Discography

After her first solo record, ‘E il violoncello suonò’, Hanna Salzenstein, in this second opus, gets on with the story of the emergence of the solo cello in Italy in the early 18th century, highlighting the concertante repertoire for solo cello and orchestra in a period immediately following the birth of the concerto itself. The concerto is here the most iconic genre regarding the emancipation of an instrument. It is the locus of the demonstration of finger dexterity as well as that of expressiveness and profoundness intrinsic to the cello. Hanna Salzenstein is accompanied by the Orchestra of the ensemble Le Consort. Released in early 2025 on the Mirare label, the album was awarded a Choc Classica.

The emerging voice of the cello as a solo instrument in the 18th century through the repertoire of Italian musicians, who travelled throughout Europe along with their works.

E il violoncello suonò was awarded a Diapason d’Or Découverte, Cinq Étoiles**** by Classica and a FFF by Télérama.

In the second half of the seventeenth century, London experienced an artistic golden age, with the arrival of many foreign musicians and the proliferation of theatres and concert halls where audiences came to listen to the stars of the moment. One of these musicians was the Italian Nicola Matteis, who arrived around 1660 and became the sensation of the London music scene. Purcell was only a child at the time and there is no record of their meeting, but it is very likely that he was familiar with Matteis’s works, including his Ayres, recorded here for the first time in a version for four-part consort. Exploration of this London effervescence yields to some surprising discoveries, such as the music of a mysterious composer who published trio sonatas around 1715 under the name Mrs Philarmonica. Le Consort presents the very first recording of this highly interesting music, probably influenced by Corelli and very likely written by a woman composer who, given the conventions of the time, made use of a pseudonym. Her true identity is unfortunately unknown to us.

The Dichter Trio takes us on an imaginary visit to one of the most iconic couples in 19th-century Germany: the home of Robert and Clara Schumann, enlivened by their artistic, musical, and personal exuberance. Bach was one of their models; Gade, Kirchner, and Brahms: their protégés; and Felix Mendelssohn—a close friend! An immersive look at their music-making that tells us more than a shelf full of books…

Specchio veneziano or the Venetian mirror – this programme compares and contrasts two composers from the city of the Doges: on the one hand the celebrated Vivaldi, on the other a virtual unknown, Giovanni Battista Reali, who was born there in 1681, three years after Vivaldi, and died in 1751, ten years after his illustrious colleague. A violinist himself, he composed trio sonatas, including a very spectacular Folia, which Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Sophie de Bardonnèche, Hanna Salzenstein and Justin Taylor juxtapose with Vivaldi’s Folia, alongside other highly virtuosic pieces, many of them complete rediscoveries, since half of this programme has never been recorded before.

'Although Dandrieu is best-known for his talents as an organist, his trio sonatas deserve a prominent position in the chamber music of the period. They show a stunning mastery of style and variety of characters. Dances overflowing with energy, mischievous and impetuous counterpoint between the three parts, movements with highly expressive Italianate suspensions, articulation, phrasing, rhythm, gentleness, passion – in a word, life. He published them under the title Premier Œuvre in 1705, when he was twenty-three years old, our own age when we first met and played these sonatas: “Opus 1” was therefore a natural choice as the title for this album!’ say the members of Le Consort. ‘The trio sonata was created in the second half of the seventeenth century and Corelli, the master of the genre, helped to diffuse it throughout Europe. Dandrieu’s trio sonatas are marked by Corelli’s influence. And when he calls one of his harpsichord pieces “La Corelli”, he indicates himself as an heir to the great Italian maestro . . . We have arranged this piece as a sonata a tre.'