Archives des CD in four questions – Total Baroque Magazine

Pomponio Nenna: A First Book of Madrigals Finally Recorded

In 1582, Pomponio Nenna (1556–1608) was 26 years old, and his first book of madrigals continued to celebrate the light, the festivals, and the landscapes of Puglia. Long before the dissonances that would link his name to that of Gesualdo, the composer displayed a lively and refined polyphony in these works. With his ensemble Comet Musicke, Francisco Javier Mañalich Raffo now presents the first complete recording of this work.

by Gabriel Davigneau 22 September 2026

A Violin Along the Roads of the Mediterranean

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Cristina Prats Costa

A Violin Along the Roads of the Mediterranean

In “Spiritillo Mediterraneo”, Spanish violinist Cristina Prats Costa follows in the footsteps of a lively, mischievous little Baroque sprite, taking her violin on a journey through Mediterranean ports, courtyards, and intertwined traditions. From Falconieri to Vivaldi, from Matteis to the Spanish dances of Sanz, Murcia, and Nebra, her first solo album transforms the Mediterranean into a theatre of invention, where ornamentation becomes storytelling.

by Gabriel Davigneau 14 July 2026

CD in four questions

Pablo Agudo López & Les Impertinences

Bestiario: Baroque in the Wild

With “Bestiario”, Les Impertinences plunges into a free, raw, and virtuosic seventeenth century, where instruments imitate animals, bodies, cries, dance, and the tumult of the world. Around Biber, Farina, Uccellini, and Du Mont, Venezuelan violinist and director Pablo Agudo López embraces an unruly baroque style, fueled by improvisation and Latin American traditions.

by Gabriel Davigneau 22 June 2026

Loris Barrucand Pays Tribute to the Last Master of the French Harpsichord

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The Splendour and Twilight of Jacques Duphly

Loris Barrucand Pays Tribute to the Last Master of the French Harpsichord

With “Éclats et derniers feux”, harpsichordist Loris Barrucand returns to the French clavecin master Jacques Duphly, a discreet composer of the Enlightenment whose music has accompanied him since his student years. Conceived as a “shattered mirror”, this anthology reveals the many facets of an art at once refined, brilliant and tender, at the moment when the harpsichord, soon to be supplanted by the pianoforte, casts its final glow.

by Gabriel Davigneau 15 June 2026

The first complete Demachy recording by Flore Seube

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Rediscovered seventeenth-century "Pièces de violle"

The first complete Demachy recording by Flore Seube

With her complete recording of Sieur Demachy’s “Pièces de violle”, Flore Seube gives voice once again to a mysterious figure of the Grand Siècle. The result of ten years of research and an intimate engagement with this repertoire, this recording reveals a sophisticated, lively, and refined style of viol music that balances textual fidelity, French sensibility, and the art of polyphony.

by Gabriel Davigneau 10 June 2026

In the 16th century, the harpsichord of the Emperor of China

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Íliber Ensemble & Todos los Tonos y Ayres

In the 16th century, the harpsichord of the Emperor of China

From Spain’s Golden Age to China’s Forbidden City, El clave del Emperador retraces the singular destiny of Diego de Pantoja, a Jesuit, musician, and mediator between two worlds. With Íliber Ensemble and Todos los Tonos y Ayres, the recording brings together harpsichord, Chinese instruments, and learned traditions to transform historical inquiry into a true sonic journey.

by Gabriel Davigneau 4 May 2026

Rediscovering Brunetti: a Composer at the Court of Spain

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Concerto 1700 & Daniel Pinteño

Rediscovering Brunetti: a Composer at the Court of Spain

With his Concerto 1700, violinist Daniel Pinteño continues his exploration of 18th-century Spanish musical heritage. His latest recording of Gaetano Brunetti’s “String Quartets, Op. 3” reveals a court composer whose writing is both refined and full of wit.

by Gabriel Davigneau 8 April 2026

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Ensemble Irini & Lila Hajosi

JANUA, a gateway between East and West

With “JANUA”, the ensemble Irini and its director Lila Hajosi explore 15th-century vocal repertoires through a program built around Guillaume Dufay and Byzantine chant. An album that is both scholarly and sensory, inviting listeners to step outside conventional frameworks and open their ears to other forms of perception.

by Gabriel Davigneau 30 March 2026

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Il Caravaggio & Camille Delaforge

Breathing life into Rameau’s Pygmalion

From statue to living body: based on the myth of Pygmalion, Camille Delaforge brings together two 18th-century French scores, Rameau’s ballet act and an unpublished cantatille by Antoine Bailleux, a contemporary composer who has fallen into oblivion. Performed by Mathias Vidal, this recording uses music to explore the very act of creation.

by Chloé Bergeret 16 February 2026

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Les Surprises & Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas

A New Take on Tenebrae

What if the “Leçons de Ténèbres” recovered the sound of a male monastery? A darker interpretation that approaches the text differently and breaks with traditional codes.

by Gabriel Davigneau 11 February 2026

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Martin Gester

18 Bach Poems for a Desert Island

With the 18 Leipzig Chorales, Bach brings together, at the end of his life, a fully realized reflection on the organ, the chorale, and counterpoint. On the Thomas organ in Namur, Martin Gester approaches these pages as a space for sonic invention, playing with styles, colours, and balances to create a dialogue between learned elaboration and expressive intensity.

by Gabriel Davigneau 26 January 2026

“The Four Nations”: A Vivaldi Recomposed

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Ensemble Caprice & Matthias Maute

“The Four Nations”: A Vivaldi Recomposed

With “The Four Nations”, Matthias Maute and Ensemble Caprice offer an inventive tribute to Vivaldi: a project of composition and recreation that blends scholarship, imagination, and baroque energy.

by Gabriel Davigneau 20 January 2026

CD in four questions

Pomponio Nenna: A First Book of Madrigals Finally Recorded