Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford / Jupiter AMAZONE

 

AMAZONE

Thomas Dunford / Théotime Langlois de Swarte THE MAD LOVER

 

THE MAD LOVER

Thomas Dunford / Jean Rondeau BARRICADES

                                                                  BARRICADES

Jupiter / Thomas Dunford VIVALDI

In founding the Jupiter ensemble, the lutenist Thomas Dunford wanted to ‘rediscover the spirit of chamber music in the Baroque repertory. Jupiter operates in a kind of fraternity, as if we had always known each other... Vivaldi’s highly contrasted music demands precisely this natural response – almost like improvisation’. Lea Desandre speaks of a ‘search for colour and almost limitless inflections. This music was the “pop” of the eighteenth century’. The Franco-Italian mezzo, named ‘Révélation lyrique’ (vocal newcomer of the year) at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2017, performs arias from operas including Il Giustino, Juditha triumphans, Il Farnace and Griselda, as well as the famous ‘Cum dederit’ from the Nisi Dominus. The programme also includes four concertos, for lute in D major, for lute and violin, for bassoon in G minor and for cello in G minor. In addition to Thomas Dunford on lute, Peter Whelan on bassoon and the cellist Bruno Philippe, also a ‘Révélation’ at the Victoires de la Musique (2018), this flamboyant programme features Jean Rondeau on harpsichord and organ, Cecilia Bernardini and Louis Creac’h (violins), Jérôme Van Waerbeke (viola) and Douglas Balliett (double bass).

Thomas Dunford BACH

Thomas Dunford continues to expand his discography on Alpha with a program of solo lute works by J.S. Bach, recorded in the ideal surroundings of the Salle de Musique of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. He performs an original composition by Bach for lute, the Suite in G minor BWV 995, as well as his own arrangements of the Suite BWV 1007 and the famous Chaconne from the Partita BWV 1004 – the latter piece has a notorious reputation for being (virtually) unplayable, at least on the violin! Born in Paris in 1988, Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at the age of nine thanks to his first teacher Claire Antonini. He completed his studies in 2006 at the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris (CNR), when he obtained a unanimous 1st Prize with Honors in the class of Charles-Edouard Fantin. He continued his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, and participated in various masterclasses across Europe. He has gone on to record an extensive discography and win multiple competitions.

Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen BUXTEHUDE Trio Sonatas Op. 1

For this recording of music by Buxtehude, Jonathan Cohen, founder of the ensemble Arcangelo, is joined by a distinguished trio, including two regulars on the Alpha label, Sophie Gent and Thomas Dunford, alongside the gambist Jonathan Manson. Although Dietrich Buxtehude is famous above all for his organ music and cantatas, and for the long journey the young Bach undertook to meet him, his chamber music is virtually unknown. In the mid-1690s, at the height of his fame, Buxtehude published two collections in rapid succession, each comprising seven sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo. It is the works of the first collection (1694) – designated Opus 1 in the print – that Arcangelo has recorded here. These sonatas are characterised by pronounced experimental features in both the scoring and the handling of the instruments.