These forces of nature are mirrored in the score through Ravel’s characteristic lush orchestration and vivid melodies. Interjections from a wordless chorus – sung in this performance by award-winning British ensemble, Tenebrae – perfectly capture the celestial might of the God, Pan, as he comes to the lovers’ rescue.

While living in Paris at the turn of the century, Maurice Ravel was commissioned to write a ballet by the impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, Serge Diaghilev. The result was music of fluid, delicate beauty – a languid drama of danger and desire. The plot of Daphnis et Chloé is adapted from a second-century Greek erotic pastoral and tells the captivating story of love and longing between the humble goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess Chloé. When Chloé is abducted by pirates, Daphnis calls upon higher powers to aid his pursuit.

London Symphony Orchestra
Tenebrae
Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor 

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“An exile deprived of his musical roots, traditions and native land has no desire to create, and has no consolation other than the inviolate silence of unvexed reminiscence,” said Rachmaninov in an interview in 1934. After emigration, his creative work came to a standstill that lasted for nine years; even after recovery, it could and did not progress with the same intensity. During the twenty-five years that he lived abroad (1918-1943), he composed only six works, out of a lifetime total of forty-five. He intended to express himself completely in each of those compositions, and to create a major work that would become his final one. As fate would have it, his penultimate work was to be the Third Symphony.

The symphony consists of three movements instead of the traditional four, although the second movement combines the functions of a lyrical core and a scherzo. Like Rachmaninov’s first two symphonies, the Third is monothematic. Its leitmotif is an austerely archaic melodic idiom, which had undoubtedly originated in the Old Russian znamenny chant. It sounds as a prophetic voice coming from the mists of antiquity, a theme of the fate of Russia that is interrupted by orchestral outcries even in the introduction. These opposites will continue through the entire course of the work, where the meditative character of the narrator will repeatedly give way to an acutely expressive report of the hero. The melodious motto of the first movement — with a characteristic inner voice in the form of the cuckoo’s call of a minor third — originates from a drawn-out chant and a lullaby, while the spirit of solemn songs of glory characterizes the second theme. This immediately conjures images of elegiac sadness and of springtime flood of feelings.

Ural Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitry Liss, Conductor

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Whilst the string quartets by Debussy (1893) and Ravel (1903) have been a source of great joy to the Van Kuijk Quartet –  their recordings and concerts of these works have become their musical passport – they remain eager to add further such works from that period, a golden age of French composition, to their repertoire. Here they leave the path laid down by their previous recordings of music by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert Debussy, Ravel and Chausson and share their impressions and subjective experiences of works for piano and voice composed between 1870 and 1943 by Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel and Francis Poulenc.

The quartet’s individuality is subtly apparent in this repertoire and is evident in the transcriptions they have made, as well as in a new work from Baptiste Trotignon inspired by the same composers. The idea that the quartet could make use of the musical possibilities offered by a transcription was sparked by a remark from Poulenc himself, who had composed a string quartet in 1945-1946 that he had withdrawn after an unsatisfactory first rehearsal, joking that “les cordes ne sont pas dans mes cordes” (strings are not my strong point); he had always been more inspired by wind instruments. He then, however, soon recycled most of the themes from his quartet into his Sinfonietta for orchestra. Encouraged to trust their intuition and their approach by knowing of this phantom quartet, the Van Kuijks add another string to their bows with these transcriptions of songs by Poulenc, Satie and Fauré, enthused and seduced by their freedom and lightness.

Quatuor Van Kuijk
Nicolas Van Kuijk, Violin
Sylvain Favre-Bulle, Violin
Emmanuel François, Viola
Anthony Kondo, Cello

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The journey from darkness to light begins with Scriabin’s terrifying “Black Mass” Sonata. The work represents a satanic ritual that is possessed by the specter of the Mephistophelian Liszt. De Falla’s Suite from El Amor brujo conjures a mysterious world, full of magic, rituals and ghost visitations. Ravel described his Gaspard de la nuit as “romantic and of transcendent virtuosity”.

These highly evocative pieces are based on Aloysius Bertrand’s prose poems depicting scenes of a hanged man sighing on the gallows and a devilish dwarf. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition portrays many scenes of darkness but emerges into light with the Great Gate of Kiev, in which triumphant episodes alternate with moments of religious contemplation.\

Often some great actors are more excited about the roles of villains over heroes because they are limitless in terms of interpretation and always give room to try new things and go to extremes in search of your character. I guess I could relate to that. And it’s so fascinating to explore the different ways of four composers I chose for this album and their approach to the darkness, mystery and supernatural.

Read the full exclusive interview here.

Anna Fedorova, Piano

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Paris Is A Party is a testament to the musical and human affinities forged over many years between these performers, is also a return to the composers’ creative sources, with a first recording of Ravel’s Tzigane in the new Ravel Edition as well as a first recording of the orchestration of Emmanuel Chabrier’s Bourrée fantasque according to the sketches left unfinished by the composer.

From the crinolines of Georges Bizet’s adolescence to the wisps of cigar smoke in the dreamy Brazil of Le Boeuf sur le toit, we dive into an era when Paris set the tempo for cosmopolitan and carefree celebrations.

Alexandra Soumm, Violin
Orchestre de Chambre Pelléas
Benjamin Levy, Conductor

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On Awaken, their debut album, the Yugen Trio presents what is arguably the cornerstone of the Piano Trio repertoire.

Maurice Ravel’s trio, in a vital and highly expressive performance. Ravel’s masterpiece is preceded by the usually claimed ‘father of the piano trio.,

Haydn, with his trio in A major, Hob.XV:35, and by one of Shubert’s compositions from his teenage years, the delightfully mozartian trio in B-flat major D. 28.

