Handel: Concerti grossi Op. 6 Nos. 1-12 HWV319-330

"Il Giardino Armonico are as Italian as the music itself� brightly coloured, individualistic, confident, stylish, arrestingly decorated, bubbling with enthusiasm." Gramophone

��generally intoxicating performances of Handel's most masterful instrumental compositions. �much of the credit for the intricate passagework and dynamic excitement must be given to fiddler Enrico Onofri, whose playing sparkles with articulate energy. The plunging interplay between concertino and ripieno groups is exhilarating.� --Gramophone Magazine, April 2009

�One can overlook a few of Il Giardino Armonico's eccentricities to listen to some generally intoxicating performances of Handel's most masterful instrumental compositions. Much of the credit for the intricate passagework and dynamic excitement must be given to fiddler Enrico Onofri, whose playing sparkles with articulate energy. The plunging interplay between concertino and ripieno groups is exhilarating.

The Polonaise in No 3 is astonishingly robust, with its droning bass thrashed out; it certainly brings out the daring brilliance of Handel's musical imagination, though it seems rather short on the pastoral charm that the composer surely intended. The opening Largo and Allegro of No 5 possess panache and the opening of No 10 is tautly dramatic, but one misses the airy wit that such music may also convey.

Il Giardino Armonico's playing is never clumsy but incisive muscular approaches in contrapuntal movements seem overly severe. It is possible to find a more measured elegance and shapely sentimentality in Handel's music, but there is plenty of highly spiced food for thought served by Il Giardino Armonico.� Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Paganini: Caprices for solo violin, Op. 1 Nos. 1-24 (complete)

��Ehnes has returned to these coruscating 'finger-breakers' (as Ricci once described them), playing with the same glowing tonal finesse as before, but with a new lyrical intensity� Beguilingly played and expertly engineered, this deserves a place on anyone's shortlist of the Caprices.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2009

Gramophone Magazine: Disc of the Month - January 2010

�Ehnes has recorded the Caprices before, in 1995, at the age of 19. Since then his view of the music hasn�t changed a great deal� There's the same daring, bold approach, relying on exceptional technique to deliver an inner vision of each piece� what has changed is that Ehnes's technique has got even better, the intonation more precise, the bow control more sensitive. And the new recording adds an extra degree of clarity so that the playing makes a more vivid impact. Even a solitary listener will feel the desire to applaud the Presto section of No 11, with its jaunty rhythms and extraordinary leaps, or the quick staccato scales at the end of No 21.� --Gramophone Magazine, January 2010

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

If you have Bernstein/Ludwig/Berry performing this music and you buy this new version, you'll have all you need for Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Riccardo Chailly offers the most fabulous orchestral playing imaginable: those celebrated Concertgebouw winds have a field-day with Lob des hohen Verstands and St. Anthony of Padua's Fish Sermon. In Revelge the big martial buildup at the center of the song is positively terrifying in its violence. Equally terrifying in its quiet, oppressive dread is Der Tamboursg'sell. Enough of this: you won't hear these songs better played or conducted anywhere.

As for the singing, Barbara Bonney and Matthias Goerne both stand among the finest exponents of these songs. Goerne's dark baritone characterizes the military songs perfectly: he can switch from heroic to despairing from one note to the next, while Bonney sings with unaffected purity of tone and (in Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?) excellent breath control. Sara Fulgoni does a fine job with Urlicht (the brass thankfully not positioned offstage as Chailly foolishly did in his recording of the complete Second Symphony), but tenor G�sta Winbergh barks his way through Revelge like a Fischer-Dieskau who just sucked in a shot of helium. When he actually sings instead of shouting he's just fine, and thankfully this is his only song.

