Le Concert Spirituel / Hervé Niquet

Ensemble Plus Ultra / Michael Noone

Raffaella Milanesi / Salvo Vitale / La Risonanza / Fabio Bonizzoni

Soeur Marie Keyrouz

Editor's info:
This CD, largely devoted to traditional Maronite chant, also presents chants from the Syrian Catholic and Syrian Orthodox traditions. Most of the pieces recorded here date back to the early centuries of Christianity, and have an obvious kinship with other ancient chants of the Near East and Middle East.

Clemencic Consort / René Clemencic

Editor's info:
Besides songs criticising their epoch with violent emotion, we find in Carmina Burana graceful love songs, songs of Spring, some based on inner emotions, besides others which are definitely immoral.

Ensemble Clément Janequin / Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse / Dominique Visse

Editor's info:
Antoine Brumel began his career as a chorister at Chartres Cathedral, and ended it as maestro di cappella at the court of Ferrara. His Mass Et ecce terrae motus has remained by far the most famous among the ten or so he composed. It was already celebrated in its own time for the unusually large musical forces it requires.

Cantus Cölln / Konrad Junghänel

Editor's info:
In celebration of the birth of Louis XIV.
In 1638, the French ambassador to Venice commissioned ""the most solemn and refined music imaginable"" to celebrate with pomp and circumstance the birth of an heir to the throne of France - who was none other than the future Sun King. ""Of all the musicians who are to be found in Venice, it is Giovanni Rovetta [Sign. Rueti] who was chosen as composer and maestro di cappella; he was expressly instructed to assemble all the singers and instrumentalists of the city in order to fulfil His Excellency's grandiose scheme."" Thus it was that the right-hand man of maestro Monteverdi [soon to be his successor] took pains to deploy the full expressive range of the Baroque concerto to illuminate the church of San Giorgio and the ambassador's palace with dazzling music. A sumptuous festival!

Andrei Vieru / Dan Grigore

Editor's info:
Two really extraordinary scores. . .
Drawing their strength from a certain vision of Old Russia, Mussorgsky's and Stravinsky's two most famous 'orchestral' works were both originally written for the piano. Andrei Vieru demonstrates the emotional heights to which the original version of Pictures from an Exhibition can attain - to the borderline of the fantastic. As for the transcription for two pianos of the proemial Sacre du printemps, it was made by Stravinsky himself, and destined for two outstanding pianists. Astounding!

Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini

Editor's info:
A perfect balance.
The quintets with two violas represent a peak in the mature career of Boccherini at a time when he had lost the support of all his patrons and was living under particularly difficult conditions [1801]. But, if there is a certain melancholy in these pieces, they never lose their fresh and limpid Spanish character. ‘Don Luis Boquerini' relished like any other denizen of Madrid the simultaneously joyful and dramatic atmosphere of these years of crisis. Final and perfect creations, infinitely skilful and refined in technique, the Quintets Opp.60 and 62 are pure gems of the classical style.

Isabelle Moretti

Editor's info:
The harp from the classical to the modern age.
This programme covers over two centuries of music originally written for the harp: from the sonatas of C.P.E. Bach and Dussek [the classical style], to more recent works in which the instrument is freed from the constricting traditions of a stereotype repertory.

William Christie / Judith Nelson / Stanley Ritchie

Editor's info:
A pioneer of the classical sonata.
The artistic director of the 'Concert Spirituel' from 1752 to 1762, Mondonville was one of the most fashionable composers in Paris due to his 'grands motets'. But it was in the field of chamber music that he was a real innovator. In creating the sonata for harpsichord with violin accompaniment, he paved the way for a form soon to be raised to sublime heights by Mozart and Beethoven. By giving the harpsichord accompaniment to the human voice Mondonville carried the experiments to its utmost limits!

Trio Wanderer

Editor's info:
The Trio Wanderer celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2007! To mark the occasion, these two CDs offer a chance to rediscover the group's recording of Schubert's complete music for piano trio, which was enthusiastically received by the critics on its release in 2000. The set closely follows the composer's evolution from his beginnings as a gifted schoolboy to his maturity, illustrating the gradual emancipation of his style through constant struggle with the masters of the past - Mozart, Haydn, and of course Beethoven. These trios enjoyed a new lease of life in the 1970s thanks to the success of the film Barry Lyndon.

Ensemble Vocal Européen, Philippe Herreweghe

Editor's info:
A Portuguese composer living outside the confines of time.
Lisbon, 1589-1650: from the monastery to which he had gone into retreat and where he remained for 61 years, a lone composer was busy carrying on the great Renaissance tradition in polyphony, whilst outside the whole Portuguese nation was gradually falling apart under Spanish domination. The composer was Manuel Cardoso, one of the main representatives of the School of Alentejo. His religious aspirations corresponded admirably with the wounded national pride that was the overriding sentiment at the time. This music may well be out of phase with its time, but it remains eternal in its profound spirituality.

