Jennifer Van Sijl

Arriving just weeks after Jennifer Lopez announced her departure from American Idol, the compilation Dance Again…The Hits was in the works before J-Lo joined AmIdol – she departed Epic for Island/Def Jam after 2007's Brave yet owed her old label a hits collection – but undoubtedly Lopez's two years on the singing competition boosted her profile and popularity, elevating Dance Again to something more than contract fulfillment. That much is evident from the two new recordings, "Dance Again" and "Goin' In," tracks that feature Pitbull and Flo Rida, respectively, cuts designed for the dancefloors of 2012 just as the two post-Idol hits from 2011's Love? – "I'm into You" and "On the Floor" – were.

Arriving just weeks after Jennifer Lopez announced her departure from American Idol, the compilation Dance Again…The Hits was in the works before J-Lo joined AmIdol – she departed Epic for Island/Def Jam after 2007's Brave yet owed her old label a hits collection – but undoubtedly Lopez's two years on the singing competition boosted her profile and popularity, elevating Dance Again to something more than contract fulfillment. That much is evident from the two new recordings, "Dance Again" and "Goin' In," tracks that feature Pitbull and Flo Rida, respectively, cuts designed for the dancefloors of 2012 just as the two post-Idol hits from 2011's Love? – "I'm into You" and "On the Floor" – were.

La Mort d’Abel (1810/1825) – halfway between opera and oratorio – presents, in a spectacular fashion, the murder of Abel by his brother Cain consumed by jealousy. Rodolphe Kreutzer deploys therein the grand art of the tragédie lyrique imagined by Gluck whilst adding his own personal touches, which identifies him as being more than the modest violinist dedicatee of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata. As a top ensemble in Belgium and across Northern Europe, Les Agrémens and the Chœur de chambre de Namur have, for a long time, been exploring rare repertories with enthusiasm, creativity and to the highest standards. Assisted by singers from the rising generation (notably tenor Sébastien Droy and baritone Jean-Sébastien Bou), conductor Guy Van Waas ventures triumphantly into music which nobody before him had imagined there existing such quality.

“The father of the symphony”; “bard of the Revolution”: these two phrases sufficed to describe Gossec from the beginning of the 19th century onwards and created a reputation for him that musicographers and music historians of the following century made almost unalterable. Gossec had, however, always been interested in the operatic stage, as can be seen from his works in the more modern genre of opéra comique as well as in the more traditional tragédie en musique. Appointed to provide music for the largest musical institutions of his time, Gossec created more than twenty theatrical works; these enjoyed varying degrees of success but nonetheless reveal a dramatic composer of the first water.

Over the years Ifor James (1931-2004) has played with numerous orchestras and many famous composers have written and dedicated works to him. He was also one of the world’s most successful teachers, having put over 100 people into the profession. On this CD he plays horn sonatas together with Jennifer Partridge. Beethoven’s horn sonata especially stands out from the programme, since it’s the only sonata that Beethoven wrote for a wind instrument.