This delightful disc offers a selection from the wealth of piano transcriptions of Bach's music. The Bach revival that gathered momentum during the nineteenth century created a climate for many composer-pianists to interpret his works through their own piano transcriptions, whether of chorale preludes, organ works or other instrumental music. Much of Bach's music was made domestically available via such arrangements (and the tradition continued well into the twentieth century, even after Bach originals were well known). Indeed, the practice of such transcriptions was widely used by Bach himself, who freely adapted his own and others' music for different instrumental settings.

"The most dramatic piece that Berlioz ever wrote," is how conductor John Nelson describes La Damnation de Faust. The composer designated this thrilling hybrid of oratorio and opera a 'légende dramatique'. Following in the triumphant footsteps of Les Troyens, also recorded at the Auditorium Erasme in Strasbourg, this performance reunites Nelson and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg with singers Michael Spyres, Joyce DiDonato and Nicolas Courjal.

A fresh new recording of Jean Sibelius early breakthrough work by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under its conductor Hannu Lintu. This recording with two male choirs, the Estonian National Male Choir and the Polytech Choir, brings up the full drama of this gigantic 70-minute work which during Sibelius lifetime was often referred to as a symphony. The work tells the story of Kullervo, a tragic hero drawn from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. While a student in Vienna, Sibelius started planning to write a large work that would crystallize the rising Finnish national feeling in music.

Calling New World (1991) a Zombies effort is as erroneous as portraying No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant (2001) as a Led Zeppelin album, as in both cases, principal components are glaringly absent. On this disc, co-founders Rod Argent (vocals/keyboards) and Paul Atkinson (guitar/vocals) are listed not as part of the band, but rather "special guests." Present and accounted for from the initial combo are Chris White (bass/vocals), Colin Blunstone (vocals), and Hugh Grundy (drums). Although White and Blunstone attempt to pick up the slack in the wake of Argent's minimal involvement, their choice of Sebastian Santa Maria (keyboards/guitar/vocals) is a less than suitable substitute for the missing co-founder. Not surprisingly, while both White and Blunstone are excellent songwriters, much of the material lacks the quirky and jazzy influence that Argent infused into the Zombies' 'sound'…

Melodic Death Metal pioneers Mors Principium Est return with full force on their ninth studio album, Darkness Invisible - a powerful and emotionally charged statement that continues their legacy of intensity, melody, and evolution. Musically, the album delves even deeper into the band’s core identity: razor-sharp riffing collides with sweeping orchestration, melancholic harmonies, and relentless rhythmic precision. But Darkness Invisible is not content to simply revisit old formulas. It expands upon them. The arrangements are more cinematic than ever, layered with subtle electronic textures, ambient passages, and dynamic shifts that mirror the emotional weight carried within the lyrics. As melodic death metal continues to morph and mutate in the modern era, Mors Principium Est remain a steadfast force - rooted in tradition, yet never bound by it…

This album consists primarily of performances recorded at the Hickory House Club in October 1953, with a trio consisting of bassist Vinnie Burke and the great drummer Joe Morello, who never achieved the fame he deserved, but did make a name for himself in Dave Brubeck's group. At the end of this program are five studio recordings made earlier that same year, with Morello and bassist Bob Carter. McPartland's style is witty and elegant, and if her solos never exactly catch fire, they never settle for mere decorousness either. She plays with plenty of energy, and her inventiveness is consistently impressive. The program is unsurprising, consisting mainly of such standards as "I've Got the World on a String," "A Foggy Day," and "Willow Weep for Me," but the material never sounds tired. The sound quality is, surprisingly, quite good…

Chimaera is the newest ensemble of pianist and composer Sylvie Courvoisier. The virtuoso band brings together key musical personalities from the New York jazz scene in Wadada Leo Smith, Nate Wooley, Drew Gress and Kenny Wollesen, and features Austrian artist Christian Fennesz, whose ambient textures can be considered Chimaera’s wildcard. Inspired by the fantastic, enigmatic-hallucinatory paintings of symbolist Odilon Redons, the sextet creates an expansive and shimmering soundscape. “The lucid, dreamlike sounds of Courvoisier’s Chimaera album are floating and elusive like shadows on the ocean; the melodic glitter of trumpet, piano and vibraphone on a rolling groove of rhythmic ambience, with Fennesz’s magical guitar clouds enveloping the band,” writes Bradley Bamberger of the music of this new sextet. Another high point in the musical career of Sylvie Courvoisier, about whom jazz journalist Kevin Whitehead said, “Some pianists approach their instrument as if it were a cathedral. Sylvie Courvoisier sometimes treats it like a playground.”

Initially a meeting between swing tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate and post-bop pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (still widely known as Dollar Brand in 1977 when this CD was recorded), this seems like a possible misfire. Instead, it proves to be an inspiration, as each player taught the other new music and they successfully blended their disparate jazz backgrounds into one outstanding album. The first track, "Goduka Mfundi," is particularly interesting; it's an original by Ibrahim that Tate and the rhythm section (drummer Roy Brooks and bassist Cecil McBee) had just learned prior to recording it, and the composer sits out this hypnotic African groove tune. The pianist's other original is the tasty blues "Heyt Mazurki." Tate's quick tutoring of Ibrahim also pays off huge dividends, as "Doggin' Around" is the most smoking performance of the date, while "Just You, Just Me" proves to be a unique mix of swing and African jazz. The remaining two quartet tracks are familiar turf to all parties. Tate's soulful tone recalls Ben Webster in "Poor Butterfly," though Ibrahim clearly steals the show with his well-disguised, dreamy introduction to Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood.".

Each year on October 9th, Abdullah Ibrahim performs a solo piano concert at the Hirzinger Hall in South Germany in order to celebrate his birthday. Due to lockdown restrictions last year, this traditional birthday concert was replaced with the opportunity to record a solo piano performance. Hirzinger Hall, in Riedering, South East Germany, is famous for its incredible acoustics, and Ibrahim's solitary performance lends itself perfectly to the space, The recording crew was sparse, the audience non-existent, yet Ibrahim’s communion with the piano remains warm and timeless.

Happy The Man (1977). Though it met with little commercial success, Happy the Man's 1977 debut quickly became a cult sensation with fans of prog rock. It's easy to see why: their sound combines a number of diverse influences in a distinctive manner, and their music is as complex and meticulously arranged as any prog album one cares to mention. Unlike some popular prog acts, Happy the Man does not allow one instrument to take center stage or allow relentless soloing to dominate the songs. Instead, the focus is on complex interplay between the group's players: compositions like "Knee Bitten Nymphs In Limbo" and "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" are built on the kind of mathematically complex yet playful instrumental interplay that is normally associated with Frank Zappa's most complex work…