CDs

•• OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR APRIL 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! ‘Boccherini’s adagios excite the admiration of connoisseurs and the despair of fellow artists; they give one an idea of the music of the angels.’ from the Dictionnaire historique des musiciens (1810-11) by Alexandre-Étienne Choron and François-Joseph-Marie Fayolle Luigi Boccherini—is it just association, or does the name itself emanate a sense of magical refinement? Whichever, the music certainly conveys that impression, to an extraordinary extent; has there ever been a composer of more consistent elegance? No matter how impassioned the mood, how martial and dramatic, or how tender, Boccherini’s art is always attired in sumptuous clothing, radiating grace. Unlike his near-contemporary Joseph Haydn, Boccherini rarely seeks to shock; he prefers instead to create for his players and listeners a sphere of ideal beauty, of sophisticated sentiments—and in that he succeeded like no other. Compared to both Mozart and Haydn, he may seem somewhat innocent, almost naive; but that is a misleading impression—he is merely different. They, pursuing much of their careers at the centre of musical life in Vienna, were of this world; Boccherini, who spent more than half of his life in far-off Spain, inhabited his own, idyllic realm of the senses. In the well-known words of the French publication quoted above: ‘If God wanted to speak to man through music, he would do so through the works of Haydn; if, however, he wished to listen to music himself, he would choose the works of Boccherini.’ It is perhaps in part because of his unworldliness that Boccherini’s reputation has never really matched his achievements—even now. It is true that he has always had his fans (including, interestingly, Chopin, whose use of sonata form noticeably resembles that of Boccherini); but until surprisingly recently, the only two Boccherini works that were heard regularly in the concert hall are the ‘Minuet in F’ (actually in A, from a quintet in E), played in various arrangements, and his cello concerto in B flat—in a (for me, anyway) ghastly Victorian version that bears very little resemblance to Boccherini’s original. It is fair to say, in fact, that it is only within the last fifty years or so that any of his approximately 600 works have been heard in versions that he would have recognized—and then all too rarely. Hard to believe, but true. Even today, it can be difficult to find faithful editions of his music; but at least there are such editions now available. And what treasures have been rediscovered! A very brief biography: Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini was born in Lucca, Italy, in 1743, into an artistic family. His father, Leopoldo, was a double bassist, cellist and singer, while three of his siblings were dancers. Under the guidance of his father, Luigi’s talent manifested itself early, and—perhaps as early as age eleven—he was sent to Rome to study. Following his return to Lucca in 1756, Boccherini’s career started to blossom, partly thanks to the support given to him, pleasingly, by the director of music at the town’s main church, one Giacomo Puccini—great-great-grandfather of Lucca’s other most beloved musical son. From the age of fourteen, Boccherini started to tour widely as a concert artist, giving solo performances as well as playing in various orchestras (in some of which his father played the bass). Following the death of Leopoldo in 1766, Luigi left Lucca for ever, spending some time in Paris before arriving in Spain in 1768. From 1770 until his patron died in 1785, Boccherini was employed as composer, director of music and cellist at the court of the Infante Don Luis, brother of the King of Spain. Perhaps even more prestigiously, he was from 1786 to 1797 Chamber Composer to King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, nephew of Frederick the Great. Like his uncle, who had been a keen amateur flautist, Friedrich Wilhelm encouraged composers to write for his chosen instrument, in this case the cello; it was he who was responsible for the prominent cello parts in Mozart’s last quartets, and for Beethoven’s first two cello sonatas. For his new benefactor, Boccherini composed reams of quintets featuring two cellos (a genre in which he had started to specialize some years earlier). Curiously, his employment was a long-distance one; Boccherini seems never to have visited the court in Potsdam, nor to have met his admiring employer. Boccherini remained in Spain for the rest of his life, in fact, working for a variety of patrons, until he died in Madrid in 1805. Married twice, he had fathered seven children—but sadly, both his wives and six of his children pre-deceased him. Turning away from this melancholy note, we can (hopefully) cheer ourselves by passing on to the six works on this album—incorporating a wide, if subtle, range of emotions, forms and textures. From concertos to sonatas to chamber music: each piece unmistakably conveys Boccherini’s unique voice—and yet, the more one gets to know them, the more noticeable are the differences between each piece in this collection. To begin with the concertos: Boccherini’s cello concertos, some twelve in number, were written comparatively early in his career, all dating from the years during which he toured as a virtuoso. And by the way: what a virtuoso! Presuming that he could play his own music—which I think is a fair presumption—he must have been a truly wonderful player; one can feel it in the writing, as challenging as anything composed for the cello before the twentieth century, at least. (The great Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, an avid Boccheriniphile, considered Boccherini to have been, on the evidence of his music, the greatest cellist of all time.) The concerto in D, G479, one of a set of four concertos published in Paris in 1770, displays this virtuosity to a remarkable extent. (Boccherini’s works, grouped by genre rather than arranged chronologically, were catalogued in the late 1960s by the great French musicologist Yves Gérard—hence the G numbers.) More than any other work on this album, it gives us, from the soloist’s first notes, a clear idea of Boccherini the concert performer: the cello enters at a strikingly high register, almost violin-like, with a bold theme that combines a singing quality with filigree ornamentation; much of the writing in this movement requires the soloist to dance nimbly at the top of the instrument. In contrast, however, Boccherini then gives us a slow movement that is in all but words an operatic aria for the cello; the resulting pathos is firmly—if never rudely—broken by horn calls (on violins), announcing a finale of refined brilliance. One can imagine that this concerto, at least from the soloist’s entry, must have provided a wholly new musical experience for Boccherini’s audiences—not least through the extraordinary orchestration of the solo passages, in which the cello is accompanied by violins only (presumably intended for one player per part, as performed here). This ultra-light scoring is a feature of many of the concertos. Perhaps it was purely for practical reasons: it’s possible that Boccherini was, at least on occasion, the