Bach, in his time, could never have envisioned his music being recorded. When we first embarked on our journey with the Oxford Bach Soloists, our focus was not on recording. We were immersed in the live experience, discovering Bach's vocal works chronologically, in real-time. It was about living the music as all those who performed and heard it did, tracing his steps through each note and phrase. Featuring two of our core Soloists, Nick Pritchard and Yu-Wei Hu, this album presents three of Bach's Cantatas. These include possibly his earliest vocal work, Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4), his only extant tenor cantata, Ich armer Mensch (BWV 55), and the much-beloved cantata, Ich habe genug, showcased here in it's arrangement for high voice and flute (BWV 82.2). This recording is a celebration of our journey with Bach, and an invitation to experience his timeless music through our own journey of dedication and discovery.

A high-grade LP transfer for a superbly engineered album of Bach at his most life-enhancing. JS Bach may not have composed any concertos specifically for recorder – none have survived, at any rate – but he scored for the instrument elsewhere in his output, most unforgettably so in his earliest surviving cantata, the ‘Actus tragicus’. In any case the uniquely adaptable nature of his inspiration lends itself to the kind of sympathetic adaptation undertaken here by Erik Bosgraaf in partnership with the musicologist and art historian Thiemo Wind. Three of the concertos here have beenadapted from pieces which survive in a scoring for solo harpsichord and string orchestra: BWV 1053, 1055 and 1059. A fourth concerto has been constructed by Wind from transcriptions of cantata arias, adapted from the secular cantata Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen BWV215 and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen BWV32. The idea is humble but ingenious, answering the question: what might Bach have done, or could he have done, if he had written concertos for the recorder? In doing so, Bosgraaf and his colleagues are following good precedents: after all, Bach himself created and performed many such transcriptions. His oeuvre demonstrates that a composition wasnot regarded as an unchanging work of art, and during his lifetime it was standard procedure to make quite radical adaptations according to the relevant circumstances. In any case, Bosgraaf and the one-per-part musicians of Cordevento perform these concertos with an unfailing sensitivity to the momentum and poetry of Bach’s originals. Now, on 180-gram vinyl, these recordings gain a special warmth and depth while losing none of their pin-point clarity. ‘Erik Bosgraaf’s recorder-playing is fluent and lively in fast music, and his five colleagues provide accompaniments that are lean, stylish and precise.’ (Gramophone)

The programme Schonheit und Staatsversagen (Beauty & State Failure) brings together music and text to explore the contrasts of life in Bavaria around 1800 - between city and countryside, wealth and poverty, education and illiteracy. The vivid reports of civil servant Joseph von Hazzi reveal a little-known, often harsh rural reality, full of struggle but also raw, sometimes comical pleasures. In contrast, songs by Munich composers like Josephine Lang, Franz Lachner and Lindpaintner - alongside Schumann, Leopold Mozart and Haydn - paint an idealised, emotional image of alpine life. Though shaped by different worlds, both perspectives reflect timeless human experience. This album opens up new perspectives on the past - touching, surprising, and full of musical individuality. And always, of course, with Alma!

As one of the great pianists of the 20th century, WILHELM BACKHAUS (1884–1969) needs no introduction. He recorded almost continuously from 1908 until his death, but this set, focusing on his earliest recordings, completes APR’s coverage (see also APR 6026, APR 6027 and APR 5637) of all his solo and concerto output for The Gramophone Company/HMV, except the electrically recorded Brahms titles, which are available elsewhere. These early discs reveal Backhaus as an exciting young virtuoso, rather than the sober purveyor of German classics he was to become.

Bach's English Suites are a set of six keyboard suites, each featuring a prelude and a series of stylised dance movements. While named 'English, the suites are more closely related to the French Baroque style, featuring intricate counterpoint, technically demanding passages, and a grander scale compared to Bach's French Suites. Papastefanou's Baroque style and technique is first-class in her brand new recording of these technically high demanding Suites. A natural Bach player who plays with panache, high skill, individuality with an attractive style and touch, Papastefanou's has produced another high quality recording of Bach, in this her 6th album for FHR.

