Svjatoslav Richter (1915-97) has left behind the extraordinary image of a highly sensitive, angst-ridden yet ultimately serene musician, a true monstre sacre, a perfectionist in search of the absolute. This duo of enationalistf concertos by Grieg and Dvo.ak featured only briefly in his repertoire. The uncharacteristic liberty of his playing and the sense of exultation is astounding, illuminating this romantic composition based on imaginary song and dance national folklore. They form a unique , totally unprecedented combination.

PRD DSD 350 058

Today Soviet propaganda literature tends to raise a smile, whereas the genuine feel of combined secular ‘passion’ and popular refrains still astounds, with its irresistible Russian prosodic rhythms. A tribute to the outstanding Russian artists : Yevgeni Mravinsky (1903-88), Alexander Yurlov (1927-73), Choirmaster, and the bass Ivan Petrov (1920-2003).

PRD DSD 350 060

Together for the first time, three acclaimed concertos performed by the soloists who made them famous - dedicatees and performers D. Oistrakh and M. Rostropovitch, and then Leonard Bernstein himself, pianiste, conductor and composer with the less beloved Concerto Op.102. Lenny has produced a successful rendering of this curious cocktail – a tribute to Rococo style Bach, an entranced romantic andante along with a caricature of Prokofiev style virtuoso piano in the opening and closing allegros.

PRD/DSD 350 059

An anthology from Manuel de Falla’s masterpieces, in which he invented modern Spanish music and he revived authentic songs, rhythms and dances out of an Andalusia both legendary and still alive. Tribute to performers, while awaiting for their centenaries, such as Clara Haskil, Igor Markevitch or Ernest Ansermet, who made immortal these pieces or taught their requirements and specificities to artists such as Teresa Berganza…Incunabula !

PRD DSD 350 064

Encounter between Glinka, a pioneer of patriotic Russian opera with Ivan Susanin (A Life for the Tsar, 1839) then Ruslan et Lyudmila (1842) both of them widely influenced by the Italian school. Music scores for sextet pay a joyous and virtuoso tribute to him and his direct model Rossini. In 1871 Tchaikovsky wrote an po11 designed for a chamber orchestra rather than for the sixteen poor strings of a quartet. A forgotten Glinka, Tchaikovsky rendered in its amazingly original intensity by the true slavs that are the Pražá.

PRD DSD 250 294

In 1831 Berlioz exemplifies the modern orchestral art with the Symphonie Fantastique which served as a model to Wagner and Malher. La Mer of Debussy proposed an addition to this occidental art which still thrives in the 21 century. Of the 118 recordings since 1930 the main models which still dwell are from Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch (dixit Jean Roy).The American soprano Eleonora Steber recorded the cycle of Nuits d’été in 1953 with the blazing support of Mitropoulos, the most possessed and convincing version of this masterpiece rarely played.

PRD DSD 350 071

An non-usual pairing of Tchaikovsky’s two most popular scores by uncontested Russian masters: the resurrection of one Richter’s rare encounters with the most Russian conductor of the 20th century, Yevgeny Mravinsky. Indispensable for whomever wants to hear the references left by the two legendary artists.

PRD DSD 350 069

Dukas considered that with Debussy ‘ideas generate form’. His Nocturnes tap into impressions and light effects, [...] fading into white-tinged grey, and only then movement, jaunty rhythms, sudden bursts of light and glittering dust combining to form a total rhythm (Debussy’s directions). Rosenthal and the Paris Opera orchestra still provide the most faithful rendering of this profusion of rhythm and timbre.

PRD/DSD 350 072

___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

The exceptional longevity of Camille Saint-Saens, child prodigy saluted by Liszt, consenting (?) witness of stravinskian and debussyst revolutions has left us more than 300 manuscripts. German and Russian . . . musicologists saluted his professionalism, his pianistic writing reminding us of Beethoven, an orchestral art inspired by Liszt and Berlioz who considered him ‘the most impressive musical mechanic ever encountered’. ‘If Mr. Saint-Saens espoused Glory she will be unfaithful with Mr. Debussy.’ Four legendary artists prove his timelessness.

PRD/DSD 350 077

Just as imaginary as Debussy's or Chabrier's, Spain according to Ravel surprised Falla by an authentic character that made him exclaim 'Es de nuestros' ('You are one of us') as much in the feria as in the Pavane of a dreamt infanta at the Court of Spain. It is the court of Louis XV that appears in Daphnis et Chloé, a 'choreographic symphony less concerned with archaism than with faithfulness to the Greece of my dreams' (dixit Ravel). This pastorale could have been performed at the Petit Trianon, Ravel as a brilliant Rameau of the 20th century, leaving the coherence of the gesture to Fokine. Pierre Monteux recorded the ideal version of this programme that was so familiar to him.

PRD/DSD 350 073