At once sensual and existential, this collection of songs-composed across 125 years-meditates on nature and nostalgia, sex and love, the ephemerality of the human spirit, and the eternal, transformative power of art. These song cycles of Edvard Grieg, Claude Debussy, George Crumb, and Robert Spano coalesce into a testament to the limitless potency and fragility of love-both it's resplendent joys and it's tender sorrows. Despite love's transience and riskiness, the album compels us to ruminate on Rilke's witticism that "for one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks...' Each of the cycles presents us with existential questions of life and death, love and loss, but the album is structured in couplets. Debussy and Spano draw upon Ancient Greece, Grieg and Crumb draw upon enchantments of nature, the temporality of love, life, and memory. Claude Debussy's ethereal Chansons de Bilitis (1899) evokes a lusty, Grecian fever dream where the tumescence of love and desire comes to the fore. Robert Spano's Sonnets to Orpheus (2020) lends voice to Rilke's enigmatic eponymous poetry. Spano's setting of the songs-the intimate conversation between piano and soprano-"draws one voice out of two separate strings." Meanwhile, George Crumb's Three Early Songs (1947) emerge as whispered secrets, darkly-hued odes to impermanent nature-night, a flower, and wind. The songs lead us to ponder the difference between the actual and the seeming. Chansons de Bilitis is a sensual, sultry tease in more ways than one. The poetry penned by Pierre Lou�s is a literary forgery. Lou�s, in an introduction to his original poems, claimed that the verses were found in the tomb of a sixth-century (fictional) poetess named Bilitis. She was made out to be a contemporary of Sappho and the poems were written as pastiches in the style of Sapphic erotism. This deception only fueled the work's popularity. And although Debussy only sets three poems, Lou�s wrote 143 poems separated into three volumes that span scenes of pastoral youth (Book I: Bucoliques en Pamphylie), to burgeoning Lesbian-referring both to same-sex attraction and to acts associated with the isle of Lesbos-sexuality (Book II: elegies � Mytilene), and to life as a courtesan at the employ of Aphrodite (Book III: Epigrammes dans l'�le de Chypre). In this way, maturation narratives-bildungsroman-form a motif throughout this album. Lou�s was inspired by sex tourism, to be blunt. At the insistence of friend and fellow writer, Andre Gide, Lou�s traveled to Algeria to indulge in sensual exoticism (and orientalism). A young Arab woman, Meriem, had come highly recommended by Gide who wrote of her and her music as something that "stupefied me like an opiate" as it "drowsily and voluptuously benumbed my thoughts." Meriem would become the muse for Chansons, which Lou�s began to draft in Algeria; the dedication of the collection reads "in memory of Meriem ben Atala." The turn of the twentieth century was rife with literary and musical games-anagrams, witticisms, forgeries, and puns. Lou�s even includes a fake scholar in the introduction to his work named G. Heim, meaning "mysterious" in German. And the title seems to me to be a play on words suggesting the feebleness, the feeblemindedness, debilite (de Bilitis) of love, sex, and the trickery of artistry. Exoticism too was par for the fin de siecle course-just think of the Orientalism of Delibes's Lakme (1883), Ravel's Sheherazade (1898/1902), and Debussy's own "Pagodas" from his piano suite, Estampes (1903). Each piece relies on coded musical identifiers that suggest otherness-nonconventional percussion instruments, incessant and layered rhythms, and sonic chinoiserie. For those sonic elements, Lou�s called upon his dear friend, Debussy, to orchestrate music to underscore his poetry. Debussy complained that the turnaround time was too short. Nevertheless, he was hard up and needed the money.

Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973) approached the piano with a sense of expressive freedom, avoiding the conventions of pure virtuosity and preferring a more intimate and reflective language. His piano pieces range from lyrical miniatures to more complex works, in which influences can be recognized from Italian early music to the modernity of Debussy, Casella, Stravinsky and Scriabin. Alessandro Riccardi has programmed a sequence of pieces written during the 1900s and 1910s. They evoke a creative laboratory, where harmonic experimentation and the search for new expressive forms intertwine with a deep respect for the past. From 1905, the 6 Morceaux represent the first expression of Malipiero's compositional personality, where modal influences intersect with late 19th-century trends. Published in 1910, the Tre danze antiche represent Malipiero the assiduous antiquarian, the reviver and transcriber of his 17th-century forebears such as Monteverdi and Gabrieli. The quartet of Preludi autunnali were composed in Venice in September 1914 and foreshadow a period of 'perpetual tragedy' in the composer's music caused by the outbreak of World War I. As Malipiero wrote in 1952: "Their melancholy is perhaps the effect of the war just begun and not yet felt." Those effects are further amplified in Maschere che passano from 1918, a 10-minute quintet of oblique sketches, presenting high contrasts: mysterious, violent, distant, Malipiero at his most late-Debussyan. In 1920 he then wrote a heartfelt homage to Debussy, followed by 'Three Homages', which undercut the solemnity of their title by being dedicated successively to a parrot, an elephant and 'an idiot'. Throughout the album, marking Alessandro Riccardi's debut on Piano Classics, the piano becomes an instrument for personal introspection and sonic exploration, while maintaining a strong connection to Italian tradition and, at the same time, looking into the future. - Gian Francesco Malipiero was an Italian composer whose piano works reflect his unique approach to musical expression, blending tradition and modernity. Known for rejecting the rigid structures of classical forms, Malipiero sought to evoke pure emotion and a sense of mystery in his music, often drawing on Italian folk traditions and Renaissance polyphony. His piano compositions are characterized by their lyrical qualities, rich textures, and distinctive harmonic language. - Malipiero's piano output includes several collections, each showing his innovative yet deeply Italian aesthetic. Among his notable works are the Preludi autunnali (Autumnal Preludes), a series of poetic and introspective pieces imbued with melancholic beauty. These works often feature modal harmonies and unexpected shifts in tonality, reflecting his quest to free music from the constraints of conventional Romanticism. - Other works on this new recording are the Maschere que passano, Omaggi, Six Morceaux, and 3 Danze Antiche. These pieces are deeply atmospheric, blending delicate, impressionistic passages with moments of stark drama. Malipiero's piano music often eschews virtuosic display in favor of expressive depth, demanding a nuanced and sensitive touch from the performer. - Alessandro Riccardi is one of the most remarkable young pianists of his generation. His CDs with works by Scriabin and Liszt received several 5-star reviews in the international press.

Our knowledge of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji is based more on his reputation than on his work. A marginal figure in twentieth-century music, he is renowned for the length and complexity of his compositions. After forbidding the performance of his music, he earned a small income through his writings as a critic and essayist of great wit. His best-known works are for solo piano, many of which have been released by BIS. This disc presents first recordings of his music for chamber ensemble and chamber orchestra plus several world premiere recordings of art songs, including a new arrangement and the first completion of a fragment. The American collective Wild Beautiful Orchestra, made up of instrumentalists and singers renowned for their versatility and enthusiasm, and it's founder, conductor Chappell Kingsland, together with flautist Sharon Bezaly in the longest work, present this programme featuring previously unreleased music by the maverick composer. There is no doubt that this extraordinary variety will expand our collective appreciation of Sorabji's genius and that this album will serve as an entry point to his unique musical imagination.

The first recording of another monumental work for piano by the composer of Opus clavicembalisticum and Sequentia cyclica.

Kaikhosru Sorabji tended to discourage performances of his music, feeling that most musicians not only lacked the technical equipment and dedication to conquer his vast scores, but also that they would not satisfactorily grasp their spiritual content. Born in a London suburb of Parsee origin, living for much of his life on a remote Scottish island, Sorabji died in 1988, and only in the last two decades have advances in digital publishing enabled his many unperformed and intimidatingly large pieces to be transferred from manuscript, and then taken on by dedicated performers such as the British pianist Jonathan Powell, whose first recording of the eight-hour Sequentia Cyclica won widespread praise on its release by Piano Classics: Sorabji’s ‘most inclusive and revealing major statement’ according to Gramophone, ‘a wilful yet engrossing challenge that, in Powell, has met its match.’ Composed in the mid-1950s, the Toccata terza had been thought lost until the score turned up in 2019, and Abel Sánchez-Aguilera has produced his own critical edition in order to make this first recording: a monumental labour of love and skill. The Toccata is cast in ten sections, including a 50-minute Passacaglia – one of Sorabji’s favourite forms – and the kind of thorny counterpoint and mountainous climaxes which will be familiar to followers of his music. There are four extant Toccatas: ‘They seem to look back to the examples of Bach and Busoni,’ as Sánchez-Aguilera remarks in his booklet introduction, ‘reinvented in Sorabji’s personal language and expanded to monumental proportions. Notwithstanding their complexity, several features make them particularly effective and accessible to the listener. They make use of familiar procedures – such as the variation and the fugue – and thus establishing clear links with tradition.’

