In this new b*records release, Marie Ythier, a passionate advocate of contemporary repertoire, pays tribute to a young generation of composers united by the collective essence of the cello with three works written for her. The Orchestre national d'Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, the Ensemble Sillages and the free spirit Arno Deforce, under the auspices of the Fondation Royaumont, bring to life the avant-garde, organic aesthetics of Augustin Braud, Matteo Gualandi and Bastien David, whose diverse influences, from Baroque to rock metal, open up a surprisingly generous sonic horizon.

What can we hear on this album? Firstly, a symphony that is only around nine minutes long, formally and tonally an Italian piece (with three merged movements). KV 181 in D major, composed in May 1773, shortly after the Milan premiere of “Lucio Silla”, begins with fanfares in Allegro spiritoso, followed by highly dramatic, expansive contrasts between major and minor, forte and piano, light and shadow, spanned over a “walking” bass, as well as effective dialogues between the first and second violins, which audibly emulate the tonal ideals of the Mannheim School. In the second movement, an Andantino grazioso, the solo oboe sings a melody that resembles a (two-part) opera aria. The Presto assai finale, a finely structured Rondo, uses dotted notes as it marches towards a happy end in a narrative that speaks to us without words.

Béla Bartók and John Adams - the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has chosen an unusual pairing for the third release on its own label. The orchestra and chief conductor Thomas Zehetmair play to one of their greatest strengths: pushing themselves to the limits in terms of creativity. In Bartók's Divertimento for string orchestra, the folk motifs dance dangerously close to the abyss. The contrasts between optimism and a premonition of doom are striking - Bartók composed the piece in the summer of 1939. In John Adams' "Shaker Loops", the extremes oscillate between lucid pauses and rousing outbursts. This recording makes it impressively clear that this popular work of "minimal music" is not so minimal after all, but contains complex arcs of tension and transitions.

Closer investigation of the roots and history of the Quartet, which was composed in 1824, reveals traces of all three of the so-called fine arts. The title “Death and the Maiden” reaches far back into the history of art. In the early 16th century, Hans Baldung Grien produced particularly impressive paintings and drawings on the theme of confrontation between life and death, symbolically embodied by a young girl and a skeleton. Published in 1774, the poem by Matthias Claudius succinctly presents the encounter in two verses that engage in mutual dialogue: on the one hand, the young woman in fear of death, and on the other, the skeletal man, whom Claudius transforms into an entirely positive figure through his soothing words.

Born in 1968, the Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon writes music that has been described as 'driven by a playful modern sensibility' (New York Times). His work list includes all genres, from solo pieces to large orchestral works, such as the Helvetia Symphony, scored for the same forces as Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.