Die Cellistin Elinor Frey beschäftigt sich seit langem mit der Erforschung, Einspielung und Edition der bemerkenswerten Cellomusik von Giuseppe Clemente Dall‘Abaco (1710-1805). Auf ihrer neuen CD mit Werken des Komponisten wird die Kunst der Variation mittels zweier Cellotrios sowie in drei Cellosonaten erforscht. In jeder Sonate haben die Schlusssätze ein Thema, auf das eine Reihe von Variationen folgt. Diese geben dem Komponisten bzw. der Interpretin Raum, das Stück weiterzuentwickeln, indem sie einfallsreiche und virtuose neue Figuren in der Solocellostimme entwickelt.

Il Gardellino is a period-instrument ensemble devoted largely to the performance of Baroque music, both instrumental and vocal. Consisting of eight core members, Il Gardellino can range in size from three to as many as thirty players, depending on demands of the repertory. That said, most of the instrumental concerts feature fewer than a dozen performers.

Aurelia Vişovan is an internationally acclaimed Romanian pianist, harpsichordist and fortepianist, winner of the 2019 edition of the Musica Antiqua Competition Brugge (fortepiano). She regularly performs concerts and recitals on both historical instruments and modern piano, in halls such as the Großer Saal of the Berliner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, BOZAR, Auditorio de Zaragoza, Brucknerhaus Linz, Die Glocke Bremen, Casa da Musica Porto, Musikverein Vienna, Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and in festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Festivals de Wallonie, to name a few. She appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Dresden, the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the Seto Philharmonic Orchestra, the Transylvania State Philharmonic, Das Sinfonieorchester Berlin, among others. In 2017 Aurelia Vișovan performed the World Premiere of the newly discovered Piano Concerto by George Enescu. She has recorded CDs both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, on period instruments and on modern piano, for the labels Ricercar, Berlin Classics, Passacaille, KNS Classical among others.

Bach’s English Suites are entitled in a way that is as strange as it is hard to explain, at least at first glance. Contrary to what one might assume, these works are more closely related to French suites than to English music. The title is taken from the inscription “Fait pour les Anglois”, found on a manuscript owned by Bach's youngest son. In addition to an extensive prelude and four traditional dances – Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue – each suite also contains “gallantries”, lighter dances that were fashionable at the time. In these dance movements, grace and melody play together with a compositional artistry that elevates them far beyond incidental music for courtly dances. After the Partitas published by Passacaille in 2021 (PAS 1105), Lorenzo Ghielmi, one of the most renowned Bach interpreters of our day, now releases the English Suites, recorded on a harpsichord built by Detmar Hungelbert after an instrument by Michael Mietke (ca. 1710 in Berlin).

At the beginning of the 17th century, music in Italy underwent a radical change. From the first experimental attempts in Florence to revive the musical practice of Greek antiquity, which had not been handed down in detail, the genre of the monody developed, in which the singer could finally express all the nuances of the text (the "affects"), freed from the strict constraints of polyphony. To accompany this monophonic singing, new types of plucked instruments emerged, such as the archlute and the theorbo, characterised especially by their powerful bass registers and intense resonances. The new expressive demands invited playing with timbres, (de)crescendi and agogics to convincingly portray human passions, elements that were also applied to purely instrumental music, as in the works on this recording. The rigour of polyphony gave way to a style based more on improvisation, an aspect particularly important to Luca Pianca in his interpretation of solo works for archlute and theorbo by Piccinini, Kapsberger, Melli and Raimondo.

Tonrroutt, Thauranth, Tauront, Taurath, Torenth… few composers have had their names mangled by scribes so badly as the protagonist of this recording. The identity of the composer behind these variants has long remained shrouded in mystery. It is known that a certain Johannes Tourout was cantor in the chapel of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg. The composer must have been very popular in Central Europe: a large number of his works can be found in important manuscripts from that region. Given the stupendous craftsmanship evident in his compositions, it is surprising that modern musicians have not paid greater attention to them.Cappella Mariana and its artistic director Vojtěch Semerád now seek to fill the gap with this portrait album. This selection aims to display the wide stylistic range of 15th-century polyphony, with a mass, Latin motets, and secular chansons set to texts in the vernacular. With a mass, motets and French secular songs, they aim to display the wide stylistic range of 15th century polyphony.

Franz Schubert (1797-1827) was an extremely prolific composer, but his entire output for violin and piano represents more than two hours of music. His bold use of tonalities is already evident in the early works from 1816 and 1817, which clearly reflect his admiration for Mozart. The first three are labelled "Sonatina", possibly intended to appeal to amateur musicians. However, they are highly complex works by the youthful composer. The late works, written in 1826 and 1827 shortly before his death, are characterised by an exuberant virtuosity, and sometimes the piano is treated like a substitute orchestra.Piet Kuijken and Naaman Sluchin have devoted more than ten years to the intensive study of the interpretation of these works and the question of appropriate period instruments, with the aim of doing optimal justice to the spirit of Schubert’s music in its profoundly human depth: "In these pieces, Schubert showcases every possible technical trick; invention is constantly applied to formal structure, the greatest simplicity is found alongside outrageous virtuosity, and an infinite variety of timbre can be found".

Alejo de los Reyes had his first experience of playing the guitar in Argentina with his parents, who were classical guitar players and teachers. In his parents’ home, Argentine folk music was part of every celebration and every gathering, and the tango was his grandfather’s favourite music. During his studies, De los Reyes played alternately in classical concert halls and tango salons. After touring in Europe as tango player, he began playing on period instruments and combining his academic knowledge with traditional music: “It was – and still is – amazing for me to realise that certain concepts of articulation, rhythm or rubato were as important in early European musical practice as they were in Argentine tango”. The vast and diverse musical culture of the South American continent was indeed shaped by Jesuit missions in the early colonial period. Not surprisingly, European Renaissance and Baroque music is a key element in understanding much of the traditional music of the Americas (and vice versa). This album reflects the ongoing journey De los Reyes has been on since his childhood, studying the music of his country and, more recently, the music of the European Renaissance.