Raphael

Hizbut Jámm – a band lead by guitarist and composer Raphael Rogiński. Hizbut Jámm was formed by musicians from different places and different musical backgrounds. Aside from Rogiński, it consists of vocalist and guitarist Mamadou Ba, kora player Noums Dembele and drummer and percussionist Paweł Szpura.

Benno Ammanns oeuvre reveals influences from impressionism to free tonality, yet he belongs to no stylistic school. The Swiss composer wrote Missa Defensor Pacis (Defender of the Faith) in 1946 for the official canonization, at St Peters in Rome, of Nicholas of Flüe, patron saint of Switzerland. This prestigious commission, with its complex polyphony, countless variations, and use of the cantus firmus technique, is one of the most important and extensive Masses by a Swiss composer for a cappella choir. The Basler Madrigalisten are one of the most traditional professional vocal ensembles in Switzerland and are primarily devoted to demanding repertoires from the Renaissance to contemporary music. The ensemble, founded in 1978 by Fritz Naf at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, has been under the direction of Raphael Immoos since 2013 and has toured Europe, the USA, Australia, and Asia.

Hizbut Jámm – a band lead by guitarist and composer Raphael Rogiński. Hizbut Jámm was formed by musicians from different places and different musical backgrounds. Aside from Rogiński, it consists of vocalist and guitarist Mamadou Ba, kora player Noums Dembele and drummer and percussionist Paweł Szpura.

Alpha presents the reissue of Ensemble Pygmalions version of Dardanus, conducted by Raphaël Pichon and recorded in the majestic acoustics of the Opéra Royal at Versailles Palace. This set won multiple awards on its first release: Rameau, a flinty-hearted composer lacking in imagination? Rameau, a cold mathematician in his chord progressions and a severe draughtsman in his vocal lines? One need only listen, in Dardanus, to the melancholy laments of Princess Iphise, splendidly sung by the soprano Gaëlle Arquez, to realise the treasures of tenderness and invention that still remained in the youthful heart of the fifty-six-year-old composer! . . . This version, which fills an important gap in the discography, possesses all the assets needed to speak to us today, and to last.

Between Die Entführung aus dem Serail and the advent of the famous ‘Da Ponte trilogy’, Mozart threw himself frantically into the search for the right libretto, capable of taking the spectator to lands still unexplored where the drama and the psychology of the characters would be sublimated by the music. Hence, in the years between 1782 and 1786, he set up a veritable laboratory for dramatic music: a musical corpus of concert arias, sketches, and stylistic exercises like the canon – here brilliantly organised as an imaginary dramma giocoso in three scenes, each heralding in its own way one of the summits to come: Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così.

This disc, very well recorded and issued originally in 1983, brings together all of the works for solo cello written by Tchaikovsky and as Tchaikovsky originally intended. They are all played with assurance and sensitivity by Wallfisch. Undoubtedly the most important work here is the Rococo Variations. This has suffered for most of its existence from the interference from its dedicatee, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen who made numerous alterations to the score including the deletion of the 8th variation and re-ordering the rest. He also added repeat marks and changed various dynamics.