The birthdays of Brahms (1833-1897) and Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) fall on 7th May. The 127th day of the year also marks the night of the première of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in 1824, the foundation of the Council of Europe in 1948 – and the day of the recording session leading to this album, in Vienna, on a Bösendorfer Concert Grand 280VC with Armenian pianist and Bösendorfer Artist Nareh Arghamanyan in 2019. Nareh, acclaimed for her ‘sensual narrative tone’, ‘precise stylistic approach’ and ‘dazzling technique’, juxtaposes two vignettes of the Romantic piano repertoire: Brahms Opus 117 and Tchaikovsky’s Opus 37.
 
Above the music of the first of Brahms’ Intermezzi Op. 117 of 1892, he quotes the opening of Johann Gottfried Herder’s German setting of Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament; he described the third, in C-sharp Minor, which allegedly was inspired by Henry Longfellow’s Victor Galbraith, as ‘the lullaby of all my sorrows’. Clara Schumann, arguably their covert dedicatee, confided to her diary that these compositions are ‘a true source of enjoyment, everything, poetry, passion, rapture, intimacy, full of the most marvellous effects … in these pieces at least I feel musical life stir once again in my soul.’

Tchaikovsky was working on Swan Lake, when he accepted a commission in 1875 from Nikolay Bernard, publisher of music periodical Nouvellist to compose twelve miniatures, each describing a different month of the year. The Seasons have become Tchaikovsky’s best-known piano works – Troika (November) was a favourite encore of Rachmaninoff's.
 

Released by Penny Fiddle Records, with digital distribution by Ulysses Arts
Producer and recording engineer: Simon Fox-Gal
Mastering engineer: John Croft
UPC 5056495471370

Ulysses Arts releases Bosnia-born British-resident pianist Damir Durmanovic's debut solo release of Schubert's great Piano Sonata in A, D.959, on Friday 19 March. Damir comments:

'Schubert described Mozart as "the Christ of music": written in the last months of Schubert's life, this Sonata is his homage to Mozart, but bursting with Schubert's distinctive playfulness, with mercurial changes of mood, virtuoso hand-crossing, and sudden moments of darkness.' Recording this work as his solo debut release combines Damir's love of both these composers.

You can hear Damir playing on Ulysses Arts' recordings of Franck and Debussy with violinist Dillon Jeffares released in July 2020; we are delighted to be now releasing his first solo recording too.

Follow Damir Durmanovic on Spotify

Ulysses Arts launches Silent Sirens, an album of music composed and performed by Stephen Horne, in the spring of 2021. One of the world's leading silent film performers, Stephen Horne is pianist in residence at the British Film Institute at London's Southbank Centre. Prior to the release of Silent Sirents, we are releasing singles from the album, starting with Beyond the Trees on Friday 19 March, followed by Will You Wait? on 16 April and Faces of Children on 14 May.

Click above to download or pre-order on iTunes

Stephen Horne comments: 'I have been a silent film pianist and composer for over thirty years. What began as an intriguing musical sideline developed gradually into a full-time nomadic career, accompanying more than a thousand films in more than twenty countries. During that time I developed hundreds of musical themes and it has long been my ambition to record an album, incorporating some of these into musical pieces.
 
The tracks on this album are intended to stand alone from the films by which they were initially inspired. However, most of these films have two things in common. Firstly, they share a certain haunting quality, leaving unanswered questions to reverberate in the viewer’s mind long after ‘The End’. Secondly, at least for me, the strongest impression is made by the films’ leading women – the actresses and their roles. Combining these two elements suggested the theme of Silent Sirens.
 
While the music of Silent Sirens stands on its own, in general terms inspiration has come from The First Born, The Manxman, Varieté, The Informer, Tonka of the Gallows, Menilmontant, Stella Dallas, L'Hirondelle et La Mésange and Visages d’Enfants. For those who are interested, some of the titles are taken directly from the films’ inter-titles. A couple of the pieces are purely personal, with no connection to any film.'

About 'Will You Wait?'

The melody of ‘Will You Wait?’ was originally the love theme in my score for Hitchcock’s film ‘The Manxman’. The title is taken from a pivotal moment in the romantic triangle at the centre of its story. Pete Quilliam has always loved Kate Cregeen, but she secretly desires his best friend Philip Christian. On the eve of leaving to make his fortune in America, Pete asks Kate ‘Will You Wait?’ Blithely thinking that he will never return, she says "Yes Pete, I’ll wait."

