Susanne Nusslein Muller

The works for viola da gamba of Elizabethan soldier and composer Tobias Hume are wonderfully eccentric, highly entertaining, and often deeply moving, but not often recorded, so new recordings are always welcome. This 2009 Hyperion disc by German gambist Susanne Heinrich may not be the most poetic, soulful Hume recording ever made – that honor would go to the incomparable Jordi Savall – but it is nevertheless a fine addition to the composer's catalog. With her warm but penetrating tone, polished but passionate technique, and acute sensitivity, Heinrich is a first-class player and interpreter, and her performances are wholly sympathetic to the music. Her account of the bleak "I am Melancholy" is as effective as that of the droll "Tickell, tickell," and her reading of the cheerful "Life" is as moving as that of the grim "Deth." Recorded in transparent and present digital sound, this disc deserves to be heard by all admirers of music for viola da gamba.

Susanne Kujala is a German organist and classical accordionist living in Finland. She studied accordion, coaching, and organ at the HfM "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She graduated with a Doctor of Music Degree from the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2013.

Susanne Kujala is a German organist and classical accordionist living in Finland. She studied accordion, coaching, and organ at the HfM "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She graduated with a Doctor of Music Degree from the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2013.

Susanne Kujala is a German organist and classical accordionist living in Finland. She studied accordion, coaching, and organ at the HfM "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She graduated with a Doctor of Music Degree from the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2013.

A tinge of nationalistic pride gleams through the notes and the selections of music on "Christinas Resa". Soprano Susanne Rydén is Swedish, as are most members of the Stockholm Baroque Ensemble which accompanies her vivaciously on these arias from baroque operas and cantatas. It's the superb singing of Susanne Rydén that makes this CD extremely attractive. Rydén has both the rich timbres of an operatic diva and the supple control of an Historically Informed performer specializing in the baroque.

Susanne Kujala is a German organist and classical accordionist living in Finland. She studied accordion, coaching, and organ at the HfM "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She graduated with a Doctor of Music Degree from the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2013.

Susanne Kujala is a German organist and classical accordionist living in Finland. She studied accordion, coaching, and organ at the HfM "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She graduated with a Doctor of Music Degree from the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2013.

The source for the songs on this release is a manuscript in the library of Christ Church College, Oxford. Its title page bears the following: “Musica del Signor Angelo Micheli/ Uno de Musici della Capella / de Reyna di Swecia / Uppsaliae Martii 21 / 1653 / a 2 et 3 voce.” The mystery of how a collection of Italian secular songs of the mid 16th century was compiled in Sweden and ended up in England is, fortunately, relatively easy to solve. In 1651, Queen Christiana requested that the bass Alessandro Cecconi put together a company of Italian musicians to reside at the Swedish court.