Label: BIS SACD 1536
Our Price: $19.25
Quantity in Basket: none
HENRY PURCELL (1659 – 1695): Sweeter than roses; The fatal hour; When first Amintas sued for a kiss; The Plaint; They tell us that you mighty powers above; Man is for the woman made; From silent shades; Music for a while; Now the night is chas’d away; If music be the food of love; Thrice happy lovers (An Epithalamium); The bashful Thames; I attempt from Love’s sickness to fly in vain; Oh! fair Cedaria; Fairest isle; O solitude; If love’s a sweet passion; The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation; An Evening Hymn

Carolyn Sampson, soprano; Laurence Cummings, harpsichord & spinet; Elizabeth Kenny, archlute & theorbo; Anne-Marie Lasla, bass viol; Sarah Sexton, violin I; Andrea Morris, violin II; Jane Rogers, viola
Two song anthologies published shortly after the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 have inspired this highly varied program. Quoting the liner notes by lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, ‘recital programs put together from the anthologies by the original purchasers would have mixed the genres without inhibition. Generally people sang what they liked and played what they liked, in any order they liked.’ It was this free-and-easy approach which incited soprano Carolyn Sampson and her co-performers to combine settings with accompaniments ranging from a single lute or spinet to string quartet with continuo. In Kenny’s words: ‘Seen from modern historically-informed or “authentic” perspectives a not-quite-familiar Purcell emerges, a composer of Gebrauchsmusik, flexibly scored and flexibly interpretable: virtuosic if the performers wish, innocently affecting if not.’ Including some of Purcell’s most well-loved songs as well as lesser-known gems, this collection has as its motto a line from the opening song Sweeter than roses: ‘What magic has victorious love’. As one of today’s most magic – not to say victorious – singers, whether on the opera stage or in the concert hall, Carolyn Sampson’s previous appearances on BIS have earned her high praise, for instance in American Record Guide (‘Her tone is extraordinarily beautiful: natural, warm and unforced, with almost superhuman vocal athleticism’) and from the reviewer in French magazine Classica-Répertoire, who described her performance of Bach’s Jauchzet Gott (on BIS-SACD-1471) in the following, glowing terms: ‘Carolyn Sampson interprets it in a voice which is quite light and angelic, but always present, and with a remarkable vocal ease and an infallible musicality.’

Label: MUSICAPHON SACD 56890
Our Price: $14.75
Quantity in Basket: none
LOUIS FERDINAND VON PREUßEN (1772 - 1806): Quartet in E flat major, Op. 5
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809 - 1847): Quartet No. 2 in F minor, Op. 2

Valentin Klavierquartett:
Inka von Puttkamer, violin; Isabel Lhotzky, piano; Minako Uno, viola; Hanno Kuhns, cello
Eleven Years of the Valentin Piano Quartet. The notification of the award of a chamber music scholarship reached the four Hamburg music students on 14 February 1996. Out of joy and thankfulness, this very special Valentine’s Day has been immortalized in the ensemble’s name. Honored with the Masefield Scholarship of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, the Valenin Piano Quartet has appeared at home and abroad since the year of its founding. The invitation in 2000 to the Flanders Festival in Brussels was a particularly great honor. In the meantime, the Valentin Piano Quartet has established itself as a top ensemble through appearances at prestigious festivals, such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the “Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker,” and the “Schlosskonzerte Elmau.” The Valentin Piano Quartet’s debut CD with works by W.A. Mozart and Richard Strauss has been broadcast by numerous radio stations and acclaimed by the critics.

