A highly intelligent & rather imaginative recital: Handel's Italians - Italian castrati in the London oratorios from Carlo Vistoli on Harmonia Mundi

Handel's Italians: Italian castrati in the London oratorios - music from Handel's Esther, Deborah, Athalia, Belshazzar, Messiah, Theodora; Carlo Vistoli, Giulia Semenzato, Le Concert d’Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm; Harmonia Mundi
Reviewed 1 September 2026

This rather imaginative recital focuses on music from Handel's oratorios sung by Italian castratos, including arias specially Italianised for them, here benefitting from suavely stylish performances from Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli 

Handel's move from writing Italian opera to English oratorio did not happen immediately, and for some ten years the two genres ran almost simultaneously in Handel's output. So, whilst we might emphasise the role of English singers in oratorio with names like Anastasia Robinson, Susannah Cibber, John Beard and others, Handel's Italian singers also played an interesting role in oratorio's genesis.

This new disc from Carlo Vistoli, Handel's Italians: Italian castrati in the London oratorios on Harmonia Mundi (release 4 September 2026) sees the countertenor join with Le Concert d’Astrée, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, and soprano Giulia Semenzato, for a programme exploring the music from Handel's oratorios written a range of Italian castratos. Vistoli is no stranger to Handel's English oratorios having recently performed in Semele at Covent Garden. [see my review]

Handel presented a new version of Esther at the King's Theatre in 1732, hurriedly assembled in order to keep Handel's interest in the work after rival performances (following a gap of some 12 years since Esther's previous outing). The cast inevitably included a selection of Italian singers who had given Flavio, re de’ Longobardi just a few weeks earlier including soprano Anna Maria Strada, the castrato Francesco Bernardi, known as ‘Il Senesino’, contralto Francesca Bertolli, and bass Antonio Montagnana. From then on, oratorio would be presented with a mix of nationalities, depending on who was available. When presenting Athalia in 1733, Handel had an all-English cast except for Strada and his later oratorios would also use Italian sopranos Giulia Frasi and Caterina Galli alongside other English singers.

Richness & imagination: the all-male ensemble De Profundis continues its exploration of Morales with two masses based on L’homme armé

Cristóbal de Morales: Missa L’homme armé a4, Magnificat secundi toni, Missa L’homme armé a5; De Profundis, Robert Hollingworth; CORO
Reviewed 20 May 2026

The Morales Project moves to CORO and demonstrates the richness to be found in the composer's less-known masses when performing at the original pitch. 

In many ways, Cristóbal de Morales had a somewhat remarkable career, becoming the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria and probably the most famous composer in Europe between the death of Josquin in 1521 and the rise of Palestrina and Lassus in the 1550s. Yet we know so little about him and what we do know from surviving documents suggests a life that was restless, with its share of frustration and disappointment. He seems to have had a recurrent illness, which led to gaps in his employment, and whilst admired musically was a difficult character. He left some 22 masses (many from a pair of books published in Rome in 1544), along with magnificats and motets.

Mark Dourish founded the all male ensemble De Profundis in 2011 to perform Renaissance polyphony at the original lower pitch. One of the reasons why this is pertinent to Morales was that he came from the Spanish tradition of using high countertenors on the top line and in fact one of the reasons why Morales was able to travel to Italy was that Spanish singers were popular in the Papal choir with the falsettists reinforcing or supplementing the castratos.

De Profundis, conducted by Eamonn Dougan and Robert Hollingworth recorded two discs of Morales for Hyperion and now the Morales Project is on Coro with the aim to record the complete Masses and Magnificats of Morales. The third disc in the project (the first on Coro) sees Robert Hollingworth conducting De Profundis in Morales two masses based on L’homme armé, the four part and the five part. 

