Macuser €“ 27 April 2012

Following the success of his 2011 album Rose of Sharon a celebration of 18th Century American music that landed on Billboard s classical chart and critics year-end lists the latest project by Joel Frederiksen and the Ensemble Phoenix Munich takes them all the way back in time to… 1972. That was the year the late British troubadour and cult favorite Nick Drake released his third and final album, Pink Moon. Initially, the album garnered a small amount of critical attention, but it was not until decades after Drake s death that it received widespread public and critical acclaim. Today, the sparse and unadorned tracks of Pink Moon are regarded by many fans and music critics as the greatest efforts of a tragically short career.

A fascinating compilation detailing the highly expressive music of Prince, composer and murderer Carlo Gesualdo - one of history's most colorful figures. Gesualdo's first six books of madrigals remain his best-known music.

The numerous instrumental pieces or 'Symphonies' found in the dramatic works of Rameau are remarkably effective on the harpsichord: the composer himself, with his transcription of 'Les Indes Galantes' invited other musicians to continue this tradition.
Seizing on the formidable array of material available in his operas: Platée, Zoroastre, Dardanus, Les Paladins, Pygmalion… Pierre Hantai and Skip Sempé, our finest exponents of this repertoire, take obvious pleasure in revealing, through the two harpsichords, the immense richness of this music, full of surprises and imagination.

This is Volume 2 in the series of orchestral works by Alfredo Casella, performed by the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda, with the pianist Martin Roscoe. The disc also forms part of the ‘Italian Series’ on Chandos, in association with Ricordi Music and the BBC Philharmonic. International Record Review said of the previous volume: ‘Anyone with more than a passing interest in this fascinating composer needs to have this remarkable disc.’