Antonio Caldara (1670-1736) was revered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest European composers. After his training, he worked in the most important cities and courts of Italy as well as in Barcelona at the court of King Charles III of Habsburg. When he was elected Emperor as Charles VI, he brought the composer to the Habsburg court in Vienna as vice-chapelmaster. At the height of his creative powers, Caldara created the oratorio Gioseffo che interpreta i sogni (Joseph, the interpreter of dreams) for the Viennese imperial court in 1726. It takes up the Old Testament story of Joseph, who interprets dreams in prison during his Pharaonic captivity, until this even reaches the Pharaoh. He has him released from prison and finally elevates him to the rank of minister because of his gift. In addition to the biblical figures of Joseph and Pharaoh as well as the baker and the cupbearer, the librettist Giovanni Battista Neri adds the figure of the deceitful servant Zedekiah and a narrator who comments on the action in a lyrical manner. Caldara set his text to music according to the musical taste of the emperor, who, as an accomplished connoisseur, also appreciated artful counterpoint and fugue technique. The work is also characterized by it's colourful orchestration, in which instruments such as the chalumeau and psaltery are also used. Antonio Caldara's immense oeuvre comprises several thousand works, which are only gradually becoming known to the public.

Pianist Peter Friis Johansson has brought together renowned musicians, including violinist Johan Dalene and soprano Sofie Asplund, for a programme that juxtaposes three generations of Swedish composers. The vocal and chamber works performed here testify to the special place these genres occupy in Swedish art music and to the vitality of musical societies in the early twentieth century, which sparked an interest that went far beyond easily digestible music. Andreas Hallen is the oldest of the composers featured here. His Piano Quartet shows great confidence despite being an early work. Like many composers of his generation, Hallen readily incorporates folk elements. Wilhelm Stenhammar produced an important and varied body of work. His Violin Sonata is a work that reflects the ideals of his German education: it is absolute music without any explicit extra-musical narrative content, a 'synthesis of classicism and sensitive poetry', as his first biographer put it. Sara Wennerberg-Reuter is the least-known of the three, and many of her scores remain unpublished. Stockholm's only female organist with a permanent position, she left behind a varied body of work spanning a wide range of styles. She distanced herself from her contemporaries with a musical style that focused on melody, a commodity she felt had by then become scarce.

The accomplished and versatile piano sextet Sestetto Classico are renowned for their superb performances of both well-known and rare works of chamber literature. These masterpieces by Bertini and Hummel are like miniature piano concertos in terms of their form, scope and virtuosity. "The Sestetto Classico players are absolutely first-rate, bringing off both pieces with fire and affection. Strongly recommended." (Fanfare)

The music of the Yorkshire-born Arnold Cooke (1906-2005) - inventively contrapuntal, lyrical and energetic in turns - does not deserve the neglect it suffered even in it's composer's lifetime. This second album of two presenting all five of Cooke's string quartets underlines his reputation for resourceful craftsmanship, presented in a style which sits downstream from Hindemith, with whom he studied in Berlin, and from Bartok. There is also a surprisingly strong dance element in all three works heard here, though tempered, even in their lighter moments, by something of the emotional reticence of Britten's quartets.

Though Belgium in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was known above all for it's "school" of violin-playing, represented by figures such as Henry Vieuxtemps and Eugene Ysaye, it was also home to a flourishing piano "school". After independence in 1830, the new nation's conservatoires opened numerous classes, method-books and anthologies proliferated, and piano-makers kept pace with new patents and instruments. This dynamic environment naturally had an effect on composers; everyone who wrote music wrote for this king of instruments, and promoted the results either by performing them themselves or by confiding them to virtuosos to execute in concerts or competitions. The most famous of these, the Eugene Ysaye Competition (since 1951 the Queen Elisabeth International Competition), opened to pianists in 1938, with Emil Gilels emerging victorious. A quarter of a century later, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden entered this prestigious contest and, at sixteen years of age, came away with a third prize. Trained at the Brussels Conservatoire by Eduardo del Pueyo, he would go on to an international career still active six decades later. The programme of this CD is an homage to this long lineage of teachers and students. It testifies to the practices as well as the networks of friendship that gave this "school", throughout it's various ramifications, a particular character.