No Sorabji collector will ignore this major new release of his music, and searchers for rarities in the hyper-virtuoso piano repertoire will discover a new treasure.

This release further explores the rarely performed or recorded concert music of Miklos Rozsa (of Ben Hur fame), coupling his Rhapsody for Cello in which the young composer truly found his style, his Notturno Ungherese ("a nostalgic night piece, harking back to the memories of my childhood in Hungary"), and the late Sinfonia concertante for violin and cello, a fiendishly difficult violin-cello double concerto that is among Rozsa's finest, least film-music-like concert works - and one of his most underrated. Gregor Piatigorsky and Jascha Heifetz, who instigated it's composition, never ended up playing it, but Harriet Krijgh and Nikita Boriso-Glebsky certainly do.

It took almost 100 years for Charles Koechlin's First Symphony to get a proper recording and over a year for Ariane Matiakh to prepare the material. After her highly praised recording of Koechlin's Seven Stars Symphony (C5449), this is a much-appreciated further foray into the largely unexplored symphonic world of this fascinating composer, a French Chameleon of sorts, who felt comfortable anywhere between Bachian counterpoint and the heights of French impressionism. The earlier Au loin, Poeme symphonique and 3 Melodies (orchestrated posthumously) round out the scintillating picture.

Last year, Tigran Hamasyan composed his greatest work, inspired by a traditional Armenian tale of the same name: The Bird of a Thousand Voices, is rediscovering this story in a transmedia project, consisting of an innovative livestaged play (world premiere at the Holland Festival on June 8, 2024), two ambitious cinematic fiction music videos, a documentary music video and an online game. The original story of the firebird has been orally transmitted over the centuries and cultures. The folk tale requires a multi-layered, transdisciplinary approach to provide an artistic context for this fascinating story. The mystical bird of a thousand voices is a beautiful metaphor of our times: a world in search of connection and harmony, faced with ecological, psychological and spiritual crises. Any form of recognition and new means of transmitting this beautiful music of the ancient traditions of the Caucasus is therefore important and sets the tone for world curiosity and diversity. "The Bird Of A Thousand Voices" is part of this context. Tigran is one of the most remarkable jazz pianists and composers of his generation. He combines improvisation with the rich traditional music of his native Armenia. Ten years ago, Tigran and award-winning filmmaker Ruben Van Leer met during a collaboration at the Cite de la Musique in Paris, creating "Shadow Theater", a visual musical experience (see ARTE broadcast). They went on to create several music videos together (see Cave of Rebirth & Fides Tua). Armenian culture, geopolitically situated between globalized powers such as Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, has been under pressure for centuries. Most recently, in September 2023, Azerbaijan took over Armenian territory. Right after, almost the entire population was expelled from the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of an "ethnic cleansing", in the words of the European Parliament. Azerbaijan is now expressly ordering the burning of ancient historical manuscripts in Armenian monasteries. Deluxe vinyl 2LP box set with 3 superb illustrated booklets (80 pages in total).

Last year, Tigran Hamasyan composed his greatest work, inspired by a traditional Armenian tale of the same name: The Bird of a Thousand Voices, is rediscovering this story in a transmedia project, consisting of an innovative livestaged play (world premiere at the Holland Festival on June 8, 2024), two ambitious cinematic fiction music videos, a documentary music video and an online game. The original story of the firebird has been orally transmitted over the centuries and cultures. The folk tale requires a multi-layered, transdisciplinary approach to provide an artistic context for this fascinating story. The mystical bird of a thousand voices is a beautiful metaphor of our times: a world in search of connection and harmony, faced with ecological, psychological and spiritual crises. Any form of recognition and new means of transmitting this beautiful music of the ancient traditions of the Caucasus is therefore important and sets the tone for world curiosity and diversity. "The Bird Of A Thousand Voices" is part of this context. Tigran is one of the most remarkable jazz pianists and composers of his generation. He combines improvisation with the rich traditional music of his native Armenia. Ten years ago, Tigran and award-winning filmmaker Ruben Van Leer met during a collaboration at the Cite de la Musique in Paris, creating "Shadow Theater", a visual musical experience (see ARTE broadcast). They went on to create several music videos together (see Cave of Rebirth & Fides Tua). Armenian culture, geopolitically situated between globalized powers such as Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, has been under pressure for centuries. Most recently, in September 2023, Azerbaijan took over Armenian territory. Right after, almost the entire population was expelled from the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of an "ethnic cleansing", in the words of the European Parliament. Azerbaijan is now expressly ordering the burning of ancient historical manuscripts in Armenian monasteries. Deluxe 2CD box set with 2 superb illustrated booklets (60 pages in total).

