Since the 2015-2016 season, Giovanni Antonini has been the "principal guest conductor" of the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Kammerorchester Basel, recreated in 1984 in the spirit of the first Basler Kammerorchester which was founded by the patron and Swiss conductor Paul Sacher). He is working with them on important discographic projects, such as the complete Beethoven symphonies (Sony Classical) which are proving to be a great success with the press; and the "Haydn 2032" project, which is set to comprise the complete hundred and seven symphonies by Joseph Haydn, to mark the latter’s 300th birthday. The first fruit of this vast complete collection, that is, this album, was created by Antonini's historic Italian ensemble and described as a work of "passion" (but how could it be otherwise with a personality as joyful and innovative as Haydn?). The record gets off to a flying start with the Symphony n° 39 in G minor, subtitled "Tempesta di mare" on a 1779 manuscript and which, curiously, no publisher has yet taken up. Although it does not break out of its formal framework, it is a work stirred by tempestuous winds which are scarcely calmed by an Andante that seems to arise out of nowhere. The Finale is all filled with Vivaldian cascades, painting a portrait of natural cataclysm, or of the agitation of a soul struggling with the first jolts of Romanticism. A childhood memory of Giovanni Antonini who had discovered Haydn through his Symphony No. 1, this final piece at the end of this first album was broadly influenced by the style of the Mannheim school which was then flourishing in Europe. The harmonic proximity of the Symphony n° 49 in F Minor "The Passion" to the ballet-pantomime Don Juan or the Feast of Stone which Gluck had composed a few years earlier led Giovanni Antonini to include Gluck in this first volume, a dream opportunity for the conductor to show how Haydn changed the fate of the symphony by introducing a dramatic touch tinged with irony. Antonini sees in the two composers the same turn of mind and a shared use of techniques, who nevertheless bring together very different aspects of life in their music. © François Hudry/Qobuz

The starting point for Barbara Hannigan’s third recording for Alpha is a work by Gérard Grisey (1946-98) that is particularly close to her heart. Grisey wrote: ‘I conceived the Quatre Chants pour franchir le seuil (Four songs for crossing the threshold) as a musical meditation on death in four parts: the death of the angel, the death of civilisation, the death of the voice and the death of humanity... The texts chosen belong to four civilisations (Christian, Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian) and have in common a fragmentary discourse on the inevitability of death’. Luigi Nono (1924-90) was a politically engaged composer. His stunning monody Djamila Boupacha, a heart-rending cry for solo soprano, pays tribute to a freedom fighter tortured by French paratroopers during the Algerian war; Picasso also portrayed her in charcoal. Once again Barbara Hannigan both sings and directs this pair of twentieth-century works with her friends of the Ludwig Orchestra. She has chosen to couple them with a Classical symphony by the master of the genre, Joseph Haydn, which also deals with the theme of the Passion. Her interpretation is extremely intense and highly personal. © Alpha Classics

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The mazurkas of Alexander Scriabin make evident a trait sometimes submerged in his music in larger forms, namely the degree to which Chopin served him as an inspiration. The unusually good booklet notes here by Simon Nicholls outline the history of the form and evocatively quote Liszt and various Russian writers about the ramifications of the mazurka as it developed from Chopin's invention of the genre as part of concert music. Pianist Andrey Gugnin leans toward clarity here rather than highly expressive treatments, and this is good: what is interesting in these pieces is to see how Scriabin dealt with Chopin's models and how those remain prominent even as the traits of his mature music begin to take over. The ten mazurkas of Op. 3 date from 1889, when Scriabin was 15. They are clearly in the Chopin mold, but there are splashes of color -- to use a term appropriate to the synaesthetic Scriabin -- that suggest what was to come. In the Op. 25 set, from ten years later, the dance rhythm is still clear in Gugnin's hands, although both chromaticism and counterpoint have been added in abundance. The pair of mazurkas of Op. 40 date from 1903, and here, we are in the realm of the mature Scriabin, with the mazurka form not only harmonically but rhythmically distorted. Yet Gugnin's elegant readings keep in touch with the music's roots, creating a flavor of early experiences remembered. Indeed, hearing the mazurka was one of Scriabin's first musical memories. This is a strong introduction to a rather neglected part of Scriabin's output.© TiVo

