Ransom Wilson and theOrpheus Chamber Ensemble present this new release of works for flute and chamber ensemble by composers Jean-Michel Damase (1928-2013) and Jean Francaix (1912-1997). The music of Jean-Michel Damase combines wit with gentility. His simplistic writing caused him to be frequently overlooked in favor of the avant-garde, thus little of his music is performed outside of France. The works chosen for this recording cover five decades of his oeuvre. Jean Francaix began composing at the young age of six. A child prodigy, he had already established a reputation during the 1930s for his ability to write for a wide range of genres. For this album, his Suite for solo flute and Divertimento for flute and chamber orchestra have been chosen. Ransom Wilson is recognized as one of the finest flutists of our day. He studied at the Julliard School, in Paris as a private student of Jean-Pierre Rampal, and has appeared on concert stages across the United States and Europe.

As William Boughton celebrates his 70th birthday, we have put together this selection from his recordings for Nimbus and Lyrita. 'Every recording contains a story but, sadly, there is not the space to tell them all here so I've selected certain memorable, hopefully correct(!), experiences. Revisiting my early recordings reminded me of the joys and struggles that we encountered whilst developing the English String Orchestra (ESO), the development of our sound, our thinking and musicianship. Every recording is testament to a moment in time, to our responses and emotions during it's preparation and in the brief moment when the performance is created. Having been given this opportunity for a celebratory box-set I hope to avoid being too self conscious and remain objective in my comments and in the music I have chosen.' [William Boughton]

This new release is the final installment of the Schubert Piano Sonatas series. Pianist, conductor, and educator Vladimir�Feltsman�is one of the most versatile and consistently interesting musicians of our time. Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr.�Feltsman�debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at the age of 11. In 1969, he entered the Moscow Conservatory to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr.�Feltsman�won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; extensive tours throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, and Japan followed. In 1979, because of his growing discontent with the restrictions on artistic freedom under the Soviet regime, Mr.�Feltsman�signaled his intention to emigrate by applying for an exit visa. In response, he was immediately banned from performing in public and his recordings were suppressed. After eight years of virtual artistic exile, he was finally granted permission to leave the Soviet Union. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Mr.�Feltsman�was warmly greeted at the White House, where he performed his first recital in North America. That same year, his debut at Carnegie Hall established him as a major pianist on the American and international scene. Since then, Mr.�Feltsman�has performed with major American and European orchestras and appeared at the most prestigious concert venues and music festivals worldwide. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to the twenty-first century.

As a pianist, Mozart performed at many concerts and music academies, for which he had to build a repertoire; similarly, he was in need of educational repertoire for his students. Between 1782 and 1786, Mozart composed, in addition to piano sonatas and variations, fourteen new concertos for piano with orchestra. He was certainly no novice in this field, already having no less than ten piano concertos under his belt (not to mention his violin concertos and his first collection of concertos for wind instruments). As such, Mozart’s Vienna period begins with a remarkable trio of piano concertos, K. 413, 414 and 415. Mozart undoubtedly wrote them for himself. His concert activity in Vienna was extraordinary, especially in the first years, where he met with success as both a soloist and as a composer. He therefore decided to publish this trio at his own expense (on a subscription basis), obviously with an eye towards having another source of income.

Adam Summerhayes and Cormac Byrne write of their new release: "This album is the result of an experiment, our goal was to create something from that very sacred space that lies between composition and improvisation. Fascinated by the unique energy generated live where performer and audience are locked in a moment of unplanned creativity, a moment where anything and everything can happen, we vowed to delve into this pool of creativity and unleash it's energy onto record. Our intention was to create an album of bodhran and fiddle music. As the recording session grew ever closer. It became clear that making an album of solely bodhran and fiddle music would somehow not tell the full story. Why impose those limitations anyway? Artistically we had more to offer and could enrich this music with diverse flavors. Inspired by the folk tale of the 'Stone Soup', we began to assemble raw ingredients. I scanned my rehearsal space for the appropriate additional sounds. Seeking to include instruments that I had yet to experiment with in recording. Each track, one by one, found it's feet and fell into form. Often a track flowed from beginning to end in a single take. Other times we'd record a segment, listen back and feel where to go from there. The order in which the album appears is almost identical to that in which it was recorded. The result is strangely coherent: linked improvisations that appear almost as a pre-meditated. It forms an album in the traditional sense: a work that is intended to be listened to as a whole. We truly hope you enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed making it."