Well-upholstered & rather different: On Christmas Night from London Choral Sinfonia & Michael Waldron on Orchid Classics

On Christmas Night:  Percy Fletcher, Jim Clements, Howard Blake, Harold Darke, Alec Rowley, Holst, Adolph Adam, Iain Farrington, Owain Park; London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron, Emma Bell, Malakai Baytoh; Orchid Classics
Reviewed 22 December 2025

If you are looking for a Christmas disc then this provides rather a different look at some classics along with more unusual repertoire, all beautifully performed

For their second Christmas album, Michael Waldron and London Choral Sinfonia explore new and unusual version of the more traditional Christmas tunes. On Christmas Night on Orchid Classics features music by Percy Fletcher, Jim Clements, Howard Blake, Harold Darke, Alec Rowley, Holst, Adolphe Adam and Iain Farrington along with some traditional tunes with soloists Emma Bell (soprano), Malakai Bayoh (treble), Martha McLorinan (mezzo-soprano) and Jimmy Holliday (bass), with four new orchestrations by Owain Park.

All the items are beautifully performed by choir and string orchestra, with the addition of harp, percussion, keyboards and trumpets at various times. The result is a well-upholstered and rather different look at a number of familiar classics along with some lesser-known gems, with Owain Park's orchestrations meaning that Waldron has been able to cast his net quite widely.

A real radio opera: Claire Booth as a pianist labouring under the absurdity of life in Stalin's Russia in Joe Cutler's Sonata for Broken Fingers

Joe Cutler: Sonata for Broken Fingers; Claire Booth, Stephen Richardson, Christopher Lemmings, James Cleverton, Lucy Schaufer, BCMG, Sian Edwards, BRC
Reviewed 17 November 2025

Inspired by a probably untrue story, Joe Cutler and Max Hoehn's opera explores the horror and absurdity of life under Stalin in a vivid new radio opera

There is a story in Solomon Volkov's book Testimony, that one night in 1944 Stalin heard a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 on the radio performed by Maria Yudina, and asked for a copy. It had been a live recording, so Yudina was rushed into the studio overnight to make a recording for Stalin's desk. Though probably not true, it is believable. It is this combination of sheer absurdity and horror of life under Stalin that composer Joe Cutler and librettist Max Hoehn explore in their opera, Sonata for Broken Fingers inspired by this story.

The opera has now been issued by Birmingham Record Company, the piece commissioned by Opera21 and co-produced in partnership with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Birmingham Record Company. The recording features Stephen Richardson as Stalin, Claire Booth as the pianist Maria Maximova, Christopher Lemmings as Gleb, the programmer of Radio Moscow, James Cleverton as Leonid, the minister and Lucy Schaufer as Dr Denisova and Public Prosecutor. Sian Edwards conducts Birmingham Contemporary Music Group - Flute: Helen Benson, Bass Clarinet: Oli Janes, Trombone: Tony Howe, Cello: Arthur Boutillier, Piano: Joe Howson, Percussion: Julian Warburton, plus Xenia Pestova Bennett pre-recorded piano fragments.

Thinking about sound: Grieg's Lyric Pieces on a modern piano from Alexander Ullmann & on historic pianos with unequal temperament from Ziad Kreidy

Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Op. 71, Moods, Op. 73, Peer Gynt Suite, Op. 46, transcriptions of Songs, Op. 41 - Alexander Ullmann - Rubicon Classics RCD 1129

Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Op. 65, Op. 68, Op. 73 - Ziad Kreidy (historic piano) - Bandcamp

Two different approaches to Grieg's piano music - on a modern piano, played with intense poetic sensibility and on a selection of historic pianos with unequal temperament tuning that brings its own magic

Two recent discs have rather set me thinking about what sound we want for a particular composer when it comes to piano pieces. Do we always want the super-charged modern grand, or is something more period appropriate. 

And then there is a question of temperament.

Edvard Grieg's own Steinway grand piano from 1892 still exists at his former home, Troldhaugen and is still use, though the museum's website does not give much in the way of detail about the instrument and its tuning. However, Leif Ove Andsnes recorded a selection of Grieg's Lyric Pieces on it in 2002 for Warner Classics. 

The Lyric Pieces are central to two new recordings of Grieg's piano music. Grieg wrote 66 Lyric Pieces in total, publishing them in ten volumes from 1867 (Op. 12) to 1901 (Op. 71). 

This is music in which Leipzig-trained Grieg managed to encapsulate the music of his native land, mixing folk idioms with compositional techniques learned in Germany, yet with a freshness that is disarming. 

