Ei paesi di lingua tedesca, la musica per flauto solo ha una lunghissima tradizione, che ha il suo capostipite nella celeberrima Partita in La minore BWV 1013 di Johann Sebastian Bach, capolavoro inarrivabile e, in un certo senso, mai pi� eguagliato. All'epoca in cui Bach scriveva la sua Partita in La minore, intorno al 1720, il flauto traversiere (che gli inglesi all'epoca chiamavano anche German Flute) era praticamente all'inizio della sua travolgente carriera, che ne avrebbe fatto, nel volgere di poco tempo, uno degli strumenti pi� popolari al mondo. Era fatto quasi esclusivamente di legno, ed era uno strumento molto diverso da quello odierno, costruito in metallo prezioso (argento o, meglio ancora, oro), Relativamente facile da suonare, il flauto traverso si e arricchito nel tempo di una copiosa letteratura e ha avuto i suoi eccellenti virtuosi che ne hanno incrementato la popolarit� (nel secondo Novecento, per citare solo alcuni dei pi� noti, Jean-Pierre Rampal, James Galway e, in Italia, Severino Gazzelloni) e hanno direttamente o indirettamente sollecitato gli autori a scrivere per loro. La letteratura per flauto e effettivamente sterminata. Il nostro album ci offre una scelta di sei composizioni per flauto solo, scritte da cinque autori diversi, appartenenti in larga maggioranza all'area musicale di lingua tedesca; la sola eccezione e costituita dall'olandese Rudolf Escher, mentre Willy Burkhard era svizzero-tedesco. Gli altri tre, Karg-Elert, Paul Hindemith e Gunter Raphael, erano tedeschi.

This release presents 18 arias by Italian authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, all taken from the famous Alessandro Pasotti collection and performed on horn and piano. The Pasotti collection Ancient Arias was published for the first time in 1885 and for a very long time has been the main source for the knowledge of operistical music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These were times where musical philology was just at its beginning. The horn player Nilo Caracristi and the pianist Giancarlo Guarino perform eighteen arias chosen by themself with any changes from the original text published by Pasotti showing to the the audience both their cleverness and the exceptional communicative force of this music. This is an enjoyable release from the first to the last note.

Francesco Spagnoli Rusca (1634-1704) lived and worked in northern Italy. His oeuvre, which includes around 500 compositions, is held in the Archive of Como Cathedral. The works on this album are his instrumental works, recorded for the very first time. Performing these premiere compositions are the soloists of the Milan Baroque Orchestra, conducted by D. Costantini.

Vermeer presents a lovely album of rarities by twentieth and twenty-first century American and English authors, thus rendering the title "Clarinet in English." These are compositions that, in wide range of expressions, are strongly related to a language of an immediate communicativity often taking ways of expression from blues and jazz. For the audience this release is going to be a very pleasant change that will surerely enrich the knowledge of broad and rich repertoire but unfortunately less known to the public. Gianluca Campagnolo and Francesco Scrofani Cancellieri compare this particular repertoire with love and passion, showing clearly how classical music is very much alive with a lot to say.

This Vermeer release, a collection of songs by C.P.E. Bach, Wq194, Beethoven, op. 48 (both to texts by C. F. Gellert) and Schubert (on texts by Novalis), features Italian soprano Laura Fabris and her compatriot Carlo Mazzoli on fortepiano. The accompanying detailed notes, in Italian and English, written by Ms. Fabris, also include a bit of interesting editorial writing by C.P.E. Bach himself. In addition to her vocal studies, Ms. Fabris is a former piano student of her accompanist and is herself a voice teacher today. Mr. Mazzoli teaches piano and fortepiano at the Conservatory of Bologna.

Although not entirely accepted by his contemporary composers, Louis-Francois-Phillipe Drouetwas an outstanding flutist, even being called the Paganini of flute. The works performed on this release are Drouet’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s violin sonatas. He has left the piano part untouched, and made very little adaptations to the violin part. These rarely recorded works are performed here by flutist Francesca Pagnini and pianist Stefano Malferrari.

The harp enjoyed its moment of maximum fortune as the 19th c. dawned, its popularity most evident in aristocratic circles and bourgeois salons where innumerable works featuring the instrument were first heard. As with the piano, many operatic transcriptions or paraphrases were the order of the day. The works featured on this new CD from harpist Paola Perucci, all quite rare, share a common denominator: Gioachino Rossini - the author of two works and inspirer of the others by Robert-Nicholas-Charles Bochsa and his pupil Théodore Labarre. Ms. Perucci teaches at the Conservatory of Bologna.

Gerd Zacher is an important figure in the history of twentieth century music. He was the most important New Music organist in the world, and it was thanks to him that composers such as György Ligeti, John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, and Isang Yun wrote so much music for the organ. Vihuela had been the forerunner instrument of modern guitar armed with six double cords. Vihuela pleased a period of extraordinary luck in Spanish first half XVI Century as testified by a series of publications; seven for seven different composers that reveal to the listener an amazing music quality. After Vermeer 40024 dedicated to Luys Milan and Luys de Narvaez Paolo Cherici give us in this long last album a wonderful anthology of the other five vihuela composers: Mudarra, Valderrabano, Pisador, and Daça; five composers very different among them but all with same compositional wisdom and a knowledge of instrument technical possibilities. Paolo Cherici lutist and guitarist and vihuelista of international fame plays this music with technical and philological mastery as testified by the complete end rich cover notes in the album booklet written by Cherici himself. For this recording he played a vihuela made for him in 1995 by Giuseppe Tumiati Milan luthier. This album completes Vermeer 40025 and both are a diptych of the best of whole vihuela XVI Century literature.