The world-renowned violinist Ida Haendel CBE (1928-2020) was born in Poland, a child prodigy whose career spanned seven decades. She studied with the greatest teachers of the time, Carl Flesch and George Enescu. Haendel made her London debut playing the Brahms Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall Promenade concerts in 1937, to great acclaim. The association with the Proms was lifelong and resulted in 68 appearances there. At the outset of war she moved to the UK, before finally settling in the US. Her close affinity with the Sibelius Violin Concerto drew praise from the composer, while her performances of the Brahms, Elgar and Britten concertos were of the very highest quality. She toured widely under such great conductors as Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Adrian Boult, Sergiu Celibidache, Bernard Haitink, Otto Klemperer, Raphael Kubelik, Charles Munch, Sir Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel and Zubin Mehta. She died at her home in Miami aged 92.

Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Faure each contributed a single string quartet to the chamber music repertoire, but both works are masterful reflections of their distinct musical voices and the broader evolution of French music in the early 20th century. Ravel's String Quartet in F major, composed in 1903, stands as a defining work of French impressionism in music. Influenced by his teacher Faure and Debussy's quartet from 1893, Ravel's quartet is nevertheless strikingly original. The piece follows the traditional four-movement structure, but with bold harmonic language, refined orchestration for strings, and rhythmic innovation. The first movement is lyrical and elegant, while the second features pizzicato and dynamic contrasts that create a vibrant, almost playful texture. The third movement offers deep introspection, and the final movement reintroduces themes in a whirling, virtuosic conclusion. In contrast, Gabriel Faure's String Quartet in E minor, Op.121 is a late work, completed in 1924, shortly before his death. It was his only string quartet, and it reflects a more introspective, spiritual tone. Faure, already nearly deaf and physically weakened, poured into the music a sense of serenity and resignation. The three-movement structure (unusual for a quartet) avoids virtuosic display in favor of subtle textures and modal harmonies. The work unfolds slowly, with long, flowing lines and a remarkable economy of means, demonstrating his mature mastery of form and expression. Together, Ravel's and Faure's quartets represent two ends of a stylistic spectrum: Ravel's vibrant, youthful exploration of sound and structure contrasts with Faure's meditative farewell. Both works, however, reveal the expressive depth and refinement that define French chamber music at it's finest. As an important and substantial bonus to this recording we hear Ravel's Introduction & Allegro for flute, harp, clarinet and string quartet, a highly original and attractive work. Played by the Quartetto Nous, the Italian string quartet also engaged in the recording of the complete Shostakovich string quartets for Brilliant Classics, to great critical acclaim.

Principal conductor Ivor Bolton will bid farewell to 'his' orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, in summer 2025 with a 'French' album. He will hand over the baton to his successor Markus Poschner for the new season. So as a farewell, here are symphonic and vocal works by Ernest Chausson. The Symphony in B flat major recorded here is characterised by it's lyrical melody and harmonic sophistication, which builds a bridge between romantic expressiveness and impressionistic sounds. In comparison, the vocal works also presented here, such as 'Viviane' or 'Helene', often have a more intimate, vocal quality that emphasises the human voice. These differences illustrate Chausson's versatility as a composer and his ability to combine fascinating instrumentation with profound emotions in both instrumental and vocal music.

New recordings of High-Baroque concertos and sonatas by a forgotten English composer living in 18th-century Rome. Born in Leicester around 1673, Robert Valentine came from a family of musicians, but found his vocation and his career path once he moved to Rome in his 20s. Working as a violinist and flautist for several churches, he was evidently proficient in several other instruments such as the oboe, and quickly found his feet as a composer with an ear for public taste, and the ability to translate his instrumental virtuosity into original invention on the page. The present album takes a representative sample of that fluent invention with sonatas and 'concertos' (also written for chamber forces) from several different collections. A Sonata for two recorders holds instant appeal for anyone captivated by Vivaldi's writing for the instrument. A Concerto in B flat, for recorder, two violins and ensemble, is worthy of comparison with the work of the Venetian master, for it's brilliance and intensity. By contrast, the style of the 'Concerto con Flauto Traversiero' leans towards a crystalline simplicity, well suited to the delicate sound of the transverse flute of the period, and capable of producing those chiaroscuro effects and dynamic nuances that the recorder lacks. In each case, Valentine writes sensitively for his chosen forces. A pair of sonatas for flute and basso continuo, published in 1735 as part of Valentine's Op.13, are effectively elegant Baroque dance-suites - whereas an Op.13 published elsewhere under Valentine's name includes a violin sonata written in the galant style, full of rustic fanfares and flourishes. Founded and led by the flautist Enrico Casularo, Ensemble Afflatus specialises in the performance and recording of little-known, often unpublished music from 18th-century Italy. Casulero is also an editor of this repertoire, and a teacher of Baroque flute at the Santa Cecilia conservatoire in Rome. He is joined here by colleagues with no less expertise in the repertoire, and the album makes an ideal introduction to the art of Robert Valentine.

