non-legato, and she does not seek to create tonal haze when the score does not call for such effects. Instead, Vacatello presents these works for what they are­—experiments with a fascinating musical language Debussy had not yet fully figured out.


In the early works, Vacatello is equally compelling. Like her compatriots Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Aldo Ciccolini, and Maurizio Pollini, Vacatello subscribes to the Italian tradition of playing Debussy, which is characterized by rhythmic precision, a stronger emphasis on primary colors, and a certain degree of level-headedness. While it is true that Vacatello’s Debussy does not soar or intoxicate like that of Samson François, I find that it is just as fascinating. I am particularly impressed with L’Isle Joyeuse , in which Vacatello (unlike many pianists who play this piece) refuses the temptation to sectionalize—and, I believe, trivialize—in favor of a cohesive narrative that slowly builds towards apotheosis. The engineering is outstanding. This recording comes with my highest recommendation. Vacatello is definitely a pianist to watch.


FANFARE: Radu A. Lelutiu

DIE QUELLEN DES JUNGEN BACH • Céline Frisch (hpd) • ALPHA 149 (71:14 )


BACH Toccatas: in e, BWV 914; in g, BWV 915; Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratello diletissimo, BWV 992. BUXTEHUDE Suite in C, BuxWV 226. FROBERGER Toccata in d,. Suite in d. KERLL Suite in F. Passacaglia. REINCKEN Toccata in G


Bach, apart from being one of the greatest composers, performers, and improvisers of his age, was also one of the greatest students in the history of music. He was as precocious a learner as any musician, taking in everything he could from the various Quellen , or sources, available to him in his day, assimilating as many different styles from every major European nation as possible, without ever traveling outside of his own. That a recital of this nature is not only achievable—one that is capable of demonstrating many of these various sources—but engrossing as well, is proof of the diversity of styles that all had their effect on Bach. It is a testament to his abilities as well, that as much as we can hear these influences in his early works, there is still a voice that shines through.


From the opening of the Reincken toccata, Céline Frisch makes it clear that we are in for a well-paced and dramatic reading. The toccata opens in a boisterous manner, full of energy, but free enough to suggest there is still a hint of improvisation. Frisch obviously enjoys the moment, and as a consequence, so do we! The recital continues with the E-Minor Toccata by Bach, highlighting the similarities and differences between the former piece and itself. She continues in her free way with the tempo of the opening, but sets a clear tempo for the fugue that follows, always maintaining a sprightly sense of articulation, lightening the mood when necessary. The Buxtehude and Froberger that follow show yet another influence, mainly those of the suites that preceded Bach’s own. Here Frisch creates a slightly more reverent feeling with slower tempi, perhaps a bit too slow in the allemandes and sarabandes for my taste, but not overly so as to distract from their dance-like nature. The courantes and gigues, on the other hand, have well-chosen tempos, not too fast, but lively and exciting. The Capriccio follows, in what is probably one of the better performances on harpsichord that I’ve come across. The tempi here are equally well chosen, in particular the “Lament” in passacaglia form, which is too often played as slowly as possible. Frisch here maintains a good sense of line and movement. The Kerll pieces that follow come as the biggest delight, with the passacaglia leading that list. It is here Frisch slows off her skills in what is surely a Baroque virtuosic tour de force. Exciting from beginning to end, it makes me wish the piece were twice as long as it is! The recital ends with Bach’s G-Minor Toccata, equally compelling, and ending in the home key of G Major, in which the recital began over an hour before.


This recital is a joy to listen to, from beginning to end, a well-paced, solid reading of some fascinating music that puts Bach fully in perspective. It’s ne of the best harpsichord discs I’ve come across this year, complete with stylish playing, good flair for the dramatic, and an equally interesting program to boot. Highly Recommended.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega

Florentine composer Castelnuovo-Tedesco contributed a vast array of music to the guitar literature. This engaging release celebrates his output for two guitars, drawing focus to what is perhaps the repertoire’s most awe-inspiring collection: the cycle of 24 preludes and fugues.

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REVIEW:

This is really great music. It’s inventive, expressive, exciting— truly joyous stuff. Duo Pace Poli Capelli’s performances here are truly excellent. Ensemble is perfect, with a delightful inventiveness and loads of technical finish.

– MusicWeb International

When Bach composed them, in his last years in Kothen, those pivotal years that were to lead him to Leipzig, he already had an incredible number of masterpieces behind him. He took the trouble to make a beautiful fair copy of this work. It's a product of his maturity. But since these pieces serve as a basic tool for learning the piano, they're inevitably overshadowed by the larger cycles, like The Well-Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, The Art of Fugue and so on. But that's a mistake, because there's an extraordinary density of music in the Inventions and Sinfonias. Zhu Xiao-Mei

Robert de Visee (1655-1733) was a French lutenist, guitarist, and composer who worked as a chamber musician to Louis XIV, often playing lute or guitar at the king's bedside. This collection of suites was published in Paris in 1716, the recording project of which, helmed by recorder player Manuel Starpoli, is completed in this volume. Manuel Staropoli thoughtfully performs on an array of eight different instruments throughout, each tailored in tessitura and tone color to the particular dance being performed, and is accompanied by an authentic continuo ensemble of the orbo, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Starpoli's performance particularly highlights de Visee's gift for the composition of tunes of simple beauty, which is made clear in the performance of one suite entirely with solo flute.

