If ever a Fuga Libera release has been eagerly awaited, sure it is this one: a first recording with orchestra for Severin von Eckardstein, the briliant 1st laureate of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Music Competition; the first recording of a radiant National Orchestra of Belgium under its new musical director Walter Weller, a musician who brought so much to the recording industry - as well with his mythic string quartet as with the baton in hand.

Peter Benoit (1834-1901) inspired a renaissance in Flemish music, composing magnificent choral works in Flemish despite the cultural predominance of French in Belgian society. Many of his compositions were performed during open-air concerts attended by large crowds. Moreover, this changemaker also helped found several Antwerp art institutions that define local cultural life to this day. Benoit’s extensive and timeless oeuvre spans numerous genres, from religious music in Latin to monumental oratorios in the vernacular. As a proud ambassador of Benoit’s music, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra pays the ultimate tribute to the spiritual father of Flemish music with this CD box, featuring a collection of his greatest masterpieces, performed live with an international cast of soloists, choirs and conductors.

César Franck considered Les Béatitudes, for soloists, choir and orchestra, to be his greatest work. It was perhaps Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion that prompted him to begin a work in 1869 that too would be dominated by the voice of Christ. Franck worked on Les Béatitudes for ten years and created an original and deeply personal renewal of the oratorio form in 19th-century France. This is no simple musical depiction of a subject taken from the Gospel: Franck, a firm believer in the precepts of the Beatitudes, was here inspired to write a bold and personal work, driven by the ideal of justice that its music unforgettable portrays.

The wonderful timbres of original Baroque instruments and the vigorous period interpretations by Paul Dombrecht and Il Fondamento go far to make this 2004 release a delightful listening experience, even if Johann Friedrich Fasch's music falls short of genius. Not that Fasch was considered a mediocrity in his time: despite his later reputation as a modest Prussian kapellmeister, he was widely traveled, well-educated, and popular in his youth; and he enjoyed the benefits brought by continued publication of his Ouvertures, even after settling down in Zerbst in 1722.

Hommage de sa ville natale à l’occasion du bicentenaire de la naissance du compositeur, cette intégrale de l’orchestre de César Franck contient son lot de découvertes et de surprises. Enregistrée entre 2009 et 2021 dans la belle Salle Philharmonique de Liège par l’Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de la ville des bords de la Meuse, elle réunit des enregistrements sous la direction de ses directeurs artistiques successifs et de chefs invités : Christian Arming, Pierre Bleuse, Gergely Madaras, Hervé Niquet et François-Xavier Roth.

Dhrupad is the oldest and purest genre within the North Indian classical music and can trace its origins to the recitation of Sanskrit texts in Hindu temples more than two thousand years ago. Dhrupad reached the Mughal courts in Rajasthan in the 16th century, where it developed into a classical art form. Dhrupad Fantasia is a meeting of the court music of Queen Elizabeth I of England with that of the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great; both monarchs reigned from about 1550 until 1600. Romina Lischka has created a wondrous fantasy in which the modality of Indian ragas is interwoven with the polyphony of Elizabeth I’s England. She, the Hathor Consort and dhrupad vocalist Uday Bhawalkar have created an imaginary world by combining improvisations based on modal ragas and polyphonic instrumental music, both of which originated in the art music of the aforementioned courts.

The chamber choir Key Ensemble from Turku has claimed a position as one of the most interesting top choirs in Finland. It has been noted for its pure, balanced and distinctive sound, and for its innovative programme planning.

João Barradas enregistre son premier album classique avec des musiques de compositeurs aussi différents que Johann Sebastian Bach, Luciano Berio, Yann Robin, Domenico Scarlatti, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck et Astor Piazzolla. Barradas est devenu le premier accordéoniste à recevoir la distinction ECHO Rising Star de l'European Concert Hall Organization. Ce double album comprend l'intégralité du programme récemment présenté dans les salles de concert aussi diverses que le Concertgebouw d'Amsterdam, le Konzerthaus de Vienne, la Philharmonie de Paris et le Tribeca Performing Arts Center de New York. L'accordéoniste a remporté deux des plus prestigieux concours internationaux d'accordéon, notamment le Trophée mondial de l'accordéon (CMA), qu'il a gagné à deux reprises, la Coupe mondiale de l'accordéon (CIA), le Concours international Castelfidardo et le Concours international Okud Istra. Cet enregistrement est réalisé en collaboration avec la Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, la Casa da Música Porto et la Philharmonie Luxembourg.