Multiple Grammy-winning Third Coast Percussion (TCP), praised by NPR for championing "borderless music" and "blurring musical boundaries, " celebrates it's 20th anniversary in 2025 with Standard Stoppages, an album inspired by pioneering conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp's idea of twisting standardized units, with works that redefine rhythmic structures and sonic possibilities. Reflecting on two decades-or a "score"-of music-making, the anniversary gives TCP the space to reflect on their many milestones, collaborations, and steps along the journey that have shaped their work over the years, inspiring the group to commission new works for the occasion. This diverse set of commissions makes for a colorful sonic palette of percussive ensemble works, ranging from Zakir Hussain's traditional Hindustani influence to Musekiwa Chingodza's Zimbabwean song to Jessie Montgomery's western contemporary approach. This project brings together both new and past collaborators; with commissioned works from Jlin and Zakir Hussain, alongside fresh contributions from Jessie Montgomery and Tigran Hamasyan. The late Zakir Hussain and the rich Hindustani and tabla traditions were strong sources of inspiration for Third Coast Percussion, most notably through the commissioned work Murmurs in Time. His unexpected passing between the album's recording and release moved TCP to dedicate this project to his memory and enduring legacy. Drawing from Duchamp's Three Standard Stoppages, TCP's 7th recording for Cedille Records invites reflection on the varying paths that lead to unique creative expressions, both for themselves and their collaborators. Standard Stoppages was produced and engineered by Judith Sherman, Colin Campbell, and Bill Maylone. Tracks 1-4 and 7-10 were recorded November 4-8, 2024, and tracks 5-6 October 1-2, 2024, at Narwhal Studios, Chicago, IL; Track 11 was recorded November 15, 2024, at Rax Trax, Chicago, IL.

Founded in 1841 under the participation of Constanze Mozart, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg today enjoys the highest reputation worldwide for its lively and style-conscious Mozart interpretations. In numerous ways it connects the Viennese Classical period to the music of the 19th/20th and 21st centuries. The orchestras constant preoccupation with his core repertoire also shapes its approach to the music of later periods. Thus chamber-musical transparency, articulatory clarity and nuanced sonority are a trademark that makes the Mozarteum Orchestra special and recognizable, also when playing the music of other composers. The Mozarteumorchester Salzburg proves once again its unrivaled position as interpreters of the Mozart stylistic and uses the organ sonatas as a departure into other stylistic periods. It Includes two world premiere recordings of Henze‘s "Konzertmusik" and "Three Mozart Organ Sonatas".

Miklós Rózsa feared that success as a film composer might overshadow his reputation as a composer of classical concert fare. He was right. Three Oscars and 17 Academy Award nominations tends to do that. The two worlds were strangely incompatible and forced Rózsa into what he called his “Double Life” – the title of both a film for which he won an Oscar and that of his autobiography. The three orchestral works presented here, from his early, middle and late phases, provide a charming introduction to his alternative side.

REVIEW:

Works like the ones on this album ought to appeal to lovers of any of Rosza’s many film scores; the musical language is not that far off. The orchestra, an underrated regional group, gives crisp performances under conductor Gregor Bühl on a release that should appeal to both film buffs and fans of 20th century music generally.

— AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

Steve Swallow who is one of the pioneers of electric double bass in jazz noted that Millhouse “is using it to help define and refine what the electric bass can do to refresh jazz music.” Eminent practitioner of this unique six-string instrument Millhouse as bassist and guitarist in one creates again on this second album with the saxophone trio format refreshing and formidable jazz. “With the rich saxophone and drum sounds the 6 strings incorporates chord playing techniques and moves around freely showing the way electric bass should be in modern jazz.'' (K. Harada- Bass Magazine on SCCD 31942 Unwinding)

Mary Elizabeth Bowden, praised for her “splendid, brilliant” artistry (Gramophone), celebrates the narrative power of the trumpet with "Storyteller: Contemporary Concertos for Trumpet." Bowden is joined by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Allen Tinkham in a collection of new concertos that redefine the trumpet’s voice in modern classical music. This recording, a testament to Bowden’s commitment to expanding the trumpet repertoire, features world premiere recordings of works by James M. Stephenson, Clarice V. Assad, Vivian Fung, Tyson Gholston Davis, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Reena Esmail, showcasing the richness and versatility of contemporary classical trumpet music.

John Ireland is widely regarded as one of the greatest British composers of the twentieth century. His contribution to the piano solo repertoire is of great significance. This album, performed by award-winning pianist Rebeca Omordia, is an exploration of John Ireland's piano music composed over a period of almost forty years. His distinctly English yet individualistic musical style is reflected in works bearing evocative titles that reveal Ireland's deep connection to landscapes and literature, creating a unique sound world. The release includes Decorations, published in 1915, as the earliest pieces; the substantial Piano Sonata in E minor (1920), described by Lisa Hardy in her book as "the outstanding example of all British piano sonatas"; the large-scale Sarnia: An Island Sequence (1940-41); and Columbine, the last piano piece he wrote, from 1951.

Due to an overload of the right hand and the resulting epicondylitis (golfer's elbow), Nicola Stock was initially no longer able to play the guitar normally. Inspired by Lars Wuller's "Left Hand Guitar Challenge" and due to the fact that guitar works for the left hand alone had hardly existed up to that point - unlike in the piano world, where numerous pieces by well-known composers such as Scriabin or Ravel already exist - the idea arose together with Professor Gerhard Reichenbach to commission new pieces from various composers and thus create a repertoire for the left hand alone that combines innovative ideas and old and new playing techniques. Nicola Yasmin Stock (*1998) is a multiple prizewinner in international guitar competitions. As a soloist, she regularly performs at festivals in Asia, Europe and South America and gives master classes. She studied classical guitar with Professor Gerhard Reichenbach at the University of Music and Dance Cologne/Wuppertal and has also taken part in numerous master classes with renowned artists such as Margarita Escarpa, Pavel Steidl, Judicael Perroy and many others. In addition to her current studies in musicology at the Robert Schumann University in Dusseldorf, Nicola Yasmin Stock is the artistic director of the Rotenburg Guitar Week and an instrumental teacher at the Bergische Music School. She is involved in a variety of chamber music formations and orchestras, including as conductor of the Dortmund Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra. Because of her special commitment to the largely unknown guitar repertoire of female composers, she was awarded a scholarship for female guitarists by the Equal Opportunities Commission at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. She is also involved in cross-disciplinary projects, such as the interdisciplinary annual project of the College of Music and Art in Montepulciano/IT.

Théodore Géricault’s larger-than-life painting The Raft of the Medusa has stimulated a great many artists ever since its creation in 1819. Hans Werner Henze and his Librettist Ernst Schnabel were inspired by Géricault and wrote a political oratorio on the painting’s tragic historical subject in 1967. Notable for its harsh and bright sounds, tender depiction of suffering, scathing irony, and gripping dramaturgy, the agitation at the failed premiere lifted the work into the canon of great classical scandals.

On his latest album New Doors, internationally successful Viennese jazz violinist Rudi Berger connects the three worlds that have profoundly shaped him since his beginnings: the Vienna-Brazil-New York axis has provided the virtuoso with a multitude of musical companions, such as Brazilian guitarists Toninho Horta and Fabiano Chagas; fellow Brazilians Mauro Rodrigues (flute) and Oswaldo Amorim (bass); Austrians Bernhard Wiesinger (saxophone), Markus Pechmann (trumpet), and Clemens Hofer (trombone); New York pianist Peter Madsen; and British guitarist John Arman. These musicians and many more join Rudi Berger on original compositions like "I Remember Chick", "Other Side", "New Doors", and "Walk On Joe", as well as on well-known hits such as "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Brigas Nunca Mais", and "Georgia On My Mind". They support him with groovy rhythms, swinging harmonies, unpretentious virtuosity, and maximum joy in playing.

