Alexandra Whittingham - Letters from Paris - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Hasse Borup - American Fantasies Arnold Schoenberg & American [COMPACT DISCS] date 05/27/2008

Alexandre Desplat is one of the most sought-after composers in the movie business today. He has generated a diverse, enduring cult fanbase of movie-music enthusiasts of all ages, and increasingly is bringing the art form to live audiences beyond the realm of cinema, dedicating more time to performing and conducting his own music with world-class orchestras for sellout crowds in concert halls and opera houses in Vienna, Shanghai, and beyond. Paris - Hollywood captures some of the brightest treasures from four decades of movie-music magic by one of the great modern masters of film-score wizardry. Desplat conducts the Orchestre de Paris in new arrangements of music from 15 of his best-known film scores.

In a fascinating musical interplay, the young, highly acclaimed pianist Anna Khomichko presents works from the 18th century on her debut CD in cooperation with SWR (Southwest Broadcasting). Mozart meets Bach's sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian, as well as the supposed rival and contemporary piano star Muzio Clementi. In the supple and clear piano playing of this critically acclaimed artist, the differences and similarities between the works, the personalities of the composers, and the tastes of the time emerge clearly. Khomichko, who is also a successful classical music blogger, thus takes up the cause for a wide-ranging, sensuous repertoire that is absolutely worth discovering.