The Ostinato literally went through ages... It's a musical process founded on the repetition of a rhythmic, or melodic, or harmonic formula. It's the 'weft' of passacaglias, ciacconas... and of very popular works such as Ravel's Boléro, or Pachelbel's Canon. This process also inspired a lot of pop musicians, or minimalist American composers. Vincent Dumestre chose this way to propose, as much to 'fans' as to the general public, a thematic route within the best Poème Harmonique's recordings. It's at the same time a sort of Poème Harmonique's portrait, proposed at a very attractive price...

RICERCAR could not miss Willaert's anniversary... This recording of Willaert's secular repertoire gives us a very different vision of his work, compared to his religious music well illustrated by the Vespro della Beata Vergine recording (RIC 325). Here, we can appreciate a musician singing love with sweetness, describing pleasures of the life with a little smile, even sometimes with a bit of salacity. Recorded by Romanesque in 1994, this CD can be listened to with a lot of pleasure. No competition in the market for this recording!

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

DURANTE Pastorale Cito Pastores. Laudate pueri “breve detto il Grottesco.” Litani à due voci con violini in e. Mass in F “In afflictionis tempore” • Michael Alexander Willens, cond; Monica Piccinini (sop); Christina Kühne (sop); Ursula Eittinger (alt); Alberto ter Doest (ten); Thilo Dahlmann (bs); Kölner Akademie (period instruments) • CPO 777 734 (70:27 Text and Translation)

Last year at this time (received just before Christmas but not to appear until several months into the year), I reviewed the first disc of Neapolitan Christmas music by Francesco Durante recorded by the Kölner Akademie under Michael Willens. My recommendation at that time was that this sort of music, commonplace in Naples during the 18th century, ought to be made more available. After another season of the usual Messiah overload and unending Archangelo Corelli Christmas Concerto performances on the radio (along with the other usual popular and traditional seasonal detritus), it was good to obtain this sequel, one sure to provide a measure of novelty as well as a proper complement to the holidays.

Durante, one of the major figures of galant Naples and a teacher to many a great Classical era Italian composer (Pergolesi, Piccinni, among others), was himself thoroughly immersed in the vibrant Neapolitan musical scene, of which the Christmas season was particularly favored for a wide variety of works. Here, conductor Willens continues his quest to revive Durante’s contributions through four sacred works, including a traditional pastorale, a sort of short cantata consisting of an introductory chorus, a pair of recitatives, an aria, and a final duet. The “brief” Laudate pueri , a single movement setting of Psalm 113, was entitled “il Grottesco” by Abbate Fortunato Santini in the 19th century, and although the name has stuck, there is certainly nothing “grotesque” about the lyrical piece, so one doesn’t really know what Santini was thinking. The Mass is typical of the period in Naples, with a setting of only the Kyrie and Gloria, although each is subdivided into individual movements. Here, Durante expands his spare string orchestra to include pairs of horns (in the two “Kyrie eleison” movements and the final “Cum sancto spiritu” fugue), oboes, and trumpets (in, you guessed it, the Gloria movement, though Durante uses both horns and trumpets in the Quoniam), offering a rich texture that foreshadows that of the Classical period.

