Symphonieorchester Bern & Mario Venzago – Schubert: Symphony in E Major (D 729), Overture “Fierabras” (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:48 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Prospero Classical
Recently, the E major Symphony has often been counted as Schubert’s 7th symphony. Unlike his other symphonic fragments, the Symphony in E major exists in a complete draft from the first to the last bar in all four movements. More recently, the symphony became accessible to a wider public again in the completed version by Brian Newbould (1982). Now the Austrian composer Richard Dünser, together with the conductor Mario Venzago, has presented a new version of the symphony fragment. The less inspired middle movements have been replaced by supplemented drafts from the year of Schubert’s death. The result: a «new» great symphony by Schubert with a playing time of over 40 minutes; an original and gripping work that immediately convinces with its idiomatic and formal unity.
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Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Florence Price: Symphony No. 4 – William Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:09:02 minutes | 2,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
The Philadelphia Orchestra and its Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin continue their pioneering project to revive neglected music by Black American composers. Their latest recording, set for digital release on 15 September, presents Florence Price’s Symphony No. 4 and William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, a work premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra back in 1934.
Read moreSteve Lehman, Orchestre National de Jazz – Ex Machina (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]
Steve Lehman, Orchestre National de Jazz – Ex Machina (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:01 minutes | 1,34 GB | Genre: Contemporary Jazz, Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ONJ Records
Ex Machina is a collaboration between saxophonist/composerSteve Lehman, whom the New York Times has called “a state-of-the-art musical thinker,”and Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ) that goes far beyond anything attempted before by a jazz big band. Featuring compositions by Lehman and Frederic Maurin, ONJ’s artistic director, the work incorporates elements of French spectral harmony into its compositional framework while also integrating live, interactive electronics developed atIRCAM (Institut de Coordination Acoustique Musique) in which abstract electronic sounds react to soloist improvisations in real-time. The new work is inspired by Lehman’s Octet, whose groundbreaking work were the first to utilize spectral harmony’s complex sonorities within a jazz context. Their critically-lauded releases Mise en Abime (Pi 2014) and Travail, Transformation and Flow (Pi 2009) were voted the #1 album of the year in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll and the #1 jazz album of the year in The New York Times, respectively.
The album’s name evokes spectral composer Gerard Grisey’s iconic “Tempus Ex Machina” as well as Lehman and Maurin’s inspired fusion of electronic sounds with traditional instrumentation. While at many points the computer becomes an improvisation partner for the musicians, it’s still the crack soloists of the ONJ along with Lehman and his long-running musical partners Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) and Chris Dingman (vibraphone) who carry the day. With its otherworldly sonorities, elaborate orchestration, and complex rhythmic propulsion, Ex Machina is a meticulously crafted work that continues to position Lehman at the leading edge of jazz.
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Sylwia Kubiak-Dobrowolska – Flutissima (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 46:10 minutes | 857 MB | Genre: Classique
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © DUX
This album is the first phonographic instalment of a series of albums under the joint title Flutissima, initiated by Sylwia Kubiak-Dobrowolska.
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Sylvie Vartan – Merci pour le regard (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:41 minutes | 864 MB | Genre: Pop, Chanson, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia
« On a rejoint l’estuaire/Et bravé les sanglots/Du ciel et ses colères/On a eu peur on a eu chaud. » La chanson « Le Bleu de la Mer Noire » ouvre le cinquantième album studio de Sylvie Vartan et donne le ton. Un album qui se compose de quatorze titres, très cohérents, aux textes puissants et à la nostalgie discrète, élégante et assumée.
Des thèmes personnels comme le retour à l’enfance, l’amour ou encore, l’abandon sont présents dans cet opus. D’après Sylvie, « “Le Bleu de la Mer Noire”, c’est une façon poétique d’aborder le thème de l’exil, l’image est très forte. C’est un peu mon histoire. ».
Léonard Lasry, Joseph d’Anvers et Clara Luciani font alors leur entrée en scène comme auteurs/compositeurs. Tous les trois travaillent pour la première fois avec Sylvie. Un album dont l’unité est remarquable avec des arrangements de grande qualité orchestrés par l’ami Philippe Russo. « Je crois que cet album est vraiment l’un de mes meilleurs, résume Sylvie. Tout est cohérent et chaque chanson me correspond ».
Une cohérence musicale que Sylvie célébrera également sur scène pour ses soixante ans de carrière en octobre 2021. Un spectacle sous le regard de son fidèle public à qui elle dira merci, forcément…
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Sylvie Vartan – Gift Wrapped from Paris (1965/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 28:20 minutes | 577 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA – Legacy
Sylvie Vartan is a French pop institution, as popular today as when she first took the yé-yé scene by storm in 1962. The vivacious and always stylish Sylvie was also a pioneer amongst the new breed of French female artists, crossing the Atlantic several times in the early 60s to record. She proved remarkably adept at tackling material in English, which resulted in many superb recordings chanted in a husky, compelling accent. Her main foreign release in that era was the US-only album “Gift Wrapped From Paris”. It combined tracks from the 1963 “Sylvie à Nashville” LP along with new sessions cut in New York in late 1964 with a crack session crew plus Ellie Greenwich and friends on backing vocals, all directed by Sylvie’s brother Eddie Vartan. Later on Sylvie recorded in England and utilised the talents of her British in-house writers, Tommy Brown and Micky Jones, the latter later to become famous in the band Foreigner.
