A posthumous record? "Nothing to declare!" as Rachid would have said, leaning on the bar counter, with messy hair, bright eyes, and a raspy voice. He's there, you can't miss him. He may be laid to rest in Algeria, but he hasn't left us. He knew that those who are allegedly missing are well and alive: "Do you really know the others?" the master of rock-Cha�bi once asked, quoting the greats Johnny Cash, Oum Kalthoum, and Andy Warhol in a prophetic song titled Andy Walhoo. He wrote this arabic-punk-electro piece with guitars, balafon, and mouth harp before succumbing to a heart attack on September 12, 2018. With boundless energy, Taha wrote eleven songs together with Toma Feterman for his eleventh solo album, diving deep into his roots as usual. First, Algerian Cha�bi, so subtle, yet so complex. Then rock, which took the world by storm during the postwar period, and punk, it's offshoot, in the style of The Clash. Finally, electronica, the musical revolution of the late twentieth century, as hypnotic as the Gnawas guembris or Sufi trance sounds.

To provide an initial account of 10 years of musical rediscovery, the Palazzetto Bru Zane is bringing out a boxed set of 10 albums showcasing extracts from some of the works that have been unearthed: a wide spectrum (1780-1920) of music is presented, spanning tragédie lyrique, opera, operetta and café-concert, cantata, sacred music, orchestral music, concertante music, chamber music, piano music and mélodie. This boxed set also includes recordings made in collaboration with labels working in partnership with the Palazzetto Bru Zane since 2009.

The vocation of the Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique francaise is to favor the rediscovery of the French musical heritage of the years 1780-1920 and obtain international recognition for that repertory. Housed in Venice in a palazzo dating from 1695 specially restored for the purpose, the Palazzetto Bru Zane - Centre de musique romantique francaise is a creation of the Fondation Bru. Combining artistic ambition with high scientific standards, the Centre reflects the humanist spirit that guides the actions of that foundation. The Palazzetto Bru Zane’s main activities, carried out in close collaboration with numerous partners, are research, the publication of books and scores, the production and international distribution of concerts, support for teaching projects and the production of recordings.

REVIEW:

Well worth anyone’s attention, especially those attracted to the less familiar areas of 19th-century repertoire. In fact, I have rarely encountered a ‘compilation’ that has yielded so much listening pleasure...it helps that the standard of performance (and recording) is first-rate throughout. Treat it as an educational indulgence, I say.

-- Gramophone

CONTENTS:

• CD 1: Tragédie lyrique
• CD 2: Opéra
• CD 3: Opérette et Café-Concert
• CD 4: Cantate
• CD 5: Musique sacrée
• CD 6: Musique symphonique
• CD 7: Musique concertante
• CD 8: Musique de chambre
• CD 9: Piano
• CD 10: Mélodie

Surely, no map could chart the fantastic voyage presented in this release. For while this odyssey takes us around a large part of the globe, via the music of Ireland and the British Isles, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, North Africa, Turkey, the Balkans, and Asia, it is largely an imaginary voyage, an interior journey made by the performers, inspired by their travel experiences and their passion for a geographical or temporal ‘elsewhere’. Music has the power of transporting us, in both senses; it can open the ear – and the mind – to other worlds, other cultures and customs; and it can exhilarate and transcend the senses. Here are recordings by iconic artists of the Alpha label such as le Poème Harmonique, Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, and Cappella Mediterranea – all represented in this release.

Highlights include:

Traditional songs & dances of Naples, Ireland, The Balkans, The British Isles & North Africa on baroque instruments | Le poème harmonique plays music of French traditions | Cappella Mediterranea performs music from Spain, 16th-20th centuries | Doulce Mémoire performs music from the meeting points of Western and Middle Eastern cultures in the Renaissance | Andreas Staier leads performances of Bach cantatas

Past praise for previously released volumes included in this set:

Aux Marches du Palais / Le Poème Harmonique

The infectious La molièra qu’a nau escus, the rhythmic zest and mellow harmonies of the largely homophonic Le 31 du mois d’août, the pastoral delicacy of Réveillez-vous, belle endormie, are only a few of the standouts that required frequent use of the repeat button on my CD player. As for the 11 musicians who make up Le Poème Harmonique, they are vastly skilled, rhythmically disciplined, and theatrically vivid where required, as in the galvanizing a capella tarantelle, Sarremilhòque. (The music may be from France, but various patois are employed, as well.) This group is far from the “churchly” type that usually brings great delicacy and little passion to such music. One hopes we’ll hear more from them in the future.

