The independent music group Outhere produces around one hundred recordings every year, ranging from early music to contemporary, by way of jazz and world music. These are released all over the world in both physical and digital form. Outhere Music’s success is founded on the consolidation and articulation of labels with a strong individual identity, which today number nine: Aeon, Alpha, Arcana, Fuga Libera, Outnote, Phi, Ramée, Ricercar, and Zig-Zag Territoires. The group’s philosophy gives pride to place to the quality of its relationship with the artists, meticulous attention to the realisation of each project, and its openness to new forms of diffusion and relations with the public.
Table of Content Aeon p.4 Alpha p.6 Arcana p.12 Fuga Libera p.14 Phi p.15 RamĂŠe p.16 Ricercar p.17 Zig-Zag Territoires p.21 Outnote p.26
Ludwig van Beethoven
AECD 1438
Late String Quartets Op. 130 & Grosse Fuge Op. 133 Brentano String Quartet
014 Release 09/2
The Brentano Quartet delivers the third volume of Beethoven’s Late Quartets for Aeon, this disc featuring Op. 130 and 133. The relation between form and language seems to haunt all the writing of his Quartet in B flat major. Indeed, the composer struggles with the enigmatic question of our intimate experience in relation to music and the sense of musical composition. On the other hand, in the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, Beethoven the visionary proclaims his unshakeable faith in a world like a will facing menace and chaos. The pertinence of the struggle marks the structure and character of every page of the Quartet, one of the composer’s most inspired. Impossible not to be impressed by the sharpness of the stroke, the clarity of the discourse and the intensity of the affects. Brilliant virtuosos, the superb mastery of the Brentanos has made them famous and displays its full power in the release of this final volume.
Wolfgang Rihm – Luigi Nono
AECD 1441
Passion Texts
Exaudi James Weeks, cond.
Release 10/2
4
014
The musics of Luigi Nono and Wolfgang Rihm have often been linked. Nono’s late style, a world of sharply-etched, strikingly sparse sound forms set against a background of silence, made a deep impression on his younger colleague, whose works from the mid-1980s onwards show the clear imprint of the Italian master’s visionary clarity. This recording of works for differing ensembles of solo voices shows another trait the two hold in common: a passionate engagement with their fellow human-beings, giving rise to a music of searing and shocking directness. The human soul stripped to a mouth, a mouth opened in transcendental suffering - of the relatives of the disappeared in Argentina, of Jesus on the Cross - or closed in defiant compassion for the victims of AIDS. A mouth that can also sing of the violent cataclysms of creative ecstasy and the quiet lyricism of a peaceful Utopia. Recorded over a period of five years, EXAUDI’s new disc is a labour of love, featuring music that has been part of the ensemble’s lifeblood since its foundation, each performance thoroughly embedded in heart and voice before being committed to disc.
Bernard Foccroulle: Works for historic organs
AECD 1440
Bernard Foccroulle, organ
Release 10/2
014
2 CDs AECD 1452
‘As an organist, I have quite often been struck by the exceptional beauty of historic organs whose very pronounced personality often contrasts sharply with the standardized instruments built in the 20th century. However, some of these old instruments impose such constraints (reduced range of the manual[s], limited or non-existent pedal organ, unequal temperament, fairly limited composition of stops, etc.) that they make possible only a very specific repertoire. Most of the works composed in the 20th century are simply not playable on these instruments, which is why, back in the 1980s, certain organists and composers began to generate a contemporary literature that takes into account the constraints and specificities of these splendid survivors from the past. Capriccio sopra re-fa-mi-sol is the first piece in this cycle. I subsequently wrote others for historic instruments, almost always choosing an earlier composer as a point of reference. On a whole, these compositions propose a modern-day look at organ music and organ building in Europe since the Renaissance.’ (Bernard Foccroulle)
György Ligeti - Béla Bartók
LIGETI : Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto BARTÓK : Contrasts, Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion Ensemble Intercontemporain Matthias Pintscher, cond.
Release 11/2
014
One can find numerous links between Bartók and Ligeti, beginning with the land of their birth, Hungary, as well as the important place they both occupy in 20th-century music. It is with this set, devoted to chamber works by Béla Bartók and György Ligeti’s concertos, that the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Aeon are initiating their collaboration that will take the form of an ‘EIC Collection’ within the label’s catalogue. This recording is also the first under the EIC’s new musical director, Mathias Pintscher. In a few months, after a CD devoted to works by Matthias Pintscher, this will be followed by other CDs or sets illustrating the diversity and extreme quality of the collaborations and interpretations by the Ensemble Intercontemporain. www.ensembleinter.com
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Ludwig van Beethoven
ALPHA 607
Three Last Sonatas - Sonatas op. 109, 110 & 111 Eric Le Sage, piano
014 Release 09/2
‘Of Beethoven and his worlds in music, some will remember more the herald of pure music or of programme music, the Dionysian bearer of joy, or the man suffering from suicidal impulses, the builder or the destroyer. In any event, the creator stopped writing piano sonatas in 1822, the year of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s death. All the transgressions that are propounded by Beethoven’s Promethean output would be unable to conceal his faithfulness to the ideals of Aufklärung, his classic desire to lead, beyond the asperities, to a resolution and, beyond darkness, to light.’ (Brigitte François Sappey) Eric Le Sage approaches this cycle with the sensitive vision of a great interpreter, henceforth renowned for his complete Schumann and Fauré recordings.