Label: BIS SACD 1546
Our Price: $19.25
Quantity in Basket: none
STABAT MATER
ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678 – 1741): Sonata ‘al Santo Sepolcro’ in E flat major, RV130; Stabat Mater, RV621
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI (1710 – 1736): Salve Regina
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750): Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 (Transcription of Stabat Mater by Pergolesi)

Daniel Taylor, counter-tenor; Emma Kirkby, soprano (Bach)

Theatre of Early Music
With a disc entitled Stabat Mater and featuring Pergolesi among the composers, it would be natural to expect his setting (surely the most famous of all) of this heartfelt meditation on the grief of the Virgin Mary to be included in the program. Well, it isn’t – and it is! Only a few years after Pergolesi in 1736 had composed his Stabat Mater, Bach made an adaptation of it using a contemporary German version of the biblical Psalm 51. To suit the requirements of the new text Bach made certain alterations to Pergolesi’s vocal parts, but retained the scheme of solo arias and duets between a soprano and an alto voice. He also added a new, independent viola part to the score and rewrote the basso continuo, giving the work a new harmonic vitality. It’s not only in the form of an arrangement that Pergolesi appears on this disc, however: Psalm 51 is preceded by his own Salve Regina, composed around the same time as the Stabat Mater, and of a similarly expressive, sorrowful character even though the text in question is a hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary. Of Pergolesi’s two settings of the text, the present one – originally in C minor – is the most well-known, and is here performed in the F minor version for alto voice. Opening the disc is Vivaldi’s brief Sonata al Santo Sepolcro (‘at the Holy Grave’), an instrumental work probably intended for inclusion in an Easter church service. This is followed by – finally! – a Stabat Mater proper, also by Vivaldi and probably dating from 1711 or 1712. Vivaldi used just the first ten verses of the text, creating one of the most sombre of all settings, here performed by the Canadian ensemble Theatre of Early Music and its director, counter-tenor Daniel Taylor, who in Bach is joined by Emma Kirkby, taking on the soprano part.

Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38069
Our Price: $24.25
Quantity in Basket: none
VIOLA TALES – MÄRCHENBILDER
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810 – 1856): Adagio and Allegro for viola & piano, Op. 70; Märchengiler, Op. 119 for viola & piano
PAUL HINDEMITH (1895 – 1963): Sonata for viola & piano “Fantasie”, Op. 11 No. 4
MARTIN KRAMER (*1975): Elegy for viola & piano “No more Words” (2008)

Pauline Sachse, viola

Daniel Heide, piano
In the history of the repertoire for viola and piano, Robert Schumann’s “Märchenbilder” marked the beginning of a new epoch, making extensive use of the instruments’ cantabile quality and characteristic sonority in the low and middle registers and helping the viola to attain equal status within the string instrument family during the course of the late 19th century. The viola repertoire of the 20th century reached its first heights with the Sonata op. 11/4 by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963).
The combination viola and piano still holds much to discover today, as shown by the elegy “No more words” by Martin Krämer (b.1975), a German jazz pianist and composer. As Schumann did before him, he chose a two-part form, and he uses it to unite the lyrically expressive power of the Romantic viola with the sounds of jazz.
Born in Hamburg, Pauline Sachse studied at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin and at the Yale University (USA) with Tabea Zimmermann. Under the baton of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa and Simon Rattle, she has played in ensembles including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. Artists with whom she has collaborated include Isabelle Faust, Steven Isserlis, Tabea Zimmermann, Stella Doufexis, Gidon Kremer and members of the Beaux-Arts Trio.

Label: GLOSSA SACD 922208
Our Price: $24.25
Quantity in Basket: none
VIKTOR ULLMANN (1898 – 1944)
Symphony No. 1 “Von meiner Jugend”
Don Quixote tanzt Fandango; Der zerbrochene Krug – Overture; Symphony No. 2

