Yi.yi.2000

The Rascher Saxophone Quartet here present a disc of works specifically composed for them. They are joined by the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Robin Engelen in the orchestra's first appearance on BIS. With Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in mind, Sally Beamish uses features of Baroque music but also elements from traditional Scottish music.

On this limited-edition CD, packaged in a pink C-shell with no other inserts, Coil is stripped down to just John Balance and Thighpaulsandra, with the addition of Dorothy Lewis, a retired opera singer and Thighpaulsandra's mother who adds some spoken word material written by Balance. Released on Mother's Day and dedicated to mothers everywhere, Queens of the Circulating Library represents a lighter, softer version of Coil. The single 50-minute track starts off with Lewis' voice speaking about the wonders of libraries, books, knowledge, and trees over some warm, ambient drones. Loops of her voice become electronically manipulated to add some weird textures to the drones, but even these fade out about a quarter of the way in, and the remainder of the disc drifts off in the shifting drones until it finally fades into silence at the end…

Li Yi Jun gain popularity in the Taiwan music industry with her signature song《萍聚》 when it was released in 1987 and the album sold more than 200 thousand copies. She is also the voice behind the many theme songs of the popular Taiwanese dramas. In 1993 She was nominated for the Best Hokkien female singer category for the song 《苦海女神龙》 in Taiwan Golden Melody awards.

Star countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic steps into new musical territory with the world premiere recording of Catone in Utica by Leonardo Vinci, a forgotten genius of Italian opera. The opera tells a powerful tale of Julius Caesar’s defeat of the Republican forces led by Marcus Porcius Cato in 46 BC, exploring the eternal themes of love, duty and honor. Featuring five countertenors along with conductor Riccardo Minasi who leads il pomo d’oro.