Alpha745

Anna Prohaska / La Folia Barockorchester / Robin Peter Müller

Constantly in search of eclectic and meaningful programmes, the soprano Anna Prohaska here celebrates ‘life in death’. An ambitious programme, conceived with Robin Peter Müller and his ensemble La Folia, which takes us on a journey across the centuries and through many different countries, with French chansons of the Middle Ages (including one by Guillaume de Machaut), seventeenth-century Italian pieces by Luigi Rossi, Francesco Cavalli and Barbara Strozzi, German composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (Dietrich Buxtehude, Christoph Graupner, Franz Tunder) and the English luminaries Henry Purcell... plus John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A musical and spiritual quest that even takes in a detour to North America with a universally known song by Leonard Cohen.
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Toujours en quête de programmes éclectiques et chargés de sens, la soprano Anna Prohaska célèbre ici « la vie dans la mort »… Tout un programme, conçu avec Robin Peter Müller et son ensemble La Folia, qui nous fait voyager à travers les siècles et les pays, avec des chansons françaises du Moyen Âge, une chanson de Guillaume de Machaut, des oeuvres italiennes du XVIIe siècle de Luigi Rossi, Francesco Cavalli et Barbara Strozzi, des compositeurs allemands des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Dietrich Buxtehude, Christoph Graupner, Franz Tunder, les Anglais Henry Purcell… John Lennon et Paul McCartney. Un périple musical et spirituel qui nous entraine même en terres américanocanadiennes, avec une chanson universellement connue de Leonard Cohen.

Celebration of Life in Death

Sinfonia

Album Release: March 2016

Since 2015, Krzysztof Urbański has been principal guest conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, one of the leading German orchestras. They are currently preparing together the inauguration in January 2017 of Hamburg’s new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie, a major musical event in Germany with which Alpha Classics will be associated. Krzysztof Urbański is also music director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. A resolutely international career for a young conductor who recently earned praise from the Chicago Tribune for ‘his keen musical instincts and vigorous way of translating his ideas into orchestral sound that has both shape and meaning’.
For this first recording, he was keen to celebrate a great composer, one of the most eminent of the twentieth century and a Pole like himself, who, like Stravinsky, Bartók, Berg, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, gloried in the sound material of the orchestra and displayed boundless imagination. Though less well known than his illustrious colleagues for the moment, Lutosławski amply deserves to meet a wider public, for his music can speak as directly to connoisseurs as to simple music-lovers. We hope that this programme will help to further his reputation.

Tracklist of the album:
CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA
1 I. INTRADA
2 II. CAPRICCIO NOTTURNO E ARIOSO
3 III. PASSACAGLIA, TOCCATA E CORALE

LITTLE SUITE (MAŁA SUITA)
4 I. FUJARKA (PICCOLO)
5 II. HURRA POLKA
6 III. PIOSENKA (SONG)
7 IV. TANIEC (DANCE)

8 SYMPHONY NO.4

LUTOSLAWSKI // Concerto for Orchestra - I. Intrada by Krzysztof Urbański & NDR Symphony Orchestra

Anna Prohaska
Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini

SERPENT & FIRE
Arias for Dido & Cleopatra
PURCELL, GRAUPNER, SARTORIO, LOCKE, CASTROVILLARI, HANDEL, HASSE, CASTELLO, CAVALLI, ROSSI

RECORDED FROM 6 TO 10 DECEMBER 2015 AT THE NATIONAL FORUM OF MUSIC, WROCŁAW (POLAND)

HASSE - Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra, Aria ‘Morte col fiero aspetto’ - Anna Prohaska

ÉDOUARD LALO
CONCERTANTE WORKS FOR VIOLIN, CELLO & PIANO
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Solistes de la Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège

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ÉDOUARD LALO // Fantaisie norvégienne pour violon et orchestre: III. Allegro

Available here: http://bit.ly/2cvNyGX

La famille Forqueray: Portrait(s)
Justin Taylor

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JEAN-BAPTISTE FORQUERAY // Première suite en Ré Mineur: La Portugaise

Album release: August 2016

JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn 2032, Vol. 3: Solo e pensoso
Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini

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Symphony No. 42 in D Major, Hob. I:42: I. Moderato e maestoso

Album Release (worldwide): September 2016

ANNA PROHASKA 
SERPENT & FIRE
ARIAS FOR DIDO & CLEOPATRA
ANNA PROHASKA
IL GIARDINO ARMONICO
GIOVANNI ANTONINI

PURCELL // Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: "Thy Hand, Belinda...When I Am Laid in Earth"

Album release: October 2016

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Erbarme dich
Reinoud Van Mechelen, A Nocte Temporis

