.. this young musketeer of the bow has been captivating all of his audiences. He is the rising star of the French cello. -LE FIGARO Recorded with Luzerner Sinfonie Orchester and conducted by Michael Sanderling, Edgar's new album features a key piece in the cello repertoire: Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. The short pieces with piano, here played with the brilliant David Kadouch, give opportunities to release multiple tracks on DSP's and multiply chances to get playlisted. T�l�rama wrote about the artists: "Both known as outstanding soloists, David Kadouch and Edgar Moreau also form a close-knit, well-balanced chamber duo, playing with passion and commitment.". Moreau was awarded at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2013 and 2015, and was named an ECHO Rising Star in 2017. He has been a Cello Professor at the Paris Conservatoire National Sup�rieur since fall 2023. He plays on a David Tecchler cello from 1711.

Rameau is one of the universal geniuses in European musical history, on the same level as Bach, Mozart and Haydn", asserts conductor Gy�rgy Vashegyi. With this recording of Les Bor�ades Vashegyi completes an ambitious 10-year Rameau project, run in collaboration with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. The cast of Sabine Devieilhe, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Tassis Christoyannis, Thomas Doli�, Gwendoline Blondeel, Benedikt Kristj�nsson and Philippe Est�phe is joined by the Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir - both ensembles founded by Vashegyi. Devieilhe - who made her Erato debut with a Rameau recital - takes the central role of Alphise, Queen of Bactria, who must defy the traditions of her country if she is to marry the man she loves. The theme of freedom, 'la libert�', is important in the opera; conceived in 1763 to mark the end of the Seven Years' War, it had to wait more than 200 years for it's first full staging. When the performers on this recording appeared in a concert version of Les Bor�ades at the Th��tre des Champs-Elys�es in Paris, Concert Classique declared that "Rameau's genius shines through at every moment.

The production takes itself none too seriously, the Baroque absurdities of the plot enhanced by absurd costumes... Fagioli rises to the challenge, as he offsets vocal pyrotehcnics with poignancy... - BBC Music Magazine.

The sixteen lullabies - or berceuses - that pianist Bertrand Chamayou has chosen for Good Night! Form a captivatingly varied album. His programme embraces a diversity of eras and musical cultures: Chopin, Liszt, Grieg and, of course, Brahms through Balakirev, Lyapunov, Alkan, Bonis, Busoni, Jan�cek, Martinu and Villa-Lobos to Helmut Lachenmann and a world premiere, Bryce Dessner's Song for Octave. "The lullaby's place is halfway between dream and reality," says Chamayou, "There is that special moment as you are falling asleep and you experience all kinds of emotions." A satisfying recital that will also enrich digital playlists, Good Night! #has been recorded in Dolby Atmos immersive sound.

The unique radiance of traditional English choral singing that made Agnus Dei such a phenomenon is displayed in this set of international Christmas music by Higginbottom & The Choir of New College, Oxford. Mixing familiar tunes with less frequently heard gems, the carol texts take the listener from Annunciation through Epiphany with music from around the world - including the eloquent Poulenc Christmas Motets and Herbert Howell's haunting carol-anthems.

French love songs from three centuries, interspersed with reflective lute solos, constitute an Idylle for mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and lutenist Thomas Dunford. As they explain: "The emotions of love are explored in different forms - languor, desire, fascination, happiness." The word 'idyll', evoking a blissful, tranquil experience, derives from Ancient Greece and poetry on a pastoral theme. Desandre and Dunford spin a thematic and musical thread between eras and styles, starting with a sequence of 10 airs de cour from the 17th century. Spanning the era from the 1860s to the 1920s are arias and songs by Offenbach, Debussy, Hahn and Messager, and the album then fast-forwards to the 1960s and two iconic French chanteuses, Barbara and Fran�oise Hardy. Dunford supplies instrumental interludes in the form of two dances by Robert de Vis�e, a court musician for both Louis XIV and Louis XV, and Erik Satie's Gymnop�die No 1 and Gnossienne No 1.

