The Invitations

This CD introduces to disc the newly formed Florestan Trio comprising Susan Tomes, Anthony Marwood and Richard Lester, all now-familiar and highly respected artists after their many earlier recordings, both as members of other ensembles and as soloists. Miss Tomes and Mr Lester were, of course, members of the now-disbanded piano quartet Domus (which was joined by Mr Marwood in its last, award-winning recording of the two Fauré Piano Quintets on CDA66766).

This is a great collection of rare and hard to find tunes compiled by Jeffrey Glenn. Hundreds of odds & ends by little known groups, famous singers, and famous singers before they became famous.

Elgar’s Violin Concerto has a certain mystique about it independent of the knee-jerk obeisance it has received in the British press. It probably is the longest and most difficult of all Romantic violin concertos, requiring not just great technical facility but great concentration from the soloist and a real partnership of equals with the orchestra. And like all of Elgar’s large orchestral works, it is extremely episodic in construction and liable to fall apart if not handled with a compelling sense of the long line. In reviewing the score while listening to this excellent performance, I was struck by just how fussy Elgar’s indications often are: the constant accelerandos and ritards, and the minute (and impractical) dynamic indications that ask more questions than they sometimes answer. No version, least of all the composer’s own, even attempts to realize them all: it would be impossible without italicizing and sectionalizing the work to death.

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Emmanuel Witzthum to the record label. Inspired by old notebooks, antiquarian editions, calligraphic writing, and piles of books dressed in spiderwebs of dust, 'The Book of Dusts' spreads outwards slowly, like splinters of ice on a windowpane, recalling the icy fingers of winter…

The Hillbilly Hellcats play a heavy rockabilly. The life and sounds of the nineties come crashing into those of the fifties in this modern Rockabilly trio. Coming from a state known for it's tie-dyed bands, Colorado's Hillbilly Hellcats tell stories of skateboards and hippies as well as white trash, whiskey and trailer parks. Chuck Hughes and Lance Bakemeyer formed Hillbilly Hellcats in Denver, 1993. They have released several albums and singles. Their touring has taken them to 16 countries and 40 States. Since 2001, their music has appeared over 3500 times in TV and movies. They have over 2 million streams on Spotify.

The Courettes is a Brazilian-Danish duo, which consists of Flavia Couri on vocals & guitar and Martin Couri on drums & vocals. The duo, Flavia and Martin, is both married in life and in music, if one can say so.