Nuance st

This first of the two sets contains four indisputable masterpieces. In the stormy D minor Concerto K. 466, Brendel springs a mild surprise by playing his own cadenzas rather than Beethoven's, the ones most often used. I must confess to preferring Beethoven's unstylish but dramatic and imaginative cadenza to the first movement, but otherwise the performance is beyond reproach. Brendel adds some discreet and entirely appropriate ornamentation to the many repetitions of the second movement's main theme. The Olympian C major K. 467, with its incomparably beautiful slow movement, also receives some much-needed decoration: here the cadenzas are by Radu Lupu and are a bit quirkier than necessary.

Montserrat Figueras & Jordi Savall - Ninna Nanna (ca. 1500-2002) {Alia Vox AV 9826 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 340 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 2002 Alia Vox | AVSA 9826
Classical / Vocal Music

Who doesn't love a lullaby? As a tribute "to all mothers and children", singer Montserrat Figueras offers this unusual program of 18 such songs from diverse sources and anonymous composers–Portuguese, English, Greek, Catalan, Hebrew, Sephardic, and North African–as well as pieces written by the likes of Byrd, Mussorgsky, Reger, Falla, Milhaud, and Pärt (two lullabies composed for this recording). Accompaniments show the stylish hand and always-tasteful imaginings of Jordi Savall and the instrumentalists of Hesperion XXI–viols, guitar, flutes, psaltery, harp–and, in three tracks, the piano of Paul Badura-Skoda. Although the liner notes prime us to expect very simple, repetitive tunes, Figueras transforms these ostensibly sleep-inducing songs into high, mind-and-ear-engaging art, embellishing, shaping, and imbuing them with deeply felt expression, sometimes wistful and at others fervent, but always delivered as if in intimate, personal touch with her listener(s).

This is a St Matthew Passion which should please many readers. Bruggen’s interpretation is eloquent, thoughtful in matters of style and expressive content, and it benefits from a textural clarity which few competitors can rival. All aspects of Bach’s miraculous score are taken into account.

The recorder played a huge part in 18th-century European music, so it’s strange that this beautiful instrument doesn’t command the attention it deserves today. Enter Dutch player Lucie Horsch with a Baroque feast of thrilling arrangements and wonderful, original works for recorder. Dive into the magical, virtuosic worlds of Castello, Naudot, and Sammartini—whose Concerto in F Majoris a sparkling discovery—and relive famous pieces that shine anew. The voice flute used for “Erbarme dich” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion has a breathtaking vocal quality, while Horsch joins fellow recorder player Charlotte Barbour-Condini for a joyful, energizing performance of Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.” Utterly inspiring.