Mendelssohn / Staryk / Toronto Festival Orchestra - A Retrospective, Vol. 7 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mark Williams returns with the Choir of Jesus College Cambridge to complete the liturgical year in music from Lent to Trinity with this new collection - a journey begun with their 2012 'Journey into Light', which charted Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas (SIGCD269). Praise for the Choir of Jesus College Cambridge on Signum InchUnder Mark Williams direction, the choirs make a clear elegant and focused sound, and clarity is very much the watchword in the performances.Inch Musicweb Int'l, Nov 2014.

In December 2011, Chilly Gonzales moved his piano into Paris Studio Pigalle. There, alone for 10 days, he recorded a handful of songs that had made the short list from a hundred or so melodies written over the eight years that had passed since the of the now iconic Solo Piano. Hour upon hour, the purest and most microscopic process of recording took place. Chilly Gonzales played all the songs over and over and over again, until each one's essence had been captured. After years of entertaining with his larger than life musical persona and challenging all artists to work tirelessly to achieve excellence out of respect for their fans, Chilly Gonzales brings us perhaps his most powerful argument of all, the 14 pieces of Solo Piano II.

A new string quartet's debut recording is always a memorable occasion. And muso is particularly proud to welcome into it's catalogue the David Oistrakh String Quartet, a young ensemble founded in 2012 by violinist Andrey Baranov, who won first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition 75 years after the triumph of fellow Russian David Oistrakh. A case of history coming full circle! For their first album, these young soloists boldly launched head first into the vast repertoire of two of the greatest Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. The two quartets performed here were composed almost a century apart. Tchaikovsky was at the height of his powers and had yet to write his most famous works when he composed his String Quartet No. 2. Throughout his life he was to refer to it as one of his best works, the music having Inchpoured effortlessly and joyfully, being written practically at one sitting.Inch Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 was written in Dresden in 1960 and was dedicated Inchto the victims of fascism and war.Inch At the time he composed the piece, Shostakovich was going through a troubled period both in his personal life and in his relations with the Soviet authorities. The composer was so satisfied with this clearly autobiographical piece that he subsequently dedicated it to himself. The musicians of the David Oistrakh Quartet throw themselves body and soul into this incredibly poignant and intense music.