Outhere Music

Mantua and the Gonzaga family represent one of the summits of European humanistic and Renaissance expression. This project addresses one of the city's greatest periods with sacred works by the leading musicians of the Gonzaga court, at a time when music was the primary tool employed by the Gonzaga dukes to assert their prestige over other Italian cities; this golden age began with the foundation of the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara and its cappella under Giaches de Wert during the rule of Guglielmo Gonzaga in 1565 and lasted until the sack of Mantua in 1630. The Ensemble Biscantores specialise in the performance of late Renaissance and Baroque music; here, thanks to the research, study and transcriptions made by its director Luca Colombo, they explore the Mantuan court of the Gonzagas and the liturgy specific to the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara.

Harmonieuses Dissonances: that is the title of the string quartet that closes this second album of music by Eric Montalbetti, but above all it is a statement of the very subject of the works assembled here: they start out from heterogeneous elements, like the diversity of the people we know, or of our moods and thoughts, and aim – through encounters, comparisons, organisation or a search for common ground – to find the meaning of a life that we hope will, in the end, be harmonious. Since the first album of his music, Solos, appeared in 2016, Eric Montalbetti has been fortunate enough to hear seventeen of his scores come to life thanks to some wonderful musicians in France, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Japan and Korea. Two duos (including a Hommage à Matisse), a piano trio and a string quartet, were premiered and have now been recorded by Christian Tetzlaff and Alexandre Vorontsov, Delphine Haidan and Pierre Génisson, the soloists of the Ensemble intercontemporain and the Quatuor Les Dissonances.

The Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Series sees tenor Liam Bonthrone make his recording debut. Soirée parisienne takes us on a journey into the fascinating world of Parisian salons, which were the epicentre of the cultural scene in nineteenth-century France. These social gatherings provided a platform for new and established composers to showcase their works to a discerning audience and introduce new musical styles and trends. Accompanied by pianist Benjamin Mead, Liam Bonthrone highlights the contributions of three of the most influential salonnières of their time: Pauline Viardot, Comtesse Élisabeth Greffulhe and Winnaretta Singer, Princesse de Polignac. Liam Bonthrone is one of the exceptional artists, including Xiaowen Shang (piano), Cassandra Wright (soprano) and Anna Im (violin), who are the recent recipients of the Academy’s Bicentenary Scholarships scheme.

"The perfect dancing is memory, tempo, style, how the body is held, the diversity of things and the sharing of space…". So begins one of the first dance treatises in history, written by the Italian dancing master Antonio Cornazzano in the 15th century. To go beyond the steps and figures he describes is to understand the symbolic role of this art, its aim to unite earthbound humanity with the kingdom of God. This recording echoes this universalist vision, following the thread of the first notated dances and exploring the songs or pieces that were sometimes also the source and inspiration of more refined compositions: Estampies and other forgotten dances of the Middle Ages; aristocratic basse-danses that were in vogue at the court of Burgundy; saltarelli of the bourgeoning Italian Renaissance; allemandes and heady branles danced at the revels of François I. On this recording, Into the Winds gleefully explores a great variety of spaces and aesthetics and reveal the timelessness of this art more than ever.

Figures of Harmony: Songs of Codex Chantilly c. 1390 - Ferrara Ensemble, Crawford Young (2015) {4CD Outhere-Arcana A382}
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© 2015 Outhere Music / Arcana | A382
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Vocal Music / Chamber Music / Instrumental

Presented in a stylish 4-CD box set, here is a comprehensive recording of one of the most enigmatic manuscripts in the history of European music, preserved in the museum at the Château de Chantilly, France. ‘Anything that can be sung, can be written in music notation,’ claimed an anonymous treatise on notation in the late fourteenth century. The harmonies thus ‘captured’ on parchment represent an apex in Western music, associated with the wealthiest courts in Christendom, called ‘decadent’ by some.

Marin Marais - Dialogues: The Suites for Two Viols & Basso Continuo - Mieneke van der Velden & Wieland Kuijken (2015) {Outhere}
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© 2015 Outhere Music / Ramée | RAM 1407
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music / Suite

A noteworthy fact: Marais, in his five books of Pièces de viole, published only two suites for two viols and continuo. Aside from the two suites for three viols (Book IV), all the other pieces are intended for the solo instrument with accompaniment of harpsichord, theorbo or a second viol in different combinations.

Giovanni Zamboni - Simone Vallerotonda - L'ultimo Romano - Sonate d'Intavolatura di Leuto, 1718 (2016) {Outhere Digital Downloads}
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© 2016 Arcana / Outhere Music | AD 101
Classical / Baroque / Lute / Sonata

“Giovanni Zamboni Romano, originally from Rome, was a fine expert in musical counterpoint and virtuoso on the theorbo, lute, harpsichord, chitarra sminuita, mandola and mandolin, and also a skilled professional sharpener of oriental stones for jewels.” Such is our lute player described by the chronicler Ranieri Busoni.The Sonatas for lute in tablature (Sonate d’intavolatura di leuto) of 1718 are the last Italian works for lute printed in tablature, likely prepared by Zamboni, who was deft at handling stones and jewellery.

Marco Ceccato and Anna Fontana are well-known performers on the international baroque circuit and familiar faces thanks to their recordings for Outhere labels Alpha, Arcana and Zig-Zag Territoires (including Marco's 2015 Diapason d'or Award winning recording of Boccherini with Accademia Ottoboni). Now they have come together to tackle the two revolutionary works for piano and cello composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1796 and dedicated to King Frederick William II of Prussia. Their interpretative approach deepens our understanding of the final years of that century when a young Beethoven, a child of the 18th century, was grappling with one of his most extraordinary stylistic innovations. These two expert performers have set out to reconstruct historically reliable versions of the works, linking Beethoven’s revolutionary harmonic solutions with the 18th-century stylistic features that were still in vogue, from phrasings to Beethoven’s meticulously notated articulations.

Various Artists - A Guide to Musical Instruments, Vol. II: 1800-1950 (2013) {8CD Box Set Ricercar RIC104}
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© 2013 Ricercar / Outhere Music | RIC104
Classical / Viennese School / Romantic / Early 20th Century Music

This second volume of the Guide to Musical Instruments explores the history of musical instruments in the period from 1800 to 1950. Its purpose is both to discuss improvements and transformations of instruments dating from before 1800 and to investigate all the novelties thought up by instrument makers during this era. All these developments took place in a context in which the process of instrument making moved from artisans’ workshops to commercial firms which became veritable factories, typical of the ‘age of industrialisation’. The majority of the musical examples are recordings of individual instruments that allow us to hear timbres often lost under the weight of the orchestral mass.This second volume of the Guide follows the same principles as the first.