“Piano trios have often been formed by a threesome of like-minded soloists: the fabled ‘Million Dollar Trio’ of Heifetz, Rubinstein and Piatigorsky springs to mind. The present ensemble, founded in 2009, belongs decidedly to this illustrious line. The three trios were recorded in Nimbus’s hall at Wyastone Leys, a most vivid acoustic that brings the three players straight into one’s living room.” (The Strad) Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and comprises three of the finest international instrumentalists performing today. Playing chamber music together at the Pablo Casals Prades Festival Hagai Shaham and Raphael Wallfisch recognised an immediate musical synergy. Arnon Erez joined them for trio concerts in Lucerne and the Netherlands later that year and the Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was established. Since 2009 the Trio have performed, broadcast and recorded widely throughout Europe and Israel, giving concerts in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Israel and Spain. For this new release, they have chosen chamber works by Dvorak, Grieg, and Schumann.

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman is one of the most versatile and constantly interesting musicians of our time. His vast repertoire encompasses music from the Baroque to 21st-century composers. He has appeared with all the major American orchestras and on the most prestigious musical stages and festivals worldwide. Born in Moscow in 1952, Mr. Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. In 1969, he entered the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music to study piano under the guidance of Professor Jacob Flier. He also studied conducting at both the Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatories. In 1971, Mr. Feltsman won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris; extensive touring throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe and Japan followed this. A dedicated educator of young musicians, Mr. Feltsman holds the Distinguished Chair of Professor of Piano at the State University of New York, New Paltz, and is a member of the piano faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. This is his 5th volume of Schubert's Piano Sonatas.

The London Symphony Orchestra, led by formidable conductor Yondani Butt, presents this outstanding recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 6 ‘Pathetique,’ and The Voyevoda- Symphonic Ballad. The programme was recorded in 2012 at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London. Yondani Butt was born in Macau. He studied conducting with Wolfgang Vacano (1906-1985) at Indiana University, majoring in chemistry. He continued to study conducting with Josef Blatt (1906-1999) at the University of Michigan while pursuing his chemistry degree. Hailed by Robert Marsh of the Chicago Sun Times as “an outstanding talent,” Yondani Butt has received acclamation from critics and audiences for his many album recordings and concert performances. He died on August 28th, 2014.

The first two volumes of this recording series focused on orchestral and chamber/piano music respectively, and the third volume was a recording of a live 50th birthday concert presented by the New Haven Symphony. This fourth volume has yet a different focus: music primarily featuring strings, and almost exclusively performed by young musicians. Thomas wrote: "If one were to shut one's eyes while listening to this CD, one should imagine a stage full of passionate young musicians. Two of these performances are even taken from live, unedited concert recordings (Juilliard and Tanglewood). Thus this disc as a whole celebrates the skill and dedication of youthful musicians who play with utter commitment and flair."

In my new album, the sixth of my collection for Nimbus Records, you can hear throught he music of a continent the joy of the dances alongside the historical suffering product of the social struggles that have endured, today and for the last 500 years, the concentration of different cultures on the American soil. These works are born from an ancestral knowledge and a concern to understand the roots and amalgam of the many musical and cultural variety present in our societies. Composers and performers alike rejoice in the richness and beauty of the magnificent blend of three ubiquitous cultures, and Amerindian, the European and the Black African, which form our ''terrestrial rainbow'' as Eduardo Galeano calls it. This multiculturalism makes us Americans, without frontiers. All the composers here present have explored in depth the music of their countries creating their own musical languages. Each piece has a story to tell; Also local poetry has had great influence as names like those of Atahualpa Yupanqui and Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, among many others, have been invoked in different ways in them. For several years now, I have tended to create my recital programmes, playing solo piano works and others with special guests that enhance the music with their impressive knowledge of genres and styles. In this case Carlos ''Nene'' Quintero, Carlos Rodriguez, Manuel Rangel and Edwin Arellano accompany me in six of the tracks. I hope you will like this collection that encompasses so many feelings; Fromt he hoyous rhythms to remembrance, nostalgia and the tragedy of suicide passing also through childhood songs and stories plus the subtlety and smooth swing of the music of a continent.'' (Clara Rodriguez)

