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JEAN-BAPTISTE QUENTIN / ARCANGELO CORELLI
Corelli & Quentin: Flute Sonatas Jean Rondeau (early keyboard instruments), Anna Besson, Myriam Rignol [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 22/Mar/2024 ] In 1700, Corelli published his 12 violin sonatas, Opus 5, in Rome. A veritable revolution in violin technique, they won the admiration of eminent composers (Bach, Dandrieu, Couperin) and greatly influenced the French (Francoeur, Leclair, Senaille,... |
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JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Rameau: Zoroastre 1749 Jodie Devos (Amélite), Véronique Gens (Erinice), Reinoud Van Mechelen (Zoroastre), Tassis Christoyannis (Abramane), Chœur de Chambre de Namur [ Alpha Classics / 3 CD - released 4/Nov/2022 ] Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) left two very different versions of his tragédie en musique Zoroastre: the first, in 1749, received a lukewarm reception and the work was withdrawn from the repertory. Rameau gave it a thorough revision in 1756. At... |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Schwanengesang & String Quintet Julian Prégardien; Martin Helmchen; Christian Tetzlaff; Florian Donderer; Rachel Roberts; Tanja Tetzlaff; Marie-Elisabeth Hecker [ Alpha Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Sep/2021 ] "Julian Prégardien, his tone lighter and brighter than that of his father Christoph, is a sentient, involving interpreter who always compels you to listen. His diction, like his father's, is invariably clear and expressive." Gramophone |
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J.S. BACH
Bach Inspiration Juliette Hurel (flute), Mailys de Villoutreys (soprano), Ensemble Les Surprises [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 23/Mar/2018 ] After a Mozart release with the Quatuor Voce, Juliette Hurel has devised a programme focusing on Bach, featuring two staples of the flute repertoire: the Suite for orchestra no.2 with its famous Badinerie and the Partita for solo flute, his only work... |
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Bach & l'Italie Justin Taylor (harpsichord) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 22/Sep/2023 ] Johann Sebastian Bach hardly ever left his native Saxony, yet he was always up to date on what was going on elsewhere in Europe. Naturally, he paid close attention to innovations from Italy, the cradle of the concertante style, and instilled... |
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HAYDN / HANDEL / SCARLATTI
L'Arianna Kate Lindsey (mezzo-soprano) / Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2020 ] "what really make the project spark...The playing of Arcangelo under Jonathan Cohen is typically high-quality, and often heartbreakingly attendant to the drama." Gramophone Awards 2020 - Short List - Recital |
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La Fonte Musica; Michele Pasotti
Zacara da Teramo: Enigma Fortuna (Complete Works) [ Alpha Classics / 4 CD - released 27/Aug/2021 ] In this recording entitled Enigma Fortuna, the ensemble La Fonte Musica, directed by Michele Pasotti, aims to shed light on the mysterious and eccentric personality of Antonio Zacara da Teramo (1355-1416). A contemporary of Boccaccio, Donatello and... |
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PHILIPP HEINRICH ERLEBACH
Erlebach: Lieder Le Banquet Céleste; Damien Guillon [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 14/May/2021 ] "The Sarabande from the Second Sonata would melt the stoniest heart, and the gigues that end both works seem to kick up their heels with delight." BBC Music |
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J. S. BACH
Trinitatis: Bach Cantatas Le Banquet Céleste, Damien Guillon [ Alpha / CD - released 5/May/2023 ] "Deeply engaging and moving performances of three Bach cantatas result in 'an exceptional and original release'." Gramophone Editor's Choice May 2023 |
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora, HWV 60 Louise Alder; Arcangelo; Jonathan Cohen; Adam Plachetka; Tim Mead; Stuart Jackson; Anna Stéphany [ Alpha Classics / 3 CD - released 23/Feb/2024 ] Among Handel's seventeen English oratorios, Theodora (1750) is unique. The story is not taken from the Bible, it is set in the Christian era, there is no national triumph and it does not end in joy. |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 [on period instruments] Mahler Academy Orchestra, Philipp von Steinaecker [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 21/Jun/2024 ] "Fascinating, then, with the punchy extremes of the inner movements really hitting home." Gramophone |
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Martin Helmchen
Schumann: Novelletten & Gesänge der Frühe [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] Schumann was twenty-eight years old when he composed in 1838 a cycle of eight pieces for piano, the Novelletten (Novelettes) op.21. This impressive, highly virtuosic set was dedicated to the pianist Adolf von Henselt, whose spectacular playing and... |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 Martin Helmchen (piano) / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Andrew Manze [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Dec/2019 ] As the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth approaches, and following a much admired version of the Diabelli Variations (Alpha 386 - Gramophone Editor's Choice), Martin Helmchen has decided to record his complete piano concertos... |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Sonata 3 op.5 / Variations on a theme by Paganini Nelson Goerner (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Oct/2019 ] "he doesn't detonate the instrument in an effort to accommodate the occasionally overblown writing but has mastered its details so thoroughly that, for all the breadth and heft of the musical ideas, the piece sounds proportionate to the piano" Gramop |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Creation Nicolas Altstaedt, Lockenhaus Artists [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Jul/2022 ] Forty years have passed since Gidon Kremer created a little musical oasis in the Austrian town of Lockenhaus in 1981. The violinist's open-minded attitude has left its mark on this event, which has become a must in the concert calendar, and the... |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss: Burleske / Serenade / Tod und Verklärung Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Mikko Franck; Nelson Goerner [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 13/Aug/2021 ] "Goerner opens with blistering energy...Mikko Franck and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France offer dramatic and characterful support." Gramophone |
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WIDMANN / RAVEL / CPE BACH / KODALY / LECLAIR etc
Sol & Pat Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Sol Gabetta (cello) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Oct/2021 ] "The beauty of this programme - quite aside from the players' crazed spontaneity - is that it revolves around two duo masterpieces: Ravel's Sonata in A minor...and Zoltán Kodály's Duo, Op. 7." Gramophone Editor's Choice Jan 2022 |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT / EUGÈNE YSAŸE / IVAN WYSCHNEGRADSKY / ANDRZEY PANUFNIK
Exile Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Thomas Kaufmann, Camerata Bern [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2025 ] This programme brings together composers who, for the most part, were compelled to flee their homeland. |
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BELA BARTOK / FRANCIS POULENC / MAURICE RAVEL
Deux: Music for Violin & Piano Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin) Polina Leschenko (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 10/Apr/2018 ] "Every reading here works like a dream; no doubt in part because the three main works' Hungarian folk roots are a perfect partner to her own Moldovan folk heritage." Gramophone Editor's Choice Feb 2018 |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: String Quintets K. 515 & 516 Quatuor Van Kuijk; Adrien La Marca [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "Time and again, they seem to me to catch this music exactly where it speaks most powerfully: balanced perfectly - poignantly - between laughter and tears." Gramophone Editor's Choice Awards Issue 2020 |