Tobias Hume
ALPHA 197
« Harke, harke! » Lyra violls Humors & Delights Les Basses Réunies Bruno Cocset, cond. Guido Balestracci
With this new recording, Bruno Cocset’s Les Basses Réunies propose a journey back to 17th-century England, centring on the work of Tobias Hume, an emblematic musician of the viola da gamba and, more precisely, the lyra violl.
014 Release 09/2
This exploration in terms of music as much as of sound, presents three instruments that have just come from the hands of instrument-maker Charles Riché (seconded by Friederike Dangel). A distinguished guest, the talented Italian gambist Guido Balestracci, plays a selection of solo pieces by the famous soldier-composer. The Lyra violl is also accompanist for pieces composed for a dessus and Lyra violl, in which case Bruno Cocset plays his little ‘bastarda alto’ viol. The continuo, subtle and lush, brings together Bertrand Cuiller on the two harpsichords (one strung with brass wire, the other with gut strings), and Richard Myron on the large bass in G.
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François Couperin Louis-Nicolas Clérambault
ALPHA 957
Leçons De Ténèbres, Miserere
Le Poème Harmonique Claire Leffilliâtre, Isabelle Druet, Hasnaa Bennani Vincent Dumestre, cond.
014 Release 09/2
It seemed natural for Le Poème Harmonique, which has already recorded some of the greatest works in the 17th-century French sacred repertoire, to contribute to Alpha’s Versailles Collection by giving its vision of François Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres. To this it adds a work as masterful as it is forgotten: Louis-Nicolas Clérambault’s Miserere. The Leçons de Ténèbres were written by François Couperin for the Holy Week liturgies of 1714, at the Abbey of Longchamp. They take up the Old Testament text from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, wherein the prophet deplores the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In the Catholic tradition, they symbolize the solitude of Christ, abandoned by his apostles. Isabelle Druet, Hasnaa Bennani, Claire Lefilliâtre and Vincent Dumestre give us an interpretation in which the affect is, of course, at the service of a rhetoric appropriate for the period and this repertoire whilst fully exploiting the lyric beauty of these works.
Solve et Coagula
ALPHA 537
An opera by Guido Morini Marco Beasley Accordone Guido Morini, cond.
This new recording pays tribute to an ill-known, mysterious figure of 18th-century Naples: Prince Raimondo di Sangro. A soldier, scientist, poet, alchemist and freemason, he bequeathed us a palace and a magnificent chapel, the site of a tragedy that was at the origin of the murder committed by the great composer Gesualdo.
014 Release 10/2
This chapel still houses artistic and scientific works both beautiful and mysterious, which serve as an initiatory itinerary for the visitor. The intuition of Guido Morini and Marco Beasley was to use this itinerary and make it the dramatic framework for a singular, innovative work that they have entitled ‘Solve et Coagula’, an alchemist maxim meaning ‘Dissolve and congeal’. A veritable dramma per musica, this work calls on different ‘historical’ creative processes in order to let us discover a unique story, featuring the rhythm of tarantellas, ostinati and mysterious fugues... 7
DVD Alpha 704
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
Comédie-ballet by Molière, music by Jean-Baptiste Lully Directed by Denis Podalydès (member of the Comédie Française) Costumes: Christian Lacroix Conducted by Christophe Coin
In Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, Molière draws the portrait of an adventurer of the mind whose sole desire is to escape his status as a commoner and set foot on territories from which he is excluded... the discovery of a terra incognita that, by his birth, is off-limits to him.
014 Release 10/2
In choosing to return the play to its original form as a comédie-ballet with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Denis Podalydès convokes all the arts. With this ‘theatrical fête’ costumed by Christian Lacroix, he aims at an apotheosis of the senses, in fact just as the play’s protagonist longed for. Conducting the La Révérence ensemble, Christophe Coin gives full meaning and depth to the musical score that Jean-Baptiste Lully created for this play at Molière’s instigation.
Au Sainct Nau
ALPHA 198
Carols and parodies from the Renaissance Ensemble Clément Janequin Dominique Visse, cond.
014 Release 10/2
8
The programme of this recording seeks to reproduce the full diversity of music associated with Christmastide at the time of the Renaissance. Brought together here are both aspects, secular and religious, of this great holiday: an almost pagan joy expressed with simplicity by the naïve, touching poetry of anonymous songs, as well as the mystery evoked with a more spiritual gravity at church, by the celebrations linked to this moment. These repertoires reflect the various aspects that, in the Renaissance, take on a creative folk fervour, or a more scholarly fervour as Christmas approaches. In any event, the season is one of exultation, as attests the custom of ‘crying Noel’ (Noüel, Nau or Noe) on the occasion of any ‘signification of public joy’. May this recording contribute to conveying an appealing, colourful and joyous image of these two aspects!
