King Stephen

Ferenc Erkel was the father of Hungarian grand opera, as well as an accomplished conductor and pianist. The last of his nine completed operas, István király, is a tale of passionate emotions, love, jealousy, power struggles and murder in which King Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state and its first Christian ruler, is portrayed as a saint amidst the clash of pagan and Christian worlds. After 125 years of ruinous cuts and alterations to the music and the libretto, this recording is the first to restore the opera to the resoundingly successful form conceived by its composer.

This well-known text, the standard account of the subject, is essential reading for students and scholars of the Norman period from undergraduate level upwards, and was hailed on first publication as: " a landmark in twelfth-century studies.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, groups that played period instruments started to appear. They were strongly associated with particular conductors, usually the musician who formed each ensemble, and generally were not full-time organizations. Typically, they gathered for a limited number of concerts and recordings a year, and their membership was variable. Half the people playing on one day's studio session as the London Classical Players might have been on stage the week before as part of the Academy of Ancient Music. In 1986, a group of the best of these freelance players sought increased security and the artistic benefits of performing regularly as a permanent orchestra, and formed the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As most London orchestras, they organized themselves into a self-governing co-operative owned by the musicians. As a matter of policy, they decided against appointing anyone as its music director or permanent conductor. This meant they had to shine from the outset to attract the best interpreters to lead their performances.

Choir of King’s College, Cambridge L'un des plus anciens et célèbre choeurs d'université au monde, le Choeur du King's College de Cambridge est fondé en 1441 sur ordre du roi Henri VI.