Christina Naughton, Michelle Naughton – Visions (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christina Naughton, Michelle Naughton – Visions (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:01:35 minutes | 850 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Visions is the first Warner Classics release from piano duo Christina and Michelle Naughton. Each of them is a prizewinning alumna of two of the USA’s elite conservatories, the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. Praised by the San Francisco Examiner for their “stellar musicianship, technical mastery, and awe-inspiring artistry,” they show great imagination in their programming: Visions unites works by Olivier Messiaen, John Adams and J.S. Bach, which the sisters feel are all expressions of joy.

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Christian-Pierre La Marca & Lise de la Salle – Paris-Moscou (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christian-Pierre La Marca & Lise de la Salle – Paris-Moscou (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:37 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Christian-Pierre La Marca and Lise de la Salle recall the intense musical relationship between Paris and Moscow through works by Rachmaninoff and Fauré, alongside transcriptions for cello and piano of opera arias by Saint-Saëns, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and many more.

Wonderful moments of an artist in the making; promise of so much still to come. Just as nothing in her piano playing appears excessively rushed or overdriven, so the steady growth of Lise de la Salle’s career shows a careful sense of responsibility. What counts is not meteoric success, but staying power. And that career has been accompanied right from the start by a benevolent astonishment, a knowing delight, on the part of both professionals and the general public. There is nothing hysterical about this: her admirers constantly look forward to seeing what new shores she will reach, what the future holds for her by way of new discoveries, maturity and daring.

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Christian-Pierre La Marca – Cello 360 (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Christian-Pierre La Marca – Cello 360 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:17:07 minutes | 2,38 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © naïve classique

Christian-Pierre La Marca here presents baroque pieces (for viola da gamba) as well as modern and futuristic music in a highly personal, patterned reflection that is radically innovatory for the instrument and its repertoire, stimulating for the performer and fascinating for the listener. In this cleverly devised sequence, pieces by Marais, Purcell, Telemann, Sainte-Colombe, Dowland and Rameau interact with Grieg, Chaplin, Dutilleux, Escaich, Ligeti, Casals, the Beatles and Sollima, interwoven with electronic music realized by electro-creatives Rayann and M.A.S. during the March 2020 lockdown. As la Marca confides: “I really like the cross-cultural, multi-genre aspect of this album: I love going from one musical style to another, creating links that did not previously exist, so as to reveal the infinite possibilities of the instrument”.

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Christian-Pierre La Marca – Cantus (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christian-Pierre La Marca – Cantus (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:08 minutes | 1,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

The originality of this album’s programme is its focus on famous sacred pieces transcribed for the warm and lyrical voice of the cello, an instrument whose tone is certainly one of the closest to the singing voice. The words of the Magnificat, Requiem, Stabat Mater or Ave Maria – well known in the repertoire of vocal sacred music – fade here to better reveal the development of musical emotion aroused by the melody itself, and the subtlety of the accompaniments (organ, viola, theorbo, voice) in reinforcing and supporting the expressiveness of the singing. Inspired by sacred texts, the melodies by Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Pergolesi reveal the strength and intensity of their expression, even without words, and reinforce the idea developed from the late eighteenth century that music, by its power of suggestion and evocation, goes beyond words to express the unspeakable, sometimes with simplicity and depth. From Taverner to Thierry Escaich, and also Allegri, Handel, Franck and Fauré, the recorded repertoire covers a period from the sixteenth to twenty-first century and includes some of the most important names in sacred music.

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Christian-Markus Raiser – Aufgefächert (Deutsche Orgelmusik zwischen 1750 und 1915) (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Christian-Markus Raiser – Aufgefächert (Deutsche Orgelmusik zwischen 1750 und 1915) (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:07:28 minutes | 2,15 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Organum Classics

Small masterpiece with great potential-the new organ in the Kleine Kirche Karlsruhe.

