Lina Nyberg: The seven parts of this suite are composed according to the way an old-fashioned Broadway musical is structured, as a tribute to Porter, Gershwin, Hammerstein and all those classic Broadway composers. Each piece is also dedicated to a composer and/or musician who for various reasons have meant a lot to me musically. The suite also marks my love for big bands, which goes back a long way, from when I danced as a teenager to Gugge Hedrenius’ big band in Stockholm in the 80’s. 2023 is the 30th anniversary of my first album Close (an album recorded by the same sound engineer as this one, the brilliant Åke Linton). I look back on these years with pride and joy, but also with some sentimentality. Thirty years, that is after all, my whole life as an adult with all the experiences a life can contain; happiness, disasters, births and deaths, and everything in between, as Shakespeare wrote ”All the world’s a stage, and all men and women but players”. That is also what I have tried to encompass in this suite; a piece performed with brilliance, warmth and commitment by the fantastic Bohuslän Big Band with whom I have had the honor of being Composer in Residence in 2022-23.

Prague-born, Hans Sitt (1850–1922) enjoyed a decades-long career as a conductor, pedagogue, violinist, composer, editor, and arranger in France and Germany. As with his arrangements, which include the complete Beethoven and Schumann symphonies for violin and piano, many of Sitt’s original compositions were written to benefit students and amateurs. These compositions, firmly rooted in the German Romantic tradition, were praised for their pleasing melodies and solid craftsmanship.

Perhaps Sitt’s most progressive compositional approach was in his treatment of the viola as a solo instrument. After decades of neglect by both performers and composers, the viola began to see stirrings of life toward the end of the nineteenth century, and Sitt made valuable contributions to the instrument’s revival.

Composed with an accompaniment for orchestra or piano, the Romance, Op. 72, differs from his earlier works with orchestral accompaniment—the Concertstück and Viola Concerto—both of which rely more heavily on virtuosic devices. Here, lyricism reigns supreme, with the inherently vocal nature of the viola fully on display.

The set of three Fantasiestücke, op. 58 (1894)  is serious in tone and harmonically complex with each movement displaying a high degree of chromaticism.

Given its origin as a piece for solo violin, it is not surprising that the Romanze, Op. 102/1, makes extended use of the viola’s upper register. The work also features fancy passagework of sixteenth notes, a favorite virtuosic device of Sitt’s.

The opening Elegie of the 3 Morceaux, Op. 75, in the somber key of F minor, turns to the major mode in the piece’s concluding moments. After a serene opening, Rêverie is disrupted by a stormier middle section, though the viola soon returns to its dreamlike musings. As a further study in contrasts, the concluding Barcarole starts off in rather turbulent manner (set in the key of G minor) before finally encountering calm waters.

The Gavotte and Mazurka, Op. 132, as the final works that Sitt composed for viola, these lighthearted dance movements demonstrate his skill at writing music in diverse styles and for different markets.

His admiration for his predecessors (notably Schumann) can be heard throughout the Albumblätter, op. 39, as he presents charming scenes of great beauty (No. 1), wistfulness (No. 2), and melancholy (No. 5). The contrasting sections of the third piece (No. 3) are suggestive of his Czech heritage, while the rhythmic complexities of the following piece (No. 4) provide variety and disorient the listener. In the final movement (No. 6), the viola’s opening whirlwind of eighth notes gives way to a 'dolce' middle section (with the eighth notes transferred to the piano) before returning to the dramatic opening material. Sitt forgoes a flashy ending by reining things in during the final eight measures, coyly returning to music from the middle section.

One of Sitt’s most enduring compositions is also among his most virtuosic concert works, the Concertstück, op. 46 (1892). Taken together with his Viola Concerto, Op. 68, these works feature beautiful cantilena lines, effective use of the viola’s various registers, and minimal use of double stops, and would have have been well suited to amateurs and students alike.

Ann Marie Brink has served as Associate Principal Viola of the Dallas Symphony for two decades. Pianist Marta Aznavoorian is known for her inspiringly spirited playing and vast emotional reach.

With his second solo album, the young Swiss harpsichordist Titian Naef follows in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach to the year 1722. As Suites pour le Clavessin, the later Thomaskantor wrote five of today's so-called "French Suites" in the famous clavier booklet for his wife Anna Magdalena. Fresh, melancholy-elegiac, virtuosic-artistic, the music scans the states of mind in shimmering colours.