“In November 2020 I was asked by Em Marshall-Luck, Founder-Director of the English Music Festival to write a piece for her Christmas Garland concert at short notice. Having promoted a successful two-day festival in St Mary’s Church, Horsham, Em’s belief in the vital importance of offering live music-making during the COVID pandemic was stronger than ever. I decided to write a short, atmospheric piano piece Christmas Dawn, in support of her, the pianist Duncan Honeybourne, the festival and those who were willing to travel to Horsham to hear the music played live. Christmas Dawn is a simple, hymn-like tune presented first softly, with a simple chordal accompaniment. As it gains momentum, with more expansive piano figuration the tune develops and extends. A contrasting middle section with staccato quavers heralds the return of the theme in a full, joyful iteration, before closing softly again. I sent the score to my publisher and they suggested that the pianist Simon Callaghan record Christmas Dawn with an accompanying video, as a celebratory lockdown project at Wyastone Recording Studio that might cheer people up, given the uncertainties of Christmas this year. I hope the music and the video will give pleasure at a time when Christmas cheer is much needed.” (Richard Blackford)

Kenneth Woods writes: “Given that this programme was to be an exploration of childhood, the obvious place to start is with birth. Richard Wagner wrote his Siegfried Idyll as a birthday present for his wife, Cosima, just after the birth of their son, Siegfried. Nowhere else in music is there so tender an evocation of those fragile, precious and fraught first days and weeks of life. Engelbert Humperdinck’s great children’s opera, Hänsel und Gretel, a quasi-Wagnerian setting of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, tells the story of two children in peril… “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”) is one of Schubert’s simplest and most popular songs, composed in 1817,when Schubert was just 20, to words by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart… Gustav Mahler’s 100-minute Third symphony and his Fourth grew out of the musical material in the short, beautiful song which forms the final movement of the Fourth Symphony, “Das himmlische Leben” (“The Heavenly Life,”), and which concludes these Visions of Childhood. First, however, we hear his song “The Earthly Life” (“Das irdische Leben”) which forms a sort of bleak mirror image to that song. As with the Humperdinck, I have essentially stuck as closely as possible to Mahler’s own orchestration, which is a model of clarity and economy, but also full of extreme, even grotesque, colors. Finally, we come to another combination of song and variations by Schubert, both known as “Der Todund das Mädchen” (“Death and the Maiden”). The song is based on a poem by Matthias Claudius and was written in 1817, the same year as “The Trout.” It has only two verses – one in which the Maiden pleads with Death to pass her by, and one in which Death assures her that he is a friend.

The present recording of piano music by Julius Röntgen (1855-1932), the fourth of an ongoing series, comprises works that span a significant portion of Röntgen’s compositional lifetime. Fifty-five years separates the first Ballad, Op.6 written in 1873, when the composer was just 17 years old, from the Sonata in C-sharp minor of 1928. This far- ranging chronology gives the listener an informed overview of Röntgen’s output. This is especially interesting given the fact that he lived through such musically revolutionary times. Röntgen’s writing style for the piano shows a gift for creating unique sonorities alongside ingenious harmonic invention. In particular, I am intrigued by his ability to create, on the one hand, exquisite and sublime musical moments – such as those found in the major variations of the Variations and Fugue Op.38 - and, on the other, masses of chordal harmony punctuated with rhapsodic episodes. The Ballad No. 3 best represents the latter compositional style with its highly varied textural and emotional contrasts. When Röntgen died in 1932, Donald Francis Tovey wrote, “He was an inspiration for the future but with a link to the past. His compositions cover the whole range of music in every art form; they all show consummate mastery in every aspect of technique; even in the most facile there is beauty and wit, each series of works culminate in something that has the uniqueness of a living masterpiece.”

A delightful set of circumstances combined to produce the beloved masterpiece, Babar. The journey began in 1930 when Laurent and Mathieu, sons of French author and illustrator Jean de Brunhoff were told an enchanting bedtime story by their mother, Cécile. So moved were the young boys by the curious tale of the young elephant’s adventures, that they asked their father to create illustrations. The resulting book initiated a series that was to be the crowning achievement of Jean de Brunhoff’s short professional life, and that of his son Laurent, who added further volumes following his father’s death in 1937. The children have acknowledged that the story originated with Cécile de Brunhoff, who, feeling that her contribution was too small to be credited, requested that her name be removed from the publications. In a heart-warmingly similar situation ten years later, Poulenc was spending time with the granddaughter of one of his cousins. Noting that she became bored with the music he was playing, Poulenc put Brunhoff’s Babar on the piano and began to improvise, to the great delight of the young girl. The musical ideas born that day were to simmer away at the back of Poulenc’s mind until he completed the work in 1945. It was premiered on French radio the following year.

