Extreme Classics

The solo piano music of Béla Bartók is sometimes compared to that of Schoenberg, but Bartók's works are more emotionally accessible to listeners, particularly when they are played as Andreas Bach does on this album. While a great importance is placed on the percussiveness of Bartók's music, Bach instead focuses on the harmonies and the temperaments of these works. He does not ignore those more primitive aspects of the music, but rather than being sharply aggressive, Bach uses more of a forceful follow-through to control the sound.

The London Sinfonietta combine two works from Thomas Adès, one of the most distinctive and popular voices in modern composition. Both works feature accompanying films (by Tal Rosner and Sophie Clements) that are included in this CD/DVD set. 'In Seven Days' is a musical interpretation for piano and orchestra of the biblical ‘creation’ by Thomas Adès, composed in collaboration with a film-piece by the artist and filmmaker Tal Rosner. B

Channel Classics has taken a turn into new territory with this release of sacred choral works by contemporary Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström (b. 1942) – and it turns out to be one of the label’s most engaging, enlightening – and exciting – discs of the year. ...it challenges our traditional expectations of what a choral concert is about. Here we’re confronted with music that doesn’t fit any regular form, yet faithfully follows time-honored biblical texts, from the Psalms to the Mass to the Song of Songs. ... Sandstrom writes with an assured understanding of voices, ...and while his works are for the most part extremely challenging, both for listeners and performers, the musical language is fresh and vital and perfectly suited to the medium.