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BACH // Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130: V. Lass, o Fürst der Cherubinen (Aria)

Album release: November 2016

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Actus Tragicus (Cantatas BWV 106, 150, 131, 12)
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier

BACH // Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150: IV. Chorus "Leite mich in deiner Wahrheit"

Available here: http://bit.ly/2dWgKXe

La Tarantella: Antidotum Tarantulae
L'Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar, Lucilla Galeazzi, Marco Beasley

Tarantella napoletana, Tono hypodorico

Album release: March 2017

The fourth volume of the Haydn2032 project thrusts into the limelight one of the most important stock characters in the theatre of sounds and words, the Kapellmeister, and explores some glamorous and (in)glorious moments in the career of Maestro Haydn. It features three symphonies by the ‘Shakespeare of Music’ – one of which is even associated with an actual play. This bears the title ‘Sinfonia in C. per la commedia intitolata Il distratto’ (the name of the play soon became the symphony’s nickname) and consists of an overture, four entr’actes, and a finale to be played at the end of the performance. Also on this disc is a large-scale buffo scene by his colleague Cimarosa. Il maestro di cappella is a witty and ironic parody, in which a member of the ‘old school’ of musicians tries to improve the ensemble playing of his orchestra. To his chagrin, the players do react, but in extremely undisciplined fashion: they are distracted, make false entries and disagree musically . . .
(from a text by Christian Moritz-Bauer)

Le quatrième volume du projet Haydn2032 rend hommage à un des types les plus importants du théâtre des mots et des sons : le Kapellmeister - le maître de chapelle. Ce sont trois symphonies du « Shakespeare de la musique ». Derrière l’une d’entre elles se dissimule une véritable pièce de théâtre. Elle consiste en une ouverture, quatre entr’actes et un final pour conclure la représentation et porte le titre de « Sinfonia in C. per la commedia intitolata Il distratto » (titre sous lequel elle allait bientôt être connue et jouée). À cela s’ajoute une grande scène bouffe de son collègue Cimarosa éclairant certains moments brillants ou glorieux (et d’autres moins glorieux) de l’activité du Kapellmeister Haydn. (…) Il maestro di cappella (scène composée par Cimarosa pour baryton-basse et orchestre) est une parodie spirituelle et ironique dans laquelle un représentant de l’« ancienne école » essaie d’améliorer le jeu d’ensemble de son orchestre... À son grand déplaisir, ses instrumentistes réagissent avec une complète absence de discipline : ils ne sont pas concentrés, se trompent dans leurs entrées et se querellent en musique…
(Extrait du texte de Christian Moritz-Bauer)

HAYDN // Symphony No. 60 in C Major, Hob.I:60 "Per la commedia intitola Il distratto": I. Adagio

Album release: April 2017

Alpha invites you to prolong the pleasure of your visit to Versailles with this recording of the music you heard in the gardens : a selection of great works played by some of the finest musicians of today. Almost two centuries of music, reviving the fabulous history of the palace up to mideighteen century and representing  opera, ballet, the air de cour and other genres, are performed here by Le Poème Harmonique (conductor Vincent Dumestre), Pygmalion (conductor Raphaël Pichon), Le Concert Spirituel (conductor Hervé Niquet), Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra (conductor Skip Sempé), les Nouveaux Caractères (conductor Sébastien d’Hérin, l’Orchestre des Temps présents (conductor Olivier Schneebeli), . You'll also discover some excerpts from Campra's Tancrède and Leclair's Scylla & Glaucus.

Sortie de l'album : avril 2017

Alpha vous invite à poursuivre votre promenade avec le disque des musiques diffusées dans les jardins du Château de Versailles, grâce à une sélection des plus grandes oeuvres par les meilleurs interprètes actuels.
Les ensembles musicaux Le Poème Harmonique - Vincent Dumestre, Pygmalion - Raphaël Pichon, Le Concert Spirituel - Hervé Niquet, Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra - Skip Sempé, les Nouveaux Caractères - Sébastien d’Hérin, l’Orchestre des Temps Présents - Olivier Schneebeli, Galilei Consort - Benjamin Chénier, Stradivaria - Daniel Cuiller, vous permettront de découvrir presque deux siècles de musiques, ressuscitant en musique l’histoire fabuleuse du Château jusqu’au milieu du XVIIIe siècle, à travers les genres de l’opéra, du ballet, de l’air de cour et quelques extraits du Tancrède de Campra et de Scylla & Glaucus de Leclair.

