Terra Forming

Canticum Novum sheds new light on the wonderful medieval repertory of Tuscan laude. Taken from the Laudario di Cortona, these popular sacred songs of praise from the time of St Francis of Assisi, overflowing with poetry and sunshine, are transcended by Emmanuel Bardon and his ensemble. Appropriating another culture and playing it through the prism of ones own culture, not to imitate it but to resonate with it: this I show the art project Canticum Novum has been defining its deep self for many years now. Working this way, the musicians forming the ensemble constantly question their own musical identity, the way they play their instruments. They often accept to leave their comfort zone and to relearn how to play, adapting to the repertory to be interpreted and their present colleagues. The idea is not to contort oneself in order to play another repertory but to move towards it.

It's rare that a band's debut album sounds as confident and self-assured as Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever's Hope Downs. To say that the first full-length from the Melbourne quintet improves on their buzz-building EPs from the last few years would be an understatement: the promise those early releases hinted at is fully realized here, with ten songs of urgent, passionate guitar pop that elicit warm memories of bands past, from the Go-Betweens' jangle to the charmingly lo-fi trappings of New Zealand's Flying Nun label. But don't mistake Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever for nostalgists: Hope Downs is the sound of a band finding its own collective voice. The hard-hitting debut album is a testament to Rolling Blackouts C.F.’s tight-knit and hard-working bonafides.

Alessandro Scarlatti – Lamentazioni per la Settimana Santa
Cristina Miatello - Ensemble Aurora / Enrico Gatti
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 550 MB | Artwork: 22 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Glossa # GCD 921205 | Country/Year: Europe 2011, 1992
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Sacred, Vocal

"…This is the only complete recording that I know of this work. It was recorded in 1992 for Symphonia, and probably did not have a great deal of circulation on that less well-known label. (…) If you don’t have the original release in your collection, this is definitely the one you should get. It is an outstanding recording that has certainly stood the test of time." ~Fanfare

Claudio Abbado’s career with Deutsche Grammophon stretched back over more than four decades. He was as much a man of the theater as he was one of the greatest of all late 20th century symphonic conductors, and many of his opera recordings remain unsurpassed in the catalog. Building on the huge success of Claudio Abbado – The Symphony Edition, comes The Opera Edition: 60 CDs presenting Maestro’s complete opera recordings for Deutsche Gramophone and Decca.

Born on 15 April 1924 in Lincoln, Sir Neville Marriner studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He began his career as a violinist, playing first in a string quartet and trio, then in the London Symphony Orchestra. It was during this period that he founded the Academy, with the aim of forming a top-class chamber ensemble from London’s finest players. Beginning as a group of friends who gathered to rehearse in Sir Neville’s front room, the Academy gave its first performance in its namesake church in 1959. The Academy now enjoys one of the largest discographies of any chamber orchestra worldwide, and its partnership with Sir Neville Marriner is the most recorded of any orchestra and conductor.

Perhaps the leading post-Harnoncourt cellist in the early music movement, Christophe Coin has developed a particular interest in music of late eighteenth century Vienna. He began studying the cello as a child in Caen, then enrolled in the Paris Conservatory, where his principal teacher was André Navarra. After taking first prize in a conservatory competition, Coin moved to Vienna where, at the Academy for Music, he became a disciple of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and performed in the latter's Concentus Musicus.