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Joel Gordon, co-founder, producer and sound engineer:
Joel Gordon has engineered and produced several hundred classical,
contemporary and world music CDs, plus countless “live” and field
recordings, recorded in the USA, Europe and Asia. His work can he
heard on various recording labels throughout the USA and Europe. For
over twenty years he has served as producer for WGBH Radio in
Boston, MA, having overseen over one thousand live performance,
concert and studio recordings as well as radio music special
programs. His ethnographic field recordings can be heard on
Smithsonian Folkways Records. His exemplary professional standards
distinguish every Musica Omnia release and provide the label with
its distinctive audiophile quality sound. Joel Gordon is also the
founder of the internationally syndicated American new music
resource, Art of the States.
Anne Harley, booklet & graphic designer:
Anne Harley is a graduate of both Yale
and Boston Universities. She is a well-known soprano with an active
career, specializing both in music of the Baroque and the
contemporary operatic repertoire and is a featured artist on several labels, including
Musica Omnia. In addition she is responsible for Musica
Omnia’s “look” and “feel”, having created the company’s logos,
designed the booklets and overseen the label’s general appearance.
For Musica Omnia she has recorded Bach Missae
breves (MO 0203), cantatas BWV 62,140 & 192 (MO 0104),
and the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (MO 0101).
 Martin C. Basart,
Vice President Worldwide Marketing & Sales:
Martin Basart has been involved in sales and marketing of Classical re-cordings for thirty five years. Originally from the Netherlands he
relocated to the USA in 1976 to train in record production under George H.
de Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, founder of the world-famous VOX
classical recording catalogue. In this role he created over one hundred classical albums, later becoming a regional VOX sales representative. In January of 1979 he joined Pickwick Records’ label
division as National Sales Manager, after which he became Vice President
Sales and Marketing for Intersound, Essex Entertainment and later
BMG/Empire Musicwerks. For Musica Omnia he is
coordinator of international sales and marketing.
Our Company:
It takes a phenomenal combination of talent, experience
and expertise to create a significant new label in the
current highly competitive field of classical music
recording. It also takes taste, a capacity for
self-criticism and a constant awareness of the fluidity
of many different trends in musical performance.
Moreover, it requires knowledge combined with innovation to develop
an appropriate musical, technological and marketing
philosophy, not to mention a willingness to adapt to
rapidly changing circumstances of both technology and
artistic trends.
Musica Omnia showcases the finest performances by
today’s leading artists by offering the best
presentation that modern technology can provide. Central
to our philosophy is a constant awareness of the
resources and sound world of every historical period, so
that the music of each composer is represented as
faithfully as possible. Our goal is to provide our
listeners with a vital, contemporary musical experience,
based on the best historical research and the highest
aesthetic standards. We are conscious of both preserving
the legacy of the past while advancing and constantly
renewing our vision of music as art.
Our roster of performing artists, whom we proudly
acknowledge as the most important members of the Musica
Omnia family, includes both the most experienced and
internationally famous musicians, as well as highly
gifted members of the younger generation of performers
who will carry our ideals through the 21st century. Our
production staff includes some of the most experienced
and respected members of the audio community. Our
releases are enhanced by supporting material in the form
of booklet notes written by the world’s leading scholars
and musicians. Each release is designed to be as
pleasing visually as it is distinguished musically.
Musica Omnia is a label conceived by musicians for
musicians. Many of our board members and staff are also
musicians. Our company
takes seriously its commitment to bridge the gap between
the professional musician, the experienced listener and
that potentially limitless international community of
new classical music aficionados. A glance at our
catalogue will tell the story, as will a visit to our
“artists” page. Musica Omnia is harvesting a wealth of
creative talent to carry forward a revolution in the
presentation of classical music for every generation of
music lover, present and future.
Musica Omnia is a label devoted to preserving and disseminating
performances of great music by the world’s leading musicians, with
special emphasis on period performance. Those who recall the SEON
label from the 1970s, where the listener could rely on the choice
of artist, high aesthetic and historical standards and predictably
excellent, state of the art sound, will find similar ideals here.
