Swimming Philippe Rombi

Philippe Rogier was a Fleming who was brought to Spain in 1572, when he was about 11, to sing in the chapel choir of King Philip II. He died young, at age 35, and many of his works were lost in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. For these reasons his work remained obscure in the general 20th century rediscovery of Renaissance music, but more than 200 of his works survived, some of them in manuscripts from as far away as Mexico. The British group Magnificat and conductor Philip Cave undertake an admirable effort to explore the music of this composer, whose style included elements of both Venetian polychoral music and classic Franco-Flemish polyphony.

All Helmchen’s recordings for the PentaTone label have been award winners. The romantic and virtuoso piano concertos by Mendelssohn never became as popular as his violin concertos but are of just as high a calibre. Helmchen regularly works with Philippe Herreweghe and this collaboration has resulted in a very special album.

Baba Sissoko and Jean Philippe Rykiel present a national preview of a new recording entitled "Paris-Bamako Jazz". Baba Sissoko, Ngoni master, is a Griot percussionist and singer originally from Bamako (Mali), one of the greatest exponents of ethnic music and jazz in the world. Together with him, Jean Philippe Rykiel, French pianist and composer, former collaborator of Jon Hassel and Leonard Cohen, very close to African musicians of the caliber of Salif Keita, Papa Wemba and Youssou N'Dour. A deep-rooted and deep artistic connection was established between the two artists on the occasion of a first collaboration in the recording studio, a natural empathy which was then translated into a second recording work. The music of "Paris-Bamako Jazz" represents a fusion of rhythmic and harmonic interweaving of great impact.

Philippe Jaroussky brings his musical and dramatic powers to a programme of music from Italian oratorios of the baroque era, including five arias in world premiere recordings. La vanità del mondo, takes it's name from an oratorio by Pietro Torri and among the other composers are Händel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Hasse, Fago and Caldara. "I think composers of this period often give of their best when setting the great stories of the Old Testament," says Jaroussky. "And if oratorio stories are more static than opera, they allow for deeper reflection on the place of mankind in the universe. I think that resonates with particular intensity in 2020, a year of pandemic."

Impressed by the Handel works that he heard in London, Haydn felt the need to compose oratorios. First came Die Schöpfung (‘The Creation’), which met with resounding success; then Baron Gottfried van Swieten proposed to Haydn an arrangement of James Thomson’s poem ‘The Seasons’. Initially, Haydn was little attracted by the text, which deviates from the classic oratorio based on a religious text, but subsequently let himself be convinced. The result, for three soloists, chorus and orchestra, is a vast pictorial fresco of Nature that describes landscapes and the feelings that they arouse. For the first time, Philippe Herreweghe gives us his own vision of an oratorium by Haydn.

The first joint album from countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and guitarist Thibaut Garcia, À sa guitare takes it's name from a song by the 20th century French composer Francis Poulenc. But it's frame of reference is extraordinarily wide - both culturally and stylistically. It's 22 tracks range across 400 years and music by composers and songwriters from France, Britain, Austria, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and the USA.

The star of this consistently first-rate disc of music by Korngold is violinist Philippe Quint, whose focused tone, incisive intonation, athletic technique, and expressive phrasing ideally suit the composer's supremely Romantic Violin Concerto. This strong-willed account is deeply emotional and immensely appealing; Quint's opening Moderato is noble, his central Andante amorous, and his concluding Allegro assai vivace exuberant. Carlos Miguel Prieto leads the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in a dynamic reading that sounds less like an accompaniment and more like a partnership of equals. In the purely orchestral Overture to a Drama and Concert Suite from Much Ado About Nothing, Prieto and the Mexican orchestra turn in a pair of tremendous performances.

Karl Fasch, the son of the famous Kapellmeister of the court of Zerbst, Johann Friedrich Fasch, was harpsichordist at the Prussian court from 1756 until his death. Underemployed by Friedrich II and underestimated by musicologists, he has been forgotten for a long time. Philippe Grisvard is preparing to rectify this injustice with a program consisting of world-premiere recordings that will make it possible to discover an original and visionary composer. The Arts Desk said of Grisvard's previous release on Audax of Handel's keyboard works: 'And what Grisvard does so well is recreate what a contemporary observer described as Handel's uncommon brilliance and command of finger that amazing force and energy.

In their third disc for Hyperion, the acclaimed vocal ensemble Cinquecento continue their exploration of the rich repertoire engendered in the Habsburg court. The prolific composer De Monte, Kapellmeister to the Emperor Maximilian II, wrote over a thousand madrigals as well as hundreds of sacred works, and the expressive aspects of the madrigal infuse his sacred music delightfully. His Missa Ultimi miei sospiri contains the constant interplay between groups of voices and dramatic word-setting which are features of the madrigal genre. The motets recorded here cover many Biblical and liturgical subjects and demonstrate the wide range of techniques and styles used by the composer.

French composer, keyboardist and guitarist Philippe Grancher is a musician those familiar with the French music scene most likely will connect with blues, as he's been a rather succesful purveyor of that kind of music for the last couple of decades. But this veteran musician, born in 1956, first honed his skills on a rather different kind of music. In his late teens Grancher became fascinated with the, at the time, state of the art synthesizers. And his experiments with these instruments ultimately lead to the recording and release of a full length album, 3000 Miles Away. The album is an experimental affair fusing classical piano, synthesizer and guitar into sparse progressive rock compositions.