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 B�hm, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 � 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.

Rarely recorded on disc, Johann Sebastian Bach's concertos for three and four harpsichords illustrate the art of writing for keyboard and strings of which the composer was a pioneer. These emblematic works, characterised by a balance between strong themes and abundant internal energy, are performed by virtuoso harpsichordists from the new generation of Baroque musicians: Violaine Cochard, Olivier Fortin, Pierre Gallon, Jean-Luc Ho and, for the first time, the young Croatian harpsichordist Davor Krkljus, accompanied by the strings of Le Caravanserail under the direction of Bertrand Cuiller on harpsichord. The album also includes a previously unreleased transcription for four harpsichords of the famous Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, by Bertrand Cuiller.

Read our exclusive interview with Sigiswald, Marie, and Sara Kuijken!

Magnificent and transparent, a recording of the famous masterpiece by J.S. Bach by La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken. The ensemble has a worldwide reputation of aiming for the most authentic sound possible. Again Kuijken and his group of musicians and vocalists have achieved this the most sublime way! By using authentic instruments and the original way of playing them, both in interpretation and sound quality, La Petite Bande strives to revive baroque music as faithfully as possible without lapsing into rigid academics.

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 Sch�fer 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.

New piano transcriptions by Greek pianist Alexandra Papastefanou of various Cantatas, an Organ Sonata and a Chorale Prelude by J.S. Bach, all recorded here for the first time. The famous Myra Hess transcription of Bach’s cantata Jesus bleibet meine Freude concludes a fascinating new look at some of Bach’s choral and organ works.

Sir Andrew Davis was a talented keyboard player as a child and teenager, and after study with Peter Hurford, at St Albans, he spent four years at the University of Cambridge as organ scholar at King's College, under Sir David Willcocks. It was this period of his life that sparked his love for and appreciation of the organ works of J.S. Bach, which remained a lifelong passion. Sir Andrew made all the transcriptions on this album for the BBC Philharmonic, and four of them were recorded in November 2023. Sadly, Sir Andrew died before the final recording sessions for the album could take place (September 2024): we are immensely grateful that he completed the arrangements, and very thankful to Martyn Brabbins for completing the recording with the sense of style, love, and affection that Sir Andrew would have admired.

Born in 1994, bassoonist Mathis Stier not only won second prize at the 2019 ARD Competition, but was also awarded the coveted Audience Prize. Mathis Stier has a natural affinity with the music of the 18th century and the three works which he has chosen for his ALPHA debut demonstrate it's principal characteristics: Baroque, Empfindsamkeit / Sturm und Drang and Viennese Classicism. The composers J.S. Bach, Johann Wilhelm Hertel and W.A. Mozart represent three generations: father, son and grandson. The conventions of each previous generation are questioned, musical boundaries are broken down and new paths are taken, until the generational revolt finds it's way back to more conventional channels. This is how Mathis Stier describes the phenomenon: "Musically, the Mozart Concerto represents the classical bassoon and is probably the best-known work in the original literature. Hertel's concerto, on the other hand, is unusual and fairly unknown even among bassoonists. It deserves to be more widely known, however, because it is an exceedingly remarkable and idiosyncratic piece. Finally, the Bach Concerto, while a very well-known work, is extremely rarely performed in this version and thus represents an addition to the repertoire. The adaptation for the bassoon is obvious, since the (reconstructed) original was probably composed for the similar-sounding oboe d'amore. Moreover, setting pieces in a different key was common practice for Bach."

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.

Surrounded by a certain air of mystery and revered as a relic, The Art of Fugue is roundly praised for its complex, mathematical nature. However, these works are also movingly lyrical, and deserve to be enjoyed for their pure beauty, just as one enjoys the rhythms and sounds in the words of a poem, regardless of form and sometimes even meaning. Following the last version of J.S. Bach's autograph manuscript, New Collegium champions in "Lemniscate" the reconciliation and celebration of all these aspects, bringing to the fore both the cerebral brilliance as well as the emotive intensity of this iconic masterpiece, allowing it to be both light and profound. The rich instrumentation of woodwinds, brass, strings and harpsichord allows for expressive characters to be exaggerated, hints at other musical styles, and paints diverse atmospheres, infusing fantasy and life into these twenty fugues and canons.

