The second instalment of Bach’s music for instrumental ensemble interpreted by Café Zimmermann brings the same fresh, vivid and coherent approach as the previous album. Beyond the formal variety they exhibit, Bach instils in all these works a tremendous feeling of musical ‘irrigation’: whether in a concerto movement or a dance, it is life itself that invades the music.

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Night, sleep and dreams are the subjects of this unusual programme, devoted to works by Bach and Britten, and put together by the lutnist Edin Karamazov. (Alpha)

DUFAY / COMPERE / ARNOLD DE LANTINS: Songs and Dances from t

The works of the French lutenist and composer Charles Tessier give evidence of his vast curiosity and extensive travels in the years around 1600. His Premier livre de chansons & airs de cour tant en françois qu'en italien et en gascon à 4 & 5 parties appeared in London in 1597 with a preface in Italian; the title-page refers to him as musitien de la Chambre du Roy (i.e. musician to Henri IV of France). A second volume, entitled Airs et villanelles français, italiens, espagnols, suices et turcqs... a 3, 4 & 5 parties, was published in 1604. This set was dedicated to Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. Its second edition (1610) appeared with a dedication to King Matthias of Hungary. Charles Tessier achieved a happy balance in his works between the different cultures of his time, with popular songs and refined airs de cour, a mixture of rusticity and delicacy that reflects the tastes of the court of Henri IV. His Italian and Swiss villanelles, his Spanish and Turkish airs - echoed on this recording by pieces written by contemporaries John Dowland, Leo Hassler and Moritz of Hesse - show how men and their works travelled within Europe during that peaceful period between the wars of religion and the Thirty Years' War. With this recording Le Poème Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre invite us to take a look at the travels and the encounters that enriched the joyful works of this very interesting composer. Recorded 28 October-1 November 2005, Chapel of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, Paris Artistic direction, recording & editing: Hugues Deschaux.

The performances are a sheer delight

Johannes Mattheson’s writings on musical taste and fashion are universally quoted by historians of the Baroque, yet his own music is very little known and even less recorded. The 12 sonatas of Der brauchbare Virtuoso are an ear-opener. They’re advertised as for flute or violin, a common sales technique. Most are in four movements – slow-fast-slow-fast – and they are very good indeed. Mattheson ardently advocated the primacy of melody, and his slow movements float beguilingly past the ear, sometimes delaying moments of repose with Corellian skill, elsewhere shaping phrases like the singing of a human voice. Fast movements are driven by impeccable harmonic logic. The performances are a sheer delight. Diana Baroni and Pablo Valetti create a remarkable range of colours. They play to the limits of expressiveness, yet with great persuasion – the ‘honest virtuosi’ of the title. Their sparkling ornaments decorate but never distort, lyrical lines while fast movements have an élan, even nonchalance, which only absolute technical mastery can deliver. Börner and Skalka complete the picture with a remarkable range of continuo colours and textures. The inventiveness of the playing spills over into imaginative editing – improvisatory introductions, and an added obbligato and flute-violin dialogue to allow everyone to join in the final sonata. Commended unreservedly.

Performance: *****
Sound: *****

-- BBC Music Magazine

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"[A] glorious programme of petits motets for Lent, . . . [where] each piece is a tender, introspective contribution to the Passion story.

"Ensemble Pierre Robert’s resonant textures and skilful dramatic timing make these heartfelt performances spring to life . . . full of beautifully emotive polyphony.

"The Alpha label deserves its plaudits for enterprising repertoire, lavish attention to artwork, and beautifully recorded sound."

-- David Vickers, Gramophone

SONGS AND PSALMS FROM FRANCE TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater - Marian Music from Naples

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The ensemble Café Zimmermann continues its recording of the orchestral output of Johann Sebastian Bach. As in the previous volumes in the series, the latest is planned as a concert, but this preference for liveliness and diversity over a more systematic approach does not exclude rigour and coherence in the choice of pieces that make up each volume.

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Firenze 1616

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2008 will be the centenary of the births of Olivier Messiaen and Daniel-Lesur. To mark the occasion, Catherine Simonpietri and the vocal ensemble of soloists Sequenza 9.3, whose achievements were awarded a Diapason d'or in 2006, have decided to honour the composers with this beautiful recording.

Honegger by Honegger: historic recordings from 1929 to 1947. In the third leg of our pilgrimage in search of long lost sound, we brought down the from the shelves of the abundant archives of the Discothèque Centrale de Radio France, a series of recordings related to the composer, director and pianist Arthur Honegger. The was engravings of the 'Rugby' or 'Pacific. 2.3.1' symphonic movements are famous (or at least known...) but music and record lovers will notice in this new volume in the collection «Pêcheurs de perles» this rare Decca version of Symphony No.3 «Liturgique? under the direction of the author. Also to be discovered are fifteen rare melodies, presented and sung her by voices chosen by Honegger, all the more interesting since the composer himself sat at the piano. These are tones from the past in moving and ideal live interpretations. A priceless witness of Arthur Honegger's way of thinking about music.

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