There's a musicological aspect to this production as well, though you'd never know it to read Donald Mitchell's stupid notes, which purport to shed "new light" on the music but never actually discuss in detail the more important issues that these performances raise. For example, Mitchell decries the practice of sharing vocal parts in the "duet" songs (there's nothing wrong with that fairly common practice, not adopted here, which Mitchell calls a "crass error" on no other evidence than the fact that he evidently has decided that he doesn't like it), and reduces his "musicology" to statements like "It is no exaggeration to claim that for each song Mahler invents a unique orchestra." Well, I hate to break the news to you, Donald, but this claim is as exaggerated and untrue as it is irrelevant to enjoyment of the music.

What Mitchell does not discuss with any specificity beyond Revelge is the fact that Chailly evidently has attempted to perform each number with Mahler's original voice types (and, we presume, keys), hence the tenor in that song. Chailly also includes both Urlicht and Das himmlische Leben in their original pre-symphony orchestrations. There's very little difference in the former, most notably chimes taking the place of the glockenspiel in the central section. But in the latter song, which eventually became the finale of the Fourth Symphony, a tambourine does duty for the symphony's famous sleigh bells and plays a significantly altered part (as do the timpani and other percussion), and there are several reassignments of lines between strings and winds (with a touch more piccolo here and there). All of these interesting musical points are ignored by Mitchell in favor of bland assertions presented as original "discoveries" about the chamber-like orchestration (nothing original there in scholarly discussion of these pieces) intermixed with silly editorializing as noted above.

I want to stress that none of this alters or otherwise has anything to do with the musical superiority of the program itself. The general excellence of Chailly, his orchestra, and the singers tells its own story. It's just a pity that Mitchell should have so singularly missed the opportunity to explain exactly what makes these performances special or interesting as compared to the numerous others available. Decca's sonics place the singers marginally too close to the microphones (typically) but don't significantly compromise the clarity or fullness of the orchestrations. This is an excellent musical experience in every respect: if you love these songs, snap this disc up without delay.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Musique and Sweet Poetrie

�This exquisite collection of musical gems is arranged so as to represent a tour around Europe at the end of the Renaissance. �there is a feast of pleasing musical detail here from both performers, beautifully captured by superb recording techniques.� --BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 *****

International Record Review: outstanding

A unique lute, built by Sixtus Rauwolf in Augsburg around 1590, was the starting point for this very special recital, which incorporates lute songs and solos by composers from different parts of Europe around 1600. Presenting a wealth of forms and national styles - from French airs de cour to Elizabethan pavans and examples of early Italian monody - the disc is a fascinating survey of the musical life of the time. But in the hands of these interpreters it becomes much more than that: Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg, playing his historic lute, bring this music to life with incomparable immediacy. It is as if we were present when Shakespeare first heard Robert Johnson's setting of his 'Full fathom five', Ariel's song from The Tempest, or when Georg Schimmelpfennig, court composer to Landgrave Moritz in Kassel, showed the daughter of his employer the florid solo madrigal 'Dolce tempo passato', set to her own poem.

Some of the names represented on this disc are familiar to all: John Dowland, with three songs, and Heinrich Sch�tz, with one of his Kleine geistliche Konzerte, a setting of Psalm 70. Others, like Schimmelpfennig or the Antwerp-born lutenist Gregory Huwet, are far less known to the general public. But all of them created musical jewels, which Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg - collaborators of long standing - have gathered together into a glittering diadem encircling a large part of Europe at the dawn of the 17th century.

Bach: French & English Suites

For a modern recorder player, historical performance practice is certainly both principle as well as a native musical language. But if one wants to perform the works of J.S. Bach, the repertoire is very slim. Stefan Temmingh�s love of Bach pushed him to take on this challenge and concern himself with performance practice in the baroque. In an extensive booklet text, he argues that the harpsichord literature in the baroque era was transcribed for other instruments quasi as a �lingua franca�. Reorchestrated versions of Bach�s Concerto for Four Harpsichords (itself an arrangement of Vivaldi compositions), for example, can be found from the 18th century, usually for one or two melody instruments with continuo.

