Mladi Ocka

Following their debut album, Belle Epoque, the Orsino Ensemble turns its attention to music from Bohemia. There is a strong tradition of Czech wind playing, and hence a wealth of great repertoire on which to draw. Antoine Reicha was a contemporary (and friend) of Beethoven. His E flat Quintet, published in 1817, demonstrates his harmonic ingenuity and talent for idiomatic instrumental writing.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Bal-Kan - Miel et Sang (2013) {3CD Set Alia Vox AVSA 9902}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.19 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 552 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 322 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Alia Vox | AVSA 9902
Classical / World Music / Chamber Music

The name of the Balkans has an unusually graphic etymology: having discovered the beauty of this pivotal part of Europe, which stretches from Italy to the Bosphorous, and the ruggedness of its people, who put up fierce resistance to invasion, the Turks chose to describe the region with the words Bal (Honey) and Kan (Blood). Honey & Blood: never was there so apt a metaphor! So much richness and drama packed into such a small area is guaranteed to fire the imagination of historians and artists, especially musicians. Thanks to the magic of an ambitious programme built around the cycles of life, Jordi Savall invites us to travel the length and breadth of a region which has always had more than its share of human and historical drama. 230 minutes of music scan the full range of human emotions illuminated by 1001 different musical traditions, all of which nevertheless spring from a common source. "The future belongs to those with the longest memory", wrote Nietzsche. Once more, Jordi Savall brilliantly demonstrates that music is a key component of the collective memory that enables us to face our future. This lavishly documented CD-Book, translated into 12 languages, is a must for any self-respecting collector.

The ensemble London Winds, praised by BBC Music for its 'technical accomplishment, expressive commitment and warmth of timbre', presents in this recording great twentieth-century works for winds. It features music by Hindemith, Nielsen, and Janáček, and, from the next generation, Barber and Ligeti. Although not equally prolific (Kleine Kammermusik is Hindemith's single contribution to that genre while winds are generally more prominence in Nielsen's music), all these composers brought the wind repertoire back to prominence, after a quiet period of more than a century. The music is full of playfulness and European folk colours.