Finnish jazz guitarist Kalle Kalima and jazz trombonist Conny Bauer met in 2022 at a birthday concert for Nils Wogram, where they were playing at a jam session. They quickly developed new compositions together and worked on new ideas, for example based on a musical system developed by Conny in which certain intervallic movements can take place at certain times. They recorded their current album in Berlin in 2023. The music is strictly collective with the intention of escaping the usual categories.

Radiophonie vol 15 is a collection of trailers broadcast in 2023-24 by various Radio France channels. France BLEU package, specially composed by Pascal Obispo and James Gravity; France Inter theme songs rearranged by Christophe Minck, Clement Ducol, Clement Leotard, Alexandre Finkin and many others.

Haydn's Passiontide masterpiece in it's string-quartet version, with the Latin inscriptions to each movement intoned as a liturgical preface. Invited to compose reflections on the Seven Last Words for a Good Friday service to be held in Cadiz in 1787, Haydn originally wrote a cycle of pieces for chamber orchestra. Ever practical, he soon adapted the piece for string quartet, and then as a vocal oratorio, while also authorizing a solo-piano arrangement for publication. Thus widely disseminated, the Seven Last Words soon became widely performed and recognised as Haydn at his most inspired. For all that the form of the work - seven slow movements capped by an Presto evoking the terrible effect of the earthquake which had reduced Cadiz to rubble just a generation earlier, in 1755 - promises more solemnity than variety on paper, Haydn takes his cue from the texts which have come down to us as Christ's final phrases. Thus the melodies for each movement have their own, specifically vocal contour, while the accompaniments graphically evoke the agony, the loneliness but also the peace and serenity which these phrases embody. While quartet performances of the Seven Last Words are probably more frequently encountered than any other version, they lose sight of this specific, spiritual context to Haydn's fervent and devout inspiration. The present, new recording restores that connection between text and music. As an ensemble resident at the Duomo in Milan, this fine quartet of Italian musicians is in any case well practised in striking the balance between solemnity and drama in such music. For the sake of clarity, however, they have made this recording in a modern studio. Away from the cathedral, the musicians of the quartet (violinists Andrea Pecolo and Stefano Lo Re, violist Matteo Amadasi and cellist Alfredo Persichilli) are all permanent members of the Orchestra of La Scala. Bringing both dignity and authority to the inscriptions, Aldo Cazzullo is an experienced Italian reporter and journalist, and current deputy managing director of the Corriere della Sera.