Above all, this practice predominated in France, e.g. in connection with works by Couperin and Dieupart, which were certainly some of the sources of inspiration for Bach�s French Suites. Stefan Temmingh continues the long tradition of arranging such pieces for a melody instrument. Domen Marincic on the viola da gamba and Axel Wolf on the lute provide the ideal support for the basic sound of the recorder. Although this combination of instruments emphasizes another aspect of the composition, the fundamental idea behind the music does not change.

Grieg: String Quartets (arranged for String Orchestra)

"The Oslo Camerata�s performance is so compelling, so full of life and spirit and energy, and so well recorded, that you may well fall in love with the piece. It is played in a string-orchestra transcription that rivets your attention throughout. Total unanimity of style, a huge dynamic range and a hyper-expressive approach to the music without ever exceeding the bounds of good taste are the hallmarks of the 19-member Camerata. Two substantial movements meant for a later Grieg quartet and Arne Nordheim�s Rendezvous, music of stark beauty and riveting intensity, complete the program. Naxos�s sparkling-clear, glowing, full-bodied sound is so immediate that it almost takes on a life of its own." --Fanfare, November 2012

"Edvard Grieg�s G minor string quartet�has not achieved the popularity that it surely deserves. Here, as a veritable �symphony for strings�, especially in this gutsy, ferocious performance, it makes an unforgettable impression.

Arne Nordheim�s Rendezvous�manages to be at once contemporary, passionate, and quite moving. As with the Grieg, the performances are splendid: bold, confident, ideally balanced, and quite wonderfully recorded." --ClassicsToday.com, February 2012

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Nino Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

�Conti gets to the heart of both symphonies, finding the inner warmth that eluded Ruud for BIS. The Italian orchestra (who have made several film music recordings) play Rota's lines with greater fervour and understanding than their Swedish rivals and with sumptuous Chandos sound this is the version to have.� --Gramophone Magazine, September 2009

Nino Rota achieved international recognition primarily as a composer of film music. His most admired and enduring work in this field sprang from his collaboration with Federico Fellini. However, his orchestral music has recently undergone a reappraisal. Little of this music is available on CD and this programme is unique.

Of the four symphonies that appear in his catalogue, Rota�s first and second were written simultaneously during the second half of the Thirties, when he had already developed his unmistakable, predominantly melodic style. Hints of a tenuous, well-balanced modernism are discernible, but at the same time he determinedly avoids any extreme experimentation. Common to both symphonies is a directness of expression embedded in a neoclassical style that constantly celebrates a landscape-in-sound.

The Orchestra Filarmonica �900 was founded in 2003 and is recognised for its Twentieth Century music performances.

Neapolitan Flute Concertos II

�[Ipata's] virtuosity is, as always, exceptional, and there's fine playing from his own period band, Auser Musici. The close recording captures Ipata's occasionally heavy breathing and the sound of his fingers tapping his flute.� --The Guardian, 9th May 2013 ***

�Auser Musici play quick music with brio, slower movements have a graceful lyrical sweep and Ipata's flute-playing is always shapely; there's no disputing the easy charm of these skilfully crafted concertos.� --Gramophone Magazine, July 2013

Neapolitan Flute Concertos I

A second volume of flute concertos from eighteenth-century Naples from period band Auser Musici. Their first album of this repertoire was particularly praised for the impeccably stylish playing of flautist Carlo Ipata, and for the discovery of the music itself, which despite its obscurity is delightfully appealing.

The works are placed in their historical context in the booklet note by Stefano Aresi, who writes: �To listen to the flute concertos of these composers is to be transported to the atmosphere of everyday music-making in Naples, that of the private concerts in the aristocratic palaces. They give a good idea of the extremely high average quality of the compositions habitually consumed by the cream of Neapolitan society, perfectly representing the taste of an era and the outstanding virtuosity of the performers who were regularly employed there�.