SOMM Recordings marks the 150th anniversary of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912) with a diverse selection of his orchestral works, reflecting both his Afro-British parentage and a musical milieu that included Holst and Vaughan Williams. Of particular note is that five of the seven works presented here are first recordings. This commemorative release features the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Charles Peebles, whose first recordings of Piano Concertos by Dora Bright and Ruth Gipps for SOMM were widely praised. It was quickly apparent that Coleridge-Taylor possessed an unusual talent, and he produced a remarkable body of work before his untimely death at 37 though much of his music has been hidden from public view by the absence of surviving performance material. He composed his first work for voice and orchestra, Zara's Earrings, when he was just 19. Rebecca Murphy, hailed by Opera Journal for her "stunning delivery," is the featured soprano. The Ballade, also written when Coleridge-Taylor was 19, was premiered by Isabella Donkersley, the future wife of Augustus Jaeger (soon to be immortalised by Elgar as 'Nimrod' in his Enigma Variations). The Ballade's great drama and charismatic melodic material play to the strengths of Coleridge-Taylor having been a violinist.  Ioana Petcu-Colan, heard here, is leader of the Ulster Orchestra and a soloist of considerable reputation. When Coleridge-Taylor heard Brahms's Clarinet Quintet while a student at the Royal College of Music, he was encouraged to write his own. The Romance for string orchestra is an arrangement of the quintet's introspective Larghetto affettuoso movement. Solemn Prelude, written for the Worcester Three Choirs Festival of 1899, is a work of elegiac pathos exuding the confidence of a young composer reaching the height of his powers. Since it's modern revival in 2021, it's been performed by some of the world's most distinguished orchestras. Coleridge-Taylor's Idyll, a commission for the Gloucester Three Choirs Festival in 1901, was a reworking of the Lament from his Symphony in A minor. When he conducted it's first performance, the Times critic wrote, "it was a single, very beautiful movement in C major. Giving ample room for the composer's love of original rhythm and rich and individual orchestral colouring. " Ethiopia Saluting the Colours from 1902 is an exuberant work for orchestra and organ. It was inspired by Walt Whitman's moving poem paying tribute to an elderly Ethiopian woman encountered during the American Civil War. Beerbohm Tree commissioned the incidental music for Stephen Phillip's play Nero in 1906, and the chance for Coleridge-Taylor to hear his music nightly rather than as one performance in the concert hall was a particular joy. This anniversary collection includes the first Entr'acte, which also featured at the 1907 Proms under Henry Wood.

Our arrangements are always totally Anna & Oli! We really enjoyed recording these CDs, we had a lot of fun, and it was something that we were really looking forward to doing; being able to recreate our music and capture everything and present it on a silver disc. But if the truth be told, we both prefer to play live because it gives us the opportunity to convey something more personal to the audience. If we can touch even just one person in the audience emotionally with our music, then that's the be-all and end-all of what we do - the Alpha and Omega, or perhaps, just simply, the 'Anna and Oli', so to speak (both laugh). But although this may sound a bit strange, on a couple of occasions we've actually been able to directly affect the lives of people who've heard us play. Just recently, we performed a short concert in a small church when a few people from the audience came up to us and said, Wow, you're doing something that I've always wanted to do. The experience of listening to you has energised me into finally realising that what you're doing is exactly what I want to do myself. Listening to you play has changed my life!" These were young people who had been too apprehensive about following their own desires, because sometimes it's really difficult to strike out on your own and follow your own beliefs. And, to be honest, what more could one ask for? If only one could reach more people in the world, the world would be a very different place indeed.

In July 1884, MacDowell and his wife, Marian, spent their honeymoon in England, and were both captivated by performances of Shakespeare plays at London's Lyceum Theatre. The young composer started immediately on sketches based on six characters, but completed only two, Hamlet and Ophelia, which were published the following year. MacDowell recycled some of the music from his sketch for Benedick, from Much Ado about Nothing, as the second movement of his Second Piano Concerto. Having lived in Germany from 1885 to 1888, the couple returned to America and Edward reactivated his career as a concert pianist. The Second Concerto was the perfect vehicle to display his virtuosity, and he gave the first performance in New York in 1889. Composed during the same period as the Second Concerto, the Romanze for Cello and Orchestra was written at Wiesbaden in 1887, and MacDowell dedicated it to the virtuoso Bohemian cellist and composer David Popper. The Suite in A minor was the first work MacDowell composed after the couple's move to Boston, and reflects his lifelong love of nature. Set in five movements, it received it's first performance in 1895 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Emil Paur.

J.S. Bach's 'The Art of Fugue' is considered his monumental final statement, a work renowned for it's architectural complexity and spiritual depth. This recording presents the work on the celebrated Metzler organ of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, an instrument noted for it's clarity. The performance approaches the score not as an abstract exercise but as a coherent dramatic journey, where registration is used to clarify the structure and character of each movement. The chosen arc builds towards the unfinished fugue, treating it as a purposeful fragment that invites reflection on the work's inherent possibilities, offering a compelling interpretation of one of the repertoire's most significant compositions.

