For the 'Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen‘ (Association for private musical performances), founded in 1918 by Arnold Schönberg, numerous chamber versions of great orchestral works of the modern era were created. One of the last of these masterly 'pocket versions' in late autumn 1921, shortly before the end of the association, was the arrangement of Mahler's Lied von der Erde, which was not completed until 1983 by Rainer Riehn. Thanks to its one-of-a-kind repertoire and exquisite performances, Oxalys is warmly welcomed on stages in Belgium and abroad. At the start of 2017, Flemish radio station Klara awarded the ensemble the ‘Klara Music Prize for best Soloist or Ensemble’. Oxalys’s varied and much-celebrated discography is the perfect illustration of the ensemble’s versatility. With recordings of works by amongst others Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Max Reger and Joseph Jongen, it points out its double focus on canonical repertoire on the one hand and lesser explored oeuvres on the other. Eager to look further than its own genre and territory, Oxalys regularly cooperates in theatre productions. It is also concerned with projects of a pedagogical and educational value. Oxalys maintains a partnership with the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and is supported by the Flemish Community.

Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) already enjoyed a legendary reputation during his lifetime not only as an outstanding virtuoso but also as an excellent teacher. Fortunately, the surviving compositions, his pedagogical writings and corresponding reports from his musical colleagues and contemporaries allow us to get a fairly accurate idea of how Tartini's playing may have sounded in his day. In the informative recording of Marie Rouquie on PASSACAILLE, four pieces from different creative periods of Tartini and music by his favourite pupil Pietro Nardini (1722-1793) complete our picture of the art of this ancestor of Paganini.

25 years after the revolutionary recording with Il Giardino Armonico, Enrico Onofri presents a new exciting version of Vivaldi's Le quattro stagioni on PASSACAILLE, in which he has put all his artistic maturity and knowledge into practice. The focus of the recording is not only on Vivaldi. Onofri also wanted to pay tribute to Mother Nature, who has inspired artists of all genres with her sounds, images, smells and wonders. The selected pieces that accompany the Evergreen come from the Italian repertoire of the 17th century. The Italian violinist and conductor, Enrico Onofri, was invited while still a student by Jordi Savall as concertmaster of La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and also performed with such ensembles as Concentus Musicus Wien, Ensemble Mosaïques, and Concerto Italiano (Director: Rinaldo Alessandrini). He has been concertmaster and solo violinist of Il Giardino Armonico since 1987. Since 2002 Enrico Onofri has also appeared with great success as a conductor, receiving invitations from orchestras and festivals throughout Europe and in Japan. In 2005 he became principal conductor of Orquestra Divino Sospiro (the resident Baroque orchestra at CCB in Lisbon). In 2000 he founded the chamber ensemble Imaginarium.

The Richter-Ensemble plays music from the 17th to the 20th century exclusively on gut strings and uses its experience with historical performance practice to sharpen the sense for the development of musical language over the centuries. It is passionately dedicated to the music of the Second Viennese School and, based on its research, has decided that the time is ripe to take the perception of this music in a new direction, on the path of rediscovery and recapture not only of its modernity but also of its connections to the past. For this reason, the musicians have initiated a project to record the complete string quartet works of the Second Viennese School, to place them in a historical context and to combine them with unusual works by other composers. Their first production is called Wien 1905-1910 and contains music by Webern, Schönberg and Berg: Webern's Slow Movement, Schönberg's String Quartet No. 2 with mezzo-soprano (as originally intended!) and Berg's Opus 3. This approach captures a completely different palette of sounds and reveals a romantic language and nuances that are often overlooked in sometimes strictly modern string quartets with their metal strings. As a result, accessing these works is less of a challenge for the listener.