only cellist in the group performing the concertos; in that case he would have been unable, of course, to provide the bass line at the same time as playing the solo part. This would have left him faced with a dilemma. The double bass would probably have sounded too low to provide a satisfying foundation for the harmony—and perhaps Boccherini didn’t trust his violist’s intonation! At any rate, the resulting effect, with the cello often inhabiting the same stratosphere as the violins, is remarkably translucent and ethereal—truly ‘music of the angels’. The other concerto on this recording, in A major, G475, known as ‘The Frog’ because of the leaping intervals of one of the soloist’s thematic passages in the finale (from 0'40), seems to date from Boccherini’s earlier years. (Actually, I confess: it hasn’t yet been known as ‘The Frog’—or as anything else, in fact, as far as I know, but I do think that those passages in the finale sound like a frog. And I’m curious to know whether giving a nickname to a little-known work such as this concerto might (deservedly) increase its popularity. I want to see, in short, whether this nickname has legs …) Maybe it was even the concerto concerning which Puccini senior noted in his diary on 4 August 1756 that he had paid Boccherini for giving three performances ‘the day after the first Psalm, and then to oblige me, at Mass and Vespers’. Or if that is too early for such a mature work, perhaps it is the concerto ‘in a completely new style’ (according to a contemporary report) which he played in Florence on 19 March 1761, at the age of eighteen. Possibly related, the only early source for the work is to be found today in Florence—albeit a copy rather than an original manuscript (including a cadenza which, uninspired as it is, cannot be, in my opinion, the work of the composer—just as the cadenzas found in the manuscript of Haydn’s cello concerto in C are definitely not Haydn’s). Given the lack of a source in Boccherini’s hand, and the fact that it was published only after his death, the concerto’s authenticity was questioned for a time; but since the material of the first movement is recycled in one of Boccherini’s cello sonatas (G13, also in A), we can be pretty sure that it is genuine. Besides, it has much in common with his other concertos, including its companion on this album: the same delicate refinement of orchestration (although the tuttis here include two optional horns), similar cantabile writing for the cello, and the instantly recognizable, understated humour that is so much part of Boccherini’s musical personality. If this early work does not quite display the perfect mastery of the other works on this recording, it is certainly worth hearing, its many beauties easily outweighing any trifling imperfections. And so to the sonatas: Boccherini left us around thirty sonatas, almost all for ‘cello e basso’—i.e. solo part plus bass line; this could imply either cello and keyboard continuo, (possibly) cello and double bass, or two cellos. (There is no cello sonata by Boccherini with an independent, equal keyboard role—perhaps surprisingly, since his violin sonatas Op 5, written in the 1790s, contain brilliant parts for the keyboard. For an equal cello/piano sonata, the cello (and piano) would have to wait for Beethoven.) For a time, the double bass was the favoured probability, since that would have allowed Boccherini senior to accompany his son in concerts; but actually, the writing of the second part invariably lies within the normal range of a cello—so that, unfortunately, makes the charming father-and-son vignette less likely (unless Leopoldo took up his cello again, of course—conceivable but unlikely, since he was much better known as a bassist). The knowledge that the sonatas were almost certainly intended for two cellos, however, by no means precludes the possibility of performing them with bass, guitar or keyboard accompaniment (with or without a second cello); it is a matter of choice. At first, in fact, I intended to record both the present sonatas with harpsichord—I love the combination; but, in getting to know the F major sonata (which I learned especially for this album), I realized that a second cello would be much more appropriate here, because of the strikingly idiomatic cello-writing in the accompanying part. (Incidentally, I can provide no historical justification for my decision in some movements to do the first repeat only, and in others to dispense with them altogether—I just prefer it that way. Apologies to repeat purists …) All of Boccherini’s cello sonatas are presumed, like his concertos, to have been written during his touring years. Each sonata seems to me rather like a mini-opera, with its own very personal story to tell. The C minor, with its arresting chordal opening, is certainly the more tragic of the two sonatas presented here. (There are two existing versions of this C minor sonata—a heavily ornamented edition, known to its friends as G2; and this one, G2b. Even though I have a slightly uneasy feeling that the more elaborate version could conceivably be closer to Boccherini’s own performance, I prefer the simpler G2b, which seems to me ornate enough already, and with a clearer melodic line. So the answer to the question 2b or not 2b is definitively—for me—2b. If only Hamlet had known …) There is a strength, a sense of drama, that differentiates it from the sunnier world of the concertos; what binds them together, however, is the marvellously melodic writing for the cello—nobody can make the cello sing as Boccherini did! The F major sonata is altogether gentler—though not without its moments of cantabile pathos. It is perhaps not fanciful to hear in both sonatas a love story, replete with dialogues and arias, combined with courtly dances which by no means impair the romantic atmosphere. Indeed, the last movement of the F major sonata is adorned with the unusual title ‘minuetto amoroso’. Boccherini could be said to have owned the genre of the quintet with two cellos (until Schubert came along, at least), composing well over 100 of them. As mentioned earlier, a huge number were written for the court of King Friedrich Wilhelm; but the one we have chosen, G280 (although answering additionally, rather puzzlingly, to the names of both Op 13 No 4 and Op 20 No 4), was written in the early 1770s, well before Boccherini came into contact with the Prussian monarch. It is another work of quiet but unmistakable originality, with notable features including the ardent nature of the opening lament, passed between the cellos and accompanied by birdlike trills—a favourite device of Boccherini; in the heartfelt andante sostenuto, an unexpected cadenza for the second cello; and—perhaps most strikingly—a last movement in the form of a fugue, perfectly worked out while remaining firmly within Boccherini’s world of Italianate lyricism. Finally—a built-in encore. I know that I complained at the beginning of this note that Boccherini’s ‘Minuet in F’ was practically his only popular work, over-played and over-arranged (and irredeemably associated, for those of a certain generation, with the classic Ealing comedy film The Ladykillers ). But … it really is a gem—subtle and perfect. Pure Boccherini, in fact. CDA68444 • Released 2025

