The hour-long emotional tour-de-force with cellist Mark Prihodko and pianist Viktoria Korolionok evokes a soul-searching journey that spans a century of romantic repertoire following the music-making traditions of Ysaye, Gershwin, and Rachmaninov. Cerdanyenca takes its title from the eponymous sonata, written by Catalan composer Marc Migo Cortes, who dedicated this masterwork to Prihodko, his great friend. Conceived at the Juilliard School in New York, where Prihodko held the prestigious Kovner Fellowship while completing his Bachelor’s Degree in the studio of Richard Aaron, and Migo Cortes was completing his Ph.D. in the studio of John Corigliano, Sonata Cerdanyenca continues the tradition of the grandiose twentieth-century masterworks for cello and piano. Cultivating the lifetime synergy between composer and cellist, Prihodko and Migo specifically drew inspiration from the artistic collaborations between Rostropovich and Britten, and Piatigorsky and Strauss. The newly commissioned and internationally premiered Sonata has won the prestigious Pau Casals Festival International Award in 2019. In this extremely demanding monumental piece, the composer portrays the legends of his home region of La Cerdanya, from the tales of La dona d’aigua (the seducing water-woman) to the echoing Sardana Dances of Catalonia. His use of folkloric elements contextualizes hundreds of years of storytelling in an engaging acoustical play, expertly guided by Korolionok and Prihodko.

Winners of the First Prize at the inaugural Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Competition, violinist Usha Kapoor and pianist Edward Leung present an album of violin sonatas by American composers Amy Beach and John Corigliano. The album features Beach’s large-scale chamber work of 1896, the Sonata for Violin and Piano Op. 34, and her earlier Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23 from 1893, together with Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin and Piano. Completed in 1963, this work was originally called ‘Duo’ and is very much intended for two equal musical partners.

Francois-Xavier Roth and the Gurzenich Orchestra Cologne explore the beginnings of Anton Bruckner's symphonic oeuvre on the way to the complete recording of the symphonies. Between Linz and Vienna, the organist from the modest provinces, "half genius and half fool", as contemporaries described him, found his symphonic language. At the age of over 40, he composed his first "real" symphony.

Bruckner‘s Third - a creative history that is unique even for the great Austrian romantic. No other of his symphonies has been revised, reshaped and reissued more often. Yet the first version from 1873, which François-Xavier Roth has chosen for this recording, bristles with boldness and the joy of experimentation. Here, the reminiscence of Beethoven‘s Ninth and the works of the dedicatee Richard Wagner is almost tangible. With this recording, François-Xavier Roth and the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln continue the highly acclaimed Bruckner Symphonies cycle and, with great attention to detail, once again present the „unvarnished“ Bruckner, groundbreaking, virtuosic and refined.

Commissioned by the Propaganda Department of the Soviet State Music Publishing House to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, the Symphonic Dedication to October eventually became Shostakovich's Second Symphony, and was first performed, in Leningrad, in 1927. It is a short, through-composed work of around twenty minutes, it's structure involving four sections. It opens with a Largo meant to portray the primordial chaos from which order emerged, and ends with a choral setting of To October, a poem by Alexander Bezymensky, praising Lenin and the October Revolution. The symphony shows a marked departure in style from Shostakovich's first symphony, and is far more modernist and avant-garde. The Second Symphony made little impression, in Russia or the West, and is rarely performed. In contrast, the Fifth Symphony received a standing ovation at it's premi�re, one that lasted for over half an hour, and was acclaimed both by state officials (for delivering everything that they had asked of Shostakovich) and by the public (who heard it as an expression of the suffering to which it had been subjected by Stalin). The Fifth Symphony is one of Shostakovich's best-known and most performed works, and has become standard repertoire for orchestras around the globe.

This new album presents three major orchestral works by British composer William Mival, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins. Spanning two decades, the album features the expansive new symphony Vale, the contemplative Tristan - still, and the Welsh-themed Pluen (feather). Together, they trace Mival's engagement with tradition and landscape. From the concentrated focus of Tristan - still to the folk-song variations of Pluen and the broad, five-movement design of Vale, the recording offers a clear overview of Mival's approach to writing for large forces.

If gospel music was a corporation and not a music genre, James Cleveland would have been it's big boss. He was certainly America's greatest gospel music star, and he reigned over the circuit for almost 40 years. He fostered the mass choir boom that is so popular today, and instigated such major events as Aretha Franklin's "Amazing Grace" album (a worldwide best-seller). This selection of Cleveland's best recordings finally highlights the work of a great musician about whom we know too little.