Download Beyond the Trees on iTunes or Stream on Apple Music

Follow Stephen Horne on Spotify

Follow Stephen Horne on Deezer

1. Purcell: The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation

2. J. S. Bach: Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209

3. Handel: Guardian Angels, from The Triumph of Time & Truth, HWV 71

4. Mozart: Ah’ lo Previdi - ah t’invola agl’occhi miei, K 272

5. Finzi: Dies Natalis [1]

Margaret Marshall comments: ‘I’m thrilled that Songbird has been released digitally. I retired from professional singing fifteen years ago and never imagined I would be releasing ‘new’ music. But thanks to wonderfully supportive friends, here it is! Alongside music by Purcell, J.S. Bach, Handel and Mozart – composers and works I loved to sing – is Finzi’s beautiful Dies Natalis, best known for tenors but also a wonderful sing for sopranos.’
 
Miss Marshall shares her experience of singing these works on her new website www.margaretmarshallsongbird.com

Margaret Marshall is one of the finest discoveries of recent years. A perfect technique carries this radiant voice, more varied in colour than some of her world-famous colleagues, full of life and energy, of exquisite expression where the vocalisation pours forth inner enchantment and surpasses technical virtuosity.[2]

[1] 1 and 4: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mosche Atzmon and Hanns-Martin Schneidt; 2: Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, Hans Zender; 3. NDR Elbphilharmonie Orkester; Günther Weissenborn: 5. Mainz Chamber Orchestra, Günter Kehr

[2] J.S. Bach, Easter Oratorio, Kurt Redel (conductor), Le Monde, 20 April 1976

REVIEWS

Graham Rickson in The Arts Desk

Planet Hugill

'I urge all devotees of fine singing to enjoy this previously unheard testimony to the enduring appeal of Margaret Marshall’s lovely voice.'
Ralph Moore, MusicWeb International

Francisco Salazar in OperaWire

Press and radio inquiries to Ulysses Arts via our 'Contact Us' details below.

Ulysses Arts launches Franco-Belgian pianist Antoine Préat's first solo album, Polyphony, on 15 January 2021, with music by J.S. Bach, Chopin and Scriabin. Polyphony follows Antoine's debut recording of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.31, Op.110, released by Ulysses Arts in June 2020.

J.S. Bach, Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911
Chopin, Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61
Scriabin, Sonate-Fantaisie, Op. 19

Antoine comments: 'Born into a Baroque-fanatic family in Paris, I grew up immersed in the sound of the 'cello and harpsichord. I have always been intrigued by polyphonic music, with deep emotion contained within a perfectly assembled puzzle. I started this theme with Beethoven’s Op.110; my debut album of Bach, Chopin and Scriabin continues this exploration of intricate polyphony in the solo piano repertoire.’

Antoine Préat

Described by Radio France as ‘one of the most gifted pianists of the younger generation’ and as ‘a young artist with a distinctive voice’, Franco-Belgian pianist Antoine Préat is establishing himself as a soloist and chamber musician. 

Since his orchestral debut at 17, playing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the Orchestra of Alicante, Antoine has performed with The Tonerl Chamber Orchestra, Sainsbury Soloists, Academy Festival Orchestra, London Student Orchestra and Resonate Chamber Ensemble.  

Winner of Making Music's Philip and Dorothy Green Award 2020, and recently appointed City Music Foundation Artist 2020, Antoine performs regularly in Europe and the United States in halls such as the Salle Cortot, Salle Gaveau, Wigmore Hall, Thayer Hall, Paris Beaux Arts Museum and Frederyk Chopin Institute. His performances have been broadcast by the BBC, Scala Radio and France Musique.

Performance highlights include festivals such as the Nohant Chopin Festival, Lisztomanias, Chopin à Bagatelle, Les Concerts d’Esther, Marathon Chopin, Les Nuits du Piano in Paris, IMS Prussia Cove, Encuentro de Santander. An avid chamber musician, Antoine was the youngest artist invited to join the Centre de Musique de Chambre de Paris, directed by Jérôme Pernoo, with whom he gave a concert series at the Salle Cortot sponsored by Deutsche Gramophone. He has been a finalist or prizewinner in numerous competitions such as the Ettlingen Competition for Young Pianists, Concours International de la Ville de Gagny, Concours international d’Ile de France and received an honour prize at the New York Début Piano Competition.

Having completed his postgraduate course with honours at the Ecole Normale de Paris with Ludmilla Berlinskaia and Guigla Katsrava, Antoine continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Tatiana Sarkissova and Christopher Elton, receiving a Master of Arts and the DipRam, its highest qualification.

To enrich his understanding of the instrument and its repertoire, Antoine began to study fortepiano and period instruments with Carole Cerasi at the Royal Academy and has also been guided from artists such as Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Philippe Cassard, Alberta Alexandrescu, Robert Levin, Jerome Lowenthal, Richard Goode, Imogen Cooper and Stephen Hough.

