This 2010 production of La Cenerentola, recorded at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, is set in modern times. On the rather empty, bare stage there are a few elements which stand out: the colourful costumes, the two giant chandeliers and the 1970’s kitchen. Quoting the director’s own words, “the emptiness of the stage leaves room for creativity as the characters keep on changing and disguising their true identity. I have stuck to Rossini’s original notes while neglecting all the legends linked to the character of Cinderella”.

Gidon Kremer - Edition Lockenhaus (2011) {5CD Box Set, ECM New Series 2190-94}
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© 2011 ECM Records | ECM New Series 2190-94 / 4764509
Classical / Chamber Music / Concerto / Modern / Romantic / Neo-Classical

Five-CD limited-edition box set, issued in time for the 30th anniversary of the Austrian chamber-music festival. “Edition Lockenhaus” returns long out-of-print titles to the catalogue, with some of the finest musicians of the New Series, including Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, Heinz Holliger, Thomas Zehetmair, Thomas Demenga, Robert Levin, Eduard Brunner and many more. Gidon Kremer: “The artistic atmosphere in Lockenhaus soon has everybody speaking on the same wavelength.” The set opens with previously unreleased recordings – from 2001 and 2008 – with Sir Simon Rattle and Roman Kofman conducting Kremerata Baltica in revelatory performances of Richard Strauss’s “Metamorphosen” and Olivier Messiaen’s “Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine”: the committed interpretations convey the spirit of Lockenhaus. Discs two through five focus on music of César Franck, André Caplet, Francis Poulenc, Leos Janácek, Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Erwin Schulhoff. Original liner notes, an interview with Kremer, and new texts complete a very special edition.

The albums of the Buenos Aires / Paris series are a point of reference within the creative scene of electronic tango in Buenos Aires. Thanks to extensive research, Buenos Aires / Paris Troisième Voyage (the third volume of the saga) returns to present the most popular artists of this genre, with new tracks off of their most recent albums, material that has yet to be released and exclusive remixes. As we all know, electronic tango has developped into one of the new music styles of this century.

The re-issue of Incognito's debut album, Jazzfunk now includes the hit single of "Parisienne Girl"/"Summers Ended". Founded by Jean Paul Maunick in 1979, Incognito first led the jazz funk wave in British music (hence the self-defining title of this album) and then a decade later the acid jazz movement. And it should be noted the use of lower case letters in cover sleeves. Theirs is a music that is the epitome of the designer cool. With high production values, polite brass arrangements, soulful voices and a bass, which is slapped onto all but submission, Incognito create music, which is frankly low (to non-existent) in improvisation but high in funk. Seemingly perpetually in the summer, Incognito can brighten even the deepest of winters and Jazzfunk is guaranteed to melt any show drift which happens to blow its way. Also recommended is their 1995 album 100 Degrees and Rising. With Incognito the titles say it all.

The Bell was inspired by 19th century song cycles, a genre established by Schubert, and themes from Victorian England art and culture. It is divided into two parts, but each song is a story in its own right, all of them are fuelled by human cruelty and pain caused by it. Cruelty and different ways that we cope with it and suffer from it is the central theme of the album. This album is multi-layered and is, in many ways, a journey inwards, taking us inside of a mind of a person suffering from abuse or neglect or open hostility of the society or a specific person. And even though aesthetically the album is based on themes taken from Victorian England’s art and culture, it is mainly a way to look at ourselves and modern society and realise that at its core, humankind isn’t making much progress in terms of emotional maturity.