Ensemble San Felice Capriccio Armonico Bardazzi - Petite Messe Solennelle - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

SWR2 New Talent is a promotion and support programme of the broadcasting station SWR aiming to help exceptional young talents to launch their career. Tavener's cello concerto InchThe Protecting VeilInch is a deeply spiritual instrumental piece that puts the life and work of the Virgin Mary to music. It was premiered at the BBC Proms in 1989 with cellist Steven Isserlis, for whom Tavener had written the concerto. At the time Tavener wrote the composition he was 45 years old and had already converted to Orthodox Christian faith whose mysticism appealed to him. In InchThe Protecting VeilInch he refers to a special type of Orthodox icon to Maria Pokrov, the Mother of God with the protecting veil. In John Tavener's numerous vocal works mythical and spiritual topics play a major role. Since the 1980s the British composer has been mainly focussing on sacred choral music. One of the most important works of this creative period is InchSvyatiInch, a composition for 12 voices and cello from 1995. The choir sings in ecclesiastical Slavonic*, a traditional liturgical language that is partly still used in the Orthodox Church. Since 2021 the cellist Lionel Martin has been the InchSWR2 New TalentInch. For three years the broadcasting corporation Südwestrundfunk is promoting him through concerts, studio productions and media presence. In 2017 Anne-Sophie Mutter accepted Lionel Martin for her foundation of young, exceptional musicians. Since then he has repeatedly performed with her on stage and has been on tour together with her and her scholarship holders throughout Europe, North and South America - there he played in big concert halls, but also for social projects in churches and old people's homes.

Ensemble San Felice - Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine [COMPACT DISCS] date 08/26/2016

The work is performed here with Rossini's original instrumentation and also includes the hymn for soprano and piano 'O salutaris hostia', which is often omitted. As a world first, a bonus track 'O salutaris de campagne' is included. The four soloists are established operatic singers; among soprano Sandro Pastrana's string of awards are prizes at the Ottavio Ziino competition in Barcelona, and mezzo-soprano Gabriella Sborgi has appeared as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and also in The Rape of Lucretia, A Midsummer Night's Dream and L'enfant et les sortilèges. Recent engagements of tenor Davide Giusti include the role of Alfredo in La traviata, and bass Carlo Lepore is something of a Rossini specialist, appearing regularly in roles such as Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), and Basilio and Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia). Rossini wrote his Petite Messe Solennelle in his old age, 30 years after his last opera. The work, for the unusual combination of 4-part chorus, vocal soloists, piano 4-hands and harmonium, is a unique blend of the comic and devotional, of superficiality and deep feeling. Because of the small instrumental forces the work is often performed, to great public success. Also included is the seldom performed Hymn O salutaris hostia, for soprano and piano. A world premiere is the Salutaris de campagne, added as a bonus track. The soloists on this new recording have won their spurs in the field of Italian opera, all of them seasoned Rossini singers. The excellent liner notes relate the history of the work and it's interpretation, the specifications of the instruments used, and biographies of the singers.