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Christiane Libor – Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christiane Libor – Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:12 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Classical Music
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 2xHD – Naxos

Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir follow their successful recording of Brahms choral music with this highly praised presentation of the longest work in Brahms’s entire oeuvre, A German Requiem. Baritone Thomas E. Bauer and soprano Christiane Libor are the featured soloists on this emotional composition, triggered most likely by the death of Brahms’s mother and inspired by the death years earlier of his friend Robert Schumann. Taking inspiration from Bach’s contrapuntal genius but avoiding overt religious tradition, Brahms chose the texts himself, placing an emphasis on an affirmation of life.

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Christiane Karg, Matthias Goerne, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestar and Choir & Daniel Harding – Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Christiane Karg, Matthias Goerne, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestar and Choir & Daniel Harding – Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:10:30 minutes | 711 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Ein deutsches Requiem, Brahms’s longest choral work, was composed during three different periods of his life but completed between 1865 and 1868, perhaps as a result of the death of the composer’s mother. It is a sacred work, but non-liturgical. It features text chosen by Brahms from the German Lutheran Bible, with passages from both the Old and New Testament. However, it does not include material about the Last Judgment, and was written primarily (according to Brahms), to comfort the living. On this recording, soloists Christiane Karg and Matthias Goerne are joined by the Swedish Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, all under the direction of maestro Daniel Harding.

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Christiane Karg, Bamberger Symphoniker, David Afkham – Parfum (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Christiane Karg, Bamberger Symphoniker, David Afkham – Parfum (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:29 minutes | 691 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics

You might gravitate toward French singers in this repertory, but to overlook this release of French Impressionist orchestral songs sung by German soprano Christiane Karg would be a serious error. For one thing, she hits some rather unusual repertory; the Quatre chansons françaises of the teenaged Benjamin Britten are already characteristic, but quite rare, and the big orchestrations of Debussy’s Le Livre de Baudelaire by none other than John Adams are also unusual, making a perfect foil for the transcendent Baudelaire settings of Henri Duparc at the end. And the main attractions are Karg’s voice and interpretations themselves. Her singing in Ravel’s Shéhérazade sets the tone for the whole, mixing just a bit of sultriness into these radiant evocations of the global East. Start sampling right at the beginning, with Karg’s riveting reading of Asie (Asia), surely one of the most intense on recordings. Karg moves over the course of the program from dreamy to sensual to, in the Duparc, almost mystically beautiful, and the shades of her approach are followed faithfully by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under David Afkham. The sound is distinctive, with BR Klassik opting for the Konzerthalle Bamberg and miking Karg close up, catching her effective occasional use of a low, breathy tone in these sometimes highly sensuous texts. A real joy, and a major step for this artist who has recorded French repertory only occasionally in the past.

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Christiane Karg, Malcolm Martineau – Strauss, Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc, Wolf & Berg – Wigmore Hall Live (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christiane Karg, Malcolm Martineau – Strauss, Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc, Wolf & Berg – Wigmore Hall Live (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:26 minutes | 1,21 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wigmore Hall Live

Bavarian soprano Christiane Karg made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2012 with a beautiful song recital which also became her first release on Wigmore Hall Live [WHLIVE0062]; four years on we are excited to present her second release. A regular guest at the world’s leading opera houses, singing roles from Musetta (La bohème) to Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice), she is also revered for her enchanting performances on the concert platform alongside conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Christiane is joined by Malcolm Martineau celebrated as one of his generations greatest accompanists.

This recital explores the unique relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms. After Robert’s death Brahms’s passion for Clara grew but it was reciprocated only with a protective motherly care. They remained close friends but Brahms never truly recovered. This programme presents love in many different guises from the stirring ‘Widmung’, to the heartfelt ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’ and the love-drunk passion of ‘Meine Liebe ist grün’.

