Has it really been five years since Cantica Symphonia’s last outing on Glossa? As well as producing two discs which survey the beauties of other important composers from the fifteenth century, Giuseppe Maletto’s steering of this Italian vocal and instrumental ensemble has been focusing much of its performing activity and research on a giant of that time: Guillaume Dufay. Three earlier discs have already focused on the remarkably-varied testament of Dufay through his motets and chansons. What gives the new disc – Dufay: The Masses for 1453 – added force is that it focuses on two of the masses which this Franco-Flemish composer (who lived for the first three quarters of the fifteenth century, and who was widely-travelled in Europe) is best-known for, but with the special and well-honed vocal and instrumental form of interpretation that Cantica Symphonia has made its own in this repertoire. [read more...]

The release on CD by Glossa of The Medici Castrato introduces a new vocal talent – countertenor Raffaele Pe – onto the label and, with this programme, a new reflection of the creative currents coursing through the Italian states (and beyond) at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Originally hailing from Lodi in Lombardy, Italy, Pe studied in London and it is from there that his rapidly expanding career is developing, the alluring timbre of his voice and his innate musicality bringing him to the attention of concert – and opera – audiences across Europe and beyond. That talent is much in demand with many of today’s leading directors of early music. For The Medici Castrato Pe has chosen to focus on the life and career of a castrato, Gualberto Magli, whose own fabulous talents coincided with the rise of opera in Italy, the maturity of astonishing composers such as Claudio Monteverdi and Giulio Caccini, and the lavish patronage provided to the world of culture by the House of Medici. Magli was, for example, called upon to perform at the opening performances of the favola in musica composed by Monteverdi in 1607, L’Orfeo. [read more...]

Since 2006, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, a lot of scholarly energy has been expended on re-evaluating the contribution of this short-lived composer. That work and the imaginative interpretative capabilities of a new generation of musicians in Spain, schooled in period performance techniques, bears fruit now with a new recording from La Ritirata of the three string quartets dating from the first half of the 1820s. The result is to place Arriaga’s quartets much more in the vanguard of the early Romantic movement, written as they were by a composer clearly aware of the radical changes in musical thought being wrought by Beethoven. For its second Glossa recording La Ritirata comprises Hiro Kurosaki and Miren Zeberio, violins, Daniel Lorenzo, viola and Josetxu Obregón, cello, all reflecting the contemporary Spanish musical environment. To find out more about the modern day approach to the string quartets of Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga and his inspiration, we turned to Josetxu Obregón, born in the same city as Arriaga, and director of and driving force behind La Ritirata. [read more...]

The diversity offered by the music of Georg Friedrich Handel has never been absent from the recorded catalogues. Yet it has only been in recent times that the full glorious depth of his chamber vocal works with Italian texts has been explored; and to do it justice it needs to be performed by artists who have both the interpretative and technical resources. These are expectations which are surely being matched when musicians of the quality of Fabio Bonizzoni and La Risonanza are involved, and no more so when singers in Roberta Invernizzi and Marina De Liso are deploying their vocal talents. The latest exploration into the Italian influences in the music of Handel comes with his chamber duets, on this new recording the ten works scored for soprano and alto voices, and written at various points in Handel’s journeying around Europe in the first half of the 18th century. The chamber duets are small-scale works but are never lacking in the animation or melodic inspiration which one associates with the best of Handel’s music. Having recorded these ten works Fabio Bonizzoni shows himself, as indicated in this new interview, to be interested in not stopping there. In total, Handel wrote over 20 chamber vocal works of this size and scope, so watch out for more to come! [read more...]

For their first recording for Glossa, Les Nouveaux Caractères (under the direction of harpsichordist Sébastien d’Hérin) have alighted on a neglected dramatic work by that titan of the French Baroque, Jean-Philippe Rameau. Les Surprises de l’Amour (Cupid’s Surprises) was commissioned by Madame de Pompadour in 1748 and elements of it remained in the repertory in France for nearly a quarter of a century – albeit undergoing frequent and significant changes and reconfigurations. The version of this opéra-ballet chosen by Sébastien d’Hérin – an overture and three entrées – allows a full set of opportunities for the vocal soloists (led here by a formidable group of female singers currently based in France) to demonstrate their skills. So too for the orchestral players of Les Nouveaux Caractères – Rameau is known for the high demands which he imposes on instrumentalists. With this recording Les Nouveaux Caractères – founded in 2006 and already with a highly-developed international performing history away from their base in Lyon – make their grand entrance onto the recording scene. [read more...]

