Jacques Ibert

A Tribute to Phyllis Sellick

Rencontres

Mélodies Françaises

This CD presents a collection of French art songs – mélodies - covering a wide range of emotional and stylistic content from Fauré to Ibert. The French declamatory style emphasizes the text rather than the melody, but it is the piano part where the beauty of the music can shine through, both in the rich textures employed and in the special harmonies. This is particularly evident in the songs by Henri Duparc. The three songs by Ravel were his last works. Carlo Colombara has been a regular guest at the leading opera houses in Italy and abroad. He has worked with the most renowned conductors, such as Sir Colin Davis, Carlo Maria Giulini, Vladimir Jurowski, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Sir Georg Solti. Critics in Italy and abroad have praised his stylistic versatility and the dark timbre and the colourful diversity of Colombara’s voice makes him one of the most sought-after basses of our time.

Classic Branford Marsalis

World-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis has always been a man of numerous musical interests. The three-time Grammy Award-winner, known for his innovative spirit and broad musical scope, is equally at home on the stages of the world’s greatest jazz clubs as major concert halls. It is the latter platform which inspires Classic Branford Marsalis; a fascinating and diverse collection of his best-loved classical tracks, collected from his previous recordings.

Saxophone Concertos

Nobuya Sugawa is one of the most distinguished wind instrumentalists in Japan. He is joined here by the BBC Philharmonic under Yutaka Sado to perform works by Yoshimatsu and Honda, both of which are dedicated to him. He also plays works by Ibert and Larsson which are firmly established in the saxophone’s concert repertoire. Sugawa performs in Japan and throughout the world and over the years has received numerous prizes and awards. Takashi Yoshimatsu, who has a long-term association with Chandos, in 1994 wrote a concerto for Sugawa titled Cyber-bird, a piece which utilises all the functions of the saxophone, and fuses classical, ethnic and jazz styles. When Sugawa approached Yoshimatsu for a new concerto, the composer declined, saying, ‘I can’t compose a new work that surpasses the last one’. Yet, when the idea of a soprano saxophone concerto was mentioned, he writes, ‘I thought, maybe I can compose a concerto for the soprano sax that highlights “calm”, in contrast to the “motion” characteristic of Cyber-bird, and so I started to structure a new work’. The ‘Albireo’ of the title is the name of the double Beta star that sits at the beak of the constellation Cygnus. These two stars shine respectively bright goldenyellow like a topaz and bluish-green like a sapphire. Yoshimatsu continues, ‘Albireo Mode symbolises the character of the soprano sax, which is two-fold, combining both coolness and heat, both beauty and depth. That is why I named the cool and beautiful first part “Topaz” and the hot and deep second part “Sapphire”’. The work was premiered by Sugawa in 2005 at the Symphony Hall in Osaka. Toshiyuki Honda began his professional career as a saxophonist. He writes of the connection between Sugawa and the Concerto du vent, ‘Nobuya Sugawa, a saxophone player like me and a friend whom I respect very much, entrusted me with the task of writing a concerto for him, a concerto that would represent a tribute to jazz. People tend to associate jazz with ad lib and rhythm and blues, but we took a slightly different direction… It was a great honour to be able to record with the BBC Philharmonic and Nobuya Sugawa… “Vent” is the French word for wind. Please think of the Concerto du vent as a Concerto of the wind’. Completing the recording are Ibert’s Concertino da camera, one of the best-known works for alto saxophone, by a composer Yutaka Sado has conducted on many occasions, and Larsson’s popular Concerto for Saxophone and String Orchestra.

Quijotes

This release features music associated with Cervantes' famous novel Don Quixote, published over 400 years ago.

Magali Mosnier - Fantasie

Flute Concertos