August 26 brings a new release from Canary Classics, record label of virtuosic violinist Gil Shaham. Three Grammy® award winning musicians have come together for this recording of Tchaikovsky’s beloved Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50; Yefim Bronfman (piano), Gil Shaham (violin), and Truls Mørk (cello) which was written in 1881-2 in tribute to his friend and great pianist Nicolai Rubinstein. The Piano Trio, which is subtitled ‘In memory of a great friend’, begins with a seventeen-minute first movement in the middle of which we hear a wrenching cello theme that musically personifies Tchaikovsky’s grief at the loss of his friend Nicolai. The second movement consists of a theme and 12 variations. The last variation introduces a new highly-charged theme that undergoes many passionate transformations. The listener prepares to be carried to the end of the Trio by this turbulent finale, only for the piece to return to the reflective and mournful melody of the first movement. The Trio ends in the quiet desolation in which is began.

ATMA-Classique releases the latest recording by acclaimed early and Baroque music ensemble Les Voix Humaines, entitled William Lawes: The Harp Consorts (ATMA-Classique ACD2 2372). For this recording, Les Voix regulars-gambists Susie Napper and Margaret Little-collaborate with renowned harpist Maxine Eilander, American lutenist Stephen Stubbs (co-artistic director of the Boston Early Music Festival and founder of the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera), and American-born Canadian violinist David Greenberg, who spent 10 years performing with the Toronto-based Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir.

The 11 consorts by William Lawes “for the Harp, Bass Viol, Violin and Theorbo” are known collectively as “The Harp Consorts.” This creative collection occupies a unique niche in music history, with no exact precedent, and, through the catastrophic interruption of the English Civil War, no descendants whatsoever. That war not only ended the brilliant musical circle that had assembled at the court of Charles the First for which these works were conceived, but also ended the lives of Charles and Lawes himself at the siege of Chester in 1645. This is the first complete recording of Lawes’ Harp Consorts. It is the specificity of the instrumentation and the inventive and idiomatic writing for each voice, combined with Lawes’ intensely personal, expressive and quirky musical language, that make the collection a unique treasure.

Maxine Eilander was born in Holland, grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Seattle. She plays on a range of early harps: the Italian arpa doppia, the Spanish cross-strung harp, the German ‘Davidsharfe’, the Welsh triple harp, and the single action pedal harp. Eilander has appeared as a soloist with many ensembles, including Teatro Lirico, Tragicomedia, Tafelmusik, The Toronto Consort, The Sixteen, and Seattle Baroque. She is managing director of the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera, where she teaches harp.

After a 30-year career in Europe, Stephen Stubbs recently returned to his native Seattle to establish his new opera company Pacific Operaworks. David Greenberg taught himself folk fiddle tunes by ear as a young child growing up in Maryland. He spent the ‘90s performing and recording with Tafelmusik while developing a specialty in Scottish Baroque-folk music and has recorded several CDs in this genre, including the groundbreaking Bach meets Cape Breton.

Susie Napper and Margaret Little have thrilled audiences with their performances of exotic masterpieces of the 17th and 18th centuries for the past two decades. Les Voix Humaines are renowned for their spectacular arrangements of a wide variety of music for two viols, as well as their brilliant performances of contemporary music commissioned by the duo. Their Montreal concert season offers a unique opportunity for an international array of instrumentalists and singers to explore unusual repertoire that includes virtuoso viols. The duo is regularly joined by some of Montreal’s finest young gambists to form the Voix Humaines Consort, which specializes in the vast 17th-century repertoire for viol consort. Les Voix Humaines has recorded over 20 CDs on the ATMA, Naxos, and CBC Records labels, several of which have received critical acclaim and prizes.

On August 26, Medici Arts presents Riccardo Muti and the Vienna State Opera in Mozart’s third and final Lorenzo Da Ponte opera, Così fan tutte (Medici Arts 2072368). Filmed in the historic Theater an der Wien, Così fan tutte features a cast of internationally-renowned singers including soprano Barbara Frattoli (Fiordiligi), who was fresh from her La Scala, Vienna State and Metropolitan Opera débuts. German-Canadian tenor Michael Schade had already sung the role of Ferrando under Muti in Salzburg and returned to the role for this production. This 1996 revival of the acclaimed 1991 Salzburg Festival production is directed by Roberto de Simone, with lush costumes by Odette Nicoletti and picturesque sets by Mauro Carosi.

Initially the least successful of the three Da Ponte operas, Così fan tutte only received 10 performances in Mozart’s lifetime. This puzzles today’s audiences who regard Così for the virtual perfection of its score. The opera (also known by its subtitle The School for Lovers) follows the trials of two sisters (Fiordiligi and Dorabella) whose much-boasted fidelity is tested by their boyfriends (Ferrando and Guglielmo) at the suggestion of the old philosopher Don Alfonso. Following a double suicide attempt, double seduction, and an aborted double wedding, Fiordiligi and Dorabella accuse Don Alfonso of the ultimate deception, because he persuaded the two young suitors to challenge the devotion of the sisters to their true loves. In the finale the four lovers forgive each other and all sing “Happy is the man who looks on the bright side and lets himself be guided by reason”