Resonus is pleased to present this significant new recording of vocal works by the early-twentieth century Czech composer, Pavel Haas. Featuring four song cycles composed by Haas at various stages in his life, this captivating album includes the world premiere recording of Fata Morgana, Op. 6 – Haas’s first major work composed following studies with Leoš Janáček in 1922. Pianist Lada Valešová is joined by an exceptional array of singers as well as the acclaimed Navarra Quartet in a vivid portrait of this neglected composer.

The music of Bach's 'St. John Passion', which the composer wrote for Holy Week in 1724 immediately after his appointment as cantor of St Thomas's Church in Leipzig, still retains all its freshness and vitality nearly 300 years later, and is a true Baroque delight. The two main choruses Herr, unser Herrscher and Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine form the beginning and culmination of a large-scale orchestral and vocal structure in which Bach reveals his absolute mastery of polyphony. Inwardly reflective chorales are as much interwoven into the events of the Passion as the haunting arias which comment on the biblical texts of the Gospel of St John. Throughout this solemn Passion oratorio, there is a constant emphasis on Baroque musical magnificence. What makes this live recording of the concert version of March 7, 2015 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz so special? The fresh voices of the young and excellent vocal soloists, the regularly praised "astonishing three-dimensionality" and "crystalline clarity" of the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Peter Dijkstra and, of course, the renowned period instrument ensemble Concerto Köln.

Tadeáš Salva was one of the foremost Slovakian composers of his generation. His studies equipped him with a thorough awareness of the new Polish School, and his temperament inclined him toward a synthesis between contemporary technique and the inspiration of folklore. The cello was his favourite instrument. The Concerto is vibrantly orchestrated, absorbingly contoured and shares something of Penderecki’s aesthetic. The Slovak Concerto Grosso marries Stravinskian virtuosity with folk impressions, the Three Arias and Little Suite are touching, inspired miniatures whilst the unfinished Preludes illustrate Salva’s richness of originality and imagination.

Carl Czerny, one of Vienna’s most illustrious musicians, was Beethoven’s student and devoted friend. Renowned today for his piano treatises, he was also a prolific composer in almost every genre, but it is the music for his own instrument that has aroused the most curiosity. The Grand Concerto in A minor, a work both serene and spirited, is historically important as one of the first romantic concertos ever written. The lyricism and playful bravura of the Grand Nocturne Brillant is balanced by the delicious Rossini Variations de Concert.

2007 compilation of 'mash ups' from some of the biggest (and coolest) names in Rock and Dance music. Two of the most popular would be 'Rapture Riders'(which mashed Blondie's 'Rapture' with The Doors' 'Riders On The Storm') and 'Proper Education' (DJ Eric Prydz meets Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall'). There are others here that have been filling dancefloors recently including 'Franz Buffalo' (Malcolm McLarenn meets Franz Ferdinand), 'Passenger Fever' (Peggy Lee meets Iggy Pop), 'Flashing For Money' (Deep Dish and Dire Straits) and 'Horny As A Dandy' (Mousse T Vs. The Dandy Warhols). A brilliant collection that will surprise, shock and get you groovin'!

Harmonica player Al Miller brings in three guitar aces to help him create this unique blues album: John Primer, Dave Specter and Billy Flynn. But Al doesn't just play harp. Whether he is wailing away on harmonica, singing, writing songs, or providing guitar accompaniment, Al imbues every aspect of his involvement in the music with feeling, which, as every blues fan knows, is what the blues is all about. Al sings most of the songs, however John Primer sings lead on three. "…In Between Time" has seventeen songs in all, including the previously unissued "Blizzard". Miller’s instrumental excursions display immaculate taste; never overplaying, he always adheres to the all-for-one, one-for-all ensemble approach characterizing postwar Chicago blues.

Stereolab was poised for a breakthrough release with Emperor Tomato Ketchup, their fourth full-length album. Not only was their influence becoming apparent throughout alternative rock, but Mars Audiac Quintet and Music for the Amorphous Body Center indicated they were moving closer to distinct pop melodies. The group certainly hasn't backed away from pop melodies on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, but just as their hooks are becoming catchier, they bring in more avant-garde and experimental influences, as well. Consequently, the album is Stereolab's most complex, multi-layered record. It lacks the raw, amateurish textures of their early singles, but the music is far more ambitious, melding electronic drones and singsong melodies with string sections, slight hip-hop and dub influences, and scores of interweaving counter melodies. Even when Stereolab appears to be creating a one-chord trance, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Furthermore, the group's love for easy listening and pop melodies means that the music never feels cold or inaccessible. In fact, pop singles like "Cybele's Reverie" and "The Noise of Carpet" help ease listeners into the group's more experimental tendencies.

With Beyond Skin, Nitin Sawhney set a high bar for global fusion music. Now he's raised it with Prophesy, taking advantage of a larger budget to bring in Indian strings, a South African choir, a Chicago cabbie, soul singer Terry Callier, and Nelson Mandela, among many other things. But what could have been an awkward grab bag of sound comes together under Sawhney's sure hands and inspired songwriting. He makes the unusual work. On "Sunset," for instance, flamenco and rai meet Brazil, and the vocals of Cheb Mami and Nina Miranda work to glorious effect. Trilok Gurtu contributes some stunning kannakol (vocal percussion) to "Breathing Light," while Natacha Atlas beguiles with her singing on "Acquired Dreams." But this is more than a collection of great tunes–it's an album that ponders the way our world and civilization is developing, asking questions and challenging assumptions while still delivering some sumptuous grooves and melodies.

Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787) was a contemporary of J C Bach, and a fashionable performer and promoter in London in the eighteenth century. By that time the viola da gamba was a rarity, but Abel’s performances sparked a revival of interest among performers and audiences. The works recorded on this disc (six of which have never been previously recorded) can be seen as musical expositions of sensibility, inhabiting the same tragic world as the gamba solos in J S Bach’s Passions. Abel’s contemporary Charles Burney commented on the musician’s ability to ‘breathe’ the notes as he played them, and this extraordinary sensitivity is present too in the beautiful playing of Susanne Heinrich.

Nitin Sawhney's Beyond Skin works on at least two levels. First, it's a plea against racism and war, relating, as Sawhney writes in the liner notes, that one's identity is defined only by oneself – that identity is "beyond skin." Second, the music is an extremely accomplished blend of classical, drum'n'bass, jazz, hip-hop, and Indian elements. The album's political statements are seen most clearly in the samples imbedded in the beginning and ending of most tracks. Dealing with nuclear testing and identity, the samples are effective in setting the tone for the songs. The music is quite lush, featuring among other instruments, tablas, pianos, and cellos to equally beautiful effect. The production brings a crystal-clear polish to nearly every element in the mix, whether it's the passionate, intense vocals of the Rizwan Qawwali Group on "Homelands" or the stunning, impossibly gorgeous voice of Swati Natekar on "Nadia." The entire album is bathed in eclectic touches which never fail to maintain a poetic, accessible sense of charm and wonder. Rarely has electronic music been crafted with as much substance and style as it has on Beyond Skin. Sawhney travels back and forth between genres quite effortlessly. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

For the 1963 album Goin' Away, Lightnin' Hopkins was backed by a spare rhythm section – bassist Leonard Gaskin and drummer Herb Lovelle – who managed to follow his ramshackle, instinctual sense of rhythm quite dexterously, giving Hopkins' skeletal guitar playing some muscle. Still, the spotlight remains Hopkins, who is in fine form here. There are no real classics here, but everything is solid, particularly "Stranger Here" and "You Better Stop Her," making it worth investigation by serious fans of Hopkins' classic material.

Despite the title, this actually leans considerably further to the jazz side of Witherspoon's muse than the blues one, with backing by Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Roger Kellaway on piano, Bill Watrous on trombone, Richard Davis on bass, and Mel Lewis on drums. The songs, too, are much more in the jazz/pop vein than the blues/jazz one, heavy on standards by the likes of Johnny Mercer, the Gershwins, and Ellington. Witherspoon's one of the masters of closing-time bluesy jazz, and he doesn't let anyone down on that account on this relaxed (but not sleepy) session.

Like his legendary father, Ali Farka Touré, Vieux is a guitarist who likes to collaborate. He has worked with the Israeli keyboard player Idan Raichel, and now comes an even more powerful partnership, with American singer Julia Easterlin. The opening Little Things starts with the familiar guitar lines of that Malian favourite Kaira, before Easterlin eases in to nudge the song towards western balladry. Elsewhere, this bravely original fusion switches from an African funk treatment of Fever Ray’s I’m Not Done to slow, thoughtful laments. The traditional In the Pines has been covered by everyone from Lead Belly to Nirvana, but is here reworked with chilling, whispered vocals and desert blues guitar, while the most startling track is a slow, African-edged treatment of Dylan’s Masters of War, which sounds like a pained meditation on the recent chaos in Mali.

Shostakovich's Symphony No.5 was given its premiere in 1937. It was outwardly in compliance with the ruling party, but the public heard a message of suffering in Shostakovich's masterpiece and it was an unprecedented triumph. Symphony No.12 "The Year 1917" was dedicated to Vladimir Lenin. Both works were premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Yevgeny Mravinsky. The performances featured here were recorded in December 1965.

CTI meets GRP, Bob James meets David Benoit on Absolute Reality What a joy to listen to this album! The second CD by keyboardist/arranger Peter Horvath is an absolutely pleasant effort, full of killer grooves and lovely melodies. Guest stars like Bob Mintzer (shining on Carla and Escape From Oakland and Randy Brecker (who overdubbed a nice solo on Foreign Matter add an extra spice to Horvath's perfectly built tunes, but the disc offers many other pleasures. The main hero is the leader himself, a terrific soloist, specially on the Rhodes electric piano. Norbert Stachel, a superb reedman who co-wrote six of the ten tunes, sounds like an entire horn section. The album also includes some of the last recordings by late drummer Ricky Lawson (1954-2013). Among them, the title track that mixes a James Brown-like riff with a glamorous melody played by Horvath on the acoustic piano. Mintzer and Horvath share the spotlight on the funkyfied Escape From Oakland while Kenny Washington's wordless vocal effects add a special flavour to the laidback groove of Nassau Nights, on which Horvath's hands seem to fly on the Rhodes over a lush horn arrangement.