Songs without words

On his debut recording for harmonia mundi, Raphaël Sévère, together with his long-time friend and musical companion Adam Laloum, invites us to revisit some of the finest lieder by Schumann, Brahms, and Wagner in superb transcriptions for clarinet and piano.

In these refined and poignant “songs without words,” clarinet and piano display both delicacy and imagination to capture such diverse musical universes as Schumann’s amorous intimacy, Brahms’s sensual meditation, or Wagner’s ecstatic dreams. These transcriptions, made by Raphaël Sévère himself, reveal the music’s transparency and tenderness, enhanced by Adam Laloum’s infinitely subtle piano playing.

Ravel, or the circle squared

With this triple album of solo piano and chamber music, Julien Libeer takes us on a journey into the sound world of one of his favourite composers: Maurice Ravel.

In the friendly company of violinist Lorenzo Gatto and cellist Bruno Philippe, Julien Libeer examines the contrasts of Ravel’s oeuvre which is both sensual and rigorous, classical and visionary. Equal parts clarity and mystery, here the composer reveals himself in all his complexity, whether it be his allegiance to the past or his radical modernity. The art of achieving a perfect balance – of squaring the circle! – which the performers exhibit here with abundant brilliance and imagination.

Mozart(s) with a smile

In their debut recording for harmonia mundi, Florent Albrecht and his Ensemble L’Encyclopédie explore the mischievous and playful side of the Mozarts: Leopold the father and Wolfgang the son.

Ranging from Leopold’s “Toy Symphony” and “Musical Sleigh Ride” to Wolfgang’s “Serenata notturna” and “Musical Joke,” this programme celebrates the spirit of the Enlightenment through musical gems full of wit, invention, and amiable irony. Whether depicting a rustic fantasy or Viennese elegance, the genius of Mozartian humour unfolds in all its subtlety and refinement, enhanced by the use of period instruments and the performers’ irresistible dramatic flair.

Bach from Italy

In this exhilarating double album, Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti explore the influence of Italian composers on J.S. Bach’s concertante compositions. A border-crossing journey not to be missed!

Contrary to the usual image of Bach as an austere introvert, Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti reveal him as an inquisitive composer with a keen interest in the musical advances made by his Italian contemporaries. In this fascinating cross-cultural exchange, the music of Vivaldi and the brothers Marcello dialogues with that of the Leipzig Cantor, illuminating the sunniest and liveliest side of his genius.

A “humanist” requiem

Having already recorded such masterworks of 18th-century sacred music as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor and the Mozart Requiem, Raphaël Pichon and the Ensemble Pygmalion turn their attention to a Romantic inheritor of that liturgical tradition, Johannes Brahms, and offer us a chance to hear the profoundly human dimension of his “German Requiem” with fresh ears.

Featuring two extraordinary soloists, soprano Sabine Devieilhe and baritone Stéphane Degout, this reading is a world removed from the grand and awesome visions of the Last Judgement typical of other settings of the Mass for the Dead. Reconnecting, instead, with Brahms’s original conception of a work of “consolation for those who are suffering,” the performers achieve a form of polyphonic transparency that confounds the senses and transcends the universality of its message.

A lifelong devotion

In his cycle “The Viola in My Life,” Morton Feldman gave the solo instrument an intimate, quasi confessional voice. It is no exaggeration to say that Antoine Tamestit completely identifies with this work, in which the composer is able to imagine a whole life in a single note!

Antoine Tamestit: “This work has accompanied me like a secret, an almost silent meditation on what the viola means in my life. Through it, I have experienced how much this instrument connects me to listening, to patience, to inwardness. Here Morton Feldman is not composing in order to shine, but so as to make us hear the infinitesimal, the unspeakable – that is what has touched me profoundly, and I want to share it with the listeners.”

A John Rutter celebration

On the occasion of John Rutter’s 80th birthday, Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College (the Cambridge institution whose first Director of Music the composer became in the mid-1970s) pay homage to this iconic figure in English choral singing.

This new recording highlights the richness and diversity of John Rutter’s creative pursuits. Alongside essential masterpieces, we can hear works dating from his younger days as well as compositions recorded here for the very first time. Happy birthday, Sir John!

