Mundi

Julienne Taylor is back with three new ethereal covers, "Take On Me", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Sweet Dreams," teaming up with Scottish traditional multi-instrumentalist Fraser Fifield and infusing them with an indelible Celtic ambiance that highlights her spell-binding vocals. The album also includes newly-remastered versions of her best-loved songs, with Julienne adding a bewitching twist to timeless tracks like "I Knew You I Loved You," "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and "A Thousand Years".

Julienne Taylor is back with three new ethereal covers, "Take On Me", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Sweet Dreams," teaming up with Scottish traditional multi-instrumentalist Fraser Fifield and infusing them with an indelible Celtic ambiance that highlights her spell-binding vocals. The album also includes newly-remastered versions of her best-loved songs, with Julienne adding a bewitching twist to timeless tracks like "I Knew You I Loved You," "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and "A Thousand Years".

Stradella’s music is of the highest quality, and as such receives more and more attention nowadays. Superb performances on period instruments by Harmonices Mundi/Claudio Astronio and the great Swedish soprano Susanne Rydén.

Laurent Cugny - La Tectonique des Nuages (2011) {2CD Set, Signature–Harmonia Mundi SIG 11180/81}
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© 2011 Signature / Harmonia Mundi | SIG 11180/81
Jazz / Jazz-Opera / Modern Big Band / Contemporary Jazz

To a backdrop of the apocalypse, torrential flooding and the threat of earthquake, a simple man embraces a curious nymph-like créature, pregnant and désirable, who stops clocks and awakens long-forgotten languages. Adapted from the work of José Rivera, "Cloud Tectonics" represents a singular approach to jazz-opera, masterfully written and performed by Laurent Cugny.

It must have been daunting for J.S Bach’s musical sons to work with his huge shadow. The fact that four of his children succeeded in becoming important and influential composers is both remarkable and proof of how extraordinary these men were. C.P.E and J.C Bach are perhaps the most famous of them, and of the other two, J.C.F and W.F, it is Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-84) who perhaps came closest to his father as a composer.

Telemann - La Chasse, Tragikomische Suites - Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (1999) {Harmonia Mundi, HMC 901654}
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© 1999 Harmonia Mundi | HMC 901654
Classical / Baroque / Orchestral

Telemann: Suites for Orchestra: La Chasse / Tragikomische Suite is 1999 Harmonia Mundi recording played by the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin. Roman Hinke has written the music and Derek Yeld has translated them into English. Also included is a short biography of Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin. Highly recommended. 5/5.

The appetite for evolving performance practices in Bach’s St Matthew Passion appears undiminished as we have gradually shifted, over the generations, from larger to smaller ensembles and also towards a greater dramatic understanding of the implications of Bach’s ambitious ‘stereophonic’ double choir and orchestra choreography.

Anonymous - Messe de Tournai, XIVe siècle - Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès (1990) {Harmonia Mundi HMA 1951353 rel 2006}
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© 1990, 2006 Harmonia Mundi | HMA 1951353
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / Polyphony / Sacred

This is an all-male vocal recording, including chant (Propers) and polyphony (Ordinary). The Mass of Tournai is early 14th century, a decade or so before that of Machaut. Some have argued that it does not show a unified design, and so Machaut's setting is the first unified mass cycle. The respective unities are not clear - at most it is a matter of degree - although it is not known whether this mass was composed by one composer or many. At any rate, it is the first mass cycle declared as such. The concluding Ite missa est leads into a true motet, with different texts in the two upper voices.