Musica Omnia has been geared towards this end since its founding in
2000 by Peter Watchorn (artistic direction and artist liaison),
Joel
Gordon (recording and sound production/engineering) and David Fox
(business and marketing). Based in the USA, Musica Omnia sets
the same standards as the best, most prestigious audiophile labels
in Europe and Japan.
In 2002, Musica Omnia expanded its identity and became a registered
not-for-profit-corporation, in order to be able to maximize its
flexibility both as a classical music CD company and as an
educational resource, capable of raising capital for special
projects. The years from 2002 to 2006 were also spent in
consolidating the catalogue and building up Musica Omnia’s releases
to the present number of around twenty, with six new releases
planned in each coming year. In 2006 Musica Omnia is once again
presenting itself for worldwide distribution and sales, under the
leadership of Martin Basart, who has been with Musica Omnia from the
very beginning, and who, prior to joining Musica Omnia has
had
many years of experience in the area of marketing and sales in the
record industry. Distributors for our physical CDs, both in the US
and in foreign countries, are being appointed at the present time.
Musica
Omnia is governed by a corporate board which assists
with fund-raising for special projects and helps oversee
and maintain the high musical and artistic standards
that the label has achieved in its first decade of
operation. This unique structure enables Musica Omnia
to
compete in the market place, while pursuing funding for
special projects through grants and private donor
support.
In addition, through its recently-formed association with the online
digital distributor, IODA, Musica Omnia is entering the cutting edge
field of worldwide on-line distribution of its catalogue.
Musica Omnia offers:
• the finest performances of great music by leading
musicians
As with Telefunken and SEON in the 1960s, Musica Omnia
features legendary artists such as Jaap Schröder and Max
van Egmond, exciting instrumental groups like the
Atlantis Ensemble, the Adaskin String Trio,
Magnificat,
Publick Musick and the Boston Bach Ensemble, the
Lydian
String Quartet and many other of today’s finest
instrumentalists and vocalists.
• the finest recorded sound overseen by a consistent
production/engineering team
With Joel Gordon, one of America’s most respected and
experienced engineer/producers and Peter Watchorn as
artistic coordinator, Musica Omnia has displayed over
its nearly twenty releases a high and consistent
standard of excellence that competes with the finest
labels in the world. Musica Omnia’s reputation as
a leader in the field has been confirmed internationally
by numerous reviews and awards from publications such as
The New York Times, Gramophone, International Record
Review, BBC World Music Magazine and American
Record Guide.
• unique and beautiful format with highest production
standards
Musica Omnia’s products all have a distinctive and
distinguished look, well organized, highly informative
booklets and fine graphics. Musica Omnia's
concern with presenting the finest music performed by
the greatest artists with state-of-the-art sound is
fully matched by similar attention paid to all the
visual aspects of CD production.
• supporting documentation by the world’s leading
scholars and writers
Musica Omnia maintains close contact with the leading
musicologists, university professors and writers and
scholars such as Susan Youens, Larry Todd, Howard
Schott, John Daverio, Rufus Hallmark, Robert Mealy and Bradley Lehman,
whose contributions have regularly enhanced Musica Omnia releases. We
always choose leading writers in any particular field to
produce our extensive and detailed booklet notes. Many
of these scholars have literally “written the book” in
their respective fields.
• extensive mailing list
Musica Omnia is constantly updating its
extensive mailing list of enthusiastic repeat customers.
Currently we directly email several thousand music
lovers, keeping them informed of upcoming releases and
other Musica Omnia news. This data base is expanding all the
time, and we are deeply committed to spreading the word
about “historically informed” performance far and wide.
• coherent catalogue planning and development
The catalogue is intelligently planned by artist,
historical period and composer. Our releases are
designed to follow
logically from one another. This makes the label
desirable for everyone from the casual listener to the
highly selective connoisseur, professional musician or
school, college or university music librarian who is
looking specifically for particular works, groups or
performers.
We plan our new releases to proceed sequentially from our existing
catalogue. This results in unrivalled continuity of
genre, composer and artist. Because of these high
standards, many of our artists choose to record
exclusively with us.
