In Dowland’s words: “ingenuous profession of Musicke, which from my childhoode I have ever aymed at,... the better to attain so excellent a science”. Mike Fentross achieves this “divine science of musicke” by wooing his audience by “speaking harmony” on his sweet lute. His art entwines harmony and poetry, albeit often a melancholic art, which is then framed by the proportions of rhythm. His art teaches, stirs and delights the heart and soul of his honorable listeners in profound ways. Mike Fentross first studied with Toyohiko Satoh at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, then with Nigel North and José Miguel Moreno. He has built a solid reputation as a “continuist”, playing in renowned orchestras like Les Arts Florissants, and is much in demand in his country as well as abroad. He plays and records regularly with great European ensembles such as Capriccio Stravagante, Les Arts Florissants, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Harp Consort, the New London Consort and Al Ayre Espanol. In 1991 he founded La Sfera Armoniosa, a group devoted to the performance of 17th-century music. Since 1996 Mike Fentross is guest professor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.

Leen de Broekert present his own Van Vulpen organ in the Abbey in Middelburg with adventurous music. With music by Buxtehude, B�hm, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Bo�ly. Included on this CD: Aria: La Capricciosa is by far Buxtehude's most extended composition for keyboard instrument. In 32 variations the composer unleashes his imagination on the Bergamasca, a 15th-century dance-tune from the region of Bergamo. Many 16th- and 17th - century composers took the melody and/or harmonic scheme of the Bergamasca as a starting point for a series of variations. Perhaps, being a manualiter work, La Capricciosa is firstly conceived for the harpsichord. However, if one concentrates on the variations written in an idiom appropriate for the organ, the variations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 15, 20, 19, 24, 29, 30, 13 and 1 may be convincingly arranged as a cycle of 16 parts. Whilst still a boy of fourteen, Felix Mendelssohn composed the Ostinato in C minor. It is obvious that he must have modeled this work on Bach's Passacaglia in C minor. As towards the end of the piece Mendelssohn's writing seems to have become more and more sketchy, the danger of an anti-climax looms. By putting, where necessary, some flesh on the bare bones of Mendelssohn's composition, Leen de Broekert tried to bring the work to a convincing culmination. He also added a short introduction. Leen de Broekert (1949-2009) studied Piano and Organ at the Royal Academy of Music in The Hague. He graduated in both subjects. He also qualified as a harpsichord player and fortepianist with Jos van Immerseel. In 1979 he was one of the laureates of the International Contest for Organ in Bruges, with an honourable citation for his Interpretation of Bach. As a fortepianist and organist he was frequently asked for concerts in Germany as well as in Holland. He also performed in England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Switzerland and recorded several CDs both on pianoforte and organ. Leen de Broekert was the organist of the Koorkerk (Abbey church) in Middelburg. He died, at the age of sixty, after a short illness, in Middelburg on 29 July 2009.

Mozarts most famous piano works played on forte piano.

