The young Japanese soloist Akihiro Sakiya, winner of the 56th Ja�n International Piano competition in three categories - Solo, Audience and Spanish Music - has constructed a program that includes Brahms's Piano Sonata No. 3, one of the great sonatas of it's time, Debussy's evocative Estampes and a Spanish classic by Granados. Written as test pieces for the Ja�n competition, the two contemporary Spanish works draw on rich folkloric traditions.

Blessed with a gift for musical invention and structural organization, Johann Stamitz was one of the pioneering figures in symphonic music before the emergence of Haydn. He drove the development of symphonic form via the assimilation of the new operatic overture style resulting in works of brilliance and skillful orchestration. His Op. 3 symphonies, though not composed as a set, showcase why Stamitz was held in such high regard and was so influential: outer movements fizz with energy, and contain virtuosic string writing with frequent dynamic contrasts, while slow movements are intricate and refined.

Rossini's musical wit and zest for comic characterisation have enriched the operatic repertoire immeasurably, and his overtures distil these qualities into works of colourful orchestration, bravura and charm. From his most popular, such as La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder) and La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie), to the rarity Matilde of Shabran, the full force of Rossini's dramatic power is revealed in these masterpieces of invention. Each of the four discs in this set has received outstanding international acclaim, with Volum 2 described as "an unalloyed winner" by ClassicsToday , and the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra's playing described as "stunning" by American Record Guide (Volume 3).

Muzio Clementi achieved early success as a widely-travelled pianist, performing for nobility and meeting Mozart, his journeys reflected in the Melodies of Different Nations. The Sonata in A flat major is his earliest surviving work, and the incomplete Allegro and Finale may hve been intended as part of the famous Gradus and Parnassum. Based on a popular dance form, the delightful Monferrinas reveal Clementi's charming side, each one presenting a uniquely interesting character.

London and Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries shared an artistic vitality that set them apart from the rest of the world. With Parisian society regularly gripped by periods of Anglomania, a constant process of cultural exchange resulted in operetta hits, wartime classics and popular songs both bawdy and elegant. Capturing the spirit of a period ranging from the fashionable d'Oyly Carte to 1920s American Jazz, the Frivol'Ensemble takes us back in time to rediscover the delights of this golden age of musical theatricality. Made up of soloists from the acclaimed Orchestre des Frivolites Parisiennes, the Frivol'Ensemble specializes in French vocal and instrumental repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries, seeking out unknown composers and lesser known repertoire and creating a vibrantly theatrical experience by highlighting the strong personalities of it's performers. Sharing their passion for this repertoire and the pleasure they have in playing it are the primary characteristics of this ensemble's identity.

Italian guitarist, composer and instrument maker Luigi Legnani performed widely throughout Europe and was admired by Paganini as the guitar's ''leading player'' of his day. Legnani's virtuosity was eminently suited to the 19th century fashion for transcribing and writing variations on famous opera themes that range from the romance of L'Italiana in Algeri to the drama of Armida. The ''orchestral'' colors of the guitar are fully explored with breathtaking special techniques and imitative effects.

Saint-Saens’ travels often resulted in geographically themed works, such as the Suite algerienne: this exotic musical picture postcard- full of perfumed sensuality and the brazen confidence of march themes- reflects the composer’s visits to colonial North Africa. The two suites on this recording are both structured around dance movements and were originally scored for different forces- the Suite in D major, Op. 49 for harmonium, the Suite in D minor, Op. 16 for cello and piano. The engaging Serenade, Op. 15, rarely performed with its original, exotic scoring, is heard here in an orchestral transcription.

Leopold Hofmann was among the most prominent Viennese composers of his generation, his music performed all over Europe. Hofmann's radiant flute concertos follow the conventions of the day with superlative elegance and a deceptive facility. The solo writing has a lightness, grace and agility perfectly suited to the instrument's strengths, particularly in the lovely and often rhapsodic slow movements. It is hardly surprising that musicians and audiences found these concertos so beguiling, and they have lost none of their magic today. The works are performed by award-winning flautist Uwe Grodd and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice.

The Estonian composer Toivo Tulev has forged a unique sound world. His music, with it's almost obsessive focus on religious mysticism, can be sensual and emotional but also cerebral and technically demanding. Tulev often takes inspiration from his extensive travels, in particular from the city of Istanbul which, like his vocal music, bridges East and West. His meditation on the words of Sufi mystic Mansur Al-Hallaj, 'I said, Who are You?- He said, You,' conjures up a transcendent atmosphere, while his Magnificat departs from the text's traditionally solemn setting with it's stratospherically high string writing and wild percussion solos. The Latvian Radio Choir ranks among the top professional chamber choirs in Europe. Working under the leadership of Sigvards Klava and conductor Kaspars Putnins, the choir is renowned for it's tonal finesse and range of expression. The repertoire of the LRC ranges from the Renaissance to the most sophisticated modern scores. The LRC has participated in the top musical forums in Salzburg and Montpellier, the Baltic Sea Festival, Klangspuren Festival, and others, and has performed in many renowned concert halls.

