Alban Lefranc

Karajan reportedly felt so strongly about his recordings of the Second Viennese School that he agreed to finance them himself when DG balked at picking up the tab. These are great performances, to be sure. Indeed, there may be some others that are comparable, but none are superior. The Berg pieces never have sounded so decadently beautiful, nor the Webern so passionately intense, or the Schoenberg so, well, just plain listenable. The Berlin Philharmonic strings make their usual luscious sounds, but here the winds, brass, and even percussion rise to the occasion as well. And sonically these were always some of Karajan's best efforts. Essential, then, and a perfect way to get to know these three composers on a single disc.

In his autobiography Opera Years Rolf Liebermann wrote: “Of all the film versions of operas in which I was involved, my favourite has always been Wozzeck, mainly because the interpreters and location were so convincingly authentic.” And truly, this film adoption of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, recorded in 1970, fascinated with its constantly developing tension from the first tone to the last accord. Indeed the cast could not has been any better than in this production: Toni Blankenheim as Wozzeck and Sena Jurinac as Marie. Clearly and precisely in picture and speech, this film can truly be considered a classic and is now available on DVD for the first time.

EMEC Records is proud to present world premier recordings of Ferdinando Carulli's Deux solos Op. 207 and Jacques Pierre Rode's Trio in D. Featuring performances from world renowned guitarist Agustin Maruri, this release promises to reveal hidden depths among these composers less frequently heard works. Augustin Maruri recorded his first album in 1990, and since then has recorded 23 albums both in solo and chamber music combinations. Each year he strives to discover new musical works from composers around the world, and he has played a major role in premiering various new composers’ works.

Alban Berg wrote twice for string quartet, and both results stand tall in his output. On this Naive disc, a reissue of an earlier Montaigne release, the Arditti Quartet perform these pieces. The lineup of the Ardittis at this time was Irvine Arditti and David Alberman (violin), Levine Andrade (viola) and Rohan de Saram (cello).

These are studio recordings, dating from 1985 and completing a series begun in the late 70s with the C-major quintet and pursued in the early 80s with the 15th quartet and the "Trout" quintet. The "Death and the Maiden" here is not to be confused with the later, live recording made by the ABQ and released in 1998 - which I haven't heard, but which received warm reviews.

A fantastic collection of American choral classics ranging from Thompson’s sublime Alleluia to the terrific choral arrangement of Gershwin’s Summertime from Porgy and Bess.

While his first critically acclaimed album “It’s a Long Way to Happiness” exceeds 8 million streams, the beginning of 2022 looks very busy for Alban Claudin who is putting the finishing touches to the soundtrack of Guillaume Gouix’s first movie “Amore Mio” (to be released next fall), prepares new concerts and gets ready to tour again with the French star Clara Luciani.