We know that key influences on Flamenco date back to Islamic Iberia or the Al- Andalusian era of Spain between the 8th-15th centuries. Yet the first mention of Flamenco by name is not until 1774, where it appears in an epistolary novel, Cartas Marruecas, by the playwright and soldier, Jose de Cadalso y Vazquez. What happened in these intervening centuries? In collaboration with soprano Victoria Couper, kanun player, Konstantinos Glynos, and oud/Flamenco guitarist, Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, this album seeks to explore this question by tracing the influences on Flamenco through Arabic music alongside Sephardic song and the Spanish composers of the late-16th to 18th centuries. Lux Musicae London Sophie Creaner, Mirjam-Luise Münze l recorder * Roberta Diamond soprano Daniel Thomson tenor Aileen Henry baroque harp Toby Carr baroque guitar, lute Harry Buckoke viola da gamba with ** Victoria Couper soprano Konstantinos Glynos kanun Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde flamenco guitar, oud Press Quotes ‘An enjoyable excursion through Southern Spain across three hundred years – The singers are perfect for this repertoire… The instrumental work is neat and full of character.’ (MusicWeb International) FHR157 • Released 2025

•• 'A GIFT FOR YOUR GARDEN' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JANUARY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Countless wealthy people in eighteenth-century Europe developed a passion for botany. This passion went far beyond the simple pleasure of gardens, reflecting rather a growing fascination with the natural world. German composer Georg Philipp Telemann shared this passion and energetically cultivated his collection, often begging friends and correspondents to send him specimens. The creative landscape of Telemann’s life was undoubtedly filled with floral and musical colour. Ensemble Hesperi , a period ensemble based in London, presents a programme that celebrates Telemann’s botanical passion. His published correspondence shows that he often wrote to his musician friends abroad, asking them to send him plant specimens. Among these friends were George Frideric Handel and Johann Gottlieb Graun, each of whom is represented here by a trio sonata, and there is also music by Telemann himself: one of his difficult ‘Paris Quartets’, a raucous sonata in G minor and a haunting fantasia for solo recorder. In a letter to a friend, Telemann spoke of his passion for hyacinths, tulips, ranunculi ‘and especially for anemones’. The composer of four instrumental collections containing floral musical miniatures, James Oswald had to be part of this programme, and so we are treated to ‘The Hyacinth’, ‘The Anemone’ and ‘The Tulip’ from his ‘Airs for the Spring’. MARY-JANNET LEITH recorders MAGDALENA LOTH-HILL baroque violin FLORENCE PETIT baroque cello THOMAS ALLERY harpsichord BIS2508 • Released 2024

•• 'A LOVER'S DEATH' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR FEBRUARY 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! The eleventh and final release in The Orlando Consort's comprehensive Machaut survey easily maintains the standards of its predecessors. The closing couplet of the final track - 'Their singing will be sublime/ Harmoniously will they render him praise' - might well serve as a motto for the Orlandos' achievement, not only in this album but throughout an illustrious career. CDA68430 • Released Jan 2025

