En faisant représenter son opéra Alcione en 1706, Marin Marais livrait la dernière grande « tragédie en musique » du règne finissant de Louis XIV. Composé comme il se devait à la gloire du souverain, le chef-d’œuvre de Marais combinait à merveille le livret d’Antoine Houdar de la Motte, la danse, la mythologie, le chant et l’action scénique.

Die Klaviermusik von Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) ist noch weithin unbekanntes, dabei faszinierendes Terrain. Der vielfach prämierte Pianist Janne Mertanen gibt einen ungewöhnlichen und idiomatisch gespielten Einblick in vielgestaltige Frühwerke, die häufig aus konkretem Widmungsanlass oder in Sibelius' Studienzeit entstanden.Zum musikalisch-intimen Programm gehören auch ausgesprochene Weihnachtspiecen oder sechs Bearbeitungen von finnischen Volksliedern für Piano. Manch eines dieser Klavierstücke tauchte dann wieder in anderen Werkszusammenhängen auf, sei es in symphonischen Dichtungen oder dem Streichquartett »Voces intimae«. Dieses Album lädt ein, Sibelius' private Klaviermusik zu erkunden.

The Naxos Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition: Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenth-century German authors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, and Heine. The Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition presents all Schubert’s Lieder, over 700 songs, grouped according to the poets who inspired him. Thanks to Bärenreiter’s Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (New Schubert Edition), Tübingen, which uses primary sources, the performers have been able to benefit from the most recent research of the editorial team. This disc is the third of a series devoted to Schubert’s friends, including Mayrhofer.

This two discs dedicated to the great Paris Symphonies that Haydn composed for Count D'Ogny in the mid-1780s. These were designed for a large and talented ensemble, and the atmospheric, clear and balanced sound achieved by the recording engineers allows for plenty of impact whenever it is required.

We at Challenge are proud to present a new account of Goldberg Variations by critically acclaimed young pianist Hannes Minnaar.

Ace of Base are one of the most successful groups on the planet. They have sold almost 40 million copies worldwide of their first four studio albums. But the fans know that there is more music recorded by the group. On Hidden Gems, ten previously unreleased songs are unveiled to the public for the very first time as well as five rare b-sides and bonus tracks so far only available in selected territories. These tracks were recorded between 1991 and 2006. Most of the songs are full blown recordings, left out of the original albums for various reasons.

This is one of the most anticipated Salsoul CD (and possible LP) releases ever - "The Salsoul Acappellas!! This incredible package combines all of the key Salsoul Acappellas plus some previously unavailable ones in one fantastic double CD. The Salsoul Acappellas" is a must-have package for DJ's, Producers, Bedroom DJ's/Producers and anyone else who is interested in collecting these rare acappellas of some of the greatest dance tunes ever. Sal Soul.

After having the promise of post-pandemic hope seemingly pulled out from under the world like a cheap rug, most of us could do with a balm. Songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine deliver the goods in the form of a truly comforting diversion. Stevens, of course, loves a concept album: He's made them about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Michigan and Illinois, and his mother's tragic life and death. This time, he teams with lo-fi California singer-songwriter De Augustine, who has made two albums for Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty label. The theme is philosophical musings on movies, ranging from Old Hollywood (All About Eve) to monster flicks (The Thing), horror (Hellraiser III, Night of the Living Dead), modern classics (She's Gotta Have It, Silence of the Lambs; the album is dedicated to director Jonathan Demme who died in 2017), even action (Point Break).

Unlike other labels subjected to exhaustive multi-disc retrospectives like this whopping ten-disc Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records – The First Fifty Years, Warner Brothers never embodied a scene or sound: they've always embodied what a major label should be – a dominant force that chronicles and dictates the sound of the mainstream. Coming out at the tail-end of 2008, when the influence of major labels is on a slow steady decline, Revolutions in Sound can be seen as a portrait of a time that's beginning to recede into the past: a time when there was such a thing as mass entertainment, when the pop audience all shared a common bond of hit records they either loved or rallied against. Perhaps the greatest things about this monumental box set is that it captures that colossus while also illustrating that for a while, majors did take risks. Of course, Warner was the riskiest of all the majors, never held back by an anti-rock & roll sourpuss like Mitch Miller, who struggled to keep CBS out of the tumult of the '60s (this with no less than Bob Dylan as the label's flagship rock artist). Instead, Warner embraced the underground, recording some of the strangest to shake out of the '60s, and that adventure fits a label that turned to rock & roll to help establish themselves as a real player at the turn of the '60s.

Temples are four young lads from Kettering who for all purposes sound like they just popped in from 1967 after a short trip on a paisley-bedecked TARDIS. They don't miss a single sonic trick; from soaring 12-string jangle to backwards-tracked guitars, flowing vocal harmonies, swooning Mellotrons, and baroque organ interludes, they know their musical history like they lived through it. Their 2014 debut, Sun Structures, is a nostalgia trip for sure, while at the same time sounding totally modern too. The band's vocalist/guitarist, James Bagshaw, produced the album and he goes for a sound that's happily mired in the past, but has a cleanly scrubbed punch that gives the album some real power. For example, the drums have a kick that would have been hard to get in 1967 unless you recorded at EMI Studio Two with George Martin at the helm…

Das Label "Memphis Recording Service" kündigt für den 24.09.2021 die Doppel-CD "Las Vegas International Presents Elvis, September 1970" mit dem unveröffentlichten Soundboardmitschnitt - so die Ankündigung - vom 02.09.1970, einer Bonus-CD mit den Proben vom 10.08.1970 und einem 40seitigem Booklet an.

Il existe presque autant d’œuvres de Beethoven sans numéro d’opus (WoO) que de partitions répertoriées « officiellement » par le compositeur. Si la plupart d’entre-elles ne changent pas grand chose à notre perception de son génie, certaines représentent les jalons qui le conduiront à son propre langage, alors que d’autres exploitent des aspects beaucoup moins connus de son travail de créateur. Cet album présente les tous premiers travaux de Beethoven qu’il n’a d’ailleurs jamais reniés puisqu’il écrira beaucoup plus tard sur un exemplaire imprimé : « Ces sonates et les variations de Dressler sont mes premières œuvres ».

Commissioned by the Federal Music Project at the height of the Great Depression, Florence Price composed her Third Symphony in the midst of the Chicago Renaissance, a powerful backdrop for writers and artists including Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Margaret Bonds. While her Second Symphony remains lost, Price's engaging Third Symphony reflects her growth as a composer, taking more risks, adding modern techniques, and expanding emotional elements as compared to her more traditional First Symphony.

Released in 2009. Features 120 originals hits from the 60s 70s 80s Europe, Duran Duran, Blondie, The Hollies,
Culture Club and More!

First live Steely Dan album in over 25 years, recorded across tour dates at Beacon Theatre, The Met Philadelphia & more. Featuring Hey Nineteen, Aja, Reelin' in the Years & more.