Philippe Herreweghe and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra explore the tormented world of Robert Schumann. Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 plunge us into the psychological tangles of the composer's mind, reflecting his relentless struggle with melancholy and depression. In these two seminal works, a slow and somber introduction unveils the main motifs that will unfold throughout, before culminating in an emphatic and optimistic finale. The director from Ghent (and former psychiatrist) pHilippe Herreweghe manages to grasp the full complexity of this cathartic process leading us from darkness into light. He delivers a lively and urgent interpretation of these romantic masterpieces, confirming his reputation as an unrivalled performer of the German repertoire.

Philippe Herreweghe records his third disc devoted to a controversial figure in the world of music and art in general: Carlo Gesualdo, who had his wife murdered and is suspected of having his son smothered. This time Collegium Vocale Gent performs his fifth book of madrigals (1611), published two years before his death. A collection that even today contributes to the eternal debate: to what extent does art become impregnated with reality, and how can it be appreciated when it emanates from a mind living so close to horror? Here the bold dissonances and sometimes tortured expressiveness that can be perceived in his harmonic language offer food for thought. Can we speak of redemption through art for a murderous composer in the twilight of his life?

120 years after its premiere at Leipzig (under the baton of Arthur Nikisch), Philippe Herreweghe provides an opportunity to rediscover the Seventh Symphony played on period instruments. This work was the first to bring Bruckner success beyond the borders of Austria, and was never subsequently revised. By dedicating his score to Ludwig II of Bavaria, the composer was also relishing a calculated insult to the Viennese press, still resolutely hostile to his music…

This really was quite a fine recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, one of the best in years and easily the best of the early music recordings. The Choeur de la Chapelle Royale et du Collegium Vocale sing with strength and stamina, but also with grace and beauty of tone. The Champs Elysees Orchestra plays with power and precision, but also with unity of ensemble and beauty of tone, a very rare quality in an early music orchestra. And Herreweghe himself is actually an apt interpreter of the work. Not only does he have a knack for bringing out better than the best in his performers, but he actually seems to believe in the spiritual and sublime essence of the work, a very, very rare quality in any conductor these days.

December 1791, the final Requiem. Tired by his many voyages around Europe ever since he had been rejected in Vienna, Mozart could not find the strength to honour his promise to compose a Requiem in record time for the person who had commissioned it… He was in fact to be struck down by illness during its composition and it was his pupil Süssmayr who finished the work according to his instructions. This version remains the most convincing, for the presence and grandeur of Mozart are present everywhere - in the baroque imagination and the classical style, in the universal unrest and the sheer terror of a man alone in the face of Death.

It was in 1985 that Philippe Herreweghe made his first recording of the St. Matthew Passion, following a public performance that created a deep impression. Thirty years later, this trailblazing interpretation is still among the top recommendations.

Long one of the finest living interpreters of Bach's sacred music, Philippe Herreweghe here adds two secular cantatas to an already distinguished discography. In the festive Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten and the celebratory Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten, Herreweghe leads his Collegium Vocale, Ghent in performances of rare beauty and great joy. Taking the symbolic roles of Diligence, Honor and Gratitude in one cantata and the scarcely less symbolic roles of Irene, Bellona, Fama, and Pallas in the other, the vocal quartet of Carolyn Sampson, Ingeborg Danz, Mark Padmore, and Peter Kooy performs with brilliant characterizations and consummate artistry.

Composed in 1866 for the inauguration of a votive chapel in Linz Cathedral, Anton Bruckners Mass no. 2 is a fine example of modernity blended with a centuries-old religious tradition, in that wind instruments are set in dialogue with choral writing inspired by Gregorian chant. Shorter in duration but scored for chorus and large orchestra with four soloists, his Te Deum of 1881 was acclaimed by such illustrious contemporaries as Hans Richter and Mahler, while the composer, usually very self-critical, opined that the score of this work would make God judge him kindly.

Philippe Herreweghe and La Chapelle Royale turning to Josquin, whose music they perform with individuality and seriousness of purpose. It is also that they are concentrating on some of his finest achievements: here, for example, we have not only the miraculous Miserere—the work that the late Edward Lowinsky regarded as music's answer to the Sistine Chapel ceiling—but the six voice Ave nobilissima creatura, the Stabat mater and the psalm Usquequo, Domine.

While Herreweghe’s choir employs women for the treble parts, the ensemble is so expertly trained that their sound comes very close to the characteristic English choir of men and boys. Only a small number of instruments and voices is used, and this, in conjunction with a sensitive approach to style, produces performances of superior beauty and taste. Extensive care has been lavished on both clarity and precision of English diction, and outstanding choral intonation makes the clash of Purcell’s cross-relations and his dissonant chromaticism singularly effective. The singing by the soloists is consistently beautiful.

“What seems to me to be Mendelssohn’s principal quality is his crystalline clarity. (…) It makes him one of the great composers of religious music. In the direct line of the great predecessors he admired so much, it made it possible for him to efface himself before the divine word and to set it to music with all necessary humility. This is what constitutes the force of the music on this recording.” – Philippe Herreweghe

Imagine that ten of the world's most well-known highly regarded filmmakers were given a free hand to make real any vision. Aria is that history-making film. Sexy, violent, thought-provoking and funny, here is the movie critics raved about, audiences flocked to see, and no one could stop talking about. Includes Bridget Fonda's electrifying film debut, a revealing and breathtaking performance from Elizabeth Hurley, and Theresa Russell as the trigger-happy King Zog of Albania.

Philippe Herreweghe, respected elder of the early choral music world, directs a pared-down version of his choir Collegium Vocale Gent in delectably careful performances of music that in less careful hands can sound plain crazy. The slippery harmonies of Carlo Gesualdo’s sixth book of madrigals, written in 1611 but sounding centuries ahead of their time, are nailed down with the sharpest, slenderest of pins thanks to the perfect tuning and clear tone of Herreweghe’s ensemble. One to each line, the singers maintain a finely balanced blend, emerging briefly as soloists at moments of emphasis. Some may find the ambience a bit churchified for these texts, in which images of frolicking cupids are heavily outweighed by the laments of unbedded lovers miserably invoking death; but the performances are full of subtle nuance, and you’re unlikely to hear passages such as the end of Io Pur Respiro, with its sliding, viscous harmonies, better done.

It was in 1920 that Schoenberg undertook a transcription for small orchestra of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (a work he particularly venerated), intended for the Viennese Society for Private Musical Performances. But he was unable to complete it, and it was only in 1983 that the musicologist Rainer Riehn took up where Schoenberg had left off and produced a finished version. The result is quite extraordinary: Schoenberg not only managed to reproduce all the original sonorities, he also brought out the extreme density of the score.

Following on from and designed along the same lines as the Guide to Period Instruments, this boxed set includes an exhaustive introductory text as well as a great quantity of music excerpts on the set’s eight CDs. These extracts have been taken from the extensive repertoire recorded by Ricercar over many years, with excerpts from recordings kindly provided by our colleagues from Harmonia Mundi, Gimell, Accent, Alpha and Sony supplementing our programme where necessary. The Lutheran repertoire of the Renaissance has remained for all intents and purposes unrecorded up until now; the tracks illustrating this repertoire together with other excerpts have been recorded specially for this compilation by Vox Luminis.