Affettuoso

�Percan is an extremely capable violinist. Playing a modern Baroque-style instrument by Johannes Loescher, he makes a fine, bright, ringing tone, and many of the quicker movements sound brilliant and inspiriting. But I miss the close engagement with details of phrasing...One can imagine Piani's music appearing more strongly engaging, then, but Percan has certainly shown us how worthwhile and effective it is.� --Gramophone, August 2012

Giovanni Antonio Piani (1678�1760) was one of the most important violinists of the Baroque and his reputation, today, rests upon the surviving 12 sonatas of his Op.1 set published in 1712 (all his other works are lost). In an unusually long and detailed preface to the sonatas, Piani provided highly detailed instructions on bowing, fingering, dynamics, ornamentation and tempi. In effect, this is the most detailed instruction manual for students of the Baroque violin and the performance practice of the day. Piani worked in Paris and Vienna, and is one of the key figures in the French violin school from Lully to Viotti.

Emilio Percan, a member of l�arte del mondo (ONYX4068), has programmed four Piani sonatas with two contemporary London-based masters � Geminiani and Handel, whose late and great Sonata in D is a masterwork of the late Baroque. Piani�s music is beautifully crafted and melodic and his works on this CD are receiving their world premiere recordings whilst Percan�s advocacy of these superb and little-known sonatas should be of interest to those who love Baroque music.

Debussy: Clair de lune

�[In 'Les elfes'] Dessay brilliantly handles the dialogue among the song's characters and delivers some of the best vocal shading of the disc when the elf princess admits that she is, in fact, dead. It's an extremely effective performance but would have been more so five years ago, when the voice had less mileage.� --Gramophone Magazine, March 2012

�that silvery soprano voice [...] caresses these delicately perfumed offerings (some of them unpublished) with nonchalant French elegance, a winning soubrette sparkle, and loving regard for the meaning and poetry of every word.� --The Times, 16th March 2012 ****

Natalie Dessay (soprano) & Philippe Cassard (piano)

Two leading French performers � soprano Natalie Dessay and pianist Philippe Cassard � come together in vocal works from the early career of Claude Debussy, whose 150th anniversary falls in 2012. Their recital includes four unpublished songs reflecting the young composer�s love for the soprano wife of one of his patrons. In Cassard�s words, Dessay informs these works with �her charisma as an actress, her energy, her temperament and her virtuosity, with its joyous sense of fun�.

Claude Debussy, whose 150th anniversary falls in 2012, signed his scores �musicien fran�ais� in the final years of his life. Two leading French musicians of today collaborate on this disc of the composer�s songs � including a number of rarities � and his cantata, La damoiselle �lue, based on the poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Philippe Cassard � whose impeccable Debussy credentials include performances of the composer�s complete piano works � wrote to Natalie Dessay after he had been deeply impressed by her interpretation of M�lisande, which can be seen on a Virgin Classics DVD of Pell�as et M�lisande (catalogue No 6961379). He suggested she would be perfect for a series of songs Debussy had composed around the age of 20.

As Cassard recounts: �At the time, Debussy was very much in love with Marie Vasnier, an older woman married to a man who helped Debussy at the beginning of his career. She was a light soprano and he composed some 40 songs for her, to poems by Bourget, Banville, Bouchor and Verlaine. They all reflect his feelings for Madame Vasnier.