The pastoral Cito Pastores is mainly homophonic, with the gently susurrating rhythms of a compound meter Siciliano. The opening aria is in a lengthy, strophic form that stays mainly in the principal key, clearly meant for meditative thought. The soprano aria that follows (after a short recitative) has light coloratura for the voice, nothing especially daunting, but rather nicely flowing. The final duet has the soprano and alto beginning in a soft minor key, but rapidly changing to Vivaldian parallel thirds with the final text “Gloria sit in caelo.” The Laudate pueri begins with a rather stark unison scalar descent which goes beyond the octave to the third below, a neat and rather distinctive harmonic twist, and while the bulk of the work is a series of nicely homophonic lines, the “Sicut erat” begins contrapuntally but devolves quickly into a series of neat suspensions with antiphonal effects. The Litany is highly reminiscent of Vivaldi in its parallel thirds and suspensions above an insistent ostinato that changes the harmony constantly. Here the purity of the vocal line, now with the soprano and alto echoing each other, now in tandem, overshadows the lighter string accompaniment to give a more ethereal sound. Finally, the Mass is a kaleidoscope of various early styles, with the syncopated violins above the chordal sound of the horns and voices in the Kyrie contrasting with the very severe fugue of the Christe. The Gloria, with its melismatic opening in the voices and echoes from the oboes, strings, and trumpets, sounds again very Vivaldian, but the suspensive “Et in terra pax hominibus” is a solemn and darker interlude. In many of the movements, such as the “Domine deus” and “Que sedes,” one hears echoes of Giovanni Pergolesi’s famed Stabat Mater , in one instance I seemed to hear a direct quote (but who is quoting from whom is another issue entirely, of course). The interplay between the horns, trumpets, and oboes in the “Quoniam” could have been written by Handel, although the insistent trills that conclude the introduction in both brass instruments add an element of novelty.

The Kölner Akademie has reduced its forces for this disc down to a bare minimum. For the orchestra, only pairs of violins and one on a part for the lower strings, while the soloists also double as the chorus. This lends the music a rather more transparent sound. Although there is plenty of opportunity for mistepping, the clarity and careful attention to intonation lend these pieces a perfect balance. Willens, who edited the Mass and Litany, keeps his tempos moving but at a sedate pace that is rather closely aligned to the precise phrasing of the music. Both tenor Alberto ter Doest and bass Thilo Dahlmann have relatively little to do, since female voices predominate. Monica Piccinini has a clear and accurate voice which blends nicely both with her equally adept partner, alto/mezzo-soprano Ursula Eittinger, and the reduced ensemble. This gives the recording a well-integrated quality that lets Durante’s creativity speak for itself. Even if this were not Christmas music, this disc would come highly recommended as a part of any early Classical period collection. It is a must for a truly memorable musical experience.

FANFARE: Bertil van Boer

Ludwig Thuille was one of the leading operatic composers of the Munich School. Despite his lifelong friendship with Richard Strauss, Thuille remained a lesser-known Austrian composer during his short life and career.

Max Emanuel Cencic has become one of the best countertenors of his time. Cencic is a former member of the Vienna Boys’ Choir and has had a successful career, regularly performing at some of the world’s most famous opera houses as well as recording for Capriccio and other labels such as Virgin Classics.

Capriccio now presents Cencic’s 3 previous CDs of cantatas by Vivaldi, Scarlatti and Caldara on the label in new packaging and a bonus documentary DVD which includes interviews and video clips.

,,The Stylus Phantasticus is the most free and unrestrained type of playing" said Johann Mattheson in 1739. Around 1700 this style was transfered from the organ to the chamber music where the viol played an important role. Famous viol virtuosos, like August Kühnel, tried to draw attention to the instrument with their compositions. Dieterich Buxtehude also wrote charming trio sonatas in which a viol was required explicitly as second solo voice. Finally the great Johann Sebastian Bach used the gamba in his St Matthew Passion. Frauke Hess and her colleagues develop the blaze of color of Baroque viol music with their new recording.

Calmus Ensemble is one of the most successful a cappella ensembles on the international scene. For their new album touched, the singers from Leipzig have chosen songs and lieder from several centuries on themes which never fail to touch our hearts, and have arranged them for their own forces with the utmost skill. What results is a vocal CD in a class of its own: Sting stands alongside Henry Purcell, Michael Jackson next to Adriano Banchieri, and Elton John beside Monty Python. The ensemble describes the concept in the CD booklet as follows: “As far as themes go, nothing whatsoever has changed: love, longing, pain, but also joy, pleasure and exuberance. That which touches our hearts, which moves us, has been convincingly expressed in music since time immemorial. Then as now, songs were one thing above all – a living expression of the soul! In this common ground the boundaries of the two eras of music on this recording become blurred.” We’re offering you the opportunity to contemplate the texts and music of two very different epochs in a new light and from new perspectives. The CD is a must for lovers of a cappella singing! - Carus-Verlag

Ms. Thomas – one of the world’s leading operatic sopranos – offers here a selection of our most beloved spirituals that may well even eclipse the legendary recordings of contralto Marian Anderson. Indra brings to them levels of sheer vocal beauty, intense emotional power and sacred sincerity that you may well have never heard in solo spirituals before … not to mention the full force of her African-American stylistic heritage.