OLGA SAMAROFF (1880-1948) and FRANK LA FORGE (1879-1953) were amongst the earliest pianists to record for the US Victor label, both making most of their discs in the acoustic era before 1925. Though American, both went to Europe to study - Samaroff to the Paris Conservatoire and La Forge to Leschetizky in Vienna. Samaroff was the greater virtuoso, as can be heard in her famous recording of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries', but after a fall, in 1926 she retired to an equally successful teaching career at the Juilliard School, her pupils including William Kapell, Raymond Lewenthal and Rosalyn Tureck amongst many others. La Forge gravitated towards accompanying and went on to record hundreds of discs for Victor in that capacity. His discs as soloist include some of the earliest attempts to record concerted works.

For her first project at Cypres, young Belgian pianist Cassandre Marfin thinks big and has come up with Jusqu'a la nuit, a triptych devoted to chromesthesia, one of the many forms of synesthesia known to date. Synesthesia refers to the general alliance of two senses within the brain of an individual. Chromesthesia, on the other hand, refers specifically to the association between colours and sounds. Each volume of this trilogy is dedicated to a primary colour: blue, yellow and red. This first volume focuses on blue, which is undoubtedly the colour most present in music and the one most appreciated in the Western world. According to Cassandre Marfin, it evokes the world of night and dreams, something intangible and indefinite. It is a source of multiple representations in our imaginations. Through a skilfully conceived programme, the pianist associates this colour with ideas, metaphors and compositional systems that allow us to form our own personal impression of blue.

The Sacconi Quartet join forces again with celebrated composer Jonathan Dove for the latest instalment of their many fruitful collaborations and journeys. The String Quartet no 2 On the Streets and in the sky was written during the recent pandemic and was commissioned for the Sacconi Quartet to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Between Friends, is a world premiere recording, and a memorial to Graeme Mitchison (1944-2018), a multi-disciplined scientist, intrepid adventurer, cyclist, paraglider, mountaineer and a possessor of two pianos on which he and Dove would play together for over forty years. Who Wrote the Book of Love? Is an extended song cycle written for baritone Philippe Sly who performs the work here. Vanishing Gold is a compact five-minute piece written for the 40th anniversary of the Endellion Quartet, who then retired. Dove's previous release with the Sacconi Quartet on Signum "In Damascus" was awarded Gramophone Recording of the Month and Presto's Editor's Choice in 2017. ? The beauty of the piece, for tenor and string quartet, is it's restraint. It doesn't sensationalise, get maudlin, moralise or politicise. The words are direct and the music respects that. The performance does, too: focused playing from the Sacconi Quartet and lucid, unswerving narrative from tenor Mark Padmore - The Guardian

The making of this CD is the result of several wishes. The organist and composer Benoit Mernier has been heavily involved since 2015 in the construction by Manufacture Thomas of this new instrument at Saint-Loup in Namur, one of the special features of which is to offer an original great organ inspired by two different styles (Central German and North German Baroque), in short the instrument that Bach undoubtedly dreamed of. The great organ of Saint-Loup thus provides an ideal opportunity to address the question of transmission by tracing the relationship between a master (Buxtehude) and two disciples, one very well known (Bach), the other less so (Bruhns). As well as celebrating the advent of this extraordinary new organ and revealing all it's facets, this recording also marks the performer's sixtieth birthday.

‘I play Bach every day,’ said Shostakovich in 1950, at an event to mark the bicentenary of Bach’s death. ‘For us, Bach's legacy is an embodiment of flaming emotion, soulful humanity and true humanism, which stands in contrast to the dark world of raw evil and contempt for humanity.’

Taking their inspiration from these words, and from the palpable influence of Bach on the solid forms and fluent counterpoint of Shostakovich’s own music, this quartet of musicians presents an entirely original pairing of the two composers, in which cantata arias and a major song-cycle are linked and interspersed by instrumental interludes.

The German soprano Dorothee Mields is renowned for her piercing musicianship and luminous tone in the music of Bach, working with such illustrious conductors as Rene Jacobs and Philippe Herreweghe. Her contributions to recent recordings in this field have been called ‘sensational’ and ‘ravishing’ by Gramophone.

Here she sings recitatives and arias from seven cantatas, including the meditative opening movement of ‘Ich bin in mir vergnügt BWV204’. The trio-sonata accompaniment brings her expressive handling of the text to the fore, and prefaces the arias with the G major Sonata BWV1021 for violin and continuo, while Luca Quintavalle contributes the sixth Prelude and Fugue from Book 2 of ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’. Switching to piano for Shostakovich, Quintavalle plays the D major Prelude and Fugue from the Russian composer’s counterpart to the WTC. The early Piano Trio No.1 makes a Romantically yearning preface to the late settings of Alexander Blok which Shostakovich composed alongside the song-cycle Fourteenth Symphony. These songs find the composer at his most introspective, unsparing and yet rewarding of the subtlety which Mields brings to them. The idioms of Bach and Shostakovich complement as much as they contrast, and they are drawn together here by performances of powerful eloquence.