Vitĕzslav Novák was one of the most important Czech composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Moravian-Slovak Suite is one of his most popular works, evoking an eventful and romance-filled day in a Slovakian village. Recorded here for the first time since its rediscovery by producer Jiří Štilec, the Two Wallachian Dances further invoke Novák’s passion for folk music. De profundis was written during the dark days of the Second World War. It includes an important part for organ which is unleashed with full force in one of the most triumphant conclusions in all of 20th-century music.

REVIEW:

Vitezlav Novak (1870-1949) described an eventful day in a Slovak village with his Moravian-Slovak Suite. It was recorded for this production for the first time since its rediscovery by producer Jiri Stilec.

Conductor Marek Stilec has his orchestra play in a tense yet sensitive manner to atmospherically reflect the character of the individual pieces (At Church, Among the Children, The Lovers, The Ball, Night).

This is followed by the Two Walachian Dances and, finally, the 22-minute De profundis, which was written during World War II and can be seen as a protest against Nazi terror. Novak dedicated the work after the war to all Czech victims of 1939 to 1945, commenting, "In Brno, where Czech citizens were shot and hanged by the Germans for fun, they went en masse to the executions, just as the Romans did in Nero’s time, when Christians were thrown to the wild beasts."

De profundis thrives on dark brooding sounds and, in contrast, abrupt effects "of almost apocalyptic expression," as the introduction states.

The important organ solo becomes especially impressive in the powerfully thunderous Grandioso and supports the orchestra in the triumphant coda.

-- Pizzicato (Remy Franck)

In 1906, Komitas gave a concert and lecture in Paris. Debussy came on stage after the concert and knelt before the Armenian composer (who was also a priest, a singer and a pioneer of ethnomusicology), exclaiming: ‘I bow before your genius, Reverend Father.’

'Komitas is the voice of the land of Armenia, of its churches and its stones which remained silent for many centuries', the violinist David Haroutunian tells us. Along with the mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik, who is passionate about these songs, and the pianist Xénia Maliarevitch, he pays tribute to this great musician and to the French-Armenian composer Garbis Aprikian, now ninety-six years old. This heir to Komitas, a student of Olivier Messiaen, has made a major contribution to the dissemination of Armenian music, both classical and popular, in France and beyond. The album opens with his Lamento, a beautiful evocation of and touching homage to Komitas.

CONTENTS:

• Aprikian: Lamento
• Komitas: Qeler-tsoler
• Komitas: Shogher Jan
• Komitas: Shushiki of Vagharshapat
• Ganatchian: Lullaby
• Komitas: Tsirani tsar
• Komitas: Hoi Nazan Im
• Komitas: Lullaby
• Komitas: Krunk (la grue)
• Komitas: Antuni
• Hakob Aghabab: Jan, ay loosin! (Loosin yelav)
• Komitas: Yerangi
• Aprikian: Lullaby (Arr. for Violin and Piano by David Haroutunian)
• Komitas: Akh Maral Jan
• Komitas: Garoun a (printemps)
• Komitas: Chinar Es
• Komitas: Kaqavik
• Komitas: Yergink Ambel e
• Komitas: Qele, Qele
• Komitas: Dances: No. 5, Het-Araj
• Aprikian: Little Nuptial Suite
• Aprikian: Petite suite nuptial - IV. Scherzo. Réjouissances

REVIEW:

The album opens with Aprikian’s ‘Lamento’, a solemn and moving homage to Komitas, and continues with 5 other pieces by Aprikian and one each by Ganatchian and Achabab. The other 16 pieces are by Komitas. Songs of grief and sadness, separation from loved ones and rejoicing over times of reunion, lullabies, hardship, and homelessness alternate with instrumental pieces. Many reflect the Armenian folk tradition. A lullaby by Aprikian is especially lovely.

The performances are superb. Eva Zaicik, who impressed me greatly in her recent Nisi Dominus album for Alpha, is once again outstanding in a different style. She adapts easily to the vocal demands of this music, with silky singing in a quiet low register and smooth warmth in her higher brighter voice. In a similar way, David Haroutunian draws viola tones from his lower register and high-pitched almost ghostly effects, perhaps from playing sul ponticello (bowing near the bridge). Xenia Maliarevitch is a wonderfully attentive pianist.

When this arrived I didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a most welcome arrival that has appreciably broadened my musical horizon. Each time I listen I find something new to appreciate.

Notes, texts and translations incuded.

