17,55 €
NOVEDAD KAIROS
Elena Mendoza – Díptico, Breviario de espejismos…
Composing as play – that is more than a metaphor. It puts the action, the making of art, in the foreground and emphasizes an essential driving force behind the work of the composer Elena Mendoza: “Composing also means putting together a set of building blocks and a set of rules and then playing with them. This play is a ludus, but it also goes into deeper levels; it is also a finding of reality.” She drawns ourselves into a world of traslucent sonorities, a rapturous abstraction of forms that reveals a wondrous feeling of wholeness and philosophical enlightment.
THE KAIROS NEW RELEASES

17,55 €
NAÏVE NEW RELEASE
Picasso – Les Musiques
The output of Picasso is one of exceptional size, and touches on virtually every mode of artistic expression. Even if his musical affections were concentrated more on Andalusian folk music than on art music, Picasso’s oeuvre resonates with mythical names directly associated with music: Carmen, Harlequin, Pierrot. In this vein Naïve has reunited a selection of works that encompasses the life and art of this Spanish genius: from Ravel to the flamenco, from the cante jondo to Stravinski to Mompou or Granados, this is a perfect mirroring of one of all-time greatest artists.
THE NAÏVE NEW RELEASES

17,55 €
CHALLENGE NEW RELEASE
Franz Schubert – Schwanengesang (and songs after Seidl)
In January 1829, two months after Schubert’s death, the Viennese publisher Tobias Haslinger, with whom Schubert had worked very closely in the final years of his life, placed an advertisement in the Viennese press, in which he announced Schubert’s Schwanen-Gesang, 14 Lieder, “the final fruits of his noble power [...], written in August 1828, shortly before his decease.” Haslinger had given them the collective title of Schwanengesang. The Viennese poet Gabriel Seidl was the source of a whole series of poetic texts that Schubert set to music between 1826 and 1828.
THE CHALLENGE NEW RELEASES

17,55 €
OPERA RARA NEW RELEASE
Jean-Baptiste Wekerlin – La laitiere de Trianon
As with a previous issue in the Il Salotto series, this latest release focuses on a single work designed for intimate performance – J.B. Wekerlin’s ‘opérette de salon’ La Laitière de Trianon (The Milkmaid of Trianon). Just two singers take part in the piece, set at Versailles in 1775. The composer, Jean-Baptiste Wekerlin (1821–1910), was a pupil of Halévy who spent much of his career as a distinguished librarian and editor of early French operas, but his own stage compositions won success in their day. This disc is accompanied by a fully illustrated 76 page booklet with introduction by Jeremy Commons.
IL SALOTTO SERIES

25,95 €
NAIVE NEW RELEASE
Antonio Vivaldi – La Fida Ninfa
Specialists agree: this is the best operatic work the Venetian master ever composed; that is like saying this is one of the utmost works from the Baroque era and, therefore, from the History of music. In La Fida Ninfa “sublime” is the word: exhilarating orchestral sets, arias of the most exquisite kind and a sumptuos orchestration that seems imaginated in a state of divine inspiration. Naïve, aware of the challenge, calls for the best (Regazzo, Cangemi, Jaroussky, Piau, Lemieux, Mingardo, the Ensemble Matheus & Jean-Christophe Spinosi) in order to accomplish a recording that might be considered as perfect.
THE NAIVE NEW RELEASES

ALIA VOX NEW RELEASE
Jérusalem – The City of the Two Peaces
On this recording devoted to Jerusalem Savall made a powerful and timely statement. By bringing different cultures together, he has proved that these highly refined musical expressions are intimately related. The transition from one piece to the next is both impeccable and inspired by the ear, under the watchful eye of Jordi Savall, who listens to others with the same depth of concentration that he instils into his own playing. One couldn't help hoping that examples such as this will multiply, and that the “power of music”, in which the two Catalan driving forces so fervently believe, will prevail.
THE ALIA VOX CATALOGUE - 30%