The emerging quartet Gaman Ensemble shows in this album the evolution and cross-influences of that strong Spanish presence in the French capital over the last century. It's four members (Jesus Reneses -soprano saxophone-, Carlos Zaragoza -alto saxophone-, Daniel Sanchez-Manjavacas -tenor saxophone- and Luis Maria Gonzalez -baritone saxophone-) have studied in Paris, allowing themselves to be nourished musically and intellectually by the cultural life of the city. So did the five composers who make up the disc: Joaquin Nin, Jesus Guridi, Enrique Granados, Eduard Toldr� and Felix Ibarrondo. Gaman Ensemble records for the first time their own versions for saxophone quartet of the pieces by Nin and Guridi, originals for piano or string quartet, as well as the arrangement of the dance by Granados and the work commissioned by themselves to Ibarrondo. From these five scores, the versatile and rigorous Gaman Ensemble aims to illustrate the fruitful and long-lived sound encounter between Spain and France without losing sight of the musical regionalisms that were forged in the final stages of Romanticism. Basque, Andalusian and Catalan popular references emerge more or less explicitly in the languages of the five composers. On the other hand, as well as showing it's commitment to contemporary creation through Ibarrondo's work, Gaman Ensemble wants to contribute to the revaluation of the production and legacy of composers not yet sufficiently recognised, such as Nin or Guridi. And all this, through the original and suggestive formation of the saxophone quartet, a mirror of contemporaneity.

In a time when musical genres are constantly in dialogue with one another, Standard - No Standard proves that the jazz tradition is not only alive but also constantly evolving. This album, the result of a powerful collaboration between guitarist Joost Zoeteman, bassist Bart Tarenskeen, and drummer Wim de Vries, showcases how three musicians masterfully strike a balance between reverence for jazz history and a fresh, contemporary approach.

Unquestionably Manuel Maria Ponce stands as one of the composers for the classical guitar of all time. Rare would be the virtuoso who does not acknowledge his brilliance. However, to reach such heights, history had to gift us a providential encounter with the greatest ambassador of the guitar in the 20th century: Andres Segovia. Their profound relationship of friendship, respect, and admiration, evidenced through a fraternal correspondence and declarations, began in 1923. At that time, Ponce was a professor of Harmony at the National Conservatory of Mexico and a music critic. Manuel Ponce composed the Sonatas between 1923 and 1929, all commissioned and dedicated to Andres Segovia. They constitute the first collection of Sonatas written in the 20th century by a non-guitarist composer, forming a fundamental and unique corpus in the concert guitar repertoire. Each Sonata possesses stylistic and formal characteristics that Segovia himself detailed.

The final volume in the historically important collection of rare recordings with the Danish versatile conductor Launy Gr�ndahl features the opera The Black Spider, an unknown masterpiece by the Swiss conductor Heinrich Sutermeister. In addition to never-before-released broadcast recordings, this volume collects the very first 78RPM recordings made by Gr�ndahl with his Olympia Orchestra in 1923. All previous volumes, from Volume 1 to this final release, are available.

The ensemble Pandolfis Consort, the countertenor Nicholas Spanos and the Czech Ensemble Baroque Choir present works by the Neapolitan composer Nicola Antonio Porpora on this album entitled "SALVE". The music on this album forms an imaginary concert program: In the first part, there are three Marian antiphons framed with introductory and connecting individual sonata movements composed a few years earlier in London. The second part features Psalm 127 "Nisi Dominus". Together, this is the music composed by Porpora for the feast of the Assumption for the Ospedaletto in Venice in 1744. Common to all the vocal pieces is the concentration on the sonorous, uplifting voice with infinite coloratura, the virtuoso part of the first violin and, in one case, the counterpart of the choir, which is scored here as soloist voices. This reduction to the essentials, to solo instruments, to the core of the music, has for many years been the focus of the Pandolfis Consort, founded by violist Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler, performing on period instruments

The flute concertos by Jacques Ibert, Andre Jolivet and Joaquin Rodrigo together embody a distinctive musical heritage written for the flute in the twentieth century, exploring the instrument's limits. These works are now heard together for the first time on one album. Flautist Sami Junnonen is joined by the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra under the direction of conductor James S. Kahane. The album features Ibert's 'Concerto for flute and orchestra', which is now considered to be one of the most esteemed concertos in the flute repertoire; Jolivet's virtuosic and rarely-recorded 'Concerto for flute and string orchestra'; and Rodrigo's 'Concierto pastoral for flute and orchestra', which has gained a formidable reputation among flautists for it's exceptional technical requirements.

