Khalab & M'berra Ensemble M'berra

SOMM Recordings is delighted to announce the release of Eclogue. British Chamber Music, a collection of British chamber music from the 19th to the 21st centuries including nine first recordings featuring the label debut of the Chamber Ensemble of London in their 25th anniversary year with director Peter Fisher.

Ernest Bloch’s Suite Hébraïque was the starting point for this programme: ‘This music came as a revelation to us. Its language is overwhelming and tells of the ravages of the twentieth century. The other composers in this programme (Ravel, Bloch, Bruch, Prokofiev, Shostakovich) each in their own way experienced the full force of this tormented century and drew inspiration from the most timeless and universal aspects of folk and sacred repertories, the better to respond to the brutality of the age’, say violist Arnaud Thorette and pianist Johan Farjot, who devised this programme. Johan Farjot has also arranged John Williams’s famous Schindler’s List theme for viola and cello. An intense and poignant experience, also featuring other superb artists: Antoine Pierlot (cello), Pierre Génisson (clarinet), Karine Deshayes (mezzo-soprano), and Sarah and Deborah Nemtanu (violin).

Daniel Hope's latest album, "Irish Roots" embodies his deep connection to Ireland, inherited from his paternal great-grandfather who left Waterford for South Africa in the 1890s. Although never residing in Ireland, Hope's fascination with its culture led to the creation of the documentary "Celtic Dreams: Daniel Hope’s Hidden Irish History." Supported by musicologist Olivier Fourés and experiences with award-winning Irish band Lúnasa, Hope explores the intersection of folk and classical music. "Irish Roots" reflects this journey, featuring compositions by Ina Boyle and Turlough O’Carolan alongside classics like "Danny Boy" and Vivaldi's L’estro armonico concertos. Daniel Hope is joined on his new album by a stellar line-up of guest artists, including Lúnasa, harpist Siobhán Armstrong, flautists Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway, singer Rea Garvey, multi-instrumentalist and folk musician Ross Daly, fellow violinist Simos Papanas, and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Geiss.

The concept that led to The Oberlin Concertos was initially hatched in a conversation between pianist and educator Xak Bjerken and a former student, Oberlin Conservatory composition professor Jesse Jones. It was Jones who suggested writing a chamber concerto to be premiered by his friend and mentor, and it was Bjerken-a former longtime member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet and a veteran soloist with the L.A. Philharmonic and other ensembles-who was immediately hooked. Their plan gave rise to another commission-for the chair of Oberlin's Composition Department, Grammy Award-winner Stephen Hartke-and then another, for fellow composition faculty member Elizabeth Ogonek. The resulting works were recorded in three sessions over a two-year span, with Bjerken joining forces with Oberlin's Contemporary Music Ensemble and conductor Timothy Weiss in the conservatory's Clonick Hall studio, in addition to presenting the world- premiere performance of each piece on campus.

André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s three-act opera Guillaume Tell was first performed in 1791 at the Salle Favart of the Comédie-Italienne in Paris. The opera deals with the Swiss fight for freedom in the 14th century against the domination of the Habsburgs. The story of Wilhelm Tell is well-known.

In 1987 the Renner Ensemble Regensburg was formed under Bernd Englbrecht, which took its name from the Regensburg cathedral organist and composer Josef Renner jun. (1868 -1934) named. Almost all members of the ensemble received their musical training from the Regensburger Domspatzen.

The Ensemble intercontemporain and its new music director Pierre Bleuse pay homage to György Ligeti, whose birth centenary we celebrated in 2023: ‘Ligeti is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and certainly one of those who first made a powerful aesthetic impact on me personally!… This recording, my very first with the Ensemble intercontemporain, which combines concertos and chamber music, highlights the EIC’s qualities as soloists and chamber musicians. And I’m not forgetting that Ligeti is an integral part of the repertoire of the Ensemble, which has performed his works extensively…

2020 sees Hypnotic Brass Ensemble celebrating twenty years together not only as a band, but a Band of Brothers and they are marking this anniversary with the launch of their sixth studio album Bad Boys of Jazz, which sees them seamlessly weave funk, dub, hip-hop and soul into their own irrepressible take on jazz. They draw deep from the well of tradition while taking the pulse of the most cutting-edge and street-savvy sounds.