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This recording is devoted to two Italian composers, Father and son, who in many ways were typical of the 18th-century artist: trained by the finest teachers, leaving their native land in pursuit of their careers while nevertheless upholding its musical traditions [nourished and enriched by many influences, including French] and acting as its ambassadors in other parts of Europe.

Evaristo, the father, is the better known, born 1675, he may have trained with Gasparo Gasparini in Verona, before meeting Torelli. He was part of the retinue of the Prince-Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian Il Emanuel, a famous and extravagant patron of the arts and followed him to Brussels, after defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Dall'Abaco's first opus was published in Amsterdam and many of the pieces recorded here are from that collection. Joseph Marie Clément Dall'Abaco was one of Evaristo's four children ann made his name as a cellist with a long career of some renown. The family continued to follow Maximilian: from Rambouillet, Versailles, Compiègne, Luxembourg and his return to Munich. Evaristo was rewarded for his loyalty with the appointment as Konzertmeister of the newly reconstituted court orchestra in Munich. He sent his son to Venice to further his musical education and on his return Joseph became director of the court chamber orchestra and councillor to Clemens August I of Bavaria at Bonn, a position which allowed him the freedom to perform in major European centres including London.

Dall'Abaco figlio composed mostly cello sonatas. Whilst illustrating the new galant and pre-Classical styles, some of his works also retain the gravity of Baroque and the expansive melodic style inherited from his father. Almost 40 of his sonatas are now preserved in the British Library. The pieces presented here, however, are the eleven 'Capricci del sig.

Giuseppe Barone Dall'Abaco' from an unfinished manuscript from the library of the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. These virtuoso Capricci are played on a new instrument, strung just a fortnight before this recording by Charles Riché. The pieces by his father, Evaristo, are played on 'mature' instruments with a more mellow sound.

Following the success of Spirit of Armenia, Balkan Spirit enables us to discover another area of great musical tradition and intercultural dialogue: the Balkans. Alongside musicians from Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Turkey, Jordi Savall conducts his ensemble, Hespèrion XXI, and unveils the original lyricism of an instrumental and vocal repertoire that covers the entire spectrum of human emotions.

Brahms's important output of 24 chamber scores dominated the second half of the 19th century, as that of Beethoven had dominated the first half. His corpus was thus a response to that of Beethoven, his model, and to that of Mendelssohn, who was likewise born in Hamburg and also composed two cello sonatas. In 1890, aged only 57, Brahms resolved to give up composing but he had reckoned without the inspiration that his meeting with the Meiningen clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld was to have on his creative imagination. He subsequently added four scores for clarinet to his output, including this Trio Op. 114.

Louis Schwizgebel-Wang was awarded 2nd prize at the Leeds Piano Competition 2012.

For many years, Barbara Hendricks has been communicating her love of the lied in concerts and on disc. After Schumann, Schubert, Beethoven, Spanish songs and those of Poulenc, it is the turn of Brahms to find sublimation in this disc from the Swedish soprano, magnificently accompanied on the piano by her partner Roland Pöntinen and recorded between 2002-7.

Brahms composed more than 200 lieder throughout his career, though for the most part between 1851 and 1888. In the choice of texts he was generally guided by the climate or message of a poem, more than by its formal perfection; it was no doubt for this reason that he set very little Goethe to music, whose poems, he said, “are all so accomplished that music cannot be added to them”. His favourite theme was, naturally enough, love, in all its forms, whether evoking joy, optimism or nostalgia, loss, resignation, memory… One finds in these lieder authentic, personal experiences of Johannes Brahms. Caught between romanticism and classicism, he offered in his lieder music that is individual and consummate.

This SACD presents main works of the repertoire for flute and piano from the 20th century. Regarding the history of the flute, this period is of particular interest since the flute underwent a remarkable revival as a solo instrument during this time.

The sonatas by Henri Dutilleux and Francis Poulenc represent the impulse for this development, which originated in France. In his series of sonatas for every melodic instrument, accompanied by piano, Paul Hindemith began with the flute. Frank Martin, the mediator between the German and French traditions, created a colourfully eloquent variant of the sonata form with his 'Ballad'. The sonata written by the American composer Robert Muczynski became the most famous example of his classicist, brilliant style.

Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann is one of the most renowned German flautists of her generation. She regularly performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in Germany and across the globe. She is co-principal flute of the Opern- und Museumsorchester Frankfurt am Main; in addition, since October 2009 she has been Professor of Music at the Hochschule für Musik in Nuremberg.

As part of its series of historic recordings, the audite label presents another notable jewel. On 5 March 1963 two great virtuosos made their Berlin débuts with orchestra in the same concert: the then 18-year-old cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the 22-year-old pianist Bruno Leonardo Gelber.

Du Pré’s interpretation of the Schumann Cello Concerto seems more vivid and contains greater contrasts even than her later recording of the work. With his reading of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto, Gelber communicates a conception of a large-scale work, shaping the inner contrasts and connections without ever losing sight of the overall coherence. For everyone who is interested in the history of interpretation, these two live documents of a great moment in Berlin’s post-war musical life are a must.

This CD forms part of our series “Legendary Recordings” and bears the stamp “1st Master Release”. This term stands for the exceptional quality of audite’s archive releases which are all, without exception, produced using original tapes from the radio archives. Usually, these are the original analogue tapes with tape speeds of up to 76 cm/s which are of astonishingly high quality, even by today’s standards. In addition, the process of re-mastering – executed with professional expertise and sensitivity – reveals hitherto hidden details of the interpretations, creating a sonic image of superior quality. CD releases produced from private recordings of radio broadcasts or old 78rpm records cannot match this level of sound quality.