The Canadian ARC (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) Ensemble already has several outstanding Chandos albums to its credit, featuring the largely forgotten music of Ben-Haim, Fitelberg, Klebanov, Laks, and Kaufmann. Now they’ve turned their attention to Anatolia-born Alberto Hemsi (1898-1975), who, following his advanced training in Milan, returned to his homeland, where (despite being repeatedly uprooted by the Greco-Turkish and Second World Wars) his studies into Sephardic music profoundly affected his own musical style. From the mesmerizing incantations of the early Méditation for cello and piano, and the almost jazzlike swing of the Pilpúl Sonata, to the haunting melodic tracery of the Three Ancient Airs, it seems inconceivable that music of such captivating personality and distinction was completely unknown in the West until 2004, when Hemsi’s widow donated all his manuscripts to the European Institute of Jewish Music.