Baroque Alchemy is the realisation of a long held dream. Ever since the explosion in popularity of synth-led bands and ‘new age’ music in the 1980s, recorder virtuoso Piers Adams has nurtured a vision to combine the simple beauty of the recorder - and the drama of baroque music - with the extraordinary, expansive sound-world of the electronic era. Now, following a 25-year international career as front-man of the acoustic baroque super-group Red Priest, Piers presents a stunning new project with his keyboardist partner Lyndy Mayle which turns the traditional early music recital on its head, transporting it into a new dimension for the 21st century. By replacing the familiar 'continuo' sound of the harpsichord with the universe of possibilities offered by modern-day synthesiser technology Piers and Lyndy are able to expand upon the musical dreams of composers of the past. The scientific wizardry of the synth is balanced by the simplicity and natural expressive power of the recorder, thereby creating a perfect blend of ancient and modern in a truly dazzling and moving performance. Baroque Alchemy is a beacon for our changing musical times and aims to introduce an entirely new audience to music of the past, as well as taking traditional classical music lovers on an exciting journey of discovery. With just two musicians - travelling with a keyboard, a quiver of recorders, a Macbook and a state of the art Bose PA - this self-contained show is perfect for all situations, from intimate chamber venues to large festival stages. At the heart of everything Piers and Lyndy do is a genuine love of the music, a depth of knowledge of baroque performance practice and a truly open-hearted, adventurous approach to performance which draws in the audience and makes the music fresh and accessible to everyone. Whether you are a classical concert society looking to programme something a little different or an eclectic music promoter wanting to introduce your audience to the classics in a way which will genuinely engage and surprise them, Baroque Alchemy is guaranteed to fill the bill! Piers Adams recorders Lyndy Mayle keyboards RP016 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! The album ‘Foreign Masters’ by recorder player Max Volbers and harpsichordist Alexander von Heißen could also be compared to an exciting historical novel. The story takes place in bustling 18th century London. Even then, it was one of the largest cities in the world, a centre of trade, a place of nobility and the rich, but also of the hard-working and underpaid population. People from many up-and-coming industrialised nations come together in London and a wide variety of languages are spoken on the streets. At the same time, London is also the cultural capital of Europe with a rich and lively music scene. In the evenings, people come together at the opera, in the concert halls, but also in the many private salons and theatres. You can hear new music by George Frideric Handel, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti and Giuseppe Matteo Alberti. These cultural highlights were widely reported in the first daily newspapers of the time, which did not go unnoticed abroad and attracted even more musicians and composers to London. For this is the story of the foreign masters. London was then, as it is today, a melting pot of the European cultural scene. Anyone who thought highly of themselves, or who - to put it bluntly: wanted to earn money - went to London and presented their music there. Max Volbers and Alexander von Heißen have compiled music from ten composers and one anonymous source in this novel - oh, sorry: on this album - that turned the London music world of the 18th century on its head. All of them, apart from a certain William Babell, did not come from England, but from Italy, France and Germany. Without the continent's skilled musicians and composers, this important music scene would not have existed. Many of them are still regarded as masters today, while a few have unfortunately been forgotten. But this is another reason why this excellent compilation offers added value. Some of the pieces became so well known that today they would be described as ‘hits’. For example, Corelli's Violin Sonata op. 5, which was written and published in Italy but triggered a Corelli hype in England that lasted for more than 50 years. Yet Arcangelo Corelli never set foot on English soil. We owe this hype to the resourceful music publisher John Walsh, who gathered the European composer elite of the time around him, published their works, printed them and had them performed. He turned some composers into stars in the cosmopolitan city of London. MAURICE STEGER recorder ALEXANDER VON HEIßEN harpsichord 0303407BC • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! Farinelli's Violin, the new CD by baroque violinist Jorge Jiménez , is dedicated to the music written for the great Farinelli, the most famous castrato of all time - the Freddy Mercury, the Lady Gaga of the 18th century...! With this programme, Jorge Jiménez creates a sound fiction in which Farinelli's most famous arias are freed from their words and brought back to their essence: the music. Even though the arias have been 'stripped' of their text (using the historical techniques of transcription, of course, which were very fashionable at the time), they showcase Farinelli's artistry and evoke the noble sound and his open-throated messa di voce that inspired composers such as his brother Riccardo Broschi to write such charming arias as Ombra fedele or Son qual nave. And the arias that Hasse and Porpora wrote for Farinelli also bring us very close to his seductive supernaturalism. PC10458 • Released 2024

Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck: The Orpheus of Amsterdam •• 'THE ORPHEUS OF AMSTERDAM' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR NOVEMBER 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! If there is one name in the history of music in the northern Netherlands that is etched in the collective memory, it is undoubtedly that of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - a composer of impressive vocal and instrumental works of exceptionally high quality. He is celebrated as the "Orpheus of Amsterdam", as he was organist of the Oude Kerk between 1577 and 1621, and the Amsterdam city council knew how to patronise the popular musician in their city and help him to prosper. Sweelinck's vocal works were widely distributed thanks to the flourishing publishing industry, but his organ works also had a great influence on the North German organ school, right up to Johann Sebastian Bach. The Royal Wind Music is a consort of Renaissance recorders of all pitches, from soprano down to sub-contrabass. The ensemble is often compared to a "walking organ" because of its even and polyphonic sound possibilities. In their choice of four programme sections, the musicians contrast a vocal work and an organ work by Sweelinck with variation pieces by Sweelinck himself or two new compositions written especially for this programme and the ensemble. Orpheus' voice thus resounds in a wonderfully cohesive sound, sometimes interrupted by the echo of new soundscapes. PC10462 • Released 2024

The Orange Tree Courtyard Renaissance Music in and around the Cathedral of Seville •• THE ORANGE TREE COURTYARD WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MAY 2023 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! An array of international musicians perform repertoire from the golden age of polyphony on an impressive collection of renaissance recorders: together they are The Royal Wind Music . The group was founded in 1997 by Paul Leenhouts and has captivated a steadily-growing worldwide audience ever since with its performances of instrumental music from the period 1520-1640. Playing entirely from memory and without a conductor, The Royal Wind Music is also known for its engaging performances and ability to communicate with the audience. The Cathedral of Seville is a gigantic building even by today's standards - in 1401, the city's ecclesiastical superiors decided to build a huge church in place of the former mosque, which future generations would still marvel at, and is one of the largest churches in the world. From the former mosque, the magnificent tower "La Giralda" remains, as well as the courtyard planted with orange trees, which also gives the name to the new CD by The Royal Wind Music. The flute consort, consisting of 11 recorders of all sizes, takes the listener on a walk around and into the cathedral and lets Renaissance works created for this place sound at each station. The walk begins in the famous orange tree courtyard, goes to the magnificent altar of the Virgin Mary, looks out over the city from the tower, visits the tombs of the musicians Francisco Guerrero and Francisco Peraza as well as Christopher Columbus' son, the scholar Hernando Colon, until the path ends again in the courtyard. The music gathers the who's who of the Spanish Renaissance: Pedro de Escobar , Francisco Guerrero , Cristobal de Morales , Miguel de Fuenllana , to name but a few. PC10448 • Released 2023

New release! Maciej Skrzeczkowski , the winner of the MA Competition in Bruges in 2023, devotes his new album to John Bull (1562 – 1628), an English composer who fled his country to take refuge in the Netherlands not only because of his Roman Catholic faith but also because of charges of immorality. There could be nothing more logical in this context than to use copies of English virginals as well as of a typical Dutch adaptation of the instrument known as the moeder en kind (mother and child). This association between English style and Dutch musical practice is clearly evident in John Bull’s works, as he had also been in contact with the Amsterdam organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. MACIEJ SKRZECZKOWSKI virginals RIC462 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! •• 'BENEATH A PALE MOON' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR AUGUST 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Beneath A Pale Moon is the debut album from BLOCK4. Formed in 2012, BLOCK4 is a British-European professional recorder quartet, presenting a dynamic approach to contemporary consort music as well as offering a captivating interpretation of music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. BLOCK4 is passionate about sharing the recorder’s diverse repertoire with a wide audience, and performs in all types of venues – in recent years the ensemble has been spotted in concert halls, museums, churches, schools, pubs, clubs, and libraries, among many others. In addition to concerts, BLOCK4 leads outreach work throughout the UK and frequently gives workshops for young recorder players, for those new to the instrument, and for both mainstream and SEND schools. Beneath A Pale Moon features music by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Matthew Olyver, Francisco Guerrero, Michael Praetorius, Andrew Crossley, Tarquino Merula, Michiel Mensingh, Wojtek Blecharz and arrangements of anonymous folk and medieval tunes. The CD booklet contains an accompanying story by Essa Flett. Emily Bannister, Verena Barié, Rosie Land & Daniel Scott recorders TTK0109 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! •• "FATHER & SON" WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JUNE 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Cellist George Ross studied at Royal College of Music in London where he encountered the baroque cello, receiving lessons from Richard Tunnicliffe, then pursued a Masters in historical cello at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Jaap ter Linden. In 2013, he founded the Consone Quartet which became the first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists. Most recently, George has enjoyed returning to the English Haydn Festival as a soloist to perform concertos by C. P. E. Bach and Schumann. He has worked with such groups as the English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Arcangelo, and the Hanover Band. Alastair Ross was a chorister at Christ Church, and later an organ scholar at New College, Oxford. As a freelance organist and harpsichordist for fifty years, Alastair has played for The Sixteen and the Academy of Ancient Music, appearing on all their award-winning recordings for most of that time. For twenty years, with his wife Gilly, he directed Concerto delle Donne , a three-soprano group specialising in music from 17 th – and 18 th -century Italy and France. They made two recordings for Signum Records, the first one of music by Carissimi, and a visit to a historic organ outside Paris resulting in a further CD of Charpentier’s church music. Geminiani Sonata No. 4 in B-Flat Major Geminiani Sonata No. 5 in F Major Scarlatti Folia, from Toccata VII Geminiani Sonata No. 2 in D Minor Geminiani Sonata No. 1 in A Major Duphly Chaconne in F Major Geminiani Sonata No. 6 in A Minor Geminiani Sonata No. 3 in C Major GEORGE ROSS cello ALASTAIR ROSS harpsichord DXL1199 • Released 2024