Te Deum, H. 146: Prélude

Album release: April 2017

Henry Purcell died on 21 November 1695 at the age of thirty-six. The music he had written for the funeral of Queen Mary only eight months earlier was performed again for his burial service. Soon afterwards, several composers paid tribute to Purcell by writing odes in his memory.
Jeremiah Clarke’s homage to ‘Orpheus Britannicus’ in his Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell is a deeply moving token of the younger composer’s admiration. Alas, Clarke too was destined to die in his prime, and we can only imagine what the destiny of British music might have been if their lives had been prolonged.
After an acclaimed production of Dido and Aeneas, Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique continue their exploration of the world of Purcell and seventeenth-century English music. Constantly keeping an ear out for multiple musical ramifications, from Dowland to Lully by way of the Elizabethan masques, this new programme spotlights the genius of Jeremiah Clarke, whose sadly premature death makes us regret all the marvels he might have produced. Here is a collection of masterpieces coupling two of Purcell’s most popular works with an exceptional discovery.

Sortie de l'album : avril 2017

Le 21 novembre 1695 s’éteignait Henry Purcell à l’âge de 36 ans. C’est la musique qu’il avait lui-même écrite pour les funérailles de la Reine Mary seulement 8 mois plus tôt qui fut donnée lors de ses funérailles. Peu après, plusieurs compositeurs rendirent hommage à Purcell en écrivant des Odes à sa mémoire.
L’hommage de Jeremiah Clarke à l’Orphée britannique dans son Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell est un gage d’admiration bouleversant. Hélas, Clarke s’éteignit comme son aîné dans la fleur de l’âge, et l’on ne peut qu’imaginer le destin de la musique britannique si leur existence s’était prolongée.
Après une production acclamée de Didon et Énée, Vincent Dumestre et Le Poème Harmonique poursuivent leur exploration du monde de Purcell et du XVIIe siècle anglais. Prêtant toujours l’oreille à de multiples ramifications musicales, de Dowland à Lully en passant par les masques élisabéthains, ce nouveau programme met à l’honneur le génie de Jeremiah Clarke, dont la mort trop précoce fait déplorer les merveilles qu’il aurait pu produire. Un assortiment de chefs-d’oeuvre rassemblant deux des partitions les plus plébiscitées de Purcell, ainsi qu’une découverte exceptionnelle.

Funeral Sentences for the Death of Queen Mary II: I. The Queen’s Funeral March Sounded Before Her Chariot

Following on from the success of the Red and Yellow series (a total of twenty-eight reissues), which have restored to the limelight the treasures of the label’s Baroque music catalogues, here are fourteen new titles offering a chance to renew acquaintance with further gems of the Baroque as well as a number of rarities. This third series also expands to embrace the Classical repertory (Mozart, Haydn etc.) and other cultures, notably those of the East, in recordings that form an integral part of Alpha’s identity and history.
The fourteen reissues are performed by the leading musicians in the relevant repertory; most of these discs received one or more press distinctions on their first release. They are accompanied by full booklets, with articles in three languages (English, French, German) and richly illustrated chronologies. A wide range of photographers have provided the cover illustrations for the series, this time with the colour blue as the unifying thread.

Album release: 9.06.17

Après le succès des collections Rouge et Jaune (au total 28 rééditions) qui ont remis sous les feux des projecteurs les perles des catalogues baroques des labels maison, voici 14 nouveaux titres qui permettent de retrouver d’autres trésors du baroque ainsi que des raretés. Cette 3ème série s’ouvre également au répertoire classique (Mozart, Haydn...) ainsi qu’aux autres cultures, notamment orientalesr; des enregistrements qui font partie intégrante de l’identité et de l’histoire d’Alpha.
Quatorze rééditions interprétées par les meilleurs musiciens du genre ; la plupart de ces disques ont reçu une ou plusieurs récompenses à leur sortie. De vrais livrets accompagnent les disques, avec les textes de présentation en trois langues (français, anglais, allemand) et des chronologies richement illustrées. Des photographes de tous horizons viennent illustrer de leur travail les couvertures de la série, avec cette fois comme fil conducteur, la couleur bleue….

Sortie de l'album : 9.06.17

Bach: French Suites [Disc 1]

BACH // French Suite #5 In G, BWV 816 - Gigue by Blandine Rannou

Boesset: Je meurs sans mourir

BOESSET // Ballet Des Fous Et Des Estropié De La Cervelle by Le Poème Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre

Mozart: Symphonies, Concertos & Sonatas

MOZART // Concerto For Flute And Harp In C Major, K299 : II.Andantino by Anima Eterna

Release date: July 2017

For this recording of music by Buxtehude, Jonathan Cohen, founder of the ensemble Arcangelo, is joined by a distinguished trio, including two regulars on the Alpha label, Sophie Gent and Thomas Dunford, alongside the gambist Jonathan Manson. Although Dietrich Buxtehude is famous above all for his organ music and cantatas, and for the long journey the young Bach undertook to meet him, his chamber music is virtually unknown. In the mid-1690s, at the height of his fame, Buxtehude published two collections in rapid succession, each comprising seven sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo. It is the works of the first collection (1694) – designated Opus 1 in the
print – that Arcangelo has recorded here. These sonatas are characterised by pronounced experimental features in both the scoring and the handling of the instruments.

