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This is the third and final volume of a series surveying the orchestral music of the doyen of Swedish composers, Ingvar Lidholm who was born in 1921. The music on this disc was composed between 1944-1958 and it illustrates the growth of the young composer into a mature artist with an instantly recognizable voice. Lidholm's years as a student of music coincided with World War II when Sweden, though neutral, was effectively shut off from the rest of Europe. This sense of isolation led many pioneering young people to look to the Continent for inspiration as soon as the war ended and boundaries opened again. Lidholm immersed himself in Continental avant-garde music by assiduously listening to the radio and in 1949 he became the first Swede to visit the summer courses for new music at Darmstadt. Very early on he became personally acquainted with such pioneering composers as Lutoslawski, Ligeti, Berio and Olivier Messiaen. Lidholm's early works reveal a subjective, Scandinavian romanticism, but the influence of Hindemith and Bartók soon becomes apparent, though always employed in a highly personal manner. The previous discs in the series were warmly reviewed: 'Excellent performances' This disc gets a strong recommendation' was the view of the International Record Review while Fono Forum gave the first disc a special recommendation for both performance and recording.

The Chinese pianist Ran Jia gained international attention for her extraordinary interpretations of Franz Schubert’s piano works. Tan Dun praised her as a ‘piano poet with dramatic skill in music-making’ and her Schubert recordings were ranked alongside famous Schubert albums by Kempff, Lupu and Richter. Now Ran Jia, who was appointed professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2022, is releasing her new album, which she dedicates to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s poetic sonata cosmos.

Self-styled ladies man Richard Ng gets depressed when all those around him are finding love while he remains single.

Two professors team up to locate a lost treasure and embark on an adventure that takes them from a Tibetan ice cave to Dubai to a mountain temple in India.

Two professors team up to locate a lost treasure and embark on an adventure that takes them from a Tibetan ice cave to Dubai to a mountain temple in India.

A group of warriors protect the world from a monster invasion.