Silent Fosse

This double album from the Accent label collects two single recordings, one made in Ghent in 1994, the other in Corsica and Frankfurt in 2003 and 2005. The second shares only a few musicians with the first but is essentially made of the same stuff, so you might wonder what exactly is added. The pieces on the second CD are generally longer, more serious, and more intricate.

During the early nineteenth century the new 1804 Viennese version of La Clemenza di Tito, was Mozart's most popular opera in Europe. However, in keeping with the practice during that period, it was performed in versions adapted to the times and the taste of the opera public and this is precisely the starting point for our recording's conductor Alessandro De Marchi. He would like to present Tito in the form in which it was staged and acclaimed in great houses from the Vienna Court Opera to the Milan Scala and from Dresden and Hamburg to Paris during the early years of the nineteenth century. Our recording is based on the acclaimed production at the Innsbruck Festival Weeks 2013 with the Academia Montis Regalis performing on historical instruments.

Wim Mertens - Platinum Collection (2008) {3CD Set EMI Classics 5099920837426}
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© 2008 Usura / EMI Classics | 5099920837426}
Classical / Minimalism / Neo-Classical / New Age / Contemporary Instrumental / Avant-Garde

This Belgian composer is not well known among U.S. audiences, although he has made several highly regarded appearances at the New Music America festivals. In Spain, however, where he was the subject of a major television special, he is a new-music celebrity. Mertens's style employs mesmerizing minimalist techniques with a sense of the romantic that appeals to both serious music aficionados and more mainstream listeners. The keyboardist uses a certain amount of electronics along with some acoustic instruments like violin, flute, and saxophone.

The double album collects the thirty-two songs, over two hours of music from Renato Zero's concert, last summer at the Arena di Verona.

Wim Mertens - Whisper Me (1988) {Windham Hill WD-1079}
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© 1988 Les Disques du Crépuscule / Windham Hill Records | WD-1079
Classical / Minimalism / Neo-Classical / Contemporary Instrumental

One can imagine how a composer like Wim Mertens could appear on the Windham Hill label and – to some people's surprise – in the late '80s he appeared twice. Whisper Me is a compilation of tracks from his other Crepuscle releases, a mini-overview of his style, and a way of hearing some tracks from the then-impossible-to-find Maximizing the Audience. Mertens has more depth to him than other pianists on the label, and a darkness creeps in at the edges of these works.