Joao Selva Maré Vai Subir

In January 2007 Tempesta di Mare premiered in modern times four large-scale orchestral works by Johann Friedrich Fasch, a contemporary of Bach and Telemann. Richard Stone of Tempesta di Mare describes the pieces as ‘fantastic, true discoveries… they have the breadth and complexity of J.S. Bach without the austerity, and have a much more evolved sense of orchestral colour that’s truly extraordinary’. The concert was titled The Fantastic Herr Fasch – A Genius Rediscovered, and presented a gigantic five-movement orchestral suite, two concerti for orchestra and an Andante. The works in this concert were recorded for this CD release, which means that all the energy and enthusiasm of the concert performance are here for all to appreciate.

These young musicians from Egypt, Turkey, Portugal and Italy bridge the distance between the shores and sonic worlds of a rapidly changing region. Their first album, recorded in Paris, blends both timbres and backgrounds in a unique artistic collaboration with Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, supported by Abu Dhabi Festival. The composition process is a compromise between the written score — the notes on the stave — with an exclusively oral tradition, in which the theme is developed only by those taking part, first by listening to it and then by repeating it. Their music is influenced by the folk music of each country and by much improvisation and jazz, and uses melodies from the European classical tradition blended with rhythms and instruments of the Middle East.

TESTORIDE ARGONAUTA (1780). Written for the court of Portugal, which was in the grip of an Italian opera craze that engulfed 18th-century Europe, this has a typical opera seria plot based on Greek mythology with extreme situations and graceful, expressive arias. The music may remind you of Mozart, but the composer's stature is actually closer to Cimarosa or Paisiello.