Brussels Philharmonic/Gerd Albrecht
The composer Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) could not have predicted, fortunately, that his name would come to be inseparably linked to the Theresienstadt (Terezín) ghetto. Not only does this recollection of a particularly black page in Western history continue to accompany his music, but the label “degenerate music” (Entartete Musik) is evoked time and again.
In recent years, Ullmann’s largely unknown body of work has once again attracted interest. His opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis has since been performed numerous times, and his other works are also making their way on to concert programs. It seems odd at first that mention is made here of two symphonies. In the strict sense Ullmann did not write any symphonies. His notes on the 5th and 7th Piano Sonatas suggest, however, that he intended to transcribe these works for orchestra.
After his horrible death, the composer and conductor Bernhard Wulff did that in his place.
Gerd Albrecht brings a real understanding and commitment to compositions of Viktor Ullmann in directing the Brussels Philharmonic (previously called Flemish Radio Orchestra), providing us with an interpretation of music which is both fascinating in its own right and of the highest quality, whilst being the more poignant for being composed when Ullmann was being held captive in one of the most infamous concentration camps established during the course of the Second World War.

Label: NEOS SACD 20904
Our Price: $19.00
Quantity in Basket: none
VIRTUOSO
MATTHIAS MÜLLER (*1966): Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2007–2008); 6 Études de Concert for solo clarinet (2006–2008)
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI (1792 – 1868): Andante and Variations for clarinet and orchestra (1829)
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882 – 1971): 3 Pieces for Clarinet (1918)
NICCOLO PAGANINI (1782 – 1840): Moto perpetuo, Op. 11, No. 6 post. for clarinet (1831–1832)

Matthias Müller, clarinet

ensemble zero/David Philip Hefti
BONUS DVD: MATTHIAS MÜLLER: 6 Études de Concert for clarinet (2006–2008)

Cyril Gfeller and Rosa Monika Guggenheim, film directors
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN (1928–2007): Der kleine Harlekin for clarinet (1975)

Simon Könz, film director

Matthias Müller demonstrates here to great effect that this wind instrument is well suited to feats of virtuosity.
Rossini’s Variations celebrate the romantic and bravura aspects of performance. The new concerto, which the Swiss soloist has rendered a bespoke work, centers on subtle aspects of sound as well as rhythmic flexibility. The solo works on the present recording push these ideas to their limit. Along with classic items from the solo repertoire – the Three Pieces by Igor Stravinsky – only Paganini can match Rossini in terms of virtuosity; and in the Etudes de Concert, by Matthias Müller himself, the clarinet technique is advanced yet another notch. It would seem he had in mind the studies by Chopin und Debussy, and this allows him to give full vent to the clarinet’s capability of expression.
In the videos, recorded here as a bonus DVD, Matthias Müller encroaches on new territory: while the music theatre work Der kleine Harlekin by Stockhausen has been captured in a more classical manner, the Etudes de Concert are ample evidence of his work with video artists, whose background is the genre of the pop music video clip. The result remains pure art and speaks for itself.
(1 SACD & Bonus DVD)

Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38070
Our Price: $24.25
Quantity in Basket: none
VIENNESE OBOE QUARTETS
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 – 1791): Quartet in F major for oboe, violin, viola and cello KV 370 (368b)
JAN KRTITEL VANHAL (1739 – 1813): Quartet in C major for oboe, violin, viola and cello
FRANTISEK VINCENC KROMMER (1759 – 1831): Quartet No. 2 in F major for oboe, violin, viola and cello
FRANTISEK ADAM MICA (1746 – 1811): Quartet in C major for oboe, violin, viola and cello

Ensemble Rhapsody (on period instruments):

Michael Niesemann, oboe

Pauline Nobes, violin; Rachel Isserlis, viola; Nicholas Selo, cello
Mozart’s Quartet for Oboe and Strings, KV 370 (K. 368b), is easily the most beloved, most performed, and most recorded oboe quartet ever composed. The quartet for oboe and three strings, however, was a far more popular Classical Era form than is generally known, even by many oboists. In the decades between 1760 and 1800, nearly two hundred oboe quartets are known to have been composed, by at least forty-five different composers. Oboe quartets were popular throughout Europe, but nowhere was the form more popular than Vienna – long a magnet for musicians from Bohemia and Moravia, regions in which the tradition of oboe and bassoon playing was especially rich. Vanhal, Krommer and Míca, the three composers featured alongside Mozart on this recording, were all of Bohemian or Moravian birth, but each made Vienna his home for at least a significant portion of his career.
Ensemble Rhapsody was founded by core members Michael Niesemann and Pauline Nobes in 1994 and has performed in England, Belgium and Germany. The concert programs range from Baroque and Classical through to contemporary and Jazz. Michael Niesemann, one of the founding members of Concerto Köln, has been principal oboist with Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s orchestras, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique since 1994. The violinist Pauline Nobes has toured extensively with London’s leading period instrument ensembles including The English Baroque Soloists, The English Concert and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, as well as The Academy of Ancient Music where she also lead for many years.

