Presenting the first complete recording of the Leuven Chansonnier!

In 2015 the Alamire Foundation, the International Centre for the Study of Music in the Low Countries, was approached by an art historian working on behalf of an art dealer, seeking musicological advice about a small music manuscript. Subsequent research quickly unveiled its significance: the manuscript was identified as a previously unknown fifteenth-century chansonnier. Since the original owner could not yet be ascertained, it was named the “Leuven Chansonnier”, reflecting its new location in the Library of Voices, one of the buildings that the Alamire Foundation occupies on the historic Park Abbey site in Leuven (BE). The songbook is of exceptional value. It transmits 50 compositions, consisting of one religious work and 49 French chansons, 12 of which survive in no other source. Although no composers’ names are mentioned, other sources identify the composers of 26 of its works; these include such leading fifteenth-century Franco-Flemish polyphonists such as Johannes Ockeghem, Antoine Busnoys, and Firminus Caron. The creators of the other 24 chansons remain anonymous for the time being.

Sollazzo Ensemble is a critically acclaimed group dedicated to the performance of Medieval and Renaissance music. Founded in 2014 by Anna Danilevskaia, the ensemble is known for its highly expressive delivery and its distinctive sound and approach, shaped by the diverse musical backgrounds and personalities of its members. Drawing on historical repertoires and informed performance criteria, the group aims to convey emotions they have personally experienced or to express ideas that hold meaning for them. This process of appropriating historical artifacts through layers of rigorous creative work forms the basis of their communication with the public, as they seek to give each piece a voice that reflects the historical roots of the material as well as the ensemble’s unique vision

Booklet: EN, FR, NL

In 1729, nobleman and poet Annibale Marchese (1686–1753) published Tragedie Cristiane, a remarkable collection of ten Italian-language plays. Drawing on the influences of Racine, Corneille, Voltaire, and classical tradition, these innovative dramas are deeply rooted in Jesuit theatrical practices. To realise his vision, Marchese enlisted ten of the most accomplished composers of his time — masters of the so-called Neapolitan School. Their strophic arias, often featuring obbligato harpsichord, vividly reflect each composer’s unique style. This recording includes also previously unknown instrumental dances from contemporary Jesuit stage productions.

Stile Galante, directed by Stefano Aresi, is a Dutch-Italian cultural project devoted to Italian music of the 18th century, started in 2010. The project aims to merge academic research and performance, and focuses on vocal music. By devoting their attention to usually ignored or misunderstood repertoire the ensemble brings back pages of rare beauty and inspires musicians and audience alike to get in touch with musical languages and tastes today often forcibly adapted to unhistorical expectations.

Booklet: EN

Johannes Pullois was probably born in Pulle, a village in the Kempen region near Antwerp. From 1443 to 1447, Pullois was a singer and then the singing master at the Church of Our Lady, where his colleagues included Johannes Ockeghem. He applied in vain for a job at the Burgundian court chapel, but he had more success at the papal music chapel in the Vatican: from December 1447 until August 1468, he served under no fewer than four popes (Nicholas V, Callixtus II, Pius II and Paul II). During his stay in Rome, he received several benefices from the dioceses of Cambrai and Utrecht. Pullois returned to Antwerp in 1468 and worked at the Church of Our Lady for another ten years.

Like Ockeghem, Pullois experimented in the 1440s with the new principle of the cyclic mass, in which the same thematic material recurs in the different parts of the mass. The principle was already established in English music. Did Pullois have access to the same English sources that inspired Ockeghem to compose his Missa Caput? Motets and chansons by Pullois have also been preserved, along with the oldest known polyphonic songs in Dutch. His work was also distributed in Italy, and much of Pullois’ work is now found in Italian manuscripts. Incidentally, the Christmas motet Flos de spina is also included in a Czech source. Instrumental adaptations of two chansons (Pour toutes fleurs / Sutoutes and De ma dame / De ma dame) are included in the German Buxheimer Orgelbuch. The ballad La bonté du Saint-Esperit was written in honour of one of the popes under whom Pullois served.

Booklet: EN, DE, FR, NL

On the occasion of Maurice Ravel’s 150th anniversary in 2025, Un Tombeau pour Ravel presents a musical journey interweaving the styles of Ravel and the French Baroque, especially the works of François Couperin. The program of this CD revolves around Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, composed during World War I as both a tribute to Baroque composers and a memorial for his comrades lost in the war. This recording includes original works and carefully crafted arrangements for harpsichord, tracing influences from 18th-century French music, illustrating Ravel’s inspirations at the time of the piano cycle’s creation, and exploring the tombeau as an homage genre.

Booklet: EN, FR, ES

 In the latter half of the 18th century, the Portuguese court saw the emergence of distinctive instrumental practices within its sacred repertoire. Among these innovations were works composed for Holy Week that featured concertante violas but conspicuously omitted violins. This unusual instrumentation became a hallmark not only of daily court music but also of Portuguese music as a whole.

