Simone El Oufir Pierini - Le Bret: Pieces de Clavecin - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The era of the viola da gamba had already largely come to an end with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's early classical period, but the composer nevertheless dedicated three wonderful sonatas to this instrument. The fortepiano, which is used for the accompaniment (and also appears as the obbligato instrument in the Sonata in G minor), was only at the beginning of it's great development. Bach's sonatas are complemented by two works by his contemporary Carl Friedrich Abels, who is regarded as the last virtuoso of the viola da gamba. The combination of viola da gamba and fortepiano offers a marvellous charm and does justice to the rich nuances of this music between the baroque and classical periods. The sensitive interpretation by Rebeka Rusó and Sebastian Wienand further enhances the appeal of this remarkable music.

Re- of Blur's the great escape-now available at budget. Classic album from 1995 featuring the hit songs the universal, charmless man and country house. Beyond British and sensationally sociological, Blur and singer/songwriter damon albarn weave tales of stifling middle class ennui into clever pop vignettes. The great escape is another demonstration of Blur's unique intelligence, more of albarn's witty commentary, and substantial proof that the group may be bordering on genius. As usual, albarn's senses are keen on the great escape. His ear for melody and sound textures shines throughout the album's fifteen brilliant tracks. The ska horns and spy soundtrack guitar riffing on 'fadeaway' exemplify Blur's knack for pop music, yet elevate thesong beyond simple genre-fication, with a dignity reserved for the orchestra pit.

A new recording, unique in the catalogue, of the First (and only surviving) book of keyboard works by Charles de Mars (1702-1774). Compared to many other composers of his era, we know a good deal about the life of de Mars (alternatively known as Demars), making it all the more surprising that the present collection represents all the music of his to have come down to us. He was born to a wax merchant in Sezanne, a small town on the border between the French regions of Brie and Champagne. Several of his relatives were musicians, organists in particular, such as his two brothers. Indeed, we can trace more than 12 members of the de Mars/Tourneur dynasty as organists all over France. Again, the curiosity is that none of their compositions have survived, though they would have written music for their posts just as Charles de Mars did. There is a Handelian flavour to the harmony of the four suites in de Mars's volume, which was published in 1735 and therefore could conceivably have been written with awareness of the older composer's Eight Great Suites for harpsichord. Many features of the volume make it a singular body of work in the French harpsichord tradition. de Mars eschews descriptive titles for individual movements, and occasionally prescribes the performer to play with 'notes egales', and therefore specifically not in the inegale style which we associate with French keyboard composers of the day.As a specialist in this field of unfamiliar keyboard repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries, with an impressive catalogue of Brilliant Classics albums already to his credit, Simone Pierini has explored the life and work of de Mars for himself, and produced an authoritative booklet essay to accompany his new recording of the Pieces de Clavecin. The Fanfare reviewer of his 3CD album of keyboard sonatas by Helene de Montgeroult considered it 'a major addition to the catalo