Netherlands

The fourth CD by the leading Dutch composer Robin de Raaf on Challenge Classic is a complex and impressive oratorio that renovates the contemporary perspective of this musical genre. 'Atlantis', which is dedicated to Pierre Boulez, was recorded live. Robin de Raaff completed Atlantis in the summer of 2016.

Bike cobblestone streets, cruise on charming canals, and stop and smell the tulips: experience the Netherlands with Rick Steves!

Amongst the many recordings made by the internationally renowned conductor Jaap van Zweden have been highly successful cycles of the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms. He is currently working on a series of Hybrid SACDs with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic for Octavia and Challenge Classics featuring the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, and recordings of Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 8 and 9 have already been released to great critical acclaim. This disc features the Third Symphony in D minor, which was dedicated to Richard Wagner.

How is it that music that is so precise and obviously well organised can at the same time move with unforced, almost improvisational fluidity? And how can it be that atonal music sounds so natural and accessible? It's because De Raaff's music is nature itself; geometrically and architecturally stylised music it may be, but no different to the way a tree puts out its branches or how a leaf forms its veins.