3 CDs ALPHA 822
Chansons D’autrefois
Songs, laments and romances from the France of yesteryear Le Poème Harmonique Vincent Dumestre, cond.
Vincent Dumestre and his Poème Harmonique invite us to the sources of the songs, laments and romances of the France of the past. Reproducing the pronunciation of the time and combining various early, and sometimes rustic, instruments with the voices, the programme will appeal to everyone, young and old alike.
Release 10/2
014
3 CDs ALPHA 823
Here we hear songs passed down from generation to generation, some well known, some forgotten, but always sensitive to the heart of a broad public today... Alpha proposes discovering all the recordings of these treasures, brought together here at a low price.
Les Witches
Nobody’s Jig Manuscrit de Susanne Van Soldt Lord Gallaway’s Delight Les Witches
Les Witches follow the trail of songs and dances as one follows the course of a river...
Release 10/2
014
Sometimes visiting the universe of Court, sometimes that of the tavern, this set brings together enchanting tunes and evocative titles that, by evoking characters and places, relate veritable pages of history. With Les Witches more boisterous than ever!
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3 CDs ALPHA 821
CPE Bach
Trio Sonatas - Flute Concertos Alexis Kossenko, traverso & cond. Arte Dei Suonatori Les Ambassadeurs
For the 300th anniversary of C.P.E. Bach’s birth, Alpha proposes discovering the work of one of the Cantor’s sons from an original angle: that of the Alexis Kossenko’s flute.
014 Release 10/2
DVD Alpha 705
In this boxed set, Alpha has brought together the complete Flute Concertos as well as the marvellous Trio Sonatas, masterpieces that allow for discovering Carl Philipp Emmanuel’s close connection with the traverso, and also perceiving Alexis Kossenko’s strong ties with this brilliant composer.
Claudio Monteverdi Vespers For The Virgin
Silvia Frigato, Emanuela Galli, Nicholas Mulroy, Krystian Adam Monteverdi Choir - English Baroque Soloists Choeur d’enfants de la Maîtrise du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles Sir John Eliot Gardiner, cond.
First performed in 1610, Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine constitutes one of the major works in musical literature. It is also the work for which Sir John Eliot Gardiner founded the Monteverdi Choir about which Le Monde wrote: ‘... if there were a Nobel Prize for choruses, the Monteverdi Choir would have to be the winner’. It was during the exceptional concert given in March 2014 in the Chapelle Royale at Versailles, in the framework of this ensemble’s 50th anniversary, that this DVD was made.
Release 10/2
10
014
In the Chapelle Royale, John Eliot Gardiner wished to reproduce the musical spatialization that characterized Venetian music and was able to do so by using the specific architecture and different levels of the chapel. The division of Monteverdi’s work into two choirs, as well as its numerous musical dialogues and echo effects, found a particularly propitious architectural and acoustic setting at Versailles.
Joseph Haydn - Christoph Willibald Gluck
ALPHA 670
Symphonies Nos. 1, 39 & 49 ‘La Passione’ – Don Juan Il Giardino Armonico Giovanni Antonini, cond. IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ‘JOSEPH HAYDN FOUNDATION - BASEL
‘Symphony No. 49 is of dramatic inspiration, as is the finale of the 39th (with four horns!) in a fairly “Gluckist” style. We are at the beginnings of Sturm und Drang.
Release 11/2
014
‘The first performance of Gluck’s ballet Don Juan, in Vienna in 1761, was an outstanding event in the development of dramatic expression in music. This was the first “modern” ballet, featuring dancers illustrating the story, not through a pre-established dance form (minuet, gavotte, etc.) but through free expression of their bodies. ‘I am truly captivated by the very strong correspondence existing in Gluck’s score between the story of Don Juan (the dancers’ movements) and the music, like a sort of little dictionary of musical gestures, with elements that are to be found in purely instrumental music of the period, including Haydn’s. ‘Yet it was in the 1760s (thus after the first performance of Gluck’s Don Juan) that Haydn began his first “dramatic” symphonies. ‘So I find it very interesting to bring together this piece by Gluck and these symphonies.’ (Giovanni Antonini)
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Alessandro Stradella
A 377
La Forza delle Stelle A Serenata for 7 voices, 2 concertino ensembles & concerto grosso. Ensemble Mare Nostrum Andrea De Carlo, cond.
