Sacd 2024

Igor Stravinsky is not a composer who is usually associated with symphonic form. Five of his compositions bear that name, however, even though they have little in common. The first major work Stravinsky composed entirely in the United States, the Symphony in Three Movements seems to pick up where the Rite of Spring left off with its rhythmic ostinatos and shock effects. It can be interpreted as the composer’s response to the Second World War, which was ravaging Europe at the time of its composition, and its striking and triumphant conclusion appears to echo of what the composer must have felt. The Symphonies of Wind Instruments, a short, compact work, was a tribute to Stravinsky’s friend and colleague Claude Debussy.

A new, live album and concert film of Mr.Big's "The BIG Finish" farewell tour, where the band played their million-selling "Lean Into It" album in its entirety plus additional Mr.Big classics. Filmed in 4K at the Budokan, Japan on the 26th July, 2023. This historic performance will be available on multiple high-quality formats- 180g Black Vinyl 3LP, 180g Mint Colour Vinyl 3LP, Hybrid Stereo Multi-Channel 2x SACD's, 2x MQA-CD's, 2x MQA-CD's + Blu-Ray, 4K Ultra HD Bluray (featuring Behind The Scenes and Interview footage) and 2x Cassette. These formats all come with a booklet/insert that includes previously unreleased photos from their Budokan performance and a special free gift. This release is a must-have memento for Mr.Big fans as a fond reminder of "The BIG Finish" tour.

The three works gathered here date from Sergei Prokofiev's last years. Despite his declining health as well as the oppressive political climate, the composer could count on the support of great musicians, in particular the cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch. The relationship contributed to the writing of works for cello. The first was the Symphony-Concerto, an improved reworking of a much earlier cello concerto.

Einojuhani Rautavaara and Kalevi Aho, teacher and pupil, are both key figures in the Finnish music of their respective generations. Rautavaara's musical language evolved from neoclassicism through dodecaphony and the stylistic freedom of the 1960s before he eventually allowed himself to choose his expressive idiom according to the individual requirements of his works. Towards the end of his career, his works took on a very consistent, soft-toned character. For his part, Aho also began his career using a freely applied neoclassical style before gradually progressing to a more varied, at times modernist expressive and incisive approach. The works featured on this disc offer a glimpse into the choral output of these two composers who, in addition to demonstrating their stylistic versatility, also reveal their literary curiosity.

12 years after his album entitled ‘Italian Virtuosi of the Chitarrone’ (BIS-1899), Jakob Lindberg returns to his magnificent theorbo, specially built for him by the luthier Michael Lowe, based on an instrument preserved in the Musée de la Musique in Paris. One of the most spectacular instruments of the early baroque owing to its length and great number of strings, the theorbo was originally designed to accompany the voice, but is also ideally suited to solo performance. For this disc, Lindberg has chosen pieces by Robert de Visée, one of the great French masters of the lute, theorbo and guitar repertoire and a favourite of Louis XIV. The recording features dances as well as character pieces, including a moving ‘Plainte’ in memory of his two deceased daughters.

Although by no means Brahms’s very first composition, the Sonata in C major bears the number ‘Op.1’ and is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant débuts in musical history. No wonder no less than Robert Schumann saw Brahms as the saviour of German music. To accompany what is in every respect a dazzling work, another masterpiece was needed, and what better than Franz Schubert’s famous ‘Wanderer Fantasy’, the most virtuosic composition in his entire output.

After Alec Frank-Gemmill's critically acclaimed recordings of nineteenth-century works for horn and piano (BIS-2228), chamber music by Brahms (BIS-2478) and pre-Mozart horn concertos (BIS-2315), a version of Mozart's famous horn concertos from him has been eagerly awaited. As on his disc of concertante works, he is accompanied here by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by an expert in 18th-century style, Nicholas McGegan.