čes | eng | fra | deu

World music CD DVD shop and Classic distribution

 

CHANSONS - JOHANNES CICONIA - GUILLAUME DUFAY - Fortuna

CHANSONS - JOHANNES CICONIA - GUILLAUME DUFAY - Fortuna
ID: ACDBH047-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Collection: World Music

Early Music

In order to illustrate their borderless talents, Fortuna follows Ciconia and Dufay on this recording on their journey through the Flemish and Italian musical landscape of the late medieval times: Early Music in Context.

Chansons

Just as Dutch painters in the Golden Age were attracted by the Italian light and went to work in Rome, many composers from the Low Countries also made their way over the Alps in search of inspiration. This Italian dream resulted in the creation of brilliant music by two such pioneers, Johannes Ciconia and Guillaume Dufay. Their ability to seemingly effortlessly meld the achievements of Flemish, French, English and Italian music into a new style created a new musical language whose sound crossed over many geographic borders.

Ciconia was educated in Luik, which had a rich musical culture in the late Middle Ages; and he worked in Padua from around 1402 until his death. By that time, he had become a real Italian composer, despite his Northern roots and education: in his elegant ballade Gli atti col dançar, one can hear clearly how Ciconia had mastered the melodic souplesse of the Italian Trecento composers such as Landini. His dramatic Ligiadra donna - with a contratenor line composed by his colleague composer Matteo da Perugia - is written in the typical Northern Italian style of the giustiniana. But nowhere in his work does Ciconia merely follow stylistic trends; on the contrary, his unique and characteristic style inspired a generation of composers who followed him - among them Dufay.

No single 15th Century composer has left such an extensive and varied oeuvre as Guillaume Dufay, who was considered to be the greatest composer of his time, even in his own lifetime. He was educated in Kamerijk (Cambrai). While he was still young, he began travelling extensively for his work, to the Council of Constance for example, and he began working for various Italian patrons. These facts give Dufay's career and work a decidedly "international" allure, but the musical influences of his birthplace are still very recognizable in some of his works. The typically Northern drinking and New Year's songs such as Cheulz qui volent from MS Leiden 2720 or Die mey so lieflic by Thomas Fabri, clearly inspired Dufay to create rondeaux such as Adieu ces bons vins en Ce jour de l'an. While the original songs don't aspire to be much more than a drinking song or a round dance, Dufay manages with his songs to lift the genre to a much higher artistic level, without losing the playfulness and spontaneity of the original forms. His unorthodox application of existing material and traditional compositional techniques make him one of the most inventive composers of the 15th Century - Dufay wrote music that his contemporaries wouldn't have dared to dream of.
18.00 eur Buy

Chopin & Liszt - Anneleen Lenaerts, harp

Chopin & Liszt - Anneleen Lenaerts, harp
ID: ACDBB056-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Collection: Instrumental
Subcollection: Harp

Chopin and Liszt are both hailed as composers who belong, above all, to the piano. Liszt is perhaps the greatest technician the instrument has ever known, and Rubinstein described Chopin as the “soul of the piano”. Why, then, play these composers on the harp?

The harmony she produces touches everyone directly…the music is hers as if she were speaking. Everything appears effortless: whether in most virtuoso transitions or moments of the greatest delicacy, she takes the time to make every note speak…

Still aged only 23, the Belgian harpist Anneleen Lenaerts is making a name for herself as one of the finest young harpists of today. Her extraordinary talent made her perform all over Europe to great acclaim. Her harp playing is known for its colourful and warm sound, perfect timing and deep musical expression.