Antoine is supported by The City Music Foundation, Talent Unlimited, Hattori Foundation and Making Music.

... et maintenant en français:

- Beethoven Sonate op°110 en La Majeur
Single de promotion sorti le 19 Juin 2020, playlisté par Apple Music, recueillant plus de 50,000 écoutes
- Bach Toccata en Do mineur BWV911, Chopin Polonaise Fantaisie op°65, Scriabin Sonate n°2 op°19 sorti le 15 Janvier 2021, playlisté par Spotify dans “Classical New Releases”

Vidéo de promotion: https://youtu.be/VWMMPV8-JR8

L’album

'Mon premier album, enregistré à Londres au courant de cette tumultueuse année 2020, se focalise sur l’évolution de l’écriture polyphonique au fil des différentes époques. Vouant une affection particulière à J.S Bach, je souhaitais souligner son influence sur le processus de composition de ses successeurs. Si Bach lui-même fut influencé par ses prédécesseurs, tels que Buxtehude ou Kerll.

il demeure la figure ‘phare’ de la période baroque et de l’écriture polyphonique (que ce soit sous forme de fugue, de choral, d’aria ou de sonate). Toutes les pièces de cet album jouent aussi sur la liberté de la forme musicale: une Toccata comprenant un choral et deux fugues, une Sonate de Beethoven avec ses multiples fugues et arias, la Polonaise-Fantaisie, alternant marche patriotique,
choral et mélodie accompagnées, et la Sonate de Scriabin en deux mouvements.)

Dans ses dernières années, Beethoven se tourne à nouveau vers la musique de Bach et de Haendel, qu’il avait toujours beaucoup admirés. Cette influence est très présente dans ses œuvres dites “de la troisième période” (qui fut d’ailleurs sa dernière), au cours de laquelle il composa certaines de ses œuvres les plus acclamées : la Hammerklavier, les trois dernières sonates pour piano, le quatuor op°131, la Grosse Fugue op°133, Die Weihe des Hauses op°124.

Beethoven, éclatant la forme classique et ouvrant grand la porte à ses successeurs romantiques, insuffle un souffle nouveau à la forme fuguée et à la polyphonie complexe du XVIIIème siècle. Frédéric Chopin est souvent considéré (à tort selon moi) comme le “romantique” par excellence, le
symbole du rubato à outrance interprété avec une mièvrerie mal placée. Il était très important pour moi d’établir un parallèle entre l’oeuvre de Chopin celle de Bach car non seulement Chopin portait une véritable adoration à son vénérable prédécesseur, mais leurs oeoeuvres ne sont pas si éloignées les unes des autres bien qu’appartenant à un style et une époque différents. Si l’on étudie avec attention les compositions de Chopin, on constate que ce qui peut à première vue être qualifié de “mélodie accompagnée” se révèle souvent bien plus complexe et polyphonique qu’il n’y parait (les accompagnements notamment comprennent bien souvent un contrepoint développé en plusieurs lignes mélodiques). Enfin, le rubato dont on parle tant chez Chopin me rappelle la notion d’ ‘élan’ et de respiration en musique Baroque, et ne devrait pas conduire à ce qualificatif de “sentimentalisme” (simplement parce qu’il s’agit la de musique dite ‘romantique’, si la respiration n’est pas naturelle, l’interpretation ne l’est pas plus).

Alexandre Scriabin est le seul compositeur présent qui ne se soit pas réclamé de Bach de son vivant. C’est ce qui me semblait si intéressant: Scriabin, si inspiré au début de sa vie par Chopin, reflète souvent l’influence que Bach a eu sur la musique ‘classique’ à travers sa manière de composer, son sens de l’architecture, de la structure et de la complexité des voix intérieures de certaines de ses partitions.

Quelques mots

Ayant étudié le clavecin et la musique baroque dès mon enfance, ce thème me tient vraiment à coœur, et je suis ravi d’avoir pu l’explorer à travers ce premier disque. Je tiens à preciser que ce disque devait également sortir en magasin, mais la deuxième journée d’enregistrement (Bach, Chopin, Scriabin) ayant été décalée de plusieurs mois à cause du COVID-19, et le piano premièrement utilisé ayant été endommagé, j’ai dû séparer la sonate de Beethoven et le reste de l’album.'

Antoine Préat, janvier 2021

The Büyükada Ensemble releases its first recording, made from its IBB TV live broadcast in September 2020, with Warlock's Capriol Suite, on 18 December. Comprising members of the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and musicians from the UK and Germany, the Ensemble's recording is conducted by James Ross.

