Elena Blangey

Being the child of a famous father can be quite a burden, in particular when father and child have the same occupation. The Bach sons knew all about it. It can also be a blessing, though. That was certainly the case with the two most famous female composers of 17th-century Italy, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini. The latter was the daughter of Giulio Caccini who with his compositions and in his writings expressed a new approach to music in which the text was at the centre and should be depicted in the music.

My last encounter with Elena Kats-Chernin’s captivating music came in the shape of three works on an ABC disc devoted to the composer (see review). There we had the Second Piano Concerto, the Wild Swans concert suite and Mythic and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Elements of the concert suite make a reappearance here because some of the pieces are heard in versions for solo piano. If you know the soprano-and-orchestral version you will enjoy hearing these stripped back, pared down versions.

When Max Richter’s Recomposed first exploded into our collective ears almost a decade ago, a 59-minutes-28-seconds sonic starburst, the effect for so many people was total. We hadn’t heard anything like that, ever. Experiencing it felt as though we were being catapulted onto another plane, reverberated through the cosmos by this epiphanic soundworld. In this “alternative rendering”, Chineke!, the groundbreaking British ensemble consisting of majority Black, Asian and ethnically diverse musicians, and the brilliant soloist, Elena Urioste, are playing on gut strings and period instruments: the sort that Vivaldi would have heard, and played, in his own time.

Member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, principal of the New World Symphony, and partner of Renée Fleming on the CD Bel Canto, clarinetist Todd Levy is hot stuff. Actually and more accurately, Todd Levy is mellow stuff – rich, lush, full, deep, and sweet stuff. In this, his first solo disc, Levy takes on four of the most Romantic works in the clarinet repertoire, that's Romantic with both an upper and a lower case R: Brahms' two late sonatas in F minor and E flat major plus Schumann's Fantasy Pieces and, naturally, his Romances. It's a match made in heaven: Levy wraps himself around each piece like a coat in late autumn, playing with a cantabile tone and a flawless technique.

Founded in 2010 by cellist Niklas Schmidt, ""Fontenay Classics International"" stands for fine chamber music, superior sound and exquisite design. FCI presents both young ensembles as well as recordings of Mr. Schmidt himself. Mostly first-time recordings, this disc offers much material for further musicological research and discussion. Text clouds surround the individual interpretations, as is the performers practice during staged recitals; the music can thus be enjoyed and analyzed in the company of introductory accounts of these great artists and their circles of friends.