Janne Fredens, Søren Rastogi – Upheaval (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:00:50 minutes | 2,02 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © OUR Recordings
“UPHEAVAL” is an exceptional project in several aspects. First, it presents four compositions for cello and piano written by female composers from the first part of the 20th century, challenging the cultural norms of the day and secondly, the title “Upheaval”, also refers to the tumultuous period around the First World War. The works featured on this recording are Henriëtta Bosmansʼ Sonata for Cello and Piano (1919), Dora Pejačevićʼs Sonata for Cello and Piano (1913), Nadia Boulangerʼs Trois pièces (1914), and Lili Boulangerʼs Nocturne (1911), were all written over an eight-year period in France, the Netherlands, and Croatia. Henriëtte Bosmans was one of Hollandʼs greatest pianists, and a composer of great distinction as her sweeping, early Cello Sonata proves. Countess Maria Theodora Paulina (Dora) Pejačević is rightfully considered the matri-arch of Croatian composers. Her Cello Sonata, Opus 35 embodies late romanticism, with influences of Mendels-sohn, Brahms and Dvorak particularly evident. The program concludes with works from two amazing sisters: Nadia (1887–1979) and Lili Boulanger (1893–1918). Both were pioneers in their fields (Lili was the First Woman to win the coveted Prix de Rome, and Nadia, for teaching about every major post-war composer) and were for many years, two of the best-known women in music in the twentieth century. The artists, the husband-and-wife cello/piano duo of Janne Fredens (cello) and Søren Rastogi (piano) approach this program with a sense of profound commitment and mission, recognizing that there performances of such unfamiliar repertoire may well serve as a benchmark for future artists. Both are active soloists and teach at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus. The chosen instrument for the recording is the Bechstein Gran Piano to match the beautiful tone of Janneʼs cello, and to give an impression of the periods piano sound. This is a highly recommended recording for fans of unfamiliar chamber music, advocates for women composers and those who just love to hear glorious music played by great musicians with passion and commitment.
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Florilegium & Ashley Solomon – The Spohr Collection, Vol. 3 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:17:14 minutes | 2,37 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Channel Classics
With Volume 3, flutist Ashley Solomon and Florilegium continue their Spohr Collection. Nine exquisite original flutes from the 18th century have been selected from Peter Spohr’s private collection and can be heard here for the first time worldwide.
The instruments, which have an exceptionally beautiful sound, are made of different materials (solid ivory, ebony and ivory, boxwood and ivory) and each match the works on the program with music by Vivaldi, Mozart, Clagget and Locatelli, among others.
The musicians have invited soprano Rowan Pierce to perform two songs by Chilot and Lampe.
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Eva Zalenga – In Relations (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:08 minutes | 941 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © haenssler CLASSIC
As if it were a matter of course, the bond of romanticism with the most present theme of the epoch – longing – embraces, connects and winds itself around the composers and lyricists of the album. But it is not only this point of contact that gave rise to the concept. The deeper one delves into the lives and pieces, the more intricate and extensive the web of connections becomes.
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Eddie Higgins Trio – If Dreams Come True (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:12 minutes | 1,45 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Venus Records, Inc.
Eddie Higgins has played with many jazz greats, including Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans, and has established his name on the scene as a brilliant jazz pianist. In the second edition of the title “If Dreams Come True” he inspires in a trio with Jay Leonhart on bass and Joe Ascione on drums.
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Eartha Kitt – Eartha Kitt! (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:02:35 minutes | 467 MB | Genre: Jazz, Vocal Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla
Eartha Kitt (* January 17, 1927 in North, South Carolina; † December 25, 2008 in New York; actually Eartha Mae Keith) was an American singer and actress. They called her “the queen of nightclubs”.
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E. Lundquist – Art Between Minds (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:46 minutes | 334 MB | Genre: Jazz, Funk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © KingUnderground
There are numerous stages of evolution in an artist’s career. What inspires their first song, won’t be what drives them at their prime. For many, Hip-Hop is a gateway music that turns them on to the endless genres it samples and borrows from. So, it should come as no surprise that LA-based composer/arranger E. Lundquist (aka Eric Borders) started out in a Hip-Hop band called Balance And The Traveling Sounds. While BTS built up a decent following in the mid-2010s, they split up before achieving commercial success. As Eric explains, “After BTS broke up I really wasn’t sure if I was going to ever make music again. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself at the end and the music sort of became less fun.”
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Dumka – Folklores (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 45:50 minutes | 539 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Klarthe Records Jazz
DUMKA is a quintet mixing reed instruments (saxophone, clarinet), brass instruments (trumpet, tuba) and drums. This first album is an ode to popular music from the Balkans, Spain, South America … The formation allows both the intimacy of chamber music and the festive spirit of a joyful brass band. Created in 2020 at the instigation of clarinetist Rémi Delangle, the formation is hosted in residence at the Saugonna space in Mamers in May 2021, and is invited to numerous festivals, including the Surgères Brass Festival, The son of brass in Mamers, or the Musical Season in D. From scholarly music to folk music, from one continent to another, from yesterday to today, DUMKA is an invitation to travel and discovery.
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Doo-Min Kim – Doo-Min Kim (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:29 minutes | 1,05 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © WM Korea
Doo-Min Kim, born in Seoul, South Korea, received his first cello lessons at the age of nine. After studying at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul he went to Germany in 1998 to continue his studies with Tilmann Wick in Hannover and Frans Helmerson in Cologne. He found further artistic inspiration attending master classes given by Lynn Harrell, Arto Noras and Boris Pergamenschikow.
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Bruno Gini, Coro Claudio Monteverdi di Crema, Ensemble Claudio Monteverdi di Crema – Cavalli: Hymns, Psalms, & Song (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:40 minutes | 1,03 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dynamic
Francesco Cavalli, a central figure in the development of 17th-century Italian music, was as popular in his time as Verdi was in his. Though Cavalli was immensely successful as an operatic composer he wrote important sacred works in the grandiose tradition of the chapel of St Mark’s in Venice as well as shorter, more intense or spiritual pieces. These proved to be revolutionary in their individualism and Cavalli’s stylistic and expressive creativity can be heard in this selection which includes the world premiere recording of Confitebor. All come from a single collection published in 1656.
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Choeur de chambre Mélisme(s), Colette Diard, BanKal Trio – Brahms, le Tzigane (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:17:33 minutes | 1,16 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ad Vitam records
Gildas Pungier adapts the famous composer’s scores for choir, piano, double bass, clarinet and accordion, building a bridge between Brahms’ music and popular Gypsy music.
While Johannes Brahms’ famous Gypsy-inspired “Hungarian Dances” are fairly well known, his contribution to the choral repertoire in the same field remains relatively unknown to the general public. And yet… The composer wrote several opuses devoted to this music of popular origin, very much in vogue in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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