Outhere distribution BENELUX - Release book - June 2016

New Releases

BENELUX

June 2016

Phi has a new design!

LPH020

LPH021

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To be released ...

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* New release on p.20

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1 CD PPD : 12,95€

ALPHA238 DVORAK, Antonin - Piano Trios Op. 65 & 90 ‘Dumky’

WAGNER, Petr

BUSCH TRIO

The fame that he enjoyed in his lifetime clearly hasn’t served Carl Friedrich Abel well in the two centuries since his death.

He was fêted all over Europe both for his supreme skills as a performer of the viola da gamba as well as for the quality of his compositions, and was responsible (along with JC Bach) for setting up arguably the first series of subscription concerts in the history of Western music, the “Bach-Abel-Concerts”. Even the prodigy that was Mozart benefited from Abel’s teachings (and was claimed as the composer of one Abel’s own symphonies). All this was known by keen minds of the time such as Charles Burney, JF Reichardt and Goethe.

Czech gambist Petr Wagner delivers here a scintillating rendition of Abel’s ever-inventive music which ranges across Preludes, Adagios and sundry dance forms. Where to place this “late” music for the viola da gamba? Not Baroque and definitely heading in the direction of the classicism of Mozart, Haydn and even Beethoven.

Total time : 76’40 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

ACC24314 Telemann: The Oboe Album

ALPHA242 MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus - Die Entführung aus dem Serail

PONSEELE, Marcel - IL GARDELLINO

Total time : 133’80 2 CD PPD : 14,20€

Total time : 77’55 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

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Marcel Ponseele is generally considered one of the foremost Baroque oboists of his time: conductor Philippe Herreweghe has called him the finest Baroque oboist in the world. He is co-founder of the ensemble Il Gardellino with which he gives concerts in the most famous concert halls and made numerous recordings. Ponseele is also often invited as a soloist to perform with great orchestras or to participate in different recordings. His contributions to many recordings by Herreweghe and Koopman, among others, are invariably outstanding.

This set presents oboe music by Georg Philipp Telemann that Ponseele recorded for the Accent label.

The collection is an interesting anthology of the chamber music repertory for oboe by Telemann, which spans the period from the Kleine Cammer-music (1716) to the Essercizii Musici (1740). The evolution in style can clearly be seen between the short and simple movements of the Kleine Cammer-music and the sophisticated passages such as the long second movement of the sonata from the Tafelmusik. In the beginning Telemann sought to keep the elements of the various national styles separate, but in the later works he mixed these styles within the same movement of a sonata. The concertos for oboe and oboe d’amore represent what could be called a counter-model to those by Vivaldi. Telemann prefers the older, four-movement sonata da chiesa form and in addition to using Vivaldi’s form of ritornello, he employs other movement models modified from the French rondeau or from dance movements.

This young trio that takes its name from the legendary violinist Adolf Busch (1891-1952) has already made its name on the international scene as one of the most talented of the new generation, picking up on its travels enthusiastic reactions from public and press – as well as several prizes at the major competitions. ‘ . . . what impressed most was the group’s effortless musicianship and unity of thought and attack.

The threesome even seemed to be breathing in synch’, wrote The Times after one of their concerts at the Wigmore Hall. Under the auspices of Alpha Classics and the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, the ensemble has set itself a challenge: to record the complete chamber music with piano of Antonín Dvorák. With the monumental Trios no.3 op.65 and no.4 op.90, these Londonbased musicians get the saga off to a flying start, in deeply felt interpretations that penetrate to the heart of the great Czech composer’s poetic universe.

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 76’44

ACC24305 ABEL, Carl Friedrich - The Drexel Manuscript

LE CERCLE DE L’HARMONIE - RHORER, Jérémie

Total time : 120’11 2 CD PPD : 17,50€

The conductor Jérémie Rhorer is today regarded as one of the finest interpreters of the music of Mozart in general and his operas in particular. After conducting Die Entfu¨hrung aus dem Serail at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2015, he performed it again at a memorable concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris in September of that year with his orchestra, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie. It is this exceptional event, captured in a live recording conveying all the dramatic intensity of the opera, that we present today.

‘In Die Entführung, Mozart presents a completely unprecedented vision of the singspiel, with highly developed ensembles and musical continuity at a time when contemporary spectators were expecting the standard alternation between spoken and sung sections’, says Jérémie Rhorer in the interview that accompanies the discs. That musical dramaturgy lies at the centre of this interpretation, which is served by an outstandingly homogeneous cast.

This recording launches a series of recordings of concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and a collaboration between Alpha Classics and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, who will continue to place their excellence at the service of the reat masterpieces of Mozart – and of other composers: watch this space!

ALPHA237 BACH, Johann - Sonatas BWV525, 527-530

CA21118 MOORE, Kate - Stories for Ocean Shells

VAN HOECKE, Jan - MARVILLE, Jovanka

BATHGATE, Ashley

Always keen to show its commitment to helping talented young musicians to develop their professional careers, Outhere Music has for several years been the partner of the Musica Antiqua International Competition in Bruges, offering one of the prizewinners the chance to make a recording. In the 2014 finals, the choice fell on the young recorder player Jan Van Hoecke, who convinced the entire jury of the record label with his expressive playing and his inventive and colourful sound palette.

A passionate and exciting interpreter of early and Baroque music, Jan Van Hoecke presents a transcription for recorders and harpsichord or fortepiano of J. S. Bach’s Trio Sonatas for organ BWV 525 and 527-530. His talent is ideally complemented by that of Jovanka Marville, herself a former prizewinner of the competition. With sure-footed mastery of their art, always at the service of the music, they invite us on a captivating journey, shedding new light on these masterpieces by the master of Leipzig.

Australian composer Kate Moore has worked with a wide range of ensembles, including Slagwerk Den Haag, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, The Amsterdam Cello Octet, The New European Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, the Bang on a Can All-Stars and many more. On her Cantaloupe Music debut with All-Stars cellist Ashley Bathgate, she brings a uniquely vivid, contemplative and almost spiritual voice to these six new compositions for the cello. Moore and Bathgate first met back in 2009; since then, the two have collaborated, whenever timing and schedules would allow, on a wide-focus musical excursion that uncovers the full range of the instrument. Both artists have a deep familiarity with the major repertoire, from Elgar to Dvorak, Fauré, Bach and Beethoven, and over the years, they have developed and sculpted their own original language — Bathgate, through the subtlety and color of her playing, and Moore through the idiomatic and dynamic vocabulary that she brings to the fore as a composer.

Stories for Ocean Shells channels what Moore likes to refer to as a shared experience. “Being at a similar place in our lives really added to that,” Moore says. “It meant that we could immediately see where the other was coming from. We’re both rebels from an intense background playing the cello, and we both wanted to break out, with the aim to create something new that we could call our own. So this project is about tapping into that vast energy around us.”

Total time : 51’44 1 CD PPD : 11,50€

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3 CD + BOOK PPD : 23,50€

Total time : 57’43 1 CD PPD : 8,85€

CAR83040 HANDEL, Georg Friedrich - Oratorien

CAPELLA DE MINISTRERS - MAGRANER, Carles

KÖLNER KAMMERCHOR - COLLEGIUM CARTUSIANUM - NEUMANN, Peter

Capella de Ministrers presents the musical journey of Ramon Llull, a paraphrase of his autobiography, dictated in 1311, that reviews the stages of his pilgrimage. This journey begins in 1265, from Mallorca to Rocamadour and to Santiago de Compostela. Then, Barcelona and Montpellier, to visit King James II and where he wrote his Ars Demostrativa. Next, Paris and its university, where he lectured. Rome, Genoa, Lyon, Marseille, Avignon or Naples are some of the cities we visit musically, along with Cyprus, Jerusalem, Armenia and Tunis.

Ramon Llull is born in the island of Majorca ca. 1232, shortly after King James I had conquered it from the Muslims. After his apprenticeship, Llull begins his first trips on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea, in Italy, France and Tunis, with his eyes always set upon the East, the Holy Land, with a special emphasis on the idea of a “pax universalis”, an idea that was not utopian for him but both possible and necessary.

He will never stop fighting for it until his last trip to North Africa and from where, once back in Mallorca, he would die.The Last Pilgrimage: a musical mixture that enjoins the dreams of all the Mediterranean shores, the privileged space wherein Llull would act.

