Vocal Command

Carl Philipp Emanuel was the most famous son of the great Johann Sebastian. He developed his own musical language, the Empfindsamer Stil, of which the expression of personal feelings, a free and sometimes improvisatory style and the frequent alternation of opposing moods and characters were the keywords. His music can be both charming and vehement, may please or shock the listener, can be simple of complicated: a perfect example of the Sturm und Drang movement of his period.

If you want a good sampling of Copland's orchestral works, then this 2-CD compilation comes highly recommended, with excellent performances of works such as Appalachian Spring, Quiet City, El Salón México and others. (Presto Classical)

Oltre ad essere un’interprete di livello, la cantante Maria Pia De Vito ha al suo attivo progetti sempre interessanti e originali. Ricordiamo Il Pergolese, omaggio jazz alla musica del compositore settecentesco, e il recente Coraçao dedicato alla musica brasiliana con i testi tradotti in napoletano (ne abbiamo parlato in occasione di Umbria Jazz Winter 2017/18). Stavolta la musicista recupera la forma della moresca, antica danza di origine araba con i testi generalmente di carattere grottesco. Nella Napoli, città di origine della solista, questa forma fu molto popolare: uno degli artefici della sua riscoperta in tempi moderni è stato Roberto De Simone che l’ha inserita nella sua Gatta Cenerentola, ma al tempo stesso vari gruppi vocali (King’s Singers e Orlando Consort) la propongono nel loro repertorio.

Dietrich Buxtehude: Vocal Music, Vol. 1, was the start of an intended series on the Dacapo label of Denmark begun in 1996 and this was the only volume issued. It features Emma Kirkby with John Holloway and Manfred Kraemer on violins, Jaap ter Linden on viola da gamba, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen on organ. Although Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri is rightly considered one of the great choral masterworks of the Baroque era, his other vocal output – numbering more than 120 works – seems to have a problem gaining the same kind of traction in the repertoire that his organ music has long enjoyed, even though plenty of it has been recorded.

Featuring Handel's substantial Neun Deutsche Arien (Nine German Arias), HWV 202-210, this engaging late-'80s Bis recording gives the composer's relatively neglected vocal chamber music the royal treatment. It is masterfully produced by the label's founder, Robert von Bahr, and realized with utmost love and expertise by soprano Christina Högman and I Quattro Temperamenti.

Par l'Ensemble Vocal De Profundis, dir. Cristina García Banegas. L'œuvre de Francisco López Capillas constitue, sans aucun doute, le sommet du style polychoral baroque en Nouvelle-Espagne. Directement inspirée de Clément Janequin, sa « Missa de Batalla » fait s'opposer avec fracas les chœurs et les percussions. Elle est, ici, entourée des plus belles pages des compositeurs européens qui étaient ses contemporains, et que l'on chantait également dans les cathédrales de Puebla et de Mexico dont l'édification venait à peine de se terminer. Toute la somptuosité sonore de l'ancien et du Nouveau Monde.

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.

Multi-award-winning singer-songwriter and leading UK jazz vocalist Zara McFarlane releases Sweet Whispers – Celebrating Sarah Vaughan on 14th June. The album honours the jazz great who inspired her on her own artistic journey and whose centenary year is marked in 2024.