This release comprises both a symphony and rarely recorded opera overtures by Dvořák. The chief conductor of the orchestra, Finnish maestro Pietari Inkinen, continues the Dvořák Cycle begun under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon. The Second Symphony, composed when Dvořák was 24, was certainly no masterpiece, neither was its revised version. Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary testament to Dvořák’s talent since it clearly bears his stamp, even though it shows the influence of others. “This man has more ideas than all of us put together”, Brahms said in appreciation of Dvořák’s output. This is certainly borne out when listening to the Second Symphony.

‘A thoughtful, well-recorded performance of one of the great monuments of Western music, on an instrument for which the composer conceived it, played by a dexterous, sympathetic, and well-informed musician.’ – FANFARE
‘This set shines revitalizing light on music we may have thought we knew inside out, but which is always loaded with surprises.’ – SOUND STAGE

With the Missa cuiusvis toni, Ockeghem achieves a veritable tour de force: a work having the advantage of being able to be executed in all church modes. In an era when composers vied with each other in virtuosity, this mass 'in whatever tone' became an unsurpassable model. Musica Nova recreates the four versions here for the first time on disc.

We sometimes forget how closely the didactic aspect of The Well-Tempered Clavier is bound up with the various upheavals of the 1720s which refocused Johann Sebastian Bach on his roles as father and teacher. His ambitious scheme for associating a prelude and a fugue with each of the major and minor keys could easily have become something of a tedious chore. But, on the contrary, it reveals Bach’s highly personal genius for constant creative renewal within the framework of two fixed forms. Richard Egarr presents the complete First Book on a copy by Joel Katzman of a 1638 Ruckers, using the temperament which recent research suggests Bach himself advocated.

François Ier, prince mécène, avait compris combien la musique pouvait servir sa politique de prestige : - musique officielle pour les grands événements diplomatiques comme l'incroyable match musical entre la Chapelle du roi de France et celle d Henri VIII d'Angleterre, lors de la messe du Camp du Drap d'Or restituée dans cet enregistrement ; - mais aussi musique de l'intime avec le répertoire le plus subtil, raffiné et savant entendu dans les châteaux du souverain Chambord, Fontainebleau… interprété par les meilleurs chanteurs et instrumentistes du royaume réunis au sein de la Chambre du Roy. Un festin de musiques inédites pour un roi François Ier, symbole d une Renaissance heureuse.

The setting by Alphonse D’Eve (1666-1727)‚ born in Brussels and Kapellmeister at the church of Our Lady in Antwerp‚ of the motet for the dead‚ O acerbi‚ is not without its moments. The plangent opening is striking‚ as is the use of high voices at the beginning of the final chorus‚ presumably to represent the heavenly hosts referred to in the text. If the music‚ thoroughly Italianate in style and often reminiscent of Vivaldi‚ is somewhat predictable – the cadences are rather formulaic and the sequential patterns overused – it is certainly worth dusting down: it represents the kind of work that must have been heard in so many of the larger musical institutions all over Europe in the early part of the 18th century.

Eero Heinonen has long been a champion of the composers neglected output for piano. With this recording he continues to make the case for music that does not easily give up its secrets but, in the right hands, sings with Sibeliuss unique voice. Sibelius was not himself an accomplished pianist, but he wrote for the instrument at which he composed throughout his career, and maintained that, while often overlooked, its time would come. In recent years his prophecy has come true, especially with the Op.75 suite of five pieces which he composed in 1914 and titled The Trees.

Ginastera (Buenos Aires) was married to a cellist, his inspiration to write numerous works for cello. He is a true master in integrating the folk-music of his country into his works, that show a great variety: symphonic music, chamber-music, ballet, opera, songs, choirmusic. Pampeana no. 2 (1950), a rhapsody for cello, inspired by the Argentinean pampa is an exuberant piece, full of virtuosity. In this version for cello-octet two soloists engage in a lively discussion.

George Philipp Telemann was a composer whose creative powers continued undiminished through his old age of eighty six years. The last decade of his life witnessed an astonishing creative surge, perhaps comparable only to that of Verdi. It was then that the eighty-year-old, with all the benefits of mature mastery at his command, penned some of his most beautiful vocal works. The oratorio "The Delivered Israel" is a work from this period.

Fourteen years after her victory at the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition, Yulianna Avdeeva documents her journey with the music of Frederic Chopin. Voyage focuses on his late works, all composed while surrounded by nature, and Avdeeva has recorded them at the rustic Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, against the serene backdrop of the Beartooth Mountains. A pianist of fiery temperament and virtuosity, Avdeeva plays with power, conviction, and sensibility, having won over audiences all over the world. She returns to PENTATONE after her acclaimed label debut with Resilience (2023).

The music of Scottish late-Romantic Sir Alexander Mackenzie is now becoming much better known thanks to the earlier Hyperion recording of his orchestral music, the reception of which had the critics scratching their heads wondering why such attractive music remained neglected for so long. 'Another hugely enjoyable Hyperion rescue act' was how Gramophone received this record, issued a year ago.

Naxos have stepped in enterprisingly and chosen a programme that is not only most attractive in its own right, but which also includes the key items used in the fascinating film about the conjectural relationship between Marin Marais and his reclusive mentor, Sainte-Colombe (Tous les matins du monde). Spectre de la Rose consists of a first-rate group of young players, led by Alison Crum, who plays in a dignified but austere style which at first seems cool by which is very effective in this repertoire. Le Badinage is perhaps a little stiff and unsmiling, but the key item, Marais’s eloquent lament for his teacher, Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, is restrained and touching. Good, bright, forward recording, vividly declaiming the plangent viola da gamba timbre.

From a landmark Janacek album to a previously unpublished Schubert/Mozart recording, this collection presents the Deutsche Grammophon, British and American Decca, and Westminster legacy of Rudolf Firkušný (1912-1994), acclaimed by Stereo Review as 'the outstanding champion of Czech piano music on the international circuit'.

This splendid and authoritative recital by Elissa Edwards and Richard Kolb of arias and cantatas from Barbara Strozzi’s last published opus showcases the dramatically coloured, highly charged power of the composer’s expressive toolkit, lit by the emerging harmonic language of the Baroque, influenced by Monteverdi through her teacher Cavalli, as a serious precedent for the future of opera. In his booklet notes Kolb comments that in Strozzi’s time a taste for ‘indulgence in the sensual pleasure of vocal melody or as an esoteric manifestation of nothingness’ was growing – the future indeed.

For this second volume of Beethoven’s string quartets, the Doric String Quartet has combined one middle period, one late, and two early quartets to create a programme that works on its own terms, as well as forming part of the complete cycle. The musicians start off with a vivid performance of Op. 18 No. 2, following it with the Quartet, Op. 130, in which, as finale, they perform the Große Fugue (Op. 133), as Beethoven long contemplated it.