Johann Sebastian Bach

Edwin Fischer chose only pieces by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart for his piano-roll recordings. The Sonatas Op.10 No.3 and Op.110 by Beethoven were distributed over several rolls but are brought together on this CD and created anew as coherent structures.

Nuit Sacrée documents a televised concert that was broadcast on Christmas Day 2009 on France 2, one of the main French TV Channels, from St Thomas’s Church in Strasbourg. It features some of the finest sacred pieces linked to the festive season, and an impressive array of some of the best musicians of our time. Perhaps the major attraction is the multi-award winning chamber choir Accentus under its acclaimed conductor Laurence Equilbey. They are joined by the equally celebrated baroque specialist ensemble Concerto Köln and several outstanding vocal and instrumental soloists, among them soprano Sandrine Piau, contralto Nathalie Stutzmann, bass-baritone Johannes Weisser and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton.

Founded by its current director Laurence Equilbey, Accentus is a professional chamber choir which appears in the leading concert halls and international festivals. The group collaborates regularly with prestigious conductors and orchestras (Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, Orchestre de Paris, Ensemble intercontemporain, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie, Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik). The group’s recordings have received numerous prizes from the musical press, notably ‘Transcription”, Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, Fauré’s Requiem with members of the Orchestre National de France, and ‘Strauss a cappella’ with the Latvian Radio Choir. Accentus records exclusively for Naïve.

The Christmas message is beautifully sung by the choir which serves the monastic community of St. Benedict in Ealing. The collection contains more unusual pieces such as Bethlehem Down, Berkeley’s I Sing of a Maiden and Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin as well as favourites such as Coventry Carol and Away in a Manger.

This is a collection of some of the musical “lollipops” which are as agreeable to play as they are to listen to; maybe it is because of their simplicity that these jewels get straight to the hearts of their listeners.

The CD includes favourites such as Pachelbel’s Canon, Mozart’s Serenade from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Purcell’s Chaconne as well as Marcello’s Concerto for Oboe, Strings and Continuo.

This celebratory recital includes favourites such as Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 and Mendelssohn’s War March of the Priests as well as works by Dupont, Cocker and Rheinberger. “A prodigious performance…Superb technique….This really was a recital to savour.” The Organ

Some of the best boys choirs have performed Bach’s Christmas oratorio in splendid fashion over the past decades. In this recording, with St Thomas’s Boys Choir, under the baton of the present cantor at St Thomas, Georg Christoph Biller, the listener will hear a historically informed performance. As intended by Bach, the words from the Bible and the sermon texts of the arias are the work’s focus. In practice, this means that the singers and the choir are the sounding core, not the instruments.

Performed in the historic location of St. Thomas’ Leipzig – and informed by Biller’s abundant knowledge of Bach’s practice, this recording has a very special appeal.

This CD combines traditional Christmas music with newly composed songs, which were all winners of a Christmas song competition organised by the BBC in 2009.