The popular Prelude & the so-called Liebestod (“Mild und Leise”) from Richard Wagner’s music drama Tristan und Isolde are the most familiar parts orchestras play, most often in the 1859 concert arrangement by Wagner. (He preferred that the term Liebestod be applied to the Prelude only, & originally titled his concert version Liebestod und Verklärung, or “Love-death & Transfiguration.”) The featured work of this Chandos SACD is the 1994 suite arranged by Henk de Vlieger, fashioned from key parts of the entire opera, not just the beginning & end. Tristan und Isolde: An Orchestral Passion is a lengthy tone poem that includes key passages, in much the same manner as de Vlieger’s other symphonic syntheses on Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, & Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (At The Drive-In/Mars Volta) is in the midst of releasing a series of solo albums via Ipecac Recordings. Roman Lips is the 14th album in the series, and the second of a further 12 solo records to be released in 2017.

The works presented here belong among the most inventive repertoire for cello and electronics of our time. They invite us to become wondering listeners, to discover new realms of exceptional musical originality, connecting and intertwining the triangle of mind, body and soul; heart, intellect and pleasure; respiration, sensuality and thought.

Amongst the operas, the orchestral works and the songs, for which he is very well known, Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (1842-1912) also wrote a piano concerto and various piano pieces. These include a cycle of Improvisations, Ten pieces "de genre" (Op. 10), 2 Valses, 2 Impressions, and some other separated pieces. It can be identified with relative ease the Melodie, alas 'Elégie', the famous song. The CD also include the recording of two transcriptions derived from famous Massenet's melodies: the Meditation from 'Thais', and the 'Aragonaise' from 'Le Cid'. The character of Massenet's music here is mostly cantabile with some virtuoso and fast pieces which give a great variety to the series.

The extraordinary, emotional impact of the Duo Rùnya recording seems to come from a single musical soul, always profoundly alive, and able to create emotionally exalted states . Carlo Guaitoli, pianist and pedagogue. Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979) was an English classical composer and violist best known for her chamber music featuring the viola. The impressionism of Debussy is often mentioned in connection with Clarke's work, particularly its lush textures and modernistic harmonies.

A genial conductor with a particular gift for French music, Charles Munch extended the Boston Symphony's glory years (begun under the baton of Serge Koussevitzky) into the early 1960s. Munch was so venerated that conservative Bostonians even declined to fuss over rumors that he was having an affair with his niece, pianist Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer; they wrote it off as part of his romantic French nature. Paradoxically, Munch was not precisely French. He was born in Alsace-Lorraine, which at the time (1891) was controlled by Germany and has long hovered between two cultural worlds. Munch himself benefitted from both French and German musical training, and his first important musical posts were in Germany…

Four young Seattle brass players, all relocated to New York City to study at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, decided to form a quartet in late 2011. Through much experimentation they discovered a colorful collective sound that drew from American folk music, indie rock, jazz, and classical music. For the next two years they performed constantly in both cities, creating and developing a large repertoire of original compositions. In early 2013 The Westerlies were approached by their Seattle-based teacher, friend, and mentor, Wayne Horvitz, to create a record of his music.

JAPANDROIDS is a two-piece band from Vancouver, BC., which began in 2006 and consists of Brian King and David Prowse. JAPANDROIDS are one guitar, one set of drums, and two vocalizers. JAPANDROIDS are maximal in their delivery; a two- piece band sounding like a five-piece band. With the release of their second album, Celebration Rock in 2012 the band embarked on what seemed like an endless world tour, performing over 200 shows in over 40 countries, and played their final show in support of Celebration Rock in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 2013. They would not perform live again for three years.

Rimsky-Korsakov described Taneyev’s best music as possessing ‘a wealth of beauty and expressiveness’, a verdict with which no one is likely to disagree after hearing the piano trio recorded here. Rimsky was (unjustly) disparaging towards his own, unfinished, trio, which emerges as a brooding, substantial work well worthy of revival.