�In 2010 I was shown a collection of Debussy manuscripts. Among them were four songs I had never heard of � and which the Debussy expert Denis Herlin confirmed were not officially documented. One of them, �Les Elfes�, to a poem by Leconte de Lisle, is, at 174 bars, the longest song Debussy ever wrote, and contains high vocalises, chord sequences taken from Wagner�s �Ride of the Valkyries� and melodic motifs showing the influence of Massenet and Delibes. Another, �Le matelot qui tombe � l'eau�, to a poem by Bouchor, is the shortest of all his songs, a dreamy little bubble of wit.�

Writing to Natalie Dessay after he had seen her M�lisande in Vienna, Cassard explained that �she would be the only person able to inhabit and embody these early Debussy songs � that her charisma as an actress, her energy, her temperament and her virtuosity, with its joyous sense of fun, would enable her to offer an interpretation that was different and really personal � something far away from a performing tradition that portrays preciosity, restrained intimacy and pseudo-Impressionism, which to me seems out of place in these works: they might be poetic, but they are also full of passion.�

Dessay had in fact sung many of Debussy�s songs in the past, and she was delighted to return to them as she and Cassard made a selection from repertoire which, as the pianist says, �shows Debussy trying out all sorts of genres, testing his ammunition and his discoveries.�

Describing the partnership with Dessay, Cassard says: �I�ve worked with many singers and this collaboration with Natalie Dessay gave me the privilege and joy of meeting an inspired, but humble artist with a perpetually questing spirit, always ready to question the text and the score. Her straightforwardness and integrity are rare in a professional world so obsessed with appearances. I am eternally grateful to her.�

Geminiani: Sonatas for Violoncello & Basso Continuo

"Debut solo album from cellist Alison McGillivray exploring the music of Francesco Geminiani. "This is a stellar release, full of discrete pleasures for the discerning listener." --Classical Source

The Italian violinist and composer Francesco Geminiani belongs to the generation of Bach and Handel. He studied in Rome with the violinist-composer Arcangelo Corelli and the opera-composer Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1714 he moved to London, where he soon established himself as a performer and composer, later publishing a number of theoretical works on performance techniques and on harmony. He visited Ireland on various occasions and died in Dublin in 1762.

Masters of the Piano

36 Piano Masterpieces...

For centuries the piano has touched the music lovers' hearts around the world. Masters of the Piano features a cross section of the most popular repertoire performed by the brilliant pianists of our time.

Stravinsky: Symphony in E flat, Violin Concerto

The son of a distinguished Russian singer, Stravinsky spent his earlier years in Russia, either in St Petersburg or, in the summer, at the country estates of his relatives. He studied music briefly with Rimsky-Korsakov but made a name for himself first in Paris with commissions from the impresario Diaghilev, for whom he wrote a series of ballet scores. He spent the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 in Western Europe and in 1939 moved to the United States of America. There in the post-war years he turned from a style of eclectic neoclassicism to composing in the twelve-note technique propounded by Schoenberg. A versatile composer, inventive in changing styles, he may be seen as the musical counterpart of the painter Picasso.

Music from the court of Frederick the Great

As a specialist in historical violin techniques of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Simon Standage has performed with many of the world's leading period instrument orchestras.Standage and Richard Hickox founded the group Collegium Musicum 90. Under contract with Chandos Records, Collegium Musicum 90 produced more than 40 recordings in its first decade, from large-scale dramatic works to acclaimed trio sonata recordings.

Five Italian Oboe Concertos

'Nicholas Daniel's playing, beautifully controlled and judiciously ornamented, makes it easy to listen again to a choice selection' --Fanfare, USA

'Nicholas Daniel plays quite superbly' --Gramophone

Masters of the Guitar

34 Guitar Masterpieces...

With the world renowned masters of the guitar, this collection features the most popular works for the instrument and showcases the full emotional range from the vibrant and passionate, to the tender and expressive.

