Messiaen Amen

Visions offers Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard’s return to Pentatone, presenting a programme revolving around Messiaen’s intoxicating Visions de l‘amen for two pianos. This centrepiece is surrounded by Enescu’s Carillon nocturne, Knussen’s Prayer Bell Sketch and Clock IV from Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks. The works performed all share a fascination for the sound of bells, and Stefanovich and Aimard invite the listener on a mesmerizing acoustic journey.

This boxed set is a veritable treasure trove, an embarrassment of riches, a golden hoard - you come up with the cliché and I’ll accept it. Released along with other sets to celebrate her 70th birthday it is a remarkable musical record of fabulous achievement packed with superlative performances that simply take the breath away.

"Charles Tournemire is, with Johann Sebastian Bach, my favourite composer," muses Vincent Boucher, titular organist at Montreal's iconic Saint Joseph's Oratory. We reached Boucher via email to talk about his new album, Mariae Virginis, the fourth volume of his ongoing project to record the complete organ works of Tournemire. It's due out April 14 on ATMA Classique.

The music in this collection, inspired by religious thought and liturgical text, has been selected in honor of Pope John Paul II's visit to Paris in August of 1997 to celebrate Mass as part of the Worldwide Days of Youth. Much of the music here is very familiar to even casual listeners to classical music. From J. S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," to a rousing version of "Hallelujah" from Handel's 'Messiah,' this CD plays like a greatest hits of church music from the last 400 years.

The music in this collection, inspired by religious thought and liturgical text, has been selected in honor of Pope John Paul II's visit to Paris in August of 1997 to celebrate Mass as part of the Worldwide Days of Youth. Much of the music here is very familiar to even casual listeners to classical music. From J. S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," to a rousing version of "Hallelujah" from Handel's 'Messiah,' this CD plays like a greatest hits of church music from the last 400 years.
"…Chung and his musicians address the music with fervor and energy. The popular choruses are sung with spirit, and the sizable chorus is never sluggish or weighty…" Fanfare (5-6/98, pp.262-63)

Myung-Whun Chung is one of the leading conductors of his generation. Also a prize-winning pianist, he is particularly noted for his interpretations of the music of French composer Olivier Messiaen. There has rarely been as talented a group of siblings as Myung-Whun and his two older sisters, cellist Myung-Wha Chung (born 1944) and violinist Kyung-Wha Chung (born 1948). Myung-Whun made his performing debut as a pianist in Seoul at the age of 7. At 8, he flew to Seattle, WA, to begin his American musical studies.

Various Artists - Archives GRM, INA 30th Anniversary (2006) {5CD Set, INA-GRM ina c 1030}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.69 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 862 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 140 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006 INA-GRM | ina c 1030
Modern Classical / Electronic / Musique Concrète / Experimental / Electroacoustic

For the 30th birthday of INA, the GRM has decided to present in this CD box some of his archives. INA - GRM (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel - Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in Paris, France, is the pioneering organisation of electroacoustics, acousmatics and musique concrète, with a history going back many decades, as active today as ever, recording and releasing a long string of historically important, but also new and innovative, electracoustic works, while also engaging in research into new techniques and teaching. The Acousmonium of the GRM is utilized giving renowned concerts of electroacoustic music.

Bach, Kurtág, Busoni - Piano Duet - GrauSchumacher Piano Duo (2007)
Classical | EAC: FLAC+Cue+Log | 1 Cd, Covers | 273 Mb
Label: col legno - Date: 2007

Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher, with their talent for putting together clever and innovative programs, have established themselves as one of the world's top piano duos. Their cooperation at the piano is evidence that the two expert pianists are nothing short of musical soul mates…