Diamand Ensemble

Revueltas and Copland wrote prolifically for film, and these scores are their greatest achievements in the medium. The scores were crafted for two of the most formidable and politically motivated films of the time. Redes is a story of victimized fishermen in Mexico – and the subject matter drew from Revueltas passionate music that Copland himself admiringly described as ‘vibrant and colorful’. The City is a documentary that reveals the musical missing link between Copland’s ‘urban’ and ‘country’ idioms, prescient of minimalism, and masterly in construction and effect. Without narration or dialogue, both scores are heard here for the first time in full.

In the third of the four songs of Don Quixote by Alexandre Arnoux and Jacques Ibert, Dulcinea is sung of as "La Dame de mes songes" (The lady of my dreams).

Flavio Ferri-Benedetti has a very pleasant voice (not a `spectacular voice', but an interpretive ability and range that suits these cantatas beautifully, to a `T'). From the first bar of music, the first sung phrase in Scarlatti's Ombre tacite e sole, you'll hear control and clarity of sound. Though comparisons are always subjective and limited, his voice is more reminiscent of singers like Andreas Scholl (one of his earlier singing teachers) and contemporaries such as Brian Asawa, Iestyn Davies, Randall Wong, Valer Barna-Sabadus, rather than the vocal ranges of David Hansen or the compellingly rich mezzo sounds of Cencic or Fagioli.

Kevin Raftery is an American composer who has been working in the UK since 1989, and also plays bassoon and sings contemporary vocal music. His work is thoroughly modern, without classical limitations, but is also in turn lyrical, tuneful, dramatic and serene, giving ppeal to more than just fans of modernist music. In fact this is top-class post-modern work. While the Quartet and Quintet are formal works, the Pleasantries suite is full of wit, based on figure of speech expressions.

Virgilio Mazzocchi was born in Civita Castellana, a small town in the province of Viterbo, in 1597.

Virgilio Mazzocchi was born in Civita Castellana, a small town in the province of Viterbo, in 1597. He received his first musical education from his older brother Domenico and, in parallel, he attended the local seminary for his studies in humanities. After receiving the tonsure in 1622, he was appointed maestro di cappella at Civita Castellana’s Cathedral and soon moved to Rome, where in 1623 he became maestro di cappella, first at Chiesa del Gesù, then at the Roman Seminary and finally, in 1629, at the prestigious Cappella Giulia of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

ATMA Classique, the ArtChoral Ensemble and Mécénat Musica are proud to present Art Choral, Vol. 4: Classical with the ArtChoral Ensemble under the direction of Matthias Maute.

This programme stands out forcefully against the idea of a supposed rivalry between the Conservatoire and the Schola Cantorum and showcases techniques inherited from both plainsong and a golden age of polyphony by three generations of musicians. La Schola was founded in 1894 and opened on 15 October 1896 as an alternative to the emphasis on opera at the Paris Conservatoire and to foster the study of late Baroque and early Classical works, Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony. On this release from Mirare, esteemed choral conductor Michel Corboz leads the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne in a collection of French music written in honour of the Virgin Mary.

Quatre saisons, quatre poèmes, quatre concertos.

Following in the footsteps of his elders (Chausson, Bizet, Gounod…), Gabriel Fauré perpetuated the tradition of incidental music to enhance plays and reinforce their dramaturgy. He left behind him several major works that are among the most beautiful pages of this repertoire, sometimes unfairly considered as old-fashioned by some of today's artists. Yet music for the stage is of major interest, especially from the golden age of French music, stretching from the mid-19th to the early 20th century, when live music was very much an integral part of the theatrical creation process. Today, not only do very few authors call upon composers to write music for the stage, but live music has also long since been replaced by the more convenient and, alas, undeniably more economical recording.