Making their harmonia mundi d�but, New York-based Ensemble Signal performs Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76), a seminal work by a pioneering composer who changed the course of 20th Century music. Steve Reich says, "Signal has made an extraordinary recording of Music for 18 Musicians. Fast moving, spot on and emotionally charged. Take a listen."

The new Stradivari series from harmonia mundi allows listeners to explore the unique instruments lovingly preserved at the Philharmonie de Paris's Museum of Music. Thanks to the skill and commitment of the museum's conservators, these instruments are given a new life. On this release, the great Christophe Rousset plays a rare harpsichord crafted in 1652 by Ioannes Couchet. Through his virtuosity and the instruments sonority the sumptuousness and grace of Louis Couperin's Nouvelles Suites are clearly revealed.

Moulinié: Le Cantique de Moÿse

LE BAL DES ANIMAUX

PIANO CONCERTO NO.3

DAS SELIGE ERWAGEN PASSIONS-O

CANTATAS, BWV79 & 80 'REFORMA

Elgar: Cello Concerto - Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations

BALLET ROYAL DE LA NUIT

DEBUSSY... ET LE JAZZ

SZELL IN EUROPE

FROM GLUCK TO RAVEL

Mozart: Violin Concertos

Bach’s six violin sonatas are remarkable not only because of their musical richness, but also due to their innovative scoring. Based on the Baroque trio sonata form, they transcend its conventions, representing a prototype for the violin-piano sonata form of the Classical and Romantic periods. These sonatas collectively explore the many possibilities of what was then a unique instrumental combination. They present a nuanced and vibrant dialog between the performers – attributes that are conveyed perfectly by the stellar combination of violinist Isabelle Faust and harpsichordist Kristian Bezuidenhout.

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REVIEW:

Faust and Bezuidenhout played these sonatas a lot in concert before taking them into the studio and it shows – both in the detail and the trust that allows for real risk-taking. Can I find fault with this set? No, I cannot. It’s an eloquent and beautifully recorded homage to the composer and demands to be in the collection of all Bach lovers post-haste.

– Gramophone

Marc-Antoine Charpentier is the only composer of the age of Louis XIV to have distinguished himself so remarkably in the genre of the 'sacred history': he wrote more than thirty such works, all composed after his residence in Italy. S�bastien Dauc� and the Ensemble Correspondances have carefully extracted from this outstanding corpus a number of gems that reflect both his experience in Rome (probably studying with Carissimi, the master of the oratorio) and the humanist concerns of an entire period. Like a miniature opera, each piece relates an exemplary destiny, including several strong-willed women (Judith, Cecilia, Mary Magdalene) and a deep friendship put to the test (Mors Sa�lis and Jonathae).