Alain Marion - Mozart - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The music of Ravel is especially close to Alexandre Tharaud's heart. Now, in partnership with the Orchestre National de France and conductor Louis Langrée, he has recorded both the composer's piano concertos, pairing them with Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain), Manuel de Falla's sumptuous work for piano and orchestra. InchRavel's Concerto in G major is fresh and Mozartian in it's colours, while his Concerto for the Left Hand is haunted by dark shades and suppressed fears,Inch says Tharaud. Both concertos were premiered in 1932. InchCharacteristically for Ravel, they are simultaneously unique and alike. They share meticulous craftsmanship and jazzy touches, and both evoke little automata and the ghosts of war.Inch The cross-currents of French and Spanish culture, so evident in Ravel's aesthetic, flow though Falla's concerto-like piece too. The Andalusian composer lived for a time in Paris and became friendly with Ravel. InchThe solo piano in Noches en los jardines de España plays a different role from the piano in the Ravel concertos,Inch continues Tharaud. InchIt blends in more closely with the orchestra, though the works share a Romantic spirit and a poignant sense of nostalgia.Inch Album Tracks 1. Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 I. Allegramente 2. Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 II. Adagio Assai 3. Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83 III. Presto 4. Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 I. Lento 5. Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 II. Allegro 6. Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 III. Tempo I

Album Tracks 1. Allegro Poco Moderato 2. Adagio 3. Allegretto 4. Moderato Poco Allegro 5. Poco Allegro 6. Adagio 7. Scherzando 8. Poco Allegro 9. Allegro Moderato 10. Adagio 11. Allegro Poco Moderato 12. Moderato 13. Poco Allegretto 14. Andante Moderato 15. Scherzando 16. Poco Allegro 17. Poco Allegro 18. Moderato Allegro

Akusmi is the new project moniker of French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau, who signs to the new Tonal Union imprint for the of his album 'Fleeting Future.' With it's hallucinatory, genre-defying blend of minimalism, cosmic jazz and Fourth World influences, and in it's quest for optimism in the face of unknown and limitless possibility. 'Fleeting Future' stands apart as an inventive and inspirational debut. The creation of the album's richly colourful and multi-layered sound world was originally inspired by Bideau's journey to Indonesia, where he immersed himself in traditional Gamelan and gong music. Many of the themes, motifs and melodies on 'Fleeting Future' seed from the 'Slendro' scale, one of the essential tuning systems used in Gamelan. However it is not musical scales, but scales as in the size or extent of things that most fascinates Bideau, specifically he explains; Inchthe compelling way things dramatically change when you shift from any given scale to another.Inch The album connects directly to nature and the wider world in it's evocation of perceptive shifts and transitions from microscopic to macro scale, as evidenced by the opening title track 'Fleeting Future', on which a simple dotted saxophone line morphs and billows into synths, brass and strings, indicating the musical voyage that lies ahead. Like the start of a journey or adventure it is full of anticipation, it's arborescent growth conveying the optimism of the unknown and of limitless possibility. The album centrepiece 'Neo Tokyo' is a vibrating, ebullient mass of colliding elements which feels like zooming in to the electron level, as it teeters on the edge of chaos. The title is a reference to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a dizzying work of art set in a sprawling futuristic metropolis. 'Fleeting Future' was composed and recorded by Bideau between