Leopold Stokowski Symphony of The Air Rhapsodies (2005) {hybrid Sacdiso & Hires Flac}

The Scarlatti family is one of many musical dynasties in music history. Only two of its number are still well-known today: Alessandro and his son Domenico. Alessandro was born in Palermo as the second son of Pietro Scarlata - the family name in its original form - who was active as a tenor. During his career Alessandro lived and worked in several cities: Rome, Naples and Venice. At a young age he was already a famous and much sought-after composer. His younger brother Francesco – almost forgotten today - was less lucky. He was appointed as violinist at the royal court in Naples in 1684, but returned to Palermo in 1691, and stayed there for about 24 years. He tried to find appointments at the courts of Vienna and Naples, but failed. In 1719 he travelled to London, where he participated in public concerts.

The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century continues true to its original guiding spirit, with a new recording of the six Hamburg Symphonies, Wq 182 by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. This second son of JS Bach, Carl Philipp has sometimes had a rough ride with posterity (and with some of his contemporaries too). Although overshadowed later by Haydn and Mozart - albeit admired by the pair - and overshadowed in his lifetime by Handel, he remains a crucial link between the Baroque and the Classical, particularly for the ultra-sensitive style, his Empfindsamkeit.

Georg Deuter is a German New Age instrumentalist and recording artist known for his meditative style that blends Eastern and Western musical styles. This CD has been composed with the idea to reflect the moods of the night, its silence, its soft songs, when the human mind has gone to sleep to dream. East of the Full Moon evokes images of the night sky, the moon appearing behind clouds, the world losing its stark colors, and trees becoming just shadows against the moon. The stars expand our awareness to a vast infinity and an immense silence, which is the only music there is. All music is an effort to bring this silence into existence, where the music becomes a reflection of something bigger.