With this first record, titled Profili, a collaboration (already consolidated) is born between the record label Digressione Music and the Festival and Competition "Wanda Landowska"; the latter, dedicated to the Harpsichord in all its stylistic and expressive variations, is directed by Margherita Porfido. The three young musicians we present here are the harpsichordists Davide Cicconi and Svitlana Rudd, and the violinist Juliane Oberegger, who were Absolute Winners of the "IX Edition of the 2022 Competition", the first two as W. Landowska Ex Equo Prize - Solo Harpsichord, while the two young musicians together for the Chamber Music section. The composers chosen for this recording are the great German musician Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), whose French Suite No. 2 in C minor BWV 813 and Toccata in D major BWV 912 are performed by harpsichordist Davide Cicconi, and the French composer Elisabeth Claude Jaquet de la Guerre (1666-1729) with the Second Suite for solo Harpsichord (1687), performed by Ukrainian Svitlana Rudd, and the First Suite for Violin and Harpsichord (1707) performed by Rudd and Austrian violinist Juliane Oberegger.

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

Niklas Jahn, winner of the 9th International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo in 2023, was appointed organist at the Frauenkirche in Dresden in December 2024, the site of an acclaimed concert by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1736. This album features two works by Bach, including the monumental Toccata and Fugue in F major, as well as Toshio Hosokawa's celestial Cloudscape, and the ultravirtuosic Feuertaufe by Zsigmond Szathmary. French repertoire by Messiaen and Vierne can also be heard alongside Brahms whose Chorale Preludes are among the last pieces he composed.

The yamato word for mirror, kagami, can be read as “kami (divinity) surrounding ga (self)”: if you look in a mirror, what you see is your own self surrounded by divinity. Kaori Uemura has called her tale Kagami, because she believes that music reflects the inner depths of the self in the same way as a mirror. Mirrors were used in art as a reflection of what is, and as an allegory of truth and wisdom, a means of knowing yourself as you are. This recording is also a tribute to the Baroque composers who saw music not only as a mirror of divine creation, but equally as a means of expressing human emotions through musical figures which could produce specific affects.

The pandemic in 2020-21 brought little to dispel the gloom among performing musicians. But these months also proved to be a time of reflection and artistic rebirth for many, the arts became a breeding ground for spiritual offspring, and so it proved for me; the genesis of the work you can hear on this album. Finally, there was plenty of time to spend many hours every day working on the project against a background of calm, which made Bach's music all the more comforting!

Johann Sebastian Bach, the newly appointed Cantor of the Thomaskirche, undertook his first official journey from Leipzig to nearby Störmthal in 1723, where he and his Thomanerchor inaugurated the beautiful new organ built by Zacharias Hildebrandt, a pupil of Silbermann. Bach was thrilled by the instrument’s splendid timbres and tonal beauty. A particularly beautiful violin was made by the German luthier David Tecchler in Rome — 1400 km from Störmthal — during that same year. Both instruments have survived and have been excellently restored; now, three hundred years after their creation, they meet for the first time. Nadja Zwiener, leader of The English Concert and Johannes Lang, the current organist of the Thomaskirche here celebrate the 300th anniversary of these two instruments and Bach’s investiture in Leipzig with a florilegium of works by Bach himself, his contemporaries and his predecessors. A splendidly colourful musical firework!

The present release is the first volume in Cantata Collective’s exploration of the Cantatas of JS Bach. Cantata Collective is San Francisco's only professional Ensemble dedicated solely to the performance of the Cantatas of J.S. Bach. "A group of local early-music luminaries devoted to the composer's 200-plus compositions in the genre" (San Francisco Chronicle), Cantata Collective is supported by an enthusiastic Board of Directors, and endorsed by an illustrious Advisory Board. Together with its "congregation" it has created a magical community of listeners who share in this traversal of musical treasures. Cantata Collective presents these iconic works as the equivalent of a World Heritage Site, a collection of masterworks belonging to all people.

Concept of the album

‘(ré)inventions à deux pianos’ is a complete recomposition for two pianos of J.S. Bach's 15 two-part inventions by Luxembourgish pianist Chiahu ‘Chia-Chia’ Lee, arranged for her duo with Yulia Vershinina-Mukhopadhyay. It's a personal rewriting of Bach's work from the original score in the style of classical music fused with pop, minimalism and smooth jazz. The name of the album is derived from the French title of Bach’s work ‘inventions à deux voix’. Rediscover Bach’s famous work through the lens of this crossover composition which can appeal to connoisseurs and amateurs alike.

About the artists

The piano duo Vershinina/Lee (Yulia Vershinina-Mukhopadhyay & Chiahu ‘Chia-Chia’ Lee) began their collaboration with Rheinberger’s arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for two pianos, which they have performed in various concert halls in the UK and Luxembourg, including the Philharmonie in 2019, cementing their mutual fascination with Bach’s music.

