Dwell 2016

The series of recordings of the Abbey of Maulbronn is prolific, and after a very good Messiah, we arrive now Solomon, another oratorio of Haendel. Solomon is a rather fixed work, a single scene, that of the famous judgment, presenting a little bit of "action", but the music, powerful and refined, is the most inspired Handel, and the virtuoso treatment of the choruses reveals a incomparable mastery.

Glorious Majesty Music for English Kings and Queens is a 3CD collection of classical music written for English Kings and Queens through the ages. From Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II (via Queen Mary II, Queen Anne, George II, Edward VI, and George V) the collection includes the much-loved classics Handel s Zadok the Priest and Music for the Royal Fireworks, Parry s I was glad, Elgar s Coronation March, Walton s Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre, and not forgetting Elgar s arrangement of the National Anthem

Emma Kirkby, Paul Agnew, Andreas Scholl, les bambins de St John's College, les violes de Concordia et Carole Cerasi vous attendent pour ce grand frère de l'Indispensable Purcell. A retrouver dans les kiosques, avec votre numéro de mai.

This 2014 Hyperion collection of 22 hymns sung by the Choir of Westminster Abbey is a straightforward presentation of familiar versions for choir and organ. For the most part, the arrangements are conventional four-part settings, with occasional interpolations of seldom-heard harmonizations and descants, and the performances by the men and boys are appropriately reverent and joyous. The majority of selections are hymns of praise, including Praise, my soul, the king of heaven; Thine be the glory; and Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, though Drop, drop slow tears; I bind unto myself today; and Let all mortal flesh keep silence bring a more somber and penitential mood to the program. The recordings were made in late 2012 and early 2013 in Westminster Abbey, so the sound of the album is typically resonant and spacious, and the choir has a well-blended tone, though the trade-off for the glorious acoustics is a loss of clarity in some of the words.

John Eliot Gardiner has done much over the years to set the music of Handel where it truly belongs in public opinion by the professionalism he has brought to live performances and to recordings. When his reading of Hercules appeared four years ago it was warmly received for its fine choral and solo singing and skilful playing on period instruments and, at the same time, taken to task for the extensive cuts made and Gardiner's tendency to overinterpret, particularly in the choruses. None of this has changed, nor could it have (unless the missing sections of recitative and aria had been recorded in the first place, cut and then reinstated, and the remarks of reviewers taken to heart) in the transfer to CD. The novel immediacy of the CD medium still thrills the listener: the crisp articulation Gardiner elicits from players and singers alike is particularly well served. Happily, Handel is the ultimate beneficiary. His music sounds better than ever on CD.

As the name implies, the album features old music, mainly compositions from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, which in the warm but unconventional embrace of this unique band receive a new, significantly different interpretations from the traditional. The backgrounds of the musicians range from jazz music to baroque, Argentine tango to contemporary music, improvisation and all kinds of experimentation. This has made the collaboration of the quartet a real exploration during its six-year history.

Limited Edition 80-CD set presenting Claudio Arrau’s complete Philips and American Decca recordings plus his live recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 with Leonard Bernstein (Amnesty International) on Deutsche Grammophon. Balancing invincible technical accuracy and virtuosity with rigorous intellectual and spiritual stimulation, Claudio Arrau played to probe, divine and to interpret the will of the composer, always faithful to the text. He viewed technique and virtuosity as inseparable from musical expression and constantly stressed the expressive, spiritual and creative power of virtuosity while downplaying its sensational aspect and suffusing every note with meaning.

Limited Edition 80-CD set presenting Claudio Arrau’s complete Philips and American Decca recordings plus his live recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 with Leonard Bernstein (Amnesty International) on Deutsche Grammophon. Balancing invincible technical accuracy and virtuosity with rigorous intellectual and spiritual stimulation, Claudio Arrau played to probe, divine and to interpret the will of the composer, always faithful to the text. He viewed technique and virtuosity as inseparable from musical expression and constantly stressed the expressive, spiritual and creative power of virtuosity while downplaying its sensational aspect and suffusing every note with meaning.