-- American Record Guide

Bach composed ten partitas – three for solo violin, one for solo flute and six for keyboard. As the term partita may mean, to quote from the Oxford Composer Companion to Bach, “a suite of dances or a set of variations” – it is no more precise than many other musical terms. If there is no obvious difference between the partita and the suite, there seems to be no justification for two separate terms. In the sixteenth century partita indicated one of a sequence of variations, but this meaning evolved, coming to signify a collection of movements and later – by the time of Bach's keyboard partitas – a suite of dances. Bach's six partitas for keyboard, BWV 825-830, were published individually beginning in 1726, then, in 1731, as a group entitled Clavier-Übung 1 (Übung may be translated as practice or exercise). Among what may be described as Bach's various sets of dance-suites – also including the English Suites and the French Suites – the partitas are the most technically demanding. Johann Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor as cantor of St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig, had published a collection of partitas under the title Clavier-Übung – two volumes (1689 and 1692), each containing seven works. These two collections by Kuhnau, together with two other volumes which he published during his time at Leipzig, proved to be an important influence on German keyboard music. Bach's keyboard partitas in general mark a further advance on his French Suites – even more adventurous in terms of new handling of the dance-forms, more favouring of galant melody-with-harmony rather than imitative counterpoint, and new types of texture. With eegard to the dance-movements in particular, Bach shows remarkable creative freedom and diversity while departing from the traditional models. On this recording, Norwegian pianist Nils Anders Mortensen presents three of the six partitas for keyboard (nos. 1, 5 and 6). There will be a second CD with the three remaining partitas (nos. 2, 3 and 4).

This is an invitation to stand with kings in battle, to fall in love, to witness the brutal machinations of politics, and to laugh with rogues in this 27-disc collection.

Shakespeare’s Globe, the reconstruction of his most famous London theatre, is at the centre of the astonishing global fascination with Britain’s greatest playwright. Completed in 1997, it is a living theatrical experiment that has allowed audiences to experience the impact of Shakespeare’s stories in the architecture for which he wrote; the result has been a rediscovery of the plays in all their human richness. This collection brings together 26 Globe Theatre productions from 2009 to 2018, featuring the finest actors and leading directors in a project committed to creating ever wider access to this rich cultural heritage. Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies contain dazzling poetry, romance, epic power struggles, human suffering and ingenious, raucous humour. These films capture the unique atmosphere and theatrical space of the Globe Theatre, with the exhilarating sense of interaction in live performances between the audience and the actors on stage exquisitely maintained on screen.

Cast including: Stephen Fry, Malvolio (Twelfth Night); Mark Rylance, Olivia (Twelfth Night); Roger Allam, Falstaff (Henry IV) & Prospero (The Tempest); Jamie Parker, Hal (Henry IV), Henry V & Oliver (As You Like It); Samantha Spiro, Katherina (The Taming of the Shrew) & Lady Macbeth; Catherine Bailey, Portia (Julius Caesar); Eve Best, Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) & Cleopatra (Anthony and Cleopatra); Jessie Buckley, Miranda (The Tempest).

Selected reviews of previously issued recordings:

...it is difficult to imagine that Twelfth Night could be performed more effectively than it currently is at the Globe theatre..."

-- The Guardian

Dromgoole is blessed with a smashing pair of young lovers. Adetomiwa Edun's Romeo is fresh, cheeky, light on his feet and full of the ebullience of young love...

-- The Daily Telegraph

Eve Best's directorial debut is a cracking - at times, terrifying - production of Macbeth. --- The Daily Telegraph

Henry IV is the Shakespeare play that's perfectly suited to the Globe.

-- The Guardian

Derived mostly from pansori singing and originally largely improvised, sanjo became (especially in the stylistic school of Master Choi Ok-sam) a structured instrumental suite: On the 12 silk strings of the gayageum zither, Kim Hae-sook paints with virtuosic serenity, a musical landscape of exaltation and restrained emotion. In the 14th and 15th centuries, most genres of the royal court music of the Joseon dynasty (ancestral rituals, banquets, military ceremonies etc.) were performed to realise the ideals of Confucianism. Emphasis was placed more on ideologies than on acoustic aesthetics. Consequently, rather than appreciating free expression, it was a common practice to moderate melodic progress, tempi and ranges. But a change in the musical climate encouraged emotional expression, calling for virtuosic professional performers. This led to the rise of the vocal genre of pansori as the kind of music that made the audience laugh and cry, which eventually resulted in the emergence of sanjo as solo instrumental music. This new genre overtly adopted the musical language of pansori, so much so that it has often been dubbed “pansori without voice”. The sanjo was originally created on the gayageum zither, the most representative of Korean string instruments. Initially an improvised musical form, the sanjo was diversified as various schools were formed according to teachers’ traditions and performing styles, exploiting the full technical potential of the instrument.

Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton releases Sirventés, a collection of new works for cello, solo and in ensemble, by members of the Iranian Female Composers Association. Thornton's powerfully expressive style is perfectly suited for these characterful works. In a fraught moment for members of the Iranian diaspora, IFCA and Thornton make a statement that gives voice to the work of several Iranian female composers.

Born in 1878, Gabriel Èduard Xavier Dupont entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 15, studied with Massenet and Widor, and scored an early success with an opera performed at La Scala, before he died of tuberculosis at just 36. Dupont was already gravely affected by the condition as a teenager, and wrote this hour-long piano cycle between 1903 and 1905. Over the course of 14 movements, Les Heures Dolentes (‘The Sad Hours) depicts the observations of an invalid as he contemplates the world from his sick-bed. Beginning in relative calm, the cycle gradually increases in intensity, punctuated by periods of respite and consolation (‘Une amie’ arrives with flowers) and impressions of life outside (children playing in the garden), before the culmination of the climax in the penultimate piece (‘Nuit blanche – Hallucinations’), and a final return to calm, which leaves the listener a choice between hope and death. But for his early death, Dupont might have been one of the most renowned and admired voices in musical Impressionism.

A modern revival of interest is bringing to light his major works, which focus on music for the stage and for the piano: this release is the first in a series from Piano Classics documenting his complete piano output, which includes a second major cycle, La Maison dans les dunes. This too will be played by Giuseppe Taccogna, a pianist from the south of Italy who still lives and teaches there as a specialist in Romantic and late-Romantic repertoire such as Dupont and Rachmaninov. Taccogna’s own survey of Dupont’s life and work is printed in the booklet of this studio recording, which was made near the city of Bari late in 2022. Gabriel Dupont (1878-1914) died prematurely from tuberculosis, and perhaps one reason why he never attained the fame of his contemporaries like Ravel, Debussy and Faurè was his short life, signed by his illness and the large time spent in recovering in convalescent homes, alienated from the intellectual and artistic inspiration of the capital. On the other hand, this forced isolation allowed the composer to seek his own style and musical personality. Despite his unfortune life, in just over a decade he managed to realize some highly original works. In his two piano suites Gabriel Dupont left a formidable challenging witness of the musical atmosphere of the Belle Epoque: his music, hard to define, lies between romanticism and impressionism with strong connections to symbolism.

This new recording, volume 1 of the projected Complete Piano Works, presents the piano cycle Les heures dolentes, composed between 1903 and 1905 as he first fell ill from tuberculosis; it is a substantial piano cycle based on what was happening around him while he was in his recovery room. Beginning in relative calm, the cycle gradually increases in intensity, punctuated by periods of respite and consolation (A lady friend came with flowers), or life that continues outside (Children play in the garden) before the culmination of the climax in the second-last song (Nuit blanche - Hallucinations), and finally the return to calm, with the last piece that leaves the listener the choice between hope and death. The theme of "melancholy of happiness" (cit. Emmanuel Sauvlet) is the leitmotiv: the symbolistic contemplation of beauty and joy are pervaded by the melancholy awareness of man’s powerlessness in the face of his mortal destiny and ends in a calm, serene resignation.

Played by Italian pianist Giuseppe Taccogna. Specialized in performing Romantic and Late-Romantic repertoire, (such as Liszt, and Rachmaninoff) he is also an eclectic and versatile musician, a great singer and multi- instrumentalist with a vast repertoire that sweeps smoothly between different musical genres.

Nina Kotova astounds listeners with this dazzling album for cello alone. “Solo Cello,” her third album for Delos, reveals her spectacular technique, heartfelt passion and profound comprehension of the extraordinary program she has chosen.

Along with a brilliant rendition of J. S. Bach’s C Major Suite for Solo Cello, the Baroque era is represented by Handel and Marin Marais, both with musical fireworks that leave the listener breathless. Works from the 20th century include Hindemith’s Sonata for Solo Cello (four of the five movements were written in one night!); Alfred Schnittke’s haunting tribute to a cellist, Klingende Buchstaben (Sounding Letters); and Gaspar Cassadó’s charming and challenging Suite per Violoncello Solo.

The repertoire for this album is a fascinating combination of well-known and little-known compositions for solo cello. The two transcriptions (of works by Marais and Handel) sound like they were written for solo cello.