•• 'MOZART: REQUIEM' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MARCH 2025 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! The sublime reflection of a human being facing the end of life and what comes afterwards, Mozart’s Requiem reaches beyond the realm of music to attain universal resonance.The sublime reflection of a human being facing the end of life and what comes afterwards, Mozart’s Requiem reaches beyond the realm of music to attain universal resonance. Raphaël Pichon’s interpretation of this testamentary work, nurtured by a seminal experience with stage director Romeo Castellucci and punctuated by earlier sacred pieces of Mozart, is overwhelmingly moving.’s interpretation of this testamentary work, nurtured by a seminal experience with stage director Romeo Castellucci and punctuated by earlier sacred pieces of Mozart, is overwhelmingly moving. Pygmalion Raphaêl Pichon director Ying Fang soprano Beth Taylor contralto Laurence Kilsby tenor Alex Rosen bass-baritone Chadi Lazreq treble HMM902729 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! Deluxe Edition 128 Page Book with CD The forgotten figure of a 17th-century Dutch recorder virtuoso, illuminated by a unique synthesis of art history, scholarship and modern musicianship. Der Fluyten Lust-hof (The Recorder's Pleasure Garden, or Garden of Delights) is a famous collection of music for recorder composed by Jacob van Eyck and published in Amsterdam by Paulus Matthijsz. The same Matthijsz published a parallel recorder edition in 1644 that he dedicated to a certain Adriana vanden Bergh: Der goden fluit-hemel (The Gods’ Recorder Heaven). Her identity remained obscure for centuries, until the musicologist Thiemo Wind discovered that she was portrayed as the muse Euterpe by the painter Jacob Backer, an illustrious contemporary of Rembrandt. In his dedication, Matthijsz compared Adriana to the muse Euterpe in a four-line poem: ‘Euterpe’s spirit was reborn, or so it did appear, / Whene’er the sound of ADRIANA’s Fluyt I chanced to hear: / A wonder of our century, that such a youthful lass / Wears in the name of all the maidens laurels on Parnas.’ Who was Adriana vanden Bergh? This book and CD tells the full and fascinating story, shedding light along the way on many aspects of culture, religion and everyday life in Amsterdam during the 17th century. As both a musicologist and art historian, Thiemo Wind is uniquely placed to tell this story. He has identified Adriana as the subject of a famous painting by Jacob Adriaensz Backer (1608/09–1651), hitherto anonymous but considered one of the most beautiful portraits of the Dutch Golden Age. Through original research, Thiemo Wind has assembled an eventful biography, which moves in short and lively chapters, each of them illustrated with a telling image, from Adriana’s family background to her birth in 1631, her complex religious inheritance of both Protestant and Catholic observance, her apparently rapid mastery of the recorder, her participation in Amsterdam’s lively performing culture and her status as a musical celebrity even as a teenager, to her marriage in 1650, which probably occasioned the commission of Backer’s portrait. Thereafter the story turns darker, with a tale of bankruptcy, child-birth and -death, family splits and reconciliations, obscurity and ultimately Adriana’s death in 1668, having given birth to her ninth child. The accompanying CD takes its cue from Der goden fluit-hemel, and from the music publications featured in Backer’s portrait, to present new recordings of music with which Adriana would have delighted audiences in her time. There are tunes and hymns adapted by Van Eyck, an air by Matthijsz, sonata movements by Dutch and Italian masters such as Sweelinck, Rossi, Merula and Uccellini, and more besides. Performed by the internationally renowned virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf, in company with his ensemble Cordevento, the recording complements Thiemo Wind’s scholarship to present Adriana’s life and music in the round. THIEMO WIND text ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder ENSEMBLE CORDEVENTO BC97188 • Released 2024