-- Fanfare

Famed worldwide as a film composer, Ryiuchi Sakamoto began his career as a pianist, creating patterns, phrases and innovative arrangements before joining his first commercial electronic pop band in 1978, the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Around the same time, he worked on his first solo album, the Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (1978), which blends up-to-date electronic techniques with an old-fashioned gift for good tunes. Riot in Lagos brought him fame beyond Japan, and he went on to work with many top producers of pop, dance and electro. In 1983, Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence launched Sakamoto's career as a film composer, which has gone from strength to strength with scores for The Last Emperor (1987) and The Revenant (2015). All these pieces feature in Jeroen van Veen's survey, which is based on the best modern edition of these scores and often differs from Sakamoto's own, partly improvised recordings. Classical listeners will appreciate Sakamoto's breadth of reference: to Chopin (Ubi), Bach (Andata, Solari), Glass (Bibo no Aozora), Satie (Opus), Brahms (Intermezzo) and Ravel (Bachata), for example. But his language of minimalist jazz is one enjoyed around the world as music that gives listeners the space to think and work and create for themselves.

Presses Universitaires de France and Fremeaux & Associates offer this biography of Caligula by Nicolas Tran, professor at the University of Poitiers and specialist of the Roman Empire in the first centuries of our era. Caligula is an infamous Roman emperor. He embodies a model of tyrant, from ancient times to the present day. It is interesting to analyze the violence attributed to this emperor as revealing the political and institutional tensions peculiar to the imperial regime during the first century of it's history. For a truly historical biography is not about judging but about placing a singular personality and work in their historical context. Despite the scarcity and complexity of historical sources, Nicolas Tran traces the course of Caligula, the prince to the monster, the emperor to the black legend.

Composer John York writes about his new release with Nimbus Music Publishing: "I felt a need, and relished the opportunity, to exploit my admiration for Clarke's idiosyncrasies after having performed the Sonata so many times throughout my life - and the Dialogue with Rebecca Clarke, written in 2007, for the fine Moldovan violist Mikhail Mouller, was enormous fun to write. There are some recognizable motifs and rhythms, lifted from the sonata and re-used, combined with my own original themes, and my harmonies sometimes follow her general example. I wish I could really have had a conversation with the composer - but this concert showpiece has to make do..."

No, it was not better before! Luc Ferry joins Nicolas Bouzou, essayist and economist, to draw a portrait of our contemporary society and measure the progress made over the past two centuries. Innovation is a creative destruction that upsets established orders, and becomes a factor of fear and uncertainty, yet real and potential benefits must be recognized. While there are still many challenges to be faced in a world of growing complexity, it is all the more necessary to get out of the cycles of defeatist and reactionary apathy, mainly in the intellectual and media perspectives of today. And it is thus armed with confident lucidity that Luc Ferry and Nicolas Bouzou propose reasoned answers to our economic and social stakes to reclaim the future.

Composer John York writes about his new release with Nimbus Music Publishing: "I felt a need, and relished the opportunity, to exploit my admiration for Clarke's idiosyncrasies after having performed the Sonata so many times throughout my life - and the Dialogue with Rebecca Clarke, written in 2007, for the fine Moldovan violist Mikhail Mouller, was enormous fun to write. There are some recognizable motifs and rhythms, lifted from the sonata and re-used, combined with my own original themes, and my harmonies sometimes follow her general example. I wish I could really have had a conversation with the composer - but this concert showpiece has to make do..."

