Veronique Gens, Alexandre Bloch Chausson: Poeme de L'amour et de la Mer & Symphonie Op. 20 (2019

Des méditants témoignent de leur expérience de la méditation et décrivent leurs pratiques pour surmonter les difficultés et trouver sa voie. …

This release contains the complete works for organ by François Couperin, composer to the court of Louis XIV. James Johnstone continues his series of recordings on the great baroque organs of Europe on the 1699 organ by Julien Tribuot, Louis XIV’s organ builder, now in the Eglise St Martin in Seurre, Burgundy. This last surviving instrument by a revered builder is close to its original condition. A leading baroque organist, James Johnstone recorded these works as part of 350th anniversary celebrations of Couperin's birth in 2018, and completes Metronome’s survey of Couperin’s complete keyboard works.

A groundbreaking collection of studies by one of the 19th century’s leading keyboard lions. By the early 1830s, the celebrated virtuoso Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner was at the height of his pianistic powers. It was at this time that Chopin moved to Paris and found Kalkbrenner to be the finest pianist he had heard: ‘Herz, Liszt and Hiller are all zeros next to Kalkbrenner.’

On this fascinating recording the legendary Neeme Järvi explores two lesser-known French ballets by Sauguet and Ibert, complemented by the Ballet Suite from Massenet’s opera HérodiadeLes Forains. Sauget’s wide-ranging influences, notably the orchestration of Richard Strauss as well as the works of Satie and les Six, give his work a flowing, openly melodic style that is immediately appealing and full of wit and charm. Following the success of Les Forains, Ibert’s ballet Les Amours de Jupiter premiered on 9 March 1946.

Récit d'un voyage aventureux autour de la mer Caspienne, de Bakou à la Géorgie, à pied et à vélo. Sur ces terres à haute valeur pétrolifère, l'auteur entame une réflexion sur le mystère de l'énergie et la force vitale. …

Des ruines romaines de Timgad aux noces du soleil et de la mer à Tipaza, du désert algérien cher à Eugène Fromentin à la conversion d'Isabelle Eberhardt, des tableaux de Delacroix aux femmes de Biskra d'Etienne Dinet, de la prise d'Alger en 1830 à l'indépendance du pays en juillet 1962, de l'émir Abd el-Kader à Bouteflika, Malek Chebel, en observateur averti du pays où il est né, où il a grandi, n'élude rien et aborde beaucoup de non-dits. …

Vangelis’ music is synonymous with space—the symphony Mythodea was composed for NASA’s 2001 Mars mission, and his 2016 album, Rosetta, was borne from the Rosetta mission to explore a comet. Here, he performs 11 original works on piano and accompanying synthesizer, inspired by nighttime and his passion for space, including the beautifully lilting “Through the Night Mist” and delightful “Nocturnal Promenade.” The film composer also visits some of his most renowned soundtracks, with contemplative reworkings of "Main Theme (From ‘Chariots of Fire’),” “Love Theme (From ‘Blade Runner’),” and “Conquest of Paradise (From ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’).” But it’s his pared-down arrangement of Movement 9 from Mythodea that’s the star of the show.