L M Studio

Long awaited second ambient album from Martin Kennedy's All India Radio and pianist Josh Roydhouse. R E A L M exists somewhere in between the melodic minimalism of Brian Eno and Harold Budd and the grainy electronics of Boards Of Canada.

Luminosity, clarity and depth of colour characterise the playing of Éric Heidsieck, born in Reims in 1936. A student of French masters Marcel Ciampi and Alfred Cortot, he went to Wilhelm Kempff to further his exploration of Beethoven. Heidsieck's career, encompassing more than 2000 concerts around the world and duo partnerships with his pianist wife Tania and cellist Paul Tortelier, has brought him particular fame in Japan. His distinguished interpretations of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas, recorded in the years around 1970, are complemented here by a previously unreleased 1958 version of the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata.

György Vashegyi and his Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir offer up a recording of Boismortier’s Les Voyages de l’Amour of which this 1736 opéra-ballet has been in sore need, a score long and unjustly neglected. For this latest dramatic extravaganza on Glossa, Chantal Santon-Jeffery takes on the title role of lovesick Cupid, and the soprano is joined by two further widely experienced stars of the French Baroque opera revival in Katherine Watson (as the god of love’s sidekick and factotum Zéphire) and Judith van Wanroij as the shepherdess Daphné, smartly resistant to the god’s charms (until the end of the fourth act).

It's pretty simple-this boxed set contains EVERYTHING La Divina recorded in the studio, including newly-licensed and newly-remastered material! That's the first 69 CDs; the 70th CD is a CD-ROM containing the tracklists and photos. And the set comes inside a hardcover slipcase containing a color booklet packed with even more photos of this most photogenic of opera singers. As for the contents, well, again, it's EVERYTHING she did in the studio.