Con Eco D'amore

With a voice described as one of the most beautiful Britain has seen in a generation (International Record Review), Elizabeth Watts has established herself among the brightest talents performing today. In this selection of rarely heard Alessandro Scarlatti arias from his cantatas, oratorios and operas, she is joined by the acclaimed period instrument ensemble The English Concert led by Laurence Cummings.

Belgian band Vaya con Dios released several albums for Ariola Records during the late '80s and '90s. Formed in 1986 around Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs, and Willy Willy (Willy Lambregt), the trio combined influences from blues, jazz, and Gypsy styles. Some of their best material was collected on Best Of, released in late 1996.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen returns to Orchid Classics with a triptych of Russian piano trios: two works by Shostakovich framing music by Arensky. These Russian composers lived through turning points in their country’s history. Arensky died in 1906, the year in which Shostakovich was born, and their output charts the trajectory of Russian and Soviet political and artistic history during those years. Arensky’s ardent Piano Trio No.1 was written in 1894, when Russian Romanticism was at its peak. Inspired by young love, the 17-year-old Shostakovich wrote his Piano Trio No.1 Poème in 1923 in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), finding expression for strong personal emotions via a musical language influenced by film scores.

Bent Sørensen’s quietly spoken universe incorporates loneliness, nostalgia and a feeling of loss and leave leave-taking. Of the works on this album, his triple concerto, L’Isola della Città (2015), has a purity that makes it one of the composer’s most immediate and gripping orchestral works. His dramatic Second Symphony (2019) dives into the resonance of music’s classical history, where every sound is considered with the greatest care and refinement.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen returns to Orchid Classics with a triptych of Russian piano trios: two works by Shostakovich framing music by Arensky. These Russian composers lived through turning points in their country’s history. Arensky died in 1906, the year in which Shostakovich was born, and their output charts the trajectory of Russian and Soviet political and artistic history during those years. Arensky’s ardent Piano Trio No.1 was written in 1894, when Russian Romanticism was at its peak. Inspired by young love, the 17-year-old Shostakovich wrote his Piano Trio No.1.