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli's 14th studio album, 2013's Passione features a selection of romantic Mediterranean love songs. Produced by David Foster, the album features several duets including tracks with Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, and Chris Botti. Also included is a special duet with the late Edith Piaf on her signature song, "La Vie en Rose."© Matt Collar /TiVo

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Twenty-something Freddie De Tommaso has been the subject of plenty of buzz since signing with the major Decca label, and Passione, his debut release, has performed strongly on the charts right out of the box. It's something of a tenor throwback release, with semi-popular pieces made famous by the likes of Caruso and Mario Lanza. These are fun; the pieces by Paolo Tosti aren't heard as often as they should be, and there's a convincing English-language setting of Cara mia by Mantovani (ditto). Yet, De Tommaso also sings a couple of Puccini songs newly arranged for orchestra, and it is perhaps here that he impresses most. He does not have pure vocal sweetness, but he has charisma and command, and in the involved melodic structures of the Puccini pieces, with explosive high notes, he's quite absorbing. He gets sympathetic support from the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Renato Balsadonna, and the whole thing is attractively recorded. This is definitely a young tenor to watch, and many of these pieces are soon going to be all over British radio if they aren't already. © TiVo

Punctuated by the tambourines which now appear to be inevitable on all recordings of Baroque music, this "Delirio della passione" (Delirium of passion) flies the colours of eroticism, both figuratively, and literally, on the image on the cover. This recital by soprano Anna Lucia Richter, at ease with Mahler as with seventeenth-century Italian opera, is devoted to a good dozen secular pieces by Monteverdi from his operas and cycles of love madrigals. Conducting the Claudiana Ensemble while playing his instruments (archluth, theorbo, chitarrone), Luca Pianca makes this music twirl, and gives it the character of a frantic dance. A whole theatre of amorous passions is represented here. It is an expression of a burning sensuality in search of multicultural connections. After all, the Venice of these days looked to the East. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Rare manuscripts from the library of an Italian abbey, rediscovered and recorded for the first time. Founded in 529 AD by Benedict of Nursia, the Abbey of Monte Cassino is still considered the ancestral monastery of the Benedictine Order. In 744 the archabbey was granted independence; it ended in 1503 when the territorial abbey fell to the Kingdom of Naples or, from 1860, to the Kingdom of Sardinia. Since 1927 Montecassino Abbey has been part of the then newly formed province of Frosinone (Lazio). The abbey also gained sad notoriety during the Second World War, when it was completely destroyed in the Battle of Montecassino. From 1948 to 1956 the abbey was rebuilt according to the original plans. The abbey’s surviving library of manuscripts (theological, musical and others) was mostly moved to Rome during postwar reconstruction, but local archives mined for this release have turned up a treasure trove of pieces which testify to a lively culture of chamber music at the abbey during the 19th century. The instruments often used were piano, harmonium, flute, violin and cello. The cello however was the most important instrument, which is confirmed by the important solo cello scores and Methods stored in the local Archive, proof of the strong affection to this instrument. The library's archives include a collection of six Cello Duets by Valentino Bertoja (1757-after 1820), a composer from the Veneto region to the north; the Duet No. 6 opens this recording. The two most prominent monk musicians featured here are Padre Placido Abela (1814-1876), originally from Siracusa in Sicily, and Padre Mauro Liberatore (1810-1879) from L’Aquila. It is Liberatore who arranged both sacred and secular pieces to give a starring role to the cello, such as Casta diva from Bellini’s Norma, and a then-popular aria from Mercadante’s Il giuramento. Abela composed Concerti armonici for a trio of piano, harmonium and cello, and then a part for the string instrument in the liturgical inserts of his Missa solennis. Other composers wrote pieces specifically for Liberatore to play, such as the Barcarola by the Sicilian cellist and composer Domenico Laboccetta (1823-1896), and two composers local to Monte Cassino, Pietro Ray (1773-1857) and Domenico Corigliano (1770-1838). This exceptionally rare repertoire is introduced in a booklet essay by the cellist Matteo Malagoli, who is the principal soloist on a collection of similar historical value from Brilliant Classics, of "Early Neapolitan Cello Music" by Gerco and Francone. © Brilliant Classics