John Rutter writes: Tranquillity is a state of mind. You might be more likely to describe a favorite countryside scene rather than a person as ‘tranquil’, but you are really describing the effect it has on you. You feel calm, serene, still, at peace, relaxed, untroubled, chilled-out . . . perhaps we have so many different words for this state of mind because it is so important, and yet so elusive in an often noisy, frantic world.

Music has an extraordinary power to evoke tranquillity – as is revealed in the eleven pieces I have chosen to make up this collection. Ten of them happen to be among my personal favorites, drawn from the music of seven composers, plus the treasure trove of anonymous folk music, and I have added an orchestral version of my choral setting of Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace, a text formerly believed to be by St Francis of Assisi.

CONTENTS:

• trad.: She moved through the fair
• Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1
• Delius: On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
• Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
• Rutter: Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace
• Grieg: Symphonic Dance, Op. 64 No. 2
• Bach: Bist du bei mir [When you are with me]
• Ravel: Sonatine: Mouvement de Menuet
• Debussy: Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune
• Handel: Semele: Where’er you walk
• Rutter: Sheep may safely graze

La chanson doit donner l'impression d'être nee toute seule. Une chanson doit être intelligente sans qu'on s'en apercoive, sans qu'elle hurle : "je suis une chanson intelligente"... Le parolier ideal est pour moi Charles Trenet. Il fait descendre la chanson dans la rue sans qu'elle se casse la figure en se jetant du troisieme etage. Jean COCTEAU L'integrale Fremeaux & Associes de Charles Trenet realisee sous la direction de Daniel Nevers, puis de Vincent Lisita et Pascal Halbeher, reunit la totalite des enregistrements phonographiques originaux disponibles aupres des collectionneurs sensibilises à l'ambition museographique d'un catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre enregistree du fou chantant. Aux enregistrements choisis et commercialises de l'epoque, le directeur artistique presente les alternates qui proposent d'autres versions des mêmes titres. Cette vocation d'exhaustivite historiographique dediee au patrimoine sonore phonographique s'accompagne (toujours chronologiquement) de documents radiophoniques, de publicites chantees afin d'eclairer la diversite de la production de l'artiste et de reveler retrospectivement les raisons de son appartenance à notre memoire collective. Patrick Fremeaux & Claude Colombini "A song must give you the impression it was born on it's own. A song has to be intelligent without you noticing it, without it having to shout, 'I am an intelligent song'. For me, Charles Trenet is the ideal songwriter. He brings the song down into the street without it falling flat on it's face after throwing itself off the third floor." Jean COCTEAU CD 1 : JULIETTE GReCO ET CHARLES TRENET : PReSENTATION