014 Release 08/2
19 CDs A 378
‘Gustavus, the ambitious warrior-king of Sweden, was determined to raise his daughter Cristina to rule and had her taught the skills of war and of the mind. What he didn’t expect was that she would also inherit his passion for music, and that it was this that made her renounce the religion of her ancestors as well as her throne and move to Rome, the center of her new faith as well as of Baroque music. There she surrounded herself with the best singers and instrumentalists and even wrote a recently-discovered scenario for a serenata, an evening’s entertainment she wanted to organize. She envisioned the lovers Damone and Clori declaring their love one evening under a moonlit sky, and then overhearing passersby talk about the ‘power of the stars’, La forza delle stelle, to aid or thwart love. It was a wonderful theme made explicit in the poet Baldini’s text, and through the gloriously expressive music of Stradella - recorded here for the first time - to transport us into that magical world of romance and love and mystery.’ Carolyn Gianturco
Joseph Haydn Complete String Quartets Festetics Quartet (on period instruments)
Release 09/2
12
014
Recorded in Budapest between 1993 and 2006, this complete set of the Haydn’s String Quartets performed by the Festetics Quartet represents the most challenging project accomplished by Michel Bernstein, the mythical founder of Arcana who died a few months after the recording of the very last volume. For the first time in a boxed set, this monumental achievement is the first and only complete recording on period instruments and features the entire 58 string quartets authenticated by the composer for the great Artaria edition, making a total of 19 CDs in chronological order. A reference edition, enriched by the detailed essay signed by the Hungarian musicologist László Somfai, one of the most eminent Haydn scholars. The Festetics extensively studied Haydn’s original quartet manuscripts and relied heavily on Professor Somfai.
2 CDs A 379
Laudarium
Songs of the Laudesi Companies in Trecento Italy La Reverdie
Release 10/2
014
A rich and varied anthology of Italian monophonic Laude from the two principal sources: the manuscripts of Cortona (c.1270) and Florence (c.1320) centered on the themes common to both: the cult of the Virgin Mary and the devotion of the Saints. The two-CD set includes a presentation booklet with detailed introductory essays illustrating the methods of musicological research involved in the reconstruction of this repertoire, as well as its continuing social, historical, cultural and religious significance, upon which La Reverdie has founded its unique interpretative approach.
Venetian Oboe Concertos
A 380
Albinoni - Rigaglia - Marcello - Platti - Sammartini - Vivaldi Alfredo Bernardini, oboe (Giovanni Maria Anciuti, 1730) Zefiro
Release 11/2
014
The new oboe invaded all European countries by the year 1700, just a few decades after its invention in France. Composers and listeners were fascinated by its flexibility, versatility and a sound that came very close to the human voice. In the same period Venetian composers developed the solo-concerto, a new musical form that would become a privileged standard until our modern times, in which one instrument is in the forefront with a larger group, consisting mostly of strings and basso continuo. The two novelties were very soon associated and the quantity of Venetian concerti for oboe written between 1715 and 1735 make an impressive milestone in the repertoire of this instrument.
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Fuga Libera, the new digital label of Outhere Music Reputed since its beginnings for the defence of eclectic, highly talented artists, today Fuga Libera presents a prestigious, varied collection, supported by eminent players on the European musical scene. Whilst maintaining the criteria for musical and editorial quality that ensured its fame, this label has turned resolutely towards the future by recently becoming purely digital. This means that its productions are henceforth distributed by all the principal online distributors. The merits of a solely digital collection are irrefutable: in addition to an ecological commitment that is by no means insignificant, we propose turning together towards an era of progress and modernization of the musical industry. Through Fuga Libera, these new vectors of communication will no longer have cause to be jealous of the appeal of the physical CD: superior sound quality, downloading and streaming immediately available anywhere in the world, as well as a complete, visually attractive web-libretto in HD. Fuga Libera thus asserts itself as our label of the future, inviting a curious public to follow it down this path of renovation and rebirth of its catalogue.
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William Byrd
LPH 014
Infelix ego
Collegium Vocale Gent Philippe Herreweghe, cond.
014 Release 09/2
Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent present their third project for Phi focussing on vocal music of the Renaissance. This time, it is the English composer William Byrd (c.1540-1623) who is being honoured. The title of the programme is that of Byrd’s motet Infelix ego, one of the greatest artistic statements of the 16th century. Its text is a meditation on Psalm 50, written by the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, a remarkable man who waged a campaign against the corrupt Medici family in Florence. Taking the form of several rhetorical questions and assertions, the text describes all the emotions felt by a tormented soul: guilt, fear, embarrassment, anger but above all the gift of deliverance upon acceptance of Christ’s mercy. Byrd seems to have felt a powerful emotional connection with the words. The Collegium Vocale Gent also presents the Mass for 5 Voices and a selection of motets by Byrd, along with Alfonso Ferrabosco’s Peccantem me quotidie a5 and Philippus de Monte’s Miserere mei a5.