In Rysum in East Frisia a particularly valuable historical organ has been preserved: This unique instrument from the years 1442 and 1513 still has most of its original pipes. The organist Lorenzo Ghielmi and the Ensemble Biscantores present here a kind of organ mass in which organ pieces and liturgical chant alternate according to the practice of the time. The Italian organist and harpsichordist, Lorenzo Ghielmi, is organist on the Ahrend organ (1991) at the Basilica di San Simpliciano in Milan, where he performed from 1992 to 1994 the complete organ works of J.S. Bach. He gives concerts throughout Europe, Japan and the USA as an organist and harpsichordist. He has made many radio and studio recordings. He plays with his instrumental ensemble La Divina Armonia and in duet with his younger brother Vittorio Ghielmi (viola da gamba and harpsichord). In France, he received the Diapason d’Or for his recordings of Bruhns and Bach. He also played organ & harpsichord in the first recordings of Il Giardino Armonico. Lorenzo Ghielmi, teaches organ, harpsichord and early music at the Milan Accademia Internazionale della Musica.

Giuseppe Porsile (1680-1750) was one of the very few representatives of the Neapolitan School at the otherwise rather conservative Imperial Court in Vienna. Inês d'Avena and the ensemble La Cicala continued their exploration of the Neapolitan repertoire, which had previously been ignored. The soprano Stefanie True lets several forgotten vocal jewels shine in first recordings. The Canadian-born soprano, Stefanie True, studied voice with Catherine Robbin at York University (Toronto), where she completed her BFA in 2003. She then went on to study at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Netherlands) with Barbara Pearson, Diane Forlano, Jill Feldman, and Michael Chance, where she completed her Masters in Early Music in 2009. In 2010, she won second prize at the John Kerr Award Competition in Kent, UK; and in 2011, she placed first at the London Handel Singing Competition (Adair Prize).

The Swiss harpsichordist Michel Kiener presents his interpretation of the timeless classic, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. Michel Kiener undertook both his piano and harpsichord studies in the classes of Louis Hiltbrand (1972) and Isabelle Nef (1975) at the local Conservatory of Music, where he won the prize of virtuosity in both disciplines. Further on, he attended improvement studies with Anneke Uittenbosch and Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. He was awarded the first prize of the Bridges International Harpsichord Competition in 1977 and at the International Competition in Geneva. Since 1977, Michel Kiener has been a professor at the Conservatory of Geneva, while pursuing his activities as both a concert performer and an educator. He has given many concerts in Europe, Latin America and Asia. His background both as a pianist and harpsichordist soon led him to approach the late Baroque and Classical repertories on the pianoforte of 18th and 19th centuries, and even on the clavichord. He plays a magnificent harpsichord made by William Dowd in Paris in 1978, modeled on an instrument made by N. Blanchet in 1730. He interprets J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) on a Dowd harpsichord tuned according to the unequal system of J.S. Bach.

Oxalys and the New World': in it's latest CD recording, Oxalys delves into American masterpieces for chamber music ensemble. From Pulitzer Prize laureate Aaron Copland with his nature fresco Appalachian spring to Minimal Music icon John Adams' mythical Shaker Loops and jazz icon Wynton Marsalis' funky and groovin' Meeelaan. Three unknown facets of a flourishing and inspiring musical culture, as always virtuosically captured by Oxalys, the jewel of our Belgian chamber music ensembles.

In 1614, Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560-1627) published his most important collection of monodies. A truly monumental contribution to the vocal solo repertoire, it comprises one hundred motets with basso continuo, twenty-five for each of the four main vocal registers. This collection survives today in only two copies of it's 1615 German print with the title Centum sacri concentus ab una voce sola. Overlooked in modern times, it has so far remained in the shadow of Viadana's earlier publications. With this project, the nine soloists of the Viadana Collective explore these forgotten motets and present them alongside organ improvisations and works for four, five, six and eight voices and instruments. The beauty of this music is revealed through sonically varied and richly adorned renditions making the most of the magnificent acoustics of the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara and the glorious radiance of it's 16th-century Antegnati organ.

