This new release is an excellent representation of the elements that make up the German power metal scene. With Powerful riffs, mind-blowing soloing, heavy double bass, and strong singing, Sculforge creates an album which reaches standards often overlooked in the Power Metal genre.
Branching off from the traditional themes of the genre is always a nice respite. We were overwhelmed at one time or another by the dungeons and dragons legacy of the genre. It was pretty much everywhere and it felt claustrophobic to say the least. Most of the bands revolved around those themes for anything remotely close of Power Metal so bands like Sculforge talking about Science Fiction and distancing themselves from the themes of yore is always a great thing for longstanding fans like me…

Mozart's view of the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was wonderfully contradictory: he observed that Bach's music would be considered old-fashioned in his own time, but that "he [Bach] was the father, and we are the children." This set of six CPE Bach symphonies from the early 1770s gives listeners the opportunity to think more deeply on Mozart. Mozart might easily have heard these works, and if music moved in the direction of lightness and grace from Bach's style during Mozart's creative lifetime, one can still hear a lot of CPE. The six symphonies here are not representative of Bach's "Sturm und Drang" style; all but one are in major keys, and even the gracefully chromatic middle movement of the Symphony in B minor, Wq 182/5, is extremely Mozartian.

"Finesse and fire from a starry musical duo… A recital that showcased the very best in collaborative music-making," was how the Toronto Star described the concert at Koerner Hall in Toronto that formed the basis for this recording. The program for the album comprises two works by Chopin, his Sonata in A Major and his Polonaise brillante in C Major, and Franck's Sonata in A Major, a transcription by the 19th century cellist Jules Delsart of the Belgian composer's glorious violin sonata.

2013 Gramophone Artist of the Year, three time winner at the Classic BRITs and also three time winner at the Echo Klassik Awards, Alison Balsom OBE has cemented an international reputation as one of classical music’s great ambassadors and is ranked amongst the most distinctive and ground-breaking musicians on the international circuit today. With this release Alison records on the natural trumpet for the first time since the hugely successful album Sound the Trumpet. Inspired by seasonal Baroque repertoire, the recording includes Bach’s concertos by Corelli, Torelli, and Fasch performed with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of violinist Pavlo Besnosiuk.