The Dutch composer Douwe Eisenga writes post-minimal music that is accessible without becoming superficial. Better evidence of this than the CD Rose Road-City Lines, is scarcely conceivable. Time and again he creates a modern, irresistible groove with classical instruments. This emerges strongly in the impressive Piano Concerto, the mesmerizing City Lines and the sparkling string quartet Rose Road. Colorful and sublime. Press Quotes: NRC 'showy proportions' The minimalistic Piano Concerto, with pianist Gerard Bouwhuis as nonchalant pioneer, takes on showy proportions now and then through the use of heroic brass players. The string quartet Rose Road, with somber counterpoint and sharp counterrhythms, is splendidly played by the Francis B. Quartet. City Lines babbles on in extreme respectability. VOLKSKRANT ?'playful inventivity'?The DNA of Eisenga's work bears a likeness to the pepped-up locomotion of Aaron Copland and the benign minimalia of the Flemish composer Wim Mertens. Philip Glass is also family, but Eisenga's Pianoconcert, with it's tumbling notes and wheedling clarinets, has a playful inventivity usually lacking in Glass' fill-in-the-blanks exercises. (Four out of five stars) TROUW ?'colorful and sublime' The Xenakis Ensemble performed Eisenga's Piano Concerto in Japan, but in his own country his name has not been universally recognized. That will change with the CD 'Rose Roads - City Lines.' Eisenga has found his own sound within the restricted latitude of minimalism. Perhaps 'City Lines' is most reminiscent of the sensual composer Simeon ten Holt. The performance of Eisenga's tenderly sweet melodiousness by the Francis B. Quartet and pianist Gerard Bouwhuis is colorful and sublime. PZC ?'irresistible groove, mesmerizing' Douwe Eisenga's work is accessible without becoming superficial. Better evidence of this than his new CD, Rose Road-City Lines, is scarcely conceivable. Time and again he creates a modern, irresistible groove with classical instruments. This emerges most strongly in the impressive Piano Concerto. In the first and third movements, Eisenga intertwines many defuse rhythmic layers, with a leading role for pianist Gerard Bouwhuis. The original melody of City Lines is extremely simple and remains recognizable as an almost mesmerizing point of departure for nearly thirteen minutes, gradually covered in a cocoon of piano lines which go their separate ways without ever losing sight of each other. What repeatedly attracts attention is the clarity of Eisenga's work. However virtuosic, complex and multi-layered the music sometimes is, even an unpracticed listener never feels lost. DE STENTOR ?'intriguing mix' Eisenga is a typical cross-over figure: elements of minimal music, pop and jazz compete for the front rank in his style, in which the development of rhythmic pulses is especially notable. Another characteristic is a great degree of virtuosity, for example in the Piano Concerto. The most appealing to me-at least as far as musical/spiritual content-is Rose Road, Eisenga's first string quartet, in an intense rendition by the Francis B. Quartet. The slow and somewhat somberly tinted fugue which begins the piece clearly breathes the mood of Copland's ballet Appalachian Spring, forming a colorful contrast to the sparkling continuation of this opus. City lines for four pianos is an intriguing mix of Simeon ten Holt's Canto ostinato and the 'maximal' minimal style of John Adams. ZEEUWS TIJDSCHRIFT ?'beautiful' One of the strongest elements I encountered on this CD is the ability of Eisenga to subtly vary rhythmic impulses. This quality is evident in the piano concerto as well as in City Lines and the string quartet, often combined with harmonic shifts which keep the listener curious as to the sequel. That comes-in my opinion-also because Eisenga in his work has a sense of moderation as regards length and his subtleties don't reach into infinity like Morton Feldman's. The string quartet's serene introduction and the pensive undertones in City Lines I found quite beautiful. BN / DE STEM ?'most impressive' Eisenga is one of the composers who treat us to sounds that are not only not disagreeable, but quite pleasing to the ear, and which are nevertheless new and come across as such. Most impressive is his piano concerto with it's subtly shifting colors. DAGBLAD VAN HET NOORDEN ?'excellent' Despite the simplicity of resources there is enough to experience in Eisenga's music and the performance is excellent (Four out of five stars).

The three great tenors of the 17th century, Caccini, Rasi and Dognazzi.

Spooky sounds and ghostly wailings are usually what come to mind when people imagine the sound of the theremin. With “Air Électrique”, Thorwald Jorgensen and Kamilla Bystrova go beyond the novelty of the theremin and let the music speak for itself. With the premier recording of Lera Auerbach’s “10 Preludes for theremin and piano”, the standard of the album is set. This compositional tour-de-force presents colourful melodic music which exploits the unique characteristics of both the theremin and the piano. The angular modernism of Lydia Kavina’s “Suite for theremin and piano” and Olesya Rostovskaya’s haunting “Juliet” show more of the theremin’s unrivalled sonic possibilities, clearly illustrating what is possible with this combination of instruments. The album also presents two chamber music pieces. The first is the world premiere of Joseph Schillinger’s “Bury, Bury me Wind”, in which Thorwald and Kamilla are joined by mezzo soprano, Itzel Medecigo. The other is the spectacular “Fantasy for theremin, xylophone and piano” by Valery Beluntsov, in which Thorwald plays not only the theremin but also the virtuosic xylophone part. All in all “Air Électrique” is an album for both lovers of the theremin and piano, and lovers of music in general.

The CD Bach Bo�ly and Beekman was recorded on the famous de Rijckere organ in the Oostkerk at Middelburg, located only 300 yards from the studio. It stands to reason that Beekman plays Bach, but other compositions include Bo�ly, B�hm, Widor, Van Noordt and some of his own.

