Rome-based Andrea De Carlo and his Ensemble Mare Nostrum inaugurate here a new series of recordings devoted to Rome’s vast and multifaceted musical heritage. This world premiere recording took place in Nepi, Viterbo province, where Alessandro Stradella was born. ‘La forza delle stelle’ offers an opportunity to sample some of the fruits of the collaboration between this exceptionally expressive Baroque composer and the Roman poet Sebastiano Baldini, under the patronage of the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden. Stradella biographer Carolyn Gianturco authored the booklet notes.

The four men on this ‘Swiss songs after 1900’ CD - Emil Frey (1889-1946), Walter Lang (1896-1966), Marcel Sulzberger (1876-1941) and Max Zehnder (1901-72) - can stand for a whole generation of Swiss composers who practiced varying forms of Modernism, but succumbed to long-term obscurity. Marcel Sulzberger must be regarded as the first-ever Swiss to compose atonal music. His works are occasionally reminiscent of the music of Arnold Schoenberg, but his main influence always remained Debussy. Edward Rushton is an internationally active composer, song accompanist and chamber musician.

Although the instrumental and orchestral music of the Franco-German Romantic Théodore Gouvy (1819–98) is slowly being rediscovered, his songs remain largely unknown. Gouvy’s melodious songs, 105 in number, show a predilection for the 16th c. love-poems of Pierre de Ronsard: 40 of the songs set Ronsard texts. Of the 26 songs on this disc, only eleven have been recorded before, and none in the key the composer intended, as they are here for the first time. The other fifteen songs are first-ever recordings. Pianist Joel Schoenhals accompanies soprano MeeAe Nam and tenor John Elwes.

Today’s conception of bel canto is mainly founded on the beautiful and brilliant virtuoso arias of La Sonnambula, L’Elisir d’Amore, and the like; this recording introduces another, much lesser-known facet: bel canto da camera. Ariettas by two Italian 19th c. composers Mauro Giuliani and Girolamo Crescentini, neither counted among ‘bel canto’ greats such as Bellini and Donizetti, reveal the “subtlety of the human soul much more deeply,” argue the artists, “than in the brightest operas arias.”

Ramón Vargas is one of the leading tenors of our time and one of the most sought-after worldwide. His breakthrough came in 1983 with the Mexican conductor Eduardo Mata. (Capriccio)

At the suggestion of Freiberg’s cathedral music director Albrecht Koch, CPO here releases sacred music from the Freiberg Latin School Library on Freiberg instruments from the time of this repertoire’s composition (16th c.), thus rendering audible a practically unknown and forgotten sound world. The Te Deum of Rogier Michael, one of the leading Saxon chapel masters prior to Heinrich Schütz, is the concert’s highlight. The program is complemented by more music collected and preserved in Freiberg.

This third volume of the first complete recording of the Guerra Manuscript, a recently discovered anthology of seventeenth-century Spanish secular songs, features tonos, works for solo voice and accompanying instruments, by some of the greatest Spanish composers of that time such as Juan Hidalgo and José Marín. + These are framed by instrumental works by other composers of the period to set them in a richer context.

Pilar Lorengar, the Spanish singer whose adopted home city was Berlin, especially owed her worldwide but unobtrusive fame to the operatic stage. She was famous for a repertoire ranging from the youthful heroines of Mozart, the youthful dramatic heroines of Verdi and Puccini to tragic girlish figures such as Tchaikovsky's Tatiana and Janá?ek's Jen?fa. The three CDs of the present compilation with arias and Lieder contain sound documents from the singer's first Berlin years, studio and live recordings made between 1959 and 1962.

Lorengar shows herself from a rather unusual side in them, both in the field of opera and in the Lieder: she is not heard here in her established Mozart role of Donna Elvira, but as Donna Anna; in addition, she can be heard singing repertoire that was unusual for her, e.g. the prayer „Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma, „Piangerò la sorte mia" from Handel's Cleopatra and a Handel cantata, an aria from a Scarlatti opera, the „Ernani, involiami" of Elvira from Verdi's early opera „Ernani" and the role of Rosario from the opera „Goyescas" by Granados.

The Mozart singer also reveals herself here to be an agreeable Lied singer; where she already brings her sensitivity for this genre into play with Mozart, she then enriches her programme with the inclusion of a love lament by Bellini and Lied-like aria sketches - four canzonette by the young Verdi.