Download the recording on iTunes at https://music.apple.com/album/warlock-capriol-suite-ep/1542085175

The Büyükada Ensemble's live broadcast was supported by the European Union Delegation to Turkey, Adalar Municipality and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Further recordings from the live broadcast, including Saygun Allegretto from the Solo 'Cello Partita with Lale Efendiev and Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht, will be released during 2021.

Recording Engineer: Kıvılcım Konca
Mastering and Post-Production: John Croft - Chiaro Audio
UPC 5054526832473 (Warlock)
UPC 5056495392750 (Debussy)

Ulysses Arts launches double bass player Valentina Ciardelli's recording of the Andante Cantabile from Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata in celebration of the great composer's birthday on 16 December 2020. This is the first of a series of singles Ulysses Arts is releasing, recording during the Pandemic, including Valentina's arrangements and her own original compositions, with Questi cazzi di bicordo - a vituoso double-stopping extravaganza for double bass - released on 28 January 2021, with Vissi d'arte from Puccini's Tosca on 19 March and the Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria rustivana on 2 April.

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

OTHER STREAMING LINKS

https://www.valentinaciardelli.com

CLICK HERE TO STREAM ON SPOTIFY

1. Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751): Sonata in D Minor, Op. 4 No. 1: I. Adagio

2. Antonio Bertali (1605–1669): Ciaccona in C Major

3. Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729): Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major: II. Adagio

4. Andrea Falconieri (ca. 1585–1656): Il Primo Libro di Canzone: Brando dicho el Melo;
Corriente dicha la Mota, echa para Don Pedro dela Mota

5. Giovanni Battista Fontana (1589–1630): Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major

Tracks 1–4: Maximiliane Norwood (Baroque Violin), Jacopo Sabina (Theorbo)
Track 5: Maximiliane Norwood (Baroque Violin), Cornelia Demmer (Theorbo), Chloé de Guillebon (Virginal)

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_loIkTOZMHg0EVt4MoOZHc1aL2DUlMGBkM

UPC: 5054526304741

…out of silence

Louth Contemporary Music Society proudly announces a bold initiative for these uncertain times: a series of recordings put together under the exceptional conditions of the pandemic, …out of silence lets listeners eavesdrop on music-making of extraordinary care and intimacy.

The recordings feature world-renowned composers attuned to the intricacies of silence as much as sound. Performances are by musicians of equal sensitivity and expertise.

The first ...out of silence release is Meadow, by Linda Catlin Smith, born in New York but long resident in Canada. Perhaps her music required a move away, a quieter environment, a different pace, another view.

It is not city music. Rather, in its tuning and atmosphere, it suggests natural landscapes.

“A meadow”, the composer has said, “is a simple place, with elements that are there quite naturally; it’s not a spectacular garden, but if you look closely there are many different types of plants and tiny flowers. It is a place of infinite variation.”

This is how the music goes, weaving a meadow, weaving through a meadow, in stray fragments of tune that will be repeated until they dissolve or give way to something else, through chord sequences that move slowly but inexorably.

Listeners are drawn into this gentle but alert music by three outstanding Irish string players: Mia Cooper, violin, Joachim Roewer, viola and Bill Butt, 'cello.

There is no hurry, no need to hurry. To quote Linda Catlin Smith again, “I like to sit with things for a while, to dwell in the material, to have a chance to listen.” This is the experience she provides in Meadow.

On the cover of the album is a striking image by the Irish artist Alice Maher.

Release date: 11 December 2020 (5 February 2021: North America)

Future releases will present music by Valentin Silvestrov and Raymond Deane on 5 March 2021, and Swiss master of unexpected simplicity Jürg Frey, with whom Louth Contemporary Music Society has over several years developed a close relationship.

...out of silence is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and supported financially by Create Louth.

BBC RADIO 3 RECORD REVIEW - at 1'54"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000qy2z

Chariots of Fire - links

Spotify Album URI spotify:album:5e2UQutDh0uGpYqLbdOncb
Spotify Album URL: http://open.spotify.com/album/5e2UQutDh0uGpYqLbdOncb
Spotify Track URI: spotify:track:70ro82XapxkjBCnAPNLjaq
Spotify Track URL: http://open.spotify.com/track/70ro82XapxkjBCnAPNLjaq

iTunes URL: https://music.apple.com/album/chariots-of-fire-from-chariots-of-fire-single/1535227141
Apple Music URL: https://music.apple.com/album/chariots-of-fire-from-chariots-of-fire-single/1535227141
Album Apple ID: 1535227141

Deezer: https://deezer.page.link/cqf3S7CcN9fGeMLr6

YouTube: https://youtu.be/sNnD6AkZ5U4