NEWLY REISSUED • PRESSED ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME The LP issue of a favourite Brilliant Classics recording: Recorder Concertos by J.S. Bach played by Erik Bosgraaf and Ensemble Cordevento . Although Bach clearly felt at home composing for the recorder, featuring it in major works including the Brandenburg Concertos and several cantatas, he never composed a concerto for solo recorder – in fact, he only wrote original solo concertos for harpsichord and violin. However, an examination of Bach’s compositional practices reveals that it was customary during his era to adapt or reuse musical material in new compositions. Taking this into consideration, the creators of this recording have drawn on a range of sources to answer the question of how a solo recorder concerto by Bach might have sounded. Presented here are the four full recorder concertos, based on material taken from existing harpsichord concertos and cantata movements, which Bach himself often reused or transcribed for different instrumentation. The music is played by Erik Bosgraaf and Ensemble Cordevento , performed on a range of recorders and period instruments. Gramophone writes about this recording: “Erik Bosgraaf’s recorder-playing is fluent and lively in fast music, and his five colleagues (single strings and harpsichord) provide accompaniments that are lean, stylish and precise. His rapid passagework is impressive and Ensemble Cordevento’s playing of fast music is joyful and accomplished.” ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder & direction with COLLEGIUM MUSICUM RIGA ZEFIRA VALOVA violin IVAN ILIEV violin ZDENKA PROCHAZKOVA viola LINDA MANTCHEVA cello ALESSANDRA PIANU harpsichord 180g vinyl • 33 ⅓ rpm BC90012 • Released 2023

FIVE-DISC CD BOX SET: 100 TRACKS! “That man can do anything!” exclaimed the late, legendary recorder player and conductor Frans Brüggen when asked by Tijdschrift Oude Muziek about his young colleague Erik Bosgraaf . “He had an upcoming concert of the music of Van Eyck at the Amsterdam Amstel church and sent me an invitation. His playing was superb, so inspired and technically impeccable.” It was Brüggen’s birthday, but that didn’t stop him attending. When soon afterwards Brüggen conducted Bach’s Actus tragicus (Cantata BWV106) in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, he invited Bosgraaf to play the first recorder part. Erik Bosgraaf’s quick rise to fame is directly attributable to his debut on Brilliant Classics: a three-disc box devoted to Jacob van Eyck’s (1589/90–1657) “Der Fluyten Lust-hof” (The Recorder’s Garden of Delight). Released in 2007 on the 350th anniversary of the Utrecht composer’s death, the recording was made at the request of the Van Eyck scholar Thiemo Wind who said he had never before come across a recorder player with so much understanding of this virtuoso solo repertoire and such a capacity for playing it: the sprezzatura, the casual ease and spontaneity this music, originating in improvisation, demands. The set was a worldwide hit, even winning over some diehard recorder haters. Erik Bosgraaf was clearly one of the instruments greatest players. This 5-disc set offers a sample of Erik Bosgraaf’s achievements in the field of baroque music, beginning with Van Eyck and embracing his milestone recordings of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann. DISC ONE: Jacob Van Eyck: Der Fluyten Lust-Hof (selection) - 2006 DISC TWO: J S Bach: Solo Concertos - 2008 DISC THREE: G F Handel: The Recorder Sonatas - 2009 DISC FOUR: A Vivaldi: Recorder Concertos - 2011 DISC FIVE: G P Telemann: The Recorder Sonatas - 2015 ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder & direction with FRANCESCO CORTI harpsichord IZHAR ELIAS baroque guitar ENSEMBLE CORDEVENTO BC96440 • Released 2021

Recorder virtuoso Erik Bosgraaf was personally granted permission to arrange for recorder Boulez’ “ Dialogue de l’ombre double ”, originally for clarinet and electronics. Bosgraaf says: ‘I noticed that Mr Boulez liked the texture right away. And he told me why. It reminded him of the origin of the piece, which was a rain song in South East Asia, where they applied a similar kind of melody technique with the human voice.’ The result is a dynamic interplay between Bosgraaf’s recorder and the fascinating electronic timbres and colours. The second work on this release is a musical dialogue between Bosgraaf and electronic wizard Jorrit Tamminga , creating unheard-of sounds of the recorder interwoven in electronic sound tapestries. A great addition to the Boulez discography! And a testimony of the versatility of Erik Bosgraaf, equally at home in Baroque as in contemporary music, always curiously finding new expression possibilities for his instrument. ERIK BOSGRAAF recorder JORRIT TAMMINGA electronics BC94842 • Released 2015

NEW RELEASE! Deluxe edition 2CD package with extensive booklet. Also includes QR code to download the lossless audio files. •• 'LOST MAJESTY' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR APRIL 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! This 2CD recording features the complete English vocal works for four and five voices with continuo by George Jeffreys , showing him to be the forgotten composer of the English 17th century. This one-time organist to Charles I fused the Italian madrigal with English church music, creating a unique style and bringing the baroque to British shores. This is the second of a series of location-specific Solomon’s Knot recording projects. It was made at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire, where George Jeffreys lived and worked for the Hatton family. Thanks to the kind permission of English Heritage, and the generous donations of so many of our supporters, we have the great pleasure of bringing his music back into the light. SOLOMON'S KNOT voices JONATHAN SELLS director PROSP0086 • Released 2024

NEW RELEASE! •• 'EARTHCYCLE' WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MARCH 2024 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! Following their acclaimed mix-tape series on Signum Classics, Earthcycle is the fifth album from Orchestra of the Swan and David Le Page . Earthcycle is an innovative and timely project which finds a compelling way to engage with humanity’s most urgent threat. Through three initial performances, a recording and a film, Earthcycle contemplates our impact on Earth’s environment and the disruption of its natural rhythms. To celebrate the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons they have commissioned a new version from our Associate Artist, baroque/jazz musician and composer David Gordon which is interspersed with traditional folk songs related to the theme of the seasons and performed by singer Jackie Oates . Earthcycle highlights the 21st century’s greatest concern whilst celebrating nature and our place within it. “The entire album is replete with musical birdsong, rain showers, shafts of light, gusty autumn winds, swirling leaves, and many other delights, which create a compelling, engaging and intriguing whole. Earthcycle provides an important reflection on climate change while offering listeners chamber music of the highest order, imaginatively presented and beautifully performed.” – ArtMuseLondon Orchestra of the Swan David Le Page director & violin David Gordon keyboards Jackie Oates vocals SIGCD789 • Released 2024

Keith Jarrett ’s account of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ’s Württemberg Sonatas is a revelation. “I’d heard the sonatas played by harpsichordists, and felt there was room for a piano version,” says Jarrett today. This outstanding recording, made in 1994 and previously unreleased, finds the pianist attuned to the expressive implications of the sonatas in every moment. The younger Bach’s idiosyncrasies: the gentle playfulness of the music, the fondness for subtle and sudden tempo shifts, the extraordinary, rippling invention…all of this is wonderfully delivered. The fluidity of the whole performance has a quality that perhaps could be conveyed only by an artist of great improvisational skills. In Jarrett’s hands, CPE’s exploration of new compositional forms retains the freshness of discovery. Recorded at Keith Jarrett’s Cavelight Studio in May 1994, the album includes liner notes by Paul Griffiths. ECM4858495 • Released 2023

NEW RELEASE! When four friends create an ensemble where their biggest love is playing Baroque music on recorders, one has to get creative. There is a serious lack of original Baroque repertoire for this combination, and that's how our concept ' Borrowed, Not Stolen... ' was brought into being. Woodpeckers' journey began 17 years ago while they were all living in Stockholm, Bach's wonderful 'Art of Fugue' being an integral part of the programming in their first concerts. The idea has developed over the years into the format that you find on this recording. They have 'borrowed' music of all kinds and turned it into their own: some arrangements came into being through improvising and playing around in rehearsals, while others were commissioned by them, and some were already in existence and too good to leave out or tamper with. Despite their wanderings in life, the four of them are still deeply rooted in their childhood traditions stemming from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, and some of their favourite folk tunes, many of which date from the Baroque era or even earlier, appear on this CD, alongside works by Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi. LWC1261 • Released 2023

Flanders Recorder Duo : The name of the ensemble rightly suggests that it emerged from the Flanders Recorder Quartet, which ended its incredibly successful international stage career in 2018. Already the FRQ amazed with the expressiveness of its "only" 4 recorders - the Flanders Recorder Duo now takes this to the extreme. Really only two musicians are heard here, but often one hardly believes this when listening to the debut SACD, which is simply called "FR2". A highlight is the world premiere of a previously unknown suite by Vaughan Williams, and the other performances of works from various eras also give listeners plenty of opportunity to enjoy and marvel. TOM BEETS & JORIS VAN GOETHEM recorders AE10316 • Released 2021

Deluxe 2CD set with detailed booklet. •• J S BACH: CLAVICHORD WAS OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR JULY 2023 •• Click here to read our blog about this release! After his landmark recording of some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most important keyboard music, one of the great Bach interpreters of our time turns his attention to the composer’s preferred instrument. The sound of the clavichord is, says András Schiff , an invitation into “a new world, a quiet oasis in our noisy, troubled times. Thanks to the clavichord I now play and hear Bach differently.” An intimate and personal instrument – “a most gentle creature, ideal for playing alone” – it can also be, as Schiff notes, a demanding and unforgiving teacher. “On the clavichord we have only our fingers at our disposal, they must create the music with the finest gradations of touch.” The early keyboard works are emphasized here, bringing us closer to the sounds of Bach’s day, and the “cantabile art” of the clavichord. The album opens with the Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratro dilettissmo, journeys through Inventions and Sinfonias, and concludes with an extraordinary account of the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue. On this recording, Schiff’s first on the clavichord, he plays a replica of a 1743 Specken instrument, built by Belgian craftsman Joris Potvlieghe. The album was recorded in the Kammermusik Saal of Bonn’s Beethoven-Haus and produced by Manfred Eicher. ECM4857948 • Released 2023

Sculpting The Fabric Works by Cavalli, Merula, Vitali, Fontana, S. Rossi... Inspiration, energy and freedom compose the alluring menu of La Vaghezza's very first opus. The five instrumentalists of the young Italian ensemble, recent winners of the EEEMERGING + scheme, sculpt one by one these magnificent pieces of 17th century Italy, like jewels to be (re)discovered. AMY313 • Released 2021