Wei-Lian Huang & Gwendoline Blondeel – soprano
Isabelle Druet – mezzo-soprano
Andrea Gavagnin – countertenor
Pierre Derhet & Emanuele Petracco – tenor
Nicolas Achten – baritone, chitarrone in G & A, theorbo in A, colascione, Italian guitar, Spanish guitar in E, double & triple harp, harpsichord, organ
Justin Glaie – lute in A & G, bass lute in D, theorbo in A, cittern, Spanish chitarrino in A, Spanish guitar in E, bass viol
Francois Dambois – bass lute in D, chitarrone in A, theorbo in D, A & low D, Spanish chitarrino in A, Italian guitar in E, Spanish guitar in E, Spanish chitarriglia in high E
Beniamino Paganini – harpsichord, spinet & organ
Lies Wyers – tenor & bass viol, lirone
Clemence Schiltz – treble & bass viol
Benoît Vanden Bemden – violone

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Nevertheless, its identity is teased by countless contradictions: it appears to cover the entire Ordinary of the Catholic Liturgy, but in Bach’s Lutheran environment the complete Latin text was seldom sung as a whole; it seems to have the characteristics of a unified work, yet its origins are perhaps the most diverse for any of Bach’s large scale compositions; it was written in an age when composers generally prepared music for specific occasions, yet we have no firm evidence that the whole work was designed with a performance in mind.

Somehow, a mystique grew around the Mass soon after Bach’s death, and C.P.E. Bach performed the Credo section during the 1780s; but it was nearly a century before it was available in print. The first performances in the early decades of the nineteenth century were presented by institutions of which Bach could hardly have conceived – amateur choral societies with a vast number of performers. And, over the last century it has often been at the center of major disputes in the field of Bach scholarship: the question of its original function, its chronology, the legitimacy of the various manuscripts and, of course, its performance practice. Even the title ‘Mass in B Minor’ was not applied until the nineteenth century.

Bach’s autograph contains four discrete sections: the Kyrie and Gloria are together entitled Missa, these movements being the regular part of the sung Lutheran mass of Bach’s time; the second section is called Symbolum Nicenum – the Nicene Creed. Then follows the Sanctus – again an independent manuscript (a slightly modified version of a pre-existing setting); the fourth section contains the remaining texts of the Mass, ‘Benedictus’ to ‘Dona nobis pacem’. The fact that Bach gave each of these sections.

Miriam Feuersinger, Soprano I 
Hana Blažiková, Soprano II 
Carlos Mena, Countertenor 
Jakob Pilgram, Tenor 
Tobias Berndt, Bass 
La Cetra Basel
Andrea Marcon, Musical & Artistic Direction

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The story is brought to life by celebrated American soprano Marnie Breckenridge (as Jacqueline) and former du Pré protégé and world-renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz, playing the role of her constant companion: her cello.

Grammy nominated composer Luna Pearl Woolf and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek chart the development of great prodigy and, ultimately, great tragedy. Told in four movements – I. Star Birth; II. Super Nova; III. Meteorite; IV. Impact – the opera references Haimovitz’s personal recollections of du Pré herself.

Colorful and at times funny, raw, joyful and audacious, the form of the work echoes du Pré’s iconic interpretation of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, using the concerto’s four-movement structure to navigate a prismatic and passionate, if all too short, life in music.

Commissioned by Tapestry Opera. Dramaturgy and direction by Michael Hidetoshi Mori

Marnie Breckenridge, Soprano
Matt Haimovitz, Violoncello

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Recorded live in September 2022 by multi-Grammy award winning engineer Christopher Willis, conducted by Dame Jane Glover, and performed by Chicago-based Music of the Baroque Chorus & Orchestra. This marks the first American commercial recording of Jephtha, Handel’s most sublime, emotionally intense work and an absolutely gorgeous baroque masterpiece.

Now in its fifth decade, Music of the Baroque is one of the leading professional ensembles in America devoted to 17th and 18th-century works. The Chicago Sun-Times writes, “Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra may be the big guys on the local classical music scene, but in terms of sheer quality of performance… Music of the Baroque inhabits the same stratosphere.”

Acclaimed British conductor Jane Glover, named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year’s Honours, has been Music of the Baroque’s music director since 2002. Jane Glover has conducted all the major symphony and chamber orchestras in Britain, as well as orchestras in Europe, the United States, Asia, and Australia. She has worked with the period­ instrument orchestras Philharmonia Baroque and the Handel & Haydn Society. A Mozart specialist, she has conducted all the Mozart operas all over the world regularly, and her core operatic repertoire also includes Monteverdi, Handel, and Britten.

David Portillo, tenor (Jephtha)
Lauren Snouffer, soprano (Iphis)
Clara Osowski, mezzo­-soprano (Storgè)
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor (Hamor)
Neal Davies, bass­-baritone (Zebul)
Katelyn Lee, soprano (Angel)

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Weiss: Selected Works for Lute features Evangelina Mascardi on Lutes. In more than three hundred years of lute literature, from the mid-fifteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, only a select few composers, such as Francesco da Milano, John Dowland, and Silvius Leopold Weiss, have had their fame exceed their lifetime.

The transient nature of a musician’s fame was primarily due to the impossibility of preserving sound content for future generations, leading to a fate shared by almost all. Music existed only in the present moment, more than any other artistic manifestation. For lutenists, the challenge was exacerbated by the use of tablature, an ancient script that indicated the finger positions needed to produce a sound rather than the actual notes themselves. This script could only be read by those who played the instrument, making its contents inaccessible to other musicians.