Into my inbox recently came two very different recordings of Grieg's piano music, focusing on the Lyric Pieces. Alexander Ullmann takes a modern, poetic approach  on Rubicon that will appeal to many, whilst musicologist Ziad Kreidy turns to historic pianos with unequal temperament tuning to very different effect on Bandcamp. This is not Kreidy's first venture into this territory, and last year he issued a recording of Grieg's Lyric Pieces, Opp. 12, 38, 43 & 47 on an Érard Upright Piano from 1867, also on Bandcamp.

A very fresh, a summer album: Hummel & Bertini from Sestetto Classico on MDG

Hummel: Quintet, Bertini: Grand Sextuor; Sestetto Classico; MDG
Reviewed by Andreas Rey (22 September 2025)

Two large-scale chamber works from the fringes of the repertoire from composers sitting between Mozart and Beethoven in fresh, idiomatic performances from a fine ensemble

A celebrated virtuoso pianist and composer who influenced a generation of Romantic composers, Johann Nepomuk Hummel is known for a handful of works and for his links to Mozart and Beethoven. This disc on MDG from Sestetto Classico and pianist Hiroko Maruko explores further with Hummel's Quintet Op. 87 for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass, a work that inspired Schubert to write his Trout Quintet. This is paired with a work by Hummel's French contemporary, Henri Jérôme Bertini whose performances were compared to those of Hummel. Here we hear Bertini's Grand Sextuor Op. 90 for piano, two violins, viola, cello and double bass.

This is a very fresh, a summer album, so to speak, strongly influenced by Mozart and Beethoven in the first quintet, and by Boccherini in the second. An album to listen to as you would drink a rosé wine in the South of France. The quality of the Sestetto Classico'a playing, without heaviness and overly abrupt stops, and Hiroko Maruko's crystalline piano, blending beautifully with the quintet for a most charming fluidity, give this recording all its charm. 

This disc begins with Hummel's Quintet Op. 87, allowing the listeners to move beyond his too well-known trumpet concerto and discover this composer through one of his chamber music works. A student of Mozart, he embraced his teacher's style and language. Thus, like his master, the student's style remains fluid, natural, and fresh. It is also strongly influenced by the concerto form, with the sextet here being almost a kind of chamber piano concerto, with the strings forming a unified ensemble responding to the solo piano. The amateur will recognize certain phrases that are more abrupt, more Beethovenian, so to speak, than those of Mozart, thus showing that between the two geniuses that were Mozart and Beethoven, there was room for an honest, humble, and valuable composer: Hummel. 

The second work on this disc is a sextet by French composer Henri Jerome Bertini. This great sextet, Opus 90, which retains the same clarity of playing, is constructed with a less unified architecture than Mozart's, reminiscent of Boccherini or Haydn, creating a dialogue between the strings, such as the violins with the cello and viola, as well as the piano. The language is also heavier than in Hummel, although still very fluid. This album is refreshingly, introducing listeners to works that may be less well known but are nonetheless worthy of attention.

Reviewed by Andreas Rey

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) - Quintet Op. 87 [17.35]
Henri Jérôme Bertini (1798-1876) - Grand Sextuor Op. 90 [29.39]
Sestetto Classico (Gerhard Miessen, Laurentius Bonitz, Bertram Bantz, Eric Plumettaz, Ichiro Noda, Hiroko Maruko)
MDG 102 2371-2 1CD [47.42]

Vivid detail & white-hot performances: Gavin Higgins' Horn Concerto & The Faerie Bride now on disc

Gavin Higgins: Horn Concerto, Fanfare, Air and Flourishes, The Faerie Bride; Ben Goldscheider, Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Roderick Williams, Three Choirs Festival Chorus, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jaime Martin, Martyn Brabbins; Lyrita
Reviewed 25 February 2025

Two of Gavin Higgins most substantial recent works in outstanding performances that reveal the wealth of vivid detail in the writing, with horn player Ben Goldscheider on white-hot form and strong performances from Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Roderick Williams

