Legacy Recordings will celebrate the 80th birthday of Kris Kristofferson with the June 10 release of The Complete Monument & Columbia Album Collection, a 16-CD deluxe box set.

Each year from 1684 to 1686, Marc-Antoine Charpentier offered a Christmas pastorale to his patron, Marie de Lorraine. After the death of the boy Louis-Joseph, the last male heir of the line, the figure of the Christ-Child occupied a central place in the devotions of the Guise family. The pastorales and antiphons written in this context and recorded here are at the intersection of the sacred and secular genres, of the popular and the learned. They evoke the mystery of birth with a profoundly moving blend of naïveté and gravity.

These works, both written at the beginning of the 20th century, are inspired by the religious rites of ancient times. - The Sacre was thought by Stravinsky to transcribe in music the pagan celebrations of polytheistic Russia when Debussy Dreamed of producing a more heterogeneous picture of the different customs of the world of yore. The two men were friends and maintained a correspondence which suggests that Debussy was fascinated and inspired by The Rite of Spring - whose first at the TCE in 1913 deeply marked the spirits.

Gianluca Cascioli’s career as pianist was launched with his victory at the 1994 Umberto Micheli International Piano Competition before a jury that included Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Maurizio Pollini, and Charles Rosen.

“Amazing Game - Instrumental Music” Author’s introduction. This repertoire consists of recordings made at different times (from the 90s to the present day), for sound tracks of theatre productions and for study and experimental purposes, that I had very carefully tucked away at the back of various drawers.

On her new album, cello superstar Sol Gabetta teams up with one of the best young artists, French pianist Bertrand Chamayou. Gabetta and Chamayou have played together on many occasions and quickly became both friends and artistic partners. They collaborated on the album concept and will tour this repertoire in Europe throughout 2015. The Chopin Album contains a selection of pieces by well-loved composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) as well as music by his close friend, the composer and cellist Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (1808-1884).