Born in Odessa in 1908, David Oistrakh became one of the greatest violin legends of the 20th century. In 1946 Prague was among the first destinations of his post-war foreign tours. From that time on he would repeatedly return to the city as a violinist and conductor. Owing to his technical mastery and exquisitely warm tone, Oistrakh became an insuperable interpreter of grand Romantic concerti. Serving as a case in point is Brahms’s Concerto in D major, a work of extreme technical difficulty, recorded in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pedrotti.

Hard bopper Carmell Jones is in fine form on this 1965 outing, Jay Hawk Talk. Together with tenor Jimmy Heath, pianist Barry Harris, bassist George Tucker, and drummer Roger Humphries, Jones confidently tackles a half-dozen tunes. From the piano/bass riff at the beginning of "Jay Hawk Talk" to the Parker-esque kickoff of "Beepdurple," the band holds a steady, driving groove. Both of those instrumentals, plus "Dance of the Night Child," were written by Jones and stand comfortably beside the other selections on this album. Tucker kicks off a particularly affecting version of "Willow Weep for Me," with a simple descending bass run. Jones enters with a full and rich tone for a beautiful, extended solo, and is followed by Harris, who emphasizes the bluesy, late-night feel of the piece…

In 1950 Prague was the destination of the first-ever foreign trip of the then 35-year-old Russian genius pianist Sviatoslav Richter. He would subsequently visit the city on several more occasions. The recordings on this CD were made at the Rudolfinum within two weeks at the end of May and the beginning of June 1954. Richter is accompanied by the two finest Czech orchestras, conducted by two true legends – Václav Talich (nearing the end of his career) and Karel Ancerl (at the beginning of his tenure in the post of principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra).

Abandoning the lovely soundscapes of Snow Goose, Camel delved into layered guitar and synthesizers similar to those of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on the impressive Moonmadness. Part of the reason behind the shift in musical direction was the label's insistence that Camel venture into more commercial territory after the experimental Snow Goose, and it is true that the music on Moonmadness is more akin to traditional English progressive rock, even though it does occasionally dip into jazz-fusion territory with syncopated rhythms and shimmering keyboards. Furthermore, the songs are a little more concise and accessible than those of its predecessor. That doesn't mean Camel has abandoned art. Moonmadness is indeed a concept album, based loosely on the personalities of each member - "Chord Change" is Peter Bardens, "Air Born" is Andy Latimer, "Lunar Sea" is Andy Ward and "Another Night" is Doug Ferguson…

2017 release. Together at last! Two folk legends of Laurel Canyon's countercultural music scene join forces on this gorgeous album of all new recordings! Features captivating versions of classic tunes by fellow folk icons Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen plus a few of their own compositions!

This double CD from Schütze maintains the high standards of previous releases, with one disc tending toward a kind of delicate techno jazz, and the other moving into a twilight ambient world of slow-motion musical gestures and elusive melodic fragments. Schütze's prior experience as a film composer serves him well; he is a master at creating moods, and rather exceptional in his use of musical resources, refusing to limit himself to a particular instrumental palette or style. On the more ambient disc of the two, one of the four pieces is firmly in the Brian Eno/Steve Roach mode (and as lovely as anything produced by those two artists), while another piece is much closer to the industrial genre, with an austere combination of both organic and machine-like drones, and delicate, random chime tones with occasional clicking sounds…

Norwegian saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Harald Lassen returns with RIK, a vibrant and exploratory new album that picks up the threads of his acclaimed Balans - the album that earned him a Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) - and weaves them into something stranger, softer, and more surprising. “It’s the little brother,” Lassen says. “Same blood, same environment, but making different choices.”

The Schumann Quartet is releasing its eighth album. "Martin – Ullmann – Fauré" will be published on August 15th by Berlin Classics and is a co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur. The string quartet, founded in Cologne in 2007, does not bear its name in honor of the composer Robert Schumann, but is named after the three brothers Erik, Ken, and Mark Schumann, who have been playing music together since childhood. Since 2022, the violist Veit Hertenstein has completed the ensemble. The renowned group has received numerous awards, including first prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux. For this latest recording, the four musicians teamed up with the Berlin-based pianist Hinrich Alpers. Together, they focus on works by Frank Martin (1890–1974), Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944), and Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924).

For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgrds turns to some of the earliest of the composers orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartk, and many others.