A voyage from the origins to the culmination of the piano trio, brought with sensitivity and intensity by the Yugen Trio.

Yugen Trio

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Anyone who has seen the conductor Elim Chan on stage is familiar with the immense energy produced by her baton. With the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, of which she has been Principal Conductor since 2019, she celebrates a genre dear to her heart, ballet music, which places the emphasis on both physical movement and orchestral power.

More than a century of ballet music is presented here, with excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suites, oscillating between passionate love and fatal violence; Suite no.2 from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé , the fruit of his first collaboration with Diaghilev in 1912, which he described as a ‘choreographic symphony’; and finally a work by Elizabeth Ogonek, All These Lighted Things , premiered in 2017.

Although the title of these ‘three little dances for orchestra’ comes from a poem that evokes a soothing union with the earth at the dawn of a sunny day, the piece ends with a sort of folk dance that degenerates into an orchestral storm.

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
Elim Chan, Conductor

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We include music like the world famous “Estrellita” by Ponce, Ravel’s famous “Pavane” in a rare but very effective guitar arrangement. From the “12 Songs” by Toru Takemitsu, Maruri has selected 6, including “Summertime” by George Gershwin, “Over the Rainbow” by Harold Arlen, “Secret Love” by Sammy Fain, “Londonderry Air”, the beloved Irish folk song, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney “Michelle” and “Yesterday” each of them rewritten in the unique musical language of the great Toru Takemitsu.

We present a guitar version of “El día que me quieras” by Carlos Gardel composed by the great Argentinian guitar tango player Anibal Arias. “Terry’s Theme” by Charlie Chaplin is also included, Osvaldo Farrés, “Quizás, quizás, quizás”, Agustín Lara , “Solamente una vez” and Henry Mancini’s “Sunflower”.

Following these unforgettable melodies we return to the guitar world with the intimate and personal style of Yuquijiro Yocoh and his unmistakable “Sakura variations” and just to remind ourselves that he wrote other pieces beside this, we present his “Old Irish Song”. In a programme such as this we couldn’t exclude the beautiful “Alfonsina y el mar” by Ariel Ramirez.

Agustín Maruri, Guitar

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Magdalena Kožená’s album Folk Songs brings together folk-inspired song cycles from across the globe. Ranging from Berio’s Folk Songs to sets by Bartók, Ravel and Montsalvatge, this collection provides a kaleidoscope of twentieth-century orchestral song composition. Kožená performs them together with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle.

Kozena says “Folk songs accompanied my entire childhood. My mum used to sing them while cooking or ironing and during our summer holiday evenings we often replaced watching television with sitting down in the kitchen together with my sister and our grandparents, learning new melodies from them and improvising second, third voices.

Every village in Moravia where I grew up had its own tunes and folk poetry and this art form is still present today at many feasts, weddings, funerals or just at ordinary visits to a wine cellar. (…) I think it is essential that folksongs remain an inseparable part of our cultural heritage and I hope you will be inspired by them and love them as much as I do.” 

Magdalena Kožená, Mezzo-Soprano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

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Yarlung says “We are so proud to announce the debut release on Yarlung Records of the brilliant young pianist Nathan Ben-Yehuda together with his classical-fusion ensemble Astral Mixtape. Nathan has curated a fascinating program, creating an expansive sound world spanning the centuries.” 

Nathan Ben-Yehuda pursues a full-time solo concert career but also plays with Astral Mixtape, an innovative crossover quartet writing new works and reimagining classics from Monteverdi to Rimsky-Korsakov, and playing with ideas and thematic material from Sigur Ros to Radiohead and Four Tet.

Nathan plays piano and synthesizer, Misha Vayman performs on violin and computers, Michael Siess plays violin, and Juan-Salvador Carrasco performs on the cello. Misha and Michael have both studied with Yarlung Special Advisor and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Margaret Batjer.

Juan-Salvador studied with Ralph Kirshbaum at the Thornton School at USC and plays often with LACO where he also serves as an orchestra fellow. So it turned out we had musical connections with all four members of the quartet. After Astral Mixtape came to play for Aaron Egigian and me at Segerstrom Center, we invited the quartet to join us for Nathan’s recording sessions and share their wonderful sound and creativity with the Yarlung community.

We end this album with two tracks by Astral Mixtape. Track 6 offers Goddess Gardens, including intoxicating “mixtape” snippets from Scheherazade and Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, as well as more recent fare. Seven Hellos closes the album on track 7, an original composition by the four members of the quartet. Astral Mixtape is clearly close to Nathan’s heart: “I am part of this wonderful band of fellow classical musicians who are seeking to reimagine the conventional roles of our instruments, and applying non-classical approaches to arrangement and composition in our works. Astral Mixtape is the collaborative project most personal to me, and I’m so glad to be able to share our music as part of this record.”

Fellow recording engineer and equipment designer Arian Jansen and producer Bob Attiyeh used SonoruS Holographic Imaging technology in the analog domain to refine the stereo image, Merging Technologies Hapi Analog to Digital Converter to record the album in Pure DSD 256 Stereo and Surround Sound.  We used our friend Ted Ancona’s AKG C24 microphone previously owned by Frank Sinatra, and vacuum tube microphone amplification by Yarlung executive producer and designer Elliot Midwood.

Featured in blog post Notes on Recent Finds, No. 9 – Endless Bounty from NativeDSD by music reviewer Rushton Paul.

Nathan Ben-Yehuda – Piano & Synthesizer
Misha Vayman – Violin & Electronics
Michael Siess – Violin
Juan-Salvador Carrasco – Cello

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