KBACH's First Take

ASU associate professor of piano Cathal Breslin has released a new solo album with the complete ballades of Chopin. It's called Stories and Soundscapes and also features music of John Field and Linda Buckley. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Breslin.For more details or to purchase Cathal Breslin's album, visit bluegriffin.com.

Reynaldo Hahn has always been celebrated for his songs but his chamber music was neglected until the 21st century. The Tchalik family of musicians is now the first ensemble to record all his major chamber music with strings and piano. Some pieces on this second volume have never previously been recorded, including the unfinished piano trio. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Louise and Marc Tchalik. Details: alkonostclassic.com

Photo credit: Andrew FoxClassical music lovers are familiar with the legacy recording label Deutsche Grammophon. For the first time DG has released the symphonies of William Walton, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra led by Kazuki Yamada. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with one of the orchestra's leading violinists, Richard Thomas, fresh off the ensemble's tour.Find out more about this album

Alessandro Scarlatti wrote hundreds of cantatas for the soprano voice in the Baroque era. A small percentage use a string ensemble; some of those are featured on a new album by Francesca Aspromonte titled "Vieni, o Notte" (Come, oh Night) with the ensemble Arsenale Sonoro directed by Boris Begelman. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Aspromonte on First Take. Details

Violinist Clarissa Bevilacqua takes Mozart as a starting point on her new album, "Mozartiana." It features composers inspired by him, often incorporating fragments of his music into their own. Some are historical like F.X. Mozart (Wolfgang's son), Beethoven, and Hindemith, but there are also pieces newly written for the album. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Bevilacqua. View details at https://www.berlin-classics-music.com/en/album/885470044910-mozartiana/

Edward Elgar felt his dramatic depiction of a man on his deathbed followed by the soul in the afterlife was his greatest music up to that point. It was controversial for being explicitly Catholic in England which still looked with suspicion on the religion in 1900. A new recording features the Huddersfield Choral Society which first recorded the complete piece in 1945 and whose story has parallels with the recent film "The Choral," in which a fictional amateur choir produces Elgar's masterpiece during WWI. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with the conductor of the album, Martyn Brabbins. Details about the film similarities are found in the program notes online of the recording below.DetailsThe Choral

Harpsichordist Gabriel Smallwood has recorded pieces by the young J.S. Bach alongside less famous composers found in manuscripts that Bach would have known while growing up. The album "Juvenilia" gives a seldom-seen picture of how Bach developed his own musical voice. Michael Keelan talked with Smallwood on First Take. For more details, visit https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/juvenilia

Eugène Ysaÿe was one of the most prominent violinists in Europe during the Impressionist era of the late 19th to early 20th century. His original music is in that style but also uses the demanding techniques of virtuoso showpieces. A new album from violinist and Royal College of Music professor Natalia Lomeiko features the accompanied works of Ysaÿe, just as dramatic and impressive as his familiar solo sonatas. Michael Keelan talked with her on First Take.Details: https://www.orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100429-ysaye/

Cellist Michelle Kesler is from Gilbert and attended ASU; she is now associate professor of cello at Brigham Young University. She and cellist Miranda Wilson have recorded six sonatas by French musician Michel Corrette, important for his descriptions of performance and teaching through most of the 18th century. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Kesler about the process of recording the album and why Corrette was significant to the cello. Details: https://www.msrclassics.com/catalog/ms1832/

Conductor Kevin Sherwin has arranged excerpts of Karl Goldmark's 1875 grand opera Die Königin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba) for his ensemble The American Romantics. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Sherwin about the opera's significance, the process of arranging it, and stylistic considerations in performing music from the era based on the evidence of early recordings. Details: https://americanromantics.org/

The Chicago-based ATLYS Quartet recently released a recording of the Sonnenberg Suite by Ari Fisher, music inspired by the Sonnenberg Gardens in upstate New York. Greg Kostraba chatted with two of the quartet's members, violinist Jinty McTavish and cellist Genevieve Tabby, about the release, the genesis of the ensemble, and their innovative process of remote recording. https://atlysmusic.com/product-category/cds/