• highly competitive pricing structure
Our basic pricing structure is designed to make the
highest quality product readily and affordably
available, while maintaining the highest artistic,
technical and aesthetic standards. Our recordings are
equal to the best in the world and are specially priced
to be universally affordable.
• ready availability
Musica Omnia is set to work with various partners,
to ensure worldwide availability of its products, both
as physical CDs and increasingly important online digital formats. In addition, our newly-designed website is created specifically to facilitate
direct purchase of all our releases. We stock our entire
catalogue at all times, and never delete any release.
Our artists include:
Etienne Abelin (violin)
Adaskin String Trio
Elizabeth Anker (alto)
Atlantis Ensemble
Boston Bach Ensemble
Peter Bucknell (viola)
Karen Clark (alto)
Saskia Coolen (recorder)
Penelope Crawford (fortepiano & harpsichord)
Andrea Folan (soprano)
Thomas Folan (conductor)
Daniel Foster (viola)
Anne Harley (soprano)
Jennifer Lane (alto)
Lydian String Quartet
Magnificat
Emlyn Ngai (violin)
Sally Pinkas (piano)
Publick Musick
Jaap Schröder (violin)
Kenneth Slowik (fortepiano and cello)
Warren Stewart (conductor)
Enid Sutherland (cello & viola da gamba)
David Tayler (lute & theorbo)
Margriet Tindemans (viola da gamba)
Anne Trout (double bass)
Max van Egmond (baritone)
Hanneke van Proosdij (organ)
Julian Wachner (conductor)
Peter Watchorn (harpsichord & organ)
Catherine Webster (soprano)
New
Releases for 2007-2008
One
of the USA’s leading choirs and period instrument orchestras,
Publick Musick,
directed by Thomas Folan continues
its exploration of J. S. Bach’s choral music with
a new CD (MO
0204) devoted to four great cantatas. Nun komm der Heiden
Heiland,
BWV 62, one of two cantatas of the same name,
composed for the first Sunday in Advent; BWV 45, Es ist dir
gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, for the 8th Sunday
after Trinity; Nun danket alle Gott, BWV 192 (occasion
unknown), and the great Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,
BWV 140, for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Distinguished
vocal soloists, who also sing in
the ensemble include
Anne Harley
(soprano), Deborah Rentz-Moore (alto), Pablo Bustos
(tenor), Jonathan Rohr (bass), and the legendary Dutch
master, Max van Egmond (bass).
Peter Watchorn’s
series devoted to the harpsichord works of J. S. Bach continues with
three new releases, MO 0208, Inventions & Sinfonias,
MO 0202, Das Wohltemperierte Clavier, Book 2
and MO 0210: the second and third parts of the
Clavierübung, consisting of the Italian Concerto
(BWV 971), Overture in the French Manner, BWV 831 and
the four Duets, BWV 802-805.
Another important release for 2008 will be the first (MO 0301)
in a series of CDs devoted to the complete output of the great
English composer, John Bull (1562-1628). Peter Watchorn
will be joined by Mahan Esfahani, one of the most
accomplished players of the younger generation, in this complete
survey in seven volumes, which will use an array of harpsichords and
the Charles B. Fiske organ at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.
Musica Omnia is pleased to welcome the exciting British-based vocal
ensemble, Ensemble Plus Ultra, directed by the
distinguished conductor and scholar, Michael Noone, in a new
recording (MO 0302) of excerpts from the extraordinary and
monumental 1607 Gradualia, a vast collection of
Catholic music composed by William Byrd (1543-1623) among the
dangers and recriminations of Protestant England.
Jaap Schröder, Penelope Crawford and Enid Sutherland
(The Atlantis Trio),
offer three of the great piano trios of the nineteenth century in a
new release of works by Robert & Clara Schumann and Sigismond
Thalberg (MO 0207). The trio is joined once more by violist
Daniel Foster in the next instalment of Mendelssohn 2009,
devoted to the three Piano Quartets (Op. 1-3). Jaap
Schröder and Penelope Crawford complete this 2 CD set with an
eloquent performance of the Sonata for violin and
piano, Op. 4.
