Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Its common elements are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music, the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic dissemination of music.
The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to aleatoric forms. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to personal interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art. It may also be divided among art music and folk music. There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics. Music may be played and heard live, may be part of a dramatic work or film, or may be recorded.
To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Piazz�lla: Tango Distinto

�A swinging, sultry collection of arrangements of the Tango King's music showcasing the exception talent of Greek trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos.� --BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****

"Piazzolla�s music appears in a variety of arrangements, but this is claimed as the first recording with a trombone as the constant element. I don�t recall having encountered the young Greek trombonist Achille Liarmakopoulos before, but he�s a fine exponent of the music, in combination with a variety of other instruments. You probably already know if you like Piazzolla�s music�and it�s very hard to dislike. If you don�t, this is as good a way as any to get to know it�" --MusicWeb International, May 2011

Legendary tango performer and composer Astor Piazzolla gained experience of jazz in New York and classical form and technique through studies with Alberto Ginastera. His work lends itself perfectly to arrangement for all kinds of ensemble, and this is the first recording with solo trombone. These popular pieces showcase the stunning playing of multi-award winning soloist Achilles Liarmakopoulos in a variety of moods, including the famous Oblivion, and Le Grand Tango, a virtuoso show-stopper originally written for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

Poenitz: Songs and Hymns with Harp

The second instalment of the Poenitz cycle on Brilliant Classics presents works for solo voice, accompanied by harp(s) and harmonium. The unique instrumental colours lend a special atmosphere to these intimate and deeply felt works, often on sacred texts. Franz Poenitz was not only a virtuoso on the harp (as is clearly evident in the rich and complex writing for his instrument in this music) but also an accomplished painter, one of his creations adorns the cover of the CD. New recording, with liner notes written by a descendant of Poenitz, Mr Andreas Fischer.

The first volume of the Poenitz Edition (works for solo harp played by Laura Vinciguerrra) is available on Brilliant Classic 94179. Born in 1850 in Bischofswerder, West Prussia (now Poland), Franz Poenitz made his name as a harpist, performing and touring as a child prodigy from the age of six, before spending most of his adult career as a chamber musician at the Berlin Royal Court Opera. He began studying composition when he was 11, and continued to write music throughout his career � focusing primarily on works for the harp and harmonium, of which he was also a virtuoso.

Although Poenitz�s compositions never achieved widespread fame and were forgotten during the course of the 20th century, this fantastic new collection demonstrates why his works � particularly those for harp � are experiencing a revival of interest. In the eight pieces, Poenitz�s experience as a virtuoso harpist is evident; he makes full use of the instrument�s timbre, colour and lyricism to create evocative music of great delicacy. In Spukhafte Gavotte (�Spooky� Gavotte), Heinrich Heine�s ghostly poem Maria Antoinette is depicted through a suitably eerie arrangement. Der Fischer sees Goethe�s ballad of the same title set in an unusual arrangement for harp and mezzosoprano, while the evocative Wikingerfahrt may have been inspired by Swedish stories about the Viking Frithiof. In all cases, Poenitz�s ability to write intuitively for the harp is clear, and given full expression by this accomplished group of performers. Featuring world premiere performances of a number of pieces, this new disc is an introduction to this forgotten composer, and will be of particular interest to harp music enthusiasts.

Cherubini: Arias & Overtures from Florence to Paris

�Schiavo displays a nimble coloratura technique, phrases elegantly and makes much of her words...The Tuscan period band Auser Musici are robust rather than specially subtle partners, with, as recorded, a distinctly abrasive string tone. But there is no doubting the energy and commitment of their playing.� --Gramophone Magazine, April 2012

�These are the first performances I have heard by Auser Musici, technically and musically a notably accomplished original-instrument ensemble. Its founder, Carlo Ipata, gives Cherubini's music his considerable all� --International Record Review, March 2012 

�What really surprises here, however, is that the lofty master of the severely sculpted phrase kicked off his career by writing coloratura showstoppers of fashionable difficulty for the divas of his day...Schiavo's coloratura generates the thrill of an athlete leaping hurdles. But when she essays anything like a sustained line, you're aware of shallowness in the tone.� --The Guardian, 9th February 2012 ***

Onslow: Cello Sonatas

�These elegantly crafted Sonatas from 1820 combine some of the thematic rigour of Beethoven with the ornate virtuosity of Weber. These are strongly committed and highly expressive performances.� --BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****

"It is good to hear Maria Kliegel again. Her warm sound is a pleasure�[Kliegel and Tichmann] enjoy themselves with this expansive yet classically phrased music. Altogether, it is a worthwhile project well handled by all, including the engineers." --American Record Guide, July 2013

"�Naxos really lucked out here with a pair of performers who seem to take an evident delight in playing these works�[Kliegel and Tichman] seem to really enjoy and understand this music, and their finely nuanced and often energetic interpretations make a really great case for it.