35,10 €
KAIROS NEW RELEASE
Beat Furrer – Begehren
The musical blueprint for all of Begehren obeys the principles of symmetrical reflection whilst its lyrical events deal with the secrets of (also false) encounters. Perhaps previously the great silence in the dark building ruled once again. But these are only portents. Then it breaks out, the stowm wind of this story – in the musical vortex of desire. Orpheus was on the track. He had even found her again, the beloved icon of all woman-hood. Then lost again. On top of that, perhaps also himself. Therefore he is only allowed to say what he can no longer normally sing.
THE KAIROS NEW RELEASES

17,55 €
COL LEGNO NEW RELEASE
Violin Concertos – Kühr, Resch, Zykan
There is little doubt that Patricia Kopatchinskaja, a bundle of energy of Moldavian extraction, is one of the most exciting violinists and, in fact, musicians of our day. Whenever she steps onto the stage and puts bow to string, she ignites the passion of her audience. No wonder then that three eminent Austrians composers of three different generations have felt the draw of this authentic and serious violin virtuoso. The present recording features three violin concertos all which were composed for and first performed by Kopatchinskaja in collaboration with the RSO Wien.
THE COL LEGNO NEW RELEASES

29,16 €
NEOS NEW RELEASE
Christmas Maitins – Gregorian Chants for the Christimas Vigil
Neos presents a recently discovered Christmas Mass from the 15th Century! Rupert Huber, musical director of the WDR Rundfunkchor Cologne, was searching for a fitting programme for the 2007 Christmas concert. It turned out to be an antiphonal from the early 15th Century containing Gregorian chants. The pages are made of vellum, with music notation and text in a clear hand. It is also in fine condition and certainly from a Benedictine scriptorium. It contains also an almost complete collection of the chants for Christmas Matins (liturgical chants of the hours, the Christmas Mass)
THE NEOS NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
FUGA LIBERA NEW RELEASE
Gevaert - Christmas Music
Gevaert's Christmas harmonisations are admirable pieces of harmonic and contrapuntal craftsmanship and his Grand’Messe de Noël «Puer Natus est nobis», written shortly before his death for basilica Notre-Dame de la Treille in Lille, is a masterpiece of surprising flavour. The Ensemble vocal du Petit-Sablon, directed by Thibaut Lenaerts, wholeheartedly embraces this music, with its impressive degree of perfection, to extract its delicious substance!
THE FUGA LIBERA NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
ALPHA NEW RELEASE
Purcell - Dido & Eneas
With that of Orpheus, the myth of Dido has no doubt been one of the most prolific in epics, drama and, as from the 17th century, in musical theatre. Teodor Currentzis, a young rising star on the international scene (let’s just mention his success in 2008 at Opéra Bastille), took hold of this musical monument to offer us a version where, for once, drama prevails. The cast includes Simone Kermes and Deborah York.
THE ALPHA NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
TESTAMENT NEW RELEASE
Herbert von Karajan conducts Beethoven & Strauss
‘It was good to have Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, happily reunited after a prolonged disagreement, pay their first visit to the Festival Hall – an event said to have caused prices of black market tickets to reach astronomical heights,’ wrote Peter Stadlen in the Daily Telegraph. The audience was clearly shocked to see how frail Karajan had become as he edged towards the rostrum. The Times reported a slight stumble in the advance, at which point ‘the applause hiccupped in a breathless unison’. Yet once settled on the podium, Karajan was, as ever, fully in control, master of all he surveyed.
THE TESTAMENT NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
RAUMKLANG NEW RELEASE
Fragments for the end of Time
In this unique recording of largely unknown repertoires, Sequentia explores the surprising and powerful apocalyptic texts -some of them surviving only as fragments- which terrified early medieval Christians in Aquitaine and in German-speaking lands.
THE RAUMKLANG CATALOGUE

38,88 €
ORFEO NEW RELEASE
Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier
A year after his sensational new production in Munich, Carlos Kleiber conducted a festival performance of Der Rosenkavalier remarkable for its élan and wit, with a cast that was a felicitous mixture of topflight international soloists and singers drawn from the local ensemble (Claire Watson, Karl Ridderbusch, Brigitte Fassbaender, Lucia Popp, Benno Kusche...)
THE ORFEO NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
ÓPERA TRES
Aire Norteño – The works of María Luisa Anido
The product of the classes received is reflected in this beautiful CD. María Luisa knew how ti transmit the soul and the intention of her works and our performer to pick up this great treasure received. To record the whole work of an author is a long, arduous and generous task. Carmen Becerra has done it: she has been able to transmit the respect and the affection she feels for her former teacher and friend, delighting us wih a beautiful interpretation and a unique memory.
THE OPERA TRES CATALOGUE

