John Barbirolli studied cello as a boy, making his debut public appearance at the age of 12. He received a formal education at Trinity College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, from which he graduated in 1916. Upon graduation, he found a position in the Queen's Hall Orchestra, becoming its youngest member. He made his professional solo debut as a cellist in Aeolian Hall, London, in 1917. During World War I he joined the British Army; while in the service he got his first taste of conducting by leading an all-volunteer orchestra. After his service ended in 1919, he returned to the Queen's Hall Orchestra. He also resumed performances as a cello soloist, appearing with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra. He joined and toured with the International String Quartet beginning in 1923.

Henri Dutilleux's work has been gaining attention through a number of significant recent recordings. Esa-Pekka Salonen recorded his Correspondances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Ludovic Morlot has recorded both his symphonies, as well as other works, as the new conductor of the Seattle Symphony. This opportunity to experience and appraise his work casts him as among the most significant French composers of the late twentieth century.

Released in the year of Claude Debussy's death centenary, this album demonstrates the exceptional harmonic and colouristic richness of his music. Centrepiece of the album is La Mer (1903-1905), a musical realization of the composer's "sincere devotion to the sea" that revolutionized orchestral composition in the early twentieth-century…

Excellently recorded recital from Brilliant Classics. The piano and violin are ideally balanced in a warm acoustic of exactly the right size. The piano also sounds perfect, rich and full…

This recording presents two of Claude Debussy's enduring masterpieces- the Children's Corner suite (1908), and his brilliant- Études (Books 1 & 2) (1915), played by the American pianist, Aleck Karis. Mr. Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe, Japan,and China. His six solo discs for Bridge Records include music of Chopin/Carter/Schumann (BRIDGE 9001) Mozart (BRIDGE 9011), Stravinsky (BRIDGE 9051), Cage (BRIDGE 9081A/B) Feldman/Webern/Wolpe (BRIDGE 9420) and Poulenc (BRIDGE 9459). Karis studied piano with William Daghlian, Artur Balsam and Beveridge Webster. He is a distinguished professor of music at the University of California, San Diego.