Par un Matin

The Ensemble Esquisses is the result of a shared desire to explore the repertoire for equal voices, with the aim of discovering (or rediscovering) composers (men and women) and little-known works of the modern and contemporary periods.

Renowned for their unearthly vocal blend and virtuosic ensemble singing, the four women of Anonymous 4 combine historical scholarship with contemporary performance intuition to create their magical sound. On their 1994 album Love’s Illusion, the extraordinary quartet brought 13th century motets of courtly love from the Montpellier Codex to the top of the classical charts – spending 29 weeks on the Billboard Top 200. Twenty years later, they return to the source – this time exploring songs with texts that juxtapose desire for the earthly lady Marion and adoration of the heavenly Virgin Mary.

For this new recording, taking the form of an initiatory journey, Marianne Piketty and Le Concert Idéal explore the subject of night-time and the fascination it holds for composers. From the capricious and exuberant nights of Antonio Vivaldi to the melancholy of Lili Boulanger’s D’un soir triste and the greater optimism of its partner piece, D’un matin de printemps, via the poetic and sensuous dreams of Eugène Ysaÿe, the musicians of Le Concert Idéal travel to different places and different periods in time, looking at the night sky, and reaching the present day with the concerto Bajo la estrella, commissioned from the composer Alex Nante and recorded here for the first time.

The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder follow their previous highly acclaimed Debussy albums, with a stunning orchestral collection including a world premiere recording. Album includes the hugely popular Prélude a L’après-midi d’un faune, alongside the orchestral tour de force Images, a work which fully displays the composer’s mastery, and the world premiere recording of Colin Matthew’s orchestration of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut, from the 2nd Book of Images for piano.

In 2012 the music world celebrates the 150th anniversary of Debussy's birth. To mark the occasion, Sony Classical is releasing a new recording of some of the composer's best-known orchestral masterpieces with the Orchestre National de France under the baton of its director of music, Daniele Gatti.

Recorded live in concert at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2023, this album sees the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder join forces with Lyon Opera Chorus, Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône, the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, and an incredible cast of soloists to bring to life Meyerbeer’s visionary historical drama, Le prophète.

Recorded live in concert at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2023, this album sees the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sir Mark Elder join forces with Lyon Opera Chorus, Maîtrise des Bouches-du-Rhône, the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, and an incredible cast of soloists to bring to life Meyerbeer’s visionary historical drama, Le prophète.

Considered as one of the most inspired pianists of his generation, Severin von Eckardstein explores three major cycles of French music from the 1900s, associating Claude Debussy’s two revolutionary books Images (1904-1907) and Gabriel Dupont’s La Maison dans les dunes (1907-1909) as part of this debut album under the Artalinna label: this suite of 10 pieces with memorable atmospheres filled with luminous colours and heady melodies will stand out for many as a musical revelation!

Nolwenn Bargin, a French-Swiss flutist of Breton origin, shows an early interest in the flute.

Immense interpreter of the work of Robert Schumann, the German pianist Severin von Eckardstein offers here an intense and narrative version as seldom of one of the most complex cycles of the XIXth century, the Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6.