Ann Hallenberg, Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe – Brahms: Symphony 4, Alt-Rhapsodie, Schicksalslied (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:06:26 minutes | 641 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Phi
“The four symphonies of Brahms form the kernel of our musical heritage, along with such works as the Monteverdi Vespers, the Bach Cello Suites and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and the half-century (!) of Collegium Vocale Gent, we conceived the project of recording them in tandem with major choral works by this composer whose instrumental and vocal worlds are in essence inextricable. Johannes Brahms was at heart a singer. His entire oeuvre is underpinned by poetry and text, indeed even by rhetoric, following on in organic succession from ‘early’ music, notably the music of Schütz and Bach, of which he had a profound knowledge and whose tradition he was bent on continuing, to the horror of the modernists of his day. In the twentieth century, the world of the orchestra and that of the voice often followed different paths. But, contrary to this tendency, the trajectories of the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and Collegium Vocale Gent have always been closely linked.
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Peter Steiner, Constanze Hochwartner – Binary Star (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 51:43 minutes | 448 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics
With ‘Binary Star’, trombonist Peter Steiner and organist Constanze Hochwartner take you on a journey through the infinite expanses of the cosmos. The program of the album unites different composers and spans the musical arc from the late romantic Gustav Mahler to the film music composer John Williams.
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Pharis & Jason Romero – Tell ‘Em You Were Gold (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:12 minutes | 428 MB | Genre: Folk, Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Pharis and Jason Romero are pure craftspeople. A renowned banjo builder, Jason spent years developing his own personal designs, and on ‘Tell ‘Em You Were Gold,’ his handmade instruments take center stage. Over a half dozen uniquely crafted banjos are played by the duo in the course of the album. There’s conviction and delicacy in this music, which ranges from duets that showcase the pair’s deep psychic and artistic connection to solo banjo meditations and full band romps. Recorded over six days in an old barn in Horsefly, British Columbia, the album displays the multiple Juno Award-winning duo playing music that is honest, direct, and reflective of life’s beauty and knottiness.
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