Sinfonia of London and John Wilson start a new series of recordings of works by Sir William Walton with this album featuring Charlie Lovell-Jones as soloist in the Violin Concerto. Lovell-Jones has soloed with major orchestras internationally, broadcasting on radio and television. As leader of the multi-award-winning Sinfonia of London, he has performed at the BBC Proms and recorded numerous albums, and is the winner of a number of significant international competitions. Commissioned by Jascha Heifetz, the Concerto was premiered in 1939, in America, and was enthusiastically received. Inspired by Walton's friend and lover Alice Wimborne, the work is extremely lyrical and passionate in nature, sporting a wild, virtuosic Tarantella as the second movement. Alice was also a driving force behind the inception of Walton's first grand opera, Troilus and Cressida, composed over almost a decade, largely after her untimely death. Here we hear the four-movement orchestral suite compiled in 1987 by Christopher Palmer, at the instigation of Lady Walton and his lifelong publisher OUP. Walton's overture Portsmouth Point is the earliest work on the album, premiered in 1926.

Arthur Honegger's song output falls into two distinct periods. The first spans his apprentice years from 1914 - the date of the first of the 4 Poemes H.7 - to 1924. He returned to art song on the eve of the Second World War, and Eleni-Lydia Stamellou sings two further sets of songs originally conceived as film accompaniments. In the 4 Poems there is a Debussyan turn to the harmony which mirrors the symbolist flavour of the text. More distinct from the model of Debussy is the album's title track, 'Petite Chapelle', with it's avowedly spiritual character. Honegger conceived his 3 Poemes de Paul Fort in the autumn of 1916. Here the relationship between music and text is more directly illustrative, as in the distant hunting horns to accompany the hunter lost in the forest. From February 1917, Nature morte stands alone as a musical still-life, a brief sketch of a bowl of peaches and white grapes. No less epigrammatic, but more musically adventurous as befitting the text, are Honegger's settings of the 6 Poemes d'Apollinaire which he composed between August 1915 and March 1917. But, for all Apollinaire's influence over the composers of 'Les Six' - Honegger included - Jean Cocteau was far more instrumental in determining their aesthetic aims. And though it was Apollinaire who had coined sur-realisme in response to seeing the premiere of Satie's ballet Parade in 1917, this new, mischievous spirit courses through Honegger's deft settings of Cocteau. Honegger makes a sincere tribute to one of France's most celebrated Renaissance-era poets in the Chanson de Ronsard from February 1924. From 1926, the 3 Chansons de La Petite Sirene feature whole-tone rising harmonies in the opening song, and the even briefer companions uphold a Satie-like inscrutability. At this point, Honegger continued in vocal music (operas, operettas and oratorio) but left song alone. However, in 1937, his soundtrack to Jean Choux 'talkie' remake of Louis Mercanton's 1920 silent film Miarka, la fille � l'ourse afforded an opportunity to write two brief songs. Eleni Lydia Stamellou's recital closes with another pair of songs written for the cinema, the Romances sentimentales for Un seul amour, a story by Balzac very loosely adapted for the screen by Pierre Blanchar. In a genre all their own are the settings of 3 Psaumes, which Honegger composed in occupied Paris over the winter of 1940/1. The sound of the organ underpins the Bachian flow accompanying Psalm 34 and the misty F minor chords beneath Psalm 140, even if the vocal line itself harks back to Honegger's song-writing of the 1920s. Other information: - Recorded April-December 2024 in St Petersburg, Russia - Booklet in English contains liner notes by Peter Quantrill and profiles of the musicians - Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) was a Swiss composer associated with the French musical movement Les Six. Known for his eclectic style, he blended elements of French impressionism, German romanticism, and modernist techniques. While Honegger is best known for his orchestral works, such as Pacific 231 and Jeanne d'Arc au b�cher, his vocal compositions show a more intimate and lyrical side of his artistry. - Honegger's songs reflect his deep sensitivity to poetry and text, setting works by prominent French poets like Paul Fort and Jean Cocteau. His melodies for voice and piano exhibit rich harmonic textures and expressive phrasing, demonstrating both refinement and emotional depth. Unlike his orchestral pieces, which can be complex and rhythmically driven, his songs favor clarity and directness, allowing the poetry to shine through. - Greek soprano Eleni Lydia Stamellou was Prize Winner at the Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition in Austria, with Dame Joan Sutherland as the president of the jury. She subsequently attended masterclasses given by Teresa Berganza, Edda Moser and Christa Ludwig. She sang in opera productions with MusicAeterna conducted by Teodor Currentzis. Her specialization is Renaissance/Baroque and Contemporary Music. She sang in productions of Berio and Hersant.

