Jean

Not surprisingly, Jean-Pierre Rampal’s recordings for Erato during the 1970s – when he was at the top of his career – encompass an immense repertoire, with a special emphasis on discoveries, whether in baroque, classical or romantic flute literature. Still a model today for flutists and flute lovers all over the world, his incomparable sound, spectacular brilliance and fabulous artistry made many albums legendary. Beyond their sheer beauty, the immense joy of music-making they communicate and the excitement they generate make these performances simply unforgettable.

A five disc compilation of French musician Jean-Michel Jarre. Includes albums such as "Oxygene" (1976), "The Concerts In China" (1982), "Chronology" (1993), "Metamorphoses" (2000).
French synthesizer guru Jean-Michel Jarre brought progressive electronic music to the mainstream, releasing several best-selling albums that helped pave the way for synth pop, new age, and trance, in addition to performing extravagant, record-breaking concerts. He became a household name following the release of 1976's Oxygène, a home-recorded synth odyssey that eventually sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Following its success, he began staging large-scale outdoor concerts featuring laser displays and fireworks, breaking the world record for concert attendance three times…

Rameau on the piano? It's not altogether unheard of – there were a handful of classic recordings made by Robert Casadesus back in 1952 – but, despite many recordings of Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti on the piano in the digital age, there's been precious little Rameau on the piano until this Angela Hewitt recording of three complete suites from 2006. By choosing the Suite in E minor from the Pièces de clavecin of 1731 plus the Suites in G minor and A minor from Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, Hewitt has for the most part stayed away from the more evocatively titled works and stuck to the standard stylized Baroque dance forms of the allemande, courante, and gigue. Justly celebrated for her cool and clean Bach recordings, this strategy works well for Hewitt. Without seeming to resort to the sustain or the mute pedal, she floats Rameau's lines and melodies, and without seeming to exaggerate the accents or dynamics, she gives Rameau's rhythms a wonderful sense of lift. In the deliberately evocative movements from the G minor Suite – "La poule," "Les sauvages," and especially "L'egiptienne" – Hewitt seems to bring less to the music – her interpretations are remarkably straight – and to get less out of it – her performances are remarkably bland.

Serse is a light and elegant comedy. It opens with the most famous of all Handel's arias, the notorious “Ombre mai fu“ (or Largo), quite a different piece when heard in context. Its mock solemnity sets the tone for what follows. The opera moves swiftly and charmingly, the recitatives often interspersed with brief ariosos rather than full-fledged arias. Outstanding in the cast is Hendricks, her voice flexible and distinctive, clearer and purer than it would become (after the tone began to unknit). She sings with great charm. Watkinson is a fluent Serse but doesn't leave a lasting impression. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Esswood's work more.

Josquin was one of the greatest composers of his time, the author of sacred and secular music and works for court and city. The ensemble Theleme and Jean-Christophe Groffe offer a bold and original interpretation of some of Josquin's songs. Combining the language of the Renaissance with very different sounds - ondes Martenot, Fender Rhodes piano, Buchla synthesizer - they create a lively and astonishingly fertile dialogue, in keeping with the spirit of the composer. Five hundred years after his death, this album pays tribute to a groundbreaking composer, whose innovations inspire us to this day.

Against the backdrop of it's decors, ballet offers itself up as a spectacle, arousing admiration and enchantment. In the early twentieth century, from the Palais Garnier to the Bolshoi, from the Châtelet to the Mariinsky, the shimmering colors of the orchestra were often combined with the innovative choreography of the Ballets Russes. The music to which these ballets were danced, assigned to illustrious composers, could hardly be for piano, which was tolerated only to accompany the dancers in their rehearsal studios. But is that really the case? If so, then why are there so many piano versions made by the composers themselves, alongside the orchestral ones? Jean- Baptiste Fonlupt answers that question here with dazzling imagination and virtuosity.

His multi-award-winning recordings and dazzling concert performances have long established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation. This latest album – the tenth – in his cycle of the complete Haydn sonatas is built around the Grand Sonata in C major (Hob. XVI: 50), a late work the first movement of which is one of the most highly developed that Haydn ever conceived for the keyboard. Bavouzet has surrounded this with less well-known works: two very early sonatas (Nos 3 and 4) provide a stark contrast to the later works (Nos 28 and 45). The album ends with the Arietta con 12 Variazioni.