William Mathias was one of the most significant and prolific Welsh composers of the 20th century. His flexible and highly approachable style can be heard in the holiday mood of the Suite Parisienne, the brilliance and lyricism of the Capriccio for flute and piano and the wonderfully rhapsodic Sonata for Harp. Mathias’s songs are among the most communicative settings of their kind, including Pan Oeddwn Fachgen (‘A Dream of Youth’), considered by the composer to be ‘one of the finest lyrical poems in modern Welsh.

Albert Ketèlbey reached such a pinnacle of eminence and popularity that in 1929 he was named as Britain’s greatest living composer, based on the number of performances of his works. His original pieces for solopiano range from serious concert works to salon charmers, always characterized by strong melodies, distinctive rhythms, and unexpected phrases, as can be heard on this album. One of his most well-known pieces, In a Monastery Garden, is featured in its original version for solo piano. The Australian pianist Rosemary Tuckhas performed in the Sydney Opera House, Southbank Centre in London, National Concert Hall in Dublin, and Musikhuset Aarhusin Denmark in the presence of Queen Margrethe II. In 2001, she gave the first official performance in the William Vincent Wallace ‘Millennium’ Plaza in Waterford, Ireland. She has worked closely with Richard Bonynge, AC, CBE, as both soloist with orchestra and collaborative pianist, and in 2020 was both artistic director and soloist for his 90th birthday gala in London.

The unconventional structure of Gian Francesco Malipiero’s music takes us on a journey through unexpected, sometimes incredibly beautiful vistas. The Sixth Symphony is a rich and songful celebration of string sonorities and moods, while the heroic Ritrovari and evocative Serenata mattutina display Malipiero’s expertise in writing for unusual chamber ensembles. The Cinque studi, heard here in their premiere recording, demonstrate an astonishing range of contrasting moods- a kaleidoscopic sonic tour with no more than a small orchestra, which juxtaposes orchestral strings with a wind group of a single flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon and two horns, and a percussion group of cymbal, bass drum, tambourine, celesta, and piano.

David Mason’s beautiful verse-adaptation of Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, astutely portrays its characers amid the Puritan society of 17th century New England. My music-lyrically expressive and intricately orchestrated- dramatizes the psychological underpinnings of this story. Though Hester is shamed for adultery, her steadfast strength of character reveals a true moral sense, while the weakness of both her lover and estranged husband ultimately yield their self-destruction. This is a world premiere recording made possible by a generous grant from the Sorel Organization.

Noukilla’s Soley is a mix of sega and seggae music, with a touch of jazz: a tribute to their home country of Mauritius. Created by Creole slaves, sega music was publicly shunned in Mauritius until the 1960s, when it was embraced nationally. In the 1990s, a Mauritian Rastafari, known as Kaya after the Bob Marley classic, infused it with reggae, creating seggae. Although he died under questionable circumstances in 1999, countless contemporary Mauritian musicians are influenced by his legacy and music. The album cover features the island’s most famous ex-resident, the dodo bird.

Erich Korngold was described as ‘arguably the most remarkable prodigy in history’, whose transition into artistic maturity was almost seamless. The successes of his youth continued with works such as the Piano Quintet, Op.15, in which the brilliant interplay of the instruments, songful expressiveness and dramatic power create a masterpiece of weight and sub-stance. The Suite, Op.23 is a highly virtuosic piece in which Korngold leads us on a monumental stroll through a gallery of European musical history, from Bach via Beethoven to the early 20th century. Spectrum Concerts Berlin has also recorded Korngold’s Piano Trio, Op.1 and String Sextet, Op.10 for Naxos.

The wedding in 1568 of Renate of Lorraine to Wilhelm V, heir to the throne of the Duke of Bavaria, was a sumptuous, 18-day spectacular designed to rival those of the Italian courts. Orlande de Lassus had been the court’s maestro di cappella since 1556. Using an eye-witness account of the event, Ensemble Origo presents a hypothetical reconstruction of some of his musical contributions – a Te Deum, the moresca (a genre related to the villanella), and an improvised comedy – thereby shedding light on some of the various meanings that the music had for its 16th-century listeners. Ensemble Origo is an early music ensemble founded in 2010 and directed by Connecticut-based musicologist and conductor Eric Rice. Its aim is to present vibrant performances and recordings of early music – from the Middle Ages through to the Baroque – that reflect the context in which the repertory was originally produced and heard; ‘Origo’ is Latin for ‘earliest beginning’, ‘lineage’, or ‘origin’. The ensemble draws on a roster of musicians from Connecticut, Boston, and New York.

From Eric Rice, Director of Ensemble Origo: "This recording originated from my curiosity about the moresca, an Italian musical genre that caricatured Black Africans. I wanted to know where, how, and for whom these pieces were performed; this recording of four vignettes from a 16th-century wedding is the result."