13,45 €
SUPRAPHON NEW RELEASE
Martinu - Nipponari, Magic nights, Czech Rapsody
All three of these compositions open the imaginative world of the young Martinu to the listener, providing a glimpse into his early works for voice and orchestra. Nipponari and Magic Nights were both inspired by exotic texts. The works of Japanese poets used in Nipponari are infused with a wistful, dreamy mood which is masterfully captured by Martinu’s unusual instrumentation and subtle compositional technique. For his Impressionistic Magic Nights he instinctively chose texts about sorrow in a distant land far from home, unaware that this theme would play a fateful role in his own life. Mahler, incidentally, drew on the same collection of poems for his song cycle Das Lied von der Erde.
THE SUPRAPHON NEW RELEASES

17,55 €
MODE NEW RELEASE
Hans Werner Henze - Chamber works
The selections of chamber music on this CD by Hans Werner Henze tends toward his lyrical side, and with an emphasis on compositions derived from his theater pieces. The repertoire suits the Naples based Ensemble Dissonanzen, one of Italy's leading contemporary music groups, also allowing various members to be showcased as soloist - Marco Cappelli, guitar; Tommaso Rossi, flute; Luca Incoronato, bassoon; Daniele Colombo, violin; and Ciro Longobardi, piano.
THE MODE CATALOGUE

17,55 €
NAÏVE NEW RELEASE
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Misa Romana; Domenico Scarlatti: Missa per Il Santissimo Natale
Scarlatti composed The Messa per il Santissimo Natale while occuping the position of maestro di cappella of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. He handles its polychorality in a solidly traditional manner: the two choirs always appear as two distinct blocks of sound. Of the nine masses attributed to Pergolesi (Jesi, 1710-Pozzuoli, 1736), only two are authentic, being the Mass in F major, later known as The Misa Romana, the most performed of both. Concerto Italiano and Rinaldo Alessandrini dig out these two rare masterpieces with their typical good taste and exuberant musical manners.
THE NAÏVE NEW RELEASES

VERSO NEW RELEASE
Cristóbal Halffter – Music for piano[s]
Cristóbal Halffter’s complex and ever-audacious piano music best represents his quest for novelty and expression and his keen instinct for mixing Modernism and national identity. Brilliantly served on this CD by Alberto Rosado and Juan Carlos Garvayo, this CD is one to cherish and study for now on: alongside the astonishing, powerful performances by Rosado and Garvayo, Halffter’s music presents a virtuosistic display of web-like structures and dazzling condensations of sound. This is, for sure, a perfectly-balanced CD meant to shine in Hallfter’s discography.
THE VERSO NEW RELEASES

33,12 €
BONGIOVANNI NEW RELEASE
Giovanni Paisiello – Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Although being always shadowed by its Rossinian counterpart, Paisiello’s Il Barbero represents to a large extent the opera buffa of the Settecento: archetypical characters and conventional plots that are surmounted through imposing melodies and a rich orchestral tapestry. Something to be heard and saw in this live recording of the Orfeo Theatre in Taranto, 2005, the only DVD recording of this opera so far. Featuring an exultant cast, perfectly suited to this repertorie, an eloquent mise-en-scene and an enthusiastic conducting from Giovanni Di Stefano, Paisiello’s music shines bright.
THE BONGIOVANNI NEW RELEASES

16,56 €
CYPRES NEW RELEASE
The Pulse of an Irishman – Songs from the British Isles
The nineteenth century was a period of growing fascination on the part of the continentals for British folklore. Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven were responsible for the redaction of three hundred of these traditional songs, here wonderfully served by the musician of the ‘text’ that is Wolfgang Holzmair. This Austrian baritone, known the world over for his intellectual interpretations of German songs, has taken great and particular care with the highly characteristic pronunciation of the various British dialects and also to provide us with a representative selection of this intriguing art form. The Wanderer Trio bring to this disc something that no other trio has until now managed to do: a blend of individual virtuosity, the experience of top-flight chamber musicians and – especially – the spirit of these folksongs that enables us to say that, if we had not seen the recording of this disc in a professional studio, we should have thought we were in a smoke-filled pub (minus the noise, of course).
THE CYPRES CATALOGUE

