Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Richard Lester has been at the center of early keyboard music for fifty years with a professional career that began in 1966. His teacher, George Malcolm generously promoted his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, and from that followed concerts including the Royal Festival Hall Purcell Room, master-classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School, Bruges Festival and the Bath International Festival. As a Fellow of the London College of Music, he has given many organ recitals in King's College, Cambridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, Coventry, and in 2013 he was invited to perform in St. Mark's, Venice, and Gergamo Cathedral. His vast discography for Nimbus Records is acclaimed world-wide and includes: the complete keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti; the majority of Girolamo Frescobaldi's keyboard works on original instruments, organ masses by Girolamo Cavazzoni, Andrea Gabrieli and Claudio Merulo; and sonatas by Carlos SEixas, Antonio Soler, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He has also compiled and edited a volume of Italian Renaissance keyboard works which includes a video on early fingering and ornamentation plus a disc on demonstrating works by composers associated with St. Mark's in Venice.

Richrad Lester has been at the center of early keyboard music for fifty years with a professional career that began in 1966. His teacher, George Malcolm generously promoted his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, and from that followed concerts including the Royal Festival Hall Purcell Room, master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School, Bruges Festival and the Bath International Festival. As a Fellow of the London College of Music, he has given many organ recitals in King’s College, Cambridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, Coventry, and in 2013 he was invited to perform in St. Mark’s, Venice, and Bergamo Cathedral. His vast discography for Nimbus Records is acclaimed worldwide and includes: the complete keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti; the majority of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s keyboard works on original instruments, organ masses by Girolamo Cavazzoni, Andrea Gabrieli and Claudio Merulo; and sonatas by Carlos Seixas, Antonio Soler, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “… with so many competitive recordings of Bach’s keyboard output- it will be Lester’s felicitous blend of originality with sureness of hand, and vitality with perception that allow this first installment to be recommended without hesitation.” (Mark Sealey on ClassicalNet)

An ordinary day. A terrible event. The death of her infant child sets in motion one woman's search for a life-restoring miracle. All she needs to do - in the course of a single day - is find one genuinely happy human being. But when every encounter ends in disappointment, she turns finally to the mysterious owner of a magnificent garden. Recorded during the first performances, as part of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, at the Theatre du Jeu de Paume, Aix-en-Provence, France, from 5th July 2023.

In addition to sonatas, variations, and concertos for piano and orchestra, Mozart wrote numerous works for solo piano: fantasias, rondos, adagios, and other assorted pieces of short and moderate length. We don't know exactly why these works were written, but we know that Mozart had to come up with new material for his many public and private appearances as a composer and performer. In those days composers were usually performers as well. Any composition was also a potential source of income from publication and from patrons and friends to whom the works were dedicated. But no matter why these marvellous works were written, we are lucky to have them.

Steve Elcock, born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire in 1957, obtained an A-Level in music and learned the violin up to grade 7. As a composer, he is otherwise self-taught, beginning to write from around age fifteen and continuing to do so ever since. He trained as a teacher of French but, once qualified in 1981, he moved to France, where he worked in language services until his retirement in 2019. From being unknown to anyone outside a small circle of his friends and family, his music has now come to the attention of music lovers, conductors and reviewers. That turnaround began with the release of his Third Symphony which was released in September 2017 and was almost immediately featured as 'CD of the Week' on Record Review on BBC Radio 3 - a rare feat for a work by a hitherto unknown composer. Steve Elcock has composed ten symphonies to date, five of which have been recorded. He has also written concertos, symphonic poems and much chamber music.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest written literary text in Middle Eastern/Western cultural history, predates the Hebrew Bible. The epic relates the story of King Gilgamesh, partly divine, partly human, who may have existed historically circa 2800 BC. From immature youth and a belief in his mmortality, he eventually comes to accept the power and reality of Death. There are five movements/scenes: The first, Prologue, echoes the anxious state of the city of Uruk, which is suffering under the despotic rule of the young King Gilgamesh. The gods, in order to restore a sense of balance, create his counterpart, the wild man Enkidu, who is lured away and tamed by a temple prostitute. The pitch centres of this scene spell out the musical letters of Gilgamesh which also underly the entire work. The Journey to the Forest of Cedar depicts the effortful trek made by Enkidu and Gilgamesh in search of glory. They venture to the Forest of Cedar to cut down one of the largest trees to make a great door for the Temple of Enlil, the divine ruler of the Cosmos. They kill the forest guardian, Humbaba, who is protected by seven auras. From Dawn to Dusk, a fast movement, illustrates Gilgamesh's race against the sun. He arrives just before sunset and finds himself in a garden of jewels. Gilgamesh sings a Lament on the Death of Enkidu which leads into the final scene. Apotheosis. Gilgamesh visits Ut Napishti (precursor of Noah in Genesis) who has survived the Flood and been granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh fails the final task set by Ut-Napishti to test his suitability for eternal life, returning to Uruk to build his lasting monument, the city walls. The Resurrection of the Soldiers for string orchestra was commissioned by George Vass, to whom it is dedicated, and the English Symphony Orchestra, for the 2016 Presteigne Festival, with funds generously donated by the John S Cohen Foundation and the Arts Council of England. The title derives from the final panel of Stanley Spencer's Sandham Chapel visionary series of paintings which were the result of Spencer's experiences in the British army in World War One and depicts soldiers emerging from their graves on the last day. The piece is in three continuous parts: a slow, sustained introduction which is, in essence, a descent from the note E by means of a prolation canon, but which ascends to a rather intense climactic point before falling and giving way to a very active fugue which, after arriving at an anguished, sustained climax, is succeeded by a closing slow movement consisting of a rising melodic line which permeates the entire texture heterophonically, leading to the closing E major triad. The work thus traces a cyclical path as it progress towards a sense of resurrection, re-birth and hope. � Robert Saxton

Granados, E. / Albeniz, I.: Piano Music, Vol. 1

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Julius Rontgen was a prolific and versatile composer who composed over 600 compositions over the course of his life in every genre of his time, including film music. It was his command of polyphonic writing that encouraged his friend Johannes Brahms to express his hope that Julius Rontgen would be one from the younger generation of composers to carry German music into the future. Mark Anderson has performed world-wide as a chamber musician and soloist, appearing with Sir Simon Rattle, Nicholas McCegan and many others. Mark has given recitals in New York's Alice Tully Hall and Weill Hall, the Kennedy Center and several other famous halls. His performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3, the CBC in Canada and on radio and television in Spain, Italy, Ireland, Japan and the U.S. Mark is the founder and executive director of New World music Academy in California. The academy continues to teach and inspire students of all ages and is a leader in innovative teaching techniques. He is currently Assistant Professor in Piano and Chamber Music at teh University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He records exclusively with Nimbus Records and has released recordings of works by Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Dohnanyi, Copland and Gershwin.

Classical Music