Sortie de l'album : juillet 2017

Pour cet enregistrement consacré à la musique de Buxtehude, le fondateur de l’ensemble Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen, est rejoint par un trio de choc, deux habitués du label Alpha, Sophie Gent et Thomas Dunford et le gambiste Jonathan Manson. Si Dietrich Buxtehude est surtout célèbre pour ses pièces d’orgue et ses cantates ainsi que pour le long voyage que fit le jeune Bach pour le rencontrer, sa musique de chambre reste quasiment inconnue : au milieu des années 1690, au sommet de sa gloire, Buxtehude publia l’un après l’autre deux recueils comprenant chacun sept sonates pour violon, viole de gambe et basse continue. Ce sont les oeuvres du premier recueil (1694) - désigné comme opus 1 - que l’ensemble Arcangelo a enregistrées ici. Ces sonates se caractérisent par un côté expérimental prononcé, tant dans la répartition des instruments que dans leur traitement.

Trio Sonata in D Minor, BuxWV 257

Release date: August 2017

Alpha is now reissuing three recordings from its back catalogue, the first discs of the conductor Teodor Currentzis. An opportunity to discover or rediscover three very different styles, and three facets of the talent of ‘the enfant terrible of classical music’, as Le Figaro called him, for whom ‘music is intended to transport into the waking world the sentiments we feel when we dream’.
With their invitation to travel through different periods and territories, these reissues may be appreciated both separately and as a triptych revealing the artistic approach of Teodor Currentzis and his ensemble MusicAeterna, from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (here served by an exceptional cast of singers) to
Shostakovich’s Symphony no.14 (conducted like a dance of death) by way of Mozart’s Requiem, the Salzburg composer’s last work, here given an invigorating reinterpretation.

MOZART // Requiem K.626: III. Sequentia, Lacrimosa by MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis

Delphine Galou is renowned and admired for her musicality and her appealing timbre. She has taken part in many productions of Baroque music and recordings of operas (notably by Vivaldi), but
this is her first recital. It is a programme of sacred music, motets, cantatas and excerpts from oratorios, which in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were influenced by
the increasingly fashionable genre of opera. From the famous ‘Agitata infido flatu’ from Vivaldi’s oratorio Juditha triumphans, here counterpointed by an aria from another setting of the story
of Judith composed by Jommelli, to Stradella’s Lamentations and Porpora’s magnificent motet ‘In procella sine stella’, Delphine Galou covers a wide range of spiritual emotions. She is accompanied by the excellent Accademia Bizantina under its director and harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone. A concerto by Gregori and a sinfonia by Caldara complete this release, which includes several world premiere recordings.

Release date: September 2017

VIVALDI // Juditha Triumphans: Aria Agitata infido flatu by Delphine Galou, Ottavio Dantone

This recording is an invitation to immerse ourselves in the musical inner circle of the Bach family. We are familiar with Johann Sebastian Bach as a composer of genius, but we know little about his family life, with the exception of the famous Clavierbüchlein (Little keyboard book) that the forty-year-old composer gave as a present in 1725 to his second wife Anna Magdalena, his junior by sixteen years. This manuscript is a unique document of the music the family played together. It provides us with a point of reference for the ‘programmes’ of these domestic concerts: it contains short keyboard pieces and songs alongside extended arias taken from the church cantatas, as well as chamber music. Bach and his two eldest sons were not only virtuoso harpsichordists but also excellent violinists, while the composer’s son-in-law Bach, J. C. Altnickol, played the cello and was an outstanding double bass player. Anna Magdalena Bach and her oldest stepdaughter both contributed as singers. And the still young children of the second marriage participated by playing easy pieces on their father’s various keyboard instruments. The musicians and singers on this recording, all eminent exponents of Bach and of Baroque music in general, have come together here to bring these exceptional moments back to life.