While paintings, sculptures, and books outlived their authors, music remained a dead letter on score paper. It is not difficult to understand why, in spite of all this, Silvius Leopold Weiss was still remembered and mentioned many years after his demise. He was a world-famous virtuoso, admired, highly sought after, and among the highest paid of his time. Silvius Leopold Weiss was born on 12 October 1687 in Grottkau near Breslau, the capital of Silesia (today Wroclaw in Poland). His father, Johann Jacob, was also a lutenist of some renown. Johann Jacob was probably the sole person responsible for his, his brother Johann Sigismund’s, and his sister Juliana Margaretha’s education. While still in his teens, Silvius Leopold started playing the violin at the courts of Breslau and Innsbruck.

Evangelina Mascardi, Lutes

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“I admire the freedom with which the evocations of the soul, of nature, of the colours of the masters of Italian painting unfold in succession. Everything Liszt saw during his pilgrimage to Switzerland and Italy contributed to a process of reflection, a journey, a quest to bring him closer to his ideal where silence became the ultimate authority.”

Roger Muraro – Piano & Harmonium

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He advocated abandoning the da capo aria; he rejected vocal virtuosity and singers’ freedom to ornament their music; he recommended syllabic word setting to make the text intelligible and give the vocal line declamatory power; he called for greater melodic simplicity; he advised against repetition of the words in arias and ensembles; he blurred the distinction between recitative and aria with a view to creating a continuous discourse; he favored accompanied recitatives rather than secco ones; he suggested linking the overture to the rest of the opera, either by reusing melodic motifs or by creating an overall mood appropriate to the character of the subject. These were all ideas that would find their fullest expression in the last reform he undertook, in Paris: that of French tragédie lyrique.

“In creating ‘our’ version of Iphigénie en Aulide, we have opted for the manuscripts used for the 1774 performances rather than the edition printed at the time, which does not reflect the reality of the stage production. We know that Gluck had not provided all the ballets that were considered de rigueur and was forced to add more following a cabal fomented by the dancers.” 

Le Concert de la Loge
Julien Chauvin, Director

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Sir Antonio Pappano conducts this dramatic oratorio, with four star soloists bringing the tale of the Prophet Elijah to life. We follow the fortunes of the steadfast, open-hearted Elijah, and encounter ministering angels and the vengeful queen Jezebel.

The London Symphony Chorus, The Guildhall Singers and four electrifying soloists – Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Sarah Connolly, Allan Clayton and Gerald Finley give voice to the oratorio in English, as in its first premiere. Gerald Finley breathes life into the role of Elijah, and the London Symphony Orchestra ramps up the drama without losing sight of the stillness at the heart of the storm. This release also celebrates 25 years of our music label, LSO Live.

NativeDSD brings this all-star performance of Elijah to our listeners in Stereo and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64 and DXD plus Stereo DSD 512 from the Edit Master Source. 

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Soprano (The Widow, Angel)
Sarah Connolly, Mezzo-Soprano (The Queen – Jezebel, Angel)
Allan Clayton, Tenor (Obadiah, Ahab)
Gerald Finley, Bass-Baritone (Elijah)
Ewan Christian, Treble (Child)

The Guildhall Singers
Linnhe Robertson, Vocal Coach

London Symphony Chorus
Mariana Rosas, Chorus Director

London Symphony Orchestra 
Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor 

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In 1735 he composed the Italian Concerto in F Major, which, as a result of his meticulous research combined with genius, became one of Bach’s most popular works. It is followed by Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Waldtsein’ Sonata. The composer’s Op. 53 in C Major is one of the greatest sonatas in the piano repertoire and the twenty-first work of his in the genre.

Also in three movements, it opens with the taut rhythm of horses galloping. After a brief Intermezzo, the third movement is grandiose, reminiscent of a sunrise. The two concluding movements of the concert are the best-known works in Liszt’s cycle of Paganini etudes.

It was the playing of his contemporary, the great Italian violinist, that inspired the Hungarian composer-pianist to translate the virtuosic and profound playing of Niccolo Paganini, who had mastered the violin to the highest level, into the possibilities offered by the piano. Thus were born the Paganini etudes, known as the greatest challenge of all, of which the sixth in A Minor and the third in G Sharp Minor, the bells, better known as “La campanella”, are the most known.

As an encore, the concert will feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s choral work “Ave verum corpus”,
arranged for piano by Ferenc Liszt. The work, one of the composer’s last, is rich in subtlety and depth.

Misi Boros, Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano

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In this 1720 score, Johann Sebastian Bach laid the foundation that would shape the future of the violin in Western music. While building on the contributions of earlier composers, his meticulous craftsmanship—a true compendium of the instrument’s virtues—and his vision in terms of musical conception and performance render these Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin a cornerstone. No self-respecting violinist can ignore them, as they serve both as a fundamental study and a lofty aspiration.

There is no separation between the performer and the music; their expressive power and technical demands require a lifelong dedication. This is exactly what the excellent violinist Gisella Curtolo tells us:

“In Spanish, grabar means to leave a mark on a surface, on stone… on a CD. It is something lasting, like a “sculpture of sounds.” It is a way to communicate the culmination of our journey, akin to scaling a mountain and reaching the summit, achieving something “epic” that we have been carefully preparing and envisioning year after year. There comes a moment in musicians’ life when they feel like the right time to “record” what they have been playing, teaching, and perfecting for many years.

This is how I felt as I approached the recording of this immense masterpiece, one of the pillars of the repertoire for violinists of the past, present, and surely the future. My interpretation is the result of all my musical experiences, which have taken root and become deeply embedded in my bowing technique and sensitivity.”

Gisella Curtolo, violin

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