Presses Universitaires de France and Fremeaux & Associates offer this biography of Marie-Antoinette by C�cile Berly, specialist of the eighteenth century and the French Revolution. An Austrian, Marie-Antoinette becomes Dauphine of France in a context that is unfavorable. The last queen of the Ancien R�gime, she behaves like a favorite. She is powerful, scandalous and hated. Her taste for excess has also left her mark on a style and lifestyle that are her own and that have forged her reputation. But Marie Antoinette is also and above all, the queen of the Revolution. C�cile Berly proposes a new approach to Marie-Antoinette's journey, freed from the many presumptions of frivolity and treachery that have been associated with "the Austrian" for too long.

“I’m leaving. I shall not forget via Toledo nor all the other districts in Naples. To my eyes it is incomparable, the most beautiful city in the world.” Stendhal Stendhal describes the Naples we love. The Naples of myriad colors and scents, with its wealth of different music. This set of 10 albums provides an original overview of Neapolitan music of the 18th century, the music that was played and sung in the great houses, the churches and the streets of the city. It is a chance to rediscover forgotten or long-neglected repertoires: a vast musical heritage of instrumental and sacred music, first and foremost, but also folk music, magnificently brought back to life by Marco Beasley, Pino De Vittorio and Guido Morini in Fra’ Diavolo and Storie di Napoli, two iconic albums which appear here together for the first time. The set also features other outstanding musicians of international repute, many of them specialized in this particular repertoire: Roberta Invernizzi, Monica Piccinini, Silvia Frigato, Romina Basso, Salvo Vitale, the Ghislieri Choir and Orchestra (Giulio Prandi), Talenti Vulcanici, Dolce & Tempesta (Stefano Demicheli) and Odhecaton (Paolo Da Col).

This new release is an album of eloquent contemporary music for children performed by Mr. E and Me and The Norwegian Radio Orchestra. The wonderful songs are written, arranged and sung by the highly accomplished duo Mr. E and Me, which consists of Martin Hagfors and Erik Johannessen. Martin, American born, is an artist, composer and lyricist in his own right and a popular collaborator for the likes of Ellen Andrea Wang, Bobby Bare, Big Bang, Motorpsycho etc. Erik is a Norwegian composer, arranger and trombone playing member of Jaga Jazzist, he is also known for his studio work with Susanne Sundfor and The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. New Orchestral Hits 4 Kids also includes a guest appearance by the world music icon, Mari Boine on the hauntingly eerie, Long, Long and performances by The Norwegian Girls Choir. New Orchestral Hits 4 Kids aims to open ears to the wonderful sounds of the orchestra while introducing whimsical, imaginative songs about friendships, forests, wet socks, dancing, space, a robot, a birthday, and a beautiful narrative about a girl on the moon.

From 1947 to 1956 Ruggiero Ricci played on the 1734 Guarneri del Gesu "Ferni, Duc de Camposelice" and from 1956 to 1999 he usually played on the 1731 Guarneri del Gesu "Gibson, ex-Huberman, " which he purchased in 1977. For him the Guarneri sound (as opposed to Stradivari) was a matter of preference, able as it was to give the required brilliance, color and attack that he sought. Until 1981 he also owned violin Lorenzo Storioni c. 1779, with which he recorded the 6 Bach Solos on February 27-28, 1981. This 4-album set presents live and studio recordings, ranging from 1952 to 1986, including some rarities which have never been released commercially, like the Bartok Romanian Folk Dances, Bloch Violin Sonata No. 1, Prokofiev Violin Sonata No. 1, and Saint-Saens Violin Sonata No. 1 Op. 75.

There are only six dynamics used in this score (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff) so that each "level" of volume has a clear meaning and sound. Very often dynamics are staggered and layered; thus it is especially important that musicians play their individual dynamics and not be swayed to change their dynamic if someone is playing a great deal quieter or louder. The words "sempre" and "subito" are used to help clarify the layered dynamic textures. Occasionally, where there are short instrumental soli, the term "rubato" is used and means that it is not necessary to mechanically play the exact rhythm (sextuplet, quintuplet, small triplet, etc.) but rather that one can consider those rhythms more gesturally. "Rubato" does not mean to drastically slow down or speed up the tempo. This music should be performed along with acrobats or dancers when feasible. Flute can be substituted by soprano saxophone, oboe or clarinet; Bass clarinet can be substituted by tenor saxophone or bassoon.

