The French composer and pianist, Cécile Chaminade, was born in Paris on 8 August 1857, and died at Monte Carlo on 18 April 1944. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians concludes its insultingly short entry: "Notwithstanding the real charm and clever writing of many of Chaminade's pieces they do not rise above drawing-room music." That assessment misses the point, as this recording will immediately demonstrate. Chaminade wrote first-class slon music, which is a much greater achievement than writing second or third-class symphonies and sonatas-and far less boring!
When Chaminade was eight she impressed Bizet with her compositions, and when she was eighteen Ambroise Thomas felt she had no need to be designated as a woman-composer. Her piano pieces soon became extremely popular in Britain and America, as well as in her own country. But she had more serious ambitions too. In 1908, she made her American debut playing her Conzertstuck(sie) with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but her orchestra works never achieved the success of her more than 200 piano pieces, or even her songs. Her piano style is derived from Chopin and Schumann and, in French music, Faure. But she reduced this legacy to its simplest materials, calculating superbly what amateur pianists could play, and what emotional level was fitting for the drawing-room. At a time when the role of women in musical composition is sometimes urged through special pleading, Chaminade has survived purely through her own merits.
曲目:
01. Pierrette, Op 41 - Allegetto [0:02:41.17]
02. Contes Blues No 2, Op 122 - Andante sostenuto [0:03:04.65]
03. Minuetto, Op 23 - Allegro [0:03:03.68]
04. Danse Creole, Op 94 - Allegretto [0:02:15.20]
05. Serenade, Op 29 - Moderato [0:03:17.05]
06. Air de Ballet, Op 30 - Allegro [0:05:05.15]
07. 3 Romances sans paroles, Op 76, - 1 Souvenance, andantino [0:01:59.20]
08. 3 Romances sans paroles, Op 76, - 3 Idylle, Allegro moderato [0:03:23.27]
09. 3 Romances sans paroles, Op 76, - 6 Meditation, lento [0:03:29.65]
10. Autrefois, from Op87 - Andante - Allegro vivo - Tempo1 [0:02:52.35]
11. Guitare, Op 32 - Allegretto [0:03:32.23]
12. Sous le masque, Op 116 - Allegro capriccioso [0:03:17.12]
13. Pas des Sylphes: Intermezzo [0:02:55.35]
14. Automne, No2 from Op 35 [0:04:47.33]
15. La Lisonjera, Op 50 - Moderato molto capriccioso [0:02:13.55]
16. Aie a Danser, Op 164 - Ben tranquillo [0:02:56.40]
17. Pas des echarpes, Op 37 (Troisieme Air de Ballet) [0:04:33.17]
18. Toccata, Op 39 - Presto [0:03:39.58]
19. Valse arabesque, No 4 from Op 98 - Allegro vivo capriccioso ben cantando [0:03:15.62]
20. Lolita (Caprice espagnol), Op 54 - Allegro vivo [0:02:33.60]

J. S. 巴赫的独奏大提琴组曲，BWV1007—1012，大约作于1717年，克滕。巴赫的这一套组曲采取标准的古典组曲形式，即集数种古典舞曲组成。当时克滕宫廷中有两位古大提琴演奏家阿贝尔与李尼希克，巴赫以这两位演奏家作为对象作成这套组曲，这套组曲谱系巴赫的第二位妻子安娜·玛格达琳娜抄下来，原谱没有速度标记。现在这套组曲的速度标记有多种历代著名大提琴演奏家所标标志，公认的版本是19世纪著名大提琴家H.贝尔卡所标，卡萨尔斯所标版本也极为重要。(林逸聪)
毕斯马（Anner Bylsma），出生于1934年的荷兰大提琴家，他对巴洛克音乐投注了相当多的心力，1976年他成为第一位灌录巴洛克大提琴的演奏家，而且曾经灌录过维瓦第全部的大提琴作品。他所演奏的巴赫无伴奏评价相当高，虽然名气不大但是却是一位「巷内人」都知道的实力派大师，他两次灌录巴哈无伴奏大提琴曲加上他在巴洛克音乐上的努力，让大家以为他只在巴洛克音乐上钻研，其实巴洛克只是他擅长的类型之一。出身自音乐世家的毕斯马父亲是位长号手、作曲家、指挥家，他们家族中没有人学习过大提琴，1934年出生的他起初师承Carel Van Leeuwen Boomkamp，在老师身上学到对古乐以及古代大提琴的很多知识，1962-68年间，他在阿姆斯特丹大会堂管弦乐团担任大提琴首席，六零年代早期他与莱昂哈特、布鲁根等古乐名家，一起的组成的Quado Amsterdam，尝试用当代乐器诠释巴赫那个时期作曲家的作品，但是一开始合作毕斯马就觉得事情不对劲，因为不管他怎样轻柔的演奏大提琴，总是会将布鲁根的直笛声「盖掉」，后来他们发现答案是大提琴必须用「肠弦」。毕斯马的琴声充满了人性，他不以速度、炫技、华丽为诉求，展现的是宁静、内敛、沉思的味道，加上其大师风范精彩可期。(转自Marcelproust相关介绍)
此版录于1992年，使用了名琴Servais。