Andreas Staier / Lorenzo Coppola / Freiburger Barockorchester / Gottfried von der Goltz

Editor's info:
The Last Concertos [Vienna, 1751]
This recording is the last of the triptych of CDs that the Freiburger Barockorchester has devoted to Mozart's concertos. We are in 1791: his final instrumental work [the Clarinet Concerto] comes just a few months after the last piano concerto. In both cases, the performers have gone back to the original manuscripts to unearth the detailed traces of the composer's own performing practice. If his markings are followed precisely, it is possible to rediscover a fascinating variety of sonic perspectives.

Alexandre Tharaud

Editor's info:
'I like to play the cycle of Preludes without interruption, with the same tension, a certain underlying fear even in the most serene preludes.' Two years after a first CD devoted to the Waltzes, Alexandre Tharaud returns to Chopin, the composer he has played most often and who has never failed to move him deeply. In addition to the Preludes in A flat and op.45 and the Trois nouvelles études, he has provided the cycle with a more recent echo in music by Federico Mompou. In their personality, their careers, their exclusive relationship with the piano, their attention to sonority, and their inward melody, the two composers have much in common.

Jon Manasse / Jon Nakamatsu

Deller Consort / Alfred Deller

Editor's info:
Blow's position in relation to Purcell, the great genius of English music, is rather like that of Haydn in relation to Mozart: Blow outlived Purcell by thirteen years, though he was the older by a decade; and the two composers wre linked by reciprocal ties of admiration and friendship, and shared between them virtually every musical position at the English court.
The Ode on the Death of Purcell is a setting of a fine poem by John Dryden, a writer with whom Purcell had frequently collaborated. This is indeed one of the finest 'monuments' ever erected to the memory of a great artist.

Werner Güra / Christoph Berner

Editor's info:
These songs by Mozart accompanied the events of his life like illustrations in a picture-book - from the departure of a close friend to a meeting of his Masonic Lodge. After their highly personal exploration of the Romantic lied, Werner Güra and Christoph Berner now turn to a less well-known repertoire with this selection of vocal and instrumental works.

Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Manze

Stile Antico

Richard Egarr / Academy of Ancient Music

Editor's info:
In the 1730s Handel was prepared to try any novelty in order to remain at the centre of the musical scene in London. This is what prompted him to interpolate concertos for organ, with himself as soloist, in performances of his oratorios. Their considerable success soon led to the publication of a whole set of such concertos: it is this edition, corrected with great care by the composer himself, that Richard Egarr used for the present recording.

Choir of New College Oxford / Edward Higginbottom

Guillemette Laurens / Anne Magouet / Ensemble . . .in Ore mel. . . / Olivier Vernet

Jean-Louis Charbonnier / Mauricio Buraglia / Pierre Trocellier

Christian Zacharias / Orchestra de Chambre de Lausanne

Siegbert Rampe

Handel's Company / Rainer Johannes Homburg

Handel's Company / Rainer Johannes Homburg

Christian Zacharias / Orchestra de Chambre de Lausanne

Consortium Classicum

Rudolf Innig

Zhu Xiao-Mei

Ensemble Vocal & Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne / Michel Corboz

Boris Berezovsky / Ensemble Orchestral de Paris / John Nelson

Markus Schäfer / Ulrich Eisenlohr

Christopher Hinterhuber / Gavle Symphony Orchestra / Uwe Grodd

Andres Segovia

Andres SEGOVIA: 1950s American Recordings Vol. 4 [Segovia Vol. 6]

Claudio Arrau

Maria Callas

Berlin State Opera Orchestra / Otto Klemperer

Laurence Jackson / Ashley Wass

Mikko Perkola / Aapo Hakkinen

Martin Hummel / Ensemble Dulce Melos

Tianwa Yang / Markus Hadulla

Roberta Invernizzi / Capella Augustina / Andreas Spering

William Wolfram

Robert Hill

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Pietari Inkinen

Arthur Rubinstein / London Symphony Orchestra

Victoria De Los Angeles / Paris Opera-Comique Orchestra / Pierre Monteux

Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra / Antonino Fogliani

European Johann Strauss Orchestra / Christian Pollack

NBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Arturo Toscanini

Joseph SCHMIDT

Maria Callas / Giuseppe Di Stefano / Tito Gobbi / Herbert von Karajan

Giorgio Koukl

Maria Callas / Giuseppe Di Stefano / Tito Gobbi / Antonio Votto

SWR Radio Orchestra / Prague Chamber Choir / Alberto Zedda

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra / Joann Falletta

Maria Callas / Richard Tucker / Tullio Serafin

Różni Wykonawcy

Aradia Ensemble / Kevin Mallon

Asturias Symphony Orchestra / Maximiano Valdes

John Holloway / Jaap ter Linden / Lars Ulrik Mortensen

Robert Craft

Aurora Duo

Johan Reuter / Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir / Dufay Collective