Alan was a complete musician - a composer, performer, teacher, and a person of extraordinary natural musicality. Small wonder then that he was viewed with profound respect by all those within the musical profession who were privileged to come into contact with him... As a pianist one was struck by his innate rhythmic verve, a facet which indeed radiated through all his compositions - but perhaps the quality above all else that will be remembered was that which can best be described as a mezzo voce bel canto, the realisation of a choice and refined ear, and the product of a deep thinker and inner tranquillity'. It is that satisfying synergy of elegant lyricism and rhythmic energy which distinguishes the keyboard works of pianist and composer Alan Richardson. (Paul Conway)

This remarkable release reveals the full breadth and genius of a creative career known to most merely by the tip of the iceberg: a small number of seminal works written in the composer’s final decade of life. Cesar Franck (1822–1890), although considered one of the foremost 19th-century French composers, was not in fact French by birth, but Belgian. He only became a full French citizen in 1873 after he had been appointed organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire.

Franck's career can be divided into three distinct periods, each characterised by the production of very different types of music. From 1834 to 1846, under pressure from his father, he concertised as a piano virtuoso, and most of the works of this period were written with that purpose in mind. In the decade following his marriage in 1848 he composed virtually nothing but became celebrated as an organist, and he would bring the spacious dimensions of that instrument to his sound world in the years to come. His ‘middle period’ – from about 1858 to 1879 – was devoted to the production of works for organ, church music and a series of monumental choral pieces on religious or biblical subjects. In these three decades he wrote virtually nothing for the piano. From 1879 begins the decade of his late flowering in the great chamber and orchestral works, ushered in by his well-loved Piano Quintet and containing the pieces for which Franck is widely known. Spanning all three periods were opera and his small output of 18 mélodies.

Recordings date from 1976-2016.

Includes new liner notes on the music and composer by David Moncur.

Selected excerpts of reviews from some of the previously released volumes included in this set:

Franck: Melodies / Francesca Scaini, Mattia Ometto

Scaini’s vocalism, rich and full with a luscious yet powerful tone and outstanding vocal control. She has no “break” in registers, her voice has the same burnished bronze quality from her lowest to her highest notes, and her vibrato is light and rapid, making her timbre sound almost vibratoless. Her breath control is staggering, spinning out the longest lines as if in one breath, and her musicality unquestionably great (Scaini, the notes tell us, has also sung the modern music of Hespos, Ligeti, and Neurath in addition to the standard Italian operatic repertoire). If I have any complaint, it is that she is more of an operatic animal and less of a song stylist; it’s a bit like hearing Gilda Cruz-Romo sing Schubert Lieder. Pianist Ornetto, following her every mood and impulse, also accompanies along “big” lines. This may not really be the ideal style for Franck’s chansons , but as I say, you can’t fault her voice or phrasing.

– Fanfare

Franck: String Quartet, Piano Quintet / Rubackyté, Vilnius String Quartet

Joined by Mûza Rubackyté, one of the great pianists of our era, the Vilnius Quartet galvanized to bar-by-bar involvement and escalating drama lifting into superbly mastered ecstasy verging on hysteria.

– Fanfare

-----

CONTENTS:

• Franck, C: Le Chasseur maudit
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Symphony in D minor
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Symphonic Variations for piano & orchestra, M46
François-Joël Thiollier (piano)
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Les Djinns, Op. 45
François-Joël Thiollier (piano)
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 11
Martijn van den Hoek (piano)
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Les Eolides - Symphonic Poem
Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra
Roberto Benzi

• Franck, C: Psyché
Sofia Symphony Orchestra
Vassil Kazandjiev

• Franck, C: String Quartet in D major
Vilnius String Quartet

• Franck, C: Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 14
Muza Rubackyte (piano)
Vilnius String Quartet

• Franck, C: Trio Concertant in F sharp minor, Op. 1, No. 1
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Trio Concertant in B flat major, Op. 1, No. 2 'Trio de salon'
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Duo Concertante
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Andantino quietoso in E flat, Op. 6
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Trio Concertant in B minor, Op. 1, No. 3
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Trio Concertant in B minor, Op. 2 No. 4
members of the Academica Quartet