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Just in time for the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II on 25 October 2025, cpo is releasing the complete recording of a comedy that will itself celebrate it's 130th anniversary on 4 December. In Waldmeister, the undisputed king of the waltz once again pulls out all the stops and delivers a delightful comedy whose scandalous mix-ups ultimately dissolve in a high-proof punch. It's distinctive taste features a hero with a botanical title (Galium odoratum) and a series of evergreens - above all, the leitmotif and proverbial "Trau schau wem" ("Trust, but check"), which is enthusiastically taken up by friend and foe alike. This live recording was made during the Staatstheater am G�rtnerplatz's guest performance in Vienna and whose new production contributed to this year's Austrian Strauss celebrations.

Sir Arthur Bliss contributed two staples of the brass band repertoire - Kenilworth and The Belmont Variations, whose enduring success inspired arrangers to turn to his other compositions, for example Eric Ball and Four Dances from the ballet Checkmate or Phillip Littlemore's suite from the film score for Things to Come. Three new arrangements have been made especially for this album: Robert Childs' suite from the ballet Adam Zero, and Michael Halstenson's arrangements of Music from the Royal Palaces and Welcome the Queen. Collectively this program reflects the essence of Bliss's compositional style: the inherent drama of his scores for film, ballet, and television and his flair for the ceremonial, especially in the context of his position as Master of the Queen's Music.

Black Dyke Band, tracing it's continuous history back to 1855, is the most recorded band in the world, having produced a discography of more than 350 recordings to date. It is also the most successful contesting band in the world, having won the European Championships thirteen times, the British Open thirty times and the National Championships of Great Britain twenty-four times. In 2023, they appointed conductor John Wilson as their Honorary President.

REVIEW:

The ensemble balance is superb, the internal voicing clear and detailed, the execution punchy, delicate, breezily confident and heartfelt by turn. This is a wonderful album in every way, highly recommended.

— Gramophone

The program is well put together and demonstrates the essence of Bliss’s style.

— British Music Society Journal

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.

Few literary works exerted as strong an influence on European culture in the 19th century as Goethe's play Faust. While several important composers drew inspiration from it, Franz Liszt seems to have had a particularly close relationship with Goethe's masterpiece. He came up with the idea of a symphony 'in three characteristic pictures', each devoted to a key character in the play: Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles. Rather than telling the story of the play, Liszt composed a psychological exploration of these three main figures. He was also a pioneer in his use of leitmotifs, i.e. short musical ideas that underline a trait of character or evoke feelings, a process that his future son-in-law, Richard Wagner, would take even further in his operas. This recording presents the original, purely instrumental version of the Faust Symphony from 1854. This gigantic work is complemented by the first of the Mephisto Waltzes, inspired by Nikolaus Lenau's vision of the Faust myth. These two works offer two very different perspectives on Liszt's intense relationship with the character of Faust, and in particular with that of Mephistopheles, around whom many of his compositions are structured. They are key works for understanding Liszt's aesthetic project and the typical nineteenth-century tendency towards a combination of the arts.

The great Russian conductor Yevgeny Svetlanov was born in Moscow in 1928 and studied with Alexander Gauk at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1955 he conducted at the Bolshoi Theatre, becoming principal conductor (1962-1964). From 1965 he was principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (now the Russian State Symphony Orchestra). In 1979 he was appointed principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Residentie Orchestra (The Hague 1992 - 2000) and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1997- 1999). He frequently visited the UK, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, USA, and other countries. Svetlanov was a leading interpreter of Russian composers including Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, Miaskovsky and Scriabin, but also a large number of non-Russian composers ranging from Debussy to Elgar. He died in Moscow aged 73 in 2002.

Five of the best brass players in the world united in a chamber music ensemble: The Reinhold Friedrich Brass Quintett was founded in 2022 and presents here its first CD, UNITY.