For her new recording rising star Alice Sara Ott teams up with Francesco Tristano, who is a guarantor for highly innovative projects
Fascinated from the idea of Ballets Russes their challenging programme for two pianos centers upon Stravinskys extremely rhythmic and avant-garde score of The rite of spring, the crowning success de scandale of Ballets Russes and includes the catchy tune of Rimsky-Korsakovs Scheherazade
The album features an exciting new composition by Francesco Tristano himself A soft shell groove, which has never been recorded before
No ballet company influenced the 20th-century intellectual world as did Serge Diaghilevs Ballets Russes, with its signature conceptualization of dance, music and the fine arts as equal partners in a unified art form. From Nijinsky, Picasso and Cocteau to Coco Chanel, Diaghilev gathered the leading artistic lights of his time. Yet even amongst such illustrious company, one figure stands out: Igor Stravinsky, the composer who finally made ballet music acceptable to polite society.
Diaghilevs Ballets Russes became one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century, in part because of its ground-breaking artistic collaboration among contemporary choreographers, composers, artists, and dancers
Altogether, the choreographers and dancers of the Ballets Russes overturned many of the static conventions of classical Ballet, and ushered in the era of modern dance while preserving a sense of tradition and the heritage of the Russian ballet school
For his new productions, Diaghilev commissioned the foremost composers of the 20th century such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov, Bartok, Poulenc, Satie, Mussorgsky etc.

Ireland is one of those "one work" composers who actually wrote a goodly bit of music, but most if it in small forms. To the extent he's at all well known now, it's either for this piece or his film score to The Overlanders. In any case, this very attractive, slightly jazzy piano concerto is a more or less the English equivalent to Prokofiev's Third, and if you enjoy that work, or Gershwin, you'll want to hear this one. It's clearly the best English work of it's type to come from the interwar period, and Eric Parkin, a friend of the composer, plays it was well as anyone ever has. The other two works are colorful minor masterpieces. --David Hurwitz

1954年的单声道录音

For those who have not come to the symphonies yet, I can tell you that they are tuneful and show a good sense of thematic development. They are very pleasant to listen to, somewhat similar to the orchestral works of Grieg.
The Fourth Symphony (subtitled “From the Outermost Skerries”) uses a soprano and tenor singing wordless passages similar to the slow movement of Nielsen’s Third Symphony. The subject matter of the symphony involves a pictorial representation of the Skerries - the archipelago near Stockholm. The symphony depicts the movement of the sea during storms, moonlight and sunshine. The composer produced an earlier work, a tone poem entitles A Legend of the Skerries (1902), which inhabits the same sound-world, albeit without the symphonic development of the current work.
Alfvén, a noted water colourist and author as well as being an extremely successful composer, was criticised when this symphony was first performed because it used the two soloists to enhance the colour of the work. In addition there was concern over the erotic content of the programme of the work, telling as it does, the tale of two young souls, and their reaction to the moods of the sea which in turn are symbolic of the human heart. Alfvén went some way towards refuting this criticism, by dedicating the symphony to his then teenage daughter “Marghita”.
There is a pioneering recording which used to be available on Bluebell (ABCD 001) which, according to the RED catalogue is no longer available, but may be available as an import. This is performed by Elisabeth Söderström and Gösta Winberg with Stig Westerberg conducting the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. If I am honest, the earlier disc, recorded in 1979, is superior to the Naxos release, as it tingles with the excitement of discovery. Also, good as Willén is, he is no match for Westerberg in his understanding of Alfvén’s sound-world.
The Naxos recording is better, however, being a modern digital offering, recorded in a sympathetic acoustic, allowing all parts to be heard clearly. The orchestra is certainly well up to the task.
Where the Naxos release scores over the earlier disc, is in the playing time, which whilst still not up to some of the current lengths is expanded by the inclusion of the Festival Overture written by Alfvén in 1944. This is more conservative with the composer writing in popular mode for a wide public. It is great fun and brings this very attractive disc to an exciting finish. In addition the Naxos recording is banded so you can pick up the four individual movements although the composition plays without a break. The Bluebell release is in one band only, although if it is re-released, this may be rectified. One further feature is the cover illustrations being used for this series. This disc gives Strindberg’s Sunset, from 1892, which is superb. All of this for £4.99! We don’t know how lucky we are."