The pianists met during their studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and their enduring friendship has set the ground for an exciting musical partnership. The idea of ‘variation’ has since been a red thread throughout their projects and led both women to constantly seek inspiration outside the conventional repertoire for two pianos. In fact, the duo has made it their aspiration to spread the word about lesser-known music and even write and arrange their own music.

In their recent Actart Concert at Luxembourg Conservatoire Yulia and Chia-Chia focused on works composed in the last 20 years by contemporary women composers.

Diversions is delighted to present the January 2026 release of Bach Lute Suites for Alto Guitar, from the Finnish guitarist Vesa Lassila. Even today, it's unclear whether Bach's Lute Suites were written for a lute-harpsichord, or even a harp. While the works have been recorded many times on the modern guitar, in Water Through Ice, guitarist Vesa Lassila presents his own arrangements for the the alto guitar. Lassila states, "With a little imagination, one can easily view the alto guitar as the modern instrument version of the baroque alto lute." The alto guitar on the recording features an instrument created by Finnish luthier Keijo Krelin in 2009, and provides a rich and powerful bass register alongside a light descant and clear voice, bridging the gap between modern sounds and historic authenticity. Water through Ice also includes arrangements for alto guitar of two Suites Bach originally composed for solo violin, but which were later transcribed or arranged by him for lute-harpsichord. "As a musician, the possibilities of the alto guitar opened a wider range of bass lines, meaning that unlike when performing Bach on the modern guitar," says Lassila, "one doesn't have to reduce the rich voice in the lower register but can instead employ the full two octaves as were written for the lute. The shorter scale of the fretboard allows for more open solutions in the fingerings and articulations in order to better bring out Bach's glorious counterpoint." These beautiful, intricate and technically demanding works continue to inspire musicians today because of their exceptional quality. Lassila traces Bach's well-planned musical narrations throughout the Suites to bring forth a poetic, musical journey, that "moves as water runs through ice, with musical diversions adding to the harmonious journey." Vesa Lassila is a Finnish guitarist who grew up in the city of Ylivieska. He began to play guitar at the age of twelve and little later began to take lessons with Jorma Styng. Lassila studied classical guitar in Helsinki and Oulu Conservatory with guidance from Timo Korhonen, Ismo Eskelinen and Ilkka Virta, also with Jan Olof Ericsson in Pite� Music Hogskola in Sweden. He has taken part in masterclasses held by Oscar Ghiglia, Jukka Savijoki and Roberto Aussel. Lassila works as a guitar professor at the Institute of Music in Ylivieska, in northern Finland.

Bach's Cello Suites are his only works for solo cello but are central to the repertoire and remain unequalled in their expressive musical depth. Dor Gidon Amran, the virtuoso mandolinist who has recorded his own unique arrangement of Paganini's 24 Caprices on Dynamic (CDS8038), has now arranged Cello Suites Nos. 1-3 for the mandocello. This is a baritone instrument of the mandolin family, but much larger than a mandolin, whose strings are tuned exactly like those of the cello. Being played with a plectrum, the mandocello belongs to a very different sound world to the cello, offering a unique perspective on these great works.

This recital offers a fine mix of Bach's organ works, at larger and smaller scales, on the renowned historical instrument made by Alsatian organ builder Johann Andreas Silbermann of Strasbourg, a master of French baroque organ construction. It follows in a distinguished line of recordings of Bach made in the extraordinary acoustic of the Arlesheim Cathedral, by such luminaries as Walter Kraft, Karl Richter and Lionel Rogg. Situated just outside the city of Basel, the village of Arlesheim grew up around it's Cathedral, which was the church of the displaced cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Basel from 1679 to 1792. The first three years of this tenure saw the Bishop build not only the cathedral, but also a complete town centre with houses for the advisors and the administration of the See, using architect Franz Demess. A total refurbishment and enlargement of the Cathedral was begun in 1759, culminating in the installation of the Silbermann organ two years later. The organ builder was included in the renovation's planning from the start, such that modifications to the Cathedral's architecture were made with a view to enhancing the nave's musical acoustics. The instrument was restored by Metzler in 1959-62 and then again in 2005 by Gaston Kern. It is an example of the fusion of French and German organ building styles. Other information: - Recorded July 2012 in Arlesheim (Switzerland) - Booklet in English contains liner notes by the organist, a description of the organ with stop list, and a profile of the artist - This 2-CD set presents organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach, played on the Silbermann organ in the Dom of Arlesheim. - This organ in the Dom of Arlesheim is a masterpiece of Baroque organ building, built by Johann Andreas Silbermann in 1761. Located in the Arlesheim Cathedral (Dom) near Basel, Switzerland, it is one of the finest examples of Silbermann's work and one of the most historically significant organs in Europe. The organ is known for it's rich tonal qualities, combining both French and German influences, typical of Silbermann's style. It's elaborate case, decorated with gold leaf and intricate carvings, complements the interior of the Dom, enhancing the spiritual atmosphere during services and concerts. Despite restorations over the centuries, the organ retains much of it's original pipework and mechanical structure, ensuring an authentic sound. - The program includes favorite organ works, including the famous Toccata & Fugue BWV565, 3 Concerto transcriptions by Vivaldi, the Trio Sonata BWV 530 and several Choralvorspiele. - Played by Italian master organist Ivan Ronda, internationally acclaimed by guest appearances in such venues as Westminster Abbey and King's College Cambridge.