Fondé en 2009 à Bâle, en Suisse, par Arianna Savall et Petter Udland Johansen, le groupe musical Hirundo Maris s’est spécialisé dans le répertoire de la musique ancienne du Moyen Âge au baroque en y ajoutant des compositions de leur cru. De par l’origine de ses fondateurs, leur noyau créatif englobe les musiques méditerranéenne et nordique. Après un premier project pour ECM, les revoici dans un nouveau projet sous le label Fuga Libera.

Sjaella is the vocal ensemble of the moment to discover! Six talented and effervescent female singers who are not afraid of anything and demonstrate as much in a programme entitled "Origins", ranging from seventieth-century repertory to contemporary pieces. Out of the ether, into existence. The initial point. The beginning. The ever-recurring origin. Between minimalism and picturesque arias arise light, time, and all life.

ΙΕΡΟΣ / HIEROS (in ancient Greek: sacred), performed by the vocal trio of Ensemble Céladon, opens up a musical reflection by alternating medieval music with contemporary composition. With this first recording sung entirely a cappella, the ensemble, led by Paulin Bündgen, examines the definition of the "sacred" and its evolution through the centuries. From the thirteenth-century conductus of the School of Notre-Dame to the six works of Jean-Philippe Goude, how has this sentiment, which inhabited and guided the artists of the Middle Ages, evolved? What meaning and place does our modern world give it? As is often the case, the answer becomes tangible when formulated in music.

Founded nearly eighty years ago, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne enjoys an enviable reputation and has welcomed the greatest artists as its guests, from Clara Haskil and Alfred Cortot to Murray Perahia and Martha Argerich, from Paul Hindemith to Günter Wand. Despite its long history, the orchestra has had only six musical directors, including Armin Jordan from 1973 to 1985. The young American conductor Joshua Weilerstein succeeded Christian Zacharias in 2015. In addition to his conducting skills and his interest in rare repertory, he has also brought a love of musical outreach. His very popular podcast, ‘Sticky Notes’, discusses music in an accessible way. This recording is devoted to Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphonies opp.73a and 83a, which are Rudolf Barshai’s arrangements of the String Quartets nos. 3 and 4. Barshai, one of the leading violists of his time, was a friend of Shostakovich and their collaboration was long and intensive. The chamber orchestra arrangements of these famous quartets offer a completely different perspective on the original works and were praised by Shostakovich himself, who reportedly said of one of them that it ‘sounded better than the original’. As a complement to the two works, Joshua Weilerstein shares his interpretation in a bonus spoken word track.

The Zadig Trio came together when two childhood friends from France, Boris Borgolotto and Marc Girard Garcia, met American pianist, Ian Barber. Already, they have been awarded 11 international prizes at international competitions in France, Italy, Austria and USA. With depth and passion they play a repertoire that goes from Haydn to contemporary composers.

For Ferruccio Busoni, Bach’s music was the root and the foundation of piano playing. His many transcriptions confirm this point of view, whilst his monumental Fantasia Contrappuntistica attempts to provide a conclusion to Bach’s unfinished Kunst der Fuge. Busoni received a great deal of criticism for this, to which he replied “the musical art-work exists both within and outside of Time… there is no Old or New. There is only Known or Unknown”. Today — one century and many fashions of “authentic” ways of performing Bach later — is possibly the time to rediscover the true voice of this great musician; for Bach, music was like “a divine child who did not touch the earth with his feet but floated on air”. Jan Michiels takes you into this divine air with an ‘old’ Bechstein from 1860 as well as with a brand new Straight Strung Grand Piano by Chris Maene.

The Turkish-Belgian pianist Işıl Bengi is an insatiable artist who has developed a unique personality, thanks especially to her curiosity about the rich diversity of cultures, her keen interest in the different styles and techniques of the piano, and her extreme sensitivity. Here she presents an original and colourful programme, in which intimacy and virtuosity, gentleness and violence, joy and rage are heard as expressions of the memory of the peoples who form part of her family history. The modernity of the works is characterised by a very natural and organic aspect, often nourished by the musical folklore of the countries of origin of the respective composers. Rhythm is a particularly prominent feature, highlighted in most of the pieces, notably through the use of irregular metres and polyrhythm.