For this brass quintet's lifelong dream, world-renowned trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich has brought together the best players in their respective fields, musicians who not only get along extremely well with one another in a musical sense but also on a personal level. In their playing, one can feel their mutual appreciation and their joy in making music together, and, coupled with their unique technical and musical skills, as well as their chamber music experience, this enables the musicians to merge into a single unit.

The players that form this top-class quintet come together from a variety of European countries: Jeroen Berwaerts hails from Belgium and as a former principal trumpeter of the NDR Symphony Orchestra is a much-sought-after soloist who now teaches at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. The Dane, Lasse Mauritzen, who was knighted to the Order of Dannebrog by Queen Margarethe II, is first principal horn of the Copenhagen-based Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra (DRSO). Although Ian Bousfield is British, he now lives in Switzerland and is accustomed to performing around the world as a former principal trombonist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as being a soloist and a conductor. Fundamental to the quintet is the Norwegian Thomas Røisland, who now lives in Sweden and is principal tuba in the DRSO, as well as playing in other renowned European orchestras.These five musicians are united by their desire to set new standards in brass chamber music for their audiences and to present premiere recordings and commission arrangements of classics that have not yet been recorded at a world-class level.

The First Symphony was largely inspired by the composer's tempestuous love affair with the widowed Baroness Imma von Doernberg, whom Walton met in 1929 and with whom he was living on the Continent in the early 1930s. Although the work was long in gestation, with a particular delay in the composition of the finale, the result was universally acclaimed as an outstanding success, with John Ireland commenting "unlike any other English symphony, this is in the real line of symphonic tradition. It is simply colossal, grand, original, and moving to the emotions to the most extreme degree... It has established you as the most vital and original genius in Europe". Walton's star was in the descendent through the 1950's, with a poor reception to his opera Troilus & Cressida, and equally negative comments for his Cello Concerto, which was widely considered to be embarrassingly old-fashioned in it's essentially neo-romantic idiom. Commissioned by Gregor Piatigorsky (at the suggestion of Heifetz), the work was first performed in Boston under Charles Munch in January 1957, with the UK premiere under Sir Malcolm Sargent following a month later. Walton was unable to attend that concert as he was hospitalised following a car accident on the journey to London from his home in Italy. Now widely perceived as one of Walton's most important late scores, the work is performed here by Sinfonia of London's principal cellist Jonathan Aasgaard.

Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973) was born in Kiev but studied in Vienna. After a move to Berlin, he became Wilhelm Furtwangler's assistant and during the 1920s he conducted both the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. At this time, he came into contact with Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Nielsen. In 1929, Horenstein became the music director of the Dusseldorf Opera but, with the outset of war, he settled in the US. He conducted some of the major orchestras there but returned to Europe in 1947, where he was much in demand including a close association with the LSO. He is best remembered for his outstanding Mahler and Bruckner performances but, being Russian, he conducted Shostakovich who he knew, and because of his early links with Nielsen, both composers were featured throughout his life.

Santtu conducts Strauss: Ein Heldenleben is the sixth album from Philharmonia Records. Con- ducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. PRAISE FOR Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Symphony 10 "Themes from the previous movements are intriguingly revived and intertwined and the sheer energy of Rouvali's onslaught upon the music almost convinces us of the heroism of resistance and endurance, ultimately rewarded by explosive, joyous liberation." - MusicWeb International "The first movement is both atmospheric and flowing, sensitively delineating each stage in the unfolding psychological drama." - Gramophone

The three works on this album were all composed between 1943 and 1953. Despite the extreme experiences and difficulties she faced during this undoubtedly most tragic time in Poland’s history, Grazyna Bacewicz managed to compose outstanding works which constitute splendid testimony to the vibrant creative potency for which she was renowned. Until 1939 her career as a virtuoso violinist and an emerging composer evolved naturally. Trained by the best Polish pedagogues at the Warsaw Conservatory, she went on to acquire an international education thanks to an Ignacy Paderewski Scholarship, which allowed her to pursue her studies in Paris: composition with Nadia Boulanger, violin with André Touret (1932 – 33) and Carl Flesch (1934 – 35). In spite of her soloistic successes she decided to join the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra as its leader, in order that an improved knowledge and understanding of an orchestra should inform her composition. Poland then suffered terribly at the hands of Hitler and Stalin, before coming under the control of the Soviet Union. This album was recorded and released in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a state cultural institution promoting Polish culture around the world and actively participating in international cultural exchange.

