Might you have a reliable original edition of Modest Mussorgsky’s «Pictures at an Exhibition» for piano, that I could borrow? The request was made by Maurice Ravel in February 1922 to his friend «Calvo», full name Michel Dimitri Calvoressi, a Marseille-born British music critic and author with Greek roots. In the letter Ravel went so far as to underline the words «édition originale de Moussorgsky». So at least as far back as Ravel we have had this problem, one that Jun Märkl is even today all too aware of: the quest for the original Mussorgsky has always been difficult. Back then, Calvo was clearly unable to help the composer. Ravel, who had been delighted to receive a commission from the conductor Serge Koussevitzky for an instrumental arrangement of the piano cycle, had to content himself with the edition published in 1886, after Mussorgsky’s death, under the aegis of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – a version we now know to contain a number of corrections, typos and printing errors. The reasons for this can be found in the personal fate of the composer and in the well-meaning and in some cases essential retrospective editing of his oeuvre.

Wishful, nostalgic and dreamy romance set the tone for this elegant set of standards from the marvelously talented pianist Simon Mulligan.

Performing, recording and commissioning music by the legendary conductor and composer José Serebrier, throughout my almost 15-years long friendship and collaboration with him, has never been, for me, less than utterly fascinating and inspiring. José Serebrier (born in 1938) is today’s most frequently-recorded conductor, has collaborated with some of the world’s greatest soloists and orchestras, and is among the most sought-after guest conductors, constantly touring with major orchestras around the world. Serebrier established himself as a significant composer as far back as the 1950s, with over 100 published works. Born in Uruguay, of Russian and Polish parents, Serebrier composed music and conducted orchestras since early childhood, conceiving his Opus 1 – Sonata for solo violin at the age of 9, and making his conducting debut at age 11.

The early 20th century saw the Ukrainian region suffer considerable political instability and oppression. Following the long and bitterly fought war of independence (1917 to 1921), the Soviet government introduced a new policy of korenizatsiya (‘putting down roots’) which allowed the Soviet republics much greater freedom. This resulted in a vibrant yet short-lived cultural renaissance, and the emergence of a new generation of artists, writers, and musicians who drew variously on Eastern and Western models while looking to their national heritage.

Dec Burke former guitarist/ vocalist with acclaimed UK progressive rockers Frost* as well as Dilemma, Audio Plastik, Darwin’s Radio and numerous solo projects, is back with a brand new solo album, released in September 2021. Life In Two Dimensions is an album of our times, written against the backdrop of the UK lockdown throughout 2020. It covers themes of loss, hope, excitement, and the modern world of endless advertising and materialism. The music is powerful, guitar driven with songs ranging in direction from melodic ballad rock, through all out immediate rock, to complex and progressive.

Das SWR Vokalensemble gehört zu den besten Chören der Welt. Ein weiterer Baustein in der Serie mit Chorwerken aus verschiedenen Ländern. Sehr selten aufgeführte Werke von Szymanowski, Gorecki, Haubenstock-Ramati und Lutoslawski, den bedeutendsten polnischen Komponisten. Dass Polen besonders im 20. Jahrhundert so viele und so herausragende Komponisten hervorgebracht hat, ist angesichts der politischen Geschichte des Landes sehr überraschend. Nach dem 2. Weltkrieg und nach Stalins Tod brach sich auf dem Musikfestival 'Warschauer Herbst' 1956 die aufgestaute Kreativität Bahn und es präsentierte sich das ungeheure musikalische Potential des Landes einer erstaunten Weltöffentlichkeit.

Lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and drummer Jan Rechberger formed the band Amorphis in Finland in 1990. To complete their lineup they recruited vocalist/guitarist Tomi Koivusaari and bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. They released a demo in 1991 called Disment of Soul. The demo was so successful in getting attention for the group that they acquired a record deal and released an EP the same year. They next released their first full-length album, The Karelian Isthmus, in 1992. The following year, their early demo recording session was released as Privilege of Evil…

This collection of five cantatas by Telemann (out of the nearly 1,500 he composed!) are all dark-hued and contemplative. They are concerned mostly with death, faith in God to the end, life's ephemeral nature, and the desire for a clean soul. But out of such somber, austere subject matter comes not only very beautiful music, but greater variety than one might suppose. In "Sei getreu bis in den tod" (Be faithful unto death), Telemann gives us four arias for separate voice types, and while the accompanying instrumentation remains sparse–organ and strings–he varies the moods by subtle shifts in tempi, the occasional use of pizzicato strings against a solo violin, and so forth. When a chorus is called for, Junghänel uses the five soloists. The effect is very intimate and just right for the meditative quality of the works.

Salute to the Sun: Live at Hallé St Peter’s documents a very special concert recorded at the iconic Manchester venue during lockdown.