With this first album for NoMadMusic, double bassist Florentin Ginot displays all his virtuosity in a daring reinterpretation of the violin repertoire of Bach and Biber. More accustomed to the role of continuo, the double bass shines here in a new light, which in turn tinges these works with a roundness and warmth that is typical of the instrument's basses. Accompanied by Fanny Vicens (keyboard) and Caroline Delume (theorbo and guitar), this opus opens up new perspectives on the double bass repertoire!
“Recording the complete Preludes is like painting notes with an unlimited palette of sound!” writes pianist Fanny Azzuro in the notes to her debut album for Rubicon. “Playing this music is exhilarating. The danger is that you lose control of your emotions and yield to the temptation to pile on the pathos in music that is so naturally expressive.
Although they were often dismissed as a fluffy singles group in their day, Sweet crafted a handful of strong albums in the mid-'70s that sported some surprisingly muscular hard rock. A fine example of this trend is Sweet Fanny Adams. Although this album got little exposure in America on its own, over half of this album's contents ended up on the American edition of Desolation Boulevard. Sweet Fanny Adams' tone is set with the opening track, "Set Me Free," a fiery rocker that blends ultrahigh vocal harmonies to a furious succession of guitar riffs that jack the song up a level of speed metal frenzy…
A release which celebrates the talents and importance of the ‘other’ Mendelssohn and Schumann, who emerge from the shadows of their illustrious family names in a blaze of triumphant chamber music.
There has been an upsurge of interest over recent years in Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's life and work, prompted both by her bicentenary in 2005 and a more general impulse to re-examine undervalued and neglected female artists. Those who have been exposed to even a fraction of her work may need no further encouragement to explore this new recording of a generous selection of her shorter piano works. But if this is unfamiliar territory, or if the music has been assumed to be sentimental and pretty drawing-room stuff, it might prove to be a rather surprising and exceptionally satisfying discovery.
Though it was the least well received by its intended dedicatee – Pablo de Sarasate – the third violin concerto of Camille Saint-Saëns has endured as one of his most popular concertos along with the A minor Cello Concerto and the Third Piano Concerto. The earlier two violin concertos, each written some 20 years before, are still noteworthy, lively concertos, but lack the same emotional impact and maturity of the seasoned B minor Concerto. What they may lack in depth is made up for with pyrotechnic virtuosic displays, perhaps explaining Sarasate's fondness. This Naxos album places the B minor Concerto first, ending with the C major Concerto, a program order that curiously seems to place the bigger "bang" finish at the beginning, closing with a less emphatic note.