REVIEWS:

This third release marks the end of the recording of all the orchestral works written by Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz over the course of her not exactly long life. And once again, the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Lukasz Borowicz unfolds a representative range that extends from the phenomenal artist's early neoclassical works to her late phase, in which tonal innovations were at the forefront of her creative work, without losing the indispensable communication with the audience. As a world premiere recording, this album contains the composer's first symphony, while the early Polish Overture and the late In una parte, with which Grazyna Bacewicz created a final "sonoristic" marvel in 1967, two years before her death, can also be heard as concert hall rarities.

Grieg’s four Symphonic Dances are a late work, completed in 1898. Grieg takes his inspiration (as in so much of his output) from traditional Norwegian folk tunes, and the four movements together deliver a symphonic unity in their overall effect. Both Bergliot and Before a Southern Convent are written on texts by Grieg’s good friend the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who was also a theatre manager in Oslo. Bjørnson is considered one of the four great Norwegian authors alongside Ibsen, Lie, and Kielland, received the 1903 Nobel Prize for literature, and wrote the words for the Norwegian national anthem. Bergliot – a declamation with orchestra – tells the story of a dramatic episode involving the chieftain Einar Tambarskjelve and his son Eindride, killed by King Harald Hårdråde. Before a Southern Convent is a more traditional setting – requiring two vocal soloists, female choir, and orchestra rather than the narrator of Bergliot – of the story of the folk-hero and barbarian Arnljot Gelline. In the course of his wild escapades, he killed a chieftain, but allowed the chieftain’s daughter, Ingigerd, to live. This daughter left the homestead and wandered southwards in poverty – through Europe. At long last she arrived at a convent which granted her admittance. The album is completed by the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak – a friend of Grieg’s, who died of tuberculosis in 1866. Grieg conceived it first for solo piano, but whilst travelling by train to Bergen to attend Grieg’s funeral, Johan Halvorsen made the orchestral arrangement heard in this recording.

Choirs of spirits, wild passions, unshakeable loyalty, a gruesome act of murder, and the eternal triumph of love over death - these are the thoroughly familiar ingredients of the libretto that Ethel Smyth wrote (in German) for her one-act opera Der Wald (The Forest). The music, however, is anything but gruesome. Echoes of Robert Schumann, some striking reminiscences of Richard Wagner, and, particularly in the prologue, an unmistakable touch of Art Nouveau carry the drama. It had it's premiere at the Berlin Court Opera on 9 April 1902. It was subsequently staged at the Royal Opera House in London and presented with triumphant success at the Met in New York in March 1903. There were standing ovations and a veritable sea of flowers for the 44-year-old Englishwoman, who was the first woman to conquer the classical music temple on Broadway with her work. Talent can achieve anything.

Sir Thomas Beecham had a long association with the works of Richard Strauss, to the extent that Strauss once told him, "What you have done for my works in England cannot be sufficiently appreciated." SOMM Recordings pays tribute to this collaboration between two musical giants of the early twentieth century-and throws in an early nineteenth-century powerhouse for good measure-with the release of Beecham Conducts R. Strauss and Beethoven. This is the 33rd edition of SOMM's long-running and acclaimed series The Beecham Collection, and it marks the 70th anniversary of two remarkable recordings from 1956. Once again, audio engineer Lani Spahr brings his depth of musicality and technical expertise to these newly restored masterworks. In addition to his determined efforts to put Strauss's operas on the London stage-beginning with conducting the British premiere of Strauss's opera Elektra in 1910-Beecham was enthusiastic about Strauss's tone poems. Ein Heldenleben, in particular, became something of a calling card for him. In 1947, he made a studio recording of the tone poem with the recently established Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A few weeks after his death in 1961, his 1958 stereo recording of Ein Heldenleben was released. The present live recording comes from an all-Strauss concert given at the Royal Festival Hall on 17 October 1956. The first half of the programme included MacBeth, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, and the Dance of the Seven Veils, which SOMM released in 2023 (ARIADNE 5021). The second half, heard here, was devoted to Ein Heldenleben. Strauss's eighth tone poem is considered somewhat autobiographical despite his insistence that the hero was "not a single poetical or historical figure, but rather a more general and free ideal of great and manly heroism." It traces the dramatic arc of the hero's life through his adversaries and his companion; at battle and in peace; and it closes with his retirement from this world. Contemporary critics of Beecham's rapturously received 1956 performance were fulsome in their praise, one noting that "the epilogue was played with such tenderness as to bring tears to the eyes," and another that "this is how Strauss can sound when conducted with musical sensibility deepened by experience." Beecham's relationship with Ludwig van Beethoven was rather more ambivalent. Although he performed several of Beethoven's symphonies regularly, his recordings were more sporadic and he never completed a full cycle. SOMM is fortunate and proud to present here Beecham's exciting, fleet-footed interpretation of the Eighth Symphony, recorded at the Festival Hall on 12 December 1956. His performance brings energy and a sense of fun to the work, which musicologist Nigel Simeone describes as the "wittiest of the Beethoven symphonies."