In December 2010 Anneleen was appointed Principal Harp of the Vienna Philharmonic.
18.00 eur Buy

Dutch Violin Sonatas - Bob van der Ent, violin - Rene Rakier, piano

Dutch Violin Sonatas - Bob van der Ent, violin - Rene Rakier, piano
ID: ACDBO061-2
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Chamber Music
Subcollection: Piano and Violin

18.00 eur Buy

Music at the Court of Julich-Berg - La Barca Leyden

Music at the Court of Julich-Berg - La Barca Leyden
ID: ACDBH055-2
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Baroque
Subcollection: Chamber Ensemble

Stereo and multichannel (Hybrid)

Music from the Court of Johann Wilhelm van der Pfalz, duke of Jülich-Berg

Johann Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg was born April 19, 1658 in Düsseldorf. His grandfather, Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, was given the important dukedom of Jülich-Berg at the beginning of the 17th Century. His father, Philipp Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, ensured a complete education for his son, who, even at an early age, showed a significant interest in the arts. Music and the Fine Arts became Johann Wilhelm’s dominant passions.
He married archduchess Maria Anna Josepha of Austria in 1678, which gained him access to the rich musical culture of the Emperor’s court. On August 1, 1679, he became the regent of the dukedom of Jülich-Berg with capitals in both Jülich and Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf was the focal point of his reign; he helped develop it to become a center of art and culture. After the death of his first wife in 1689, Johann Wilhelm married Anna Maria Luisa de Medici in 1691. After the death of his father in 1690 he became the Elector of Pfalz and one of the distinguished leaders of his era. Johann Wilhelm shared his passion for art and music with his new wife. The opera performances during Carnival in Düsseldorf in the years following 1690 became legendary. The court orchestra, which Johann Wilhelm formed, could compete with Imperial standards, and was admired by contemporaries in 1711 at the Imperial Election in Frankfurt. In the words of a guest of the Düsseldorf court, “[the orchestra was] a felicitous lot of fine artists.” The amount of money Johann Wilhelm invested in courtly show was not atypical for its time, but he did receive criticism from his fellow Electors. Johann Wilhelm dreamt of being named a King.
18.00 eur Buy

The Andrew Read Trio - J.S.B.

The Andrew Read Trio  - J.S.B.
ID: ACDBH054-2
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Jazz
Subcollection: Trio

Charles Mingus once said “Making the simple complicated is
commonplace; making the complicated simple, that’s creativity”. This tends to describe our philosophy for this CD. The majority of the original compositions on this CD are based on the chord changes from well known works taken from the classical repertoire. One thing I can assure you is that this CD is nothing like the old “Bach meets Jazz” idea. For these pieces we applied the same concept used by jazz musicians during the Be Bop era where new melodies were applied to existing chord progressions. The major difference is that instead of sourcing our chord changes from songs out of the American songbook tradition we opted to explore the European classical music tradition for our harmony. During the preparation for this recording we had a great time playing with the endless possibilities provided us by the old masters and enjoyed looking for simple ways to transpose these rich harmonies into the language of jazz.

The Andrew Read Trio
The trio's first CD "Live in de Tor" and the follow up "The Andrew Read Trio - A2B" were received well by both the public and the press. The CD "Winter of my Dreams" featuring guest vocalist Lils Mackintosh and Sax player Wouter Kiers was a success generating substantial international sales. In 2009 The Andrew Read Trio signed with the Dutch label Aliud Records. The first release under this new contract is due for release December 2010.
18.00 eur Buy

Danse et Chanson - Grand Désir - ensemble

Danse et Chanson - Grand Désir - ensemble
ID: ACDHJ043-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Collection: Vocal Collection
Subcollection: Voices

The basse danse is a stately courtly dance who’s origin can be traced to Burgundy. It was enthusiastically taken up at numerous courts throughout Europe and flourished for a century long from the middle of the 15th century onwards. That courtly dance existed before this is clear: for example, a description of the basse danse can be found as early as ca. 1320, in a poem by the Toulousain priest, friar and troubadour Raimon de Cornet. No information however concerning its choreography can be found until the early 15th century.
The Brussels (Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique, Ms 9085, ca.1470) and Toulouze (L’art et instruction de bien danser , ca. 1496, by Michel Toulouze) manuscripts are the two most important musical sources of the French basse dance; although both manuscripts are dated to the late 15th century, stylistically their music resembles the earlier decades of the century. These manuscripts, along with a few additional sources, contain around fifty cantus firmi , varying in length between twenty-four and sixty-two notes, notated in slow semibreves without rhythmical variation. It is assumed that the cantus firmi of these basse danses notated in long semibreves provided a monophonic basis for polyphonic instrumental improvisation. Evidence for such a practice can be found in some polyphonic examples written out on the tenor-melody Re di Spagna.
Regarding performance-tempo, Daniel Heartz points towards the relation between the music and the actual choreography in his study concerning the basse danse: according to Heartz, each semi-breve of the basse danse-melody corresponds to one figure in the dance. Each figure consisted out of four movements equal in length, while the musical accompaniment took up six beats. Thus, the dancers moved fluidly on their toes in a three-to-two proportion to the music.