Release date: September 2017

Cet enregistrement nous invite à plonger dans l’intimité musicale des Bach. On connaît Jean-Sébastien Bach comme compositeur de génie, mais on sait peu de choses sur la vie de la famille Bach, à l’exception du fameux Clavierbüchlein (« Petit livre pour clavier ») que Bach, âgé de quarante ans, offrit en 1725 à sa seconde femme, Anna Magdalena, de seize ans plus jeune que lui. Ce manuscrit est un témoignage unique en son genre de la musique jouée en commun dans le cercle familial. Il nous fournit un point de référence pour les « programmes » de ces concerts domestiques : on y trouve de petites pièces pour clavier, des lieder à côté d’airs accomplis tirés des cantates d’église, de la musique de chambre… Bach et ses deux fils aînés étaient non seulement des clavecinistes virtuoses mais aussi d’excellents violonistes, le gendre de Bach, J. C. Altnickol, jouait du violoncelle et possédait une remarquable voix de basse. A. M. Bach et sa belle-fille aînée intervenaient comme chanteuses. Et les enfants encore jeunes du second mariage participaient en jouant des pièces faciles sur les différents instruments à clavier de leur père. Grands connaisseurs de Bach et de la musique baroque, les musiciens et chanteurs de cet enregistrement se sont réunis pour faire revivre ces moments d’exception.

Sortie de l'album : septembre 2017

Musikalisches Gesangbuch: "Komm, süsser Tod", SL 59

More info: https://lnk.to/Haydn_2032_Homme_de_genieSo
Release date: October 2017

Haydn2032, the ambitious project of recording the complete symphonies of Haydn, has been placed from the start under the artistic direction of Giovanni Antonini, with two en-sembles, Il Giardino Armonico, which made the first four volumes, and the Kammeroches-ter Basel, to which this fifth volume and the next two are assigned. Another characteristic of the edition is that each time Haydn is set in perspective with another composer; here it is Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-92): ‘Kraus was the first man of genius that I met. Why did he have to die? It is an irreparable loss for our art. The Symphony in C minor he wrote in Vien-na specially for me is a work which will be considered a masterpiece in every century’, said Haydn in 1797. Though he long remained forgotten after his death, Kraus made an active contribution to the movement of poetic renewal called ‘Sturm und Drang’ or ‘Geniezeit’ (time of genius) because such artists as the young Goethe broke free of all tradition to fol-low their hearts alone. When Haydn called Kraus homme de génie, in French, he probably had this context in mind. The two composers had met in Vienna in 1783.


***
Plus d'informations: https://lnk.to/Haydn_2032_Homme_de_genieSo
Date de sortie: October 2017

Haydn2032, ambitieux projet d’enregistrement de l’intégrale des Symphonies de Haydn,
est placé depuis l’origine sous la direction artistique de Giovanni Antonini, avec deux ensembles,
Il Giardino Armonico, qui a signé les 4 premiers volumes et l’Orchestre de chambre
de Bâle qui signe ce 5ème volume ainsi que les deux suivants. Autre particularité de
l’Edition, Haydn est chaque fois mis en regard d’un autre compositeur ; ici Joseph Martin
Kraus (1756-1792) : « Kraus fut le premier homme de génie que j’aie rencontré. Pourquoi
a-t-il fallu qu’il meure ?! C’est une perte irréparable pour notre art. La Symphonie en do
mineur qu’il a écrite tout particulièrement pour moi ici, à Vienne, est une oeuvre que l’on
considérera comme un chef d’oeuvre dans tous les siècles. », dit Haydn en 1797. Longtemps
oublié, Kraus participa pourtant activement au mouvement de renouveau poétique appelé
« Sturm und Drang » – ou encore le « Geniezeit » («époque des génies»), parce que des
artistes (dont le jeune Goethe) s’y étaient libérés de toute tradition pour ne suivre que leur
propre coeur. Quand Haydn qualifie Kraus, en français « d’homme de génie », il avait sans
doute ce contexte à l’esprit. Les deux compositeurs s’étaient rencontrés à Vienne en 1783.

***
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Symphony in C Minor, VB 142: III. Allegro assai

After two earlier Dvořák releases, the Trios nos.3 and 4 (Dumky) and the two Piano Quartets, Omri Epstein, Mathieu van Bellen and Ori Epstein are joined by one of their teachers at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the violist Miguel da Silva (founder member of the famous Quatuor Ysaÿe) and the violinist Maria Milstein, who was also an artist in residence at the Music Chapel from 2011 to 2014. Together they continue this recording of the Czech composer’s complete chamber music with keyboard, this time in the two Piano Quintets and the Bagatelles. There is an obvious close rapport between these musicians, who share with us their passion for this repertory and their enjoyment of playing together. A gap of fifteen years separates Dvořák’s two Piano Quintets, which have few features in common except a shared home key: the First marks the debut of a youthful composer, while the Second shows him at the peak of his art. The Bagatelles, originally scored for two violins, cello and harmonium, are among his bestknown short pieces. A recording scheduled for release in autumn 2018 will complete this quadriptych of Dvořák’s piano trios, quartets and quintets.