Immortal Bach Ensemble / Morten Schuldt-Jensen

Antonietta Stella / Giuseppe di Stefano / La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin

Maggini Quartet

Leipziger Kammerorchester / Morten Schuldt-Jensen

Nigel North

Ljuba Kazarnovskaya / Ljuba Orfenova

Patrick Gallois / Kazunori Seo / Sinfonia Finlandia

Voces Cantabiles / Barnaby Smith

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Hilary Davan Wetton

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Speculum Ensemble

Chloe Hanslip / Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra / Kirk Trevor

Ivan Paisov / Natalia Shcherbakova

Eugenio Tobalina

Black Dyke Band / Nicholas Childs

Gustav Belacek / Andrea Melath / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop

Filharmonia Narodowa / Antoni Wit

Wolfgang Rübsam

Victor Villadangos

Graham Anthony Devine

Toronto Chamber Orchestra / Kevin Mallon

Toronto Chamber Orchestra / Kevin Mallon

Victor Sangiorgio

Julia Brown

Weimarer Staatskapelle / Michael Halász

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Mark Fitz-Gerald

Jordi Maso / Douglas Riva

Takako Nishizaki / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / Uwe Grodd

Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Sanderling

John Humphreys / Allan Schiller

Ashley Wass

Lipman Harp Duo

Capella Savaria Baroque Orchestra / Mary Térey-Smith

Albert Nose

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Belohlávek

State Orchestra of Victoria / Carlo Felice Cillario

Symphony Orchestra of la Monnaie / Kazushi Ono

Zemlinsky Quartet

Frédéric Desenclos

Choeur & Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Alain Altinoglu

Choeur de Chambre de Namur / Psallentes / Les Pastoureaux / Millenarium

Editor's info:
""Sometimes the pilgrims who were holding vigil in the church of the Holy Virgin of Montserrat wanted to sing and dance, but they were only allowed to sing respectable and pious songs"". Such is the introduction provided by an anonymous hand on the several pages of music contained within the famous mediaeval manuscript in the Abbey of Montserrat. In this realisation by the Millenarium ensemble, the pilgrims [the Namur Chamber Choir] are greeted by the monks [Psallentes] and the choirboys [Les Pastoureaux] of the Abbey. Their songs blend with the sounds of the various instruments that lead them into the dance.

La Fenice / Jean Tubéry

Editor's info:
The Heritage of Monteverdi collection now turns its attention to the works of two of the greatest instrumentalists of Monteverdi's circle: Biagio Marini and Dario Castello. Both of these men were in his service at the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, the first as a violinist and the second as ‘principal wind player'. Their music was an inheritance from the polyphonic tradition of Giovanni Gabrieli and contributed to the creation of the sonata as well as to the pleasure of instrumental virtuosity. With such musicians, Monteverdi was certain of having the finest specialists in the genre at his disposition; this may well be the reason why he himself composed so little pure instrumental music.

La Fenice / Choeur de Chambre de Namur / Jean Tubéry

Editor's info:
From Nativity to Whitsun, from Annunciation to Assumption, all the high holy days of the liturgical year were, at the Ťbasilica di San Marco della serenissima republica di Venetiať worthy occasions to deploy incomparable ceremonies. Music played the major role and had to be as unique, splendid and glorious as the golden dome under which it was performed. The celebration of the Holy Trinity was given a particularly elevated status, which implied a first class musical performance. Choirs as well as an instrumental ensemble and two organs on both sides of the Basilica's chancel were called to contribute to all this splendour.

Kenneth Weiss

The Monteverdi Choir / The English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner

The Monteverdi Choir / The English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner

Leon Fleisher

Editor's info:
""The pianistic find of the century."" Such were the words of Pierre Monteux when commenting on the young, fifteen-year-old Leon Fleisher.
Born in San Francisco in 1928 of Russian Jewish immigrants, Leon Fleisher showed himself as having an exceptional gift for music that his mother, a singing teacher, quickly identified. Artur Schnabel, from whom he received tuition first on the banks of Lake Como, then later in New York, became his principal teacher for a decade as from the end of the 1930s.
In 1942 Pierre Monteux, then musical director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, gave him the opportunity to make his debut. Fleisher was invited during the following season to perform Brahms' D-minor concerto, still under Monteux. One year later, he played this concerto at Carnegie Hall with none other than the New York Philharmonic [Dec. 4, 1944]. Then came the chance to work with the Chicago Symphony under George Szell in Ravinia in 1946. Among the records that Fleisher particularly appreciated during his educative years, it was Brahms's D minor concerto of Schnabel and Szell [1938] that had the most impact on him. Given that we know Fleisher was a student of the former before recording this piece twenty years later with the latter, we gain a clear perspective on the career path he followed.
In 1952 he was the first American to win the Queen Elizabeth competition. Four years later Leon Fleisher recorded his first album for Columbia Records and chose Schubert's Sonata D.960 that remained to this day one of his preferred works [in fact he recorded it again in 2004].The mythical Brahms and Beethoven recordings with Szell and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra had not yet been recorded, and his choice of repertoire was an ambitious one [the first studio recording of this work by Rudolf Serkin did not appear until 1975. . .], not to mention his next record that was dedicated to Hindemith!
Fleisher's approach to the Romantic repertoire was mature right from this first album given his interpretative options and his sense of drama that nevertheless remained free of pathos. In the Andante sostenuto, each note of the melody resonates as though it were meant to be the last without ever affecting the clarity of line or the precision of the median voices. As for the Allegro vivace con delicatezza, it is played with an irony that verges on mockery whilst consistently maintaining rhythmical rigour, a rich palette and inventiveness.
Finally, and better that most, Fleisher knew how to perform a simple section with simplicity whilst maintaining incredible pre-sence. Even at moments that appear trifling, we are surprised with a feeling of renewed pleasure; the falsely superficial Ländler D.790 intelligently complete the difficult choice of repertoire that this 28 year-old musician had to make.
Official biographies overflow with anatomical detail attemp-ting to explain why it was Fleisher lost the use of his right hand in 1965. Gradually returning to the recording studio via the exploration of a left-hand repertoire, let us note how the recording of Brahms' transcription of Bach's D-minor Chaconne [BWV 1004] revealed to what extent his musical qualities nevertheless remained intact. Fleisher went on to become a legendary teacher perhaps also for the reason that he also found himself to be an American artist of his time, taught by one of the most prestigious heirs of the Austro-German tradition.

New York Philharmonic / Bruno Walter

Editor's info:
Celebrated as an outstanding conductor in an era of great conducting, Bruno Walter favoured the Austro-German repertoire and particularly Beethoven.
United Archives delivers the best possible remastering and proudly presents the first complete set featuring the 1953 recording of the ""Ode an die Freude"" [Fourth movement of the Ninth Symphony] : in 1953, Bruno Walter decided to record this movement again, because he was not satisfied with the first recording from 1949. So, this is the complete cycle approved by Bruno Walter. The sixth CD [bonus] features early recordings of the Third and the Fifth Symphonies with the same orchestra.

Enrico Onofri / Imaginarium

Editor's info:
Enrico Onofri wants to illustrate the emancipation of violin's role from accompaniement to soloist. During the XVIIe, it goes through the appropriation of the voice language into the technic and virtuosity of the violin.

""In the early seventeenth century, then, the violin began to become independent of the vocal repertoire, thanks to the publication of pieces expressly written for the instrument by a number of virtuosos. However, throughout the first half of the century their works were to remain closely linked to the domain of vocal music, despite attempts to create a specific instrumental language - to such an extent that the writing in certain sonatas is very often similar to that of vocal music. This is why, alongside the various violin sonatas presented here, we have chosen to include instrumental performances of the Monteverdi madrigals Mentre vaga Angioletta and Armato il cor, Gesualdo's madrigal Asciugate i begli occhi, and Frescobaldi's arietta Se l'aura spira, so that the listener may realise the stylistic proximity of the two genres. In its exploration of the thin line that separates voice and instrument, this recording thus ranges from the sacred vocal environment of the sonatas of Giovanni Paolo Cima to the madrigal Ancor che col partire with diminutions by Richardo Rognoni, from the theatrical points of reference of the Pandolfi sonata to the hyperbolic cantabilita of those by Fontana and Castello. "" Enrico Onofri

Laberintos ingeniosos / Xavier Diaz-Latorre

Editor's info:
Zig-Zag Territoires presents three Spanish projects with Xavier Díaz-Latorre and his ensemble Laberintos Ingeniosos. The ‘Instruction of music for the Spanish guitar' of Gaspar Sanz [ZZT061002] explores the world of folk and aristocratic dances of the seventeenth century. A recording of tonos humanos by José Marín and guitar pieces by Francisco Guerau [seventeenth century] will complete this itriptych in 2009. In 2008 we release a programme of Seguidillas Boleras by Fernando Sor.

Thanks to the editions of Brian Jeffery published in 1976, guitarists have been able to discover and re-evaluate the quality of these Seguidillas for guitar and voice set to music by the brilliant guitarist Fernando Sor, which recreate the atmosphere of a society soiree in Barcelona, London or Paris in the early nineteenth century.

The virtuoso guitar of Fernando Sor, alone or accompanying spicy poems [probably written by the composer himself], brought the exoticism of Spanish folk tunes and dances into the salons of Europe. A veritable vogue for Spanishry was to develop, notably a fascination for the bolero.