Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra have begun to record the complete symphonies of Shostakovich, starting with his Fourth and Fifth symphonies. Shostakovich dared to express human suffering, passion, fear and catastrophe in his music, but always asking the same nagging question: what is man? In this sense, these two symphonies open with a question — an idea of martyrdom that was to become one of the central ideas of his later symphonies and, of course, of his Lady Macbeth of Mzensk. Both symphonies are dated between 1935-1937 when Shostakovich was in his thirties; this was one of the darkest and most difficult phases of his life, marked as it was by the repercussions of some of his writings and the arrest of many people close to him, including members of his family.

An exciting listening adventure: The "Ten Preludes" by Sofia Gubaidulina from 1974 merge with the Allemandes from Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites into a fascinating dialogue between past and present.

“Brawny shuffles, swinging horns, searing guitar, passionate vocals and balls-to-the-wall enthusiasm” – LIVING BLUES World-renowned, horn-powered, houserocking blues band releases their first new album in five years. Recipients of five Grammy nominations and winners of multiple Blues Music Awards (the Grammy of the blues), plus numerous victories in DownBeat’s International Critics Poll, Roomful of Blues are celebrated coast to coast and around the world.

Since their days at Trondheim’s Jazz Program, they have known each other musically inside out, alternately collaborators and critical mirrors. Their combined range extends from contemporary composition to improvisation, pop, and electronics. With Time to Crystallize, they unveil a dimension of that shared language which has, until now, remained unseen.