"Like most scholars and performers of early European music, I am a white person of privilege, and among the many things such privilege has afforded me is the opportunity to study and perform this music. While I do not claim any first-hand knowledge of exclusion due to my race, my gender, or the traditional beliefs of my ancestors, I am fervently interested in understanding racism, oppression, and their manifestations in cultures past and present. Oppression in music of the past is often simple erasure on the part of music historians and performers: the tacit denial that people of other races even existed in a particular time and place, either through neglect or refusal to bring their documented presence to light. Such erasure, in turn, has resulted in a lack of understanding of how music was used to perpetuate the myth of white European superiority."

"In this recording, I aim to show the presence of Black Africans in several 16th-century European musical works, to demonstrate how these works were used, and to invite our listeners to consider their various purposes, including the perpetuation of the white superiority myth. While I could have demonstrated such uses solely in the context of scholarly articles, these have less currency and immediacy than the act of listening – of bearing witness with the ears – to this music, which must first be performed by modern musicians. Indeed, many of these representations have to be heard in order to gain a robust understanding of how they function. This performance of Lassus’s moresche in something like their original context does not constitute an endorsement of the views expressed in them, nor does it represent unambiguous advocacy for them as works of art. Though these pieces have been recorded before, little regard has been paid to the original context in which they were created and performed. This recording seeks to address that."

Le Nozze In Baviera: Sung Text

REVIEW:

In the early spring of 1568 the wedding took place in Bavaria of Renate of Lorraine to Wilhelm V, heir to that Southern German dukedom. Lassus had by then travelled extensively (there are claims that he also visited England and France) from his native Mons at least to Germany and Italy. He was Duke Albrecht V’s (Wilhelm’s father) maestro di cappella and so provided the music for a celebration which Albrecht was determined to make an occasion to be remembered. The following year Massimo Troiano wrote a description of the event(s) in a form sufficiently detailed and vivid to allow Rice to attempt a hypothetical reconstruction of how the music may have sounded.

There its humour (Lucia, celu [tr.6], for instance), piety (the Te Deum [tr.1]), uninhibited celebration (Cathalina, apra finestra [tr.8]), parody and Burlesque (Álla la pia calia [tr.3]), bawdy (O Lucia, miau [tr.7]), ceremony (Chi chilichi [tr.9]), and pathos (Chi passa per 'sta strada [tr.12]). This last is actually by a contemporary of Lassus, Filippo Azzaiolo, who was born between 1530 and 1540 and lived until after 1570 and gets just that one track on the CD.

In fact there is all the fun, frolicking and abandon of a wedding—especially one lasting as long as this one did… at least a fortnight. So the guests (here the performers of Ensemble Origo) realise that they had better behave themselves and hold their drink, and temper their abandon with lucidity and a measure of decorum which mustn’t sound too reluctant. The performers here get this just right.

For many new to Lassus, Le nozze in Baviera will give a slice of his non-sacred works that ought to delight and invite further exploration. For those who value this—yes—still much underrated composer, the CD may show something new. In all cases, it is one to revel in.

– MusicWeb International

The recording of “La Leggenda di Vittore e Corona” focuses on the musical-liturgical repertoire that the ancient Venetian medieval tradition named after the two proto-martyrs. The source (Antifonario Marciano, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, 14th century) sings in the form of the minor liturgy of the Vespers the different moments of the Passio involving Vittore until he joined Corona in the martyrdom, reaching eternal glory. Far from representing only a local cult, the legend of Vittore and Corona is fully part of the history of Christianity and, in particular, of the defenseless yet determined struggle for the freedom of faith, thought and conscience. The style between the Gregorian and the Aquileian rite of the Marcian vespers (first performance in modern times) is very well accompanied by that of the polyphonic pieces taken from European codes of the same period, underlining the salient moments of the legend; the original alternation of the voices and medieval instruments between concordant monody and polyphonic dialogue connotes the performance of the InUnum Ensemble enhancing the narrative.

A century to the day after the orchestra's first concert on 24th October 1919, the centennial season culminates in a "splashy gala night" (San Francisco Classical Voice) at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the current and former chief conductors Dudamel, Mehta and Salonen sharing the podium. The repertoire is a true reflection of the DNA that makes the LA Phil the LA Phil and "the defining factor of this orchestra is it's ability to blend genres and styles to create totally new takes on classical works." (The Guardian) The New York Times recently called the LA Phil "America's most important orchestra. Period". Look no further than this concert�s program: Ravel's La Valse - Zubin Mehta; Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 4 - Esa-Pekka Salonen; Strawinsky's Firebird Suite - Gustavo Dudamel and the World Premiere of Daniel Bjarnason's New Work for Three Conductors! This release also includes the bonus film LA Phil - The Tradition of the New. The documentary portrays the LA Phil and it's continual creative reinvention on the occasion of this jubilee. Including a historical part to trace the steps that played a part in where the orchestra stands today and interviews with the current and former chief conductors Dudamel, Mehta, Salonen, Frank Gehry, John Adams and music critics, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic staff. 1. Die Meistersinger von N�rnberg: Prelude (NTSC) 2. La Valse (NTSC) 3. Symphony No. 4 (NTSC) 4. The Firebird Suite (1919 version) (NTSC) 5. From Space I Saw Earth (NTSC) Disc: 2 1. The Los Angeles Philharmonic - The Tradition of the New (NTSC)

