For elodie Vignon, the decision to record Debussy's complete piano works in chronological order was born of what the Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune was in Debussy's day: a revelation! For her, playing this music is like entering a cocoon that belongs to you alone. This first volume (generous with 2CDs) of the three that will make up the complete works, naturally begins with Debussy's early works, pieces directly inspired by poems by Mallarme and Verlaine and which embrace the mysterious dimension of the sensory imagination. In the years that followed, he increasingly freed music from the polarisation exerted by the tonal note, keeping the sound space open and ultimately initiating spectral music. Debussy liked to draw inspiration from memories when composing, in order to maintain a distance between his own emotions and those he wished to arouse in the listener. Alfred Cortot spoke of evoking sensations rather than feelings, thus rejecting the late-Romantic aesthetic of emotional identification between composer and listener: an obligation that seemed too constraining to Debussy to be able to give rise to an open dialogue with the listeners of his work. Giving the impression of being invented as it is played, Debussy's music invites us to dream, to better understand the complexity of the world.

Swiss conductor Michel Corboz has devoted himself to directing the choral music of four centuries, bringing to it conviction and stylistic integrity (and a shrewd curiosity about the music of his own time). His performances of Bach are not universally liked, but that derives more from controversy over what constitutes authenticity than from lax interpretation.

Stradella composed this oratorio while in Rome on a commission from Queen Cristina in 1673.The only records of performances of the work are from 1688 and 1693 at the court of Francesco d'Este in Modena.The oratorio would seem to refer to the dancing-girl at Antioch in Syria who was converted to the Christian faith by bishop of Edessa, after which she led the life of a hermit in a cave on the Mount of Olives. Rather than offering a biography of the girl, the librettist presents Pelagia's inner conflict as she vacillates between enjoying the delights of the world and abandoning them for the good of her soul.The oratorio results in a score that is more lyrical than dramatic, but very moving and lovely, with long and winding phrases of great length which encourage a calm and singing rendition.

It may seem an unlikely thing to say about a German chamber ensemble, yet the Melos Quartet of Stuttgart are more suave, more feline, than the Quartetto Italiano in the opening movement of Mozart's E flat Quartet. The former have, too, the advantage of a modern recording with a more exact stereo placing of each instrument, whereas the Philips disc is close on ten years old.

'Lamento' is a stunning collection of rarely-heard music by the Bach family. Magdelena Kozena brings these long-forgotten treasures to life with her trademark artistry and acclaimed style, accompanied by Musica Antiqua Koln and Reinhard Goebel. "A voice that has already melted some notably stony hearts… one of the class vocal acts of the early 21st century." - The Times (London)