REVIEW:

There is an attractive gutsiness to the tone of Nina Kotova’s cello playing...it is a beautiful sound but one with the tinge of a life lived to it. Her manner of playing is similarly unabashed. If anything, her passionate, unbridled playing steps up a gear in Hindemith’s bristling Cello Sonata. I have always downgraded Hindemith as a bit dry, one for the musicologists. Not a chance with Kotova’s feverish advocacy.

...I found the sound a real pleasure. With a lot of cello writing concentrated on the upper strings, it is nice to hear the depths of the instrument’s sound so ripely presented.

I have a suspicion that this recording reflects a regular concert programme of Kotova’s. The way the pieces work together has the feel of practical experience and, unlike many recital discs which hang together on account of a clever idea or theme, this one makes good musical sense and sends the listener home (so to speak) satisfied. This is the sound of a seasoned musical talent in her absolute prime playing with confidence, sensitivity and flair in carefully and imaginatively chosen repertoire that suits her musical personality perfectly. What more could a listener ask for?

-- MusicWeb International

During the Carnival of Venice in 1637, a play ‘rappresentata in musica’ was opened to the public for the first time – a success. Opera was born and spread like wildfire. Venice had the largest number of theaters in the world. In 1677, the Teatro Sant’Angelo opened its doors on the campo of the same name. Tiny, chaotic, cheap and extremely productive, it was renowned for its musicians and its sets. This effervescence owes much to the figure of Vivaldi who, from 1705 onwards, regularly premiered his operas there and acted (with his father) as impresario. His own Arsilda, L’incoronazione di Dario and La verità in cimento triumphed there, but he also invited composers such as the young Fortunato Chelleri and Giovanni Alberto Ristori. The mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet and her partners in Le Consort pay tribute to all these composers with a flamboyant program that mixes famous arias and world premieres – no fewer than twelve of them!

REVIEW:

Venice’s Sant’Angelo Theatre opened its doors to the public in 1677. Though never the grandest of the Serenissima’s opera houses, it nonetheless attracted important names, including Antonio Vivaldi. Alongside a selection of Vivaldi arias, this album includes a dozen first recordings unveiling other composers who trod the theater’s boards. Spanning the gamut of Baroque affects, the program contrasts frothy arias with tragic outpourings and displays of vocal fireworks.

Adèle Charvet dispatches the showpieces with agility and bravura, but her velvety voice is particularly well suited to the pathos arias which are eloquently articulated; just occasionally her vibrato wavers a little intrusively. She’s superbly supported by Ensemble Le Consort who, under the brilliant young violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte, perform with fire, passion and breathtaking virtuosity.

-- BBC Music Magazine

With his second solo album, the young Swiss harpsichordist Titian Naef follows in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach to the year 1722. As Suites pour le Clavessin, the later Thomaskantor wrote five of today's so-called "French Suites" in the famous clavier booklet for his wife Anna Magdalena. Fresh, melancholy-elegiac, virtuosic-artistic, the music scans the states of mind in shimmering colours.

The music tells its own story differently to each listener. However, here’s the backdrop: “Blue KAT Moves” is a Funk-jazz suite, composed of contrasting parts.

Difficult Grace, based on GRAMMY Award-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods’ multimedia concert tour de force, conceived by and featuring Woods in the triple role of cellist, narrator/guide, and movement artist, is Woods’ debut album for Cedille Records.

Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” Woods has established a reputation as a versatile performer straddling several genres. He is the recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.

Difficult Grace is a semi-autobiographical exploration of identity; past/present histories and personal growth that draws inspiration from the Great Migration; the historic newspaper, The Chicago Defender; immigration; and poetry by Kemi Alabi and Dudley Randall. The album features music written for and with Woods including the world premiere recording of the title work, Difficult Grace, by Fredrick Gifford (b. 1972) that layers solo cello, electronics, and spoken text (delivered by Woods) derived from Dudley Randall’s poem, “Primitives.” Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s (1932–2004) “Calvary Ostinato,” the all-plucked third movement from Lamentations Black/Folk Song Suite, references traditional African American music. Additional world premiere recordings include Monty Adkins’ (b. 1972) Winter Tendrils and Nathalie Joachim’s (b. 1983) The Race: 1915. Alvin Singleton’s (b. 1940) Argoru II and Joachim’s Dam Mwen Yo, featuring Joachim as vocalist, follow.

The program ends with a final world premiere: Ted Hearne’s (b. 1982) multi-movement, Freefucked, a suite of songs set to poems by Kemi Alabi, featuring Hearne on vocals and electronics on the final track, “After We Ruin." In its review of the live performance of Difficult Grace, The New York Times described Woods as “a cellist of prodigious technical gifts and sharp intellect... Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”