Telemann violin concertos

Isabelle Faust continues her fascinating exploration of Georg Philipp Telemann’s violin repertoire with this new album featuring his opulent and inventive music.

A highly prolific composer and a pioneer of the concerto genre in Germany, Telemann left us numerous works in which the violin takes centre stage. Showcasing its virtuosity, its gift for imitation, and its lyricism, the instrument is deployed here in all its facets. Alongside several notable concertos, an Overture, a Suite, and a Fantasy complete this vivid portrait of the composer, enhanced by the dazzling energy of the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin.

Our “roaring twenties”!

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth and the orchestra’s players were keen to revisit the colourful atmosphere of the Belle Époque by performing in its temple: the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

The programme, recorded live at the legendary venue, brings together shimmering orchestral masterpieces that marked the musical imagination of their time: alongside Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” here is a chance to (re)discover Lalo’s all-too-rare “Namouna” and Roussel’s dazzling “Bacchus and Ariadne.”

Gluck’s aesthetic revolution

Paul Agnew, the ensemble Les Arts Florissants, and a trio of exceptional soloists—Reinoud Van Mechelen, Ana Vieira Leite, and Julie Roset—bring us a deeply compelling reading of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s operatic masterpiece in the 1774 version he prepared for Paris.

DIAPASON d’OR

With his “Orphée et Eurydice,” Gluck shattered the operatic conventions prevailing in Paris by reworking one of his earlier Vienna triumphs for the court of Marie-Antoinette. The first milestone in an out-and-out aesthetic revolution, this French-language version proved to be a crucial divide in operatic history. That fresh wind of change has been recaptured for us to rediscover by the formidable team gathered on this recording.

William Lawes, heard with fresh ears

With their debut album for harmonia mundi, Robin Pharo and his ensemble “Près de votre oreille” (whose name translates as “Close to your ear”) transport us into the highly poetical world of a most original 17th-century English musician: William Lawes.

A brilliant heir to William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, the gifted Lawes (honoured with the title of “Father of Music” by king Charles I) brought an unprecedented degree of refinement to the art of the viol consort, as well as vocal music – a genre for which he is still too little known. A welcome rediscovery that both surprises and dazzles.

An operatic rarity by J.A. Hasse

With this release, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Bernhard Forck deliver a dazzling performance of “Piramo e Tisbe,” an all-too-little-known gem by Johann Adolf Hasse. Sung by Anett Fritsch, Roberta Mameli, and Jeremy Ovenden, this “intermezzo tragico” astonishes by the intensity and modernity of its musical language.

Forbidden love, the extremes of passion, and a soaring lyricism… In “Piramo e Tisbe,” one of his very last operas, Hasse broke with the rigid conventions of opera seria and created a musical jewel. This new recording of its moving and inventive score admired by Mozart restores all its colours and expressive force.

Bach trio sonatas

Isabelle Faust and Kristian Bezuidenhout continue their exploration of J.S. Bach’s chamber music output. Joined by cellist Kristin von der Goltz, they give new life to a sumptuous body of work that is far too rarely recorded.

Bach’s Sonatas for Violin and Continuo are too often overshadowed by his six sonatas for violin and harpsichord… Unjustly so, for each of them—along with his other music for violin and continuo—is a gem of virtuosity and poetry, revealing a composer who is by turn inventive, refined, and profoundly expressive. Every page here illuminates some little-known and captivating aspect of Bach’s art—and will surprise anyone who thought they already knew the Leipzig Cantor’s work inside out!

Virtuosissimo!

Javier Perianes explores the musical universe of his adoptive compatriot: Domenico Scarlatti. Drawing from the composer’s vast body of work, which is full of fantasy and stylistic freedom, the pianist offers a unique overview of this pioneer of the solo-keyboard sonata.

A visionary figure, Scarlatti expanded the boundaries of keyboard writing, fusing radiant melodies with spirited rhythms and daring technical feats. In this compendium of the composer’s most attractive sonatas, Perianes employs his consummate virtuosity with audible enjoyment, revealing all the richness and inventiveness of Scarlatti’s musical language.