Composer Gavin Higgins has been having a busy time of it in the last few years, producing a clutch of impressive, large-scale works and now a new disc from Lyrita gives us a chance to catch two of them. Higgins' Horn Concerto was premiered in 2024 by horn player Ben Goldscheider, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Jaime Martin [we caught the work's London premiere with a different orchestra, see my review] and the same forces went into the studio to record the work. BBCNOW was joined by conductor Martyn Brabbins, baritone Roderick Williams, mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons and the Three Choirs Festival Chorus for Higgins' The Faerie Bride at the 2023 Three Choirs Festival [see my review] and we have a live recording of that performance on the disc. Linking the two are three movements for solo horn, Fanfare, Air and Flourishes.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach is somewhat undeservedly squashed between his brothers, but this disc shows his music well worth exploring

Johann Christoph Friedrich: Six Sonatas "für das Clavier mit Begleitung einer Flöte oder Violine"; Ashley Solomon, Jochewed Schwarz; Meridian Records
Reviewed 20 January 2025

With a poised fluidity and an imagination hovering between Baroque and Classical, JCF Bach's music proves well worth exploring on this disc of his sonatas for keyboard and flute, add to this the seductive timbre of the period square piano

Born in Leipzig in 1732, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach was JS Bach's fifth son (coming between CPE Bach and JC Bach). He was described by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach as the strongest harpsichordist amongst the brothers and at the age of 17 became harpsichordist to Count Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst zu Schaumberg Lippe and for the next 45 years, until his death, JCF Bach was resident in Bückeburg in Lower Saxony, the capital of the tiny principality of Schaumburg-Lippe. Count Friedrich Wilhelm was eight years older than his new employee and the grandson of King George I of England (via one of the king's illegitimate daughters).

Schaumburg-Lippe was the smallest state in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Count was educated and musically literate, playing the clavier and probably the flute. Whilst his father's court had employed just one musician (!), Count Friedrich Wilhelm employed fifteen (including JCF Bach), including recruiting Italian musicians. JCF Bach took over as concertmaster in 1756 when the Italian musicians returned home. 

The majority of JCF Bach's music remained in manuscript, and was the property of the Count, probably written for the Count's musical circle. Unfortunately the majority of this was lost in the Second World War. Thankfully, JCF Bach did publish a small selection of his music, and flute is a regular feature of his published music, and in 1777 he published Six Sonatas intended for keyboard with flute or violin. There are six of these and they have been recorded by flautist Ashley Solomon and keyboard player Jochewed Schwarz for Meridian.

This new recording does not just give us a chance to hear JCF Bach's six sonatas, but to do so on instruments that he might have recognised. Ashley Solomon plays a flute made in 2005 and modelled on on by Carlo Palanca from around 1750. Jochewed Schwarz plays not on a harpsichord but on a square piano by Johannes Zumpe and Gabriel Buntebart made in London in 1769 and currently in the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands Park where the recording was made.

Creating a personal world: Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work alongside contemporary pieces by inti figgis-vizueta and Ying Wang

Lauter! Ethel Smyth, inti figgis-vizueta;Ying Wang; ensemble reflektor, Holly Hyun Choe; Solaire Records
Reviewed 14 January 2025

Ethel Smyth's earliest orchestral work alongside contemporary pieces by inti figgis-vizueta and Ying Wang in an intriguing programme that brings a sense of contrast, of creating worlds.

 Lauter! from ensemble reflektor on Solaire records combines two contemporary female composers with an early work by a female composer in the historical canon. Conducted by Holly Hyun Choe, the ensemble performs inti figgis-vizueta's devour, Ying Wang's Freiheit is der Atem der  Kunst and Ethel Smyth's Serenade in D major. The two contemporary works were commissioned by PODIUM Esslingen and premiered at PODIUM Festival 2023.

Based in North Germany but with strong links to PODIUM Esslingen near Stuttgart, ensemble reflektor is a lively chamber orchestra and Lauter! is their fourth disc, each one encompassing a mix of the old and the new, the classic and the cutting edge.

The Serenade in D major was Ethel Smyth's first major orchestra work, written in late 1889 and premiered at a Crystal Palace concert in 1890 with the composer conducting. Apart from an overture dating from the same period, Smyth wrote little further orchestral music that was not connected to her operas until the late Concerto for violin and horn in 1926. After 1890 her attention would turn towards her Mass in D and her first opera, Fantasio.