Franz Schubert
LPH 015
Octet in F major, D. 803 - Quartettsatz in C minor, D.703 Edding Quartet Northernlight
Release 10/2
014
Founded in 2007, the Edding Quartet has quickly become a reference in the interpretation of the Classical and Romantic string quartet repertoires, proposing refined, intelligent readings of these often-heard works. In 2008, the members of the Quartet, along with clarinettist Nicola Boud, bassoonist Julien Debordes, horn player Nicolas Chedmail and bass player Damien Guffroy, founded Northernlight, an ensemble, exploring the masterpieces for string and winds from the Classical and Romantic periods. In January 2014, in Flagey’s Studio 4, in Brussels, the Edding Quartet and Northernlight recorded a programme devoted to Schubert, featuring the great Octet (D.803) - a veritable chamber symphony - and the Quartettsatz (D.703). This project is the beginning of a collaboration between the Edding Quartet and Phi, the label of Philippe Herreweghe with whom the musicians of the Edding Quartet / Northernlight often collaborate.
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Ich will schweigen
RAM 1401
Johann Hermann Schein and the Leipzig Stadpfeiffer tradition Alice Foccroulle Reinoud van Mechelen Béatrice Mayo-Felip David Witczak InAlto - Lambert Colson, cond.
Release 09/2
014
When Johann Hermann Schein became Kantor at the church of Saint Thomas in Leipzig in 1616, he had, on the one hand, to satisfy the liturgical demands of his Lutheran parish and, on the other, compose music that was truly contemporary, sensible to the new style coming out of Italy. Schein exploited the new possibilities brought by the basso continuo, demonstrated his mastery of musical rhetoric and wrote extremely ambitious music of great expressive force. The instrumentation calls for instruments such as the cornet, trombone and dulcian, Schein drawing his musicians from the forces of the Stadtpfeiffer and Ratsmusiker, guilds of instrumentalists attached to the City of Leipzig since the 15th century. For this musical portrait of Schein, one of the greatest German composers of the 17th century and one of J. S. Bach’s most talented predecessors, InAlto presents an itinerary to the sources of the German cantata and testimony to the extraordinary tradition of city musicians perpetuated over the centuries. In addition to Schein’s music, this heritage is represented here by Johann Schelle, Gottfried Reiche and J. S. Bach.
Kingdom of Heaven
RAM 1402
Music of the late Middle Ages by Heinrich Laufenberg and others Ensemble Dragma Agnieszka Budzinska - Jane Achtman - Marc Lewon
Release 10/2
16
014
Heinrich Laufenberg lived and worked between c.1390 and 1460 in the Swiss canton of Argovia, southern Germany and Alsace. He was the author of a vast body of works, comprising spiritual hymns, didactic epics and religious prose. A manuscript housed in the Strasbourg Library, which took up the major part of his work, was completely destroyed in a fire in 1870. Happily, a copy had been made of it, so part of his oeuvre was able to be passed on to posterity. The surviving songs of Heinrich Laufenberg are of great beauty, in terms of both music and content: in one of them, he praises Mary in a thoroughly poetic way; in a lullaby, he asks Jesus’ protection for the sleeping infant; in yet another, he describes for us the kingdom of heaven in detail and in all its richness. This programme, entitled Royaume des cieux, offers us the joy of hearing songs that had remained silent since the 15th century. Between Laufenberg’s lyrical and narrative songs are inserted instrumental pieces from the period. Thus, in an enthusiastic, authentic way, the ensemble Dragma gives life to the music of the late Middle Ages, in a glittering kaleidoscope.
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RIC 346
Digibook 2
DVDs
Francesco Cavalli Elena
Soloists of the Académie Europeenne de Musique du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence Cappella Mediterranea Leonardo García Alarcón, cond.
Recorded live during the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July 2013, Cavalli’s Elena had not been performed for more than 350 years. The international press hailed this rediscovery as one of the major events on the lyric scene.
Release 07/2
RIC 345
Digibook 2
014
CDs
With Jean-Yves Ruf’s imaginative staging, served by an exceptional cast made up of young singers brought together by the Academy of the Aix Festival, this work is also sublimated by the talent of the instrumentalists of the Cappella Mediterranea and the theatrical talent of Leonardo García Alarcón. Elena relates the first adventures of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, coveted by numerous men including Menelaus, who disguises himself as an Amazon to approach her, and Theseus, who abducts her and tries to seduce her to the great displeasure of his legitimate fiancée, Hippolyta. Numerous colourful or tragic characters come to complicate the situations in this mythological farce.
André Modeste Gretry La Caravane du Caire
Les Agrémens Guy van Waas, cond.
014 Release 08/2
Premiered in 1784 at the Académie Royale de Musique, where it ensured the institution’s fortune, La Caravane du Caire was one of Grétry’s most famous operas, its popularity continuing into the 19th century. After the recording made under the direction of Marc Minkowski in 1991, Guy Van Waas proposes an energetic new version that enables us to discover a few variants in relation to the previous version. This production, realized by the Palazzetto Bru Zane of Venice, benefits from a fascinating musicological presentation by Alexandre and Benoît Dratwicki. The libretto is typical of the oriental subjects that were so highly prized in the late 18th century. Here, the beautiful Zélime, sold as a slave to a pasha, is rescued from the seraglio thanks to the courage of her beloved Saint-Phar and the loyalty of another Frenchman, Florestan. The work is peppered with comical situations, tender or bravura arias (including a pastiche of Italian-style coloratura) and embellished with numerous ballets, some of which contribute an original note of exoticism.
