SOAKED IN COLOUR is a collection of music from different eras and genres, interpreted by the special line-up of four cellists and one singer. Early music meets jazz, art song meets pop song. The collective wanders through different epochs and styles of music history and each piece is specially orchestrated. SOAKED IN COLOUR takes you through a colourful mix of sounds, dives into the depths, surges once more into the air, and refreshes the senses.

As all four of the discs in this set have been reviewed in these pages before, this notice accordingly provides only a brief summary. J. F. Weber discussed the Read more in Fanfare 33:2, the Weihnachtshistorie and Auferstehungshistorie (the Nativity and Resurrection narratives) in 33:5, and the Matthäus-Passion in 35:1, while Ronald E. Grames and I both covered Die sieben Worte and the Johannes-Passion in 34:2. In all instances the reviews were enthusiastic and offered unqualified endorsements of these performances as the recordings of choice for these works; now having the opportunity to hear them all, I heartily re-affirm that collective judgment.

During his lifetime, Handel revisited his score of Israel in Egypt many times to create a more ‘audience friendly work’, meaning that by the early nineteenth century there were several versions available, often vastly truncated to satisfy the musical appetites of the day.

All of Wagner’s operas require a sure hand in the pit: no run-of-the-mill répétiteur will do. But two works, in particular, depend on the conductor as much as anyone on stage for success in performance Tristan and Parsifal. By choosing these two for the first complete Wagner dramas he’s committed to disc, Thielemann is letting us know just how important Wagner’s music is to him and how seriously he wants to be taken as a Wagner interpreter. With this new Parsifal, the conductor demonstrates that he’s a Wagnerian with a point of view, and a master of the composer’s huge musicodramatic structures.

Following the album Arias, her much-acclaimed debut album on Sony Classical, the German soprano returns to Bach with three famous cantatas she has never recorded before. Regardless of their extraordinary musical beauty all of these cantatas are concerned with religious considerations of grief, guilt and farewell. Based on the Italian model of solo cantata which reached its peak in the extensive output of Alessandro Scarlatti, these melodious and touching pieces highlight Schäfer´s outstanding vocal abilities and musical taste. The arias offer most delightful duets with various instrumental solo parts such as flute, oboe and violin. Christine Schäfer is accompanied by the Berliner Barocksolisten, a first-class ensemble of players from the Berlin Philharmonic who perform on modern instruments in historically informed style.

Heinz Rudolf Kunze (»Dein ist mein ganzes Herz«) zählt seit über 40 Jahren zu den ganz Großen der deutschen Musikszene. Dass er zu Recht als Rockpoet bezeichnet wird beweist der Hannoveraner auf seinem 39. Album »Können vor Lachen«. Die 14 Songs sind wie ein Blick durch ein Kaleidoskop, mit vielen, verschiedenen Farbtönen und Mustern, nie den Kern der Menschenfreundlichkeit vermissend und immer auf der Höhe des Zeitgeschehens, intim und doch mit Weitblick.

This superb programme combines the beautiful 'Alto Rhapsody' with the much more rarely performed 'Gesang der Parzen' and the cantata 'Rinadlo' - a work which gives us some idea of how a Brahms opera world would have sounded. This is the third and final volume of Brahms's works for chorus and orchestra, performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under its distinguished Principal Conductor, Gerd Albrecht.

This stylishly devised programme juxtaposes cantatas by Rosenmüller, Krieger and Buxtehude with instrumental chorales and sonatas by Scheidemann, Praetorius, Tunder and Weckmann; most of these now known, if at all widely, as forerunners to Bach rather than as fine musicians in their own right as they deserve to be. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Hamburg became a leading commercial port where material and cultural goods circulated freely. Ensemble Méridien has chosen this city as the focal point of a fascinating musical journey through northern Germany, a journey that reveals different aspects of this artistic power. The port of Hamburg was also the driving force behind the north German organ school of the time. Churches were overflowing with magnificent organs, and their building and playing techniques reached extremely high standards, as is evident from the organ music included here. Though most of the music in this recital has been recorded before, it has only appeared on relatively obscure labels, and not in this imaginative context where one may more fully appreciate its dramatic as well as musical merits.

The acclaimed recorder player Dorothee Oberlinger and her ensemble 1700 team up with famous countertenor Andreas Scholl for this inspiring new album featuring the work of J.S. Bach. The album includes arias from Bach cantatas for alto, a concerto for harpsichord arranged for flute, the cantata BWV 170 “Vergnügte Ruh” and the famed Brandenburg concertos No. 2 and No. 4. Dorothee Oberlinger is one of the most amazing discoveries of recent years, an expressive virtuoso who - quite rightly - received numerous awards while still very young.

The Catalogue (German language edition: Der Katalog) is a boxed set comprising eight albums by Kraftwerk that were released from 1974 to 2003. All albums are digitally remastered, with most of the cover art redesigned.

Das neue Album von Andy Borg mit 16 neuen Lieder, darunter auch "Fern von daheim".

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is the most famous of the sons of J.S. Bach. His magisterial oeuvre contains, notably, a large number of concertos for various instruments and keyboard pieces. But the composer also excelled at vocal music, thus continuing in the family tradition by composing, among other genres, sacred and secular cantatas and songs. His works respect the rules of Baroque style while also hinting at the dawn of the Classical style subsequently represented by Haydn and Mozart. Café Zimmermann has been including the music of C. P. E. Bach in its programmes for years, notably in a recording (ALPHA 107) that marked a turning point in the discography.

For the first time ever, Richard Strauss’ songs can be heard in an arranged version for choir or choir and violin. Compiled from different opuses, including Vier letzte Lieder op. 150, the KammerChor Saarbrücken and their conductor Georg Grün present several famous songs in a new guise. Franz Zimnol’s and Clytus Gottwald’s transcriptions approach Strauss’ compositions in different ways, all of them providing new listening impressions as well as perspectives on the original.

DG and the Freiburger Barockorchester, one of the world’s foremost period-instrument orchestras, launch a new creative partnership with an album of works associated with the celebrated Mannheim court orchestra. Mozart’s Mannheim couples little-known gems by Cannabich, Holzbauer, Vogler and others with works written by Mozart during his formative visit to Mannheim in the late 1770s. You can pre-order the album now, and get a taste of the music by listening to the Adagio from Christian Danner’s Violin Concerto in F major.

Nach "Bällebad" das zweite gemeinsame Kinderlieder-Album von Deniz & Ove. Die beiden Hamburger Jungs aus dem Unter-meinem-Bett-Kosmos sind echte Spezis für Themen und Lieder, die Kinder bewegen und musikalisch begeistern. Der Sound geht ins Ohr, ihre Texte ins Herz und ihre Spielfreude steckt alle an. Nach Hits wie "Die Niddeldiddids", "Krümelkind" und "Ich will Schnee" kommen sie jetzt mit einer coolen Mischung lässiger Popsongs.