FRIEDRICH CERHA
Concerto for Cello and orchestra (with Schreker-Kammersymphonie) Heinrich Schiff (cello) / Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra / Peter EAtvAs, conductor [ ECM New Series / CD - released 31/Jan/2008 ] Cellist Heinrich Schiff delivers a transcendent performance of a cello concerto dedicated to him "in friendship" by Austria's great composer Friedrich Cerha (born 1926). Cerha's special combination of stylistic conviction and expressive diversity,... |
GYORGY KURTAG
Kurtag: Zwiegesprache Heinz Holliger (oboe/cor anglais/piano), Marie-Lise Schüpbach (cor anglais/oboe), Ernesto Molinari (bass clarinet/ contrabass clarinet), Sarah Wegener [ ECM New Series / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] explores his interpretative gifts as a performer rather than his full range as a composer, its focus on the dialogues between his own music and that of György Kurtág makes for a beautifully rounded double portrait - Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List |
JOHN CAGE
Cage, John - Early Piano Music Herbert Henck, piano [ ECM New Series / CD - released 27/Jun/2005 ] This is beautiful music, played with great sensitivity. |
JOHANN LUDWIG TREPULKA / NORBERT von HANNENHEIM
Piano Sonatas Herbert Henck (piano) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 26/May/2007 ] In this new recording Herbert Henck plays music by two little known twelve-note composers, one a pupil of Josef Matthias Hauer, the other a Schoenberg pupil. The works date from the 1920s, but they sound almost diametrically opposed. |
VICTORIA / PALESTRINA
In Paradisum: Music of Victoria and Palestrina The Hilliard Ensemble [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/Jan/2000 ] "In Paradisum" combines music from three sources: the Officium Defunctorum of Victoria, polyphony by Palestrina and Gregorian chant from a 17th century manuscript. Placing the work of the Spanish and Italian religious composers in a historically... |
J.S. BACH
Motetten The Hilliard Ensemble [ ECM New Series / CD - released 26/May/2007 ] "With just one singer assigned to each part, the Hilliard Ensemble take a minimalist approach to these extraordinary works...this disc is a natural successor to the Hilliard's previous excursions into pre-baroque music, supremely musical and... |
STEPHEN HARTKE
Tituli / Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain Hilliard Ensemble, with Lynn Vartan & Javier Diaz (percussion) [ Ecm New Series / CD - released 20/Jun/2005 ] "Beautiful craftsmanship is [Hartke's] hallmark but not his limitation: the imaginative drive is fresh, partly in being so playful, though he can also be solemn." - New York Times |
WOLFGANG RIHM
Et Lux Huelgas Ensemble & Minguet Quartett, Paul van Nevel [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/May/2015 ] "Tropes waft in from across the ages: this music treads the line of tangibility, with sudden rushes of anger or fondness and the messy half-memories that come with grief...van Nevel doubles the vocal parts to create broad, generous textures that soun |
VLADIMIR GODAR
Mater Iva BittovAI (voice) MiloAI Valent (violin, viola) / Chamber orchestra Solamente Naturali / Bratislava conservatory choir / Marek AÂ tryncl [ ECM New Series / CD - released 10/Apr/2008 ] "This is easily one of the highlights of the classical year, and I urge you to acquire this disc." (AudAud.com Five Stars) |
KNAIFEL
Blazhenstva Ivan Monighetti (piano, cello, conductor), Tatiana Melentieva (soprano), Piotr Migunov (bass) [ ECM New Series / CD ] |
BIBER / MUFFAT
Violin Works (Includes Sonata Victori der Christen) John Holloway (violin) Aloysia Assenbaum (organ) Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 23/Apr/2005 ] Holloway's ECM recordings have received the highest critical praise. |
LECLAIR
Trio Sonatas John Holloway (violin) Jaap ter Linden (cello) Lars Ulrik Mortensen (cembalo) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "Revelatory performances of these Italian violin sonatas with a strong French accent." Editor's Choice - Gramophone April 2009 |
VERACINI
Violin Sonatas John Holloway (violin) Jaap ter Linden (cello) Lars Ulrik Mortensen (cembalo) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 18/Mar/2006 ] "In not trying to charm, Holloway and friends render Veracini an utter delight. On their terms, of course." Editor’s Choice – Gramophone Magazine (April 2006) |
JOSQUIN / VICTORIA
Secret History - Sacred Music John Potter, Anna Maria Friman (vocals) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 25/Aug/2017 ] "Anna Maria Friman lends her pure soprano to some of Josquin's motets, reworked as vocal duets, and the linking passages of chant or of solo vihuela give this pared-back disc a flowing, almost improvisatory feel." The Guardian |
AMBROSE FIELD
Being Dufay John Potter (tenor) / Ambrose Field (live and studio electronics) [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/Mar/2009 ] British tenor John Potter and fellow countryman Ambrose Field, composer of electronic/digital music, offer a striking juxtaposition of Renaissance music and present-day technology: In seven interconnected pieces, vocal fragments from the songs and... |
JORG WIDMANN
Elegie Jorg Widmann (clarinet) Heinz Holliger (piano) / Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Christoph Poppen [ ECM New Series / CD - released 1/Jun/2011 ] "These concentrated miniatures of almost Webern-like brevity showcase Widmann's virtuosity as well as his comprehensive understanding of his instrument's capabilities." The Guardian, 21st April 2011 *** |
ERKKI-SVEN TUUR
Symphony No. 6 'Strata' / Noesis: Concerto for clarinet, violin and orchestra Jörg Widmann (clarinet) / Carolin Widmann (violin) / Nordic Symphony Orchestra / Anu Tali [ ECM New Series / CD - released 17/Nov/2010 ] "The craftsmanship [of Strata] is obvious, and the textures it generates are often striking...[Noésis is] an exercise in fusion, beginning with the solo instruments as distinct musical entities, and gradually bringing them into a closer relationship.... |
Keith Jarrett / Jan Garbarek
Luminessence (LP) [ ECM (Luminessence Series) / LP - released 1/Mar/2024 ] Mysterious, dramatic and alluring, Luminessence comes from a peak period in the creative association between Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek, recorded in 1974, immediately after their vibrant Belonging album. Here, Jarrett creates shimmering... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I Keith Jarrett (piano) [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 14/Jun/2019 ] "These are performances in which tempos, phrasing, articulation and the execution of ornaments are convincing," wrote Gramophone of Jarrett's first recorded account of The Well-Tempered Clavier. "Both instrument and performer serve as unobtrusive... |
GYORGY LIGETI
String Quartets (with Barber - String Quartet Op 11: Adagio) Keller Quartett [ ECM New Series / CD - released 24/Jun/2013 ] "If the beauty and at times uncompromising nightmare worlds of Ligeti's string quartets are a place you have yet to discover, then the Keller Quartet will provide you with the most powerful and lasting of introductions. " (MusicWeb Oct 2013) |