17
2 CDs RIC 348
Matthias Weckman Complete Organ Works
Bernard Foccroulle, organ
Release 09/2
RIC 347
Digibook 2
014
CDs
After Buxtehude, Tunder, Reinken, Bruhns, Scheidemann and Böhm, Bernard Foccroulle pursues his exploration of the repertoire of the organists of northern Germany before Bach, with the works of Matthias Weckman. Trained in the entourage of Schütz and having perfect mastery of the profession of Sweelinck’s heirs and all aspects of the Italian style, this composer compels recognition as the keystone in the generation preceding Buxtehude’s. The repertoire tackles the free forms of the new stylus fantasticus but also proposes different forms of pieces inspired by chorale tunes, including two monumental fantasias in several sections. Bernard Foccroulle made this recording on three historic organs: in Hollern, Stade, and primarily on the recently restored organ of the Katharinen Kirche in Hamburg. This constitutes an event that will enchant enthusiasts! Let us recall that, with this double album, Ricercar can offer its faithful public the complete works of Matthias Weckman, the cantatas having been recorded by the Ricercar Consort (RIC 216), and the instrumental music by La Fenice and the harpsichordist Siebe Henstra (RIC 282).
Ich lasse dich nicht Motets of the Bach Family Vox Luminis Lionel Meunier, cond.
Release 10/2
18
014
After its successes in the field of German Baroque religious music, here VOX LUMINIS proposes the first complete recording of the motets by Johann Sebastian Bach’s ancestors. These motets, most of which are written for double choir, blend the old tradition inherited from the polyphony of the Renaissance with expressive work inspired by the fashions of the madrigal. The chorale melodies that are quite frequently associated with these motets contribute this colour typical of the Lutheran liturgical repertoire. Johann Sebastian Bach drew on the family tradition in large part when tackling this genre and mastered this writing that was archaic for its time. The proximity between his compositions and those of his ancestors is astounding, and it is not without reason that the motet providing the title for this recording, Ich lasse dich nicht, is attributed sometimes to Johann Sebastian, sometimes to his uncle Johann Christoph. But beyond the historical considerations, these motets are filled with touching, humble and profound emotion that the talent of the Vox Luminis singers carry to the exceptional level to which the ensemble has accustomed us!
Georg Philipp Telemann
RIC 351
Per la Tromba
Ensemble Aeolus Jean-François Madeuf
014 Release 10/2
ES 7 CDs
RIC 349
LES PLEIAD
It was in Germany, at the beginning of the 18th century, that the virtuosic use of the trumpet and horn developed as much in sacred music as in court music. With the limits of their natural harmonics, these instruments contributed their characteristics to the musical language, even though daring composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and his friend Georg Philipp Telemann tried to increase their possibilities. Moreover, these instruments are also associated with their original functions - war for the trumpet and the hunt for the horn -, and composers cannot avoid making use of those origins from the moment that they entrust chamber music compositions to them. The programme of this disc brings together original compositions that, as in military bands, use only wind instruments: trumpets, horns, oboe and bassoon, sometimes joined by a harpsichord for the basso continuo. Once again, Telemann impresses us with his imagination and talent in mastering the characteristics of each instrument exactly.
German Sacred Baroque Music Ricercar Consort La Fenice Choeur De Chambre De Namur Ex Tempore Bernard Foccroulle
Release 10/2
014
Here already is the second set of LES PLEIADES, ‘the intelligent collection of RICERCAR re-releases’. Again devoted to the German Baroque religious repertoire, this appropriate release focuses on the Nativity repertoire, extending from the early 17th century to the generation of Johann Sebastian Bach who is represented here by a few very beautiful Christmas cantatas. Alongside Schütz’s Christmas Oratorio and lovely Yuletide cantatas by Bach’s contemporary Christoph Graupner, we will find in this set the evocation of Nativity scenes, from the Annunciation up to the Presentation in the Temple, as well as the reconstruction of a Lutheran Christmas service. The compositions by Praetorius, Selle, Tunder, Lübeck, Buxtehude, Scheidt, Hammerschmidt, Schütz and Bruhns will tell you the Christmas story with tenderness and joy. 19
RIC 350
Jean-Philippe Rameau Concerts de Monsieur Rameau Les Dominos
Release 11/2
20
014
Ricercar could not help but participate in celebrating Rameau Year. It is Florence Malgoire’s ensemble LES DOMINOS that pays this tribute with a very rarely played repertoire. This is what Camille Saint-Saëns called Concerts en Sextuor in the edition of Rameau’s works that he undertook at the end of the 19th century. To carry out this monumental project, he started from a manuscript executed, it would seem, by a certain Monsieur Decroix in 1768, i.e., four years after the composer’s death. These Concerts by Monsieur Rameau are, in fact, transcriptions in six parts of the Pièces de Clavecin en Concert that Rameau had conceived at the outset from his harpsichord pieces with accompaniment by violin or flute and bass viol. This adaptation by M. Decroix is quite enigmatic, and Les Dominos give us a colourful reading of it, combining with the strings two emblematic instruments of Rameau’s orchestra: flutes and bassoon.