Cellist Elinor Frey has worked for the past many years to research, record, and publish the remarkable cello music of 18th-century virtuoso Giuseppe Clemente Dall’Abaco. Her 2020 CD release "Dall’Abaco: Cello Sonatas" was awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or, and her 2022 release "The Cello According to Dall’Abaco" was given a "cum laude" in Luister magazine.

Her new album celebrating Dall’Abaco’s music is one that explores the Baroque art of variation through two cello trios, performed alongside Eva Lymenstull and Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, and three cello sonatas, joined by Michele Pasotti and Federica Bianchi. In each sonata, the final movements have a theme followed by a set of variations. Such variations give space for the composer or the performer to develop the piece further by producing interesting new gestural figures in the solo cello part while continuing to use the same bass line and its harmonies.

Sonata ABV 39 has a set of variations written by Dall’Abaco, and Sonatas ABV 20 and ABV 21 have variations written by Elinor Frey. Variation sets are typically full of virtuosic gestures and resourceful melodic creations. At the same time, the album explores the subtle variations of sound among cellos and cellists themselves.

A once abandoned Passion project by J. S. Bach? Harpsichordist and conductor Alexander Grychtolik, together with the Il Gardellino Orchestra, embarks on a captivating artistic experiment with this presentation of the Passion Oratorio BWV Anh. 169. The starting point for the partial reconstruction attempt and the completion of the work is the surviving libretto by the poet Picander from 1725. This unique endeavor draws the audience into a profound exploration of human empathy with the poignant suffering of Jesus and sheds light on a passion aesthetic we had not seen previously in Bach's repertoire.

In this recording, Luca Pianca explores the enchanting world of 17th-century French music. He introduces the listener in the unique and refined musical style of the Grand Siècle, where the lute and theorbo reigned supreme.
Ennemond Gautier le Vieux, a notable lutenist and composer, left an indelible mark on the French lute tradition of the time. His work laid the groundwork for future musicians, including luminaries like Robert de Visee, who would go on to create their own musical masterpieces.
Experience the timeless elegance of these compositions that transport us to the glorious musical landscape of 17th-century France.

Often overshadowed by the likes of Mozart and Beethoven, Haydn's piano sonatas have a profound story to tell. From his humble beginnings as a piano teacher to his pivotal role in the Esterhazy court, Haydn's journey as a composer and performer was as intricate as his compositions.
This collection introduces the listener in contact with Haydn’s mature keyboard works, shaped by his encounters with English pianofortes and remarkable pianists like Therèse Jansen. Discover the exquisite "English" sonatas, where technical brilliance meets profound musical depth.
Exploring the emotional core of his work, we encounter the haunting "Andante with Variations in F Minor," a poignant masterpiece that seems to resonate with personal grief.
Michel Kiener takes us on a journey through the life and music of this remarkable composer, unveiling the power of musical expression in Joseph Haydn's works.

The catalogue of Johann Sebastian Bach's works comprises 1128 numbers, but he actually composed more than that: many compositions have unfortunately not survived to the present day. Some works, moreover, have reached us incomplete, either because the composer himself did not finish them or because part of the manuscript has been lost. This recording presents all of Bach's organ works that have reached us as fragments, brought to completion by me. In this not easy task, I have tried to adhere to Bach's style, knowing full well that such a supreme artist is inimitable. At the same time, in this way, it is possible to listen to largely forgotten pages.

The work of Philippus de Monte, a renowned composer of the 16th century and master of the imperial chapel of the Habsburgs, includes over 800 Italian madrigals, French songs, approximately 40 masses, and 250 motets. This present recording is dedicated to the spiritual madrigal, a unique blend of secular and sacred music that Monte helped popularize. The interpretation by the superb singers of Cappella Mariana allows us to appreciate the musical arsenal deployed by Monte in the spiritual madrigals and the absolute beauty of these works from the late 16th century.