‘The dreamer! That double of our existence, that chiaroscuro of the thinking being’, wrote Gaston Bachelard in 1961. ‘The old is dying, the new cannot be born, and in that chiaroscuro, monsters appear’, adds Antonio Gramsci. Sandrine Piau has chosen to use these two quotations as an epigraph to her new recording: ‘My family and friends know about this obsession that never leaves me completely. The antagonism between light and darkness. The chiaroscuro, the space in between…’

Laurence Equilbey's 2014 Naïve release of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's unfinished Requiem in D minor belongs to the category of historically informed performances, both in the actual execution and in the intentions of the performance.

Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is an artist who continues to amaze with the undiminished luster and beauty of her voice, the depth and daring of her interpretation, and her commitment to exploring unfamiliar repertoire. "Sogno Barocco" is a recital of Italian songs, scenas, and operatic solos and duets drawn from the early to middle Baroque era. Dedicated to early Italian opera protagonists such as Poppea, Penelope, Diana and Helena, this clever programme gathers baroque hit duets such as Si Dolce è l tormento or Pur ti miro and the previously unreleased Provenzale cantata or Rossi's Lamento of the Swedish Queen… This delicate and subtle series of baroque jewels is performed with an amazing cast, starring French soprano Sandrine Piau, in 3 breathtaking duets, and baroque rising-star conductor Leonardo García Alarcón, one of the current darlings of Italian baroque.

This SACD is the sountrack of a French documentary which observes the miracle of child birth from the perspective of different cultures - including African, French, Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese, American and Russian.

Composed in 1771 to a libretto by Metastasio tracing the well-known biblical story of Judith and Holofernes, La Betulia liberata was Mozart’s first oratorio. Often described as a stroke of genius, this recording by Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, with Sandrine Piau, Amanda Forsythe and Teresa Iervolino, shows the dramatic intensity of which he was already capable at the age of just fifteen and the influence of his early experiences with opera.

After the great success of their first disc for Arcana featuring two unpublished masterpieces by Pergolesi, which won the ‘Diapason Découverte’ award, Giulio Prandi and the Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri return with a new recording, devoted to Niccolò Jommelli’s Requiem. Composed in 1756 for the solemn obsequies of the Duke of Württemberg’s mother, it became the most popular Requiem setting in Europe until Mozart’s, written in 1791.

This is the third recording to represent Giulio Prandi’s interpretative research on the great Italian choral repertory, after the special and successful releases of works by Jommelli and Pergolesi, cornerstones of the golden age of the Neapolitan school. Faced with the challenge posed by Rossini’s essential masterpiece, Prandi has chosen an original and courageous path, following deep reflection.