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Berg / Zemlinsky / Webern
ZZT 345
Berg : Sieben frühe Lieder Zemlinsky : Maeterlinck Gesänge Webern : Passacaille Katrien Baerts, soprano Het Collectief Reinbert de Leeuw, cond.
Release 09/2
014
When it comes to modern music – from the 20th-century repertoire to scores on which the ink is barely dry –, Het Collectief is one of the finest European ensembles. With their sixth disc for Outhere and their first on the Zig-Zag Territoires label, the ensemble returns to the roots of the modern repertoire, interpreting Webern’s Passacaglia and, with soprano Katrien Baert, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Zemlinsky’s Maeterlinck Gesänge. But how, with a chamber ensemble, does one perform this music that was written for orchestra or piano? It means finding transcriptions! Happily, Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor, pianist, composer, teacher, founder of the famous Schönberg Ensemble and eminent personality on the contemporary music scene, has arranged these works. And the icing on the cake: Het Collectief plays these arrangements under the direction of… Reinbert de Leeuw himself!
Sergueï Prokofiev
ZZT 346
Sonatas nos. 5 & 6 - Pensées op. 62 - Music for Children op. 65 Yury Martynov, Steinway piano
014 Release 09/2
For Zig-Zag Territoires, Yury Martynov has undertaken the complete Beethoven symphonies in Liszt’s transcriptions on historic instruments. The third volume of that cycle came out in January 2014 and, like the previous instalments, has enjoyed great critical success. This new release bears witness to another aspect of Yury Martynov’s talent and art, this time grappling with a composer from the avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century, and on a resolutely modern Steinway. On the programme: works from the pre-war years (Sonata No.5, Pensées), as well as a ‘war’ work (Sonata No. 6) and the marvellous 12 pieces that make up the Music for Children, with which apprentice pianists are well familiar. This is therefore a recording that explores two registers quite present in Prokofiev’s work: rich, powerful writing contrasting with melodic, poetic writing.
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Frédéric Chopin
ZZT 347
The 24 Preludes, Op. 28 – 2 posthumous preludes A few mazurkas and an impromptu Andrew Tyson, piano
The Zig-Zag Territoires label, like the Outhere Music group of which it is a part, is particularly attentive to the emergence and support of new talents, of which this CD, the first by the young pianist Andrew Tyson, is a good illustration. But it is also much more than that for it bears witness to the interpretation, already enlightening, of a very great talent and to the birth, on disc, of a singular, poetic voice.
Release 10/2
014
Andrew Tyson has chosen to record the cycle of Chopin’s 24 Preludes, which represent so many different worlds to explore and bring to life. He excels therein thanks to the fantastic variety of timbres that he manages to make blossom on the piano of the Teldex studio in Berlin, and also to an extraordinary contrapuntal capacity.
Robert Schumann
ZZT 352
Etudes symphoniques, Kreisleriana, Toccata Nelson Goerner, piano
After a notable Debussy recital hailed by the international press, Nelson Goerner continues his collaboration with Zig-Zag Territoires in the company of another composer: Robert Schumann.
Release 10/2
014
On the programme: two emblematic works from Schumann’s universe: the Etudes Symphoniques, Op. 13 (including the posthumous etudes) and Kreisleriana, Op. 16, plus a short piece about which Schumann said that it was ‘the most difficult piece ever written’: the Toccata, Op. 7. This new recording clearly demonstrates the fantastic range of Nelson Goerner’s talent, felicitously combining a highly rigorous approach; exceptional generosity and richness of sound.
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Carl Orff
ZZT 353
Carmina Burana
Yeree Suh, soprano Yves Saelens, tenor Thomas Bauer, baritone Cantate Domino Aalst, children’s chorus Collegium Vocale Gent Anima Eterna Brugge Jos Van Immerseel, cond.
Surprise: Anima Eterna tackles Carmina Burana!
Release 10/2
014
Often described as ‘music for amateurs’, sometimes used (or misused) towards purely commercial ends, Orff’s Carmina Burana was clearly ready for a new approach, a sort of revivifying, thorough rethinking. This has now been done, thanks to Jos van Immerseel and the absolutely exceptional musical team that he assembled. Faithful to what accounts for the force of his musical approach, Jos van Immerseel profoundly revolutionizes the sound image and interpretation of this score, thanks both to the very high quality of the chosen performers and to the singularity of the instruments and timbres of his orchestra. So it is a very new way of approaching this work that Jos van Immerseel proposes, open-minded, without concession but with the great pleasure and joy of simply making music.