In recital

��(what magically hushed pianissimos) and masterly pedalling� each element adjusted to each composer yet all unmistakably Stephen Hough - vintage Hough at that, for here is a pianist at the height of his powers. The "second half" is devoted to waltz time, beginning with Weber's pioneering Invitation (1819)... Hough's is the finest performance I have ever heard... exuberant, seductive and scintillating by turns with the repeats (all are given) subtly varied second time round. A great piano recording and front runner for instrumental disc of the year.� --Gramophone, May 2009

�The Mendelssohn Variations come over as truly 's�rieuses', on a par with anything by his friend Schumann, thanks to Hough's vivid characterisation and dramatic flair. And if the 'Arietta' of the Beethoven Sonata does not quite reach this level, it is partly because an over-brightness in the treble lends a somewhat strenuous edge to some of the loudest passages. But Hough's control of the different stands is little short of miraculous.� --Music Magazine, April 2009 ****

�Though labelled as "Stephen Hough in recital", this is in fact a studio-made recording, though based on a recital that Hough toured in the first half of last year. It is a typically thoughtful piece of programme building, which Hough describes as "two highly contrasting mini-recitals". Works dominated by variation form - the Mendelssohn, the Beethoven sonata - are set again a collection of pieces built around the waltz, beginning with Weber and ending with Liszt's Valse Oubli�e No 1 and first Mephisto Waltz, as well as an arrangement of Hough's own, and taking in examples by Chopin, Saint-Sa�ns, Chabrier and Debussy en route. The selection of works highlights different aspects of Hough's own versatile pianism, too. His clear-sighted path through both the Mendelssohn and Beethoven, every detail perfectly placed, belies the charm he brings to the bravura glitter of the Weber, the subtle ambiguities of Debussy's La Plus que Lente, and the more insidious allure of the Liszt. It's a beautifully accomplished sequence.� --The Guardian, 6th March 2009 ****

Ginastera: Pampeana

On his second disc of South American music for Chandos, Gabriel Castagna conducts works by a fellow Argentinian, Alberto Ginastera. The repertoire on this recording is rare on CD, making this a vaulable addition to the catalogue.

"�if any recording can make you appreciate Ginasteras music, this new release from Chandos is an excellent candidate for the job� I can sincerely recommend you try it." --Fanfare

�Either of these two well-produced discs would make a near-ideal introduction to this versatile composer's output, featuring three of his finest orchestral inspirations. If the suite from his ballet Estancia (1942) remains his best-known work, and its malambo finale one of the most famous pieces in Latin American music, the Overture to the Creole Faust (1943) can't be far behind. Both are outgoing, 'popular' items, whereas the 'symphonic pastoral' Pampeana No 3 (1954) is more obviously serious.

All three works receive committed performances on both discs. Castagna and the Berliners find a touch more magic in the Pampeana's slower outer movements aided by Chandos's sumptuous sound, but the Danish players, led by their Venezuelan-born conductor, often have the edge in the swifter sections. In Estancia, the resonance of Chandos's recording works against the music: Bridge's drier, cleaner sound in the Carl Nielsen Hall in Odense is more successful.

And while some of Jan Wagner's tempos seem a shade deliberate compared to Castagna's, he mostly justifies them by the pacing of each work in toto.

If there's little overall to choose between the newcomers, the fourth item on each may decide the matter. On Chandos comes a scintillating account of the second, full-orchestral version of the more harmonically advanced Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals, originally written for strings to celebrate the Catalan cellist's centenary in 1976 and rescored a year later. In contrast, Bridge restores to the CD catalogue Ginastera's Ollantay (1947), a darkly colourful and dramatic folk-triptych that could be thought of as an Argentinian Taras Bulba.

If you want only one version of these pieces the Bridge is recommended.�

The Gramophone Classical Music Guide 2010

The Trio Sonata in 18th-Century Germany

�with the exception of Goldberg's sonata these compositions are not that well-known and that makes this disc a worthwhile addition to the discography. That is even more the case in consideration of the performances. London Baroque is one of the older ensembles in the world of historical performance practice. It is still going strong, and it is remarkable how it has kept its high standard over so many years.� --MusicWeb International, 6th September 2013

London Baroque

The closing disc in London Baroque�s survey of the rise and fall of the trio sonata.

Looking back over this eight-disc series, which opened with three Fantasias composed before 1620 by Orlando Gibbons, it becomes clear how far London Baroque has travelled. The series has taken in both staples of the repertoire and more or less unknown jewels, by composers still revered today or awaiting rediscovery.