DES SPECTACLES DE CHARLES TRENET ET D'eDITH PIAF À PARIS - CHARLES TRENET - ReCITAL 1961 - THeÂTRE DE L'eTOILE - ORCH. DIR. GUY LUYPAERTS, CHOEURS DIR. RAYMOND SAINT-PAUL : POT POURRI : QU'EST DEVENUE LA MADELON ? - RIEN NE PEUT CHANGER MA JOIE - DIS-MOI, QUEL EST TON NOM ? - BONSOIR JOLIE MADAME - LE PIANO DE LA PLAGE - LA FOLLE COMPLAINTE - DANS LES PHARMACIES - BOUM - RIEN NE PEUT CHANGER MA JOIE - ORPHeE - LA JAVA DU DIABLE - LES VOIX DU CIEL - LE JARDIN EXTRAORDINAIRE - QU'EST DEVENUE LA MADELON ? - LA MER - y A D'LA JOIE ! - CLAUDE CHEVALIER ET SON MUSETTE - FLEURS DE MUSETTE : LES TROIS ROSES - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. MICHEL LEGRAND : NUIT D'HIVER - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. PIERRE SPIERS : LES PETITS REGRETS - LES SOLDATS - DANIELLE DARRIEUX - PRINTEMPS DE PARIS - ORCH. DIR. JO MOUTET : LES VOIX DU CIEL - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. ANDRe POPP : KANGOUROU - LA P'TIT' DIDI - AU FIL DU TEMPS PERDU - LE PAUVRE ANTOINE - PIANISTE NON IDENTIFIe : TU REVERRAS L'ÎLE MAURICE (THIS IS YOU) - TOI QUI PASSAIS - RENe GLANEAU - WSPOMNIENIA Z PARYZ?A - ORCH. DIR. RYSZARDA DAMROSZA : LA MER. CD 2 : CHARLES TRENET : LA CHANSON EST UN ART MINEUR - CHARLES TRENET - ACC. PIANO FREDDY LIENHART : MA PHILOSOPHIE - KANGOUROU - CHARLES TRENET - ACC. PIANO FREDDY LIENHART : AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE - DEAN MARTIN - CHA CHA DE AMOR - ORCH. DIR. NELSON RIDDLE : I WISH YOU LOVE - LUCIENNE DELYLE - C'eTAIT LE BON TEMPS - ORCH. DIR. AIMe BARELLI : LA VALSE À TOUT LE MONDE - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. CHRISTIAN CHEVALLIER : L'HORRIBLE TANGO (VERSION GOMINA) - JARDIN DU MOIS DE MAI - SI LOIN DE TON AMOUR - LUNDI AU LIT (LES BRUITS DE PARIS) - DUKE ELLINGTON - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - ORCH. DIR. DUKE ELLINGTON : I WISH YOU LOVE - JANINE WOLF - LES TANGOS TERRIBLES ! - ORCH. DIR. DIDIER BOLAND : L'HORRIBLE TANGO - CHARLES TRENET - ACC. PIANO PAUL DE MARGERIE, PReS. GEORGES ULMER : AU FIL DU TEMPS PERDU - RETOUR À PARIS / HELLO PARIS - QUE RESTE-T-IL DE NOS AMOURS ? / HOW MUCH REMAINS OF ALL OUR LOVES ? - LE PIANO DE LA PLAGE - EN CE TEMPS-LÀ - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. PIERRE SPIERS : DIS-MOI, QUEL EST TON NOM ? - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. INCONNU : EN SEINE-ET-OISE - CATERINA VALENTE - ORCH. DIR. eTIENNE VERSCHUEREN : VOUS OUBLIEZ VOTRE CHEVAL - CATERINA VALENTE - GREAT CONTINENTAL HITS - ORCH. DIR. STANLEY BLACK : WHY DO YOU PASS ME BY ? - CHARLES TRENET - CHANSONS À LA UNE - ORCH. DIR. CHRISTIAN CHEVALLIER ET LES ANGELS : LE GRAND PARTAGE - JEUNESSE PLUMeE - ADIEU MES BEAUX RIVAGES - ANNIE-ANNA - COLETTE RENARD - ORCH. DIR. RAYMOND LEGRAND : LE GRAND PARTAGE - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. INCONNU : SIMPLE ET LeGeRE - MARIE MARIE - L'INQUIET - CHARLES TRENET - ORCH. DIR. PIERRE SPIERS : JEUNESSE PLUMeE - LE GRAND PARTAGE - JE TWISTE. DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE : PASCAL HALBEHER ET VINCENT LISITA

