Taiwanese violinist Wanchi Huang came to the US age 13 to further her studies in Baltimore, MD, soon thereafter debuting with the Baltimore Symphony, followed by more study at Curtis, Julliard and Indiana Univ. During her professional career she has given many acclaimed recitals and concerts in collaboration with internationally renowned performing artists and ensembles. Here, the James Madison Univ. Prof. Of Violin follows her 2012 debut Centaur recording of Ysa�e's solo violin sonatas with Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, the summit of solo literature for her instrument.

Richard Rogers: Command Performance

The 'Württenberg' Sonatas are very demanding, clearly intended for skilful, professional keyboard players. The sonatas have almost symphonic or even operatic dimensions and attitudes; in fact they may almost be called romantic, conjuring up fantastic and colourful landscapes. The first three of the set are here performed on Bach's own favourite instrument, the clavichord, by Miklós Spányi, whose indefatigable work in bringing the keyboard music of C.P.E. bach to a wider audience has impressed both critics and music lovers alike.

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After a first disc devoted to Schmelzer, enthusiastically hailed by the critics ('Editor's Choice' Gramophone, 'Choc' of Classica), the ensemble Masques, conducted by Olivier Fortin, returns to Alpha with a programme combining works by Muffat, Kerll and Pachelbel along with those of a composer who has remained largely unknown and totally forgotten: Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706). Benedictine monk, prefect and official composer of the Benedictine abbey of S�ben, Romanus Weichlein left several collections of sonatas and masses as well as large chaconnes, magnificent works in the tradition of his compatriots Biber, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky� and Georg Muffat. In this new program, Masques presents both ensemble pieces and others for solo or two harpsichords (the second harpsichord being played by Skip Semp�), always featuring the expressiveness, eloquence and profound interpretation for which it is known.

To know only the popular Vals Criollo among Antonio Lauro's Venezuelan Waltzes for guitar is like knowing just one Chopin Mazurka, Scarlatti Sonata, Haydn Symphony, or Joplin Rag. Buy this disc and you'll encounter a treasure trove of exquisitely wrought miniatures. They are gorgeously deployed for the instrument, laced with ear-tickling harmonic invention, and offer further rewards with each hearing. Lauro's virtuosic demands pose no problem at all for Adam Holzman's immaculate technique. More importantly, he taps into the heart and soul of Lauro's idiom, playing with effortless élan, flowing lyricism, and infectious musicality. On top of that, the disc is excellently recorded. A lovely, lovely release. Go get it. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

The works of Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), an outstanding composer and great innovator, have mainly come to the contemporary publics attention thanks to his collection of dances under the name of 'Terpischore' and to his theoretical writings. Jean-Charles Ablitzer here gives us the first recording of ten organ pieces selected from his 'Musae Soniae' (phantasies on Lutherian melodies) and from his 'Hymnodia Sonia (Latin hymns). This interpretation, already acclaimed by a 'Choc' from the Monde de la Musique, reveals Praetorius as an inspired and gentle colourist, whose musical idiom will leave a deep imprint on the first generation of baroque composers. the musicological rigour and the great sensitivity of the interpreter is further expressed by the choice of the historic organ of the church of St. Stephan in Tangermünde. Not only is it contemporary of the composer, but an identical model by the same maker is extensively described in Praetorius' 'Syntagma Musicum'. For once, as a unique exception, Alpha forfeits its role as a producer in order to bring this record to the public. It has been auto-produced by the artist but never commercialized while its unique quality soon turned it into an absolute, although unavailable reference.

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After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.In addition to the 13 titles shown below, the album FIRENZE 161 by LE POEME HARMONIQUE, VINCENT DUMESTRE, will also be reissued.

Andreas Staier made a spellbinding recording of Schubert's monumental A minor sonata D. 845 for Teldec in the mid-1990s. His remake for AEON is bookended by a two-movement work from Brice Pausnet, written specifically for Staier and his Christopher Clarke fortepiano. Taking its cue from D. 845, Kontra-Sonate processes Schubert's stark unison melodic writing and toccata-like patterns through Pausnet's essentially atonal vocabulary. His style is largely characterized by gesture as opposed to rhythm, and as a consequence, even the most rapid flourishes have a slow moving, decorative effect. As the music progresses, I find myself less interested in Pausnet's note choices and more fascinated with the subtlety with which he deploys the fortepiano's extraordinary pedal and percussion effects, registral differentiation, and unpredictable intonation. The continuity and caring precision of Staier's performance minimizes the music's static, academic countenance.