Grand Désir - Ensemble for Late Medieval and Contemporary Music

The mezzo-soprano Anne Marieke Evers and the blockflute player Anita Orme Della Marta met at the beginning of their musical studies at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam in September 1997. They formed a duo shortly after, specializing in both contemporary music as well as medieval and renaissance music. Later in their careers, their paths led them to pursue further studies in medieval music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, where they met the other ensemble members of Grand Désir. It was here that a common interest in the late-medieval music brought the group together in December 2004. Aside a few fixed members, Grand Désir likes to work with different musicians for each individual programme, thus creating the flexibility to obtain the perfect instrumentation for each project. Grand Désir performed their premiere in the ‘Fringe’ programme of the Utrecht Early Music Festival 2005. The ensemble has given numerous performances since in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia.
18.00 eur Buy

From Belgium with Love - Eddy Vanoosthuyse - Clarinet

From Belgium with Love - Eddy Vanoosthuyse - Clarinet
ID: ACDBH053-2
CDs: 1
Type: CD
Collection: Instrumental
Subcollection: Clarinet

Jean Hippolyte Oscar Louël had in 1992 niet kunnen bedenken dat er ruim 12 jaar na het schrijven van zijn Clarinet Concerto een CD samengesteld zou worden waarbij naast zijn eigen compositie ook andere klarinet concerti van Vlaamse componisten terug te vinden zou zijn. Hoewel deze vier componisten in de periode 1990-1999 hun klarinet concerto componeerden, zijn deze geen generatiegenoten. Deze componisten hebben een opmerkelijk eigen stijl. Brossé melodieus en verhalend, Louël kleurend en impressionistisch van aard, dodekafonische invloeden welke altijd melodisch blijven, verraden Verbesselt en Jan Van der Roost met zijn veelkleurigheid en verhalende composities sluiten de cd af. Dit alles samengebracht in een voortreffelijk warm, sonoor klinkend klarinetspel van Eddy Vanoosthuyse. Eens te meer laat hij ons ervaren dat de klarinet een bijzonder instrument is met vele gedaanten en karaktereigenschappen. Deze prachtige composities maken dat deze cd oprecht “From Belgium with Love” genoemd mag worden.
18.00 eur Buy

R. Schumann -Piano Works - Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, piano

R. Schumann -Piano Works - Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, piano
ID: ACDHJ042-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Collection: Instrumental
Subcollection: Piano

Released to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Schumann, this well balanced recording features the talents of piano prize winning pianist, Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort. Liebrecht obtained his masters degree for piano with great distinction from the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and has a very active touring schedule.

The course of life of quite a few composers of the 19th century has a continuous appeal to people’s imagination. That also counts for Robert Schumann (Zwickau, 1810 - Endenich, 1856).

Being the son of a bookseller, he has literary ambitions, but Schumann says about this: « how strange it is that I, there where my feelings prevail, I have to stop being a poet ». He interrupts his law studies (in Leipzig and Heidelberg) - a wish of his mother’s inspired by material concern - to start a career as a pianist. He takes lessons with Friedrich Wieck in Leipzig, one of the best but also most notorious piano teachers of that time. Before there can be talk of a pianist career, his right hand becomes partly paralysed (while studying he would have fixated his third finger to make the fourth more independent and powerful). In the meantime he has fallen madly in love with Clara Wieck, a celebrated piano player and the daughter of his teacher. Father Wieck implacably exercises his veto against their relationship, causing years of psychological warfare between them. In the end, only a legal procedure makes it possible for them to marry.
Schumann completely fails as a conductor. He constantly knows periods of restlessness, despair, dejection and heavy depressions. A suicide attempt - during the depths of winter, he jumps into the Rhine river in Düsseldorf - results in Schumann ending up in a psychiatric institution, where he dies two and a half years later.