Thibaut Garcia pays tribute with El Bohemio to the Paraguayan guitar virtuoso and composer Agustín Barrios (1885-1944). As Garcia explains, "Barrios is an essential composer in the guitarist's repertoire. His music can be described as a skilful mix of South American popular music - inspired by the jungles of Paraguay - and the Romanticism of Chopin and Schumann, composers he idolised." El Bohemio duly complements 16 varied works by Barrios himself with three of his transcriptions of famous pieces by Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven. In addition, the album includes readings of two of Barrios's poems: 'Bohemio', which lends the album it's name, portrays the composer as a wandering troubadour; 'Profesión de fé' (Profession of faith) honours the Guarani, the indigenous people of Paraquay.

Months after winning the 1960 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Maurizio Pollini signed an exclusive contract with EMI and recorded two albums dedicated to the Polish composer. While the first, featuring the Piano Concerto No. 1, was warmly received upon release, the second, comprising the �tudes faced an uncertain fate. Pollini withdrew his approval during post-production, offering no explanation. For decades, this recording seemed destined to remain unheard. However, in 2011, it was finally approved by Pollini and released in an edited version. This new 2025 edition, the first to be remastered from the original tapes, not only highlights Pollini's technical brilliance but also reveals the touching sensitivity of the 18-year-old pianist.

An invocation - a prayer, plea, appeal, entreaty or supplication - can take many forms. So can Elsa Dreisig, praised by Gramophone as "one of her generation's most eloquent and engaging singers". Since 2015, when she first gained international attention, the Paris-born soprano has given ample proof of the breadth and diversity of her talent, in the opera house and concert hall, and with her recordings for Erato. On Invocation she sings 15 arias and two songs - from 'greatest hits' to rarities - written by 14 composers to texts in six languages. She performs with conductor Massimo Zanetti and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova.

William Christie is renowned for his pioneering work in the revival of Baroque music. Born in 1944, he founded the ensemble Les Arts Florissants in 1979, which has become a leading force in historically informed performance. Christie's expertise in French Baroque opera, particularly works by composers like Lully, Rameau and Charpentier, has earned him international acclaim. His dedication to historically informed performance has set new standards in the field and breathed new life into forgotten masterpieces. A dedicated educator, Christie has also influenced a new generation of musicians. His contributions have significantly enriched the appreciation and understanding of early music, cementing his legacy as a pivotal figure in classical music. This 61CD-box brings together all recordings Christie made for Erato and Virgin Classics, from 1994 to 2011.

Daniel Barenboim served as the Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris from 1975 to 1989, following Charles Munch, Herbert von Karajan and Georg Solti, starting the role at the age of 33. His tenure was marked by a strong commitment to both the classical repertoire and contemporary music by composers such as Boulez, Dutilleux, and Henze. Barenboim's collaboration with the orchestra resulted in numerous recordings, including a significant body of French repertoire, many of them originally issued on EMI Classics and Erato.

If music... showcases star countertenor Jakub J�zef Orlinski in 17 songs and arias by three composers of the Baroque era: Purcell, Handel and Fux. Perhaps unexpectedly, he is partnered not by an ensemble of period instruments but by a pianist - his long-standing colleague Michal Biel. "On this album we have combined arias and songs that inspire and speak to us, " says Jakub J�zef Orlinski. "I love thinking of albums as pages out of my diary. They are a statement of where I am as an artist." As Michal Biel, who draws on all the possibilities of a Steinway grand piano, freely admits: "If music... is not an answer to the question of how to perform these masterpieces with historical authenticity." He sees each aria or song as "a carefully considered transcription that reveals it's appeal transcending instrumentation".

Elsa Barraine, a notable and politically intrepid figure in her lifetime (1910-1999), is a composer whose distinctive voice is being heard again. Under it's music director Cristian Macelaru, the Orchestre national de France performs four works by Barraine: the Symphony No 1, completed in Italy in 1931; the compact, but powerful Symphony No 2, composed in 1938 and ominously subtitled 'Vo�na', the French transliteration of the Russian word for 'war'; Song-Ko� (Le Fleuve rouge) - an eight-movement evocation of the Red River which flows through Vietnam, composed in 1945, the year Vietnam declared it's independence from France, and, dating from 1959, Les Tziganes, which, as it's name implies, takes inspiration from gypsy culture. Rooted in tonality, Barraine's music is confidently and soberly crafted, it's orchestral palette both clearly defined and subtly shaded as it reflects it's times and the composer's philosophical and spiritual concerns.