The complete Walton songs: there aren't that many but Siân Dicker, Kyrstal Tunnicliffe, Saki Kato certainly make us understand why they are all worthy of attention

William Walton: Complete Song Collection;  Siân Dicker, Krystal Tunnicliffe, Saki Kato; DELPHIAN
Reviewed 12 January 2025

Shedding a light on Walton's small but valuable song output from remarkable early songs to the late masterpieces, all performed with love, attention and often lyrical exuberance

William Walton wrote music in a wide variety of genres and whilst his orchestral and film music might stand top dead centre in his output, the voice is a constant throughout his career with choral music, opera and of course the reciters in Facade, whose medium of reciter and ensemble seemed to offer the composer such a fertile ground that the original Facade spawned further material.

But what does not crop up that often is song. Walton does not seem to have had a habit of songs, and most of his song-writing seems to have relied on others to choose the texts, he wasn't a composer to read poetry to select his songs. His two major song cycles, A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table and Anon in Love both date from late in his career, and both have intriguing links back to Walton's only full-scale opera, Troilus and Cressida. Whilst for all the fertility of his ideas for Facade, he wrote just three songs based on it. 

So it is all the more valuable to have Walton's Complete Song Collection on this disc from Delphian, performed by soprano Siân Dicker, pianist Krystal Tunnicliffe and guitarist Saki Kato. Alongside the three Facade settings, A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table and Anon in Love we have Four Early Songs, Tritons, Under the greenwood tree and Beatriz's Song (from Christopher Columbus).

By some strange piece of magic, it works: Dancing Queen from Asya Fateyeva & Lautten Compagney Berlin mixes Rameau with the songs of ABBA

Dancing Queen: Rameau meets ABBA; Asya Faeyeva, Lautten Compagney Berlin; Deustsche Harmonia Mundi
Reviewed 12 November 2024

An unlikely marriage of saxophone, period instrument ensemble, Rameau and the songs of supergroup ABBA turns in gold in this entrancing and intriguing disc

In 2023, whilst in Dresden for the Dresden Music Festival's production of Wagner's Das Rheingold, I caught a concert by saxophone player Asya Fateyeva and the period instrument ensemble Lautten Compagney Berlin. Now, I have to admit that my selection was based on eagerness to hear the period instrument ensemble Lautten Compagney Berlin in a programme of Purcell. It was only later I realised that the soloist wasn't a soprano, but a saxophone player and that the evening mixed Purcell with Lennon & McCartney. The result was entrancing. [see my review]

Now they are back with another mix. Dancing Queen on deutsche harmonia mundi/Sony Classical features Asya Fateyeva (saxophones) and Lautten Compagney Berlin, musical director Wolfgang Kaschner, in the somewhat unlikely mix of ABBA and Rameau. There are ten of ABBA's best known numbers, written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, arranged for baroque ensemble and saxophone by Bo Wiget (Lauteen Compagney's cellist) alongside dances from Rameau's Les Boréades, Nais, Les Indes Galantes, Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Fêtes d’Hébé, and Pièces de clavecin en concerts: Cinquième Concert, with Fatayeva playing alongside the ensemble in the Rameau.

Discovering Imogen: A relatively underrated British composer, Imogen Holst is put centre stage in this brand-new recording on NMC

Discovering Imogen - Imogen Holst: Overture Persephone, Suite in F Allegro assai for strings, Suite for Strings, Variations on ‘Loth to Depart’, What Man is He?, Festival Anthem, On Westhall Hill; BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, Alice Farnham; NMC Recordings
Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 19 August 2024

A relatively underrated British composer, Imogen Holst is put centre stage in this brand-new recording of her works on the NMC label, Discovering Imogen, by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers conducted by Alice Farnham

Of mixed Swedish, German and Latvian ancestry, Imogen Clare Holst (the only child of composer Gustav Theodore Holst and Isobel née Harrison) was born April 1907, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey; died March 1984, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, aged 76. Her family had resided in England since 1802 and musicians for several generations while her father followed the family tradition and studied at the Royal College of Music (Benjamin Britten’s alma mater) where he met Isobel Harrison, who was a member of one of the amateur choirs he conducted. Immediately attracted to her, they married on 22 July 1901. 