Claudio Monteverdi and Girolamo Frescobaldi were two of the most influential musical figures in 17th century Italy. This new recording celebrates the influence that these two composers continue to exert over performers and audiences today - and the fascination that their music inspires - through a selection of motets and instrumental pieces, performed with precision and authority by Il Pesago and Maurizio Croci.

Soloists Teresa Wakim, Paula Murrihy, Thomas Cooley and Sumner Thompson joined Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society to record Mozart's Coronation Mass live at Boston's Symphony Hall earlier this year. Mozart's Mass in C major is one of his most popular and enduring works. Known as the 'Coronation Mass' – a nickname it acquired following a performance conducted by Antonio Salieri in 1791 in Prague at the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia – it includes the beautifully tender Agnus Dei. Alongside the Mass on this CD are Mozart's soprano solo Exsultate, jubilate, beautifully performed by Teresa Wakim, and Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 85, which was a favourite of Marie Antoinette, leading to the name 'La Reine', by which it is still known today.

The great soprano Martina Arroyo enjoyed on an unparalleled career on the international stages of opera houses that lasted from the 1960s to the 1980s. Coming from a mixed African-American and Puerto Rican background, she was one of the early singers in the opera world to cross the racial line. Her youthful, dramatic soprano made her an ideal Verdi and Puccini heroine but she could also draw upon the lyrical mezzo qualities of her voice to beautifully interpret intimate songs. In this Schwetzingen Festival recital she was at the height of her vocal abilities.

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REVIEW:

American soprano Martina Arroyo is much acclaimed as an opera singer, especially in the Verdi repertory. Here is a rare opportunity to hear her in recital at the 1968 Schwetzingen Festival.

– American Record Guide

On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

Genuin presents the second release of the Saxon Wind Philharmonic, this time featuring for the first time, festive wind music. Director and conductor Thomas Clamor leads the group through Bernstein and Gershwin classics such as Candide, Summertime, and Strike up the Band.

Classical Music

The 46 songs that make up Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch show the composer at his most captivatingly individual; and history has proven that only singers of the utmost artistry can do them justice. Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk are such singers, taking the listener from the depths of pathos through frissons of ecstasy with searching perception. Together with pianist Stuart Bedford, who also devised a new sequence for the songs, the singers performed the set at the 1977 Aldeburgh Festival, where the warmth and ambience of the performance was captured in this BBC stereo recording.

World Premiere recording! This Mass has come down to US as a single manuscript source, dated 1689 and kept in the Archive of the Holy House Shrine in Loreto. The manuscript is archaic not only in looks but also in content, disposition of the parts, and notation. It is difficult not to think of this Missa as a devout testament offered by Legrenzi to the Virgin of Loreto.

"Let these glorious sounds fill your ears and lift your spirits." GRAMOPHONE "Outstanding...astonishing stylistic and expressive range." BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE "One of the finest choirs of our day." GRAMOPHONE This disc features music from over a dozen composers representing ten countries from Palestrina's Assumpta Est Maria and Monteverdi's Beatus Vir to excerpts from Poulenc's Sept Répons des Ténèbrae and Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir. This disc provides a superb collection of works from some of Europe's most celebrated composers and, alongside the first disc in this set, Great British Choral Works, is the perfect introduction to The Sixteen's wonderful music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Contemporary art song is alive and well in the hands of soprano Polly Butler Cornelius and the team she has gathered for Wild Songs, a song recital as suitable for an environmental conscious-�ness-raising event as for the salon. Drawing on impassioned pleas and the enigmatic nature-centered poetry of Emily Dickinson these powerful, lyrical songs charm and chasten.