The spirit of improvisation – when addressing music from the Baroque era – is as important for a long-established artist on Glossa, such as violinist Enrico Gatti, as it is for new arrivals Fahmi Alqhai, Josetxu Obregón and Enrike Solinís. Gatti, who has recorded music by Vivaldi and Bach for the label with his Ensemble Aurora (as well as joining Emilio Moreno in music from the Age of Enlightenment from Spain), has a distinct predilection for Italian repertory from the 17th century (including music by his beloved Corelli). His new disc, with the suggestive title, Mille consigli, explores the early part of that century – with sonatas, toccatas, chiaconas and canzonas by the likes of Castello, Fontana, Bertoli, Legrenzi, Merula, Uccellini. The choice of repertory allows Gatti’s violin to take flight and his artistry and experience add a crucial poetic, vocal element which brings the music fully alive for the 21st century. [read more...]

The nurturing of new musical talents in Spain has been particularly effective in recent times in the field of early music for instrumentalists as well as singers. Andalucía – and notably its capital city Sevilla – has brought on an impressive range of talents, none more so than the viola da gamba player and director Fahmi Alqhai (whose range of cultural ‘influences’ extends to having lived in Syria and studied additionally in Basel and Lugano). Co-founder of the ensemble Accademia del Piacere, Alqhai is newly becoming a Glossa artist, his first release being Rediscovering Spain: fantasías, diferencias and glosas, a modern – and seriously informed – take on mostly instrumental music from Spain across the 16th and 17th centuries. Just returned from a European tour with Accademia del Piacere, we took the opportunity to talk to this exceptional gamba player, director and musical mind about his first album for Glossa and his approach to performing early music in the 21st century. [read more...]

Glossa always follows “microphone in hand” where creative musical ideas are developing, especially in early music, and over the label’s two decades this has often meant turning its attention to the length and breadth that is Italy: think Fabio Bonizzoni in music from Rome, the coverage of the madrigalian repertory from La Venexiana and La Compagnia del Madrigale, the subtle violin mastery of Enrico Gatti, the dazzling vocal virtuosity of Roberta Invernizzi (and not forgetting Paolo Pandolfo’s unique style). In recent years, Antonio Florio and I Turchini have also found a home at the label with their command of Neapolitan repertory. Now, two multi-faceted artists (both of whom have worked with Florio) have joined forces to produce Siciliane: the songs of an island, a journey into the traditional songs of Sicily, using collections brought together by Giacomo Meyerbeer as the basis. The singer is that powerhouse of mood, both vocal and theatrical, Pino De Vittorio (who hails from Puglia), graced with a talent to bring into the present voices from the past across the regions of Italy, whilst the accompaniment is led by Franco Pavan, theorbo and baroque guitar player, director of Laboratorio ’600, music scholar and performer in many fine recordings over the years. [read more...]

Josetxu Obregón is one of a new generation of musicians hailing from Spain and like many younger musicians in many countries he has undergone further studies outside his own native country. However, what sets this early music performer (as also with Fahmi Alqhai) apart from others is that he has been invited to join the “family” of Glossa artists – indeed Obregón and Alqhai are the first Spanish musicians to join the label since the days of José Miguel Moreno and Emilio Moreno. With his fellow performers Obregón has created a spectacular entertainment for their first album, Il Spiritillo Brando, which captures the spirit of Spanish courtly entertainment across the 16th and 17th centuries through instrumental music, as well as allowing today’s modern performers to display their virtuosity in music from the time. Appropriately, the recording was made in the Real Coliseo de Carlos III, in Glossa’s home town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Here, in welcoming Obregón to the label, we have taken the opportunity to talk to him about his new recording and how, as a musician from the recent generation in Spain, he regards the performing of “early music” today. [read more...]