Although particularly known for her educational work at Dartington Hall in the 1940s, come the early 1950s Holst became Benjamin Britten’s musical assistant at Aldeburgh. She immediately got down to business helping to arrange the annual Aldeburgh Festival which this year celebrated its 75th edition. During her time at Aldeburgh (from 1956 to 1977) Holst helped to engineer the festival to a position of strength and pre-eminence in British musical life. 

Exquisite vocal lines & imaginative storytelling: Harry Christophers & The Sixteen focus on Stanford's secular choral music in Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs

Stanford: Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs; The Sixteen; Harry Christophers; CORO
Reviewed 22 July 2024 by Tony Coooper

Punctuating Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s centenary, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have just issued 17 première recordings of his works, Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs on their CORO label. 

As a composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (who received his knighthood on King Edward VII’s coronation) might not be a household name but he’s well remembered as a teacher of several generations of British composers and untiringly campaigned for a national opera company as he saw the genre of opera as a vital catalyst in Britain’s musical renaissance.  

Although highly lauded during his lifetime as an exceptional composer of large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, posterity, however, has been less kind to him. The musicologist, Robert Stove, wrote: ‘Sir Charles Villiers Stanford has not so much been neglected but posterity has derived malicious satisfaction from ostentatiously yawing in his face.’ A former pupil, Ralph Vaughan Williams, wrote: ‘In Stanford’s music the sense of style, the sense of beauty, the feeling of a great tradition is never absent. His music is in the best sense of the word Victorian, the musical counterpart of the art of Tennyson, Watts and Matthew Arnold.’ 

A busy man, Stanford composed roughly 200 works including seven symphonies, about 40 choral works, nine operas, 11 concertos and 28 chamber works in addition to songs, piano pieces, incidental music and organ works. Stanford’s technical competence was never in doubt as composer, Edgar Bainton, wrote: ‘Whatever opinions might be held upon Stanford’s music - and they’re many and various - it is always recognised that he was a master of means.’ 

More than entertainment: Oliver Webber and the Monteverdi String Band's The Madrigal Reimagined

The Madrigal Reimagined: Claudio Merulo, Johann Nauwach, Claudio Monteverdi, Cipriano de Rore, Cristofano Malvezzi, Giulio Caccini, Emilio de'Cavalieri, Giovanni Gabrieli, Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina, Lorenzo Tracetti; Hannah Ely, Toby Carr, Monteverdi String Band, Oliver Webber; Resonus Classics
Reviewed 2 August 2024

A wonderfully satisfying recital that mixes didacticism with sheer vocal and instrumental dazzle as Oliver Webber and his ensemble explore how the madrigal went from simple song to something more elaborate and more complex

As Oliver Webber explains in the booklet notes for The Madrigal Reimagined on Resonus Classics, "At a meeting of the Florentine Academy in 1577, the poet Giovanni Battista Strozzi gave a lecture on a poetic form that was rapidly gaining in popularity: the madrigal. A short poem of no fixed rhyme and structure, it was, Strozzi explained, ideally suited to the depiction of gentle scenes of love rather than heroic deeds or tragedy; indeed, rather than profundity, its essence lay in an elusive charm, which Strozzi encapsulated with the phrase un non so che del frizzante, ‘a little something sparkling’ – or, according to some dictionaries of the period, ‘stinging’."

From this intriguing but not exactly earth-shattering beginning grew a significant musical structure as composers reinvented and reimagined settings of these verses. The madrigal is at the heart of seconda prattica and would lead, in one direction, to the first operas, but there are other directions too.

On this disc, Webber and the Monteverdi String Band are joined by Hannah Ely (soprano) and Toby Carr (Renaissance lute and theorbo) for a programme that takes us from the earliest madrigals through vivid instrumental reinventions and ending up with music from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. Monteverdi's seconda prattica broke rules for expressive purposes. The disc explores the different elements that different composers brought to their exploration of the madrigal.

A vividly realised recording which does full justice to the complexity and vivid imagination of this music: rediscovering music by Latvian-American composer Gundaris Pone

Gundaris Pone: La Serenissima, seven Venetian portraits for orchestra, American Portraits, Avanti!; Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, Guntis Kuzma, Normunds Šnē; SKANI
Reviewed 22 July 2024

The first studio recordings of three of Gundaris Pone's large-scale orchestral works reveal a mid-20th century composer of great imagination writing European music yet with his roots in Latvia

Latvian-American composer Gundaris Pone wrote music that transcended his country of birth. Born in Riga, his family emigrated to America in 1950, fleeing the advancing Soviet troops, and it was here that Pone trained and lived. Latvian music up until the second half of the 20th century largely reflected a mood of national romanticism, so Pone’s music seemed to many like the avantgarde of its time, yet Pone himself believed that Latvia was the true place for his scores. 

