Patrick Quattlebaum

It's fascinating to hear this earlier treatment of the story so famously set by Massenet and Puccini; Patrick Fournillier conducts a very engaging performance. Picture and sound are good, as they are for all Disque Dom releases.

Offenbach's masterpiece, based on three stories by the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, is both a three-act opera and a trilogy of taut, individual dramas, all rolled into one.This Geneva production from 2002 features baritone Marc Laho in the tour-de-force triple villain roles, with three different standout sopranos as the tales' three heroines. French producer Olivier Py caused an uproar among Geneva operagoers with a staging of Tales of Hoffmann that features full-frontal male and female nudity and simulated on-stage lesbian and heterosexual sex.Audiences were left "gasping, giggling or reduced to stunned silence" by the production, which interprets the popular opera as an indictment of capitalist society. Py adds several simulated sex acts, including one between the poet Hoffman and the life-sized doll Olympia as she sings her main aria. Soprano Patricia Petitbon is a major tour de force as she sings Olympia wearing only a transparent body stocking in a Venetian bordello.

Former Yes and Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz mixes numerous Latin and rock rhythms together via his lively synth work, resulting in a full-flavored, energetic album. Not typical sounding to say the least, there are hints of funk and marimba, Caribbean and South American styles, and even flamenco, all guided by Moraz's whirlwind keyboard playing. Inspired by the Brazilian ballet, each song dances with piquancy and flow, never repeating the same rhythms or sounds while at the same time introducing a wide variety of percussion instruments. Andy Newmark's drums add dimension to the fiery patterns conjured up on "Dancing Now" and "Incantations," raising the musical temperature of both tracks…

Konstantin Vassiliev’s music synthesises several different styles including jazz, Russian folk music and contemporary Western traditions. This album contains music written over a 22-year period, with three works composed specifically for guitar soloist Yuri Liberzon. The Hommage à Tom Jobin was inspired by one of the creators of the bossa nova style, while the melancholic and lyrical contrasts of Rose in the Snow reveal Vassiliev’s gift for storytelling. Arias, romantic miniatures, variations and multi-character episodes further reveal Vassiliev to be a vibrant and exciting composer of wide-ranging gifts.

Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Monologues" initiate a dialog between composers and works full of creative power and musical joy. Inspired by this, the piano duo Neeb developed their debut program, which - expanded by the sonic possibilities of the percussion - conjures up the world of the "spontaneous, associative, dreamlike and even trance-like" (B. A. Z.).

Fizzing with operatic brio, Rossini's ever-popular setting of Cinderella tells the much-loved tale through spectacular arias and irresistible ensembles. Superstar tenor Juan Diego Flórez in his signature role as the Prince, and American star Joyce DiDonato in the title role, lead an outstanding international cast in Joan Font's witty and dazzlingly colourful production - filmed 'live' at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

"Love Songs" for Solo Piano is a collection of new settings of beloved works by Scotland’s world-famous National Baird, composed, arranged and performed on piano by acclaimed composer, Patrick Doyle.

Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, completed about the same time as the Eroica Symphony, has suddenly become popular. One reason for its previous lack of popularity was the fact that three soloists cost three times as much as one normally expensive pianist, violinist or cellist. Another reason is that the work seeks to be a popular success, hence the Rondo alla Polacca with which it concludes. The piano part was intended for Beethoven’s patron and pupil, the Archduke Rudolph von Habsburg, and hence is less technically demanding than the composer’s usual pianistic writing, destined for himself. The standard CD (previously LP) of the work was a spectacular performance and recording made by EMI many years ago with David Oistrakh, Rostropovich and Richter with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan. It was opulently played with the BPO’s luscious sound, but has little to do with what Beethoven would have heard in 1804. Another choice was the version of Stern, Rose and Serkin (Sony), less lush and not so high-powered as Karajan’s.