Antonio Duni and his better-known younger brother, Egidio, were sons of Francesco Duni, kapellmeister of the Matera Cathedral from the early 18th century. Antonio studied music in Naples as was the established practice at the time and as a composer and violinist himself became a kapellmeister. An extraordinary talent and restless genius, he left Naples in search of fortune, moving to Barcelona, then Vienna, then Madrid where in 1726 he became Master of the Royal Chapel; he then moved on to Paris, Trier and again Madrid, where in 1736 he befriended the famous singer and composer Carlo Broschi Farinelli, becoming director and choirmaster to the Duke of Osuna. By 1757 Antonio Duni could be found in Moscow, where he was commissioned by the rector of Moscow University to found the Moscow University Choir, a task that was to occupy him for more than eight years. This was followed by a short stay in Riga on the Baltic Sea and possibly a trip to China. From 1765 he moved with his wife and four children permanently to Schwerin in Germany, where in severe financial straits he died around 1766. The recent discovery of the 6 Sonatas is thanks to Thomas Suarez, a descendant of the Duni family on his mother's side, who, upon discovering a microfilm of the only printed edition in the Moscow State Library in 2019 produced the modern edition from which this recording was performed. The Sonatas were printed in Paris at the M. lle Vendome Publishing House (most active between the years 1737-1762), and the fact that the printed manuscript was found in Moscow suggests that Antonio Duni brought it with him on beginning his stay in the Russian capital (1757-65), suggesting the composition of the sonatas predates 1757. The six sonatas each feature four movements in the Corellian pattern, Lento-Veloce-Lento-Veloce. The melodic line presents cantabile themes that are never banal or "mannered", characterised by a strikingly original creativity on harmonic, phraseological and formal levels. The extremely precise articulation indications and passages modulating to keys not often frequented in the Baroque period make for challenging and interesting interpretative work. Taking up the subtitle's given option for flute in place of violin, this recording divides the sonatas between the two solo instruments. - Recorded May 2023 in Sammichele di Bari and Matera, Italy - Booklet in English contains liner notes on the works Thomas Suarez and on the composer by Claudia Di Lorenzo and Natalia Bonello along with a profile of the ensemble - The Italian liner notes & biography are available at www. Brilliantclassics. com - Born in Matera in 1709, Egidio Duni was taught by his father, the composer Francesco Duni. At the age of 9 he entered the Conservatorio in Naples, where his teachers were Pergolesi and Paisiello. His opera debut was in 1735 in Rome with Nerone, a resounding success. Like many of his generation he went to London where his opera Demafoonte (with the last appearance of the great castrato Farinelli!) was a sensation. A serious illness brought him to The Netherlands where he consulted the famous doctor Boerhaave, who cured him. He spent several years in Holland, composing instrumental chamber music for the amusement of the wealthy bourgeoisie. The last years of his life were spent in France, where he was one of the founders of the Opera Comique. - This new recording presents 6 sonatas written for either the violin or the flute, according to choice. On this recording three sonatas are played on the flute, and three on the violin. The music is charming, galant and highly melodious, entertainment at the highest level. - Played by the DuniEnsemble: Natalia Bonello (baroque flute), Vincenzo Bianco (baroque violin), Leonardo Massa (baroque cello), Claudia Di Lorenzo (harpsichord).

One of the most important vocal projects of recent years: the complete songs on 5 CDs by Nikolai Medtner, performed by Ekaterina Levental and Frank Peters. Nikolai Medtner was born in Moscow in 1880. After piano lessons with his mother he entered the Moscow Conservatory where he had lessons from Pavel Pabst and Sergey Taneyev. He won the prestigious Anton Rubinstein Prize at age 20. A younger contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninoff he was destined for a brilliant pianistic career but he chose to concentrate on composition. In 1936 he settled in London where he spent the rest of his life teaching and composing till 1951. Medtner's style is rooted in the 19th century, full-blooded romantic, with a highly personal harmonic and melodic language, often complex and dense, but hauntingly beautiful. His vocal works fuse intricate piano accompaniments with expressive melodies and poetic texts, often by Goethe, Pushkin, or Tyutchev. Ekaterina Levental was born in Uzbekistan. She settled in The Netherlands where she studied at the Conservatory of The Hague. She embarked on a successful career as singer, dramatist and theatre producer. Pianist Frank Peters is a highly respected Dutch pianist, both as soloist and chamber music partner. He is an indefatigable champion of the piano works of Medtner. 'Levental's soft high notes are truly exquisite, and she can do things with the voice that most modern singers cannot, such as to drain the voice of vibrato for expressive effect. All things considered, she is a virtuoso vocalist of the old school, and such artists are extremely rare nowadays... "We are very lucky to have a pianist like Peters, who fully understands this dichotomy, as the pianist on this album. " (Artmusiclounge. Com). "Levental has a dark, rich voice, but her pure tone is never burdened by excess vibrato... She couldn't ask for a more responsive partner than Peters, who reveals an astonishingly deft touch and an uncanny ear for detail. " Fanfare (Volume 1, 96056). "The phrasing is so perfect, the sense of line so keen, the rubato so natural sounding, that this seems the only way to sing them... this lucidity is due to the purity of Levental's voice, which she employs with sure intonation and minimum vibrato, as well with an exquisite (but always controlled) play of colour... This is a major release. " Fanfare (Volume 2, 96061).

Whether in his original home of Vienna, as a conservatoire director in Mainz, or as an emigre in Edinburgh, where he became one of the mainstays of musical life, Hans Gal (1890-1987) championed choral singing as a way of directly involving people in making music: he founded and conducted a number of choirs and provided an extensive output of choral compositions. This third album of his choral music offers a vivid cross-section of music for chamber choir, featuring mixed voices, women's voices and male-voice choir, a cappella, with solo soprano, with piano and with chamber accompaniment.