The Voice of Emotion

This album gathers highlights from Montserrat Figueras� career for the Astr�e, DHM, EMI and Alia Vox labels. 5 of the 35 tracks have already been reissued in a portrait album released in the 1990s by Astr�e, La 'Voix de l� Emotion'. Jordi Savall wanted to keep the same title for this much more comprehensive double album, in tribute to the late Montserrat Figueras, his wife and collaborator of 43 years.

35 year-career: 35 tracks

Chabrier: Orchestral Works

the unifying feeling [is] the sheer joy, craftsmanship and radiance that Chabrier's music possesses and which these performances encapsulate so ear-catchingly.� --Gramophone Magazine, July 2013

�This will lift the spirits...The brass of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande are full of verve, nicely crisp yet harrumphing when needed, while the woodwind are markedly less acidic than in years gone by. In Jarvi's hands, Espana seemingly dances on air in a whirl of colours.� --BBC Music Magazine, September 2013 *****

"Recorded SACD sound from Geneva�s historic Victoria Hall is entralling in its detail and dynamic range and Roger Nichols�s admirable booklet notes complete this wonderfully entertaining package. This is totally persuasive and irrisistible music-making from J�rvi and the OSR, a magnificent orchestra ... Highly recommended." --International Record Review, June 2013

This disc of popular works by Emmanuel Chabrier marks the beginning of a new series of French repertoire, performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under its newly appointed Artistic Director, Neeme J�rvi.

After three attempts at comic opera, Chabrier finally achieved success in 1877 with L��toile, the plotline of which is set in the court of the somewhat emotionally unstable King Ouf. A couple of years previously, Chabrier had written a short Lamento for orchestra, a work which would not perhaps be considered revolutionary by today�s audiences, but which caused the committee of the Soci�t� nationale de musique to hum and haw over it for eighteen long months before finally letting it loose on the Parisian public in 1878.

From July to December 1882, Chabrier took his family on an extended holiday to Spain, during which he kept himself busy by noting down the Spanish folk tunes and dance rhythms he encountered on his way. He put many of them into his orchestral masterpiece Espa�a, a work overwhelming in its orchestral colour, which is such a characteristic feature of this composer. The impressions of his Spanish holiday can also be heard in the Habanera.

For six years Chabrier worked on Gwendoline, a two-act dramatic opera on a libretto by Catulle Mend�s, set in Britain in what he called �barbarous times�. Inspired by Wagner and Berlioz, the Overture sets the scene perfectly for a drama of violence, treachery, and passion. A month after Gwendoline was premiered in Brussels in April 1886 the Op�ra-Comique in Paris agreed to put on Chabrier�s next opera, Le Roi malgr� lui, a melting pot of complex political intrigue, cheerful arias, and vivacious dances.

In 1880 Chabrier had written his Dix Pi�ces pittoresques for piano, and over the next few years he orchestrated four of them to form the Suite pastorale, with its gently pulsing �Idylle� movement (which inspired Poulenc to become a composer), the raucous �Danse villageoise�, the sultry �Sous-bois�, and last but not least the sunny, high-spirited �Scherzo-valse�.

Also on this disc is the Joyeuse marche, one of Chabrier�s most popular works, and the Bourr�e fantasque, based on a dance from the Auvergne region in France where the composer had spent his childhood.