• Franck, C: Violin Sonata in A major
Mariana Sîrbu (violin), Ruxandra Colan (piano)

• Franck, C: Ballade, Op. 9
Julia Severus (piano)

• Franck, C: Transcriptions of Four Schubert Songs, Op. 8
Julia Severus (piano)

• Franck, C: Fantasy on Two Polish Folk Songs, Op. 15
Julia Severus (piano)

• Franck, C: Souvenirs of Aix-la-Chapelle, Op. 7
Julia Severus (piano)

• Franck, C: Grande Fantaisie sur des motifs de Gulistan de Dalayrac
Francesco Bertoldi (piano)

• Franck, C: Fantaisie No.2
Francesco Bertoldi (piano)

• Franck, C: Fantasy on Two Polish Folk Songs, Op. 15
Francesco Bertoldi (piano)

• Franck, C: Grande Fantaisie No.3
Francesco Bertoldi (piano)

• Franck, C: Prélude, Fugue et Variation Op. 18
Muza Rubackyte (piano)

• Franck, C: Prelude, Aria et Final M23 (1886 / 7)
Muza Rubackyte (piano)

• Franck, C: Prélude, Choral et Fugue, M21
Muza Rubackyte (piano)

• Franck, C: Fantaisie in C major, Op. 16
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Grande Pièce Symphonique in F sharp minor, Op. 17
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Prélude, Fugue et Variation Op. 18
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Pastorale, Op. 19
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Prière, Op. 20
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Final in B flat, Op. 21
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Trois pièces pour grand orgue, M. 35-37
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Trois Chorals pour grand orgue, M. 38-40
Adriano Falcioni (organ)

• Franck, C: Cinq Pièces pour Harmonium
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Prélude, Fugue et Variation Op. 18
Joris Verdin (harmonium), Jos van Immerseel (piano)

• Franck, C: Offertoire in A major
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Petit Offertoire
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Quasi Marcia Op. 22 pour Harmonium
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Petit Offertoire pour Harmonium
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Offertoire sur un noël breton
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Entree pour Harmonium
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Piece in E flat major
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: L'Organiste
Joris Verdin (harmonium)

• Franck, C: Stradella
Isabel Kabatu (Léonor), Marc Laho (Stradella), Werner Van Mechelen (Spadoni), Philippe Rouilon (Duke of Pesaro), Xavier Rouilon (Pietro), Giovanni Iovino (Michael), Patrick Mignon (Beppo), Roger Joakim (An officer)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie
Paolo Arrivabeni

• Franck, C: Les Béatitudes, M53
Cornelia Kallisch (alto), Ingeborg Danz (mezzo-soprano), John Cheek (bass), Diana Montague (mezzo-soprano), Scot Weir (tenor), Reinhard Hagen (bass), Gilles Cachemaille (baritone), Keith Lewis (tenor), Juan Vasle (bass)
Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR
Helmuth Rilling

• Franck, C: Redemption
Gé Neutel (soprano)
The Netherlands Radio Choir, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic
Jean Fournet

• Franck, C: Mass in A Major Op. 12
Mariann Bódi (soprano), Attila Wendler (tenor), István Rácz (bass)
Kodály Kórus Debrecen
Salamon Kamp

• Franck, C: Quae est ista
Kodály Kórus Debrecen
Salamon Kamp

• Franck, C: Dextera Domini
Kodály Kórus Debrecen
Salamon Kamp

• Franck, C: Sept Paroles du Christ sur la Croix
Mainzer Domorchester, Mainzer Domorchester
Karsten Storck

• Franck, C: Trois pièces pour grand orgue, M. 35-37
Daniel Beckmann (organ)

• Franck, C: Nocturne
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Ninon
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Le vase brisé
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Lied (Lucien Paté)
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Le mariage des roses
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Souvenance
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Robin Gray
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Passez
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Roses et papillons
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: L’ange et l’enfant
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Les Cloches du soir
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: L’émir de Bengador
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: S’il est un charmant gazon
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: A cette terre où l’on ploie sa tente
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: Aimer
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)

• Franck, C: La Procession
Francesca Scaini (soprano), Mattia Ometto (piano)