Falk and Schleiermacher once again prove to be the ideal interpreters of this multi-faceted music: from the smoky nightclub of the "Rue Chagrin" to the synagogue; past the children's playground to the cotton fields of America with hints of the blues - great art in a small form!

The Athens State Orchestra is the oldest symphony orchestra in Greece. On the occasion of Mikis Theodorakis' 100th birthday, GENUIN evokes the spirits of his homeland and of classical antiquity in three symphonic works by Greece's most famous composer-works that played an important role toward the end of his life: from the early "Sinfonietta" in a new version, through the folk-inspired "Rhapsody for Guitar and Orchestra," to the equally moving nine-part "Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra," Theodorakis's last orchestral work. The young, rising Kornilios Michailidis leads Greece's premier orchestra with verve, while the album's soloists contribute at the highest standard of playing to these remarkable recordings!

In 1907, Florent Schmitt composed music to accompany a ‘mimodrame’ danced by Loïe Fuller, La Tragédie de Salomé. His score is bursting with colour, energy, and voluptuousness – and also with oriental influences stemming from his travels to Morocco and Constantinople, where he discovered the howling dervishes. The final scene features the heart-rending ‘Chant d’Aïça’, an oriental melody sung by a soprano. This music, though bold and modern for the listeners of 1907, nonetheless aroused the admiration of another composer, Igor Stravinsky, to whom Schmitt dedicated the Symphonic Suite he subsequently derived from the work. However, Alain Altinoglu, at the helm of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra of which he has been Music Director since 2021, has chosen to record the original version of this landmark of early twentieth-century French music. The beautiful Chant élégiaque, in its 1911 version for cello and large orchestra, completes this programme.

Avant de devenir le maestro des bandes originales cultes comme Mission: Impossible ou Bullitt, Lalo Schifrin etait un virtuose du piano et un grand innovateur du jazz et de la bossa nova. Avec un sens de l'arrangement dej� exceptionnel, il arrange et compose pour Dizzy Gillespie ou Quincy Jones. Ce coffret 3 CD, realise par Olivier Julien reunit les premiers enregistrements publies sous son nom et nous plonge dans les debuts eclatants d'un jeune pianiste de jazz argentin lumineux, en passe de devenir l'un des plus grands compositeurs d'Hollywood. Patrick FReMEAUX Before he became the maestro of iconic film scores like Mission: Impossible or Bullitt, Lalo Schifrin was already a piano virtuoso and a major innovator in jazz and bossa nova. With an already exceptional knack for arrangement, he arranged and composed for Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones. Curated by Olivier Julien, this 3-CD box set brings together the first recordings released under Schifrin's name, offering a captivating glimpse into the brilliant early days of a young, luminous Argentine jazz pianist on the cusp of becoming one of Hollywood's greatest composers. Patrick FReMEAUX CD1 : RENDEZ-VOUS DANSANT � COPACABANA AVEC LALO SCHIFRIN, SON PIANO ET SES RYTHMES - MOULIN ROUGE - LES OIGNONS - FASCINATION - CABELLO ROJO - MON HOMME - MAMBOP - PIGALLE - SeReNADE MeDITERRANeENNE. SPECTRUM - RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET - AZURE - THE MOON WAS YELLOW - RUBY - BLACK BEAUTY - WHEN THE WIND WAS GREEN - BROWN PRELUDE - WHITE ORCHIDS - BLUE IS THE NIGHT - SCARLET RIBBONS (FOR HER HAIR) - PURPLE PASTEL. CD2 : PIANO ESPA�OL - FRENESI - THE BREEZE AND I - CAPRICHO ESPA�OL - MY SHAWL - CARAVAN - MALAGUENA - CHA CHA CHA FLAMENCO - WARSAW CONCERTO - HULABLUES - JUNGLE FANTASY - ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE - EL CUMBANCHERO. LALO = BRILLIANCE (THE PIANO OF LALO SCHIFRIN) - THE SNAKE'S DANCE - AN EVENING IN SAO PAULO - DESAFINADO - KUSH - RHYTHM-A-NING - MOUNT OLIVE - CUBANO BE - SPHAYROS. CD3 : BOSSA NOVA, NEW BRASILIAN JAZZ - BOATO - CHORA TUA TRISTEZA - POEMA DO ADEUS - APITO NO SAMBA - CHEGA DE SAUDADE - BOSSA EM NOVA YORK - O AMOR E A ROSA - O MENINO DESCE O MORRO - MENINA FEIA - OUcA - SAMBA DE UMA NOTA SO - PATINHO FEIO (UGLY DUCKLING). PIANO, STRINGS AND BOSSA NOVA - THE WAVE - INSENSATEZ - YOU AND ME (VOCE E EU) - LALO'S BOSSA NOVA (SAMBA PARA DOS) - SILVIA - MURMURIO (MURMUR) - MARIA - RAPAZ DE BEM - SAMBA NO PERROQUET (PARROT SAMBA) - RIO AFTER DARK - TIME FOR LOVE - I'm LOOKING OVER A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER. BONUS CD3 : QUINCY JONES ET LALO SCHIFRIN - SOUL BOSSA NOVA - LALO BOSSA NOVA. DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE : OLIVIER JULIEN