Kliegel and Tichman find exactly the right mood for each work, and you the listener are taken along for a very enjoyable ride. I cannot praise this disc highly enough. These are great works, and a fine addition to the repertoire of virtually any performing cellist or pianist who engages in chamber music." --Fanfare, July 2013

"The three cello sonatas on offer here show a sure-handed mastery of cello idiom (Onslow played the instrument) and a facility for composition that gives equal voice and musical interest to both cello and piano�these are substantial works as demanding technically to the performer as they are immediately attractive to the ear of the listener.

�all of this is realized by two very competent and obviously devoted performers, cellist Maria Kliegel and pianist Nina Tichman, who work together in stylistic accord and with just enough individual interpretive freedom to ensure a lively interactive dynamic." --ClassicsToday.com Read complete review

Passo di pena in pena

The cantata da camera genre enjoyed its Golden Era in the early eighteenth century in Italy, mainly in Rome, through the auspices of employers as Cardinals Ottoboni and Pamphiliij and the Marquis Ruspoli, who organized several Accademie in their homes, weekly meetings in which music, poetry and discussions about art or philosophy attracted the most important nobles of the city. The most distinguished of these Accademie saw the presence of the great composers of the time: the newcomer Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Gasparini, instrumentalists as Arcangelo Corelli and Domenico, the son of Alessandro Scarlatti ... The highlight of these meetings was the time of the performance of some cantate da camera by such great personalities.

The extraordinary artistic atmosphere that existed in the Accademie soon expanded to other cities in Italy and from there to the rest of Europe. Our recording aims to recreate the repertoire that was heard in these Accademie when the cantata genre had spread and had evolved, around 1730: from the wonderful style, nostalgic and always surprising of Alessandro Scarlatti to the lyricism of Bononcini, the glow and melodic treatment of the voice of Porpora or the rich sounds of Vivaldi, all seasoned with an instrumental Triosonata by Locatelli.

There are few occasions when a record producer has the great pleasure and honor to present a truly unique artist, as the Italian countertenor Flavio Ferri-Benedetti. In his recording debut, we fall in love with his beautiful voice, sensual, round and firm. He captures us with his wonderful way to say the text, to feel the emotions, with his perfectly - it could not be otherwise - shaped Italian. He gives each phrase, each word, its accurate meaning and draws from every note exactly what the listener wants to perceive, displaying an unusually brilliant technique. Flavio is joined in this extraordinary recording by the ensemble Il Profondo, a group specializing in the interpretation of the basso continuo, created by young musicians from different countries (Switzerland, France, Japan, Italy, Spain) formed in the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. They offer a colorful accompaniment, robust, sensitive to every nuance, attentive to detail, a pleasure to the ears. Surely, all those who buy this CD will agree that they have rarely had the pleasure of listening to a countertenor recording of this technical and artistic level. We believe it will become a benchmark in the early music discography.

Ge Gan-Ru: Fairy Lady Meng Jiang

�Ge Gan-ru incorporates elements of traditional music and richly-scored late-Romanticism. Bezaly admirably meets the extraordinary demands of Meng Jiang.� --BBC Music Magazine, February 2014 ****

�For all of the gently artistry on show in the four-movement work that is Fairy Lady Meng Jiang the music is predominantly a vortex of the distraught and the anxious...This will broaden your horizons and introduce you to Ge, a composer...who is at ease working with the avant-garde and with the sentimentally eloquent.� --MusicWeb International, February 2014

Born in Shanghai in 1954, Ge Gan-ru grew up at a time when Western music was not heard in public, and could only be studied in secret. As the political and cultural atmosphere in China changed, Ge became one of the first students to enrol at the re-opened Shanghai Conservatory. There he was able to acquaint himself with the music of composers such as John Cage, George Crumb and Pierre Boulez, and it was at this time that he earned the designation �China�s first avant-garde composer�. Moving to New York in 1983, he continued his studies, with the expressed aim �to combine contemporary Western compositional techniques with my Chinese experience and Chinese musical characteristics�. A previous recording on BIS of Ge Gan-ru�s orchestral music impressed reviewers, with the website ClassicsToday.com remarking on the composer�s �immediately identifiable, intriguingly personal style�, �alternately exciting and ravishing� and �full of warmth and humour�.

The present disc combines two works which both proudly display their Chinese roots. The flute concerto Fairy Lady Meng Jiang is inspired by a classic Chinese fairy-tale, set in the 3rd century B.C. at the time of the building of the Great Wall and incorporating an element of magic as well as a dramatic love story with a deeply unhappy ending. The work is dedicated to Sharon Bezaly, the soloist on this recording, who also gave it its first performance together with the Orquesta Sinf�nica de Castilla y Le�n and Enrique Diemecke in March 2009. The same occasion saw the first performance of its companion piece, the orchestral suite Lovers Besieged which the composer developed from an earlier trio for cello, percussion and piano. Again the work is rooted in early Chinese history � in fact just a few years after the events befalling Meng Jiang � and again it is a story of love and death, now played out against a back-drop of war and insurrection during the collapse of the Qin dynasty.