Of his style, Pone would say in an interview that though he was labelled an avantgardist, he had never considered himself so, that he thought "music should be written for the broadest masses of people, including those who haven’t been specially educated in music."

This album from the Latvian Music Information Centre's SKANI label features world premiere studio recordings of works for large orchestra La Serenissima, American Portraits and Avanti! All written between 1971 and 1984. The performers are the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, conductors Guntis Kuzma and Normunds Šnē.

We begin with La Serenissima, seven Venetian portraits for orchestra, a work that won competitions in Trieste in 1981 and in Louisville in 1983 as well as the Witney prize. Venice held a special place in the composer's heart and in later life he divided his time between the city and the USA. The work's material revolves around five notes, A – E flat – E – D – B, evidently spelling out LA S(es)-E-RE-nisSIma. The language is richly evocative and lush, even though the style is definitely modernism. But I kept getting hints of Britten's intelligent use of 20th century modernism too, here is a composer viewing European music through distinctly individualistic glasses. The work is in seven parts, each with an Italian title though for convenience I refer to the English translations.

A sound world that is at once distinctive, appealing and engaging: Maria Faust's Mass of Mary on Estonian Record Productions

Maria Faust: Mass of Mary; Collegium Musicale, Helina Kuljus, Lili Kirikal, Oliver Povel, Maria Faust, Kirstjan Kungla, Indrek Vau, Andres Kontus, conductor: Endrik Üksvärav; Estonian Record Productions
Reviewed 16 July 2024

Jazz, chant and polyphony side-by-side in a remarkable Estonian mass dedicated to all victims of domestic violence

Maria Faust is an Estonian jazz artist and composer, and her work as a jazz saxophonist alongside that of conducting ensembles such as the Copenhagen Estonian Choir, and teaching composition and improvisation has all fed into her Mass of Mary. Written in 20202 the work is for chamber choir, vocal soloists and instrumental quartet, with choral music inspired by chant and polyphony alongside more jazz-influenced instrumental contributions.

On this recording from Estonian Record Productions (ERP), Maria Faust's Mass of Mary is performed by the Estonian chamber choir Collegium Musicale with soloists Helina Kuljus (soprano), Lili Kirikal (soprano) and Oliver Povel (tenor), with Maria Faust (alto saxophone), Kirstjan Kungla (bassoon), Indrek Vau (trumpet) and Andres Kontus (trombone) conducted by Endrik Üksvärav.

The work uses the liturgical mass text - Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei - interspersed with poetic texts compiled by Estonian playwright Eero Epner (born 1978) from works by Karl Ristikivi (1912-1977) and other poets. These movements - Mother, Child, Holy Spirit - explore the fragility of familial relationships in cases of victims of domestic violence, and the work is dedicated to all victims of domestic violence. Maria Faust says of her intentions for the piece, 'This work does not blame or teach and does not propose solutions. Rather, it is a consolation, and is the least that I, as a composer and a human being, can do and give to society'.

Little short of a revelation: Michael Spyres, Les Talens Lyriques & Christophe Rousset explore Wagner's influences with In the Shadows

In the Shadows: Auber, Bellini, Berlioz, Halévy, Méhul, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Spontini, Weber, Wagner; Michael Spyres, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset; Erato
Reviewed 12 March 2024

A wonderfully imaginative recital, showcasing both the wide range and variety of Wagner's musical influences as well as Spyres' own virtuosity and adaptability

The mature Richard Wagner would have wanted you to think that his art sprang directly from his imagination, without the influence of other composers, but the reality was more complex. The young Richard was something of a sponge, soaking up influences from all over. For instance, in 1833 Würzburg Theatre staged Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable (premiered in Paris in 1831), it was the operatic event of the year. Richard Wagner's brother Albert was singing the title role and had managed to get Richard a job as chorus master at the theatre. 20-year-old Richard rehearsed the choruses of Meyerbeer's opera and this first exposure to the piece made a big impression on him. Another notable opera that Richard rehearsed was Auber's La muette de Portici. Richard would return to this French grand opera repertoire whilst he worked in Magdeburg (1834 to 1836) and in Riga (from 1837).