His First Symphony famously took Brahms twenty-one years from conception to first performance - a marker of both his own highly self-critical assessment of his output, combined with the expectation of everyone around him that his symphonic output would naturally pick up where Beethoven had left off. Astonishingly, his Second Symphony was begun in June 1877 and received it's first performance just six months later, by the Vienna Philharmonic and Hans Richter. It's cheerful nature and pastoral mood are also a stark contrast to the first symphony. Following a gap of some six years, Brahms returned to the form in 1883, and composed his third and then fourth symphonies in quick succession. Begun in 1884, the Fourth Symphony was premi�red by Brahms and the Meiningen court orchestra in October 1885. The work is especially notable for it's last movement, which takes the form of a passacaglia (an extremely rare occurrence) and is the only one of Brahms's symphonies to end in a minor key.

Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 is the fifth album from Philharmonia Records. Largely interpreted as depicting Stalin's regime in Russia, the orchestra delivers tragedy, violence and gloom before the brief but triumphant finale. Conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in April 2024.

After our Bruckner/Haitink (CC 72895), we are very proud to present the result of a new collaboration with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its prestigious Saturday Matinée series. This disc contains two major orchestral works by Reinbert de Leeuw, composed respectively in 1974 and in 2013. While Abschied is a stormy and compact piece, Der nächtliche Wanderer is an enormous work suffused with resonant memories. Both are world premiere releases and this CD is a significant addition to the contemporary music record repertoire.

Cut or Uncut?

Anton Bruckner would have been 200 years old in 2024. Instead of using flowery but ultimately helpless advertising slogans to promote the 100th release for the Bruckner Year, we are trying to encourage people to think about production processes in classical music with a special release. What is a recording actually about?

Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony twice in full length, each time on one CD. A live recording (uncut) and a studio production (cut) under identical conditions. Compare them! And don't allow your judgement to be swayed by different recording circumstances!

This comparison would not have been possible without András Keller and Concerto Budapest. András Keller follows an unbroken European tradition that stretches way back into the last century, perhaps even as far back as Anton Bruckner himself. And the monumental arches and climaxes in Anton Bruckner's music are perfect for every listener to ask themselves: What do I want from a recording? What moves me more, live or produced, cut or uncut?

Wilhelm Furtwangler was born in Schoneberg (now a district of Berlin) in 1886, but spent most of his childhood in Munich, where his father, an archaeologist, taught at the university. He received a musical education from an early age, and soon became obsessed with the works of Beethoven - a lifelong fascination. Furtwangler considered himself to be a composer, and learned to conduct principally to be able to promote his own works. Everyone else saw him as an incredibly talented conductor, but as a composer? - not so much. It is, however, his own individual approach that underscores his entire career - his reputation as a conductor was built on the re-interpretation of each score he conducted, a principle far removed from the then more usual rigid adherence to performance tradition. His whole career was built on his belief in the sanctity of the German artistic tradition - not only of music but of literature and philosophy. Furtwangler rose to the most important conductorships available, replacing Richard Strauss at the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1920, and then, following the sudden death of Arthur Nikisch, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. Through the 1930s and '40s, his career was defined by his opposition to Nazism, and the determination of the regime to use his international reputation as propaganda to promote their cause. The best known of his three symphonies, the second was composed in 1945 - 46 whilst he was self-exiled in Switzerland.

Armonico Consort present their next instalment of works by Franceso Scarlatti, this time his only surviving oratorio 'Il Daniele nel Lago de'Leoni' or Daniel in the Lions' Den. Scarlatti's Daniele conforms in all general aspects to the typical Sicilian oratorio of the late-seventeenth century, which was itself closely modelled on Roman practice: four or five singers inhabit character roles, without a separate narrator, together with a chorus often consisting of the soloists singing in ensemble.