This double album was recorded in 2016 to DSD256 and analog tape and released shortly thereafter on vinyl and CD in two volumes. The full content of those earlier albums is finally released in Pure DSD256, as originally recorded.

In my opinion, there is no other interpretation that brings Sibelius’s intent so remarkably to life. Summing it all up: This release is beyond the grasp of anyone else.
– Adrian Quanjer, NativeDSD / HRAudio.net

Read full review HERE

Jean Sibelius’ piano trios were important to him personally. He wrote them in his youth, during the summers he spent vacationing with his brothers and sisters on various islands in Houtskär, the Finnish archipelago off the southwest coast of Finland. Sibelius loved these islands, and the three trios we include in this recording were eventually named after two of his favorite islands, as well as the coastal town of Lovisa, where his Aunt Evelina had a house.1 Given their natural talents, the young Sibelius siblings formed a trio. Janne2 played the violin, his sister Linda played the piano, and his brother Christian played the cello. Given the family musicians at hand, it was natural for Sibelius to write piano trios for their mutual enjoyment.

The young Sibelius wrote his Havträsk Trio in A Minor (JS 207) during the summer of 1886, during his first vacation after beginning his studies in music composition. It feels like we hear everything Sibelius learned in class, experimenting as he was, but now not under his teacher’s watchful eye! Movement one begins bombastically, balanced by the three lighter movements which follow. The Andantino second movement gives voice to some of Sibelius’ most beautiful melodies, followed by the whimsical and virtuosic Scherzo third movement which reminds me a little of Mendelssohn. Sibelius finished the piece with a simple melody which culminates into a surprisingly passionate dance.

Violinist Petteri Iivonen, pianist Juho Pohjonen and cellist Samuli Peltonen founded Sibelius Piano Trio and catapulted to success on the European concert stage. When three international soloists of this caliber unite to form a chamber music ensemble, the results are predictably electric. These three friends love playing together, and this love is easy to hear in their concerts and in their recording.

As a proud Finn and as a representative of the Finnish government, I salute Sibelius Piano Trio for their talent and join them in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Finland’s independence in 2017. Petteri, Juho and Samuli embody and exemplify the best of our country, and as someone who lives in Los Angeles, it gives me great pleasure that the Trio is so intimately connected with California and Yarlung Records. Please join me in celebrating this dynamic young trio, and in celebrating the magnificent country of Finland. Suomi 100!
– J.P. Markkanen, Consul General of Finland, Los Angeles, July 28th, 2016

Note: The audio samples below are only from Volume 2. We are currently working on getting the samples from Volume 1 also shown below, but if you would like to sample those tracks please visit the album page with the link below in ‘You May Also Like’

Petteri Iivonen, Violin
Juho Pohjonen, Piano
Samuli Peltonen, Cello

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On Viola and Piano Works, Alicia Calabuig (viola) and Jorge Blasco (piano) guide us through this beautiful and rarely recorded Romantic music, where lyricism reigns supreme. The album is a Stereo and 5 Channel Pure DSD 256 recording and is exclusively available at NativeDSD in its Pure DSD 256 resolution and bit rate! 

Hans Sitt is a highly neglected composer from late Romanticism, played a significant role in the transmission of the German tradition of Schumann and Brahms to the 20th Century. Born in Prague, he developed a brilliant career as a violinist and pedagogue, but was especially paramount in the development of the viola’s repertoire, for which he made valuable contributions, as portrayed in this album, which includes his main viola and piano works.

Alicia Calabuig, Viola
Jorge Blasco, Piano

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These recordings were taken during the live performances in January 2022, and May and June of 2023 in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The physical booklet also contains portraits taken by Frank Schramm during the last 14 years of the composer’s life. On the release of this CD, the first that encompasses all five of Walker’s sinfonias, Gregory Walker, George Walker’s son, said, “The National Symphony Orchestra’s unprecedented recording offers an opportunity to experience my father’s compositional evolution in context for the first time. Peter Laki’s text, Frank Schramm’s photography, and, of course, the committed artistry of Maestro Nosed and the musicians make a compelling argument for this music’s enduring significance.

“The sinfonias of George Walker have been an extraordinary musical discovery for me,” said Music Director Gianandrea Noseda. “They are concise in expression, rigorous in structure, and they have their own unique sound world. I am certain that these performances confirm that George Walker is one of the great composers of recent times.”

National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor

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à Amsterdam features the ensemble named Postscript. The idea to dedicate an album to music from Amsterdam, where Postscript was formed, had been on our minds for some time, but it really came into focus with the beginning of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

We were isolating at our respective homes in Amsterdam; however, on the rare occasions that music- making was possible, we were able to do it together, since we formed a small enough group to gather safely. The hectic travel schedules that normally shaped our lives came to a halt, and we had the opportunity to spend more time in our home city, enjoying contemplative walks in the eerily now-quiet streets. It was, therefore, quite natural to keep the theme of local exploration and to base our next musical project around the city of Amsterdam, by rediscovering a part of its history that is underappreciated by both musicians and audiences today.