“The finest Composition of Musick that ever was heard” – this was only one of the enthusiastic press reviews written after the world premiere of Handel’s Messiah. Handel’s oratorios were, overall, already very popular during his lifetime and were frequently performed. Since 2009, Carus has been issuing a CD series with Handel’s oratorios as well as select vocal works, operas and instrumental compositions. Now a box containing 13 CDs and comprising several large-scale oratorios has been compiled: it includes, in addition to “The Messiah,” “Alexander’s Feast,” “Israel in Egypt,” “Brockes-Passion,” “Solomon” as well as the relatively unknown gem “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato.” The artists on this CD collection include the Kölner Kammerchor under Peter Neumann, Kammerchor Stuttgart under Frieder Bernius, Vocalensemble Rastatt under Holger Speck and Winchester Cathedral Choir under Nicolas McGegan.

13 CD PPD : 48,00€

C3004 Korngold / Goldmark

CAR83338 TSCHAIKOWSKY, Peter Ilyich - Geistliche Chormusik

HÜBSCH, Cornelia - SPENCER, Charles

NDR CHOR - AHMANN, Philipp

Capriccio’s “Première Portraits” CD-Edition supports young, talented artists by making their debut CDs available to a worldwide audience. This new release presents the Austrian soprano Cornelia Hübsch, who was born in Baden near Vienna. Hübsch studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz under the supervision of Elisabeth Batrice; she also attended master classes with Ildiko Raimondi, Kurt Equiluz and David Lutz.

A regular soloist at various venues, she has performed in a variety of operetta roles; she also took part in a 2011/2012 concert tour of Spain’s most important concert halls. Cornelia Hübsch was a prizewinner at the International Nico Dostal Competition for Operetta 2008, and received her hometown of Baden’s Appreciation Award (Culture) 2013.

She has collaborated in numerous recitals with accompanist Margit Fussi and, since 2013, with Eduard Kutorwatz. From 2013 to 2015, she was a lecturer at the University of Arts in Graz.

The NDR Choir, one of Germany’s leading professional chamber choirs and its conductor Philipp Ahmann invite the listener to discover a little-known facet of Tchaikovsky’s musical oeuvre: a cappella choral works for Russian Orthodox services. The internationally popular creator of immortal masterpieces such as “Swan Lake” and “Eugene Onegin“ presented his first church music composition in 1878: the “Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.”

The present CD offers a selection of four of altogether thirteen choruses comprising Opus 41.

Like the “Nine Sacred Choruses” which were composed in 1884/85, these works breathe the spirit of Old Russian church hymns; nevertheless, their musical language points the way to the future. These cycles are complemented with the chorus “The Angel Cried” from the year 1887, a remarkable, richly hued work of art, versatile in its setting and a wealth of sonorous effects.

Total time : 58’56 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

CHR77401 NICOLAI, Johann Michael - Musik am Stuttgarter Hof

C3005 Bellini / Donizetti / Rossini D’AGUANNO, Emanuele

Total time : 54’80 1 CD PPD : 8,85€

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This new release presents Emanuele D’Aguanno, one of the most promising young tenors of his generation. He distinguished himself at the “Toti dal Monte” Competition in Treviso (as Paolino in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto), launching an international performance career which has led to appearances at many major venues in Italy and abroad. His most significant recent engagements include appearances as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (conducted by Bruno Campanella), and Die Frau ohne Schatten (conducted by Zubin Mehta at Teatro Comunale in Florence). Engagements in other productions have included L’elisir d’amore (at Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo), Lucrezia Borgia (directed by Christoph Loy at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich), Salieri’s Il mondo alla rovescia (at Teatro Filarmonico in Verona), as Cassio in Verdi’s Otello (at the Canadian Opera in Toronto), Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe (with Europa Galante conducted by Fabio Biondi at Salzburg’s Whistun Festival and in Montpellier), as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (at Glyndebourne), as Egeo in Mayr’s Medea in Corinto (conducted by Ivor Bolton at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich) and in the roles of Giove and Anfinomo in Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria (conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini) which marked his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 205’75

CDM1640 LLULL, Ramon - L’ultim pelegrinatge

ECCO LA MUSICA - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Total time : 73’13 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

After the Thirty Years’ War and a plague epidemic which had left the state of Württemberg in a disastrous condition (in 1648, Stuttgart only had 5 000 inhabitants with just 600 men!), reconstruction began during the second half of the 17th century. Following the resumption of courtly life in Stuttgart, the double bass player Johann Michael Nicolai entered into the service of the Duke Eberhard III in the court ensemble in 1655. He remained in this post up to his death in 1685 and appears to have undertaken the tasks of Kapellmeister in Stuttgart in his later years.

Not much is known about his biography and many of his works have been lost. A few compositions were however included in significant collections of his time which suggests that Nicolai’s works were also greatly valued by his contemporaries at other courts. His oeuvre contains instrumental music for performance at court and sacred vocal music which was primarily intended for church services at the Stiftskirche in Stuttgart. Following intense research, the ensemble ecco la musica has compiled a magnificent selection of Johann Michael Nicolai’s existing compositions and these precious works from the Stuttgart court are presented here in public for the very first time – all works on the CD are experiencing their world recording premiere!

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1 CD PPD : 11,50€

1 CD

CDS7744 Tartini’s Violin

OSLO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - STORGARDS, John

ŠIŠKOVIC, Crtomir - FERRINI, Luca

Per Nørgård to receive Ernst von Siemens Music Price 2016.

Per Nørgårdhas been awarded Germany’s leading cultural prize, the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, in recognition of his lifelong contribution to music. The prize, which amounts to Euro 250.000, will be presented to Nørgårdat the Prinzregententheater in Munich on May 2. Coinciding with the prize, Dacapo Records will be presenting this new recording series of four Per Nørgårdsymphonies (nos. 2, 4, 5 and 6).

With the release of the two new albums, Dacapo Records will have a complete discography of all eight Nørgård symphonies, of which the latest –recorded by the Wiener Philharmoniker –won the prestigious Gramophone Awardfor Best Contemporary Recording in 2015.

The organizers of the Siemens Music Prize praised Nørgård’s contemplative and intellectual approach to his composition: «Per Nørgård’s work is characterisedby an unremitting curiosity. His urge to try new ideas and to rethink those that already exist continually alters his way of writing, all without ever losing or betraying his inner voice.»

Of all the great 18th-century Italian composers of instrumental music, Giuseppe Tartini stands out for having focused his entire creative output on his favourite instrument, the violin.

His works include an astounding set of 125 violin concertos and some 200 sonatas for violin and basso continuo. The sonatas reveal a more intimate side of Tartini’s artistry, in contrast to the more virtuosic concertos. Taken together, they present a complete picture of Tartini’s artistic personality. Rich in creative flair and splendid lyrical passages, the sonatas are technically no less difficult than the concertos, and contain frequent literary references for their interpretation.

Of all the items contained in the legacy now resting in his birthplace’s museum, Tartini’s own violin is the most historically significant. Attributed to Don Nicolò Amati, violin-maker from Bologna, the signature «p. Nicolò Amati fece in Bologna» appears inside both the violin and the museum’s inventory book. The instrument has been dated to the period between 1715 and 1725.

2 CD PPD : 19,20€

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1 CD PPD : 11,50€

6.220646 NØRGÅRD, Per - Symphonies 4 & 5

CDS7759 Napoléon Coste Works for Oboe & Piano

OSLO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - STORGARDS, John

CALCAGNI, Enrico - BALLARIN, Sonia

Per Nørgård’s music originates in an inextinguishable desire to explore the marvels of the world and the powers of music. His eight symphonies stand as milestones, composed through six decades, each with its own unique musical world.

This recording by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestraand conductor John Storgårds presents two of Nørgård’s most dramatic works; the chaotic and troubled Symphony No. 4 inspired by the schizophrenic Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli, and the fearless Symphony No. 5, in which the composer seems to embrace violent forces of nature.

Napoléon Coste, remembered principally today by guitarists, was one of the main contributors to the romantic era’s oeuvre for guitar, alongside the Hungarian Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856) and the Italian Giulio Regondi (1822–1872).

Coste’s catalogue lists 53 opus numbers, plus several unnumbered works. His output includes a number of pieces for oboe, some of which use a guitar for the accompaniment, while others use either piano or harp. Two such works open our programme: the Concertino and the Sonate. The remaining three compositions by Coste are classic morceaux caractéristiques, perfectly suited to the rich vein of salon pieces that were in vogue in Paris during that period.

The programme ends with two short pieces by French composers who were contemporaries of Coste: Hyacinthe Eléonore Klosé and Stanislas Verroust. Oboist Enrico Calcagni has previously recorded works for solo oboe of the 20th and 21st centuries for Dynamic (CDS 756) and, more recently, the Solos de concerto for oboe and piano by Stanislas Verroust (7696), in a world première recording.

