Circle+ii+circle

Circle II Circle features the voice of Atlantic Records recording artists Savatage from 1992-2000, Zak Stevens. CIIC was formed in 2002 and has five world-wide releases to it's credit over the last eight years; "Watching in Silence" (2003), "Middle of Nowhere (2005), "Burden of Truth" (2006), "Delusions of Grandeur" (2008), "Consequence of Power" (2010), plus four additional EP releases…

What makes a piece of music difficult? This album introduces a pair of riveting, technically ambitious, historically important, and never-before-recorded polyphonic masses of the fifteenth century, performed by an ensemble that has developed a new approach designed to honor the music’s variety and unflagging intensity. Both works stand out for their notational complexity. They are also exceptional for the skill they demand of the performers: we find hair-raising rhythms, intricate counterpoint, and long melodic phrases. Rather than mitigate these challenges with a large ensemble and a generous acoustic, this recording enhances them: the performances are one-on-a-part, featuring energetic tempi, close miking, and minimal reverberation. This approach is unforgiving—but together with bright vowels and a flexible vocal technique, it has the benefit of allowing the music to come across with uncommon directness and clarity.

The Power/Thrash Metal band Squealer, founded in the 80s, are back with their tenth studio album "Insanity". "Isanity" offers everything a metal fan expects. Power ballads like "Black Rain" go hand in hand with thrash metal anthems like the opener "Into Flames", "Hunter Of Myself" and "My Journey" or powerful metal songs like "Bad Tasting Sin" or "Insanity". Influences from trash/speed and power metal are incorporated. Over the years, squealers have managed to keep their roots, but still create their own, top-of-the-art sound. The guest musicians are singers Bernhard Weiss (Axxis) and Zak Stevens (Circle II Circle, Savatage, TSO) and Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex Helloween).

This CD is part of a series “Robert Schumann and his family and friends” which is dedicated to representing a cross section of works by Schumann and his family. Woldemar Bargiel was Clara’s halfbrother. The works include Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for violin and piano Op.22 and Joachim’s Romance for violin and piano in C major. The performances are on period instruments.

SOMM Recordings is pleased to announce the second volume in the London Bridge Trio’s revealing exploration, recorded live, of the influential musical fraternity known as The Leipzig Circle. Delving deeper into the coterie that coalesced around the husband-and-wife composers Robert and Clara Schumann as Leipzig flourished into becoming the centre of European music making in the 1840s.