Swimming Philippe Rombi

Scarlatti's Sonatas are baroque gems, full of sparkling melodies and Spanish swing. Accordionist Philippe Thuriot improvises these enchanting sonatas, breathing new life into them. After explorations of the oeuvre of Bach and Couperin, Thuriot now devotes an entire programme to the keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti. Although the latter called his sonatas Essercizi per gravicembalo (l'studies for harpsichord'), they are so much more than finger exercises.

A 2017 remaster of Rock St. Trop, the fascinating 1969 collaboration between The Pretty Things and Philippe Debarge (an eccentric wealthy playboy from France).
In late August 1969, Phil May and Wally Waller were flown to St. Tropez by Philippe Debarge and taken to the DeBarge family estate - a magnet for the rich and famous of the era, from politicians to film and rock stars. DeBarge had serious money and wanted to make a serious album, with him as front man. Philippe had done his research and knew exactly who he wanted to make that album with The Pretty Things…

This 100% Graubünden production presents the rich musical life of this region with Philippe Bach at the head of the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden, for a first collaboration with Claves.

While any of Liszt's superb transcriptions of Beethoven's first eight symphonies is a challenge for the pianist, the two-piano arrangement of the Ninth is at once spellbinding and a formidable test. This remarkable synthesis of soloists, chorus and orchestra presents a powerful structure that condenses all the fearsome difficulties of ensemble playing for the two pianists. This version by Philippe Cassard and Cédric Pescia displays extraordinary nobility, truth and grandeur, with the epic sweep ideally suited to the "Ode to Joy".

The Magnificat was the very first work Bach composed after his appointment as Cantor of St. Thomas's School in Leipzig in 1723. We can imagine the care he lavished on the work that was to establish him in this new function. It was revised some years later: the key was changed to D major and the forces were considerably enlarged. This is the version in which one of Bach's most famous choral works has come down to us.

Philippe Besombes is an underground but now cult french artist from the 70's avant garde-prog scene. After a student doctoral degree to become a chemist he turned to music and was partly formed by Stockhusen and Xenakis. He rapidly showed an interest to electronic synth dispositifs (AKS, MiniMoog, Polyphonic ensemble Korg…). In 1976 Philippe Besombes had opened his own recording studio with Jean-Louis Rizet. He produced three major albums under his name. He recorded his most notorious effort in 1975 with Jean Louis Rizet. The duo published the enigmatic and complex "Pôle" for synthesisers orchestration and shimmering, spacious, nebulous electronic textures. The same year Besombes recorded the soundtrack of the movie "Libra". The music delivers an hybridation of electroacoustic experimentations, bizarre ambient soundscapes and jazzy-folkish ingredients. In 1976 "Ceci est Cela" is a collection of experimental electronic pieces more in the genre of Pierre Henry and Stokhausen).

In this music, all is dialogue, mingled avowals and passions, on the threshold of the opera house. All Mozart’s forms are nurtured by the same source, that of vocal melody. “I like an aria to be as precisely tailored to a singer as a well-cut suit,” he declared when he composed an aria. And what an aria this one is. The keyboard enters into dialogue with the soloist.

Trio Viret, retour vers le futur Miracle de l’improvisation collective, ivresses des métamorphoses, le trio de Jean- Philippe Viret vient de fêter ses 20 ans et s’invente de nouveaux possibles. A l’image du trio de Bill Evans qui, au début des années 1960, a révolutionné l’esthétique du trio jazz en remettant en cause le principe du solo accompagné, Jean-Philippe Viret, Edouard Ferlet et Fabrice Moreau ont axé leur jeu sur l’écoute, l’échange, le dialogue, l’interplay. Profondeur du discours, équilibre des voix, cohésion d’ensemble, architectures, chaque musicien, affranchi de toute idée d’ordre et de hiérarchie, réinvente sa relation à l’autre à chaque instant dans un trilogue magnifique. Ainsi, simplement, naturellement, un chant s’invente et se déploie. Nouvel avatar, nouvelle métamorphose du trio Viret, l’adjonction d’un deuxième batteur qui n’est autre qu’Antoine Banville avec qui le trio a débuté. Deux batteries, la formule a un goût d’inédit. C’est un gage de nouveauté, de fraîcheur pour la musique pleine de grâce et de fluidité organique de ce groupe décidément pas comme les autres.

The New French Connection: intimate musical tête-à-tête in a class of its own. Melody Gardot and acclaimed pianist Philippe Powell have recorded an intimate album of brooding jazz torch songs. Recorded in Paris in Dec 2021, this intimate new album showcases Melody and Philippes love of traditional jazz, taking the listener back to its golden age.

For his latest ATMA Classique recording, horn player Louis-Philippe Marsolais has chosen a selection of chamber music by Clara and Robert Schumann composed for various instruments, some of which have been transcribed for horn. He is joined by pianists Philip Chiu and David Jalbert, and cellists Stéphane Tétreault and Cameron Crozman.