If Staier's angular and dynamically vivid Schubert A minor remake seems more settled and less impetuous than in the aforementioned Teldec version (especially in the last two movements), it's probably due to a more distant microphone placement than Teldec's tighter pickup. Is the una corda pedal responsible for those harp-like sonorities in the first-movement development section? What a gorgeous, totally unexpected sound! This is a profoundly fascinating release, but why do projects like this invariably include booklet notes packed with poetic, conceptual, philosophical, and mythological hooey?
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Bach's virtuoso skill as an organist was world renowned, and he was particularly celebrated for his use of registration. Spanning 2 CDs, this compilation is dedicated to some of his best-known Preludes and Fugues, and also features the celebrated Sch�bler Chorales. While the former works betray the composer's unparalleled ability to give distinctive qualities to each of the fugal voices, the latter collection - compiled by the publisher Johann Georg Sch�bler in 1748 - is largely made up of chorales based on melodies from Bach's cantatas, and was intended for concert performance. The celebrated Fantasia and Fugue in C minor BWV357 and Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV538, which Bach himself is said to have held in high esteem, complete the line-up. One of Europe's leading organists, Matteo Messori has recorded widely for Brilliant Classics. Here he combines energy with artistic flair to deliver consummate readings of these engaging works: a must-buy for the keyboard and Baroque connoisseur. Recorded in June 2011. Organs: Johannes Creutzburg (1735), St. Cyriakus church of Duderstadt; Eilert K�hler (1738), Kreuzkirche of Suhl. Unique historical organs located in Germany, which have a strong link with the great composer himself, organs which Bach might have known, and whose builders he greatly respected. Matteo Messori is one of the leading Baroque organists of Europe; his previous recordings for Brilliant Classics (Kunst der Fuge, and Clavier�bung, have been awarded 5 star reviews in international classical magazines.

Born in Paris in 1749, Jean-Louis Duport, cellist and composer, also known as 'le jeune' -- to distinguish him from his elder brother Jean-Pierre (1741--1818), called 'l'ainé' -- is today regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the development and evolution of cello technique. In 1806 he published his cello treatise Essai sur le doigté du violoncelle et sur la conduite de l'archet, a work that became the fundamental reference point for all subsequent schools of cello teaching. At the end of the treatise, we find the 21 Etudes for Violoncello (with a second cello part as accompaniment), works that explain and put into practice the methods described within. They are very difficult, highly virtuosic exercises that present a wide selection of tones and bowings as well as an extraordinary richness of compositional ideas, and in this way the Essai can be viewed as an anthology of concert pieces with real artistic value rather than just a mere practical handbook.

Made following precise philological criteria and with attention to the performing practice of the age, this recording includes a second cello as accompaniment (the instrument assumes the role of continuo, developing the performance and enlivening the listening experience) and employs original instruments with gut strings and historical bows. Thanks more to their difficulty and pedagogical reputation, the Etudes may have been rarely recorded, a fact which only adds value to the present issue, but they repay repeated listening for their élan, and will be required listening not only for cello students seeking to master the Etudes themselves but also for anyone with a passing interest in the music of Classical-era France.

Other information:
- New recording made in 2013.
- Jean Louis Duport was one of the most important and influential composers for the cello in the first half of the 19th century. A virtuoso himself, he wrote a treatise on the cello, introducing new techniques, expanding the possibilities of the instrument to a great extent.
- As a demonstration of his new instrumental style he wrote 21 Etudes, in which all his inventions are incorporated. They are extremely difficult, requiring a virtuoso technique and deep musical insight, lifting the etude above the level of a mere exercise to a work of art.
- This recording, a world premiere, uses a second cello as a continuo basis, and is played with gut strings, as was usual in Duport's time.
- A must for cellists, cello lovers and anyone interested in early 19th-century French instrumental music!