Almost all major composers have written important transcriptions, some even reaching the status of a masterpiece. Transcriptions often reflect the period in which they were written. The Liszt-Bach transcriptions being very different from the masterly Bach Chaconne for
violin and his choral preludes by Ferruccio Busoni. Liszt is basically urtext-true in his Bach and Beethoven transcriptions, while Busoni incorporated in his transcriptions not only the text of the work but also the total acoustical end result. 

In the Poet's Garden: Choral settings by John Rutter of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, James Weldon Johnson, Charles Causley and others. John is joined by The Cambridge Singers, Melanie Marshall, Roderick Williams, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Taplow Young Voices, Catrin Finch and Matthew Jorysz (solo piano) in this recording of choral works by John Rutter. I'll make me a world; London Town; Dancing Tree; Three Shakespeare Songs; When music sounds. John Rutter writes: Any composer interested in vocal and choral music is both inspired and nourished by poetry. Second only to music, words are my great love, and from my earliest years I have enjoyed seeking out poetry that seems to invite musical setting. This album brings together some of my recent choral music where the words provided the first inspiration and the music followed.

Johann Wilhelm Hertel is one of the
lesser-known composers of the late
baroque and early classical era. Born in
Eisenach in 1727, as a young man he
travelled to the north of Germany with
his father, who was a viola da gamba
virtuoso engaged as a Kapellmeister at
the court of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Already
as a young man Johann Wilhelm showed
a remarkable talent for music. He
excelled on the harpsichord and violin,
but his father wanted him to additionally
study law. However, a trip to Berlin and
contact with Berlin court musicians Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach and Franz Benda
pushed the young Johann Wilhelm to
devote his life primarily to music. In
particular he studied the harpsichord with
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the violin with
Franz Benda and composition with Karl
Heinrich Graun. He spent his life in the
service of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz and
-Schwerin courts, and he was also music
director in Stralsund. It was during this time
that he had many opportunities to meet
authorities from both the musical and
scientific worlds.
His oboes concertos are exemplary
compositions of these times. The autographs,
which are preserved in the Library of the
Royal Conservatoire of Brussels (Sig. No. B-Bc5562 and B-Bc-5563), together contain 10
oboe concertos in various keys. Nine of them
are collected (and numbered by librarians) in
Sig. No. B-Bc-5562 ,and one is separately
placed as B-Bc-5563. As there is no catalogue
of Hertel’s works, the numbers given for the
concertos are taken from the manuscript Sig.
No. B-Bc-5562. Some of the pieces are dated
1749 (Concertos Nos. 3 and 9) and others
1756 (Concerto No.2). All the concertos were
prepared for this recording by Katarzyna
Pilipiuk, copying with a focus on accuracy;
only minor mistakes were corrected so as to
give the most faithful transmission of the
composer’s ideas. The material is very clear,
with all the pieces noted by the composer in
score form. All of them have signs of stylistic
inspiration from the works of Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach, in particular Concerto No.5,
which is an excellent work in the
Empfindsamer Stil.
Other information:
● Recorded March 2023 in Kraków, Poland
● Pilipiuk plays a Baroque oboe by Randall
Cook (2019), after Jonathan Bradbury (c.1720)
● Booklet in English contains liner notes by the
artist, and biographies of her and of the
ensemble

L'integrale Fremeaux & Associes de Charles Trenet realisee sous la direction de Daniel Nevers, puis de Vincent Lisita et Pascal Halbeher, reunit la totalite des enregistrements phonographiques originaux disponibles aupres des collectionneurs sensibilises a l'ambition museographique d'un "catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre enregistree" du fou chantant. Aux enregistrements choisis et commercialises de l'epoque, le directeur artistique presente les "alternates" qui proposent d'autres versions des memes titres. Cette vocation d'exhaustivite historiographique dediee au patrimoine sonore phonographique s'accompagne (toujours chronologiquement) de documents radiophoniques, de publicites chantees afin d'eclairer la diversite de la production de l'artiste et de reveler retrospectivement les raisons de son appartenance a notre memoire collective.

Few works by Johann Sebastian Bach have given rise to more research and speculation than the 'Sei Solo', the sonatas and partitas for solo violin. From the search for models to dating based on stylistic features, from the identification of the paper used for the autograph from 1720 to the mysticism of numbers, no stone has been left unturned to solve the numerous riddles posed by this exorbitant work. The pieces in this collection are exorbitant in several respects. Not only does Bach go beyond what was customary at the time in terms of length, but the musical content and technical demands are also unprecedented, both in the context of contemporary violin music by other composers and within Bach's own oeuvre. As so often in Bach's oeuvre, an entire musical cosmos is explored in a single work.

Pianist Luiza Borac plays Bach's Goldberg Variations and Canons, transcriptions of Bach works by Lipatti, Busoni, Kempff, and Siloti, concluding with Chick Corea's Children's Songs.

REVIEW:

There is no attempt on Borac’s part (unlike some other famous pianists) to suggest the sonority of the harpsichord. But her playing has a clarity and deftness of touch entirely appropriate for this repertoire. Borac’s superb technique, crystalline tone, and seamless legato provide the utmost pleasure.

The remaining Bach items embody a comparable level of artistry, both unaffected and highly expressive. Jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs were inspired in part by Bartók’s Mikrokosmos. Borac, who participated in some of Corea’s workshops, and found them “unforgettable and matchless,” plays the songs with masterful technique, captivating energy, and pervasive joy. She dedicates this recital “to the memory of my father George Borac.” What a beautiful musical tribute, and gift to us all. Highest recommendation.

— Fanfare (Ken Meltzer)