We selected a number of works published (and in most cases also composed) in Amsterdam, chose Amsterdam-built instruments or copies thereof for each of us to play, and settled on a historical venue with wonderful acoustics in the heart of the city: the Waalse Kerk. As with our first Album at NativeDSD, Introductio, we decided to record it live with an appreciative audience in attendance. Our hope with this recording is to take you back to 18th-century Amsterdam to get a glimpse of its diverse and lively musical life.

Postscript
Aysha Wills, Traverso
David Westcombe, Traverso
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, Cello
Artem Belogurov, Harpsichord

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The Schumann Collection, Volume 2 is a double album from pianist Nicolas van Poucke.  It follows his earlier recording The Schumann Collection, Volume 1  which is also available from NativeDSD. The album is available at Native DSD Music 1 week before its official release in Stereo and 5.1 Channel Surround Sound! 

In 2020 I was approached by TRPTK to record an album. Due to the lockdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the world looked very different and live music performances had come to a halt. The idea of using the time in lockdown well, by recording an album while waiting to get back on stage as soon as the circumstances allowed, sounded great.

I chose to record three pieces of Robert Schumann which were already in my repertoire. At the end of the recording period the TRPTK team suggested we call the album “The Schumann Collection Volume l”, implying there would be more to come; I agreed happily.

In the process of preparing for the recording I fully immersed myself in Schumann’s musical universe and my obsession with this music took off. The agreement with TRPTK inspired me to continue my Schumann journey and resulted in this album containing pieces from both Schumann’s early and late period.

Nicolas van Poucke, Piano

From the Blog

A word with the young freethinker among Dutch pianists

Captivating the listener at all times

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The album is wholly improvised apart from two pieces each by van der Schyff and Gestrin, yet there’s a cumulative sense of continuity and flow. The composed pieces tend to hover on the brink of freedom, while the improvs are fascinating as process but also strong on form.

The particular character of this trio’s music-making involves a balance between speed/dynamism and a more inward, meditative feeling, between expansiveness and concentration, abstraction and the luminous impressions of the moment, music as sound or ambience and gesture as statement. The shifting continuum between consonance and dissonance or distortion also plays a part: Gestrin’s preparations (e.g. paper laid on strings in “Extrinsic”), Monder’s exquisite grunge (“Dark Engine”), van der Schyff’s multi-hued ringings and tappings. At times dreamlike and cinematic, at others almost orchestral in scope and detail, The Distance is a different kind of Chamber Jazz.

Chris Gestrin – Piano, Prepared Piano & Bells
Ben Monder – Electric Guitar
Dylan van der Schyff – Drums & Percussion

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Avenel’s Malian and Gambian bandmates performed with Yakhouba Sissokho (kora), Lansiné Kouyaté (balafon, a marimba), Moriba Koita (ngoni, a lute), and Michel Edelin (flutes). The band has traditional music in their bones and an openness to experiments. French flutist Michel Edelin provides a second jazz voice on many tracks. Avenel’s beautiful bass sound and rhythmic vitality spur the band on, the overall vibe is sweet, intense, and joyful, and the delicious blend of timbres is perfectly caught by this Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound Pure DSD recording.

Avenel explained the group’s origins:

“My interest in African music, its rhythmic richness, its sonorities, developed with my study of the sanza [thumb piano] and then the kora (and its repertoire). The idea of blending the double bass with these instruments is an old dream which was sketched out on my solo record Eclaircie (1985). Meeting Yakhouba I owe to Phillipe Conrath, who invited us to perform at the Africolor Festival in 1997. This was a fruitful encounter, and we decided to continue. Yakhouba became my kora teacher, my friend and musical partner. Through him I met Moriba and Lansiné. The basic trio: Yakhouba, Lansiné and me. Sometimes Moriba replaces Lansiné; joined by Michel Edelin (2000).

“[This music] is a meeting of individuals, a sharing of knowledge and passions, a desire to open things up and a respect for tradition. (Structured) improvisation is our playing field. The essential thing in this music is play, where the pleasure of playing is collective. The music is created around themes (introduced by one or the other of us) and improvisations on the harmonic structures (very simple) and rhythmic structures. The different ways of playing (traditional or a more modern approach) are expressed in a collective exchange from which soloists emerge.”

Album highlights include the rhythmic excitement of Avenel’s solo composition “Pi-Pande” where he overdubs bass and kora, and then lightly adds in a second bass for color and harmony; the shifting interplay and lovely textures of n’gonis, flutes and bass on Koïta’s stately tune “Batou Kagni”; the Caribbean insouciance and subtle orchestration of “Jarabi”; the ensemble groove with its figure/ground interchange of solos and riffs in “Kaïra”; and the sophisticated syncopations and accents that balance the touching simplicity of the classic “Tubaka.”