With two thirds of this anthology, Pilar Lorengar then covers an area that pays homage to the musical traditions of her homeland. As a young schoolgirl in Madrid, she acquired extensive theatrical practice and presence in the music cafes and the zarzuela theatre. In her contributions to the present release, she unfolds a panorama of Spanish music history extending over five centuries, ranging from the vocal art of the 16th-century vihuelistas to the folklore collections and adaptations of Federico García Lorca. The modern guitar is the legitimate successor to the time-honoured vihuela, and Siegfried Behrend is Pilar Lorengar's congenial partner in theseart songs.

This release is furnished with a "producer's comment" by producer Ludger Böckenhoff.

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s (1873-1943) rarely heard, unfinished opera Monna Vanna was the only major score he took with him into exile in the USA after the 1917 revolution. + This new recording is based on Gennadi Belov’s new edition and conducted by an iconic artist and Russian music expert Vladimir Ashkenazy. The second part of this disc features Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski singing seven Rachmaninov songs (including the hauntingly beautiful Vocalise), accompanied on the piano by Mr. Ashkenazy.

Although the madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa constitute the best-known part of his oeuvre, his religious music is no less important, revealing a completely different facet of the composer. Aside from the Responsoria (1611), of which Philippe Herreweghe recently made a magnificent recording (LPH 010), most of Gesulado's religious music was published in 1603 under the title Sacrarum cantionum. Unlike the Responsoria, intended for Holy Week services, the motets of 1603 are settings of texts for all circumstances of the liturgical year. For this recording, made in the Santa Trinità abbey church in Venosa, ODHECATON has enriched the sound palette of its men's voices with a few instruments, including an ensemble of violas da gamba. Liuwe Tamminga counterpoints this programme with selected pieces by Giovanni Maria Trabaci and Giovanni de Macque on an historical organ of the Venosa region.

Alessandro Scarlatti: Alto Cantatas / Martellacci, Sasso / Composer: Alessandro Scarlatti / Conductor: Giorgio Sasso / Orchestra/Ensemble: Insieme Strumentale di Roma / Number of Discs: 1 / Length: 1 Hours 7 Mins. The author of around 800 cantatas, Alessandro Scarlatti was the most prolific composer of this particular chamber genre during the Baroque period. In this engaging release we are introduced to two examples, both 'with instruments' and written for solo contralto, the voice type to which the Sicilian dedicated a mere 10 per cent of his cantata output. Perch� tacete, regolati concenti is the first, a work that corresponds to the typically 17th-century themes of unrequited or unhappy love, with both the character and the music expressing the feeling of grief that underpins the text. The prose is actually quite weak in comparison to the quality of the music, and it may be that Scarlatti wrote it himself: he was, after all, described in the wording of his admission to the Arcadia as a �professor or poetry�. It is in any case an early composition; the second cantata, Filen, mio caro bene, we know was written later, on account of its style as well as Arcadian subject matter (which by then was in vogue: the work is set in a natural context). Complementing these works are a couple of concertos and sonatas by the composer, each set in a minor key. An all-Italian cast are at hand to perform the program, with alto Gabriella Martellacci � who has appeared as a guest performer with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia � taking the lead in the cantatas. Recorded: October 2012, Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio, Rome, Italy. For a long time, Alessandro Scarlatti merely was �the father of� the more celebrated Domenico Scarlatti (the composer of 555 keyboard sonatas), but in recent years his genius as composer of an immense vocal oeuvre is widely recognized. Alessandro wrote some 800 cantatas for solo voice and instrumental ensemble, dramatic works on secular texts, dealing mainly with unrequited love, and the resulting grief and melancholy, exquisitely expressed in beautiful cantabile lines. The two Cantatas on this new recording (which also contains concertos and an instrumental sonata) are sung by the famous Italian alto Gabriella Martellacci, a household name in the Early Music scene, a regular guest with ensembles like Concerto Italiano (Rinaldo Alessandrini) and Modo Antiquo (Federico Maria Sardelli).

Like Telemann, Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) was a universal spirit and a highly original, independent composer, undeserving of his relative obscurity. This selection of his bass cantatas is free of baroque overloading, extreme figurations or colorations in the vocal part, and evidences his assimilation of musical innovations through to the end of his creative career. The bass baritone Klaus Mertens, holds a "prominent position among German singers in the field of early music." (klassik-heute).

