Marc Minkowski Offenbach: Orph�e aux enfers, La Belle H�l�ne, La Grande-duchesse de G�rolstein (6CD) Three sparkling operettas that exemplify Offenbach's irresistible joie de vivre and biting satirical wit. All linked to theatrical productions by Laurent Pelly - a director noted for his comic flair - these recordings offer some rediscovered numbers, since they use specially-prepared editions of the scores. Marc Minkowski conducts with an inimitable and authentic sense of style, while the casts boast such singers as Natalie Dessay, Felicity Lott, Patricia Petibon, V�ronique Gens, Yann Beuron, Michel S�n�chal and Laurent Naouri.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Cellist Gautier Capu�on is the constant presence in this programme of music by Robert Schumann. In the Cello Concerto his partners are Bernard Haitink and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and in a selection of chamber works his violinist brother Renaud and the pianist Martha Argerich. "Bernard Haitink is a wonderfully inspiring guide," says Gautier, "and Martha Argerich carries me along on the composer's waves of romanticism and passion." - Universally recognised as the finest cellist of his generation, Gautier Capu�on has a firm reputation as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He is a regular performer with the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, NHK Symphony, and at festivals such as Verbier and Lugano, and has won several awards at the ECHOS and the Victoires de la Musique.

Marking the 150th anniversary of Berlioz's death, this performance of the mighty Requiem or Grande Messe des Morts - presented on both DVD and CD - took place in St Paul's Cathedral, London, in March 2019. Conducted by John Nelson, it involved over 300 musicians, including tenor Michael Spyres. As Nelson said: "Every measure resonates deeply with me and I feel there is sincerity, even in the great moments of bombast." The Times wrote: "The surpassing virtue of this performance... was that both aspects, the spine-shakingly spectacular and the heart-rendingly haunting, were allowed to make their impact."

2019 release. "Finesse and fire from a starry musical duo... A recital that showcased the very best in collaborative music-making," was how the Toronto Star described the concert at Koerner Hall in Toronto that formed the basis for this recording. The program for the album comprises two works by Chopin, his Sonata in A Major and his Polonaise brillante in C Major, and Franck's Sonata in A Major, a transcription by the 19th century cellist Jules Delsart of the Belgian composer's glorious violin sonata.

Vivaldi: Oracolo In Messenia - Julia Lezhneva L Oracolo in Messenia, an opera written by Vivaldi for Vienna in 1740, was reconstructed by Fabio Biondi in 2011 in a triumpan open to the famous Resonanzen festival in Vienna, appropriately enough. Originally, the opera was intended to be performed in Vienna during Carnival in 1741, but due to the death of the Austrian Emperor and ultimately, himself, his plans fell through. Vivaldi expert, Fabio Biondi, reconstructed the work using a recently discovered libretto in the Library of Congress, Viavaldi s personal scores as well as those from his contemporaries.

Barricades - Jean Rondeau - The instruments integrate together perfectly, and the character of the pieces never suffers; this light-touch arrangement in no way lessens the authenticity of the album, much less it's musical appeal.

For the 70th birthday of the great Barbara Hendricks, Erato-France is releasing a new version of her best-selling compilation La Voix du Ciel. Now on 3 CDs, it assembles all titles which have made her the legend she is: Schubert and Gounod Ave Maria, Mozart Exsultate Jubilate, Pie Jesu from Faur�'s Requiem, Spirituals Nobody Knows, Joshua Fit among many other titles.

Countertenor James Bowman (b.1941) enjoyed a long association with early English song, an interest which bore fruit with this 1972 recording of Elizabethan lute songs, here making it's first appearance on CD. Together with the lutenist Robert Spencer, Bowman arranged the programme to reflect the repertory of the theatre and court and the career of John Dowland, with a final homage to Italy, the cradle of early song. The recordings of Purcell's Birthday Odes date from 1975. Between 1689 and 1694, Henry Purcell produced an annual ode for the celebration of Queen Mary's birthday. The last and best known is Come, Ye Sons of Art, which drew on the composer's recent successes in the theatre by employing a larger orchestra than usual (with trumpets, oboes and recorders) and giving the chorus a more prominent role. From the late 1960s the countertenor James Bowman was at the forefront of the early music revival. He made his London debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1967 and enjoyed a decade of work with David Munrow and the Early Music Consort, later collaborating with Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music. In the early 1970s Bowman and the Early Music Consort made ground-breaking recordings of Medieval and Renaissance music, also pioneering historically accurate practice in music of the 17th century, notably with the album 'Monteverdi's Contemporaries' (1976).

Taken together these motets and quasi-motets form one of the peaks of Bach's art as a composer of choral music. Compressed and complex, they make enormous demands on performers, requiring exceptional virtuosity, stamina and sensitivity to abrupt changes of mood and texture. Bach's characteristically skilful use of fugue, canon and counterpoint makes this music endlessly fascinating, but most of all these are works of emotional power, revealing Bach's compassionate nature, the dancing joy he takes in praising God, and his total certainty as he contemplates death. John Eliot Gardiner's extraordinary technical and interpretative skills ensure recognition of the motets and cantatas as some of the best of Bach. A key figure in today's musical landscape, John Eliot Gardiner has established a number of ensembles - both instrumental and vocal - that he directs in a wide-ranging repertoire. Baroque music, with which he first made his name, remains very important to him, particularly the works of Johann Sebastian Bach; he has even published a major biographical study of the composer, Music in the Castle of Heaven.

'Mer(s)' brings together three sumptuous late-19th century works for female voice and orchestra: Chausson's 'Po�me de l'amour et de la mer', Elgar's 'Sea Pictures' and, in a world premiere recording, an 'ode-symphonie' by Victorin Jonci�res entitled 'La mer'. Following her triumphant performance as Cassandre in Berlioz's 'Les Troyens', Marie-Nicole Lemieux embarks on this musical sea voyage in the company of the Orchestre et Choeurs Nationaux Bordeaux Aquitaine under their music director Paul Daniel.

Fabio Biondi, who was deeply involved in the reconstruction of this lost score, is surrounded here by a stunning cast of stars - Joyce DiDonato, Vivica Genaux, Diana Damrau, Philippe Jaroussky, Rolando Villaz�n - who come together as an ensemble of sumptuous unity and balance.

Classical Music

In 1968, as he approached the age of 70, Georges Auric began work on Imagin�es, a series of six intimate works in a modernist vein - concentrated and compelling in their expression. Famously a member of Les Six in the 1920s, the multi-faceted Auric studied under Vincent d'Indy and gained an international reputation for his film scores while also taking an influential role in France's musical life