DVORAK // Bagatelles, Op. 47 : I. Allegretto scherzando

The year 2017 was a vintage one for Giovanni Antonini: he was awarded an Echo Klassik, two Gramophone Awards and a Diapason d’Or of the Year for his recent releases. Two of these prizes distinguished Il Distratto, volume 4 of the complete recording of the Haydn symphonies on which he embarked for Alpha in 2014. For the sixth volume, released in 2018, the Milanese conductor is again joined by the Kammerorchester Basel, which shares the project with Il Giardino Armonico and which he knows very well, since he conducts it regularly and they have made many recordings together, including volume 5 of the Haydn series. This volume focuses on symphonies with a ‘sacred’ inspiration: the Symphony No.26, ‘Lamentatione’, was composed in 1768 for Holy Week, and no.30 was nicknamed ‘Alleluja’ after the plainchant melody Haydn uses in it. Symphony No.41 was written in 1769.

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ALPHA 678

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HAYDN 2032 // Symphony No. 3 In G Major III : Minuet - Trio

The German soprano Juliane Banse has sung the Lieder of Brahms, Schubert, Wolf, Ullmann, Strauss, Schumann, Loewe and Berg, earning a reputation for both the quality of her interpretations and the warmth of her timbre. She and her regular partner Martin Helmchen, who has just joined Alpha, have chosen to record Paul Hindemith’s song cycle Das Marienleben, composed in 1923 and revised by the composer in 1948. A bewitching, sometimes disturbing cycle whose texts, taken from the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke, retrace the life of the Virgin Mary. Fifteen poems, fifteen episodes tinged with mysticism and lyricism. They proved to be the ideal inspiration for Hindemith, whose compositional style here draws on both the power of Wagner’s operas and the subtle nuances of Debussy.

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Alpha 398

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HINDEMITH // Das Marienleben, Op. 27 : Mariä Heimsuchung

Thomas Dunford continues to expand his discography on Alpha with a programme of solo lute works by J.S. Bach, recorded in the ideal surroundings of the Salle de Musique of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. He performs an original composition by Bach for lute, the Suite in G minor BWV 995, as well as his own arrangements of the (Cello) Suite BWV 1007 and the famous Chaconne from the Partita BWV 1004 – the latter piece has a notorious reputation for being (virtually) unplayable, at least on the violin!

Learn more : https://lnk.to/BachDunfordSo

Alpha 361

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BACH // Suite En Sol Majeur BWV 1007 : Prélude

Purcell: Songs & Dances
Tim Mead,Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien,François Lazarevitch

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, guided by François Lazarevitch’s virtuoso flute, have already led us along the roads of Ireland and Scotland, notably the High Road to Kilkenny (ALPHA 234), a great success in 2016. This time, they venture into England with an essentially secular programme devoted to Henry Purcell (1659-95), varying the mood by alternating between instrumental dances and songs performed by the English countertenor Tim Mead, including ‘O Solitude’ and ‘What power art thou’. While Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien have chosen these celebrated pieces for pleasure above all, with this English programme they also fill in a new piece in their jigsaw map of the United Kingdom. At the same time, they demonstrate the musical porosity of Ireland, Scotland and England – and the atypical colours of the small string ensemble complemented by two flutes, a harp and harpsichord/lute continuo further underline the fact. The common thread, dear to Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, is that of folk music lying at the heart of art music, in a mixture of origins, practices and repertories. We can easily recognise ‘Scotch and Irish tunes’ that Purcell incorporates in his overtures, jigs, hornpipes and chaconnes. The countertenor Tim Mead punctuates the dances with songs composed for the operatic or dramatic stage or for chamber performance.

Come Ye Sons Of Art (Birthday Ode For Queen Mary ), Z.323/5: "Strike The Viol, Touch The Lute"

With Le Banquet Céleste, Damien Guillon, Maude Gratton

Bach: Cantatas BWV 169 & 82
https://lnk.to/BachCantatas169_82

Following his recording of J.S. Bach’s solo cantatas for alto BWV 35 and 170 (issued by Outhere in 2009), and building on the success of that disc – still a benchmark even today – countertenor Damien Guillon has continued his work of research and interpretation, devoting his second CD to the Cantata BWV 169 for alto solo, and to the famous BWV 82 Ich habe genug; though better known in its 1727 version for bass, from 1735 onwards it was also performed by an alto voice.
To complement this cantata programme, organist Maude Gratton performs Bach’s Prelude and Fugue BWV 543, as well as the chorales Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 662, BWV 663 & BWV 664.