�David Lang's, "love fail" is a meditation on love's timelessness, weaving together details from the Tristan and Isolde story with more modern sources. � The recording also spotlights the vocal quartet Anonymous 4, whose commitment to medieval music and historical scholarship has been acclaimed worldwide. � In a NYTimes review of the BAM performance, Anthony Tommasini wrote: "It was Mr. Lang's music, and the ethereal, pure-toned singing of Anonymous 4, that claimed me in the first section of the piece

•Dorothee Mields is one of the leading female vocalists in the field of the music of the 17th – 18th centuries and is especially loved by the public and press for her unique timbre and moving interpretations. Possessing in addition a flawless technique and an ethereal vocal clarity, makes her a fortunate choice for the interpretation of Haydn's Scottish songs and English canzonettas. The ensemble Les Amis de Philippe assists her with great sensitivity.

In this historic release, the great lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof, She Loves Me, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello! shares with musical theater fans 53 of his "hidden treasures" - rarely heard songs from 17 musicals, with many songs performed by Harnick himself and his late composer-partner Jerry Bock.

Three cuts feature Harnick as recorded just last year for this special collection, and other archival recordings star three-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, Brian d'Arcy James, Hugh Martin, Charlotte Rae, and more. This 2-CD set is a grand celebration of Harnick's 90th birthday on April 30th and the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof. That musical's iconic "Sunrise, Sunset" is being released for the first time in its original demo recording by Bock and Harnick.

The deluxe package includes a 60-page booklet with extensive notes by Harnick and a foreword by famed Broadway producer Harold Prince, who comments: “This magnificent set is testimony to Sheldon’s extraordinary gifts, and to his place in the pantheon of Broadway musical creators.”

Bernstein Conducts Berlioz

• The critically-acclaimed ensemble Mala Punica came into the limelight in the mid-1990's with a trilogy of illustrious, multi-award-winning discs on Arcana, which revolutionized the world of medieval music and performance practice: Ars subtilis Ytaliaca (A21), D’Amor ragionando (A22) and En attendant (A23). For the first time, all these milestone recordings are united in one set.

TALLIS Missa Puer natus est. Salvator mundi. Quod chorus vatum. Benedictus. Magnificat a 4. Audivi vocem de caelo. Videte miraculum • Andrew Carwood, dir; The Cardinall’s Musick • HYPERION 68026 (67:39 Text and Translation)

MEDIEVAL CHANT AND TALLIS LAMENTATIONS • Nigel Short, dir; Tenebrae Consort • BENE ARTE 901 (65:23 Text and Translation)

This is the third disc in Andrew Carwood’s Tallis series. The first one marked his debut on Hyperion ( Fanfare 29:3), but now the next two have come in such quick succession (37:4 for the second one) that it seems as if he may be planning an alternative to Alistair Dixon’s set of the complete works on 10 Signum CDs (the ninth issue had an extra disc to get the overflow in). His favorite venue is Arundel Castle, probably for the historical significance of the recusant Catholic Duke of Norfolk’s estate as much as for the superb acoustics of Fitzalan Chapel, for he made his complete set of Byrd’s sacred music on 13 CDs there. The two recent discs each include a Mass, but this time he adds the chant introit for the third Mass of Christmas, though no Kyrie is supplied (Dixon included a Kyrie and a whole set of Mass Propers). Unlike Dixon’s homogeneous discs, Carwood offers more varied programming. The first disc had Latin-texted music, the longest being Gaude gloriosa (almost as long as a Mass). The second had more English-texted pieces than Latin to fill out the Mass. This one has mostly Latin works, including the two great gospel canticles, with only the Benedictus set in English.


Much as I have admired Alistair Dixon’s work, influenced certainly by the ambition of his project, Carwood has achieved a standing second to none among English vocal ensemble directors. That is saying a great deal, but in this field, it is crowded at the top, and each group will have its partisans. The Mass for Christmas of 1554 on this disc has attracted several recordings recently because of its connection with Queen Mary, whose presumptive “puer” (not the Christmas “Puer”) would have been the heir to the throne if he had been born. As it turned out, he was not even conceived. The closest competition in the Mass comes from the exquisite Stile antico (34:4), Peter Phillips, Harry Christophers, and Dixon’s volume 3 (21:6). Grant Llewellen (27: 5) is also good, though his choir is larger than these vocal ensembles. Reconstruction of the Mass parts started with David Wulstan (4:1; CD in 12: 1), but now this new entry must be considered in any comparison of the recordings.