Dvorak: Cello Concertos

�Isserlis is on spellbindingly eloquent form in an entrancingly poetic and urgently communicative reading that really does sound like it's being captured on the wing...Harding and the Mahler CO are with him every step of the way; theirs is a real, breathing collaboration...Don't miss this special release.� --Gramophone Magazine, October 2013

�this performance is remarkably fine and the interaction between soloist and orchestra generates one of the most exciting ensemble performances of recent years. Steven Isserlis is inside the piece from the start...this is a performance to treasure for its beauty and commitment.� --BBC Music Magazine, November 2013 *****

�his performance recalls the reckless abandon of the youthful Jacqueline du Pr� in the work�s most extrovert passages, albeit tempered with the wisdom of experience and musical maturity...abetted by magically fresh music-making from Harding�s MCO.� --Sunday Times, 29th September 2013

�The death of [Dvorak's] sister-in-law prompted the rewriting of the last movement of the later concerto, played, as is the whole, with a passion that is thrillingly balletic.� --The Independent, 29th September 2013 *****

�How wonderful to hear a familiar work sounding so fresh and potent. Steven Isserlis's Dvor�k anthology is revelatory, in so many ways. There's the sumptious orchestral playing from Daniel Harding's Mahler Chamber Orchestra...Isserlis is terrific � blending security with spontaneity, his quiet playing so eloquent.� --The Arts Desk, 9th November 2013

In the South

�this is an enjoyable disc of off-the-beaten-track music for string quartet...The Brodsky Quartet clearly relish the chance to do something less heavyweight than their usual repertoire� BBC Music Magazine, October 2013 ****

�[in the Turina] vibrant Iberian colours make an unalloyed delight of the Brodsky's playing...[Rowland] leads a performance [of the Verdi] that stings with the shock of extreme dynamic contrasts and thrills with moments of rhythmic exactness...this is a very refreshing collection.� -- International Record Review, May 2013

�Not unexpectedly, the performances by the Brodsky Quartet are full of spontaneously imaginative insights and equal to all the diverse demands of these six composers.� --Gramophone, June 2013

�These six works are by composers not associated with string quartets. The mood is Italianate, but not exclusively so...Paul Cassidy, has arranged � winningly � two solo violin Caprices by Paganini for quartet, here in a premiere recording...Verdi's Quartetto has a lyrical if operatic simplicity and energy. All evoke pleasurable heat and light.� --The Observer, 24th March 2013

Dittersdorf & Vanhal: Double Bass Concertos

'A most enjoyable disc' --BBC Music Magazine

�Nwanoku�s playing is both athletic and eloquent in these appealing bass concertos. [She] plays her solo music with due vivacity and skill � as graceful as can be imagined on her instrument. Paul Goodwin�s neat and sympathetic accompaniments, his leisurely pacing and his judicious balance�make this disc even more appealing� --Gramophone

'An elegant performance. Beautifully played and phrased by Nwanoku, who reveals the lyrical potential of the solo bass' (The Strad)

'Chi-chi Nwanoku is a delightful soloist. [Her] light-as-air sound and technical clarity are a continual source of pleasure' (International Record Review)

'An ideal coupling, very well recorded' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

Antonio de Cabez�n: Intabulations for Renaissance double harp

During the mid-16th century in Spain, it became increasingly common for collections of music to include tablature that would enable performers of other polyphonic instruments to perform the repertoire. With the recent addition of chromatic strings, the harp was one such mechanism to benefit from this, and its presentation in this beautifully performed compilation of works offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich world of Iberian Renaissance music making.

The compositions detailed in this recording are taken from three separate sources of the period: books by Mudarra, Venegas de Henestrosa and Antonio de Cabez�n. While Mudarra�s work �for harp or organ� is unique in that it�s the closest thing we have to genuine 16th-century harp music, the compilation focuses primarily on the keyboard works of Antonio de Cabez�n and includes in tabulations (arrangements of chansons and madrigals originally written by some of the most renowned mid-century composers), dances, variations and tientos � freely composed polyphonic fantasias. Not only does the recording introduce us to the different genres of the period, revealing an instrument that had grown �as perfect as the clavichord�, it honours the work of a man who was in fact one of the foremost keyboard performers and composers of his time. Surveying a lesser known facet of one of the most famous periods in music history, this collection is a must-buy for the Renaissance connoisseur.