In it's latest release, SOMM Recordings focuses on Ivor Gurney, Arthur Bliss, and Gerald Finzi who, each in their own distinct way, played a pivotal role in the rapid transformation of English pastoralism in early twentieth-century British Music. Ian Venables' music, also included on this disc, draws on a lineage that includes Gurney, Bliss, and Finzi, yet it incorporates modernist elements, creating a style that is uniquely his own. The seven works for violin and piano by Ivor Gurney-appearing here for the first time-come from 1908-1909, pre-dating his studies in London with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. They include the poignant Elgarian Chanson Triste; In September and In August; a Romance; a Legende; a melodic Folk Tale; and a rare attempt at a lighter mood with a Humoreske. Arthur Bliss was wounded in the Battle of the Somme, and his single-movement Violin Sonata marks a transition in his musical style in response to the emotional and cultural upheaval of the War. Bridging the pastoral warmth of his early influences with the bold innovations that would soon define his voice, the sonata captures the last traces of English pastoral romanticism in Bliss's output. The Elegy for Violin and Piano by Gerald Finzi exudes a pastoral tranquillity, but beneath it's serene surface lies a complex emotional landscape shaped by the personal grief of losing his three brothers and his beloved teacher, Ernest Farrar, in World War I. This present performance also emphasises the Elegy's contrapuntal texture and rhythmic precision, which show the influence of Bach, a cornerstone of Finzi's musical inspiration. The recital opens and closes with works by Ian Venables, widely regarded as one of Britain's most accomplished living composers. His two-movement Sonata from 1989 begins with a melancholic dialogue of introspective lyricism between the violin and piano. By contrast, the second movement exhibits a virtuosic interplay of the instruments. The Three Pieces for Violin and Piano come from 1986, shortly after Venables moved to Worcester, and they capture his response to the Severn Valley landscape. The opening Pastorale conveys a tranquil yet expressive simplicity; the Romance is more reflective and introspective; while the final Dance showcases Venables's ability to inject energy and playfulness into his music. The award-winning Taiwanese violinist Joe Chu-Yu Yang, whose career in Britain is beginning to flourish, is a passionate advocate for British music and founder of the British Music Festival in Taiwan. He performs in recital as a duo with Eric McElroy, described by Musical Opinion as "one of the leading composer-pianists of his generation." Eric's debut CD, Tongues of Fire, featuring his own works for piano and tenor, was released on SOMMCD 0665.

Edward MacDowell was the most highly regarded American composer of his generation, and the first to acquire a truly international reputation. Born in New York, he briefly studied piano as a teenager at the Paris Conservatoire, but quickly left to explore what he regarded as the more congenial musical environment in Germany. He studied piano and composition in Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, and then Frankfurt. After graduating in 1880, he remained in Germany for four years, before returning home, first to Boston, for eight years, and then finally to New York where he became Columbia University's first Professor of Music. The various romantic influences that shaped the style of the First Concerto include the music of Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Grieg, whilst the technical demands on the soloist reveal MacDowell's prowess as a pianist. MacDowell's enthusiasm for the symphonic poem is reflected here by the inclusion of Lancelot und Elaine and Lamia. The former was inspired by the Arthurian legend as told by Tennyson in his Idylls of the King. The work is extremely narrative, and employs Wagnerian Leitmotifs to depict each of the characters. Lamia, written some two years later and based on the poem by John Keats, was neither published nor performed in the composer's lifetime. MacDowell had planned another symphonic poem, based on the French mediaeval tale La Chanson de Roland, but the work was never completed, and the two fragments included here are all that remain. Woodland Sketches, a set of ten piano miniatures, were inspired by the idyllic environment of the MacDowells' farm, in New Hampshire. The first of these - 'To a Wild Rose' - is by far the composer's most famous piece, and made MacDowell a household name in both America and Europe.