The shorter works range from the familiar Videte miraculum to the seldom recorded Quod chorus vatum , though both belong to the feast of Candlemas. The latter was first recorded by Christopher Robinson (20:2) and is found now only in Dixon’s volume 4. Since Tallis wrote for both Catholic and Anglican liturgies, the juxtaposition of the English Benedictus followed by the Latin Magnificat must be a conscious effort to make the point. If this is indeed a new complete works in the making, it will be worthy of careful comparisons with Dixon’s set. Highly recommended.


The second disc consists of chant for Passiontide along with three polyphonic works: the two Lamentations of Thomas Tallis and the respond In manus tuas (I) by John Sheppard, all familiar on records, the last in Harry Christophers’s latest disc herewith. I have 21 recordings of the Lamentations dating back to the early 1950s, but the two Lamentations have never been coupled with chant responsories on record as here, though this practice has been adopted in settings of Lamentations by other Renaissance composers. Tallis made two Lamentations out of the text used in modern editions for the first Lamentation for Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Old Testament book.


This disc offers 40 minutes of chant to 25 minutes of polyphony, so the main interest is in Medieval Holy Week observances. The hymn Pange lingua for Good Friday (not the familiar text for Corpus Christi) begins the program—just four strophes and a doxology—followed by a complete Office of Compline because Sheppard’s responsory belongs to this Office, though it is placed further on. The responsories that follow the two Lamentations are In monte Oliveti and Tristis est anima mea ; the latter is from the familiar Tenebrae service but the former, oddly enough, is the variant version for Palm Sunday. The final track is a Holy Week chant that I have indexed on many recordings as Kyrie ... Qui passurus , found in several uses. Here it is titled a litany after Lauds of Holy Thursday, and may be a version from the Sarum use. Like many Holy Week chants, it is uniquely touching. The Tallis Lamentations, of course, are the featured tracks, as the disc title indicates, and they are sung elegantly. Nigel Short has given us some adroitly programmed discs, and this one is an original approach. You will know by now if this is for you, but I urge you to give it a chance.

FANFARE: J. F. Weber

"• A rich programs of Renaissance airs by Jehan Chardavoine, Clément Janequin, Pierre Certon, and more • ‘Chansonnettes’ were end-of-concert encore works played by Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin-Dadre • This celebratory disc salutes the 25th anniversary of the Doulce Mémoire"

"• “Dowland – A Game of Mirrors” is a sophisticated merging of modern jazz and English renaissance music. The French jazz guitarist/composer David Chevallier conceived this project based on the original melodies by John Dowland, and then created his own instrumental arrangements for guitar and theorbo, which give the well-known songs a completely new sound. • New acoustic jazz arrangements of Dowland Songs • Set for soprano, guitar and theorbo • Booklet in English & Frenc"

"A choice Robert Schumann song recital featuring baritone Paul Armin Edelmann and pianist Charles Spencer.
Mr. Edelmann maintains an international operatic and recital stage presence, winning critical acclaim worldwide.
Charles Spencer, a much sought-after accompanist, is Professor of Lied Interpretation for singers and pianists at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt.
""Paul Armin Edelmann is the perfect song-poet...a wonderfully balanced and seamless voice... - FonoForum"

A release celebrating the centennial of the birth of German soprano Elfride Trotschel. Songs and arias by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, among others. Ms. Trotschel not only had exceptional vocal and acting ability; she truly lived her roles, transforming into one of many fragile female figures, whether Rusalka, Tatyana, Mimi or Butterfly, suffering and perishing just as they did. 'She sang what she felt,' as Professor Reinhard Ulbricht, Staatskapelle leader for many years, describes it.

Complete recording of all 24 of Haydn's German songs. World premiere recording. Performed by experts in 18th century performance practice, including the art of ornamenting Haydn's vocal music. Accompaniments are performed on replicas of Haydn's fortepiano from around 1790. Booklet essay by distinguished Haydn scholar, Professor James Webster from Cornell University. A note on performance by forte pianist Tom Beghin is also included, along with English translations of all the song texts.

A most beguiling release crowning the Britten centenary. Les Illuminations and the Serenade for tenor, horns and strings are two of Britten's most enduringly popular works. Tenor Peter Schrier, heard here at the height of his powers, with Herbert Kegel conducting the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Reissue of performances dating from 1967 recordings done in the then DDR (German Democratic Republic). Booklet includes both liner notes and the sung texts.

Classical Music