Naive are delighted to present a new fascinating journey into the heart of the Elizabethan Age. This anthology contains four pieces connected with John Dowland and others by the generation of lute composers that preceded him. Lute virtuoso Hopkinson Smith named the piece 'Mad Dog', as a symbol of his creative process: “There are many orphaned lute pieces in English sources that have come down to us with no name at all. I have taken the liberty of christening four such pieces in this programme with names that seem to suit their musical spirits.

The group of Weimar cantatas is exciting on many levels. The purpose Bach expressed in his Mühlhausen resignation letter – which became a master beam of the musical edice he built throughout his life – is expressed with an even more seminal vigour, due to the restrictions it suffered previously. Besides the beauty of the surviving works, which renders the loss of the missing ones all the more bitter, it is moving to see the musician engage, with each new piece, in experiments with form, ideas, and the language for expressing the word of God through the most sensitive possible texts. The choice of developing themes dear to him enabled him to afirm and deepen his faith.

There was hardly a music genre more popular at the height of the Classical period than the Sinfonia Concertante. An entirely new concert experience resulted from a combination of a straightforward orchestral setting and brilliant playing by soloists as well as blending elements of the symphony, solo concerto and divertimento. Composers did not score works for individual soloists only, but also created a symphonic genre with as many as nine solo instruments.

The protagonist of Saint-Saëns’ Proserpine, premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 14 March 1887, is no reincarnation of the ancient goddess, but a Renaissance courtesan well versed in culpable amours. According to the composer, she is ‘a damned soul for whom true love is a forbidden fruit; as soon as she approaches it, she experiences torture’. Yet for all the innocence of her rival Angiola, the unexpected happens: ‘It is the bloodthirsty beast that is admirable; the sweet creature is no more than pretty and likeable.’

Jan Lisiecki puts the spotlight on rarely recorded works of the orchestral Chopin, the repertoire that became his calling card and kick-started his international career. Jan’s release of both piano concertos (recorded at the age of 13 and 14) with Sinfonia Varsovia and Howard Shelley was praised as one of the most exciting contributions to Chopin’s 200th anniversary year in 2010. The two live recordings that have earned Jan the prestigious Diapason Découverte award in May 2010, placed him on the map as a promising newcomer and resulted in his exclusive DG recording deal. Now, Jan has fulfilled his dreams of completing the orchestral Chopin repertoire: To record all remaining works for piano and orchestra recorded in the studio with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, conducted by the Polish conductor Krzysztof Urbański.