Czech by birth, Paul Wranitzky settled in Vienna where he became highly respected as an orchestra leader and composer. Today overshadowed by his friends Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Wranitzky was the most important symphonist in Vienna in the late 1790s. The colorful overture to Der Schreiner (‘The Carpenter’) is followed by three contrasting symphonies. The dramatic ‘La Tempesta’ contains elaborate storm effects, which predate Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ by over a decade. The compact Symphony in A major represents Wranitzky’s early symphonic period of the mid-1780s while the Symphony in F major is notable for its catchy themes and masterful scoring. This second volume of world premiere recordings follows Vol. 1 (8.574227) released in April 2021.The scores for both recordings are the result of exhaustive research amongst numerous European archives by top Wranitzky scholar Daniel Bernhardsson. Pizzicato gave Vol. 1 four stars, writing: ‘The orchestra’s playing is fresh and spirited, with plenty of melodic immediacy and a charmingly elegant lightness.’

The plectrum lute duo was one of the most popular ensembles for professional instrumentalists in late 15th-century Western Europe. This recording presents for the first time the bulk of a surviving repertoire that can arguably be considered for the lute duo, performed on two equal plectrum lutes or with a combination of lute and gittern- a smaller member of the lute family. The album, inspired by the Ferrarese virtuoso Pietrobono dal Chitarino (c. 1417-1497), acclaimed in his lifetime as ‘the foremost lutenist in the world,’ includes the earliest printed lute duos by Francesco Spinacino and Joan Ambrosio Dalza and the two-voice instrumental works by Johannes Tinctoris. The often highly ornamented instrumental duos are mostly reworkings of songs, some of which are given here in a performance with the singer Grace Newcombe to provide the context for the lute arrangements that follow.

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REVIEWS:

Marc Lewon and Paul Kieffer make a marvellous duo, with a lot of passages of truly mind-blowing skill and speed. They have assembled the repertory in glorious performances.

– Gramophone

Here we have a lovely collection of the earliest surviving repertoire for lute duo, some of it also for voice. This is a very enjoyable programme and an opportunity to hear fine performances of music few are likely to be familiar with.

– Lark Reviews

Carl Reinecke's melodic gift, mastery of counterpoint, and idiomatic command of chamber repertoire, in particular, exemplify why he was acclaimed as one of the great representatives of German High Romanticism. His Cello Sonatas were composed over four decades. The First teems with freshness and a Schumannesque lyricism, while the Second is a more experimental work, with a notably quizzical slow movement. Virtuosity, solemnity and caprice are features of the Third Sonata, while the Three Pieces, Op. 146 offer an enticing contrast of songfulness and dance. Austrian cellist Martin Rummel is not only the last pupil of the legendary William Pleeth, but with the release of nearly 50 albums, one of the most distinguished cellists of his generation. He continually gains worldwide praise for his recordings of previously undiscovered music. First Prize winner of the prestigious Concours de Geneve in 2001, Roland Kruger has performed in venues such as the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, and the Kolner Philharmonie festival. As a soloist, he has worked with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre National de Belgique and the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, among others.

Havergal Brian's late creativity is almost unparalleled in musical history- in the last two decades of his life he wrote 25 symphonies. No. 7, the last of his truly large-scale symphonies, was inspired by Goethe's autobiographical account of his time as a student in Strasbourg. Symphony No. 16 is a tough single-movement work, evoking Ancient Greece and the savagery of the Persian Wars. In bright contrast The Tinker's Wedding is a sparkling comedy overture based on the play by J.M. Synge. The New Russia State Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1990. In 2002 Yuri Bashmet became it's director, opening a new chapter in it's history and bringing his own inimitable manner of interpretation, whereby each concert evokes the feeling that the music is being created anew.

Before he sprang to international fame as an operatic composer, Wolf-Ferrari had embarked on an important sequence of choral works. The very early Otto cori, Op. 2, set to Italian and German texts, contain some of the most beautiful music he ever wrote, revealing his love of Italian Renaissance music through grace, bucolic melancholy, humorous wit and sublime characterization. In ‘Talitha Kumi!’ Op. 3, the title derived from an Aramaic quotation from Mark’s Gospel, the voice of an Evangelist carries the biblical narrative of Jesus bringing the daughter of Jairus back to life against a rich orchestral backdrop.

Gaetano Donizetti is renowned as a leading composer of the Italian romantic bel canto opera style during the first half of the 19th century. But in his earlier years and as a student of Simon Mayr his dramatic genius came to the fore in his settings of psalm texts for Vespers, a form then still popular in Italy both in secular and liturgical contexts. Donizetti's Vesper Psalms are characterized by beautifully shaped operatic melodies and colorful orchestration on a grand scale, creating moments of real rhetorical force- outstanding features of works that have lain undiscovered in manuscript form for two centuries.