4 CDs ZZT 348
J.S. Bach - C.P.E. Bach
J.S. BACH: Concerti - Sonatas & Partitas C.P.E. BACH: Sonatas for violin & pianoforte Gli Incogniti Amandine Beyer, violin & cond.
In this set, Zig-Zag Territoires has brought together recordings of works by J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach, made by Amandine Beyer and her ensemble, Gli Incogniti. Thus we have four facets of Amandine Beyer’s talent on display here: the soloist, the concert artist, the chamber player and the conductor. In addition, this set proposes, at a low price, particularly significant works by the Cantor of Leipzig and his son Carl Philipp-Emanuel.
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4 CDs ZZT 349
Vivaldi / Corelli
A.VIVALDI: The Four Seasons and other concertos A.CORELLI: Concerti Grossi op. 6 Gli Incogniti Amandine Beyer, violin & cond.
Release 10/2
014
This VIVALDI/CORELLI/BEYER collection groups interpretations by Amandine Beyer and the ensemble Gli Incogniti of major works by two Italian composers: Vivaldi and Corelli. Here again, Amandine Beyer demonstrates her exceptional talent as both a violinist and ‘bandleader’, giving these works, which illustrate the art of the concerto at the beginning of the 18th century, a certain Italian vocal quality in a particularly felicitous and invigorating interpretation. All of the CDs in this set were unanimously hailed by the press.
Tango!
ZZT 350
Aspects of the Tango, from Astor Piazzolla to Gustavo Beytelmann Quatuor Caliente Ensemble Contraste Ensemble Astoria Vincent Peirani François Salque
014 Release 10/2
This set is a journey to the heart of the Tango and also the occasion to be convinced, if need be, of the importance of this music and of the full singularity of a language that crosses styles and strikes a profound chord in us. In fact, this set constitutes a quadruple portrait of the Tango, bringing together four recordings from the Outhere Music catalogue, made by four different ensembles: the Caliente Quartet, the Ensemble Contraste, the Ensemble Astoria and the duo formed by cellist François Salque and accordionist Vincent Peirani. This low-priced set also traces the evolution of this language, from Piazzolla to Beytelmann, including the byways taken by the Salque Peirani duo. A whole history... and quite a story!
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7 CDs ZZT 351
J. S. Bach / C. P. E. Bach Bach and Sons
Les Nièces de Rameau Gli Incogniti Ensemble à deux Fleustes Esgales Chiara Banchini, violin Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, harpsichord Guido Balestracci, viola da gamba Amandine Beyer, violin
Release 10/2
014
On the occasion of C.P.E. Bach’s birthday, Zig-Zag Territoires brings together, in a 7-CD set, the principal recordings from its catalogue devoted to chamber works and concertos by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his father, Johann Sebastian. By the father, we can hear, in particular, the Sonatas for violin and harpsichord, the Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, the Violin Concertos... The son is represented by the Trio Sonatas for two equal flutes and continuo and the Sonatas for violin and pianoforte.
Ludwig van Beethoven
ZZT 354
Violin Concerto, Op. 61 Two Romances for violin and orchestra, Op. 40 & 50 Lorenzo Gatto, violin Ensemble Pelléas Benjamin Levy, cond.
014 Release 11/2
Lorenzo Gatto won 2nd prize at the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition and was elected ‘Rising Star 2010-11’. Beyond these prestigious awards and distinctions hailing a virtuoso, what is interesting about this young violinist is first of all the musician, particularly refined, rigorous, and also generous. His encounter with the Ensemble Pelléas and its conductor, Benjamin Levy, took place easily, precisely round these musical notions and orientations. In fact, this particular orchestra gets together uniquely for projects that strongly motivate each of its members. Their version of these universally known works reflects their respective convictions, an approach that is as demanding and ambitious as it is humble and respectful. This is a recording that will endure.
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Mélina Tobiana
OTN 022
Mélina Tobiana, voice Stéphan Moutot, saxophone Emmanuel Duprey, piano Rémy Voide, double bass Martin Guimbellot, double bass
Release 11/2
014
Born of two actor parents, Mélina Tobiana is a true child of the theatre. Happy onstage, she is even more so with her partners in the quintet that, with her amongst the five, constitutes the basis of this recording. In this quintet everyone plays, everyone composes, and Mélina is not an exception for, in addition to the singer, she is also a pianist and composer. This is her first CD. She and Outnote discovered each other thanks to a sampler sent and listened to (yes, that does happen!), then a few concerts and après-concerts. Sometime later, the quintet got together in the Sequenza studio with two other accomplices, Franck Jaffrès and Philippe Tessier du Cros, confirmed virtuosos on the recording console. Thus, this first disc speaks of encounters... and it is an encounter on the border between jazz, pop, rhythm ‘n’ blues...
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