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Après un enregistrement consacré aux cantates pour alto BWV 35 et 170, paru en 2009 chez Outhere et devant le succès de ce disque qui fait aujourd’hui encore référence, Damien Guillon poursuit son travail de recherche et d’interprétation en consacrant un deuxième opus à la  cantate pour alto solo BWV 169 et à la fameuse BWV 82 Ich Habe Genug, plus connue dans sa version pour basse (1727) mais aussi interprété dès 1735 par un alto.
En complément de ce programme, l'organiste Maude Gratton a associé à ces cantates le prélude et fugue BWV 543 & ainsi que les chorals Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV 662, BWV 663 & BWV 664.

Bach: Cantata "Ich habe genug", BWV 82: I. Aria "Ich habe genug"

Déborah Cachet, Marthe Davost, Eva Zaïcik, Anaïs Bertrand, Nicholas Scott, Jan van Elsacker, Marc Mauillon, Benoît Arnould, Virgile Ancely, Le Poème Harmonique & Vincent Dumestre
Alpha 438 - Anamorfosi
Release Date - September 2019

Allegri’s Miserere, its heartbreaking harmonies, its verses alternately chanted and ornamented, its seraphic voices: sheer Baroque magic. Since its composition in Rome in 1630, the work has constantly been transformed. Le Poème Harmonique approaches the score through the prism of its metamorphoses, the ornaments and transpositions added since the time when Mozart himself transcribed the piece, then jealously guarded by the Vatican, which  punished publication of it with anathema.
From the Renaissance onwards, musicians dressed up the finest secular tunes of their time in sacred words. The most famous example of all, the Pianto della Madonna, in which Monteverdi transferred to the Virgin Mary the mournful strains of his Lamento d’Arianna, illustrates these exchanges between repertories. Similarly, his famous Sì dolce è ’l tormento is here transformed into Sì dolce è ’l martire with the help of the mysterious Virgilio Albanese. Other masters of the period, such as Rossi, Mazzocchi and Marazzoli, also adapted their works to sacred texts. With this programme, which builds on the experience of the album Nova Metamorfosi (ALPHA 039), one of Le Poème Harmonique’s major triumphs, Vincent Dumestre celebrates the twentieth anniversary of his ensemble.

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Le Miserere d’Allegri, ses harmonies déchirantes, ses versets tour à tour psalmodiés et ornementés, ses voix séraphiques : pure magie baroque. Depuis sa composition à Rome en 1630, l’œuvre n’a cessé de se transformer. Le Poème Harmonique aborde la partition à travers le prisme de ses métamorphoses, ornements et transpositions ajoutés depuis l’époque où Mozart lui-même transcrivait la pièce, alors jalousement gardée par le Vatican, et dont la publication était punie d’anathème. 
Dès la Renaissance, les musiciens ont revêtu de paroles sacrées les plus beaux airs profanes de leur temps. Célèbre entre tous, le Pianto della madonna, où Monteverdi prête à la Vierge le chant éploré de son Lamento d’Arianna, illustre ces échanges entre les répertoires. De même le célèbre Sì dolce è ’l tormento se transforme ici en Sì dolce è ’l martire, grâce à un mystérieux Virgilio Albanese… D’autres maîtres de l’époque tels Rossi, Mazzocchi et Marazzoli, adaptèrent également leurs compositions à des textes spirituels. Avec ce programme, qui prolonge l’expérience de l’album Nova Metamorfosi (ALPHA 039), triomphe du Poème Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre célèbre les 20 ans de son ensemble.

Si dolce è 'l martire

Ensemble Jupiter, Thomas Dunford, Lea Desandre.
Alpha 550
Release date > October 2019

In founding the Jupiter ensemble, the lutenist Thomas Dunford wanted to ‘rediscover the spirit of chamber music in the Baroque repertory. Jupiter operates in a kind of fraternity, as if we had always known each other . . . Vivaldi’s highly contrasted music demands precisely this natural response – almost like improvisation’. Lea Desandre speaks of a ‘search for colour and almost limitless inflections. This music was the “pop” of the eighteenth century’. The Franco-Italian mezzo, named ‘Révélation lyrique’ (vocal newcomer of the year) at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2017, performs arias from operas including Il Giustino, Juditha triumphans, Il Farnace and Griselda, as well as the famous ‘Cum dederit’ from the Nisi Dominus. The programme also includes four concertos, for lute in D major, for lute and violin, for bassoon in G minor and for cello in G minor. In addition to Thomas Dunford on lute, Peter Whelan on bassoon and the cellist Bruno Philippe, also a ‘Révélation’ at the Victoires de la Musique (2018), this flamboyant programme features Jean Rondeau on harpsichord and organ, Cecilia Bernardini and Louis Creac’h (violins), Jérôme Van Waerbeke (viola) and Douglas Balliett (double bass).

