The violin was one of Bach's favourite instruments and inspired his most lyrical outpourings. We know he was greatly influenced by the Italian masters whose work he discovered during his Weimar years - by the power of Frescobaldi, the melodic flexibility of Corelli, the sunny grace of Vivaldi - but he developed his own wonderful artistry in writing music of polyphonic density for the violin and 'playing' with it's sound palette. His deep understanding of the instrument clearly enabled him to exploit it's full potential and to write as well as perform music of the utmost virtuosity.

Scarlatti published just 30 of his 550 or so keyboard sonatas. They appeared in London in 1738/9 under the title Essercizi per gravicembalo ('Keyboard exercises'). In the preface he warned players: "Do not expect, whether you be amateur or professional, to find any profound intention in these compositions, but rather an ingenious jesting with art." Scarlatti's sonatas are perhaps most famous for their flamboyant Hispanic touches, with hints of the rhythms and melodies of Spanish folk music. (The composer, born in Naples, spent 25 years in Madrid.) During his lifetime his music was not widely circulated and it's impact and influence was largely restricted to composers like Sebasti�n de Albero and Antonio Soler who, like Scarlatti himself, had connections with the royal household of Spain. That being said, the works by Scarlatti's younger contemporaries that are included on this album demonstrate the imaginative independence of Spanish/Spanish-based composers. One of the world's most prominent harpsichord and fortepiano performers, Andreas Staier embarked on a solo career in 1986, making his mark on the Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoire. Born in G�ttingen in 1955, he studied modern piano and harpsichord in Hannover and Amsterdam. He spent three years as harpsichordist of the ensemble Musica Antiqua K�ln, and as a soloist he appears regularly with such orchestras as Concerto K�ln, Freiburger Barockorchester, the Akademie f�r alte Musik Berlin and the Orchestre des Champs-�lys�es.

The harpsichordist and organist Scott Ross, born in America, but French by adoption, is famed for his recording of Scarlatti's 555 keyboard sonatas, completed in 1985. Another ambitious recording mission - the complete harpsichord works of Johann Sebastian Bach - was interrupted four years later when he died aged just 38. This 11CD set complements his Bach discography with material from broadcasts for French, Swiss and Canadian radio, much of it new to CD, which embraces performances on both the harpsichord and the organ.

While an undergraduate at Cambridge, John Eliot Gardiner launched his career as a conductor with a performance of Vespro della Beata Vergine by Monteverdi, in 1964, which led to the foundation of the Monteverdi Choir. In 1968 he founded the Monteverdi Orchestra. Having changed from modern instruments to period instruments in 1977, the orchestra changed it's name to the English Baroque Soloists in 1978. Gardiner is one of the leading conductors of the historically informed movement.

Sabine Devieilhe and Alexandre Tharaud bring their customary clarity, finesse and insight to the works of four composers who defined the path of French art song or m�lodie from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. In an imaginatively balanced recital, the two French luminaries perform Faur�, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc. Their program, built around Ravel's Cinq Chansons populaires grecques and Debussy's Verlaine setting Ariettes oubli�es, takes up the themes of love, war and death and offers both favorite songs like Faur�'s 'Apr�s un r�ve' and some rarer treasures.

CHOPIN (NOCTURNES MAZURKAS WALZES IMPROMPTUS)

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence has firmly established itself as France's preeminent summer festival and is a key fixture on the international festival calendar. It is particularly in the field of opera that the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence continues to break new ground and this release from the 2016 festival demonstrates that. In this new staging - a coproduction with the Op�ra de Lille, Th��tre de Caen - Emmanuelle Ha�m directs Le Concert d'Astr�e with a star-studded cast including Franco Fagioli, Sara Mingardo, Michael Spyres, and exclusive Erato artist Sabine Devieilhe. - Translated as "The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment" Handel's first oratorio was one he would continue to revise throughout his life. The first version, heard here, was written and premiered in Rome in 1707 to a libretto by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili. It tells the story of the narcissistic Bellezza, her relationship with the deceitful Piacere, and her journey towards goodness, truth and inner beauty. It famously includes "Lascia la spina", the first version of an aria he recycled for his opera Rinaldo - "Lascia ch'io pianga" - arguably his most famous aria. Tracklisting - Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno - Sabine Devieilhe, Sara Mingardo, Franco Fagioli, Michael Spyres, Emmanuelle Ha�m

The Arod Quartet, founded just four years ago in Paris, makes it's debut on Erato with an album of Mendelssohn, tracing his life through his works for string quartet. The composer has been important for the ensemble, not least by helping it win two major competitions. The members of the Arod have been mentored by both the Eb�ne and Artemis Quartet, and they collaborate here with a further Erato artist, the mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa, in a performance of the song 'Ist es wahr?'

Inimitable in her native French, but equally superb in German and Italian, R�gine Crespin was one of the reigning prima donnas of her era. Few sopranos could match her in encompassing epic heroism and intimate refinement, noble tragedy and suggestive wit, opera and operetta, art song and jazz. Her sensuous tone, verbal acuity and stylish phrasing illuminate this collection of her most important recorded recitals and substantial highlights fromLes Troyens, Tosca (sung in French) andH�rodiade. They all provide indisputable evidence that Crespin, who was born in Marseille in 1927 and died in Paris 80 year later, was one of the greatest singers that France has produced.

Giacomo Meyerbeer, the master of Parisian grand op�ra, was hugely successful in his time and a major influence on Verdi and Wagner. His music has fascinated Diana Damrau since her student days. With her brilliant coloratura, lyricism and dramatic power, the soprano rises triumphantly to the vocal and expressive challenges of arias from 10 of his operas, singing in French, Italian and German. Two of the arias receive their world premiere recording with this album. The idea of a Meyerbeer album has been close to Diana Damrau's heart since she first recorded for Erato back in 2006. She became fascinated by the composer's music as a student in W�rzburg, when she was invited to perform his cantata Gli amori di Teolinda. "I immersed myself in Meyerbeer's world," she explains, "and was excited by his multifaceted writing for the voice, by his orchestral colours, his theatrical instincts, the powerful and varied way in which he expresses emotion, his splendid melodies and, last but not least, his ability to capture precisely the right 'national style'. If you compare his Italian, German and French works, it is like listening to three different composers."

MONTEVERDI: IL RITORNO DI ULISSE IN PATRIA

PIANO CONCERTOS NO 2 / VOCALISE / 2 PIEVCES FOR 6

COMP KEYBOARD WORKS

ORGAN TRANSCRIPTIONS

Since it's foundation Erato has made Bach one of the cornerstones of it's catalogue, with Jean-Fran�ois Paillard responsible for the orchestral works. His Ensemble Instrumental Jean-Marie Leclair which he founded in 1953 and later renamed Orchestre de Chambre Jean-Fran�ois comprised just fifteen or so players, in order to achieve greater legibility, lightness and vivacity, and it paid particularly close attention to style, thanks to an in-depth knowledge of historical performance practice. Rigor but also luminosity and sensitivity, intelligence and maturity without any loss of freshness or elegance, shimmering sonorities... The superlatives were showered on each new release. Over the years, Paillard's Bach recordings were also graced by a range of top-flight soloists: Rampal, Marie-Claire Alain to name but a few.