PPD : 11,50€

Total time : 160’00

Total time : 51’00

Total time : 56’00 1 CD PPD : 11,50€

CDS7735 MAYR, Giovanni Simone - Medea in Corinto

CDS7761 Italian Operatic Overtures Vol.1

orchestra internazionale d’italia - chorus of the transylvania state - philiharmonic orchestra of cluj-napoca - sicca, benedetto

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Mayr had established himself as a highly successful composer by the beginning of the 19th century. Medea in Corinto is one of his best-known operas, based on a libretto by Felice Romani. For decades after its 1813 première at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, it provided one of the speciality roles for Isabella Colbran and Giuditta Pasta.

In this recording, Italian conductor Fabio Luisi gives an intense reading of Mayr’s music and masterfully underlines its deep psychological dimensions, enhancing the drama that unfolds on stage. Luisi, a Grammy Award-winning artist, is also principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and general music director of the Zurich Opera. Two great tenors, Michael Spyres and Enea Scala, take the important roles of Jason and Aegeus.

The role of Medea is entrusted to the Spanish soprano Davinia Rodriguez, who effortlessly delivers Act One’s demanding cavatina with obbligato violin, usually omitted in most productions.

Total time : 68’00 1 CD

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 53’81

6.220645 NØRGÅRD, Per - Symphonies 2 & 6

Dynamic proudly presents a series of three CDs dedicated to Overtures and Symphonies spanning three centuries of Italian opera. This first volume focuses on the 18th century, and features some real rarities: from Vivaldi (Bajazet and Catone in Utica) to the great Neapolitan school – Traetta, Leo, Paisiello and Vinci – plus Salieri, Sacchini and Sammartini.

The programme is performed by specialists in this repertoire, including Federico Maria Sardelli, Antonio Florio, Jean-Claude Malgoire and Giuliano Carella.

PPD : 11,50€

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1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 54’56 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

GP705 ENESCU, George - Complete Wors for Solo Piano 1

LA REAL CAMARA

DE SOLAUN, Josu

A seventeenth century violinist-composer in Francisco José de Castro, who travelled from his birthplace of Seville to the Northern Italian city of Brescia where he composed chamber music, provides the focus for Emilio Moreno’s latest exploration of the forgotten and ignored in Iberian Baroque. Castro’s Trattenimenti armonici, Op 1, a set of ten trio sonatas da camera were published in 1695, by which time their composer had earned a deserved reputation for his musicality, especially as a follower of the innovative style of Arcangelo Corelli (Castro’s first opus was issued by a leading publisher in Bologna).

These trio sonatas are the only known Spanish examples from the seventeenth century.

The sonatas – consisting of preludes followed by dance movements including those in the French manner – show the young Sevillian embracing the stylus phantasticus and the new violin virtuosity which he would have encountered in Spain (he may have been taught by Italian violinists) but the revelation of whose full glory was to await him when he moved to Brescia. The performances from La Real Cámara – naturally being issued by Glossa – here are led by two modern virtuosi skilled in this genre, Emilio Moreno and Enrico Gatti, who are ably supported by Mercedes Ruiz, and Pablo and Aarón Zapico. Emilio Moreno regards Castro as the “Spanish Corelli”, a compliment which is borne out by this elegant and imaginative music, rich in harmonic and melodic ingenuity whilst continuing to be influenced by Francisco José de Castro’s “Spanish Muse”.

Total time : 79’06 1 CD PPD : 10,00€

GCD923901 Di guerra e di pace

GP692 GLASS, PHILIP - Glassworlds 4

LA PIFARESCHA

HORVATH, Nicolas

Given the prevalence of war in the Europe of the Renaissance it is no real surprise that warlike themes and echoes of battles should find their ways into secular and civic music compositions – or even into religious ones (such as the many L’Homme armé and La Bataille masses of the time). With Di guerra e di pace, La Pifarescha captures the contrast between the roar and rhythms of battle and the celebrations of courtly and popular festivities as would have been performed by an alta cappella ensemble from the Middle Ages through to the dawn of the Baroque: shawms, slide trumpets and sackbuts, plus other wind instruments buttressed by percussion instruments.

The music of well-known composers from the period – Josquin, Isaac, Willaert, Phalèse, Susato and Senfl – is conjured up in virtuosic performances from this Italian ensemble, La Pifarescha, making its first appearance on Glossa (even if its members are regular instrumental contributors to performances and recordings by the likes of Cantica Symphonia or La Venexiana). This modern journey, creating a Renaissance “soundtrack”, embraces not just war and peace but also the contrast of European and Arabic and Asiatic influences from the times of the Crusades through to civic bands playing for the residents in Renaissance Venice or Bologna. In creating this enjoyable and improvisation-filled entertainment the members of La Pifarescha wear their scholarly knowledge lightly as they play their way from the popular to the erudite and back.

Total time : 61’12 CD

CKD512 Debussy & Takemitsu for strings

ENGLISH, Kemp

1 CD PPD : 10,00€

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In 1785 and 1786 Mozart’s piano concertos were winning many admirers in the public concert halls of Vienna. Koželuch, however, continued to excel as master of the piano sonata, plying his art in the city’s ubiquitous private concert soirées.

Indeed, the four works presented here ably demonstrate why his sonatas might aptly be called “the ideal of the high-Classic style”. To be sure, Mozart’s influence is felt in Sonatas Nos. 21, 23 and 24 but in Sonata No. 22, Koželuch leads the way by paring away the textures and introducing figurations of simplicity and grace; hallmarks of Mozart’s much later penultimate Sonata in B flat major K570.

This volume focuses on love, one of Philip Glass’s most glorious themes. The timeless melancholy of his BAFTA award-winning music for The Hours forms an organic suite driven by the film’s three powerful characters, here complete with unpublished tracks.

The breathtakingly energetic Modern Love Waltz expands the limits of minimalism by combining Glass’s style with Viennese dance tradition, while his transcription of Notes on a Scandal is a recording première.

Steve Reich described the iconic Music in Fifths as being “like a freight train”.

PPD : 10,00€

GP647 KOZELUCH, Leopold - Complete Keyboard Sonatas 6

Total time : 54’22

This first of three discs devoted to George Enescu’s piano music presents three significant pieces. Indebted to Romanian folk music and in three large sections, the ruminative yet striking Nocturne in D flat is a work of shifting sonorities and moods.

The Pièces impromptues, Op. 18 are independent, unrelated character pieces that illuminate once again the composer’s fascination with the indigenous music of Romania.

The Sonata No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 24, No. 1 is – by contrast – a massive statement characterised by harmonic surprises, innovative techniques, insistent rhythms and, in the final, slow movement, the doina, a type of Romanian song at once contemplative, nostalgic and melancholic.

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 57’26

GCD920314 DE CASTRO, Francisco José - Trio sonatas op. 1

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE - MORTON, Jonathan

Total time : 53’62 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Fusing French and Japanese influences, SE’s new recording features works by Takemitsu and Debussy, two composers who share an instinctive feeling for instrumental colour and sensuous textures.

SE’s reputation for excellent string arrangements (established with important commissions from the late Rudolph Barshai) continues with Jonathan Morton’s arrangement of Debussy’s String Quartet.

The variety of string techniques and the wide palette of instrumental colours Debussy employed are all enhanced by the larger string ensemble, particularly in the sumptuously beautiful slow movement.

In addition, the attractively lyrical Girl with the Flaxen Hair has been orchestrated for string ensemble and two harps by Colin Matthews.

Takemitsu’s contribution to the string orchestra repertoire includes two contrasting film scores inspired by the French Impressionists.

Finishing the album is Takemitsu’s hauntingly melancholic Nostalghia, with a heartfelt solo violin melody by Jonathan Morton.

SE combines the intimacy and unity of a string quartet with the force and power of an ensemble in this unique and beautiful recording.

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2 CD PPD : 20,20€

Total time : 74’00 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

REAM1126 Iain Hamilton

SCOTTISH OPERA - EGARR, Richard

BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - DEL MAR, Norman - scottish national chorus and orchestra - alexander gibson

This live recording of an acclaimed one-off, sold-out performance at the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival captures the wit and fun of Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.

Heading up a cast that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the opera world is John Mark Ainsley, Elizabeth Watts and Toby Spence.

Completing the star-studded line up is comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor (The Goodies, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue) as the narrator.

Conductor Richard Egarr (AAM, SCO) applies his extensive knowledge of period performance practice to recreate the sound and style typical of the late 19th century, a first for a G&S recording. HMS Pinafore is rich in comic burlesque, sending up theatrical and operatic conventions and parodying the Italian opera of the day. The tongue-in-cheek writing is apparent from the opening chorus and the music is equally rich in comic pastiche and styles; ‘For he is an Englishman’ is one of the greatest master-strokes.