Violinist Martin Davids and organist David Yearsley,
playing a fine mid-18th Century Italian organ
collaborate on a musical survey of seventeenth and eighteenth
century London and works by Handel, Purcell, Veracini and others,
with All Your Cares Beguile: Music from Baroque London
(MO 0111)
The
recorder is represented by two new releases. First is a complete
recording of the seven sonatas for solo recorder and basso continuo
(MO 0211), with the Dutch virtuoso, Saskia Coolen,
accompanied by Margriet Tindemans (viola da gamba) and
Peter Watchorn (harpsichord).
Australia’s most experienced and versatile player of Baroque wind
instruments, Owen Watkins will be joined by fellow
Australians Jamie Hey (baroque cello) and Peter Watchorn
(harpsichord & organ) in a CD of sonatas for recorder, oboe and
chalumeau by the prolific Georg Phillip Telemann (MO 0307).
In
time for Christmas, 2008, Musica Omnia proudly announces, in
cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, the re-release (MO
0303) of Max van Egmond’s highly acclaimed 1990 Christmas CD,
Sweet Was The Song, with the Smithsonian Chamber
Players, directed by Kenneth Slowik.
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First releases of 2006:
One of our most esteemed artists, the great Dutch
baritone, Max van Egmond celebrates his 70th birthday on
February 1st , 2006. In honour of this event, Musica
Omnia is proud to present a great series of three CDs
devoted to the great song cycles and collections of
Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. MO 0102 (with fortepianist
Kenneth Slowik) is devoted to the
posthumously issued collection of fourteen of Schubert’s
greatest songs, Schwanengesang, coupled with Schumann’s
great cycle based on the poetry of Heinrich Heine,
Dichterliebe. On MO 0107 and MO 0108,
Max van Egmond is
joined by the extraordinary American fortepianist,
Penelope Crawford, playing a magnificent original early
nineteenth century Viennese grand by Conrad Graf in
Schubert’s incomparable Lieder cycles,
Die schöne
Müllerin and Winterreise. These performances will set
the standards for years to come.
In May we are pleased to announce the first releases
in two new categories. First, on MO 0201 harpsichordist
Peter Watchorn announces his complete survey of the solo
harpsichord works of Bach with Das Wohltemperierte
Clavier, Book 1 in a unique new recording that features
the
newly discovered "Bach" tuning, encoded on the title
page of the composer’s autograph. In addition the work
is recorded for the first time in 50 years on a pedal
harpsichord, which adds power and sonority similar to
that of the organ.
Second, with MO 0203 we announce the addition to
the Musica Omnia family of one of America’s most
exciting new Bach period instrument ensembles, Publick
Musick from Rochester, NY, conducted by Thomas Folan.
Their debut recording, which introduces Musica Omnia’s
Bach choral works series, is a fine two CD-set devoted
to the beautiful Missae Breves, BWV 233-236. Soloists
are drawn from the chorus, thereby providing a
homogeneity of sound and a precision that is rare. The
20-voice choir is made up of some of today’s finest
singers, including Anne Harley & Andrea Folan
(sopranos), Miranda Loud and Deborah Rentz-Moore (altos)
Pablo Bustos & Thomas Gregg (tenors) and Max van Egmond
& Jonathan Rohr (basses).
Finally, legendary Dutch violinist, Jaap Schröder,
fortepianist Penelope Crawford, cellist Enid Sutherland
and their celebrated Atlantis Ensemble continue their
survey of the early Romantic literature for fortepiano
and strings with two CDs. First, MO 0205, the next in
the series Felix Mendelssohn 1809-2009, to celebrate the
composer’s upcoming bi-centenary, is devoted to two
contrasting works: the familiar D minor Piano Trio and
the early D major Piano Sextet. MO 0212 juxtaposes the
beloved “Trout” Quintet of Schubert with Robert
Schumann’s equally esteemed Piano Quintet in E flat
major. To complete this release, Max van Egmond and
Penelope Crawford provide an unforgettable performance
of Schubert’s song Die Forelle, which provided the basis
for the fourth movement of the quintet of the same name.
We invite you to investigate what is arguably one of the
most exciting and innovative classical labels in the
world today.
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David Fox, co-founder and
Business Advisor: