ANONYMOUS / CAMPION / BANKS / PICFORTH
Amores Pasados John Potter (voice) Anna maria Friman (voice) Ariel Abramovich (lute) Jacob Heringman (lute) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 26/Jul/2015 ] For this innovative attempt to bridge the gap between art song and pop song, John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin fame), Sting and Genesis-keyboardist Tony Banks were commissioned to write new lute songs. "Asking a rock music composer to set existing... |
HELENA TULVE
Arboles lloran por lluvia Ariana Savall / Charles Barbier / Taniel Kirikal / NYYD Quartet [ ECM New Series / CD ] Recorded in churches in Tallinn as well as the Estonian Concert Hall, the five compositions heard on "Arboles lloran por lluvia" (Trees cry for rain) give deeper insight into the unique sound-world of Helena Tulve, into music which is nourished by... |
THOMAS ADES / ER NORGARD / HANS ABRAHAMSEN
Ades: Arcadiana / Norgard: Quartetto Breve / Abrahamsen: 10 Preludes The Danish String Quartet [ ECM New Series / CD - released 15/Apr/2016 ] "The Danish are remarkable, as ever - capable of intense blend, extreme dynamic variation (in which they seem glued together), perfect intonation even on harmonics, and constant vitality and flow" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Chamber |
JORG WIDMANN
Arche Kent Nagano / Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 5/Oct/2018 ] For the opening of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the German composer Jorg Widmann was commissioned to write a new oratorio for soloists, choirs, organ and orchestra, Arche. Widmann drew inspiration from the shape of the building itself:... |
TIGRAN MANSURIAN
Ars Poetica Armenian Chamber Choir / Robert Mlkeyan (conductor) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 10/May/2008 ] "This is open, honest fare - no games, no gimmicks, no special effects. The musical expression of a poetic image is what engages the composer. Nothing else intrudes because nothing else matters." American Record Guide |
JOHN CAGE
As it is Alexei Lubimov (piano) / Natalia Pschenitschnikova (voice) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 20/Sep/2012 ] A fresh approach to one of contemporary composition's most iconoclastic and inventive figures, issued on the occasion of John Cage's 100th birthday. Early Cage is the subject here, strikingly original songs and piano pieces from the 1930s and 1940s.... |
SCLAVIS / PIFARELY / COURTOIS
Asian Field Variations Louis Sclavis (clarinet), Dominique Pifarely (violin), Vincent Courtois (violoncello) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 28/Jul/2017 ] Asian Fields Variation marks the first time that clarinettist Louis Sclavis, violinist Dominique Pifarély and cellist Vincent Courtois have recorded as a trio. Sclavis summoned the project into existence, but this is a democratic group of creative... |
THOMAS TALLIS / CHRISTOPHER TYE / JOHN SHEPPARD
Audivi Vocem Hilliard Ensemble [ ECM New Series / CD - released 19/May/2008 ] Edtor's Choice Gramophone Magazine October 2008 -- "If only all history lessons were delivered as beautifully as this one." |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
J.S. Bach: Clavichord András Schiff (clavichord) [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2023 ] "As with his previous period-instrument ventures, Schiff opens up a new world and thoroughly adjusts his temperament, his 'pianism' and his artistry to it." Gramophone Editor's Choice April 2023 |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I Keith Jarrett (piano) [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "These are performances in which tempos, phrasing, articulation and the execution of ornaments are convincing," wrote Gramophone of Jarrett's first recorded account of The Well-Tempered Clavier. "Both instrument and performer serve as unobtrusive... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Three Or One Fred Thomas (piano), Aisha Orazbayeva (violin), Lucy Railton (violoncello) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 3/Dec/2021 ] Here is Johann Sebastian Bach in transfigured light: with organ chorale preludes, vocal cantata movements and orchestral sinfonias - 24 pieces in all - transcribed for trio and solo piano by Fred Thomas, and threaded into a compelling new sequence by... |
BARTÓK / CASKEN / BEETHOVEN
Bartók / Casken / Beethoven Thomas Zehetmair, Ruth Killius, Royal Northern Sinfonia [ ECM New Series / CD - released 17/Feb/2023 ] This powerful New Series album represents "a résumé and a departure" for Thomas Zehetmair, a summing up of his work with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. In his years as Music Director of the British chamber orchestra, Zehetmair was noted both for... |
BARTOK
44 Duos For Two Violins Andras Keller & Janos Pilz [ ECM New Series / CD - released 18/Mar/2002 ] |
BEETHOVEN / BRUCKNER / HARTMANN / HOLLIGER
Beethoven Bruckner Hartmann Holliger Zehetmair Quartett [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 22/Aug/2014 ] The Zehetmair Quartett, one of the most exciting and accomplished string quartets of our time, plays a programme of characteristically broad reach. This double album begins with Beethoven's highly-concentrated opus 135, and concludes with Heinz... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / FELIX MENDELSSOHN / J. S. BACH
Beethoven / Mendelssohn / Bach: Prism IV Danish String Quartet [ ECM New Series / CD - released 3/Jun/2022 ] "..the DSQ make compelling storytellers." Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Chamber |
AMBROSE FIELD
Being Dufay John Potter (tenor) / Ambrose Field (live and studio electronics) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/Mar/2009 ] British tenor John Potter and fellow countryman Ambrose Field, composer of electronic/digital music, offer a striking juxtaposition of Renaissance music and present-day technology: In seven interconnected pieces, vocal fragments from the songs and... |
KNAIFEL
Blazhenstva Ivan Monighetti (piano, cello, conductor), Tatiana Melentieva (soprano), Piotr Migunov (bass) [ ECM New Series / CD ] |
Meredith Monk
Book Of Days [ ECM New Series / CD - released 11/Jun/1990 ] |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Clarinet Sonatas (with Jorg Widmann: Intermezzi for piano) András Schiff (piano) Jörg Widmann (clarinet) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 2/Oct/2020 ] Two great artists, pianist András Schiff and composer/clarinettist Jörg Widmann, join forces for the first time on record, performing Brahms's late masterpieces, the clarinet sonatas op. 120, written in 1894. In between the sonatas Schiff plays... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Concertos András Schiff (piano), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 4/Jun/2021 ] "What he and the OAE offer is not so much to do with authenticity as with freshness and 'detoxification." Recording of the Month Gramophone July 2021 |