Climb aboard the HMS Pinafore for a hugely fun seafaring romp!

Total time : 65’46 1 CD PPD : 10,00€

Iain Ellis Hamilton was born in Glasgow on 6 June 1922. When he was seven years old, his family moved to London and he was educated at Mill Hill School. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in 1947 and henceforth dedicated himself to a life of composition.

The three works presented here are indicative of the broad spectrum covered by Iain Hamilton’s output.

Together with Peter Racine Fricker and Humphrey Searle, he was one of the first British composers to forge a reputation in the immediate post-war years.

It is to be hoped this release will introduce new listeners to his individual, resilient and multifaceted musical voice.

CKD526 Concerti Bizarri

REAM1127 BUTTERWORTH, Arthur - Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 4

IRISH BAROQUE ORCHESTRA - HUGGETT, Monica

BUTTERWORTH, Arthur - bbc scottish symphony orchestra - bbc northern symphony orchestra

Innovative instrumentation, unusual repertoire and an ensemble with a profound knowledge of historical performance practice makes this Irish Baroque Orchestra Linn debut unmissable. This programme of 18th century concertos is an attractive listening tour through the German courts, revealing unknown jewels.

The soloists, including Lisa Beznosiuk (OAE), Andreas Helm (Concentus Musicus Wien), Monica Huggett (Sonnerie) and Peter Whelan (Ensemble Marsyas) relish the opportunity to show off their skills.

Alongside the double cello concerto by Vivaldi and Telemann’s concerto for two violins and bassoon sit the lesser known, but equally brilliant, concertos by Graupner, Heinichen and Fasch. One of the most beautiful combinations is the Graupner Triple Concerto for oboe d’amore, viola d’amore and flute d’amore, which produces an exquisite blend of other-worldly colours. Wonderfully kaleidoscopic colours also pervade the concertos by Heinichen and Fasch, the latter proving just why Telemann and Bach held him in such high esteem.

Total time : 104’00 2 CD PPD : 10,00€

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 85’00

CKD522 Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore

Arthur Butterworth was born in New Moston, Manchester on 4 August 1923. He became a choirboy at the age of seven, but it was the sound of a brass band performing in a park which ignited an enduring passion for music.

He attended North Manchester Grammar School for Boys and in 1939 was awarded the prestigious Alexander Owen Memorial Fund scholarship which helped admit him to the ranks of the celebrated Besses o’ th’ Barn Band. After war service in the Royal Engineers, he entered the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he received tuition in trumpet and conducting and studied composition with Richard Hall.

A prolific and hardworking composer, Arthur Butterworth produced over 150 scores for a variety ofmusical forces. He wrote mainly to commissions which were often extended by fellow musicians confident he would provide a piece for their instrument or ensemble that was both idiomatic and challenging.

SRCD353 RUBBRA, Edmund - The Complete Chamber Music & Songs with Harp

CKD545 José Serebrier conducts Samuel Adler SEREBRIER, José - ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL

PERRETT, Danielle - CHADWELL, Tracey - GILL, Timothy

Total time : 59’00 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

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Conducting legend José Serebrier, together with the RSNO, performs a programme of works by the hugely influential American composer Samuel Adler, including the world premiere of his Sixth Symphony. For those unfamiliar with Adler’s catalogue, this album is a great entrance point; for those who are, it adds a valuable first hearing of his Symphony No. 6 which is dynamic and full of energy.

These works are benchmarks of contemporary American composition: monumental in scale and embracing a wide expressive spectrum with ease and visceral power, Adler merges twenty-first century ebullience with an almost classical economy and balance.

In his Concerto For Cello And Orchestra, Adler celebrates all aspects of the instrument, creating a wide emotional and expressive palette for young cellist Maximilian Hornung, who excels as the soloist. Drifting On Wind And Currents, a memorial tone-poem inspired by the poetry of Louise Glück, rounds off this album of classical music which, while challenging, is rewarding at every turn.

Total time : 67’23 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

The meditative qualities in so much of the music of Edmund Rubbra (1901-86) resonate strongly with our present day search for the spiritual. This aspect of his work stems both from his roots in Western Christianity and from his lifelong interest in Eastern thought and music. Rubbra’s first major composition for solo harp was the Pezzo Ostinato of 1958. This time the comparison is with an Indian raga.

Rubbra and his friend, ethnomusicologist Peter Crossley-Holland, had been to hear the great Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan perform in London, and this had led to the idea of writing the harp piece.

Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-89) wrote his delightful Nocturne for harp in 19 67. Today it is not often performed, which is a pity, as it is fully characteristic of the composer and is Berkeley’s only work for solo harp. Even more of a rarity is the final piece on the CD, by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). His Prelude (No.1) for harp was written in 1915 for Kate Wilson, a student at the RCM, but never published.

The manuscript only came to light when Kate died and it was bequeathed to the Royal College of Music by her sister-in-law in the 1970s. Like the Rubbra masterworks for harp, this rich and yearning piece is set to count amongst the most significant in the harp repertoire.

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1 CD PPD : 10,00€

Total time : 64’32 1 CD PPD : 10,00€

NI5932 Schumann Volume 2

SVETLANOV, Evgeny - THE USSR STATE SYMPHONY ORCHestra

DE ROTHSCHILD, Charlotte - FARMER, Adrian

Firma Melodiya presents an album of Maurice Ravel’s symphonic works dedicated to the great French composer’s 135th birthday. “Music, I insist, must in spite of everything be beautiful,” as Ravel declared his artistic credo.

When the composer lived, his works were frequently a subject of relentless criticism. He was accused of imitating his contemporaries, compliance with outdated standards and banality. However, Ravel’s music has been loved by millions of listeners for more than half a century now, which lets him take a deserved place in the pantheon of the world’s classical music.

The album features Ravel’s works created during one decade – Spanish Rhapsody, Suite No. 2 from the ballet Daphnis and Chloe, as well as orchestral versions of Pavane for a Dead Princess for piano and the suite Mother Goose. They are performed by the USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov. A world-renowned interpreter of Russian music, Svetlanov showed genuine interest in French musical impressionism and often included Ravel’s and Debussy’s works in his programmes. These recordings were made at the concert dedicated to Ravel’s 100th anniversary that took place on 17 March 1975 at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

CHARLOTTE DE ROTHSCHILD’s career has taken her all over the world. With her wide knowledge of the song repertoire, from different eras, countries and genres, she has created some wonderful themed programmes; the best known being ‘Family Connections’ which traces the musical history of her forebears with music by, and anecdotes about, the composers who were friends, teachers or ancestors of the Rothschild family during the 19th and 20th Centuries. Recently, Charlotte presented this programme in Switzerland, Japan, Singapore and the U.K. ADRIAN FARMER trained as an accompanist at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester from 1977, following a music degree at Birmingham. He first encountered Nimbus Records in 1979, when he was invited to record for them, but quickly made the decision to join the founders as a record producer. In the mid 1980s he became Nimbus’s Music Director, joining the Board of Directors.

Adrian has made several recordings for Nimbus with other artists.

Total time : 62’51 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

MELCD1002413 VIVALDI / WEBER / JOLIVET - Bassoon Concertos

NI5934 Brahms

MARIINSKY THEATRE ORCHESTRA - STOLBOV, Ivan

TRIO SHAHAM EREZ WALLFISCH

Firma Melodiya presents recordings of concertos for bassoon and orchestra performed by young soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.

Rodion Tolmachev is one of the best Russian bassoonists of the new generation. A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the Hannover University of Music, he has received prizes of a number of prestigious domestic and international competitions, including the first prizes of the Rimsky-Korsakov All-Russian Competition of Woodwind Instrument Performers in St. Petersburg and the Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Bassoon Competition in Provo, Utah, USA, a Grand Prize of the Japan Wind and Percussion Competition in Tokyo, a bronze medal of the ARD International Quintet Competition in Munich, and a Yamaha award, and also became a laureate of the European Cultural Foundation in Strasbourg.

Tolmachev is a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra since 2004, performing with it around the world and participating in solo and ensemble concert programmes. Tolmachev’s solo album with bassoon works by French composers was released on the German label Dobringen und Grimm in 2012.

Our release features works for bassoon and orchestra written in different ages – three concertos by Antonio Vivaldi (the history of the bassoon as an independent concert instrument began with his music), a romantic, radiant with bright colours concerto by Carl Maria von Weber, and an elegant, neoclassical Concertino for bassoon, harp, piano and strings by the 20th century French master André Jolivet.

Total time : 121’00

PPD : 17,50€

NI5938 CAPLET / HONEGGER / MILHAUD / RAVEL - French Songs

WILSON, Ransom - ORPHEUS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Total time : 75’58 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

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Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch was founded in 2009 and comprises three of the finest international instrumentalists performing today.

Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch enjoys a longstanding relationship with Nimbus Records with whom to date they have recorded the Mendelssohn piano trios, a disc of French repertoire and a disc of the great Russian piano trios.

2 CD

NI6304 Ramsom Wilson plays Jean-Michel Damase

RANSOM WILSON has long been recognized internationally as one of the greatest flutists of his Generation. Ransom Wilson is turning increasingly to a career in orchestral and operatic conducting, and has recently been named Conductor and teacher of conducting at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. He has appeared as guest conductor with England’s London Symphony Orchestra and Hallé Orchestra. Damase’s music combines grace and sparkling wit with a gentle nobility. The essential simplicity of his writing, especially when compared to the voguish intellectual inscrutability of the avant garde, led to his being side-lined at a time when novelty was all the rage. Yet although he was highly prolific, little of his music is k nown outside his native France. The works featured in this recital epitomise nearly half-a-century of creative endeavour.

Of the younger composers from whom Damase drew freely for creative inspiration, he felt the greatest affinity with Françaix.

The wind family of instruments plays a crucial role in many of Françaix’s 200 or so published works and of these the flute is pre-eminent.

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 57’33

MELCD1002338 Maurice Ravel

WALLFISCH, Simon - RUSHTON, Edward

Total time : 61’07 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

SIMON WALLFISCH Born in London into a family of musicians, Simon began playing the cello aged 5 and went on to study cello and voice as a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music, during which time (2000-2006) he was awarded several prizes including from Royal Overseas League, Countess of Munster and English Speaking Union.

EDWARD RUSHTON studied piano (with Renna Kellaway) and composition at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, before going on to read Music at King’s College, Cambridge and then composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. In 2001 he graduated with distinction from Irwin Gage’s masterclass in Lied interpretation at the Zurich Conservatory.

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1 CD PPD : 12,95€

OC1841 The Britannic Organ Vol.12

LESTER, Richard - LESTER, Elizabeth

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Richard Lester has been at the centre of early keyboard music for fifty years.

This present programme takes the listener on a tour of keyboard works from a number of great European composers from Italy, Spain, France and Austria spanning the mid sixteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. Richard Lester’s large discography for Nimbus Records also includes the complete keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, the majority of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s keyboard works on original instruments, organ masses by Girolamo Cavaonni, Andrea Gabrieli and Claudio Merulo, sonatas by Carlos Seixas, Antonio Soler, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

He has also compiled and edited an edition of Italian Renaissance keyboard works which includes a DVD on early fingering and ornamentation plus a CD demonstrating works by composers associated with St Mark’s in Venice: also published and available from Nimbus.

[NMP1015, NI5931]

Total time : 144’05 2 CD PPD : 17,50€

OC072 WAGNER, Richard - Der Ring

OC1842 Gunst / Debussy

ALBRECHT, Hansjörg

LANG, Susanne - DENISOVA, Elena

The New OehmsClassics Catalogue this time together with the Ring Transcription by Hansjörg Albrecht.

Total time : 137’66 2 CD PPD : 2,35€

Total time : 56’11 1 CD PPD : 8,85€

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With this final sequence of historic recordings on the Britannic Organ, we conclude our journey of recordings on the extraordinary Welte Philharmonie Organ of the Museum for Music Machines in Seewen.

A total of 23 CDs have been issued since 2011 with well over 27 hours of music, enabling the listener to gain insight into these earliest organ recordings.

CD 1 Richard Wagner (1813–1883) The Rhinegold – Prelude, Entrance CD 2 OehmsClassics Highlights Sampler Frühling-Sommer 2016

Total time : 75’03 1 CD PPD : 8,85€

The works recorded here reveal a refined and original style, especially when Susanne Lang delves into the spiritual world of Gunst with her sensitive musicality … Susanne Lang captures these moods and styles in exemplary fashion, making the most of dissonant tensions and of quasi-impressionistic timbres alike. This makes one want to hear more.”

This was the verdict of Fono-Forum in the 07/2014 issue on Volume 1 of the piano works of Evgenij Gunst recorded by Susanne Lang. She has willingly responded to this “desire to hear more”, this time adding chamber music by Claude Debussy performed together with Elena Denisova.

OC766 Mozart / Schnittke: Kammermusik

OC1846 Walter Braunfels Orchestral Works Vol.1

CABEZA, Maia

albrecht, hansjörg - staatskapelle weimar - fargas, valentina - vogt, klaus florian - volle, michael

Every three years, the atmosphere is full of the sound of violins in Augsburg. This is the time when upandcoming violin stars from all over the world participate in the Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition, playing before a renowned jury and competing for the coveted Mozart Prize. The list of previous first-prize winners is a long one, and includes such outstanding names as Isabelle Faust, Benjamin Schmid, Lena Neudauer and most recently in 2013, Maia Cabeza.

OehmsClassics is releasing a Mozart and Schnittke programme with the prize winner on the occasion of the opening of the competition and for the Presentation Concert of this CD on 2 May 2016 in Augsburg.

1 CD PPD : 8,85€

Classical Releases

Classical Releases

Total time : 79’35

NI5939 A Musical Journey Around Europe

Walter Braunfels achieved his breakthrough as a composer during the 1920s with the opera The Birds (based on Aristophanes). Shortly thereafter he was, alongside Richard Strauss, one of the outstanding and most frequently performed German opera composers. His extremely versatile compositional oeuvre includes numerous operas, orchestral works and choral works, as well as Lieder, chamber music and piano works. He was praised as a forward-looking representative of the New Music. The most famous conductors of the era, such as Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Otto Klemperer, Hans Knappertsbusch, Fritz Busch, Hermann Abendroth, Hans Pfitzner, Arthur Nikisch and Günter Wand, performed his compositions in the great German music centres, in Vienna, London and New York.

Braunfels regarded himself as a traditional late-romantic composer, a successor to Berlioz,Wagner and Bruckner. During the period of the Third Reich, he was dismissed as a “half Jew” from all offices and performances of his works were banned. After the Second World War, representatives of the musical avantgarde found Braunfels’s style no longer contemporary, which is why he gradually became forgotten. Since the 1990s, however, his complete oeuvre has been undergoing a wonderful Renaissance and is being enthusiastically re-discovered by the international musical world.

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OC1848 SCHUMANN, Robert - ULLMANN, Viktor - Lieder

Classical Releases

LANDSHAMER, Christina

Total time : 65’26 1 CD

1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 55’19 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 64’40 1 SACD PPD : 11,50€

PPD : 8,85€

Total time : 64’47

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The career of Christina Landshamer is presently running in just one direction: upwards.

Having just returned from her debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera Chicago (Sophie in Rosenkavalier) and Carnegie Hall in New York, the artist is now presenting her first CD for OehmsClassics.

In Co-production with BR Klassik, together with Gerold Huber at the piano, she has recorded a beautiful recital with well-known Schumann Lieder as well as lesser-known but highly interesting Lieder by Viktor Ullmann.

The twentieth century has heard great string quartets, such as the Busch Quartet, the Budapest String Quartet, the Amadeus Quartet, the Borodin Quartet and the Guarneri Quartet. The Quartetto Italiano certainly belongs to this top echelon of ensembles. After the musicians met and first played together in 1942, the quartet was founded in 1945. The musical development of the group was greatly influenced

by German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, whom they met at the Salzburg Festival in 1951. They reached the pinnacle of their career in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s and by the time they stopped playing in 1980, they recorded amongst many other works the complete quartets by Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann and Webern.

Despite his short life (Schubert died at the age of 31), his very harsh selfcriticism and the fact that he had to measure himself against Beethoven, the composer who was considered an institution in the Vienna of the early 19th century, Schubert, next to his numerous songs and his symphonic repertoire, is known to have written 20 string quartets. Fourteen of them were completed and can easily be divided into early, middle and late period quartets. This new issue in PENTATONE’s Remastered Classics series reveals a remastered January 1976 Philips Classics recording by the Quartetto Italiano performing Schubert Quartets D87, from the middle period and D804 also referred to as “Rosamunde” from the late period, a great masterpiece and one of the most outstanding quartets of the entire string quartet repertoire.

PC10347 DE ROSSI, Camilla - Sant’Alessio

PTC5186549 SCHUBERT, Franz - Arpeggione Sonata & String Quintet

MUSICA FIORITA - DOLCI, Daniela

HAIMOVITZ, Matt - GOLAN, Itamar - MIRO QUARTET

Several women are known to have composed music in Northern Italy and Austria during the period 1670 to 1725. Of those women, though there is no remaining biographical information, Camilla de Rossi (fl. 1707–1710) by far has the most surviving works. The only known biographical detail about Camilla is her Roman citizenship – she always signed the title pages of her manuscripts as Romana, or a woman of Roman descent. Where she learned the skills as a musician and as a composer are entirely unknown as of today.

Rossi composed four oratorios for solo voices and orchestra, all of which were commissioned

by Emperor Joseph I of Austria and were performed in the Imperial Chapel in Vienna. In many details the style of the instrumental parts resemble those of Arcangelo Corelli, who at this time was Rome’s musical magnet, so to speak, and whose “classical” instrumental works were extensively studied by every composer. The elaborate fashioning of the individual voices, the variety of tonal colours and the diversity in the orchestration are, besides the plasticity of the representation of the musical affects, characteristic of Camilla de Rossi’s oratorios.

The fifth album to be released in the PENTATONE Oxingale series since PENTATONE and Oxingale Records joined forces in February 2015 combines two great masterpieces of Franz Schubert - the Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor, D. 821 and the String Quintet in C Major, D956. Schubert wrote the sonata D. 821 for the arpeggione, a six stringed instrument similar to the viola da gamba, invented in 1723 and falling into oblivion not much more than a decade later. With the Arpeggione no longer around the sonata is usually played on the cello or viola. In this 2001 performance Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz is joined by renowned pianist and chamber musician Itamar Golan.

Finished only a few months before his untimely death in November 1828, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major, set for the rather unusual combination of string quartet plus a second cello, received its first public performance in 1850 and was published only in 1853. Nowadays generally considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces in the chamber music repertoire, it is hard to imagine that the Quintet remained unheard for such a long time. On this album it can be heard in a 2003 performance by Matt Haimovitz and the Miró Quartet.

Total time : 76’55 1 SACD PPD : 12,95€

PC10354 ROTA / BLOCH / BRUCH - Double Bass Concerto

PTC5186577 The Aeolian Organ at Duke University Chapel

FURTOK, Boguslaw - HR-SINFONIEORCHESTER - ZELIENKA, Peter

JACOBSON, Christopher

«When I first heard the Divertimento Concertante for double bass and orchestra by Nino Rota, I immediately recognised that it was one of the best ever compositions for double bass. The work provides a complete image of both technical and also creative possibilities which can be displayed by a double bass virtuoso, not to mention the wonderful melodies which would perhaps not be at all anticipated on this instrument!

Right at the beginning, I recognised that Schelomo by Ernest Bloch - originally composed for violoncello – would also be perfectly suited for performance on the double bass. The lower notes and the melodies played by the double bass sound just as good and fascinating as on the cello.

There are also a few passages which in my opinion sound even “deeper” and “darker” on the bass.

Recording Max Bruch‘s Kol Nidrei was just as great a challenge. The work has been part of the double bass repertoire for many years despite the inherent difficulty of shaping and communicating these wonderful melodies.» Bogusław Furtok

Total time : 65’56 1 SACD PPD : 12,95€

The Aeolian Opus 1785 pipe organ of Duke University Chapel in Durham, NC was built in 1932 and completely restored in 2008. It stands today, as it did over eighty years ago, as a towering testament to the twentieth-century symphonic tradition of organ building. This album presents a collection of equally twentieth-century organ compositions, transcriptions and arrangements, ranging from Irish folk tunes arranged for organ by Edwin H. Lemare and Gospels by William Bolcom, to Marcel Dupré’s monumental Trois Préludes et Fugues Op. 7 and a transcription of Sibelius’ Finlandia, all performed

by Duke Chapel’s organist, Christopher Jacobson. It is the first commercial recording made on the instrument since its restoration and it gives a chance to hear the instrument’s unique voice in a way never possible before. It is particularly the instrument’s unique voice which inspired Christopher Jacobson to record this album: ‘The orchestral sounds of the Aeolian organ at Duke Chapel represent a special and unique voice amongst America’s organs. Designed to rival and complement the sounds of a symphony orchestra the Aeolian’s ability to elegantly whisper and powerfully roar is paralleled by only a handful of other organs across America. Not many of these large symphonic organs have survived in their original state into the twenty-first century. This disc represents a sonic journey one-hundred years back in time to a period when these tremendous instruments were regularly heard by thousands of music lovers in homes, concert halls, and churches across America.’

Classical Releases

PTC5186232 SCHUBERT, Franz Peter - String Quartets QUARTETTO ITALIANO

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PTC5186580 Compositions for Brass and Percussion

Classical Releases

WORLDBRASS

Total time : 59’50 1 SACD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 73’55 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Founded in 1995 by members of the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra during a tour in South-East Asia, WorldBrass quickly grew to become one of the most renowned and wellrespected brass ensembles on the European Continent. True to its origins at Jeunesses Musicales, the ensemble consists still today of musicians from many different countries, such as England, Germany, Australia, Slovenia, Canada, France, Luxembourg and The Netherlands.

Throughout its existence it has been the ensemble’s intention to expand the range and scope of brass-ensemble music by commissioning new pieces and arrangements, both in order to stretch its own capabilities as well as to entertain its listeners on the highest possible level.

This has resulted so far in no less than 19 compositions and 33 arrangements commissioned by the ensemble. In 2015 WorldBrass celebrated its 20th anniversary as an ensemble, and to celebrate this occasion a selection of these original commissions has been recorded and is now being released on this PENTATONE album. The result is a fascinating cross-section of music covering a wide artistic and stylistic spectrum.

Total time : 50’35 1 CD PPD : 13,75€

LPH021 BACH, Johann Sebastian - Leipzig Organ Works

PSC1355 BAZELAIRE, Paul - Intégrale de l’oeuvre originale

GRATTON, Maude

BLUMENTHAL, Daniel - ZEUTHEN, Morten

The talented organist and harpsichordist Maud Gratton is an artist constantly seeking perfection. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she trained with such great masters as Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord) and Louis Robilliard (organ), as well as with Olivier Baumont, Blandine Rannou, Kenneth Weiss, Michel Bouvard, Olivier Latry, and Olivier Trachier.

It was quite natural that Philippe Herreweghe, concerned with promoting the talent of promising young musicians, should invite her to record an album in the ‘Amis de Phi’ (Friends of Phi) collection. On this disc, the young organist has chosen an ideal programme for demonstrating her art, proposing an intelligent panorama of organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach: between the Preludes and Fugues in E minor and E flat major, BWV 548 and 552, Jesus Christus, unser Heiland, BWV 665, the Canonic Variations on ‘Vom Himmel hoch’, BWV 769, and the Organ Sonata no. 4, BWV 528, come and discover well-known and less well-known pieces by the Kantor of Leipzig.

Music-loving friends, be curious!

Charming and elegant French music brought forth by the eminent cellist Morten Zeuthen and pianist Daniel Blumenthal. Paul Bazelaire (1886-1958) was the main teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris, with such names as Fournier and Flachot among his students. His own works for cello and piano, all of them presented here for the first time, are all perfect encores for cellists with the ability to make their instrument sing.

In his liner note for this album, Morten Zeuthen talks about how Bazelaire in his own time was known as an arranger of other composers. Around 1900 baroque music was ‘adapted to the audience»s taste’, and Bazelaire was a master at this craft. As the development moved towards an interest in the original works, the name of Bazelaire would be forgotten with his arrangements. Only a couple of his pieces have stayed in the repertoire, the most populare being ‘Suite Française sur des airs populaires’ where Bazelaire adapts five popular folksongs. Morten Zeuthen and Daniel Blumenthal brings Bazelaire back.

Professor Zeuthen of the Royal Danish Conservatory have given concerts in such venues as Carnegie and Wigmore Hall, and also long line of critically acclaimed recordings. Professor Blumenthal of The Royal Flemish Concervatore has given recitals at Tanglewood, in Concertgebouw and performed as soloist with orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Total time : 73’38 1 CD PPD : 13,75€

DSL92202 Transitions NICOLAS, Michael

RCO16004 RACHMANINOFF, Sergei - Symphony No. 2 ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA - JANSONS, Mariss

Total time : 55’49 1 SACD PPD : 11,50€

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«Octophonia» is Dan Styffes sixth and latest solo album. Three works by Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim form a kernel of this recording, on which Dan Styffe has grouped together music originally written for double bass with music for cello adapted for its larger relative. The music is by composers who are in various ways, associated with Arne Nordheim´s work.

Arne Nordheim has since the 1960s been of the most recognized Norwegian composers and was a front figure for the entire Norwegian postwar musical modernism. Ingvar Lidholm was one of several composers Nordheim studied privately with. His «Fantasia sopra laudi» (1977) is unusually organically written in a way that opens large musical vaults filled with light. Together with Ingrid Andsnes, Styffe also performs «Grave: Metamorphoses for cello and piano» (1981) by Witold Lutoslawski - a composer who, with his sound mass techniques, would be a markedly important inspiration for Nordheim. Like Nordheim, Aulis Sallinen is also a composer with a social and political involvement with music beyond the purely aesthetical.

Dan Styffe, originally born in Sweden, has throughout all his career been established in Norway, and is a central figure in Norwegian musical life. Styffe is a jury member of several international competitions and has participated in several international conventions. At the present, he is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music and Barratt Due Institute of Music.

The RCO’s performance history of Sergei Rachmaninoff ’s Second Symphony is strangely uneven. Already three years after its completion the symphony was performed by Willem Mengelberg in a program that also boasted the composer as soloist in his own Piano Concerto No. 3. After that the symphony was on the program once more in 1921 and then there’s a gap of 59 years. From 1980 on no less than ten conductors (including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kirill Kondrashin and Kurt Sanderling) put it on the RCO’s music stands. Its latest RCO incarnation proved to be an ideal performance. With Mariss Jansons at the helm, mind and heart of this piece were totally balanced and the opulence of the RCO’s sound at the Concertgebouw was perfectly suited to Rachmaninoff ’s most beloved symphony.

Classical Releases

PSC1342 Octophonia STYFFE, Dan

Total time : 61’16 1 CD PPD : 11,50€

A long-admired figure on the New York scene, cellist Michael Nicolas enjoys a diverse career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and improvisor. His eclectic tastes and willingness to try just about anything have led him to forge a musical path of uncommon breadth, from performing masterpieces of the past in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, to free-form improvisation in a downtown New York experimental venue with giants of the genre, to working with contemporary composers of all styles, pushing the boundaries of musical expression and meaning.

In this collection of six pieces, Michael adheres not to any one genre, but simply to a general idea exploring the human/machine dichotomy. He tried approaching it from as many angles as possible, and so this record is a very diverse one featuring composers from 3 continents with works spanning over 50 years. There are duos for cello and electronics, cello solos with electronic backing tracks, pieces with multiple layered cello tracks, a solo cello piece. The music deals with intensity and hyperexpression in the Davidovsky and Oliver, fragility and expansiveness in Fulmer and Thorvaldsdottir, rhythmic drive and transformation in Reich and Gosfield. It is Michael’s hope that the listener will be exposed to many new sounds and ways to organize them, and be able to connect them to more traditional ideas of musical expression.

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Total time : 68’54 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 88’08 2 CD PPD : 15,50€

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gielen, michael - swr sinfonieorchester baden-baden u. freibur - rundfunk-sinfonieorchester saarbrücken

ADORNETTO, Daniele

Some of the first broadcast recordings that Michael Gielen made in the 1960s were of Anton Bruckner’s symphonies. He eventually went on to record all nine of them, not necessarily using the standard version of each symphony, but the one which was the most musically interesting. Echoing his approach for the classical and more contemporary repertoires, Gielen instilled in his orchestra his own distinctive, wellresearched interpretations. It’s extremely interesting to follow the development of Gielen’s musical journey, starting in the late 1960s and ending with his last Bruckner recording in 2013.

The Bruckner recordings on this second volume of the Michael Gielen EDITION were made principally with the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg. This enables the listener to follow the orchestra’s development over the years, culminating in their outstanding 2013 performance of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony.

Total time : 65’18 1 CD PPD : 10,00€

Vieri Tosatti, who was born and lived in Rome in the period after the Second World War, was a unique composer: he was irreverent, ironic, in the habit of going against the mainstream and keeping away from the academic world. He called himself “a complicated man”. His original, expressive language, which stemmed from tradition, set him against the musical world of his time, which was relentlessly anchored to experimentation. Tosatti was also a brilliant pianist. Tosatti was a learned man, and not in the field of music alone. He always remained true to his ideals, although this was to the detriment of his success and fame, as shown by his refusal of several official posts he was offered.He composed several piano pieces during his youth and during his last period of activity, after an interval of more than twenty years. The five pieces presented in this CD, which were recognised by the composer in his catalogue pertain to two distinct stages of his musical life. The refined pianist Daniele Adornetto, pupil of Tosatti in orchestration, guides us in this musical journey.

SWR19015CD Himmelslieder: Songs of Heaven

DSOLIVE007 Mahler 3

SWR VOKALENSEMBLE STUTTGART - STANGE, Maria - CREED,Marcus

DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - VAN ZWEDEN, Jaap

Christmas carols from around Europe follow similar themes - angelic choirs, lullabies and hymns to the Virgin Mary. Yet the carols of different countries and regions sound distinctive.

This is because Christmas, more than any other celebration, is so deeply rooted in a nation’s folk culture. The Christmas settings in this collection comprise music from the Middle Ages to the present day, from an anonymous 15th-century composer to Jan Sandström.

The highlight of the album is Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, a work built on old carols and considered one of the most attractive of all Christmas cantatas. Magnificat Antiphons by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt also looks back to the Middle Ages, and is a magical synthesis of ancient and modern sounds. Poulenc’s Christmas Motets inhabit a completely different sound world, in which the composer fills a backcloth of mystery with intense colours.

Completing the album is the set of Henrich Kaminsky’s Christmas songs – light, graceful and stylishly composed.

This CD is perfect for anyone looking for a satisfying selection of captivating Christmas choral music in thrilling performances.

Mahler’s Third Symphony was the centerpiece of the inaugural Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family SOLUNA International Music and Arts Festival in Dallas in May 2015.

The performance continues van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s exploration of Mahler’s large works in concert and on recording.

Recorded live at concerts on May 21-23, 2015 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas. Mahler’s Third Symphony is the longest yet most joyful symphony he ever wrote. “My symphony will be something the like of which the world has never yet heard!”

Gustav Mahler wrote to a friend. “In it all of nature finds a voice.” He described the work as “beginning with inanimate nature and ascending to the love of God.” Symphony No. 3 is massive in scale and grand in scope. With women’s and children’s choruses and an expanded orchestra, the piece fills the hall with lush and sweeping tones, touching a range of emotions and ending on a beautiful and impassioned Adagio.

Total time : 96’00 1 CD PPD : 14,20€

TC640290 BASSANI, Giovanni Battista - Giona

AD3311C In Galway

LES NATIONS - BALDASSARI, Maria Luisa

SHANNON, Sharon - CONNOR, Alan

“Les Nations” is an ensemble specializing in the rediscovery of the oratorio musical form, from the Renaissance to the Baroque. In this production “Les Nations” is faced with an an almost unknown author that, once again proves he deserves a place among the great. The few surviving works by Giovanni Battista Bassani, whose life remains mostly mysterious, testimony the incredible range and greatness of his musical writing.

No exception is the Giona, the realization of which marked the debut of Bassani’s oratorio at the court of Francesco II d’Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio, great lover of music, whose appointment had to be a great opportunity for the composer’s artistic career, aware he could count both on an experienced and passionate client and almost unlimited resources.

1 CD PPD : 10,44€

Il n’y a pas de mots assez forts pour décrire le talent de l’accordéoniste Sharon Shannon et la sublime finesse de son jeu. Jeune, attachante et dynamique, elle est considérée par beaucoup d’Irlandais comme la référence en matière de musique traditionnelle actuelle, ce qui lui a valu d’accéder rapidement au rang de star dans son pays.

Ces collaborations riches et variées avec des pointures de la musique irlandaise, comme Philip King, Mary Custy ou encore Mike Scott du groupe U2, mais aussi les Waterboys et Kate Bush ont également participé au succès de la musicienne.

Sharon Shannon a su diversifier son registre musical et ses choix de morceaux se révèlent, comme toujours, très éclectiques.

Les airs écossais, irlandais et asturiens se mêlent à des sonorités plus contemporaines et peuvent même dériver vers un inattendu rap. Malgré l’opposition de ces divers styles musicaux, une entente parfaite et immédiate se crée. Cette artiste arrive avec brio à satisfaire toutes les préférences musicales, et plus encore !

Classical Releases

PPD : 30,00€

TC922201 TOSATTI, Vieri - Opera omnia per pianoforte

Others

Classical Releases

10 CD

SWR19014CD BRUCKNER, Anton - Symphonies No. 1-9

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ENJ9218-2 Goods News from Africa

Others

ABULLAH, Ibrahim - DYANI, Johny

Total time : 42’99 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Pianist-composer Abdullah Ibrahim ( formerly known as “Dollar Brand“) has long ranked among South Africa’s giants alongside Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and the late Kippie Mokoetsi. A master of improvisation with a distinctive African edge, the exiled Cape Town musician has developed a musical style over the past 30 years that defies categorization.