Swiss guitarist Christoph Denoth explores the enchanting lute music of JohnDowland using his own arrangements made from Dowland’s original handwritten scores. + “Dowland, the melancholic poet of the lute, is free of any instrumental limitation. The melodic, contrapuntal and harmonic approach of his music is both wondrous and unique. Its expression is one of noble sadness, melancholy and genuine beauty. - Christoph Denoth

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This recording has been reissued in the Essential Baroque Masterpieces collection with an exclusive interview of Skip Sempé:

"At this point of heritage, I think that the only thing one could really have inherited from Leonhardt is his musical conviction. Other than that, it is perhaps important to mention that it is France that has inherited much from Leonhardt, through his tradition and the subsequent creation a new generation of harpsichordists – some of whom studied with him and some of whom did not. In the 1960s and 70s, the French musical scene was extremely resistant to Leonhardt and to his approach, then, little by little, his approach eclipsed all previous influences in France, those of Landowska and the Ancien Régime. The direct result of this is that there are more fine harpsichordists in France than anywhere in the world. All this via Leonhardt, who began his career with Bach and finished it with Forqueray. This is somehow appropriate – even the finest harpsichords from his personal collection are now here with his old friends. And this very recording – as well as several others among Leonhardt’s last recordings – was made for a French label, largely due to the fact that Paris has become the centre of the harpsichord world.

I particularly miss him when I hear his fine organ playing. And when I play on his own harpsichords. Perhaps even more when I hear my friends and students play on them. Today, he is still extraordinarily present for me."

- Skip Sempé

The 12th volume of Konstantin Scherbakov’s ongoing Leopold Godowsky cycle primarily features shorter original works and transcriptions of German art songs. Compared to his elaborate Chopin Etudes paraphrases, Godowsky’s reworkings of songs by Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, and Böhm are relatively restrained and technically manageable, although the Strauss/Godowsky Ständchen’s intricate filigree requires, shall we say, a little practice to master it well.

As always, Scherbakov is in complete command, technically and musically. His sense of textural foreground and background particularly shines in the Six Waltz-Poems for left hand alone, while his firm articulation and rhythmic drive in the Op. 11 No. 1 Concert Study prove more interesting than the actual music. These qualities also describe Scherbakov’s bravura performance of the Weber Perpetuum Mobile, where Godowsky piles more technical hurdles on top of that composer’s already challenging First Sonata Rondo finale. In Godowsky’s hands, Weber’s Invitation to the Dance gets swallowed up into a huge contrapuntal paraphrase, packed with chromatic reharmonizations and garish inner voices. Somehow Scherbakov’s straightforward elegance and stylish poise prevent the music from sounding overloaded. Marco Polo’s engineering has measurably improved over the course of this cycle, and piano mavens will appreciate Keith Anderson’s informative booklet notes.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

20th-century composer Ernest Bloch forged a unique path, firmly establishing his Jewish identity through his music and thereby creating many works of great spiritual expression. Born in Geneva in 1880, he studied in Belgium and Germany before moving to America. Although he returned to Europe, he eventually became a US citizen, abandoning Switzerland forever due to the encroaching threat of Nazism. It was in the States that his music was truly appreciated for the first time; in New York, he conducted renowned orchestral concerts of his own works and became known as the “Jewish Composer”, winning the Coolidge Prize for his Viola Suite. It was around this time that he began to compose for the violin.

Spanning the 1920s, most of the works on this release came to fruition soon after the composer began to compose for the violin on a solo level. Bloch was a composer who harnessed many of the musical tendencies of the time to create highly original works, never tying himself to a particular style, and the authenticity and invention for which he is remembered permeates the entire compilation – starting with Violin Sonata No.1 (1920), a work deeply rooted in tonality and requiring great technical skill. Suite No.1, written nearly 40 years later, brings the neo-Classical aspect of Bloch’s music to the fore through its use of partita form. The Jewish influence is of course also strong: the famous and exotic Baal Shem which narrates three aspects of Chassidic life is included, together with Abodah – or ‘God’s Worship’ – dedicated to the world-famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who described the composer as “one of the Seven Wonders […] cast by the gods in a superhuman mould.”