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REVIEW:

With a duration of 27:51 we are into ‘CD Single’ territory, but this is reflected in a lower price for the disc, which is therefore worth every penny. In lockdown or not, parents could do much worse than to buy both this and Jean de Brunhoff’s book ‘The Story of Barbar’, so that everyone can read along and enjoy the wonderful illustrations. Be aware, however, that there are some tragic moments to go along with all of the magical charm and festivities.

– MusicWeb International

Johannes Brahms began his musical life studying the piano, and his earliest, truly great compositions were solo piano works, both presented here. The Scherzo in E-flat minor, Op. 4, is the earliest surviving composition by Brahms. He wrote it in November 1851 when he was 18. He published it as Op. 4, rather than Op. 1, because, he explained to a friend, “when one shows one's self for the first time, people must first see the head and not the feet.” Musical scholars feel that, despite the composer’s denial, it obviously shows a “dependence” on Chopin’s scherzi, and quotes from Heinrich Marschner’s Hans Heiling at bar 46 as well. is certain that Brahms had composed the Scherzo of the F minor Piano Sonata in November 1852,before meeting Schumann and Liszt, but the same scholars feel bars 105 through 111 of this Scherzo unmistakably show the influence of Liszt’s music with “striking parallels.” The Sonata was completed just after Brahms’ visit with Schumann, and it would be easy for us to see Schumann’s influence in retrospect. Internationally recognized as one of today's most acclaimed and admired pianists, Yefim Bronfman stands among a handful of artists regularly sought by festivals, orchestras, conductors and recital series. His commanding technique, power and exceptional lyrical gifts are consistently acknowledged by the press and audiences alike.

This programme reveals Philip Sawyers as a composer at the height of his powers whose music ranges across a relatively wide spectrum of harmonic intensity, from the very direct and straightforward tonal language of the Fanfare to the twelve-tone pyrotechnics of the Third Symphony. However, regardless of whether we look to the modal harmonies of Songs of Loss and Regret or the multi-layered serial counterpoint of the finale of the Third Symphony, we still find a unifying sense of a strong and individual artistic personality. In his symphonic works, we hear an uncommonly accomplished resultion of some of the aesthetic tensions which have gripped so much music to grow out of the Central European tradition in the generations after Mahler and Schoenberg. Sawyers works with a spectrum of musical materials ranging from diatonic and modal material through to twelve-tone themes with a striking mixture of rigor and imaginative flexibility.

Classical Music

French organ music from the period of Louis XIV to the Revolution has always held fascination for performers and listeners alike. The kaleidoscope of colours, the rich and varied styles, and the sheer exuberance of the music never fail to captivate. Yet, performance practice of this music has never been fully understood. David Ponsford has spent much of his career studying this repertoire, resulting in his book French Organ Music in the Reign of Louis XIV (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The present series of recordings on the most important historical organs in France, including the music of Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers, Louis Couperin, Nicolas de Grigny, Louis Marchand, Louis-Nicolas Clerambault, up to composers of the Revolution such as Balbastre, Beauvarlet Charpentier and Lasceux, is therefore the fruit of many year of research by a seasoned performer whose aim is to combine technical brilliance with intellectual understanding, to bring the music alive with authority and meaning.

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REVIEW:

This double CD is a must-have.

– Choir & Organ

Ransom Wilson has long been recognized internationally as one of the greatest flutists of his generation. After graduation from the Julliard School in 1973, he spent a year in Paris as a private student of Jean-Pierre Rampal. As a flute soloist, he has appeared in concert with some of the greatest orchestras and artists of our time, including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, Frederica von Stade, Jessye Norman, Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Hilary Hahn, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Sir James Galway, and many others. Francois Dumont is a prizewinner of the most prestigious international competitions: the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Chopin Competition, the Cleveland International Competition in the United States and the Clara Haskil Competition in Switzerland. In 2012, he received the prize of Revelation de la Critique Musicale francaise. Born in 1985 in Lyon, Francois Dumont worked with Pascale Imbert, Chrystel Saussac and Herve Billaut before being admitted at the age of fourteen to the Conservatoire National Superior of Music and Dance of Paris in the class of Bruno Rigutto. With Virginie Constant and Philippe Aiche, he is a member of the Trio Elegiaque.

