Pierre Rochcongar

The years have seen Pierre Boulez record for CBS, Erato, EMI, and Philips, among other labels, but his most consistent and critically praised work has appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, where he has conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and his own Ensemble InterContemporain in many successful performances. These ensembles are heard on this trimline, six-CD box set of Igor Stravinsky's major works, which brings together Boulez's recordings of L'oiseau de feu, Petrushka, Le Sacre du printemps, L'histoire du Soldat, the symphonies, concertos, and other works, recorded between 1980 and 1996. As one of the leading champions of modernism, first as a composer and essayist, then as a prominent conductor, Boulez is regarded as an authority on Stravinsky's oeuvre, and it is difficult to imagine many conductors who have a better understanding of the technical and stylistic issues that affect performances. Boulez is also famous for his precision and meticulousness, which make the details stand out clearly in the rhythmically complex and texturally dense orchestral scores of the ballets, and yet seem so delicate and exact in the concertos and pieces for smaller ensembles.

"Voyage", to Pierre Vassiliu, was not only the title of an album of his, but also a philosophy of life. Travels were not for vacation or rest. They were synonyms of meetings, new music and sometimes, simply, life. These experiences around the world nourished his work, and his career allowed him to set foot on every continent. But his most beautiful travels took place in recording studios.

Downwind (1979). Eagerly awaited re-press for this classic album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong featuring Mike Oldfield, Steve Winwood & Mick Taylor. Booklet with restored artwork, photos & liner notes. By the late 1970s Percussionist Pierre Moerlen had taken over the leadership of Gong and had steered the band away from Psychedelic Space Rock and took the band into a Jazz Rock direction, one in which the band excelled. After recording several albums with Virgin, the band now featured Hansford Rowe on bass, Ross Record on guitar, Benoit Moerlen on vibes and Francois Causse on percussion. Moerlen signed with Arista Records in 1978 and recorded this excellent album partially in Mike Oldfield’s studio. Oldfield guested on the superb lengthy title track with fellow guest Steve Winwood, whilst Mick Taylor appeared on the track "What You Know"…

Robert Schumann and Gabriel Fauré - both composers are great masters of the small form, the art of saying a lot with few notes. And both find their deepest and most touching statements in the intimate form of chamber music, which Schumann called "the higher potency of poetry" in his diary. All arrangements were worked out jointly by Martin Löhr and Marie-Pierre Langlamet.

Simon Zaoui, Pierre Fouchenneret and Raphael Merlin here resume, and complete, their exploration of the chamber works of Gabriel Fauré:, begun in 2018 with the first volume of Horizons. Far from the prevailing trends of the early 20th century, Fauré's music for piano and strings testifies to the singularity of his language, constantly moving between past and future. Joined by violist Marie Chilemme for the two piano quartets, and by members of the Strada Quartet for the string quartet and quintets, the three friends present a carefully considered version of these masterpieces, recorded here for the first time using the material of the new Barenreiter edition.

After the departure of founder Daevid Allen the group Gong went through a rapid series of personnel changes with drummer/percussionist Pierre Moerlen becoming the de facto leader. The music evolved away from the psychedelic sound of the Allen-led era into jazz/rock fusion. By the time Expresso II (1978) was recorded Moerlen had assembled an almost entirely different group with a very different sound. With the completion of Gong's contract with Virgin Records the group name was changed to Pierre Moerlen's Gong to differentiate it from the other Gong offshoots and the original band.

Exploring 20th-century repertoire – both acknowledged masterpieces and new discoveries – this 14-CD anthology reflects the diverse aesthetic strands of Pierre Boulez’s programming over the course of his ground-breaking and influential career. These Erato recordings, made between 1966 and 1992, feature composers otherwise absent from Boulez’s discography – Xenakis, Donatoni, Grisey, Dufourt, Ferneyhough, Harvey and Höller – and the first CD release of the interpretation of Stravinsky’s incantatory Les Soucoupes in the version for female voices and four horns.

The astonishing technical variety and wide emotional range contained in Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas make each and every encounter a rewarding adventure in which the listener is seldom left untouched. This is Pierre Hantaï’s third solo disc of Scarlatti’s sonatas though only the second in his current series for the Mirare label. It contains several pieces less frequently performed than others and with which many readers may find themselves unfamiliar. The first item, in fact, is one of only seven sonatas of Scarlatti’s that is a straightforward fugue. It is an uncharacteristically didactic piece, even a shade austere compared to the rest of Hantaï’s recital which contains a kaleidoscope of colourful images. What Hantaï seems to be emphasising in his choice is that elusive, somewhat abstracted improvisatory quality present in so many of the pieces and of which the Sonata in E major K 215 provides a well-sustained example. Generally speaking, Hantaï follows Ralph Kirkpatrick’s suggestion that Scarlatti probably intended to group his sonatas into pairs or occasionally threes according to key.