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959) was trained as a violinist, taking lessons from the great Eugene Ysaye in Brussels. Under the threat of the Nazi regime he took refuge to the USA, where he stayed the rest of his life. Here he became famous , one of the first “classical” composers to integrate Jewish elements in his music. His works on religious themes express the sorrows and joys of the Jewish people over the centuries.

This release presents the works for violin and piano, the substantial and romantic 1rst violin sonata, the neo-classical Suite and the famous Baal Shem (scenes from Chassidic Life) and the “Abodah” (God’s Worship), dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin.

Following on the success of Joseph Nolan's appearance in Music for the Coronation of James 2nd (SIGCD094), he returns to Signum with a solo disc of organ music, capturing music from some of the finest composers of the instrument. With J.S. Bach's famous Passacaglia in C Minor to Noel Rawsthorne's Dance Suite, with inspiration from Michael Flatley's 'Lord of the Dance' this disc certainly pushes the boundaries of organ music. 'A debut disc of a player demonstrating considerable & technical assurance, we should look forward to his next disc.' - Organists Review on SIGCD094 'Music for the Coronation of James 2nd'

"With this program of English music of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, I realized what is every musician’s dream: to record and share with others a repertory very close to my heart. It was in 2005, and it was my very first disc. The choice of what I was going to record was even more important than usual. It seemed to me that this was the music that I was most ready to present to the public, and that would represent me best – since, for a young performer, a disc is also a visiting card.

I discovered the music of the English virginalists at the age of fifteen, when I heard a concert by Pierre Hantaï on the radio. It was a revelation. I had no idea a musical world like that even existed. I immediately went to play some of these pieces to Pierre Hantaï himself. That was my first approach to this repertory on the keyboard. Then the process of familiarization with it – like the progress of a relationship that gradually becomes more intimate – took place over ten years or so, until 2004, when I began a long period of preparation for this recording. The King’s Hunt and the In Nomine by Bull, The Queen’s Alman by Byrd and the Dolorosa of Philips – which you might describe as constant companions of mine – formed the basis of the program. Then I played my way through the entire output of Byrd and Bull so as to build the rest of it around them. I absolutely wanted to record on the Martin Skowroneck virginal belonging to Skip Sempé. I was also lucky that Philippe Humeau had just finished his Ruckers double transposing harpsichord, a magnifi cent and rare instrument, which guided some of my choices. The English repertory is very extensive. It was a true pleasure to have to select pieces from so many marvels.

I decided on the title Pescodd Time after the recording was finished. It was the ideal title for this album: it speaks of time – ‘the pea-gathering season’ in Elizabethan English – and it encapsulates the poetry and mystery of the Virginalists."

- Bertrand Cuiller

J.S. Bach: Complete Organ Music, Vol. 1, Composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Artist Stefano Molardi organ, Format 4 CD, Stefano Molardi is shaping his recorded survey of Bach's complete organ music as self-sufficient and musically satisfying recitals which, disc by disc, explore the diverse styles at the composer's disposal, the flexible usage to which he, the ultimate 'compleat musician', puts 'his' instrument through it's paces, and the different liturgical demands which he was required to meet during the course of his career as he moved from church to court and back again. Grand Weimar- and Leipzig-composed preludes and fugues rub shoulders with intricate trio sonatas which he had initially conceived as chamber music, and between them nestle intimate chorales from his C�then days. Accordingly, Molardi makes full use of the potential flexibility of his chosen Trost organ in the Stadtkirche 'Zur Gotteshilfe' in Waltershausen, deep in the provincial heart of Thuringia. This is Bach country, and although the organ has been periodically restored since it was finally inaugurated in 1755, almost 30 years after the work was begun, it retains the classic characteristics of it's age and situation: a thorough restoration in 1998 returned the instrument to it's original glory. Born in Cremona, Molardi has undertaken a Renaissance career as not only organist but harpsichordist, conductor and scholar, not only at home in the rarified confines of early music but a virtuoso who has performed the complete organ works of Liszt and Franck and made an extraordinary recording of Verdi arranged for organ. These Bach discs are, perhaps appropriately, less overtly spectacular but no less imaginative in their rhythmic and coloristic response. A new recording (2013) of Bach's complete organ works is, even in these overfed and crisis-stricken days, an event of the first order. First of all because the music is of such overwhelming beauty and power, one of the greatest creations of humanity, and secondly because there is still so much to discover and illuminate in these works. These recordings are based on the choice of instruments: organist Stefano Molardi chose German instruments from Bach's time, lending an authentic character to the project. This first set features the wonderful Trost Organ of the Stadtkirche Zur Gotteshilfe in Waltershausen, Thuringia, built in 1725 and gloriously restored in 1998. Stefano Molardi is a "renaissance man", organist, harpsichordist, scholar, historian and writer. He recorded extensively for Divox, DGG and other labels. His playing is clear, crisp, free and rhythmically vibrant. The CD's are programmed like concerto programs, a fine diversity of genres and styles, to avoid monotony and uniformity.