Rather, it is a fascinating mosaic of diverse traditions including African rutal and township rhythms, classical jazz, and gospel. South African folk melodies are enriched with Western harmonies, coalescing into a gracefullly fluid and intensely spiritual whole.

Best known for his hypnotic and introspective stream-of-consciousness compositions and his innovative interpretations of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Billy Strayhorn classics, Ibrahim’s music is at once accessible and complex, intriguing and lyrical. He has indefatigably explored and fused classical jazz with the multitude of influences that make up traditional and contemporary South Afrian music.

Total time : 55’43 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Infinite soundscapes - it’s the year 2016. After their initial big bang, the trio Organ Explosion is all set to shoot up to the next level: Level 2 is the second studio album by this awesome vintage trio, revealing them to be true retro-futurists. Using a collection of analogue instruments from the 60s and 70s with phasers, flangers and tape echo effects, they create a sound that would thrill the protagonists of any space hero TV series - spaced out, danceable and ecstatic. This album proves once and for all: everything really did sound better in the good old days - even the future.

Since its formation in 2011, Organ Explosion have been highly active on the club scene, collecting dozens of euphoric reviews and establishing a loyal fan base as it goes. At their countless live appearances they have been able to explore which breaks spark the audience’s imagination and what grooves make the crowd sweat - and this is what gives the arrangements on Level 2 their force and energy. One more reason why the album’s message is so clear: Organ Explosion is more than just a band name - it’s a prophecy.

Also available on LP ENJ96341

«Good News From Africa was the shining, transcendent release by both of these great musicians and one that should grace every listener’s collection.» ALLMusic

Total time : 41’36 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

PPD : 24,50€

ENJ9219 Elvin Jones Live at the Village Vanguard

ENJ96352 Of Monsters and Birds

JONES, Elvin - COLEMAN, George - PETERSON, Marvin

MONIKA ROSCHER BIG BAND

This is the first album master drummer Elvin Jones did for ENJA records. Some of his previous studio recordings are lacking the real energy of Jones’ music that can be heard in concert. VANGUARD showcases the art of the jazz improvisation.

Jones lays down his poyrhythms with his usual skill and does some of the best solo work that he has ever done on record. Bassist Wilbur Little has the job of providing the underlying bass lines and any harmonic implication, and does so with a fullbodied sound that constantly supports the goup. Tenor saxophonist George Coleman comes out of a very traditional bag, but uplifts the music as his linear style grows within a solo. Trumpeter Hannibal Marvin Peterson turns in one of the most devastating solos that has been heard in quite awhile. Control, range and ideas all fully there and operating.

The four tunes explored on this LP give forth that excitement and vitality that makes contemporary straight ahead jazz unique music.

ENJ9220 Lament for Booker Ervin

1 CD PPD : 12,95€

Total time : 35’59 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

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The 2014 Echo Jazz award winner is back with a new big band album! “Of Monsters and Birds”. Composer, guitarist, singer and bandleader Monika Roscher and her 17 musicians ventured even further into unknown sonic territory, where brazen birdsongs dissolve into delirious drumrolls (“Full Moon Theatre”), New Orleans splendor und blastbeat mayhem become blood brothers (“Terror Tango”) and feathery vocal elegies and orchestral pathos gently rock each other to madness (“Illusion”).

The spirit for adventure and appetite for musical experiments already fuelled the band’s wildly pounding heart on their debut CD. On “Of Monsters and Birds”, the Monika Roscher Bigband is in no way stepping down on these fronts, but adds to the mix the confidence and blind understanding forged by an extensive touring history as well as a newly found lust for groove: musical journeys between and beyond Jazz, Pop and polyrhythms were never more fun to move your feet to!

Also available on LP ENJ96351 PPD :€

ENJ9637 Nocturno IRIO, Gianni - STAFANO, Pasquale

ERVIN, Booker - DREW, Kenny - ORSTED PEDESEN, Nils At an overbooked all-star saxophone concert held in 1965 Berlin, the musicians were supposed to only play for 15 minutes. Tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin protested against the restrictive situation by performing the intense and stirring «Blues for You» for 27½-minutes, tearing down the house. A decade later (after Ervin’s 1970 death) the performance (with pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Neils Pedersen and drummer Alan Dawson) was released for the first time and its passion was worth waiting for. Also on this historic album is pianist Horace Parlan’s somber solo tribute to Ervin («Lament for Booker») which was recorded in 1975.

Others

ENJ96342 Level 2 ORGAN EXPLOSION

Total time : 63’29 1 CD PPD : 11,50€

“This album, which contains recordings of compositions by Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Gardel, Osvaldo Pugliese, Horacio Salgan, Pedro Laurenz and original songs by the two performers, is amazing.

Many critics, musicologists and musicians say that ethnic and urban music has a more convincing result only if played by musicians born and raised in the countries where the creations are born. In the specific case of the tango, only who hails from Buenos Aires, Rosario and Montevideo can be an instrumentalist able to assimilate and transmit the characteristics of this music to interpret it with authority and good skill. But even those who are sceptical towards tango will change their minds listening to this album. Those who don’t know that Gianni Iorio and Pasquale Stafano are Italians will think that these artists come from Argentina or Uruguay because they are convinced that it is impossible for an European musician to arrange and play with this stylistic perfection. The artistic result of „Nocturno“ is of a very high level and deserves the utmost attention of everybody who loves not only tango but the music in general.“ – Luis Bacalov

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OUT659 NASA NAlive 91

Others

NASA NA

Total time : 77’27 1 CD PPD : 12,95€

The group NASA NA, made up of Pierre Van Dormael, Fabrizio Cassol, Michel Hatzigeorgiou and Stéphane Galland was formed in 1989 at the time of the opening of ‘De Kaai’, the legendary Brussels jazz club. There, all risks were permitted, and a series of musicians experimented together with a new kind of music. Initially called NASA NA GROUP, which means ‘I have a group’, NASA NA developed naturally, creating great cohesion between its members.

When the group broke up in 1992, Fabrizio Cassol, Michel Hatzigeorgiou and Stéphane Galland formed AKA MOON, and Pierre Van Dormael would join them on a few occasions for concerts and recordings. Despite the public’s expectations at the time, this laboratory group would not release an album, even though its members all had a major career, especially as regards recordings. This absence is now made good at last thanks to the release of this disc event based on live recordings from 1991! A must for all the fans from the beginning and an extraordinary discovery for everyone else. It is also an homage to the late, great musician-composer Pierre Van Dormael and a unique sound document attesting to his genius.

We also distribute...

37735 MAYR, Giovanni Simone - Medea in Corinto

DVD & Blu-Ray

orchestra internazionale d’italia - chorus of the transylvania state - philharmonic orchestra of cluj-napoca - sicca, benedetto

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Total time : 160’00 2 DVD PPD : 22,00€ Video Format/ Aspect ratio: NTSC – 16:9 Audio Format: PCM 2.0 – Dolby digital 5.1 Subtitles: Ita, Eng, Fre, Ger, Kor Region code: 0 – All regions

Mayr had established himself as a highly successful composer by the beginning of the 19th century. Medea in Corinto is one of his best-known operas, based on a libretto by Felice Romani.

For decades after its 1813 première at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, it provided one of the speciality roles for Isabella Colbran and Giuditta Pasta. In this recording, Italian conductor Fabio Luisi gives an intense reading of Mayr’s music and masterfully underlines its deep psychological dimensions, enhancing the drama that unfolds on stage. Luisi, a Grammy Awardwinning artist, is also principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and general music director of the Zurich Opera. Two great tenors, Michael Spyres and Enea Scala, take the important roles of Jason and Aegeus. The role of Medea is entrusted to the Spanish soprano Davinia Rodriguez, who effortlessly delivers Act One’s demanding cavatina with obbligato violin, usually omitted in most productions

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We also distribute ...

ACD111 breathe

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DOWDALL, William Total Time : 79’44

1 CD PPD : 12,95€

RTS4287 The Melody Lingers on VARIOUS ARTISTS Total Time : 159’00

2 CD PPD : 10,00€

RTR4290 Little Things Mean A Lot KALLEN, Kitty Total Time : 78’00

1 CD PPD : 8,85€

RTR4291 Never Swat a Fly MCKINNEY, Bill - REDMAN, Don Total Time : 79’00

1 CD PPD : 7,85€