Zefir Records presents Pianosequenza, a new solo album by Italian composer and pianist Francesco di Fiore. The Italian term "Piano-Sequenza" (sequence shot) is a well-known filming technique that consists of a whole sequence filmed in a single shot. Borrowing the term from the cinema and playing on words, PianoSequenza consists of a program entirely dedicated to original soundtracks for solo piano. Music on the album comes from The Truman Show, The Hours, Am�lie, The Piano, At Precisely Six O'clock, When Medicine Got It Wrong. Francesco di Fiore (b. 1966, Palermo) started his concert career in 1986, performing hundreds of concerts worldwide. He appears regularly at international festivals presenting his compositions and also music by other contemporary composers.

The chamber music from Federico Mompou.

Clazz Ensemble Delta Suite Music by Dick de Graaf, Dies le Duc & Douwe Eisenga The areas of mainland and islands that make up the Province of Zeeland are situated in the South West of the Netherlands. In this Delta area the sea is always at close proximity. Over a century ago this Delta served as a large source of inspiration for painters such as Mondriaan and Toorop, attracted by the famous "Zeeuwse Licht" (the exceptional quality of the light in Zeeland), the ridges of dunes and the woods. Today, about a century later, three composers with a special tie to Zeeland, wrote compositions outlining the individual relation of each one of them to the Delta.

Laag water aan de Schelde

Chopin à deux: The Piano Concertos on 2 Erard Grand Pianos

The Seasons

The music of Arvo P�rt has, for a number of years, been of considerable interest to both Ursula Schoch and Marcel Worms. The composer's approaching 80th birthday (11 September 2015) formed a fitting occasion for recording this CD, on which for the first time P�rt's complete music for piano solo and that for violin and piano can be heard. Among the musical highlights of this CD: the two Sonatinas (1958/9), his first published opus; Fu�r Alina, the brief, lovely piano work that signaled the full awakening into what is called his "tintinnabuli" or "little bells" style, Fratres, composed the year after Fu�r Alina, again in "tintinnabuli" style, and existing in several versions including the duo version recorded here; Spiegel i'm Spiegel, the Passacaglia for violin and piano, and more. Ursula Schoch is Principal Violinist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Noted Dutch pianist Marcel Worms and Ms. Schoch's musical partnership dates to 2006.

Made in Holland - 17 new Dutch Blues Pianist Marcel Worms started in 1996 inviting composers worldwide to write pieces based on the blues. Until Yet more than 200 new pieces from 50 countries are written for this project. Around 1996 Marcel Worm's passion for both modern classical music and jazz resulted in a 'love child': a crossover between these two genres - modern, composed music with jazz influences. Especially back in the 1920s many composers were bitten by the jazz bug, but the repertory was clearly not really being developed any further. The best way to provide a new impetus was by commissioning composers to write new pieces. Marcel chose the blues as point of departure for these commissions. The blues is one of the foundations of jazz and provides composers with a clear blueprint. He thought this would hugely increase the chance that my request would be carried out. On top of this, the blues and the blues form fascinates him and by choosing the blues he had the guarantee there would be some coherence between the compositions that were to be written. Marcel left it up to the composers to decide how they wanted to incorporate the blues into their work. The blue notes, the three fundamental chords, the blues scale, the progression of 12, 16 or 32 measures could all be used, but were not compulsory. If desired, some improvisation was allowed. The essential thing was that each composer would try, of course in his or her personal way, to convey the 'soul' of the blues, the 'state of mind' that goes with it. In 2007, when the first decade of the blues project had come to a close, Donemus published two albums, including two CDs, with a total of 31 blues by Dutch composers and composers living in the Netherlands. The fifteenth anniversary of Marcel Worm's project New Blues for Piano, for which by now some 200 composers from around 50 countries have written a piece inspired by the blues, was a good reason to publish a third album with a compilation of the new Dutch contributions from the period 2008-2011. You can hear these contributions on this CD. Often the question has been raised whether there is a specific Dutch style of composition. Whatever the answer, it is remarkable - as this CD demonstrates once again - how diverse and undogmatic the work of Dutch composers is on the whole. 17 composers, 17 works and as many idioms. In coproduction with Muziek Centrum Nederland.