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On his debt release on Ravello Records, Croatian composer Zoran Scekic presents an open series of compositions aiming to explore the harmony of a non-tempered microtonal system based on integer harmonics, or just intonation. Performed by Croatian pianist Ana Zgur, the pieces on this album explore the use of intervals in five limit just intonation, a method in which intervals are built on the prime numbers 2, 3, and 5. Scekic's economical use of notes emphasizes the contrast between consonant and dissonant intervals in harmony and melody, chord inversions, and use of the syntonic comma. The beauty of his music is not only found in the mathematical structures imposed, but in the space between the notes and in the dynamic progression within the pieces. Works like 23.10 and strong man bring to mind Erik Satie's piano pieces, film music, and minimalism, while autumn fantasy of martin the mouse alternate between moments of powerful chords and wistful high notes, followed by sections of staccato phrases and swaying rhythmic material. Scekic masterfully crafts pieces that on the surface portray often lyrical, placid, and harmonic gestures, yet are richly calculated and complex in their construction

Judy Loman spent most of her career as principal harpist for the Toronto Symphony (retiring in 2002), while making frequent appearances as soloist and chamber musician. For at least four decades she has reigned as one of the world's premier harp virtuosos, and this new release shows that her enthusiasm and flair for performing and her impeccable technique and articulate, always stylish expression haven't diminished one bit. And on this fine outing, we find that the recording's title delivers exactly what it promises, offering not run-of-the-mill transcriptions often presented on such compilations but rather many original and rarely-heard works--and in a well-organized, varied, musically compatible program.


The only weak spot in terms of repertoire is the opening Fantasy on a Theme of Haydn by Marcel Grandjany, competently written and certainly attractive enough, but offering nothing really original in its quaint, rather predictable 19th-century style (a bit of a stretch for a work published in 1953). Of course Loman makes the most of it--very much, actually--and brings us along through its nearly eight minutes by virtue of her scintillating fingerwork, amazing fast legato runs, and, need we say it, shimmering arpeggios. And speaking of "scintillation", Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964) contributes a stunning piece of work by that title that's actually the solo cadenza from her Harp Concerto "And then at night I paint the stars", which she wrote for Loman's retirement from the Toronto Symphony.


Other highlights include the impressionistic Vers la source dans le bois by Marcel Tournier and a transcription of Prokofiev's piano Prelude in C Op. 12 No. 7, which Loman performs with such crystal clarity--you hear every single note and line--and such perfect balances between lower and upper registers that you can't imagine a more ideal rendition of the piece, no matter what the instrument. Finally, in the Ballade Op. 28 we hear why Carlos Salzédo, with his fascinating use of articulation effects and his grand-scale, all-over-the-harp gestures was such an important, commanding figure as a harpist and composer for the instrument. Loman conveys the work's varied moods and fulfills its formidable technical demands with a thoroughly engrossing performance that shows off both her impressive dynamic power and facility for more subtle, lyrical expression. The sound is impressive as well--big and bold yet clear and vibrant, with the harp appropriately positioned relative to the listener so that even an hour of plucking doesn't wear on the ear. If this is your kind of music, you should look for an earlier "companion" to this program (also on Naxos) titled Harp Showpieces (type Q3108 in Search Reviews), which contains another beautiful work by Tournier along with Salzédo's own Scintillation. [10/19/2005]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com