Rossini considered the ‘mezzo’ voice to be his ideal, stating that ‘the contralto is the norm against which the other voices and instruments of the composition must be gauged.’ Containing numerous premiere recordings, this penultimate release in Alessandro Marangoni’s acclaimed traversal of Rossini’s complete piano music is vibrant with national colours from France, Italy and Spain, and rich in emotions of sadness and love, from the tragic Adieux à la vie! sung on a single note, to the sustained operatic embellishments of Questo palpito soave.

Aureliano in Palmira is unique in Rossini’s oeuvre for its inclusion of the only role, Arsace, that Rossini wrote for the castrato voice. Its tale of tragic defeat and the ultimate nobility and triumph of love in seemingly impossible circumstances is a refined and highly innovative example of his style.

Of all English oratorios Handel’s Messiah has always been the most overwhelmingly popular. It is the least theatrical of his oratorios and the most purely sacred in its choice of subject matter. The vivid choral writing- there are more choruses in Messiah than in any other Handel oratorio- coupled with the expressive density of the solo arias, have ensured its status as one of the greatest choral masterpieces in the Western canon. Since winning the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award and conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, Edward Polochick has attracted international attention as an orchestral, operatic, and choral conductor. He is the founding Artistic Director of Concert Artists of Baltimore since 1987.

The considerable variety of Johann Sebastian Bach’s output for the lute stands witness to different periods of his life and career. This collection comprises Bach’s complete lute works, amply demonstrating his interest in its expressive qualities. These works include the technically demanding Partita BWV 1006a, Bach’s own transcription of his Cello Suite No. 5, three pieces from the St John Passion and the St Matthew Passion where the lute appears in an ensemble setting, and the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, BWV 998, described by the renowned harpsichordist Wanda Landowska as ‘of incomparable beauty… unique amongst Bach’s works’.

Little is known about Peeter Cornet’s biography. Only a few dates are available : he was probably born around 1575, was the organist in the musical chapel of Archdukes Albert and Isabelle at the Spanish court of Brussels, married Maria Cuypers in 1611 at Notre-Dame de la Chapelle in Brussels and was buried in Notre-Dame au Sablon in 1633. His compositions are of great quality, both contrapuntally and melodically. They give a glimpse into a rich personality and show great creativity. Flexibility and fluidity are fundamental components of the composer’s musical discourse, whose quality is comparable to that of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Francisco Correa de Arauxo, Girolamo Frescobaldi and all the other organists who make the splendour of the early seventeenth century organ repertoire."

Known as "La Diva," "La Diosa," or "Mexico's musical ambassador," because she has brought Mexican music to every continent on the planet; He is a descendant of a dynasty of artists of enormous importance. His Mother María Alma, singer-songwriter of Mexico's golden age, known for songs such as "Compréndeme", "Tuya" and Fernando Z. Maldonado, orchestra director, arranger and composer of well-known songs like "Volver, Volver", "Hermoso Affection, "or" Clown. "He has an impressive voice and plays in different genres of Latin America, such as Bolero, mariachi, or the romantic ballad.

In September 2017, during the Brussels Chopin Days, the annual concert season entirely dedicated to the music of the Polish composer, Vestard Shimkus gave a recital that unveiled his irrefutable and oh so personal sense of construction, combined with a narrative power as rare as it is spellbinding, thus confirming his place at the apex among the most striking pianists of the new generation. © Artalinna

Dreams Laid Down brings to life the works of several acclaimed composers, evoking a tender, reflective atmosphere. Inspired by sources from the Beatles to the poetry of Rinehart’s wife, the album creates an intimate aural experience that is as personal to the listener as it is to the artist himself. The title track, composed by Michael Karmon, is named after a book of poems by Rinehart’s wife Janice Notland. Karmon animated six of her poems with thoughtful, evocative compositions. Contrast this with composer John Oliver’s Ancient Heroes Suite. Oliver, inspired by ancient music conventions, worked with dance-oriented rhythms in experimental time signatures that recall melodies resonating through ancient halls, while filtering them through a modern context.

With her Navona debut I CLOSE MY EYES IN ORDER TO SEE, accomplished Canadian flutist Sara Hahn demonstrates her exceptional sensitivity for emotional nuance coupled with great virtuosic capability, but most of all: the healing power of music itself.

After Polyeucte (1878), Gounod tackled the operatic genre for the last time in 1881 with what is probably his most ambitious work, Le Tribut de Zamora. The action takes place in ninth-century Spain – from Act Two onwards, on ‘a picturesque site on the banks of the Guadalquivir before Córdoba’. Here Gounod – finally noted more for his neoclassical pastiches (Le Médecin malgré lui and Cinq-Mars) and his ardent Romanticism (Faust and Roméo et Juliette) – was given an opportunity to display his talents as an orchestrator and colourist in an exotic setting. He produced an epic in the tradition of French grand opéra, with numerous ensembles and showpiece airs.

How can something as intimate as a musical moment shared between two people open up the door to endless possibilities? Discover the answer in Art for Two, a collection of works by acclaimed composer Arthur Gottschalk and performed by Italian woodwind extraordinaires Sauro Berti and Mario Ciaccio, accompanied by the skilled hands of pianist Naomi Fujiya. In each piece, the performers call listeners into the moment as they traverse art music inspired by sources from traditional Jewish hymns to Frank Zappa.

Bandleader Harald Lassen is conquering the world with his band Lassen, which includes Belgian hot shot pianist Bram de Looze (LABtrio) and a Norwegian rhythm section reminiscent of the seventies jazz heyday - Tore Flatjord (drums) and Stian Andersen (bass).

In tandem with his multi-instrumentalist brother Orestes, bassist Israel "Cachao" López introduced to Cuban music the African rhythms that transformed the island's traditional danzón into what is now known as the mambo – he also pioneered the descarga, the late-night jam sessions that revolutionized the sound and scope of Afro-Cuban pop and jazz.

French intellectuals, especially musicians and writers, were enchanted by the magic of Richard Wagner's music, but they earnestly wanted to pursue new ideas for what might follow. They believed that music and art should be free from 'German elements' and they consequently wanted to establish a decidedly contrasting, French style of music. It was for this reason that Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns set up the Societé Nationale de Musique in 1871, tasking it with supporting new French compositions. Successive composers were fascinated by new developments in the great French music tradition and experimented with modal alternatives and aspects of counterpoint. Compositional clarity was expected to express the simple but poetic relationship between music and text, drawing on graceful melodic lines and a Renaissance-like serenity of expression.

Although he was particularly renowned for his music for harpsichord and for guitar, British composer Stephen Dodgsons was a versatile craftsman of chamber music. The examples here reveal his intricate but surprising turns of phrase, from the subtle exploration of sonorities in the Septet Variations to the sunlit beauty of the Pastoral Sonata. Dodgson’s mastery of color and texture is evident in his Solway Suite, while the early Capriccio and Finale treats the listener to a kaleidoscope of whimsical and witty interludes.