Violinist Laura Marzadori knows Italian music. Her previous releases feature works by Ottorino Respighi, Ernnano Wolf-Ferrari, and Leone Sinigaglia. This album focuses on Giuseppe Tartini, one of the most important figures in the development of violin technique. The four works Marzadori perform are all demanding. What makes this program refreshingly different is that they’re unusual […]
Brilliant Classics
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Francis Cutting Lute Music – Tudor Treasures
Little is known about the life of English lutenist Francis Cutting. He was a musician for the Howard family (Anne Boleyn’s peeps), and one his ten children, Thomas, also became a respected lutenist. What is known is Cutting’s music. He wrote “Packington’s Pound,” which has been recorded countless times by early music ensembles. He’s also […]
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Alessandro Scarlatti Cantatas and Recorder Sonatas Nice Blend
This release presents a well-thought-out program of music by Alessandro Scarlatti. There are five works: three solo cantatas with two instrumental sonatas. The mix is quite effective — especially as the cantatas have fairly extensive instrumental passages. Soprano Roberta Invernizzi sings with a clean, clear sound. Even her upper register has a warmth I found […]
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Solomiya Ivakhiv Double Concerto Project spans labels
This is something unusual — a recording series spread across different labels. Violinist Solmiya Ivakhiv and pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi wanted to record the double concertos of Haydn and Mendelssohn. While preparing, they discovered two other neglected works. Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a contemporary of Haydn, had also written a double concerto for violin and piano. And […]
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Hummel Piano Concertos on original instruments. Hmmm
Brilliant Records continues their traversal of Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s piano concertos. It’s a worthy project. Hummel was a major figure in the early 19th Century Vienna. He was friends of both Beethoven and Schubert. He was regarded as near-equal to the former, and more successful than the latter. Hummel was a virtuous pianist (at age […]
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Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer and the Recorder in the Low Countries
Baroque recorder albums are something of a crapshoot for me. Sometimes they sound harshly shrill. And sometimes they sound like this release. Erik Bosgraaf uses a variety of recorders, all of which have a warm, woody sound — even the soprano recorder. Equally exceptional is the recorded sound of the keyboard. on some tracks, Francesco […]
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Anton Bruckner Complete Piano Music Complete Surprise
May I use the word “revelatory?” It most accurately describes my reaction to this release of Anton Brucker’s piano music. Bruckner’s reputation (rightly) rests on his symphonies. But those were far in the future of the young student who wrote these piano pieces. All of the works recorded were composed as student pieces and composition […]
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Ensemble Il Demetrio deliver thoughtful performances of Tartini
The liner notes lay out the problems with these Giuseppe Tartini works. In the late 1760s, the term a Quattro (in 4 parts) was somewhat vague. Did Tartini intend his Sonate a Quattro to be played with only four string instruments, as a proto-string quartet? And what about the role of the harpsichord, tacitly a […]
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Stefano Molardi branches out with Bach Family Organ Works
Consider this release a companion volume to Stefano Molardi’s previous Bach recording. That 2-disc set featured the complete works of Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach (Johann Sebastian’s first cousin, once removed). There was enough material by J.M. Bach and J.C. Bach to fill two CDs. Not so in the case of the family members […]