Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva perform a stunning selection of French 20th-century music for piano four hands. Both Milhaud and Poulenc were members of Les Six, a band of composers who specialised in producing colourful, quirky and highly original scores. Milhaud’s Scaramouche epitomises the wit and joie de vivre of this approach and has become one of his most popular works – although at the time the composer nearly forbade its publication. Poulenc combined grace and sparkling humour with a nobility that reflected his desire for a ‘return to simplicity’. His Élégie was written ‘as if improvising with a cigar in your mouth and a glass of cognac on the table’, while the Sonata for Four Hands is full of finger-crossing intricacies, and at the heart of the Sonata for Two Pianos is an Andantino described by the composer as ‘a lyrical, profound outburst… It is piano without pretence, real piano where each instrument converses with the other in perfect understanding and without interrupting.’ Debussy’s evocative Nocturnes arranged by Ravel conclude the release.

The greatest of Mozart's wind serenades and the toughest of Alban Berg's major works might seem an unlikely pairing, but in an interview included with the sleeve notes for this release, Pierre Boulez points up their similarities. Both works are scored for an ensemble of 13 wind instruments (with solo violin and piano as well in the Berg) and both include large-scale variations as one of their movements - and Boulez makes the comparisons plausible enough in these lucid performances. It's rare to hear him conducting Mozart, too, and if the performance is a little brisker and more strait-laced than ideal, the EIC's phrasing is a model of clarity and good taste. It's the performance of the Berg, though, that makes this such an important issue; both soloists, Mitsuko Uchida and Christian Tetzlaff, are perfectly attuned to Boulez's approach - they have given a number of performances of the Chamber Concerto before - and the combination of accuracy and textural clarity with the highly wrought expressiveness that is the essence of Berg's music is perfectly caught.

The restoration of this pastoral drama, created in 1721 in Milan, was supervised by French musicologist and Vivaldi specialist Frederic Delamea. These landmark performances from the Nice Baroque Ensemble are lead by Gilbert Bezzina and feature a cast of international soloists including Roberta Invernizzi, Gloria Banditelli, Johan Elwes and Philippe Cantor.

Album notes The exact spelling of the title is crucial here, for this is the original French version of 'La Favorite' written for the Theatre l'Opera in Paris, not the frequently performed but badly censored and edited Italian version, 'La Favorita.' In the tradition of French grand opera, the subject is historical, involving a love triangle in the court of King Alphonse XI in 14th-century Seville. And though it is not regarded to be among the greatest of Gaetano Donizetti's works, it is still his work, and as such, brimming with melody and opportunities for beautiful singing. This live performance features the ravishing voice of Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova as Léonor de Guzman, the favorite of the title, and the alert direction of Marcello Viotti, whose Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra is recorded with great clarity and presence, beautifully balanced with the singers in a natural, atmospheric soundstage.

Pour tous ceux qui ne connaissaient pas la musique sacrée de Jommelli, ce CD apportera la preuve éclatante du talent et de la versatilité d’un compositeur né et mort près de Naples, mais dont l’essentiel de la carrière se déroula à Stuttgart, Vienne, Rome ainsi que dans la plupart des grandes villes italiennes.

Transcriptions of chamber works to orchestral works have been interesting asides for composers for a long time - whether the transcription are alterations of a composer's own songs or chamber works to full orchestral size or those of other composers for which the transcriber had a particular affinity. Stokowski's transcriptions of Bach's works are probably the most familiar to audiences. The two transcriptions on this recording are the creations Gustav Mahler and his election to transcribe the quartets of Beethoven and Schubert is not surprising: Mahler 'transcribed' many of his own songs into movements or portions of movements for his own symphonies. Listening to Mahler's transcriptions of these two well known quartets - Franz Schubert's String Quartet in D Minor 'Death and the Maiden' and Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor 'Serioso' - provides insight into both the orginal compositions and the orchestration concepts of Gustav Mahler. The themes of these two works would naturally appeal to Mahler's somber nature. Mahler naturally extends the tonal sound of each of these transcriptions by using the full string orchestra and in both works it is readily apparent that his compositional techniques within string sections are ever present.

A Change of Seasons is a strange disc. There are only five tracks but with a total time that approaches an hour anyway. The first track, the 23-minute, seven-part epic "A Change of Seasons," is one of the most impressive pieces of music ever written in the progressive metal vein. With the same heavy sound that marked Awake, but with many other styles mixed in, the track features incredible playing, dramatic, complex instrumental arrangements, and soaring vocals. New keyboardist Derek Sherinian (formerly of Kiss and Alice Cooper) adds his own stamp to the Dream Theater sound as if he'd always been with them. The remainder of the tracks are live cover tunes, recorded from the band's "Uncovered" gig at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club; the material varies widely and includes Elton John's "Love Lies Bleeding" and Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers." The final track, "The Big Medley," has to be heard to be believed…

Tonton Macoute was a British Progressive Rock band that released this self-titled debut in 1971 and then disappeared! This is very unfortunate, as they were a very talented group of musicians. Perhaps naming a band after a Haitian paramilitary force may not have been the best choice, but they were truly a remarkable band. Their record is full of jazz-inspired prog rock with long instrumental interplay in even longer tracks. Their music oozes fun and good-natured moods and should please most everyone, even the ones wary of jazz-tinged music, as this is hardly their only inspiration. Highly recommended to the progheads that seek to deepen their knowledge of early 70's prog rock and looking for unknown gems such as this one. This got released on CD by Repertoire Records.

This CD (which augments the original LP program with two alternate takes) is a fine showcase for vocalese master Eddie Jefferson. Backed by either a tentet or a quintet that gives solo space to altoist James Moody and the tenor of Johnny Griffin, Jefferson sings his lyrics to such numbers as "Take the 'A' Train," "Billie's Bounce," "I Cover the Waterfront," "Parker's Mood" (the latter differs from the famous lines immortalized by King Pleasure), "A Night in Tunisia," and "Body and Soul," among others. Jefferson is in prime form and these boppish renditions as a whole form a near classic.

Just in time for the holiday season, Seraphic Fire’s 17th studio album, The Apple Tree: Christmas with Seraphic Fire, will be available to purchase and stream on all major platforms on Nov. 17. James K. Bass, the conductor of the album, said of the project, “One of the goals we were trying to achieve on the new Christmas recording was to capture the intimate atmosphere the audience experiences when they walk into the candlelit sanctuary surrounded by 13 a cappella voices singing such magnificent and meaningful music.”

This album hums and growls, it whispers very delicately and causes a pleasant feeling again and again. It is the warm, deep and full tone of the double bass that has taken hold of the young Viennese soloist Dominik Wagner. This is already the fourth album he is releasing on the label Berlin Classics. As on the three previous albums, he has placed the double bass at the center, and yet everything is different on the new album "Double Bass Rhapsody". Here, the double bass is heard exclusively as a solo instrument, in a quartet and even in a sextet. For this, Dominik Wagner has enlisted the best colleagues he can imagine: Christoph Wimmer and Herbert Mayr, both principal double bassists of the Vienna Philharmonic, who share with him an authentic connection to the Viennese style. And José Trigo, deputy principal double bass of the BR Symphony Orchestra, who, like Dominik Wagner, also studied with Professor Dorin Marc. "In order to bring out the special features of the double bass, there is no need for any other instrument" explains Dominik Wagner.

EVERGREENS celebrates Streisand’s 60th anniversary as a Columbia Records artist. The album features 22 songs hand selected by Barbra as some of her favorite pieces throughout her career - many are deep tracks. None of these tracks have appeared on previous Streisand compilation albums before.