Outhere Music

Like many education-hungry sons of the European nobility, the 18-year-old Prince Frederick August II embarked on his Grand Tour, which took him from Saxony to Venice in 1716, where he spent almost a year. The large entourage that accompanied the young prince on this trip included such great musicians as the violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, the oboist Johann Christian Richter and the composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. In Venice, an intense exchange with local stars such as Vivaldi developed, in an atmosphere of friendship and competition. On his return to Dresden, August took with him, in addition to Lotti and Veracini, Heinichen, whom he had met in Venice and who became his Kapellmeister. After acclaimed recordings of orchestral works by Handel and Bach, Zefiro now discovers this fascinating repertoire of music by Italians who composed in the French style and Germans who wrote Venetian concertos to impress the prince.

The Orpheum Foundation, which has been supporting young musicians for more than thirty years, has joined forces with Alpha Classics for a series of recordings devoted to Mozart’s concertos for various instruments. The finest soloists of the young generation have been selected under the artistic direction of Howard Griffiths, a renowned Mozart conductor, who considers that playing his music is like ‘looking in a mirror: you can hear if everything is in place, musicality, intonation, rhythm, phrasing’. For this fifth volume, the American pianist Claire Huangci joins the Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg and Howard Griffiths, her mentor for the past ten years. For her, she says, these concertos are ‘true musical revelations, works full of virtuosity and imagination’.

Anna Fedorova and the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen under Modestas Pitrėnas complete their critically acclaimed cycle of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos with this recording of his Third Piano Concerto. Anna Fedorova considers Rachmaninoff’s Third one of the grandest concertos ever written, stating "it has incredible compelling power and demands mobilization of all the physical, creative and emotional abilities from both soloist and orchestra. At the same time this composition is very romantic by its nature, sort of a lyrical confession of the composer”. BBC Music Magazine has given 5-star reviews to all previous Fedorova/Rachmaninoff recordings, noting that "Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova is a remarkable artist. The clear thinking and feeling behind these Rachmaninoff concerto interpretations are refreshing indeed”.

Victor Julien-Laferrière, winner in 2017 of the first Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium dedicated to the cello, presents here two French works for cello and orchestra: Outscape by Pascal Dusapin: "The title itself carries the musical project (…) a word rich in meaning that indicates a variety of meanings from the most common to the most philosophical. “Outscape” is the way or opportunity to escape, to invent a path of one's own. I liked this word because it is basically like a summary of the history of my work."

Following three critically acclaimed albums of sacred music, Voces Suaves turns to the most important secular genre of the Renaissance: the madrigal. Their new album for Arcana, Versi d’Amore , is dedicated entirely to the madrigals of Giaches de Wert (1535-1596): rarely performed nowadays, these expressive works are the true forebearers of the madrigals of Claudio Monteverdi, Wert’s younger colleague in Mantua. Versi d’Amore features a selection of works from Wert’s last three madrigal books: sombre settings of profound sonnets by Petrarch performed a cappella, alongside elegantly playful canzonette performed with an instrumental consort, all of which display Wert’s complete command of polyphonic writing, melodic expressivity and word painting. Most of the pieces are recorded for the first time, giving the listeners an opportunity to discover these true gems of the madrigal repertoire.

With Van Gogh in Me, the Netherlands Chamber Choir presents an experience in which the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt come to life to the music of the great Romantic and early 20th century composers such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Mahler… and, in a world premiere, a transcription for a cappella choir of Satie's first Gymnopédie. Originally written for solo piano, this work, which is known and played throughout the world, finds a new magical and celestial dimension in this new version for choir. Mentioning the name of Van Gogh immediately evokes in each of us a colour, a landscape, a sensation… Hence the idea of creating an immersive audiovisual experience: the choir approached an Italian collective, fuse*, to link images and sounds to the emotions of the musicians and the audience… fuse* developed an algorithm based on the works of Van Gogh and Klimt by recording their styles, colours, brushstrokes… then, during the concert, collects the sound of the choir but also biometric data that analyses the emotional state of the audience, the singers and the conductor, and creates visuals in real time, an astonishing show of colours and shapes that mixes sound, images and emotions… The visual of the album is inspired by these experiments.

This second instalment of our long-term project Poétiques de l’Instant (Poetry of the Moment) combines two masterly string quartets with a range of other instrumental colours, unpublished transcriptions and first performances. Alongside the famous Quartet by Ravel, the Voce Quartet have commissioned a new quartet from Bruno Mantovani – his fifth - which develops around a crucial note in Ravel’s Quartet. They have also drawn on the multiple talents of harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, who enhances the programme with a magical chamber transcription of Ravel’s famous Mother Goose suite. For this arrangement, as well as for Ravel’s equally superb Introduction and Allegro for septet, the Quatuor Voce are joined by three outstanding artists: flautist Juliette Hurel, clarinettist Rémi Delangle and harpist Emmanuel Ceysson.

I discovered Rachmaninov’s ‘Vespers’ singing in a choir, and the work made a genuine emotional impact on me! This music gives off an impression of naturalness and ‘simplicity’, yet in fact its architecture is complex and innovative for its time in the quasi-orchestral treatment of the voices. I wanted to place the work in a liturgical context that I conceived by drawing my inspiration from the Orthodox ceremonies I have been lucky enough to attend in Russia and Romania. The special characteristic and the beauty of this Vigil service (which in the Orthodox churches includes both Vespers and Matins) is that it accompanies the prayers of the faithful from dusk until sunrise.

Olga Pashchenko is one of today’s most versatile keyboard players. Equally at home on the fortepiano, the harpsichord, the organ and the modern piano, she radiates extraordinary virtuosity and passion. Her discography has hitherto enabled her to explore the music of Beethoven, her great passion, but also that of Dussek and Mendelssohn among others. A key figure was missing until now: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. That omission has now been repaired with this recording of his Piano Concertos nos. 9 and 17, written in 1777 and 1784. This initial collaboration with the ensemble Il Gardellino, founded more than thirty years ago by the oboist Marcel Ponseele and the flautist Jan De Winne, is scheduled to continue with other Mozart concertos in the next few years.

Very little is known about António Pereira da Costa (c. 1697–1770), though the exceptional quality of his only surviving compositions – 12 Concerti grossi – earns him pride of place. He held the post of Chapel Master of the Cathedral of Funchal, the highest musical position in the Portuguese island of Madeira. Pereira da Costa's Concerti are the only set of Concerti grossi of Portuguese provenance identified to date. They were largely inspired by Corelli’s, but frequently reveal an unmistakable “Iberian” flavour. These works embody the charm and freshness of a truly exquisite “tropical Baroque”. Ensemble Bonne Corde presents the first recording of these pieces, which are a milestone in Portuguese eighteenth century instrumental music.