Waraba
Jean-Jacques Avenel – Double Bass & Kora
Yakhouba Sissokho – Kora
Lansiné Kouyaté – Balafon
Moriba Koïta – N’goni
Michel Edelin – Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute

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DSD recording and mixing bring out the beauty of the textures and sonorities, while the 5 Channel Surround Sound DSD mix subtly enhances the spatial qualities in the music and the interplay of melodic lines and rhythms.

What really makes the music shine though, is Horvitz’s gift as a composer, the way his themes and harmonies insinuate themselves into the listener’s consciousness and touch those vulnerable places with their tart nostalgia and bittersweet melancholy.

The Gravitas Quartet was pianist Wayne Horvitz’s longest-running improvising chamber ensemble, which only ended with Ron Miles’ death in 2022. Its members present highly distinctive voices on their instruments, showing deep experience of new music, jazz and improvisation.

The sound of the group is unique, and the playing is both classically poised and jazzily exuberant and inventive. What really makes the music shine though is Wayne’s gift as a composer, the way his themes and harmonies insinuate themselves into the listener’s consciousness and often touch you in those vulnerable places with their tart nostalgia and bittersweet melancholy.

Wayne Horvitz, Pianist

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Amsterdam-based Aros was an international sextet co-led by Canadian saxophonist Rob Armus and Austrian classical pianist music Marion von Tilzer. Its other members were Vancouver jazz/new music trumpeter and bandleader John Korsrud, Pakistani/Scottish classical/jazz/rock violinist Anne Wood, Scottish jazz/improv/rock/reggae percussionist Alan Purves, and German bassist Sven Schuster. Aros synthesized many influences into their own blend of chamber jazz and contemporary new music, including American jazz, European classical and new music, and tango. There are echoes of Bach, Coltrane, 19th century romanticism, African polyrhythms, ragas, and more. Imagine for example Astor Piazzolla and Philip Glass combining forces to create modal jazz with an occasional nod to free improv. In fact there’s quite a range of moods and styles, from heartfelt lyrical intimacy to driving soul jazz vamps.

The band came together in Amsterdam in the late 1990s. Armus explains:

“The relationship with Marion was about learning from each other: she showed me things about contemporary music and I showed her jazz, and now Marion is an improviser and I’m more educated towards contemporary music. I felt after years of playing free improvised music that I’d come to some type of dead-end and was needing more form. Marion on the other hand had been playing very structured classical music her whole life and was seeking more freedom, so we tried to combine form and structure with improvisation. Rather than having one long solo, everybody may have little sections where they improvise on a strict chord sequence within the rhythmic structure, as if the improvisation is a continuation of their part. I’d been interested for many years in Ghanaian music, particularly a ceremonial rhythm called abadja. I found that if I mixed a rhythm in 6 with another rhythm in 5 to make a cycle of 30 (for example in the piece “30”) it made for an interesting base for improvising, and many possibilities for composition. I later realized that Steve Reich was using such techniques from listening to African music also.”

Von Tilzer takes up the thread:

“I feel that in this time when through the mobility of society and the media we are exposed to so many cultures it is very important to connect with different cultures and be inspired by them. Learning about jazz has been a wonderful adventure and has made me reconnect with music in a whole new way, to recognize the similarities and the differences of the different styles, but in the end it is all music. The instrumentation of Aros is like a mini-orchestra, with a horn section, a string section, and piano (which often has the function of a ‘harmonic carpet’) and percussion. My harmonic and melodic inspiration comes a lot from my beloved composers Bela Bartok, Olivier Messiaen and Arvo Part. My pieces usually have a life of their own once I start writing them, unfolding their story. For instance “Song of the Heart” started with the piano part in 11/8 which was inviting a dreamlike melody from the violin in 12/8, a Chopinesque way of using polyrhythms – where unlike in African music it does not create a groove but makes the melody float above the repetitive accompaniment, since the accents of the melody in the violin do not coincide with the ones of the piano part.”

—

Frank van der Weij (recording), Frank van der Weij and Chris Weeda (DSD editing and multi-channel mix), Mikel Le Roy (stereo mix in DSD)

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TRPTK says “you could say this is our most immersive project yet. In Suspended Animation, by Dark Cinder Veneer is out now! Immerse yourself in a deep, dark ocean of synths, pads and textures.”

Using a minimalist approach, the album travels in the limbo that exists between music and sound. The chord drones surrounded by slow, evocative hints of melody, harmony and sparse sprinkles of spacious sound, take you deep inside and simultaneously far out there.

The idea behind in suspended animation is the journey one takes through both dreams and fears. How does one overcome subconscious blockades and release oneself back into the life you want to live?

Travel safe in sound.

Dark Cinder Veneer

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