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Sylvie Nicephor – Debussy: 24 préludes (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:26:46 minutes | 694 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Calliope
Composed between 1909 and 1912, these 24 Preludes can be considered as a «pianistic sum» in the work of Claude Debussy, but also more generally in the literature for the instrument. They are part of a tradition which, since the 24 Preludes and fugues of the «well-tempered clavier» of Johann Sebastian Bach continued with Frédéric Chopin, then Serguei Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin, Olivier Messiaen.
Written in the period of maturity of the composer, they succeed to “Les Estampes”, “Les Images”, “L’Ile Joyeuse”, and precede the studies (somehow prefigured by “Les Tierces Alternées”, 2nd notebook). They are also contemporary of “Les Images” for orchestra, Claude Debussy who at the time already composed his large symphonic scores.
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S. Carey & John Raymond – Shadowlands (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 37:42 minutes | 397 MB | Genre: Contemporary Jazz, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Folk Rock, Modern Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Libellule Editions
Multi-instrumentalist / vocalist S. Carey (a core member of Bon Iver) collaborates with the sublime trumpeter John Raymond. Shadowlands intertwines songwriting and improvisation, the best of the indie world and jazz. In addition, Shadowlands features the Australian singer Gordi (recently also featured with Bon Iver) and Aaron Parks, one of the leading improvisers of his generation.
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Sylvie Courvoisier – Searching for the Disappeared Hour (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 59:25 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pyroclastic Records
Even though they’re often neighbors in the rhythm section, piano and guitar are not typically a good fit for jazz duets. Some of that has to do with the difference between an electrically amplified instrument and a percussive acoustic one, and some with the fact that the close voicings pianists favor are difficult on guitar, while the open voicings guitarists love don’t easily translate to piano.
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Sylvia Vrethammar – Vortex (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 52:31 minutes | 954 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © VEAC
2019, celebrating 50 years on stage and in showbusiness, Sylvia releases a new album called “Vortex”. Using no band and no arrangements, Sylvia met in 3 different studio-sessions 6 of her favorite jazz musicians. Each time in sets of two and each time recording 4 songs. The pairs were Magnus Lindgren & Joel Lyssarides – Jan Lundgren & Hans Backenroth – Ulf Wakenius & Frank Chastenier. This was a totally new experience for Sylvia and she is very proud of the results. In September 2019 she celebrates her 50 years on stage with a big concert in Stockholms Konserthuset, where she performs the songs from “Vortex” live for the first time.
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Sylvia Vrethammar – The Girl from Uddevalla (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:43 minutes | 538 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © VEAC
Since more than 40 years, Sylvia Vrethammar sings all around the world. She lives in Europe but in her heart is in Brazil. With this album, the Sweden star presents an own personal homage to this land and its music.
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Sylvan Esso – Free Love (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 29:14 minutes | 347 MB | Genre: Pop, Electronic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Loma Vista Recordings
What started out in LA with Jon Hill and was finished back in North Carolina at Sylvan Esso’s home studio, Free Love asks major questions about self-image, self-righteousness, friendship, romance, and environmental calamity with enough warmth, playfulness, and magnetism to make you consider an alternate reality. These are Sylvan Esso’s most nuanced and undeniable songs—bold enough to say how they feel, big enough to make you join in that feeling.
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SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart & Marcus Creed – France (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:10:07 minutes | 656 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © SWR Classic
French intellectuals, especially musicians and writers, were enchanted by the magic of Richard Wagner’s music, but they earnestly wanted to pursue new ideas for what might follow. They believed that music and art should be free from ‘German elements’ and they consequently wanted to establish a decidedly contrasting, French style of music. It was for this reason that Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns set up the Societé Nationale de Musique in 1871, tasking it with supporting new French compositions. Successive composers were fascinated by new developments in the great French music tradition and experimented with modal alternatives and aspects of counterpoint. Compositional clarity was expected to express the simple but poetic relationship between music and text, drawing on graceful melodic lines and a Renaissance-like serenity of expression.
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Svetlin Roussev, L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève & Arie van Beek – Frank Martin: Concerto pour violon / Esquisse (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 46:02 minutes | 892 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Claves Records
A recording dedicated to Frank Martin, an important figure of 20th century music, faithful to the tonal tradition, while experimenting with forms and instrumentation; he was also one of the first “classical” composers to have written for the electric guitar!
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Swing Shift Big Band – One More, Twice (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:18:21 minutes | 1,57 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Independent
Considered one of Canada’s premiere big bands, Jim John’s Swing Shift Big Band preserves the sounds and quality of the big band era, faithfully performed by 17 talented musicians. On this album of standards and old favourites, the ensemble is joined by vocal group the Trio Bella and singers Larisa Renee and Dave Statham.
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