Label: ARS PRODUKTION SACD 38073
Our Price: $24.25
Quantity in Basket: none
JOHANN BAPTIST SCHIEDERMAYR (1779 – 1840): Offertorium Ave maris stella; GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813 – 1901): Adagio for trumpet solo and orchestra; CONRADIN KREUTZER (1780 – 1849): Variations in G major for chromatic trumpet and orchestra; LEOPOLD ANTON KOZELUCH (1747 – 1818): Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major for mandolin, trumpet, double bass, piano and orchestra; FRIEDRICH DIONYS WEBER (1771 – 1842): Variations for trumpet in F major; JOSEPH FIALA (1748 – 1816): Divertimento for trumpet and orchestra

ARTISTS: Robert Vanryne, trumpet; Kathryn Cok, fortepiano; Anna Torge, mandolin; David Sinclair, Viennese double bass; Ulrike Schneider, mezzo-soprano;
Cologne Academy, Michael Alexander Willens, director.

Two notable pieces on this recording of works for trumpet from the late 18th and early 19th centuries are Kozeluch’s Sinfonia concertante, with its unusual combination of solo instruments, presented here on historical instruments for the first time; and the brief Adagio for trumpet and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. Another offering in the highly successful series Forgotten Treasures from Alexander Willens and the Kölner Akademie.

Label: BIS - SACD 1963
Our Price: $19.25
Quantity in Basket: none
LA SPAGNA: VARIATIONS ON A SPANISH THEME – A TUNE THROUGH THREE CENTURIES Francesco Canova da Milano „Il Divino‟: Spagna Contrapunto; Ricercar Spagnuola „duna cossa spagnola‟ Michael Prætorius: Spagnoletta Francisco de la Torre: Danza alta, sobre „La Spagna‟ Anonymous: La basse danse du Roy de Spaingne a XLIIII notes a VI mesures; La Spagna (4 versions), Rè di Spagna; Olvida tu Perdiçion España; Espagnoletta; The Spaynard; Padvana hispanica Joannes Ghiselin: Basse danze (La Spagna) Juan del Encina: Triste España (4 versions) Carlos Verardi: Historia Baetica Joan Ambrosio Dalza: Calata a la Spagnola I – IV Giles Farnaby: The Old Spagnoleta; Spagnioletta Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro: La bassa Castiglya – Falla con Misuras Hans Weck: Spagniöler tancz – Hopper dancz „Spagna‟ Hans Kotter: Spanieler Cesare Negri: Spagnoletto – Villancico di Spagna – Pavaniglia di Spagna – Spagnoletto da capo Josquin Desprez: La Spagna a 5 Diego Ortiz „el Toledano‟: 6 Recercadas sobre canto llano la Spagna Giovanni Maria Trabaci: Gagliarda quarta a 5 alla Spagnola Jacob van Eyck: Een Spaense Voys Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck: Pavana hispanica Francis Pilkington: The Spanish Pavane Gaspar Sanz: Espagnoletta Hans Judenkönig: Ain spaniyelischer hoff dantz Antonio de Cabezón: Tres sobre el canto llano de la alta (sobre la Spagna) Fabritio Caroso: Spagnoletta nuova al modo di madriglia; Furioso alla Spagnuola Hans Buchner (a.k.a. Hans von Constanz): Spaniol tancz Hans Kotter: Spaniol Kochesberger (on SACD layer only)