This is the first ever album devoted to the chamber music of Helena Munktell, one of the earliest female composers in Sweden. The daughter of an industrialist, Munktell received private lessons in piano and song from an early age, but soon also training in music theory and composition. In 1877 she visited Paris, where two of her sisters lived, and during the next thirty-odd years the city would be a second home to her. Here she studied with composers such as Benjamin Godard and Vincent d’Indy, and became a member of Société Nationale de Musique (SNM), an organization promoting French music and providing opportunities for young composers to have their works performed. A selection of Munktell’s songs had been performed, in Swedish, at a Society concert in 1892 and in 1900 they were heard again, but now in the French versions released the same year by the reputed musical publisher Alphonse Leduc. The Dix Mélodies are finely crafted musical scenes displaying a wide expressive range and variety of moods. Five years later another SNM concert saw the first performance of Munktell’s Violin Sonata in E flat major, by none other than the renowned Romanian violinist George Enescu. Franck’s famous A major Sonata, which Munktell knew well, served as an important source of inspiration in regards to the cyclic form and harmonic writing. The sonata soon appeared in print, now from E. Demets, another French music publisher. The third work on this album is a small-scale piano trio, probably an early work and possibly composed for performance at one of the musical salons at the Munktell family home in Stockholm.

Towards the end of his life, short of money and heavily in debt, Mozart had the opportunity to visit King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia – a famous patron of the arts and a keen and above-average musician. Mozart performed for the King and left with some cash and a commission for a set of six string quartets, of which these are the only three he completed. They are ground-breaking in the way in which Mozart utilised the voicing of the instruments. King Friedrich was a viola da gamba player turned cellist, and these works feature extensive melodies for the cello, usually in a high register, thus emancipating the cello from the bass line and introducing a more evenly blended texture. Firmly established as one of the leading quartets of their generation, the Doric String Quartet enjoys a worldwide reputation and has performed at festivals and concert halls around the globe. Exclusive Chandos artists, the Quartet has drawn widespread critical acclaim for its recordings and won a number of prestigious awards.

REVIEW:

Their collective tone is both sweet and sinewy, with vibrato used for expressive effect rather than as a default setting. Contrapuntal textures are ideally lucid.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice, Sept. 2021)

The Danish King Frederik IX's preoccupation with music must be described as atypical, in fact, unique for a member of a royal house, since it is hardly possible to cite other examples of ruling monarchs whose favorite pastime was orchestral conducting. As a conductor Frederik IX, although self-taught, favored technically difficult challenges in the great symphonic repertoire, in particular music from Wagner's operas, gave the King's unusual musical activities a certain aura. This limited edition set celebrates two very unique King/orchestra relationship, namely King Frederik IX's close affiliation with the Royal Danish Orchestra and Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

One of the outstanding composers of his day, Johann Adolph Hasse was seen as possessing "the same qualities of true genius, taste and judgment" as his librettist Pietro Metastasio. Didone abbandonata represents the once hugely popular 18th century genre of opera seria, exploring the same tragic story as Purcell's earlier Dido and Aeneas while expanding the heroine's conflicts between regal duties, love, and helplessness in the face of desertion.

This outstanding work was composed by Niccolo Jommelli in 1750, and features violin, viola, cello, oboe, French horn, trumpet, basso continuo, and voice. This work highlights Jommelli’s talent as a dramatic composer. The recording features sopranos Valentina Bilancione and Marialucia Caruso, and tenor Manuel Reid.

A New York Times 25 Best Tracks Selection for 2018 - Fanfare

Following acclaimed albums devoted to Britten, baroque lute songs and German lieder, Grammy Award-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan continues to spread his wings with Illuminations, an album featuring compositions by Benjamin Britten, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Faure who were each inspired by the poetry of two nineteenth century French literary titans, Paul Verlaine and his protégé and eventual lover Arthur Rimbaud. The intertwined lives of the French poets and composers manifested themselves in Faure’s impassioned Verlaine-inspired ‘La bonne chanson’ and Debussy’s ‘Ariettes oubliees’ drawn from Verlaine’s ‘Romances sans paroles.’ Just decades later Britten was inspired by Rimbaud’s influential prose-poetry ‘Les Illuminations.’ Critical acclaim for Nicholas Phan has been widespread.



REVIEW:

Britten captures the blend of bizarre, beautiful, decadent, and courtly elements in Rimbaud's symbolist poems. These mingled emotions enliven Mr. Phan’s singing on this recording, starting with the opening “Fanfare,” in which, in trembling voice, he declares that he alone holds the key to this savage parade (of life).

– New York Times