Admirers of the string quartets of Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel will be happy to discover the refined string quartets of Charles Koechlin, a contemporary of those composers who wrote in a rather similar vein. These attractive chamber works, like the rest of Koechlin's oeuvre, are quite obscure and had been unduly neglected until the Ardeo Quartet chose to record them for its debut CD on Ar Re-Se. The String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 51, is dated 1911-1913, though it appears to have gestated since 1902, and the String Quartet No. 2, Op. 57, was mostly composed between 1911 and 1916, though its sketches show some material going back to 1909; both works therefore partake of musical styles developed between fin de siècle Impressionism and the later innovations of Erik Satie and Les Six, but these works reveal a stronger emphasis on the former. The sweet, placid music that flows in both quartets is balanced by some jaunty, folk-like elements and occasional flirtations with changing time signatures and polytonality, but the calm atmosphere of these quartets is largely undisturbed by the encroachments of modernism.

No praise can be too great for the palpable dedication and sensitivity of these performances…

Engaging and cordial, these splendid performances of some of Bach's finest compositions breath to life through this recording with the assistance and inspiration of organist E. Power Biggs. Light, lush and radiant, these beautiful organ melodies take the listener on a journey to paradise, and to the top of the world's classical music heaven, feeling like one has met J. S. Bach personally. Such a definitive collection put together and sold on the market within the last three decades is quite rare, especially for such a classy label as Columbia.

The second release in Stile Antico’s ‘Golden Renaissance’ trilogy on the Decca Classics label commemorates 400 years since the death of the superb English composer William Byrd. Our programme focuses on the music of his final years, written for the clandestine Catholic services of his Essex patron, including his timeless Mass for Four Voices and his exuberant Propers for the Feast of the Assumption. We also perform several of his “sacred songs” in both English and Latin, and his mighty Tribue Domine, a homage to the music of an older generation of composers.

La Main Harmonique was founded to promote mediaeval and Renaissance music. The term refers to a mnemonic device which takes its name from the early theoretician, Guido d'Arezzo. One starts by feeling encouraged that yet another small, independent, group is dedicated to furthering polyphonic and solo music from the period. It doesn't take very long for that encouragement to be justified. Theirs is singing of great poise, delicacy and precision as they work their way sensitively through small-scale works from the courts of the Château de Moulins and Duke of Bourbon during the reigns of Anne and Pierre II of Beaujeu in the later fifteenth century.

Bach Chorales & Sonatas features music arranged for and by the Palladian Ensemble. Many of the pieces on this recording were written in Bach's Leipzig days. The famous lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss performed at the Bachische Collegium Musicum at this time, so it not unrealistic that the sonatas may have been performed as arranged on this disc.

Renata Scotto shows an amazing flexibility and control. Her Caro nome is one to be heard many times. She reaches a high D and decrescendo's to an incredible ppp. I felt the aria drug a little in tempo, but the gorgeous sound more than made up for it. As Rigoletto, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has the vocal power demanded by the score. Too often he sounded as if he was delivering a recital of Leider. A smooth velvet sound was his mark throughout. In his duets with Gilda, this payed off handsomely. Even in his dealings with the courtiers after Gilda's abduction he showed us a rarely seen Dietrich blustery side.

This 1987 album followed in the footsteps of Los Lobos' two stunning predecessors (And A Time To Dance and How Will the Wolf Survive). One of the band's many strengths is the contrast between the formidable songwriting of David Hidalgo/Louie Perez and Cesar Rosas, with the former exploring stories of sadness and hope while the latter rocks like a barn on fire. This is an album of incredibly natural songs; they roll out like long lost classics, but that's simply another testament to the prowess of this band as players and writers. In a way, this was the band's last offering before they were forced to take stock of themselves and their goals in the wake of the surprise million-selling La Bamba soundtrack. That they were able to carry themselves forward from that point with grace and aplomb is foreshadowed in the utter honesty of this and all of their music.

Japanese Edition with 2 bonus tracks.
Imaginations from the Other Side teams Blind Guardian with Metallica producer Flemming Rasmussen. Since Blind Guardian was always somewhat influenced by Metallica, the match is a natural one, and results in one of the band's better albums, balancing the epic, neo-classical elements of their sound nicely with the power metal grooves. The band's compositional skill reaches its peak on Imaginations, making it their best and most complex work to date.