Flo� og Fjara is Gulli Gudmundsson's new project. The Icelandic bassist has been a cornerstone of the Dutch jazz scene for many years. His new trio has a chamber music-inspired setup. With pianist Jeroen van Vliet and trumpeter Koen Smits, he has found two musicians who share his pursuit of similar sound ideals.

Darius Milhaud a 25 ans lorsqu'il debarque a Rio de Janeiro en fevrier 1917, en plein carnaval. Puis il voyagera, fin 1919, en Martinique et aux USA. Sejours nourris de decouvertes sonores qui feront qu'il deviendra un precurseur de l'intrication des musiques du monde et de l'ecriture erudite europeenne des les premieres decades du XXe siecle. Philippe LESAGE In February 1917, Darius Milhaud went to Rio de Janeiro. He was 25, and he disembarked when the Carnival was in full swing. He stayed until the end of 1919, then travelled to Martinique and the USA. During his three stays he discovered remarkable sounds that would make him a precursor, in the first two decades of the 20th century, of the intricate relationship between world music and the scholarly classical music of Europe. Philippe LESAGE CD1 : LE BOEUF SUR LE TOIT : MINNEAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, DIR MITROPOULOS - ATe EU : OITO BATUTAS - ATe A VOLTA : OITO BATUTAS - APANHEI-TE CAVAQUINHO : ERNESTO NAZARETH - SCARAMOUCHE : MARCELLE MEYER & DARIUS MILHAUD - BREJEIRO : BANDA DO CORPO DOS BOMBEIROS DE RIO DE JANEIRO - GRA�NA : OITO BATUTAS - ESCOVADO : ERNESTO NAZARETH - SAUDADES DO BRASIL : DARIUS MILHAUD - SAUDADES DO BRASIL : JACQUES FeVRIER - SAUDADES DO BRASIL : LE TRIGENTUOR LYONNAIS - DANSES DE JACAREMIRIM : LOUIS KAUFMAN & ARTUR BALSAM. CD2 : LA CReATION DU MONDE : ORCHESTRE DU THeaTRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSeES, DIR DARIUS MILHAUD - CARNAVAL a LA NOUVELLE-ORLeANS : ARTHUR GOLD & ROBERT FIZDALE - SOUNDS OF AFRICA : EUBIE BLAKE - I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY : WIENER & DOUCET - KING PORTER STOMP : JELLY ROLL MORTON - 3 RAG-CAPRICES : VIENNA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, DIR HENRI SWOBODA - SOUVENIR DU BOEUF SUR LE TOIT : WIENER & DOUCET - HANDFUL OF KEYS : FATS WALLER - LE BAL MARTINIQUAIS : ROBERT & GABY CASADESUS - EN L'AI MONE LA : STELLIO - CINeMA FANTAISIE : RENe BENEDETTI ET JEAN WIENER. DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE : PHILIPPE LESAGE ET TECA CALAZANS

Based on a story by Gogol, Modest Mussorgsky's unfinished Sorochintsi Fair is a comic opera in which amorous encounters intermingle with a devil's curse. Potentially a compelling and original drama, Salammbo was Mussorgsky's first attempt at an opera. Both works are world premiere recordings of chamber versions arranged by Fabrice Bollon, using only original material as their basis.