In the Renaissance and Baroque eras Seville, already a cultural melting pot, became Spain's principal port for the routes to South America. Named after the twelve-sided 'golden' tower that dominates the River Guadilquivir in Seville, La Torre del Oro, is the latest album from Christina Pluhar's ensemble L'Arpeggiata. Tracing and mixing the musical cross-currents that run between Spain and Central and South America - Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Chile - it takes the 1500s as the starting point for a captivating journey that reaches the modern day. For La Torre del Oro singers C�line Scheen, Luciana Mancini and Vincenzo Capezzuto join the 13 instrumentalists of L'Arpeggiata, led by Christina Pluhar on the theorbo. Among the other instruments to be heard are baroque guitar and harp, Venezuelan cuatro and harp, cornetto, harpsichord, accordion and maracas.

RECITAL

Beethoven: String Quartets Op. 18 No 1, Op. 127 / Artemis Quartet. The sixth release in the Artemis Quartet's Complete Beethoven Cycle comes as the Berlin-based ensemble devotes it's international performing schedule to this cornerstone of the repertoire.

PIANO

A. Scarlatti: La Santissima Trinita / Biondi, Gens, Composer: Alessandro Scarlatti, Performer: Roberto Abbondanza, Paul Agnew, Vivica Genaux, Roberta Invernizzi, Conductor: Fabio Biondi, Orchestra/Ensemble: Europa Galante, Number of Discs: 1. La Santissima Trinit� is in fact an immensely rewarding work. Scarlatti, far from being inhibited by the subject matter, produced a score that extracts maximum effect from the conflict of views, articulating Faithlessness's mockery and sturdy skepticisms with a strength that demands all the resources of his opponents, who reply through a variety of means often employing metaphor. It is some of these mimetic arias-the depiction of the turtledove's freedom (enhanced by two solo violins) in Faith's "Vedrai la tortorella," or Theology's evocation of the "hapless little boat" on a stormy sea ("Povera navicello")-that provide just some of the highlights of a richly varied score that throughout shows Scarlatti at his most imaginative and inventive. Stylistically, numbers range from brief, old-fashioned continuo arias with a concluding instrumental postlude to more modern, fully accompanied arias that frequently include concertante solo-writing for the strings (there are no wind parts). Despite reservations about Biondi's direction, this is unquestionably a major addition to the Alessandro Scarlatti discography, yet further vitally increasing our understanding of a prolific major composer who was until relatively recently largely restricted to the more shadowy realms of the Baroque.

In this exciting new disc, Virgin Classics countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic breaks the 200-year-old tradition of female mexxo-sopranos incarnating male characters. Paving the way for countertenors to sing what were once exclusively "trouser roles", Cencic and director Michael Hofstetter offer arias and overtures from Rossini operas spanning from TANCREDI, Aurelliano in PALMIRA, DONNA DEL LAGO, until the climax of the composer's Neapolitan Era with Semiramide. The results are fresh and revelatory, making a strong case for more men taking on these parts.

Charpentier: Messe Pour Les Trepasses; Tabart; Requiem, Charpentier: Messe en La Memoire D'un Prince / Var Composer: Louis Couperin, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Andr� Raison, Pierre Tabart, Performer: Jean-Claude Sarragosse, Hans J�rg Mammel, Pascal Bertin, Conductor: Jean Tubery, Orchestra/Ensemble: Ensemble la Fenice (France) Number of Discs: 2

TCHAIKOVSKY: CONCERTO FOR VIOL

The innovative Baroque style that served as the primary livelihood in establishing Les Arts Florissants' impeccable reputation is portrayed again in this release of Handel's Acis and Galatea. Conducted by the ensemble's founder, William Christie, Gramophone notes that his new version is "a polished and strongly characterized performance, finely recorded", being the first recording anyone should try.