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En fondant l’ensemble Jupiter, le luthiste Thomas Dunford a souhaité « retrouver l’esprit de la musique de chambre dans le répertoire baroque. Jupiter fonctionne dans une sorte de fraternité, comme si nous nous connaissions depuis toujours… La musique de Vivaldi, très contrastée, demande justement ce répondant naturel – presque comme dans l’improvisation. » Lea Desandre parle d’une « recherche de couleur et d’inflexions quasi sans limites. Cette musique était la ‘pop’ du XVIIIe siècle. » La mezzo franco-italienne, révélation lyrique aux Victoires de la Musique 2017, interprète des airs extraits d’opéras dont Il Giustino, Juditha triumphans, Il Farnace, Griselda, ainsi que le fameux Cum dederit du Nisi Dominus… Quatre concertos jalonnent également ce programme, pour luth en ré majeur, pour luth et violon, pour basson en sol mineur et pour violoncelle en sol mineur. Outre Thomas Dunford au luth, Peter Whelan au basson et le violoncelliste Bruno Philippe, lui aussi révélation aux Victoires 2018, ce programme flamboyant rassemble Jean Rondeau au clavecin et à l’orgue, Cecilia Bernardini et Louis Creac’h (violons), Jérôme Van Waerbeke (alto) et Douglas Balliett (contrebasse).

Lute Concerto in D Major, RV 93: II. Largo

Old American Songs: Long Time Ago

Alpha has been a noted reference in the world of classical music since its inception twelve years ago. Today, the label is broadening its horizons, welcoming outstanding new artists and opening its doors to an array of innovative projects.

Vocal repertoire becomes a major focus of the new ALPHA: Véronique Gens has just recorded a recital of French songs with Susan Manoff as part of an ongoing collaboration with the label. The baritone Georg Nigl also joins Alpha. He will collaborate with Andreas Staier on a Bach album. The new generation is represented by Gaëlle Arquez and the soprano Mari Eriksmoen. She will record a programme of songs by Grieg, Strauss and Wolf in April in the framework of the partnership between ALPHA and the Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Outstanding instrumental soloists have also signed with ALPHA: the pianist Anna Vinnitskaya presents the Shostakovich concertos with Kremerata Baltica. Others will be announced soon.

Collaborations with major orchestras are being finalised, but we can announce multi-year projects with Hervé Niquet and with Le Concert Spirituel (Vivaldi Gloria & Magnificat for double choir to be released this fall). Equally noteworthy are the Beethoven symphonies recorded by Martin Haselböck and the Wiener Akademie in the halls where they were first performed.

ALPHA is also expanding its chronological scope, since the label is launching a series with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Matthias Pintscher and will release a program by Peter Eötvös. For the twentieth century, Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher has just appeared, with an incredibly intense narrator, the actress Marion Cotillard.

As part of the new series ALPHA OPERA, a DVD collection has been created in conjunction with major institutions such as the THEATRE ROYAL DE LA MONNAIE in Brussels and the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, featuring top ensembles including Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset and Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet (Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse by Boismortier, directed by Corinne et Gilles BENIZIO, aka SHIRLEY & DINO).

ALPHA remains faithful to the artists who have made its history and its reputation. Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique will present a disc of Airs de Cour in the autumn. Bruno Cocset has recorded a second volume of works by Barrière, and Olivier Fortin, Alexis Kossenko, Lucille Boulanger, Arnaud de Pasquale, Céline Frisch and Café ZIMMERMANN will also offer new releases. The ambitious Haydn 2032 project continues under the direction of Giovanni Antonini, while the ‘Château de Versailles’ collection presents recordings of Campra and Leclair by Olivier Schneebeli and Sébastien d’Hérin respectively.

In order to strenghten the label on the international scene, ALPHA will bring together all its house artists with those who recorded for ZIG-ZAG TERRITOIRES. This merger will make for greater coherence among the 600 recordings in the existing catalogues (especially in the field of early music, the strong point of both labels) and the new releases. By the end of 2015 ALPHA will thus offer a chance to renew acquaintance with such major artists as the Belcea Quartet, Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre, Nelson Goerner in Chopin, Tedi Papavrami in Bartók, Amandine Beyer, Mario Ceccato, and Alexei Lubimov and many others. Another highlight of the year is the seventieth birthday of Jos Van Immerseel: with Anima Eterna Brugge, he will present a magnificent Schubertiade as well as a symphonic programme with Janácek and Dvoràk.

Since December 1st 2014, the label is directed by Didier Martin.

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