17,55 €
AUDITE NEW RELEASE
George Gershwin – Porgy & Bess
Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin’s only opera, the masterwork of American music theatre, had to fight hard on its way to its German audience as it was ostracised as “nigger music” in the Third Reich. The blockage was only broken by the legendary production by Robert Breen which was toured first in the USand then across Europe from 1952 until 1955. The present recording documents the guest performance of the ensemble at the Berliner Festwochen 1952. Amongst the singers are William Warfield, Cab Calloway and also the young Leontyne Price; this is probably the very first sound document on which she can be heard. Here is a captivating document of the highest musical and dramatic intensity, making the listener hold his breath atmospherically and dramatically from the first to the last minute.
THE AUDITE NEW RELEASES

17,06 €
TRANSÓPERA NEW RELEASE
Pilar Jurado – L’arte della coloratura
After melting opera with pop music on her previous recording, multifaceted soprano, composer, musicologist and conductor Pilar Jurado launches now her own label with this CD / DVD that explores the genteel coloratura singing through a most diverse program (Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Richard Strauss & Stravinski) that enables her to demonstrate her astonishing vocal powers and her great capacity to assimilate disparate musical sources as well. On this state-of-the-art recording, exquisitely produced and edited, Jurado is accompanied by JONDE’s and conductor Patrick Davin’s adventuresome talents.
PILAR JURADO & DIVERDI

17,55 €
NAÏVE NEW RELEASE
Antonio Vivaldi – Concerti per Violoncello, II
At last! Naïve releases the second volume of Vivaldi’s cello concerti. And of course they are performed with the fine artistry of Christophe Coin, a champion of this repertoire on original instruments. He is accompanied by Giovanni Antonini’s legendary ensemble Il Giardino Armonico. A collection of concerti (RV 411, RV 401, RV 408, RV 417, RV 399, RV 403 & RV 422) that would be remembered as one of the greatest additions to the Vivaldi Catalogue. A true gem.
THE NAÏVE NEW RELEASES

CPO NEW RELEASE
Otto Nicolai – Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
Otto Nicolai composed the music for The Merry Wives of Windsor during 1845-49. This opera destined to become his German-language masterpiece initially had trouble finding a theater willing to produce it. Its performance on 9 March 1849 under the composer was a stunning success, and it has continued to enjoy great popularity over the years. Even though the libretto and dramaturgy may seem somewhat outmoded to today’s audiences, the high quality of its music has made it one of the mainstays of the repertoire. This exhilarating opera of ebullient humor and melodic richness has lent Nicolai his enduring fame and is interpreted by a top cast on our new cpo release.
THE CPO NEW RELEASES

26,91 €
MUSIQUES À LA CHABOTTERIE NEW RELEASE
Musiques au temps de Richelieu
The Department of Vendée has consecrated 2008 to the figure of Richelieu, as to commemorate his bishopric of the Luçon Diocese in 1608. Complementary to organised exhibitions, publishing texts and lectures on the subject of Richelieu has also been released this 2-CD featuring music au temps du Richelieu, or, in other words, French music from the first half of the 17th century. But this release should not be considered as a mere anthology of works reunited on the basis of its chronological connections. Leaving aside Hugo Reyne’s well-known performing talents, his essential input to this project may well be represented by this faultless selection of musical pieces that encompass this legendary character.
THE MUSIQUES À LA CHABOTTERIE CATALOGUE

16,56 €
PASSACAILLE NEW RELEASE
Johann Sebastian Bach – Chamber Music
The chamber music listed in the catalogue of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works probably represents only a small part of the composer’s chamber music output. Indeed, after Bach’s death, many of his works were lost, and others have only come down to us in the form of transcriptions scored for different instruments than the original. On this recording we can appreciate the composer’s original intentions through the meticolous reconstruction made by Vittorio and Lorenzo Ghielmi and a brilliant perfomance of these masterful works by the very talented members of La Divina Armonia as well.
THE PASSACAILLE CATALOGUE