Classical Music

Sophia Agranovich, internationally acclaimed virtuoso pianist, and esteemed pedagogue, is a recipient of numerous teaching awards. Described by Fanfare magazine as "a bold, daring pianist in the tradition of the Golden Age Romantics," the Ukrainian-born pianist takes to the keyboard for her second Centaur release, offering up a program perfectly suited to Golden Age aficionados, Schubert's 'Wanderer' Fantasy, D760, and Chopin's Four Ballades, each a masterpiece in itself yet superseding the one before, culminating in the brilliant fourth and last Ballade, the F minor, op. 52.

Classical Music

After Anastasia Seifetdinova's Carnegie Hall debut in 2006, the New York Concert Review wrote: "For a critic, hearing a new pianist with a truly warm, luscious tone is like breathing in the scent of jasmine blooming - a pleasure to be recalled again and again - and so I'm happy to report did from the first not she touched at her Weill Hall recital, she was a genuine pleasure to listen to every piece, every measure, every note..."

Liszt: Sonata in B minor; Tre Sonetti del Petrarca; Légende

As ever, Mr. di Bonaventura plays with pristine clarity, exquisite technique and impeccable musicianship. He has long had a special affinity for Scarlatti's single-movement sonatas. For this program of 14 works he has chosen some of the less familiar sonatas, like the capricious A flat (K. 127), an elusive piece that keeps shifting moods: by turns playful, episodic and curious. Mr. di Bonaventura vividly conveys the fanfares, hunting calls and Spanish-influenced dance rhythms that run through this music, as in the jocular Sonata in E (K. 216). And he elegantly articulates Scarlatti's intricate contrapuntal writing, which threads through boldly shifting modes and keys in these inventive pieces. The pensive and elegant Sonata in C minor (K. 302) comes across as a work of astounding nobility and harmonic ingenuity. This recording is worth the wait. -- ANTHONY TOMMASINI, The New York Times 11/11/2007

Canat de Chizy: Moving

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers. Soloist: Kimberly Marshall.

Includes work(s) for org by Johann Sebastian Bach. Soloist: Harald Vogel.

The most boldly original and innovative of Johann Sebastian Bach's composer-sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel did not have to wait long, unlike his father, for public recognition. His music continued to be held in high esteem after his death, with composers such as Mozart and Mendelssohn making detailed studies of his style. Even Brahms took to editing a number of C.P.E. Bach's works.

Emanuel composed in almost every genre except opera, but keyboard music is without doubt the most consistent thread running throughout his career, with more than 300 works written for this medium alone. Spread over five CDs, this release is dedicated to the six groups of pieces together described as 'für Kenner und Liebhaber' ('for connoisseur and amateur'), his most ambitious publishing venture ever. The collections show a marked difference in style compared to many of his other compositions for keyboard that were strictly leveled at the popular, amateur-intended market: in addition to examples of the rondo, a form then in vogue, we encounter audacious sequences of modulations, an ever-increasing amount of motivic treatment and such styles as the free fantasy -- where Emanuel is at his most modern, the music here often containing no bar lines and demonstrating capriciousness of character through its constant switches between extremely fast passagework, uncertainty of direction and calmness.

Written for clavichord and harpsichord, these adventurous, highly engaging works are here performed with aplomb by Dutch keyboardist and period performance expert Pieter-Jan Belder. Belder has made many recordings for Brilliant Classics over the years; regarding his recent study of Domenico Scarlatti's Sonatas (93546), Fanfare magazine commented, '...his playing is never less than alive, fresh sounding, and thoroughly engaged in the music's acrobatics and gymnastics...very strongly recommended.'

Other information:
- New recording (2012--2013) played on fortepiano and clavichord.
- Contains notes on the music and an artist biography.
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the most famous son of the great Johann Sebastian, created his own individual style, in which freedom of expression was the keyword. This substantial collection of keyboard works, "Für Kenner und Liebhaber"(for connoisseur and amateur) contains some of his most audacious compositions, in which frequent and abrupt mood changes, improvisatory and declamatory passages without bar lines and wildly digressing modulations are the stylistic landmarks.
- Pieter Jan Belder is one of the most respected and esteemed keyboard players of today. His immense discography for Brilliant Classics bears witness of a highly skilled and communicative musician, with a deep and innate understanding of the style and performance practice of the Baroque and Classical Period.
- A perfect preparation of the C.P.E. Bach year 2014!

Classical Music

Music critic Charles Rosen has called Mendelssohn the greatest child prodigy the history of Western music has ever known," which is indeed evinced by the fact that he wrote for the organ from the age of 11. Mendelssohn's less well-known works are receiving new appraisal and attention. This disc of organ gems is sure to excite.

Classical Music