Forges

The golden age of string orchestra repertoire must certainly be the period spanning the final decades of the 19th century to the early 20th century. The density of sound, great dynamic range, long phrases and virtuosity that are uniquely possible with this combination of instruments saw it become a particularly cherished ensemble for many of the greatest composers of the day. This same era also witnessed the birth of the Great National Schools and the influence of composers’ native folk melodies on their compositional output.

STREAM marks the first time I had the courage to step away from writing the whole album and instead relied on the band's contributions and input to a much higher extent than ever before.

The composers presented in this recording, Aniello Santangelo, Gennaro Manna and Ferdinando Lizio, were trained and worked all their lives in Naples, both as teachers in the fantastic "musical forges" represented by the town's four conservatories; and as instrumentalists in the five theatres (no less) that Naples boasted. Between 1732 and 1737, for example, Santangelo was a violinist for the Teatro de Fiorentini, the Teatro Nuovo and the Teatro San Carlo.

"Kingdom On Fire" is an impressive status report and a further blow of liberation after ten years of development, which the project THE PHUNKGUERILLA has accomplished to this day. Fischer had previously worked with artists such as Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie and Stefan Raab‘s Heavytones show band, worked on more than 300 albums and participated in 800 TV shows.

ECM legend Arild Andersen, one of Norway's leading bassists for over 30 years, forges promising relationships with two rising stars - Daniel Sommer (drums) and Rob Luft (guitar) - in an expansive, playful exploration of song and collective improvisation.

The piano duo Tal & Groethuysen has thrilled classical music audiences for more than 30 years. They have received innumerable accolades worldwide for their recordings with Sony Classical, including five ECHO Klassik Music Awards, nine German Record Critics' Prizes, and the Cannes Classical Award.

Jonathan Coe hoped for a career in music before becoming a celebrated novelist, playing keyboards in various bands before What a Carve Up! established his career as a writer in 1994. The Rotters' Club, a winner of the Wodehouse Prize in 2001, got its name from the title of an album by Hatfield and the North, giving a clue to his interest in the progressive rock and jazz-rock fusion music of the 1970s.

Legendary accordionist Richard Galliano again forges new paths in classical music with this album of well-known Mozart pieces. The third album of classical repertoire from the legendary jazz accordionist, this follows his extremely successful albums of Bach and Vivaldi. Richard Galliano shows a clear empathy for the music of Mozart, largely borne from his origins playing classical music at the beginning of his career before turning his attentions to jazz. Here he enlists the help of a talented sextet of musicians to enable the listener to experience some of these best-loved works as theyve never heard them before.

Taking on board a bassist as exceptional as John Patitucci (Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter), guitarist Yotam Silberstein’s new album is like a great voyage, which draws inspiration from a multitude of musical traditions. Alternating the accordion and piano of the Brazilian prodigy Vitor Gonçalves and the piano and Fender Rhodes of the rising star of the New York City jazz scene Glenn Zaleski, his quartet completed by the Israeli drummer Daniel Dor (ex-Avishai Cohen Trio) forges a nomadic and virtuoso repertoire, with stopovers in numerous territories and with a predilection for South America, Brazil in particular. Vibrant and inspired, “Future Memories”, in his own words the most personal recording of Yotam Silberstein's career, reveals itself to be like a series of windows open onto the beauties of the world and the memory of the emotions they evoke in each of us. A profound and majestic album, by one of the major guitarists on the international scene today.

Dmitry Evgrafov returns with his fourth career album and third for FatCat’s 130701 imprint (Max Richter, Johann Johannsson, Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka). His most accomplished work to date, ‘Surrender’ is a broad and dramatic record that expands the Moscow-based artist’s palette and reaches beyond the usual post-classical range. Revealing an ambitious scope across the twelve-track span, it is bold in conception and beautifully recorded.