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Christiane Karg & Gerold Huber – Licht der Welt (A Christmas Promenade) (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christiane Karg & Gerold Huber – Licht der Welt (A Christmas Promenade) (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:25 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

In a follow-up to her acclaimed album of Mahler songs, Christiane Karg takes us on a Christmas tour, in the select company of fellow music-makers. Revisiting holiday memories through the eyes of a child, but with the benefit of her superb artistry as a lieder specialist, the German soprano shines a light on some enchanting rarities of German and French repertoire, along with examples of Spanish, Basque, and Scandinavian traditions… A treasure trove of hidden gems!

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Christiane Karg – Mitologia – Handel: Arias & Duets (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christiane Karg – Mitologia – Handel: Arias & Duets (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:13 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © deutsche harmonia mundi

Arias & Duets from Semele, Partenope and other Handel Masterpieces. One of the very last recordings of Alan Curtis, an authority on Early Music and a profound musician who pioneered the revival of Baroque opera. With Christiane Karg, one of the most-sought-after lyric sopranos of the present day.

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Christiane Karg – Clara & Robert Schumann, Brahms: Recital (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christiane Karg – Clara & Robert Schumann, Brahms: Recital (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:46 minutes | 1020 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wigmore Hall Live

Bavarian soprano Christiane Karg made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2012 with a beautiful song recital which also became her first release on Wigmore Hall Live [WHLIVE0062]; four years on we are excited to present her second release. A regular guest at the world’s leading opera houses, singing roles from Musetta (La bohème) to Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice), she is also revered for her enchanting performances on the concert platform alongside conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Christiane is joined by Malcolm Martineau celebrated as one of his generations greatest accompanists.

This recital explores the unique relationship between the Schumanns and Brahms. After Robert’s death Brahms’s passion for Clara grew but it was reciprocated only with a protective motherly care. They remained close friends but Brahms never truly recovered. This programme presents love in many different guises from the stirring ‘Widmung’, to the heartfelt ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’ and the love-drunk passion of ‘Meine Liebe ist grün’.

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Christian Weidner – Every Hour of the Light and Dark (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Christian Weidner – Every Hour of the Light and Dark (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:39 minutes | 848 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pirouet Records

Alto Saxophonist Christian Weidner’s longstanding partnership with pianist Achim Kaufmann, bassist Henning Sieverts and drummer Samuel Rohrer forges the intuitive magic that makes for inspired music as the group explores the varying shades of Every Hour of the Light and Dark. Four exceptional musicians gaze inwards, sensitive, self-critical, with a simplicity and depth of feeling as they uncover the miracle of the moment. Kaufmann has been lauded as ‘one of a handful of exceptional jazz pianists who has injected a new pulse into West European improvised music.’ Sieverts ranks as one of the premier bassist/composers on the European scene, while Munich’s prestigious Süddeutsche newspaper singled out Rohrer as ‘…perhaps the most melodic among European drummers…lyrical and to-the-point.’ As for Weidner, in All About Jazz, Dan McClenaghan extolled Christian’s ‘highly developed and finely focused artistic vision’ and identified him as ‘an owner of a rare original voice’. Every Hour of the Light and Dark: a line from Walt Whitman’s Poem of Perfect Miracles relays a message of consolation and resolution that rings out and into the musical world.

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Christian Wallumrød Ensemble – Outstairs (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Christian Wallumrød Ensemble – Outstairs (2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 56:05 minutes | 485 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM

The ensemble of Christian Wallumrod continues to evolve in its own idiosyncratic way on Outstairs. By now, Wallumrods compositional signature is instantly recognizable. Nobody else writes pieces like this multi-dimensional chamber music inspired by the sonorities of Norwegian folk and church music, influenced by early music and the post-Cage avant-garde, and liberated by jazzs freedom of thought. This time around, the ensemble members share the arranging credits between them, making the music still more organic and flexible as new sound combinations emerge.

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Christian Wallumrød Ensemble – Many (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Christian Wallumrød Ensemble – Many (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:25 minutes | 375 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hubro

Old-school musique concrete interludes and electronic add-ons mark the revered Ensemble’s masterly new album, which both summarises their unique career so far, and jumps boldly into the unknown

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