Tristan & Iseult Bodel, de Bornelh, Riquier, Joel Cohen, Anne Az�ma (Iseult), Henri Ledroit (Tristan), Ellen Hargis (Brang�ne), Richard Morrisson (Mark), Andrea von Ramm (narr), William Hite (Watchman/Sailor/Monk), The Boston Camerata. Composer: Jehan Bodel, de Dia, Beatriz, Comtessa, Giraut de Bornelh, Performer: Andrea von Ramm, Henri Ledroit, Anne Az�ma, Ellen Hargis, Conductor: Joel Cohen, Orchestra/Ensemble: Boston Camerata. What we have here is a Warner Classics reissue of the award-winning 1987 Erato recording (it won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1989) of medieval poems, songs, and music associated with the Tristan and Iseult legends, compiled by Joel Cohen and played by The Boston Camerata. It certainly makes for different and fascinating listening. - John J. Puccio - Classical Candor.

Mozart: Don Giovanni / Barenboim, Cuberli, Meier, Rodgers Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Performer: Lella Cuberli, Matti Salminen, John Tomlinson, Joan Rodgers, Conductor: Daniel Barenboim, Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus. For some reason, Daniel Barenboim's recordings of the Mozart-Da Ponte masterpieces have been overlooked. All three have splendid casts and among them, this may be the least spectacular, but it is nonetheless a wonderful performance. Joan Rodgers has a gorgeous voice, and sings Zerlina with radiant and womanly warmth - no voce infantile here, thank the gods. It's a pity she hasn't recorded more. She is, fortunately, in Barenboim's two other Mozart-Da Ponte operas, singing her heart out as Susanna and Despina. Furlanetto has an interesting take on the role of the Don. He usually sings Leprello, but here he sings the part of Don Giovanni with a rather unique interpretation. He plays the Don as somewhat of a fool, with more of a comic slant than I have ever heard. But humor was part of Mozart's original intention, and the Don does have his roots in street theater, so in this case a buffo Don works. Tomlinson as Leporello is more of the Don's straight man, and there seems to be a bit of role reversal going on here between the clownish Don and his more dignified servant. Tomlinson's voice can be, I think, rather boring a kind of voice-in-a-box, like Samuel Ramey. Good, strong, accurate, but not much drama or artfulness. Ewe Heilmann's ravishingly beautiful Mozartian tenor voice adds a welcome dimension of eros to the role of the too-often bland and wimpy Don Ottavio. Waltraud Meier's Donna Elvira, though occassionally a bit on the shrill side, and Leila Cuberli's Donna Anna are both rich, full-bodied, exciting and very womanly. Barenboim seems to have a talent for drawing out highly passionate responses from women.

Puccini: La Boheme / Nagano, Te Kanawa, Leech, Ambrosian Singers, LSO. Composer: Giacomo Puccini, Performer: Alan Ewing, Richard Leech, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Carlos Chausson, Conductor: Kent Nagano Orchestra/Ensemble: London Symphony Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, St. Clement Danes Nearly a century after it's premiere in Turin in February 1896 we have a fresh and vibrant new recording of this opera - one of the best known and probably most loved in Puccini's output. Nagano is well able to delineate Puccini's large musical canvas, sweeping the colors of the orchestral scoring and the glorious vocal lines onwards and upwards with an intoxicating, rumbustious swagger. If Te Kanawa had made a recording of this role around the time she sang it at Covent Garden in 1976 (with Pavarotti as Rodolfo) or in the subsequent revival in 1979, it would have made for a fascinating comparison. Amazingly, this is her first recording of Mim� and she has successfully managed to integrate her mature, lustrous sound with the poignant vulnerability and gradually ebbing strength of Mim� to remarkable effect. It is a hauntingly convincing performance. Leech provides an excellent shaping of Rodolfo with a rich, passionate tone. Titus (Marcello) and Gustafson (Musetta) are as finely characterized and vividly sung as one could hope and all the ensemble interplays, especially in Acts III and IV, have a fresh and dynamic intensity.