Johann Sebastian Bach was certainly familiar with the Pantaleon – a large hammered dulcimer with a wide range and full chromatic scale. Bach’s contemporary Pantaleon Hebenstreit had developed the instrument, through which he gained international renown and became one of the best-paid Dresden court musicians. The instrument enjoyed great popularity in the 18th century and was an important precursor of the fortepiano, its younger brother. Bach may have heard Hebenstreit with his Pantaleon himself, as he knew several court musicians of the Dresden orchestra personally and also performed with some of them. While we cannot know if they had met in reality, our imagination has nonetheless been much exercised. What would Bach have put on his famous colleague's music stand? Very little music written for the Pantaleon has survived, although the instrument’s use in the court orchestras of Vienna and Dresden suggests that works for the harpsichord and for the violin in particular could have served for arrangements and improvisations. It is hard to imagine that Bach would have objected to a virtuoso like Hebenstreit adapting his violin sonatas for the Pantaleon.

Johann Sebastian Bach's incomplete surviving works have a very special appeal. The music seems to be within our grasp and yet it still leaves us puzzled. What might these works have sounded like?The cantatas Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe (BWV 197. 1), Alles, was von Gott geboren (BWV 80. 1) and Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 190. 1) have also only survived in fragments - and yet they fascinate us with their musical power. The opening chorus from the New Year's cantata BWV 190. 1, for example, is one of Bach's most sonorous choral compositions. Carus has recently published reconstructions of these three cantatas, which attempt to make a previously unknown Bach accessible. The Vocalensemble Rastatt, the baroque orchestra Les Favorites and the soloists Miriam Feuersinger, Terry Wey, Florian Sievers and Sebastian Noack, under the direction of Holger Speck, show with their differentiated interpretation how these works might have sounded under Bach's direction.

Tenor Haitham Haidar's debut solo album Zaytoun (meaning 'Olive' in Arabic) is a captivating collection of beautiful Baroque and Arabic songs, interlaced with poetry and musical improvisations, an exploration of the intersection between Baroque and Arabic music. Whether it be through instrumentation, ornamentation, or vocal production, Zaytoun highlights the natural connections between what we generally view as separate worlds. Haidar pairs Baroque arias and songs by Monteverdi, Purcell and Bach, with the traditional Arabic songs which were his first introduction to music. He has added arabic instrumentation to some of these Baroque standards, and even translated a Bach aria into Arabic, incorporating Arabic style into the Baroque structure. Alongside the music, are three poetry tracks (from Gibran Khalil Gibran's The Prophet) read over beautifully performed oud improvisation by Abdul-Wahab Kayyali. These tracks (prelude, intermezzo, and postlude) help present the music to follow and shape Haidar's narrative of his own immigrant story in the unique intertwining of Arabic and Baroque music. "As an Arab immigrant, life continues to be a journey of exploration of home, of belonging and this musical project encompasses all parts of my identity, allowing them to live and shine within one sphere rather than compartmentalized sections of myself." Haitham Haidar is a Lebanese-Palestinian Canadian tenor highly sought out for his musicality, "standout presence", and sensitive storytelling. He is a proud graduate of Yale's Institute of Sacred Music, McGill's Schulich School of Music, and the University of British Columbia and currently resides in Montreal, Quebec. Haitham is praised for his 'musical and linguistic versatility' and his 'bright' and 'innately lyrical voice' and enjoys performing oratorio, opera, and chamber music across North America, Europe, and Asia. His recordings as a soloist with the Conspirare and Skylark ensembles have received multiple GRAMMY� nominations.

Yasunori Imamura presents the second instalment of Bach's Cello Suites arranged for theorbo (Volume 1 is available on 8.574617). The theorbo is the most important plucked instrument in the lute family, with a range very similar to the cello. Certain technical elements, such as the playing of arpeggios are, in fact, easier on the theorbo whose unique timbres bring a new sonic quality to the performances heard here. These elements are most evident in Suite No. 6, composed for a cello with five strings, but which sounds totally idiomatic when played on the theorbo.