Tenor Michael Spyres' latest project is designed to explore just such influences. His disc, In the Shadows on Erato features music by Auber, Bellini, Berlioz, Halévy, Méhul, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Spontini, and Weber along with Wagner himself, performed with Les Talens Lyriques, conductor Christophe Rousset.

Music that is vividly alive & vibrant, yet requires concentration & dedication to listen to: Anselm McDonnell's Kraina

Anselm McDonnell: Kraina; Joshua Ellicott, Laura Sinnerton, Dermot Dunne, Rebecca Murphy, Cahal Masterson, Elizabeth Hilliard, Alan Smale,  Annette Cleary, Rachel Quinn, Nicole Rourke, Dermot Dunne;
Reviewed 26 February 2024

New music for voice and instruments tackling the complex and the difficult, creating music that is more than just a song, and pushing performers to emotional and expressive limits.

Kraina is a word in Old Polish meaning edge, borderland, or frontier. Belfast-based composer Anselm McDonnell's latest disc, Kraina, is his second album, released on his own label [see my review of Light of Shore, McDonnell's first disc]. The new disc features four works for voice and instruments (I hesitate to call them songs, some are far more substantial than that), all concerned with the edges and crevices around home: depicting people searching for home, caught between homes, or our destructive relationship with our planetary home. The performers are Joshua Ellicott, tenor, Laura Sinnerton, viola, and Dermot Dunne, accordion; Rebecca Murphy, soprano and Cahal Masterson, piano; Elizabeth Hilliard, soprano, Alan Smale, violin, Annette Cleary, cello and Rachel Quinn, piano; Nicole Rourke, spoken word and Dermot Dunne, accordion.

Knowing no boundaries: on Circus Dinograd contemporary & period performers move between styles & genres without embarrassment

Circus Dinograd; traditional, Jean-Luc Ponty, Purcell, Ravel, Jarmo Ramponen, David Faber, Hilary Summers, Maarten Ornstein, Mike Fentross, Marie-Louise de Jong, Marleen Wester, Judith van Driel, Byrd, John Dowland;  Hilary Summers, Maarten Ornstein, Mike Fentross, Dudok Quartet Amsterdam; Zefir Records
Reviewed 14 February 2024

Sui generis, a disc that moves between genre and style without embarrassment as the ensemble of contemporary and period performers cross from the historical to the contemporary to the improvised

Circus Dinograd on Zefir Records is an intriguing new cross-genre collaboration between contralto Hilary Summers, the bass clarinet and theorbo/vihuela duet of Maarten Ornstein and Mike Fentross, and the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam (Judith van Driel, Marleen Wester, Marie-Louise de Jong, David Faber). The idea behind the disc seems to be that there are no boundaries, so we have reimaginations of Byrd, Purcell, and Dowland alongside folksong, Ravel and pieces by the different members of the ensemble, notably a set of Seven Deadly Sins, one by each member of the ensemble. 

The glories of Roman polychoral music after Palestrina explored by I Fagiolini with Benevoli's Missa Tu es Petrus for four choirs

Orazio Benevoli: Missa Tu es Petrus; Palestrina; Bonifazio Graziani; I Fagiolini, the City Musick, Robert Hollingworth; Coro
Reviewed 11 December 2023

An exploration of the rare splendours of 17th-century 16-part mass based on Palestrina's motet, richly inventive and full of gorgeous textures, a work that is certainly not deserving of its relative obscurity

Palestrina died in 1594 and for the following century his music remained a prime example of concerted church music with other composers writing in a similar style. The result is a high degree of stylistic diversity as the 17th century developed and only now are we really exploring the highways and byways. 

This recent disc from Robert Hollingworth, I Fagiolini and the City Musick on the Coro label features the music of Orazio Benevoli (1605-1672) and Bonifazio Graziani (1604/5-1664), focusing on Benevoli's four choir Missa Tu es Petrus based on Palestrina's motet.