Martines: The Complete Keyboard Works
A new album from pianist Idith Meshulam Korman, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey
CD and Digital release 17 April 2026
Martines: The Complete Keyboard Works presents the first complete modern recording of the surviving keyboard music of Marianna Martines (1744–1812), a composer, keyboard virtuoso, and cultural force in eighteenth-century Viennese musical life. Admired in her lifetime for her brilliance as both performer and composer, Martines occupied a central position within the city’s elite musical circles, yet her instrumental music has remained largely absent from the recorded canon.
Led by conductor Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, with pianist Idith Meshulam Korman and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, this release brings together Martines’s four surviving keyboard concertos, three sonatas, and her Sinfonia in C major, from newly prepared critical editions. The works reveal a composer writing ambitiously for public performance, combining lyrical vocal writing with striking technical demands, orchestral imagination, and playful formal subversion. Conceived as a major interpretative and restorative project, this release restores Martines’s keyboard music to the Classical canon as a vital and compelling body of work. Alongside its historical significance, the music is full of generosity and charm, richly crafted, immediately engaging, and a source of genuine listening pleasure for audiences of any background.
“There is a gorgeous timelessness to Martines’s music which transcends instruments, performance styles and concert settings—inviting listeners into a sound world that is immediately rewarding and deeply enjoyable. This recording on modern instruments is a testament that versatility and finds itself in good company with the Berlin Philharmonic’s recent performance of her Sinfonia in C in 2024…We hope that this recording inspires new interest in Martines’ keyboard compositions and provokes others to find new and exciting ways of performing her music.” – Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey
NOTES TO EDITORS
Idith Meshulam Korman, piano
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, conductor
TRACK LIST
CD 1
Keyboard Concerto in G major (1772)
[1] Allegro [2] Adagio [3] AllegroKeyboard Concerto in A major (unknown)
[4] Allegro con spirito [5] Andante con moto [6] Allegro assaiKeyboard Concerto in C major (unknown)
[7] Allegro [8] Andante [9] AllegroKeyboard Concerto in E major (1766)
[10] Allegro [11] Andante [12] AllegroCD 2
Keyboard Sonata in A major (ca. 1765)
[1] Allegro [2] Adagio [3] Tempo di minuettoKeyboard Sonata in E major (ca. 1762)
[4] Allegro [5] Andante [6] AllegroKeyboard Sonata in G major (ca. 1769)
[7] Allegro brilliante [8] Andante [9] Allegro assaiSinfonia in C major (1770)
[10] Allegro con spirito – Andante ma non troppo – Allegro spiritosoABOUT IDITH MESHULAM KORMAN
Idith Meshulam Korman’s career as both artist and activist has been defined by her commitment to amplifying the voices of unjustly neglected composers, with a particular interest in women. This dedication led her to record the complete keyboard works of Marianna Martines.
Following her concerto debut at the age of nine, Meshulam Korman gave solo recitals and broadcast performances. When she earned her bachelor’s degree, she developed a lasting passion for contemporary music—and her doctorate from New York University, where she pioneered the study of Stefan Wolpe’s unpublished piano works. She went on to join the NYU faculty, teaching there for over a decade.
Later on, she collaborated with composer and conductor Gunther Schuller to record Nikos Skalkottas’ 32 Piano Pieces for the GM Recording label. American Record Guide praised her ‘playing with energetic moxie and aplomb, her technique truly phenomenal, yet her subtle colouring of the introspective passages is no less awe-inspiring’. Her second album, devoted to the piano music of Laura Kaminsky, was similarly acclaimed for its ‘warmth and variety’.
ABOUT Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey
Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey is an orchestral conductor, researcher, and life-long advocate of women composers—past and present. In addition to her advocacy for Martines, she has revived and performed numerous works by historical female composers, often giving them their first regional or international performances in modern times. Highlights include symphonies, overtures, and other orchestral works by Florence Price, Louise Farrenc, Grace Williams, Fanny Mendelssohn, Emilie Mayer and Ethel Smyth, as well as Price’s Violin Concerto and Piano Concerto No. 1 (with pianist Samantha Ege) and Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto (with pianist Carson Becke). In 2016 in collaboration with pianist, Daniel Grimwood, she brought Germaine Tailleferre’s Concerto pour Piano et 12 Instrumentsout of the Library of Congress archives, conducting its first performance in a century.
Based in the UK, she is Director of Performance at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, Conducting Fellow of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, and Academic Lead for the OAcademy, a global music conservatory which democratises access to elite orchestral education. She holds a doctorate in Music from the University of Oxford and has held prestigious research positions at the University of Oxford (2017-2021) and University of Sheffield (2021-2024). Her research is focused on the socio-psychological and socio-political aspects of orchestral music-making—from the intricacies of co-performer communication in modern and historically informed contexts, to the politics of participation and orchestras’ geo-political significance.
ABOUT OXFORD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Since 1998, the Oxford Philharmonic has brought inspirational performances to Oxford and beyond. The Orchestra prides itself on creating unique musical experiences, bringing new and engaging interpretations to well-loved works in the classical repertoire. Its continual search for excellence is underpinned by the uncompromising standards of its Founder and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos, who with some of the finest international musicians that constitute the Orchestra’s core membership, have shaped the Orchestra’s distinctive sound and performance style. The Orchestra and its Music Director were awarded the City of Oxford’s Certificate of Honour in 2013, in recognition of their contribution to education and performance in Oxford.
ABOUT SIGNUM CLASSICS
Signum Records is a leading British independent label, specialising in classical music. Founded in 1997, Signum boasts a catalogue of over 900 titles collectively streamed over 850 million times and continues to release 40+ new recordings each year by internationally acclaimed artists. Signum works closely with its sister company, Floating Earth, the leading production and engineering specialist service provider in Europe.
