Quartetto di Cremona ITALIAN POSTCARDS

 

ITALIAN POSTCARDS

 

Daniel-Ben Pienaar SCHUBERT 12 Great Ouano Sonatas

 

12 GREAT PIANO SONATAS

 

BBC Symphony Orchestra ANNA CLYNE Mythologies

MYTHOLOGIES

 

Nicholas Phan / Myra Huang CLAIRIÈRES

CLAIRIÈRES

 

Alana Youssefian / Le Bien-Aimé BRILLANCE INDÉNIABLE

                                THE VIRTUOSO VIOLIN IN THE COURT OF LOUIS XV

Mika Stoltzman / Richard Stoltzman PALIMPSEST

Clarinet legend Richard Stoltzman and virtuoso marimbist Mika Stoltzman arrive on AVIE with a stunning collection of works in which the duo finds freedom in music of the past and equally breaks through boundaries with new arrangements and commissions. John Zorn's title track, Palimpsest, written in 2018 for Richard's 75th birthday, sets the tone, evoking layers of tradition and innovation. Richard's lifelong friendship with William Thomas McKinley led to the jazzy collection Mostly Blues, three of which are performed on this album. The musical meat of the album are the couple's own arrangements of monumental works by Johann Sebastian Bach ? Mika's solo marimba take on the Chaconne from Partita in D minor originally for solo violin, and Richard's colourful Chromatic Fantasia for solo clarinet and Fugue, BWV 903 bringing him together with marimba and bandoneon. 

The versatile Mika, who has collaborated with such musicians as Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez and Steve Gadd, also provides a blues-tinged duo arrangement of Maurice Ravel's Pavane pour une infante de 769;funte, and the album takes a side trip to the Argentinian world of Astor Piazzolla with a solo clarinet version of the composer's Etude No. 5, and the full complement of musicians coming together for Fuga y misterio.

La Serenissima / Adrian Chandler VIVALDI The French Connection

Intriguing title? Well some, at least, of Vivaldi’s own French connections are known: the French ambassador to Venice was among his patrons, and he supplied 12 concertos without soloist to an unknown Parisian collector. Adrian Chandler has taken three of these last as a starting-point for a full disc of flute, bassoon and violin concertos in which, he reckons, references to the French style are apparent. But is a dotted rhythm here, a chaconne there and a sprinkling of Rameau-ish moments enough to make Vivaldi sound French? Wisely, Chandler does not claim so, though his concession that “Vivaldi’s style is rarely unrecognisable” puts it mildly; Vivaldi seldom sounds like anyone else, even in the grand overture-like first movement of the Violin Concerto RV211, by some margin the most French-drenched piece on this disc. The chaconnes and melodic frou frous found elsewhere may suggest Frenchness to one as sensitive to the composer’s style as Chandler, but to the average listener they will surely sound like Vivaldi from head to toe.

But if this disc works hard to justify its title, what care we when the results make such enjoyable listening? And who can blame Chandler for looking for a way to programme and market Vivaldi that avoids filling it with 10 works all of the same type? Here the three solo instruments come and go in various combinations, always pleasing us and never outstaying their welcome. They are played with skill and taste, lapsing only when the bassoon overpowers the flute in the slow movement of RV438. The orchestral sound, as always with La Serenissima, achieves bright attractiveness and vivacity without feeling the need to pursue the taut energy of some other groups. And that’s just fine. (Lindsay Kemp / Gramophone)

Inbal Segev / Juho Pohjonen CHOPIN - SCHUMANN - GRIEG

Cellist Inbal Segev’s debut release for Avie features the lush and romantic sonatas by Chopin and Grieg, and the Fantasiestucke by Robert Schumann. She is joined by Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen, a fitting partner for the pianistic Chopin and the virtuosic Grieg. In Schumann’s own transcription of his “Fantasy Pieces,” originally for clarinet, the lyrical quality shines through on Inbal’s 1673 Ruggieri cello. Inbal Segev reaches thousands of people across continents through her influential YouTube video masterclass series Musings with Inbal, teaching core repertoire, cello technique and new works. Her many honors include top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo and Washington International Competitions. She began playing cello in Israel at five and at sixteen was invited by Isaac Stern to continue her studies in the US. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University. “first class… richly inspired… very moving indeed…” (Gramophone) “Her playing is characterized by a strong and warm tone…delivered with impressive fluency and style.” (The Strad) “This young artist is, beyond doubt, a star in the making- her tone golden and unstrained in the high positions, her phrasing that of a born musician.” (Musical Opinion)

Adrian Chandler / La Serenissima THE ITALIAN JOB

Born on Merseyside in 1974, Adrian Chandler studied modern and baroque violin at the Royal College of Music with Rodney Friend and Catherine Mackintosh. Whilst a student at the RCM he founded the ensemble La Serenissima with whom he has since performed numerous solo recitals and Vivaldi concerti in major festivals such as Spitafields, Chelsea, Southwark, Cheltenham, Lake District Summer Music, Lichfield, Bruges, South Bank Early Music Festival and York Early Music Festival, as well as in concert series in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Spain and the UK. 

His performances have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3, Radio Scotland, Dutch Radio, Radio 3 Belgium, Radio France, Danish Radio, Classic FM and Japanese TV.  He has also toured The Four Seasons with the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and given performances of Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas in Japan.  Highlights from 2012 included performances of Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade at festivals such as Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music (the UK’s modern and historical premiere), Bath International Festival (opening night), Buxton and at the Eilat Festival in Israel.  2013 sees him returning to Buxton for tercentenary performances of Vivaldi’s Ottone in villa and performances in the Oslo Chamber Music Festival as a guest soloist and director.

La Serenissima was formed in 1994 for a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s La Sena festeggiante and has now firmly established itself as one of the leading exponents of the music of eighteenth century Venice and connected composers. Since its first CD release in 2003, La Serenissima has been universally applauded by publications including Gramophone Magazine, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine, Diapason, Fanfare Magazine, American Record Guide, The Independent, The Strad, Falstaff Magazine, La Stampa, Gaudisc, Goldberg Magazine and The Evening Standard for its performances on the Avie Label.