The Norwegian all-female choir Cantus shot to worldwide fame thanks to the song Vuelie featured in the Disney movie Frozen. In fact the ensemble's traditional outfits influenced the entire look of the animated film from the very start, when studio personnel picked up some of Cantus's earlier CDs on a research trip to Norway. Produced by multiple award winner Jon Cohen, Northern Lights includes Vuelie alongside several other pieces by the same composer, Frode Fjellheim.

The first disc we released with Freddy Kempf playing Beethoven (BIS-CD-1120) was welcomed with great acclaim all over the world. English reviewers called his interpretations "fresh, vibrant readings presented in a fluent eagerly communicative style‚ (Gramophone) and judged that "Kempf's insight into the character of each of these Olympian masterpieces is astonishing and is allied to formidable virtuosity and musicianship" (Sunday Telegraph). Of course the great thing about Beethoven, as with all great music, is that there are no definitive performances.

Award-winning British pianist Freddy Kempf had already made a name for himself performing these Liszt Études live before releasing this recording in 2002, all while still in his early 20s.

Elisabeth Leonskaja is a highly respected (former Soviet) pianist whose career blossomed in the shadow of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. Known for her modesty – not unlike older compatriot Maria Yudina – Leonskaja was mentored by Richter and often played duets with him. She would never reach the critical and artistic heights of her great teacher, but her reputation as an imaginative interpreter and formidable technician have lifted her to almost legendary status, with comparisons to Clara Haskil and other keyboard icons.

This live recording of a group of Haydn's late masterworks lies at the intersection of several tales of trouble – that of Simon Rattle's conductorship of the venerable Berlin Philharmonic, that of the EMI label's flagging fortunes and those of the classical recording industry in general, and that of the attempts of the massive symphony orchestras rooted in the nineteenth century to remain relevant in music written by composers who for the most part had no inkling of their existence. The results are, well, troubled. Rattle tries to borrow a page from the authentic-performance book, using a small group of strings with little vibrato and striving for transparent textures that reveal Haydn's wind and horn parts.