Until 20 years ago, the figure of Antonio Salieri seemed destined to remain under a cloud of widespread disrepute, in the shadow of his complex relationship with Mozart and unsubstantiated criminal allegations that have come down to us through a thread that runs from Aleksandr Pushkin's poetic drama Mozart and Salieri (1830), later set to music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1897), to Milos Forman's famous film Amadeus (1984). In reality, Salieri, in late 18th-century Vienna, enjoyed a stature that Wolfgang could only dream of: court composer, conductor of the Italian opera and, above all, maestro di cappella of the imperial court - in other words organiser and manager of the Hapsburgs' entire musical life. An esteemed teacher and founder of the Vienna Conservatory, he had among his pupils Beethoven, Hummel, Schubert, Liszt, Meyerbeer and Czerny, and in the course of a long compositional career he created more than 40 works for musical theatre, numerous sacred and vocal compositions, as well as a smaller number of symphonic and chamber works. The best-known section of Salieri's instrumental production consists of the six concertos for one or more soloists, among them the two for keyboard included here; these are works that the composer did not see fit to print, and the manuscripts are preserved in the Austrian National Library. The Concertos in C and B flat were written by the 23-year-old composer in 1773 for solo 'cembalo' and an orchestra consisting of two oboes, two horns, strings and basso continuo. As Danilo Prefumo, author of valuable writings on Salieri's instrumental works, warns, 'for Italian musicians, the term cembalo could at the time indifferently indicate harpsichord and fortepiano'. Listening to and analysing these two works reveals a balance pursued and achieved between a typically Viennese sense of measure and attention to structure, and bursts of whimsy, ornamentality and gallantry akin to the expressivity of the London (Johann Christian) Bach. The solo writing never makes truly virtuosic demands, although it does require agility and a crisp, pronounced timbre. The Sonata in C for harpsichord is the only composition of it's kind, as far as we know, in Salieri's legacy, and it is given here in it's first recording. It is unusually subdivided into six concise movements, all set in the same key and characterized by an elementary harmonic progression. The linearity of the language, the transparency of the melodic line and the ease of execution indicate a score that might have been a keyboard sketch of the embryo of a Serenata or Cassazione, two genres that are often attested in the composer's catalogue. Other information: - Recorded September 2024 in Sacile (Italy) - The Sonata in C appears in it's first-ever recording - Catena plays a Fazioli F278 piano - Booklet in English contains liner notes by Umberto Berti and profiles of the soloist, ensemble and conductor - Italian liner notes available at brilliantclassics. Com - Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) was an Italian composer and conductor, famous in his time for his operas and sacred music, but less known today for his instrumental works. His reputation has been clouded by rumors of rivalry with Mozart, which modern scholarship largely discredits. Salieri was a highly respected court composer in Vienna, and while he was primarily recognized for his vocal music, he also composed several instrumental pieces, including piano concertos. - Salieri's piano concertos, though not as numerous or as widely celebrated as those by contemporaries like Mozart, offer insight into the classical style of the late 18th century. His Piano Concerto in B-flat major, composed in the 1770s, is one of his few surviving works for keyboard and orchestra. It reflects the elegance and balance typical of the Classical era, with clear melodic lines and a restrained yet expressive use of harmony. - Unlike Mozart's more virtuosic concertos, Salieri's piano concertos focus on lyrical expression rather than technical display. His concertos often feature a dialogue between the soloist and orchestra, emphasizing melodic beauty over complexity. - Played by Italian pianist Costantino Catena with the Accademia D'Archi Arrigoni, conducted by Giulio Arnolfi. In Luca Ciammarughi's book on pianists Catena is credited with 'combining virtuoso chiselling with a cantabile of absolute sonorous beauty. "

The five-part writing for strings has its period of greatest development in the 16th and 17th centuries, only to fall into a progressive obsolescence. The most commonly used instrumental ensemble included two violins, alto and tenor viola da braccio, cello and basso continuo. Of this quintet, the instrument that undergoes a progressive dismissal is the viola tenore, which in this recording we propose in its original late seventeenth century mounting.

The latest instalment from baroque ensemble La Serenissima. Often compared to Vivaldi, Giuseppe Tartini was a famous virtuoso violinist and highly respected teacher, and is best known for the sonata “Il Trillo del Diavolo” (The Devi’s Trill) which is legendary for both its story and for its fiendish level of technical wizardry.

Continuing their Magnificat series, and the last album of Andrew Nethsingha's tenure as director, The Choir of St John's College Cambridge present Magnificat 4 with works from composers including Judith Weir, Jonathan Dove, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange and Charles Villiers Stanford. The album also features 'Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis' by Piers Connor Kennedy, commissioned for the choir.

Frank Peter Zimmermann is widely regarded as one of the foremost violinists of his generation. He has been performing with all major orchestras in the world, among which the Berliner Philharmoniker with whom he made his debut in 1985 with Daniel Barenboim; the Wiener Philharmoniker with whom he played a first time in 1983 with Lorin Maazel in Salzburg; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all London orchestras, as well as all big American orchestras. Frank Peter Zimmermann is a regular guest at all major music festivals of among others Salzburg, Edinburgh and Lucerne. Over the years Frank Peter Zimmermann has built up an impressive discography: He has recorded virtually all major concerto repertoire, ranging from Bach to Ligeti, Dean and Pintscher; the six solo sonatas of Ysaÿe; the 24 Caprices of Paganini and the complete Violin Sonatas of J.S. Bach and Mozart. Born in 1965 in Duisburg, Germany, he started learning playing the violin with his mother when he was 5 years old. He studied with Valery Gradov, Saschko Gawriloff and Herman Krebbers. He plays on the 1711 Antonius Stradivari violin "Lady Inchiquin", which is kindly provided by the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, "Kunst i'm Landesbesitz".

Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier was written at a time when composers had begun to expand the limited tonal compass of keyboard instruments through far wider use of keys and; ultimately; equal temperament. The 48 preludes and fugues that constitute The Well-Tempered Claver are composed in a wide range of styles; and the work remains one of the most important and influential in Western classical music. Francesco Cera is a prominent Italian early music specialists and he plays on a copy of a Hemsch harpsichord of 1736; using his own personal tuning. For Book II he employs the Altnickol edition of the score which includes numerous variants.