Steffani - Love's Spring - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

In recent decades, Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) works have undergone numerous transcriptions and adaptations. Since the 1960s, the guitar repertoire has seen the addition of several Bach pieces originally intended for the lute, an instrument that is undoubtedly among the most akin to the modern six-string guitar. Following the increasingly in-depth study of Bach's work and the spread of the classical guitar, several harpsichord pieces have also been transcribed and performed. This album magnificently displays these pieces by exploiting the rich dynamics and full polyphonic capacity of the guitar. The Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and the Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bach hold an important place, as these collections offer a glimpse into Bach's familial and didactic spheres of action. Within the Friedemann Bach collection, we find the two Praeambula (BWV 924 & 926), characterised by arpeggiated writing, probably a model for students to create a first simple improvisation. Further on, the Fantasias that appear in the final part of the collection show a wonderful degree of contrapuntal complexity. Although there were 2 versions of the Anna Magdalena collection, the one which has survived almost in it's entirety seems to have been intended as a family album, with contributions not only from Anna Magdalena (J.S. Bach's wife), but also from her son Carl Philipp Emanuel and other composers. The pieces in this collection, including vocal pieces written for Anna (an accomplished singer), are most commonly small dance forms characterised by an essential and refined homophonic-style writing. The Anglaise and Minuet from the French Suite No.3, as well as the more solemn Allemande from the French Suite No.4, are clear examples of the gracefulness of these compositions, which show a subtler sound texture than those of other series of Bach suites, as wel

Steffani / Forma Antiqva - Crudo Amor [COMPACT DISCS] Digipack Packaging date 04/01/2016

Works that pay homage to spring have been brought together by Malwina Sosnowski (violin) and Benyamin Nuss (piano) on their new GENUIN album departure, a new beginning, an exuberance of emotions. On it, the perspective shifts between Japan and Europe. Beethoven's euphoric InchSpring SonataInch is juxtaposed with rarely performed French repertoire by Germaine Tailleferre and Lili Boulanger, as well as a world premiere recording by Masashi Hamauzu and an elegy dedicated to the victims of Fukushima by Benyamin Nuss himself. The interpretative verve and freshness of the two internationally successful musicians match the richness of color and nuance found in the selected music.