Cristina Pasqua

“Confidences” marks the return to recording, after a long gap, of one of the most respected pianists in France for his artistic vision, the courage of his—sometimes polemical—positions and the fertility of his musical conceptions: Laurent Coq. For his third opus in the demanding format of the piano-double bass-drums trio, rich in his collaborations with leading musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, from Miguel Zenon to Walter Smith III, from Sophie Alour to Julien Lourau, the pianist presents a series of eight compositions which are all moments of musical truth.

“Confidences” marks the return to recording, after a long gap, of one of the most respected pianists in France for his artistic vision, the courage of his—sometimes polemical—positions and the fertility of his musical conceptions: Laurent Coq. For his third opus in the demanding format of the piano-double bass-drums trio, rich in his collaborations with leading musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, from Miguel Zenon to Walter Smith III, from Sophie Alour to Julien Lourau, the pianist presents a series of eight compositions which are all moments of musical truth.

Recorded "live" in concert at the culmination of the trio's first tour since the lockdown began, this set reflects the exhilaration found in playing before a hungry audience in a beautiful concert hall. Featuring eight originals and 2 standards, this audiophile-quality album is destined to become a go-to in your music library. Good pasta, great acoustics, a wonderful piano with equally-great drums and bass to play on. "Live In Italy," the Erskine Trio at it's best.

During his long life, the priest, nobleman, poet, and painter from Rome, Ermenegildo del Cinque (1700–73) wrote over 100 sonatas for two cellos and eighteen pieces for three cellos. Although he was a dilettante di musica, he was the most prolific composer of cello music of all time. Yet despite the fact that he also composed cantatas, a serenata and some sacred music, and was a renowned cellist in Rome, he remains virtually unknown today, even among cellists. This recording, made in the theatre of the Palazzo Altemps in Rome where del Cinque often performed, rescues some of these extraordinarily beautiful compositions from oblivion.

Tchaikovsky stayed in Aachen for six weeks in 1887, during which time he orchestrated his Mozartiana. He also left behind 16 bars of music from his diary, and the Aachener Walzer is André Parfenov’s completion of this otherwise unknown mini-waltz. Further works by Parfenov include a Violin Concerto on the subject of war, peace and human symbiosis, and a reflection on the life of a remarkable avant-garde painter in his Malevich Suite. Completing the framework for this recording is Tchaikovsky’s orchestral suite Mozartiana, which spotlights Mozart’s little-known smaller pieces to charming effect.

Rare manuscripts from the library of an Italian abbey, rediscovered and recorded for the first time.