Marko Rubel

The saxophone, especially the alto saxophone, is not necessarily a very busy instrument in the symphony orchestra. However, in addition to its formative tracks in jazz, in quite a few cases it has also left sound traces in the field of so-called "classical music" that are worth listening to. These traces are followed by the CD "Gravity Groove" by the Finnish saxophonist Joonatan Rautiola. In addition to an interesting arrangement detour to Mozart's "Kegelstatt Trio", it also brings to life impressionistic or neo-classical gems such as Claude Debussy's Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone and Paule Maurice's Tableaux de Provence. With Charles Wuorinen's Divertimento and the title sonata by Tuomas Turriago, "Gravity Groove", Rautiola enters contemporary sound spheres with virtuosity and tonal refinement.

Marko Topchii, winner of the 2017 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition, has selected a rich and varied repertoire ranging from neo-Romanticism to serialism, each work offering a unique vision of the instrument’s technical and expressive capabilities. Antonio José’s Sonata is remarkably inventive, bringing a new language to ancient dance forms, while Frank Martin’s Quatre Pièces brèves, written in the same year, offers the flourish and vigour of contemporary harmonic vocabulary. Roland Dyens’ Libra Sonatine is one of the most virtuosic and brilliant of late 20th-century guitar works.

An album with a mission to defy classification, BariTenor is a tour de force for Michael Spyres. It ranges wide, encompassing repertoire normally assigned to both tenors and baritones. Programming 18 arias by 15 composers, it covers three centuries of opera in Italian, French and German, setting mainstream works beside relative rarities, and rediscovering Étienne Méhul's Ariodant, first heard in 1799.