Christoph Bouet Roadkill Madness

Today it is often forgotten that jazz is not only a unique art form, but also a social music. This social aspect comes to the fore in particular where it is not about epoch-making innovations or daring experiments, but about providing a "neighborhood audience" with musical soul food. That's why people like to talk about soul jazz in this context.

Christoph Croisé channels his prowess as a cellist - "he's got it all - technical chops, impeccable musicianship and imaginative daring" (Gramophone) - into compositional ingenuity on the first album devoted entirely to his own works.

Award-winning young German tenor saxophonist Christoph Beck makes his leader debut with "Reflections", a radiant album that shines like a beacon in an increasingly vast German jazz scene. Entirely self-written, songs sketch Beck's exploring personality, both in ballads and uptempo pieces, where playful melancholy meets skeptical optimism. He composes intelligently and controls the melody at the same time; his intricate harmonies remaining catchy at all times.

Christoph Prégardien and Michael Gees are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, among the greatest interpreters of Schubert’s song cycle “Die schöne Müllerin”. The cycle deals with a period in the life of a young miller lad as he wanders along a stream in search of work; he meets a mill-girl and falls in love with her; then loses her to another man and, in deep despair, drowns himself in the millstream. “Die schöne Müllerin” - consisting of twenty songs - is an amazing compendium of the human psych which deals with the miller’s emotions as he finds, and then loses, his love.

Gerade wurde Christoph Sietzen für sein Album bei Sony Classical "Incantations" als "Nachwuchskünstler des Jahres" mit einem Opus Klassik ausgezeichnet. Der Schlagwerker wird in der Presse als Ausnahmetalent gefeiert und für seine erfrischende musikalische Natürlichkeit, seine technische Virtuosität sowie ausgeprägte Bühnenpräsenz gelobt.

Christoph Croise turns to the rich Romantic works of his 19th-century Swiss compatriot Joachim Raff, breathing new life into the composer's complete works for cello and piano.

Christoph Irniger and a big band? Actually, one associates the saxophonist more with more manageable formats. As seen in bands such as Pilgrim, Cowboys from Hell, Noir, Counterpoints or the Christoph Irniger Trio, he prefers smaller formations, from trio to quintet, in which he brings out every voice, intention and interaction in full balance. All the more surprising now is the compactness and density he achieves in his orchestral debut, The Music of Pilgrim. The title may be confusing at first, because – although it is music by and for Pilgrim – it is not a Pilgrim album. But more about that later.

1883 was a fruitful year for cello composition as Christoph Croise's new recording reveals. That year marked Edvard Grieg's return to composition after a period of conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Sonata in A minor, his only work for cello and piano. Also that year, Richard Strauss was writing for the same combination at the age of just 19, producing his Sonata in F. Gabriel Faure embarked on a cello sonata in 1880; only the slow movement transpired and was published and premiered as the stand-alone piece Elegie in 1883. Christoph's regular performing partner, Oxana Shevchenko, joins him in this beautifully balanced recording of works for cello and piano.

Four works - four composing styles - four creative periods of Ernst Krenek - four trouvailles of classical modernism. The first Solo Sonata - presented here as world premier recording - urges towards expressive breadth, the Triophantasie plays with the past and alludes to the music of Franz Schubert. The second Sonata for Violin and Piano, modern in idiom and classical in form, was written in exile.The second Solo Sonata, composed in 1948 in a phase of uncertainty, presents acondensed, more objective counterpart of the first. Christoph Schickedanz convinces with outstanding technical brilliance, multifaceted colouration and exuberant music-making.

The Preludes and Sonatas of Dmitri Kabalevsky are amongst the best piano works of the forties, and deserve a place on concert programs alongside better-known works by composers such as Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Pianist Christoph Deluze has become well known for his interpretations of Kabalevsky, and here he performs the three Piano Sonatas. The first is reminiscent of Scriabin, and the second and the third are war pieces filled with highly virtuosic passages. Deluze's performances confirm their impressive stature, intense lyricism and rhythmic vigor. Sonatas on the SACD disc are excellent, with a very natural ambiance, and Deluze‘s performance are exceptionally good.