The vihuela is the forerunner of the modern guitar; it had a great fortune in Spain during XVI Century that it is testified by a series of compositions. In this album Paolo Chierici gives us a wonderful anthology of the two composers who are well known in vihuela history- Luys Milán and Luis de Narváez. Milan and De Narváez had two very different styles and personalities as Paolo Clerici himself has written “ Naváez Style is completely different from Milan’s one: in Fantasie the first shows a rigorous composition very close to the coeval polyphonic models of the time, the other composer: Milan also in Fantasie shows a style more extemporaneous and rhapsodic. Narvarez composed and wrote tracks both sacred and secular; which Milan did not do.” Paolo Chierici is a lutist, guitarist and vihuela performer of international fame. He presents these tracks with a technical and philological knowledge both of instrument and compositions. For this Recording Clerici used an instrument made for him in 1995 by Milan lutist Giuseppe Tumiati.

Every instrument’s repertoire is usually rich in works composed in very idiomatic ways and realized by authors often unknown to the general audience. Especially in the 19th Century it is possible to notice a very rich literature dedicated to the most different musical instruments able to satisfy the needs and requirements of the one who had to perform as a soloist. In the case of oboe the works we present are an example of a production that collects virtuosity and melodic pleasure. They are all by 19th Century Composers from all over the world - Spain ( Escobés ), France ( Saint-Saëns, Stupuy ), The Netherlands ( Barth ) and England (Walmisley )- everyone with their own peculiarities but united in the perfect agreement of the virtuosic and expressive resources of oboe. Enrico Calcagni is a keen scholar of his instrument repertoire both classic and contemporaneous (as you can see in Vermeer 40020: Henry’s Adventure ) and in this release we have a tangible interpretation of instrumental brilliancy and vividness giving us back in their authenticity too long forgotten works.

Elisa Tomellini began her piano studies at age five. She went on to graduate from the Conservatory of Milan. Tomellini has been touted as a real and authentic piano virtuosi, and this album presents her as an artist with a brilliant future. Included on this disc is Rachmaninov's Moments Musicaux op. 16. This is known as one of the most difficult works of Rachmaninov repertoire, but Tomellini performs with fluency and spontaneity that makes the difficulties of the piece seem to disappear. Rounding out the album are works by Piazzolla, which are performed here with exuberance and poeticism. Tomellini transcribed and arranged these pieces herself.

Philippe Gaubert was born in Cahors in 1879. He was a son of a craftsman who played clarinet as an amateur. When Gaubert was very young he began taking flute lessons with one of the most famous French flautists of time: Paul�Taffanel. His studies were rapid and very impressive, to the point that before he was twenty, he became the first flute of the Orchestra Concerts du Conservatoire. Philippe Gaubert was an open-minded man, so he did not limit himself to the flute but studied orchestral conducting and refined composition as well. In 1920 he was chosen as Op�ra�diu�Paris' musical director and�later on�he began teaching flute at the Ecole�Normale�de la Musique. In 1930 he left the Conservatory professorship to Marcel Moyse (1889 - 1984) and began a position as professor of orchestral conducting in the same institution. He died in Paris 10 June 1941. Goubert's legacy includes three wonderful�Sonanatas�for flute and piano (A major, C major and G major) which are all very important parts of the flute repertoire. Francesca�Pagnini�and Jakub�Tchorzewski�give us a performance rich in shades of interpretation and vitality. The rare�Sonatine�ends the album with just two movements of poetry and delicacy.

I solisti di Pavia was founded about twenty years ago and nowadays can be seen as a stable and affirmed ensemble in both the Italian and European music scenes. Along with their leader, Italian cellist Enrico Dindo, the group has become internationally renowned. This ensemble presents a Chamber repertoire which runs from the XVIII Century to present day giving to the audience an interpretation which joins accurate historical performance practice with a fresh and lively musicality. In this album Enrico Dindo and the ensemble Solisti di Pavia present some of the most famous works for cello: from Max Bruch Kol Nidrei (opening the album) to Saint-Sa�ns Le Cygne.

This Vermeer release is completely dedicated to sacred compositions by Marco Sofianopulo (Trieste, 1952 - 2014). Sofianopulo had Greek origins and studied choral singing with the Master Giulio Viozzi between 1975 and 1986 while conducting the Ruda Polyphonic Choir (Udine), with which he won many awards at the contests and festivals in Ravenna, Gorizia and Arezzo. He then moved to the role of artistic director of the Trieste San Giusto Chapel where he had previously played organ. He was also professor at the Trieste music conservatory and had an intense compositional activity. This album collects some of the most important sacred compositions and it is a tribute to the musical Trieste tradition.

Hornist Luca Delpriori has been involved in the Italian classical music scene since the early 1980’s. Since 2006 he has devoted himself to the deepening of the classical repertoire through the recovery of unpublished material and performing on period instruments, in particular the rediscovery of the rich and often forgotten literature intended for the horn-harp duo that characterized the Napoleonic period. He and harpist Paola Perrucci are heard here in a program of works further reflective of his research.