«...I worked on those 30 small, funny pieces, from which I have chosen twelve which I have called Kinderszenen. You’ll love playing them, but not as a virtuoso...», Schumann wrote to his beloved in 1838. Eventually it were thirteen of them. Thirteen short pieces which he afterwards all gave a title. They are thirteen jewels, and every one of them belongs to the absolute top of what has ever been written in the instrumental, monothematic miniature genre. They are disarming and intensely poetic, free of all external bravura, but as far as the composition technique is concerned, they are constructed in a particularly ingenious way. « A drop of music from the deepest source », Hans Pfitzer wrote about number 7, Träumerei; this comment applies for every piece of the Kinderszenen.
18.00 eur Buy

O Muse, comt nv voort -Dutch Songs of Love and Freedom (1550-1750): Duo Seraphim

O Muse, comt nv voort -Dutch Songs of Love and Freedom (1550-1750): Duo Seraphim
ID: ACDHJ040-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Collection: Baroque
Subcollection: Voices

This CD is an anthology of the Dutch contrafact and contains poetry set to music.
These are not original songs but texts written on already existing and well-known melodies. These songs are sometimes called contrafacts: contra: against or at, factum: written on an already existing melody. Between 1550 and 1750 this was a much loved and much practised genre in the Netherlands. Numerous songbooks appeared, booklets in pocket format which could be easily produced from your pocket when you wanted to sing. They contained the texts and the melodies to which they should be sung, with a tune reference: wyse, voys, stemme, vpden voix, op de wyse van etc. We have to retrace these melodies to be able to sing the songs. Fortunately some songbooks have survived with the tunes added in musical notation. A great many other melodies can be traced back to the international song repertoire of the period. Other sources are for instance lute tablatures, dance books, etc.

It is remarkable how many tunes originate from outside the Netherlands. Many are French, English or Italian; fewer are German and Spanish. These must have been popular - or at least known - in the Netherlands, beside the familiar Dutch tunes.

Including works by Jan vander Noot, Coornhert, Vallet, Jan van Hoot, Bredero, Camphuysen, Hooft & Weyerman
18.00 eur Buy

Amor Vincit - Musica del Cuore

Amor Vincit - Musica del Cuore
ID: ACDHJ028-2
CDs: 1
Type: SACD
Subcollection: Voices

AMOR VINCIT -- “Love conquers” or, to quote the full verse, Omnia vincit amor, nos et cedamus amori, “Love conquers all, let us too yield to love” (Vergil, 70 BC - 19 BC, Eclogae 10.69).
Today, these words by Vergil are as inspiring as ever, witness the 277,000 hits they yield when used as a search term in Google. Referring to such diverse cultural manifestations
as a painting by Caravaggio, a chamber choir, a song by Deep Purple, the title of a movie, these universal words clearly express an essential part of our daily experience. Anne and Caroline now contribute the music of their choice. Does it speak of the eternal love of music? The love of their intense teamwork? Your love as a listener? The present selection of songs is a result of the combined tastes of the performers, weighing notes and words, contrast and intensity.
18.00 eur Buy

 
Customer: not signed in

CD DVD SACD
Thematic search:
  • Titles
  • Composers
  • Interprets 
  • Ensembles
  • Conductors
  • Instruments
  • Genre
  • Labels
  • Collections
  • Numerical listing
 
We accept PayPal
facebook
With the purchase of more
than 5 CD - your discount
will be 10%. If more than 10 CD - 15%
© 2004 - 2020

Europe RCD - World music CD shop and Classic distribution.

All rights reserved.