During the 18th century, Louis Marchand was the most famous French organist, and renowned throughout Europe. Therefore, in the year of the 350th anniversary of his birth, it is appropriate to record his best organ music on a historic instrument that has been sympathetically reconstructed in modern times. French organ music from the period of Louis XIV to the Revolution has always held fascination for performers and listeners alike. The kaleidoscope of colours, the rich and varied styles, and the sheer exuberance of the music never fail to captivate. Yet, performance practice of this music has never been fully understood. David Ponsford has spent much of his career studying this repertoire, resulting in his book French Organ Music in the Reign of Louis XIV (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The present series of recordings on the most important historical organs in France, including the music of Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers, Louis Couperin, Nicolas-Antoine Leb�gue, Andr� Raison, Jacques Boyvin, Fran�ois Couperin, Nicolas de Grigny, Louis Marchand, Louis-Nicolas Cl�rambault, up to composers of the Revolution such as Balbastre, Beauvarlet Charpentier and Lasceux, is therefore the fruit of many years of research by a seasoned performer whose aim is to combine technical brilliance with intellectual understanding, to bring the music alive with authority and meaning.

I love listening to music that feels as if it is being created at that very moment - and whatever I am playing, that is what I hope to access. I first realized how important this is to me as a performer during a live BBC World Service broadcast on which I was featured as a student - spontaneously deciding not to play what I had planned, but just to play and see what happened, introducing it with something like, people say that when I play at my best, it sounds like improvising - so I am going to improvise". That didn't feel like a brave or reckless step at the time, it did not even occur to me that I might dry up - or that some might think that music created live would have less merit than the compositions of the classical masters or an old folk tune. And - still - it doesn't feel like that. That's exactly what this album is." (Adam Summerhayes)

Cellists are fortunate indeed to have their two Brahms sonatas, both masterpieces in their genre. So one can, and certainly will, ask why we need or indeed dare to 'borrow' the G major violin sonata and the two clarinet sonatas and thereby make our two into five. Questions that arise: Are we just attempting to reproduce the original work with the necessary pitch and register changes? Can this be an opportunity to give another significance, even a second parallel existence, to a beloved work of art? The answer to the first question must be 'no', because such a treatment would simply be arrogant and pointless. To the second, I hope, listeners can agree that the two clarinet sonatas and the G major violin sonata lose nothing in these 'translations' and even gain a great deal of new and perhaps unexpected depth and character.

Fanfare, Air and Flourishes is a suite originally for solo horn made from three pieces written during the COVID-19 pandemic for different purposes. The first, 'Fanfare', was written to a commission from the Royal Academy of Music, who invited two hundred composers to write pieces for all of the instruments taught at the Academy in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the institution. 'Fanfare' leans into one particular aspect of the horn's personality: it's assertive, loud and urgent. The expression mark at the start is 'bold and brassy'. 'Air' celebrates the horn's mellow tone; semplice espressivo is the instruction at the start of the piece and the horn plays a melody as expressive as anything you'd hear as a solo in a brass band. 'Flourish', the third piece, was a commission from BBC Radio 3 during lockdown. Rising melodies - or flourishes - run up and down the horn, returning even more elaborately after a simpler middle section. Flourish was written at the same time as Gavin was writing The Faerie Bride, and these flourishes appear in the oratorio to mark the turn of the seasons.

The sonic image I had when composing this eight-minute composition was that of a kaleidoscope's vibrant and multi-shaped materials being rotated five times, resulting in five ever-changing bebop dances which are played without pause. The orchestra is a virtuosic kaleidoscope. Bebop Kaleidoscope, Homage to Duke Ellington unfolds a labyrinth of musical interrelationships and connections that showcase the world-class musicians of the New York Philharmonic and conductor Ken-David Masur. Here is a virtuosic display of rhythmic and timbral dexterity, counterpoint, skill, energy, dynamic and articulative range, precision, and teamwork. When feasible, the composition is to be performed with dancers. Made as an homage to Duke Ellington, Bebop Kaleidoscope celebrates the imagination, joy, love, swing, soul, energy, great chords (as if he had seven fingers on each hand!), rich chord progressions, tight big-band-splash-chords, the use of brass mutes, the highlighting of soloists within the band, and the sheer beating-heart inner life of the music. - Augusta Read Thomas

Dacw 'Nghariad (there is my love) is a beautful Welsh folk song that I discovered whilst working on a cantata for the Aldeburgh Festival based on the Welsh myth of Lyn y Fan Fach. The song is about longing; longing for something that is unreachable and distant, for the moment at least. � Gavin Higgins