Gwendoline Blondeel - Amor Eterno - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Naji Hakim A New Voice for the CelloGwendeline Lumaret explores the fusion of Eastern and Western traditions in Hakim's striking solo and chamber works.This album presents a striking collection of solo and chamber works for cello by Naji Hakim, performed by Gwendeline Lumaret with clarity, virtuosity, and deep expressive insight. Known for his distinctive synthesis of Western classical traditions and Middle Eastern influences, Hakim's writing is both intricate and immediate, drawing on sources as diverse as Gregorian chant, Levantine folk music, and the harmonic innovations of French modernism.The album opens with Arabesque et Variations, a vivid solo work inspired by the Egyptian song Ya Chadi el Alhhan by Sayyed Darwish. The piece moves through four contrasting variations, shifting from playful dance to contemplative lyricism before concluding with an intimate, improvisatory coda. Missa Cum Jubilo, also for solo cello, takes it's themes from the Gregorian Mass IX. Each movement transforms the chant material into distinct sound worlds, from the expressive ornamentation of the Kyrie to the perpetual motion of the Sanctus and the luminous tranquillity of the Agnus Dei.In Prelude et Habanera, Hakim pays homage to both Bach and the Spanish-inflected harmonies of Ravel and Debussy. The Prelude unfolds with the clarity of a Baroque toccata, while the Habanera evokes a sultry, shifting landscape of rhythm and color. Montmartre, written in 2023, is a deeply personal reflection on the history and spiritual resonance of the Parisian district where Hakim served as organist of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur.The album concludes with Levantine Variations for cello and piano, a work rooted in the popular song Bint El Shalabiya. The melody's modal inflections and asymmetrical rhythms are explored through five transformations, ranging from contrapuntal chorale to martial intensity and

The least famous of Beethoven's symphonies? Yet these two works are genuine tours de force the composer takes the listener on a journey whose destination never seems to be known in advance, one brimming over with structural innovations subtly brought out in this interpretation by the musicians of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. This recording is also an opportunity to discover just how clearly Cherubini's music prefigured that of Beethoven, whereas Méhul's symphony is a response à la française to the German composer.

This recording explores some of the lesser-known music from 18th-century Vienna that combines solo voice with virtuoso trombones. Many of the arias presented on this CD are drawn from the large-scale oratorios performed in the Imperial Chapel. The music, much of it recorded here for the first time, is by established composers such as Caldara and Fux as well as lesser-known figures like Ziani, Porsile, Tuma and Casati. Alongside countertenor voice and trombones, the ensemble also includes bassoon, violins and continuo, thereby creating an attractive variation of color and timbre throughout the recording.