This tradition likely reflects the profound influence of Neapolitan music in Portugal, aligning with a broader practice of incorporating solo bass instruments to enhance the solemnity of liturgical occasions, such as Holy Week and All Souls’ Day.

One of the most notable composers of the Patriarchal Chapel to embrace this style was José Joaquim dos Santos. Born in Óbidos in 1747, he entered the Patriarchal Seminary in 1754, studying under the renowned Neapolitan composer David Perez. By 1763, Santos had joined the seminary’s teaching staff, where he remained a central figure until his death in 1801. His work exemplifies the rich interplay of local tradition and Neapolitan influence that defined this extraordinary musical period.

This second CD by the Real Câmara orchestra presents, in a world premiere, the Good Friday Responsories for two concertante violas, bassoon, cello and double bass

Booklet: EN, FR, DE, PT

Scorrete lagrime mie, flow my tears: tears of sorrow, of joy; pious tears, passionate tears; tears of longing, of betrayal; of death, and of life. In their treatment of these themes, Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Sigismondo d’India, Giovanni Battista Bovicelli, Lodovico Viadana, Giovanni Bassano and Bartolomeo Barbarino use highly-colourful word-painting and encourage and require an extreme level of subtlety and variation in sound colours, articulations and shading; their sacred and secular monodies thus constitute a perfect conduit for exploring the vocal virtuosity of the trombone, an instrument that historically has perhaps more than any other been associated with the voice.

These originally vocal compositions are supplemented with select instrumental works including three original compositions. For this project, Maximilien Brisson is joined by Christophe Gauthier and Luc Beauséjour on organ and harpsichord, who provide a basso continuo approached here not as mere accompaniment, but as an equal and essential partner

Booklet: EN, FR

Fernando Sor, an unparalleled figure in the classical guitar world, revolutionized guitar composition by emulating the rich textures of orchestral music. Educated at the prestigious Escolania de Montserrat and guided by Father Anselm Viola, Sor’s works reflect his profound understanding of counterpoint and polyphony, reminiscent of Haydn’s influence. His innovative techniques, from the use of natural harmonics to polyphonic textures, transformed the guitar into an instrument capable of producing a spectrum of orchestral sounds. This album with Xavier Díaz Latorre features some of Sor’s most exquisite pieces, including Les Folies d’Espagne, Op. 15 and Variations Brillantes sur un Air Favori de Mozart, Op. 9, showcasing his compositional brilliance and the evocative power of his music. Each track is a testament to Sor’s legacy, blending classical elegance with expressive depth, offering listeners an extraordinary auditory experience.

Booklet: EN, FR

Handel composed these suites not only as performance pieces but also as teaching material, possibly to support himself financially after his father’s death and before his opera ventures. Despite their educational purpose, Handel’s suites were crafted with artistic sophistication, demanding skill and interpretation from performers.

The suites themselves demonstrate Handel’s versatility and innovation. They incorporate various suite types, including traditional four-movement suites and sonatas inspired by Corelli’s trio sonatas. Handel’s use of variations, fugues, and other forms highlights his compositional prowess.

Handel’s 1720 collection received widespread acclaim across Europe, inspiring composers like Bach, Muffat, and Rameau to incorporate similar elements into their works. Handel’s ability to fuse French, Italian, and German influences into his compositions exemplifies the “mixed taste” aesthetic of the time

Booklet: EN, FR, DE

Affective contrasts, seducing vocality, effortless virtuosity, and a penchant for intimacy; these are some of the lures of Italian music around 1600. Peter Van Heyghen and Kris Verhelst, two leading specialists in this field, have dedicated their latest recording to this music. Discover and enjoy their flowery selection of ornamented motets and madrigals, song variations, ricercars, toccatas, intonations, capriccios, canzonas and sonatas, performed on historically accurate instruments (three recorders, two harpsichords and an organ).

Booklet: EN, FR, DE

In 1614, Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560– 1627) published his most important collection of monodies. A truly monumental contribution to the vocal solo repertoire, it comprises one hundred motets with basso continuo, twenty-five for each of the four main vocal registers. This collection survives today in only two copies of its 1615 German print with the title Centum sacri concentus ab una voce sola.

Overlooked in modern times, it has so far remained in the shadow of Viadana’s earlier publications. With this project, the nine soloists of the Viadana Collective explore these forgotten motets and present them alongside organ improvisations and works for four, five, six and eight voices and instruments. The beauty of this music is revealed through sonically varied and richly adorned renditions making the most of the magnificent acoustics of the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara and the glorious radiance of its 16th-century Antegnati organ.

Booklet: EN, FR, DE

Lyrics: LT, EN