Combining the alpha and the omega of Richard Strauss’s music, Trio Arnold, Nathanaël Gouin and their partners from the budding French chamber music scene invite us on a journey as astonishing as it is sublime to the end of German Romanticism, from the radiant energy of the Piano and String Quartet to the twilight elegance of Metamorphosen.

For the Third Volume of the Schumann Collection which Pierre and Théo Fouchenneret have embarked upon together, they join forces with Victor Julien-Laferrière and Lise Berthaud to perform the Complete Trios for Piano and Strings, and the Quartet for Piano and Strings, Opus 47. These four masterpieces simultaneously reveal the influence of Felix Mendelssohn, Robert’s love for Clara, and the strong personality of a composer possessed of a bourgeoning poetic universe.

For the second volume in the Schumann Collection launched with his brother Pierre, Theo Fouchenneret has surrounded himself with a fine team of chamber musicians to immortalise the series of works for wind instruments and piano from 1849. Like a gallery of legendary characters, oboe, horn and clarinet follow one another, giving way to the astonishing Andante and Variations for two pianos, two cellos and horn, in which the sketches follow one another with the intensity of a tale as thrilling as it is mysterious…

With this new B Records disc, the Miroirs Étendus company revisits one of the greatest classics of the Lieder repertoire, questioning the interpretative heritage that has long been associated with it. Pianist and artistic director Romain Louveau, baritone Jean-Christophe Lanièce and soprano Victoire Bunel propose a multi-voiced Winterreise that disembodies the overused figure of the Wanderer and favors the autonomy of Wilhelm Müller's poems. Like the Schubertian motifs that seem to appear of their own accord, only to eclipse themselves, the musicians venture a depersonalized interpretation that places the figure of the stranger at the center of this lyrical spectacle.

Sometimes one has to be careful with the names chosen by the bands. Cortex is no cerebral music but is entirely organic, as remembers the Périscope, where they recorded this album in which their melodic and free jazz is exalted. In the steps of Mats Gustafsson or John Zorn's Masada, the Norwegian quartet delivers with this new album another proof, if needed, of their place in the jazz world : the place which quivers.

Includes world premiere recordings!

Every year, the International Competition of Orléans showcases repertoire from the early 20th century to our time, performed by the younger generation. French pianist Lorenzo Soulès, winner of the 2022 edition, presents on this b•records disc the results of his quest for the French sound from Claude Debussy to Philippe Manoury, whose two Études, commissioned specifically for the competition, are recorded here for the first time.

The legend of the beautiful Maguelone has gone through centuries before Johannes Brahms set it to music in his eponymous Lieder cycle, based on Ludwig Tieck's novel. Stéphane Degout has decided to pay tribute to the French origins of this epic romantic tale in a new project with Alain Planès, Marielou Jacquard and Roger Germser. An exceptional concert that blends Brahms' music with an exquisite reading crafted as close as possible to the legendary source, captured by b•records at the Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis-Jouvet.

For this new edition of the Orsay-Royaumont Academy, four duos of young singers and pianists have created original and inspired programmes that navigate between the arts, styles and cultures, under the supervision of masters of the Lied and melody repertoire. From Schubert to Debussy, from Duparc to Korngold, from Liszt to Poulenc, they share the results of an exceptional year of artistic experimentation in this new b•records disc.

Following the release of The Complete Chamber Music Works of Johannes Brahms which has received critical acclaim, Pierre and Théo Fouchenneret have laid the foundation stone of a Schumann Collection with this inaugural volume dedicated to the composer’s violin works. To complement the trilogy of Sonatas for Violin and Piano is the Concerto, an essential link in the repertoire, performed with the collaboration of the Normandy Regional Orchestra and its musical director Jean Deroyer.

Pedro García-Velásquez tackles Samuel Beckett’s radiophonic play and transports it into the virtual places which he so loves to explore with his music. In the castle of King Croak, the valets Words and Music rub shoulders with musician robots and the artists of Le Balcon Orchestra, inviting the listener on a journey in time by which they cannot fail to be affected.

Damien Pass and Alphonse Cemin are long-standing collaborators who venture Into the Woods where they come across a crowd of flamboyant characters: monarchs and vagabonds; animals and supernatural creatures from Schubertian Lieder; French art songs; American musical comedies and Australian folk songs come together in this outstanding recital, captured by B Records at the Théâtre de l’Athénée Louis-Jouvet.

Julien Masmondet and Les Apaches present Florent Schmitt's La Tragédie de Salomé in a new light by revisiting its original 1907 version, augmented by Fabien Touchard’s creations in homage to Loïe Fuller, the artist who then embodied the modernity of Salomé. At the crossroads of dance, poetry and music, they pay tribute to this masterpiece of orchestration by elaborating together a new type of show, captured by b•records at the Théatre de l'Athénée Louis-Jouvet.

Marie-Laure Garnier, Célia Oneto Bensaid and the Hanson Quartet have imagined a program based on the theme of nostalgic love. Starting with Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer arranged for voice, string quartet and piano, they draw the thread of passion both joyful and melancholic in Gabriel Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson and Charlotte Sohy’s Les Chants nostalgiques, recorded for the first time in this formation. They give their name to this new b•records album placed under the sign of symbolism, grace and emotion.

Only fifty years after they were written, the Fables of La Fontaine were set to music by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault. Little known to the general public, these pieces offer a new and authentic perspective on the comical bestiary with which we are all familiar. La Chapelle Harmonique brings them to life in this new b•records album which navigates between recitation, song and instrumental pieces and carries us into the atmosphere of the Versailles gardens for a moment of great poetry.

In this new b•records release, Jérôme Correas and Les Paladins invite you to travel to the court of Mantua, at the time when Vivaldi invented for the musicians he had at his service a new genre, the concerto da camera. Both extremely virtuosic and expressive, the pieces that compose the Tempesta di mare program testify to a privileged moment in the composer's career, exploring timbres and rhythms in an explosion of flavors. To be consumed without moderation!