Alessandro Simonetto

Bach's monumental Aria and Thirty Variations in G Major, BWV 988, commonly known as Goldberg Variations, are presented on this disc alongside two shorter works by the composer - Aria variata alla maniera italiana in A Minor, BWV 989, and the partially completed Aria and Variations in C Minor, BWV 991, in the version completed by harpsichordist Alessandro Simonetto. Together, the three sets trace Bach's experience with the genre of the variations throughout the span of his compositional career: the virtuosic Aria variata alla maniera italiana is a relatively early work, from 1709; the fragment of what promised to be a complex set of variations in C minor, catalogued as BWV 991, is found in Anna Magdalena Bach's Notebook, which was compiled in 1722; and the Goldberg Variations, one of the pinnacles of the keyboard literature and possibly one of greatest artistic manifestations of the human spirit, were first published in 1741.

Zornitsa Ilarionova, violinist, studied with world-renowned professor, Zakhar Bron, at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. She also studied with prominent international violinist Mario Hossen at New Bulgarian University, Sofia, as well as with Pavel Vernikov at 'Santa Cecilia' Music Academy in Bergamo.

In this new album, Russian pianist Galina Chistiakova offers a program that spans Chopin’s entire compositional career, from the early Mazurkas, Opp. 6 and 7 to the pinnacle of extraordinary pianism that is the Barcarolle, Op. 60. Chistiakova chose to alternate each of the three major works she selected with a set of mazurkas, contrasting the magnificence of large forms with brief, often intimate pages.

Born in Italy in 2001, Elia Cecino began his studies at 9 with prof. Maddalena De Facci and at 17 graduated 'Summa cum Laude' at Cesena Conservatory as a private student. In 2020 he achieved the Specialization Diploma of the Accademia del Ridotto di Stradella with Andrzej Jasinski and he is now studying with Eliso Virsaladze at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole.

"Legs intertwine, gazes merge, bodies fuse in a firulete and succumb to its charm. Giving the impression that tango is a great magical embrace hard to break off. Because there is something suggestive, something sensual and, at the same time, something tremendously emotional in it". Jorge Luis Borges used these words to describe the infinite universe of Argentine tango, capturing the physical and sensual twine, the corporeality and magic permeating every move and note. The use of the term firulete is not a coincidence: it refers to the embellishment and to the many decorative possibilities which can be applied to the dance. To underline the dancers' virtuosities and moves, tracing figures with their feet well planted on the floor, their hearts reaching out for pure emotion. The same emotion flowing while listening to this exquisite album, in which Astor Piazzolla's Nuevo Tango (1921-1992) is magnificently displayed. Given its style of composition in which the dance roots can be taken towards new shores (and making them evolve).

"Legs intertwine, gazes merge, bodies fuse in a firulete and succumb to its charm. Giving the impression that tango is a great magical embrace hard to break off. Because there is something suggestive, something sensual and, at the same time, something tremendously emotional in it". Jorge Luis Borges used these words to describe the infinite universe of Argentine tango, capturing the physical and sensual twine, the corporeality and magic permeating every move and note.

The two albums OC19040B and OC19041B introduce Beethoven’s more intimate works that appropriately trace his evolution: from the four Sonatinas, WoO 50 and 51, Anh. 5/1, 5/2, composed in the late 1780s or early 1790s and published posthumously; exploring the four sonatas of the first-period (the Three Sonatas, Op. 10 and the Sonata, Op. 22); two sonatas from the middle period (Opp. 78, in two relatively brief movements; and Op. 79, the shortest of the three-movement sonatas); and ending with the late-period’s Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119, revised and published as a set in 1823 but gathering works that span from the 1790s to the early 1820s.