冰岛新的年轻天才，很有涵养的Olafur Arnalds 能把古典元素融合在氛围和微电子节拍里，有Sigur Ros的味道，也有Mum的感觉。
Olafur Arnalds原来在家乡Mosfellsbaer离雷克雅维克偏壤的一个小镇上，他同时身兼多支Hardcore乐队的鼓手职务，先是替友人的乐团My Summer as a Salvation Soldier担任多项乐器伴奏，还获邀为美国Indie-Rock乐团Cursive担任德国巡回演出的伴奏乐手。Olafur Arnalds的个人音乐作品以钢琴和弦乐为主， 与其说是post-rock， 不如干脆说是modern classical。

《音像世界》曾称这套唱片为R2D4，给予了极高的评价。何谓R2D4，英美人常将TO简化成2，而For则可写为4。那么这里的R和D又是什么含意呢？R是Records的缩写，而D则表示Die。很明显，R2D4被破译出来就是Records To Die For－“死都要听”。它的创意来自美国发烧级天书《Stereophile》，该书经常会开出一份名单，煽动发烧友去听一些他们认为极品的器材和唱片，标题就是R2D4。
事实上，几十年来听“曼托凡尼之声”长大的乐迷绝非寡众，曼托凡尼轻音乐团的演奏风格流畅舒展，旋律优美动听，音响华丽丰满。虽然从未享受过他那销魂蚀骨的音乐，未见得要立刻去死，却可以肯定是音乐生活中的最大遗憾！曼托凡尼那如瀑布，象丝绸般的重弦乐音响，时而飞流直下三千尺，时而好象波澜不兴的辽阔大海，曼妙舞动间能带给人如沐春风或雨后初晴般的喜悦，让一般的人也在不知不觉中爱上了高格调的音乐。
这个乐团的指挥曼托凡尼1905年生于意大利威尼斯的一个音乐世家，父亲曾是托斯卡尼尼乐队的首席小提琴手。曼托凡尼自小在父亲的指导下学习小提琴，青年时代举家迁居英国，考入伦敦音乐学院。16岁即公开演出布鲁赫和圣桑的小提琴协奏曲。18岁时，他在伯明翰组织了一只六人乐队，在旅馆和剧院作职业性演出，以演奏轻音乐为主，他是乐队的主要小提琴手。他那清湛的演奏技巧和华丽明朗的美妙琴声，使人听后回味无穷，于是当时的他就已经以小提琴演奏家的身份赢得巨大的声望。1933年，曼托凡尼加入了英国籍，此后他重新组建了一个以弦乐为主的庞大的管弦乐团，这就是后来的曼托凡尼乐团。
曼托凡尼从管弦乐团的弦乐器中找到了富有特殊色彩的音响，这种富有特色的弦乐演奏，就此成为他乐团所特有的音乐特色。此后，曼托凡尼改编了大量雅俗共赏、和谐悦耳的乐曲，听众给他的乐团取了一个“曼托凡尼之声”的雅号。相比那些喧杂热烈的现代流行音乐来说，曼托凡尼的音乐无疑是一服令人舒畅的清凉剂。曼托凡尼的成功，主要在于他充分了解小提琴的表现方式，并能恰如其分地驾驭管弦乐队，使整个乐队非常精确地表达出这位小提琴家所特有的演奏风格，使听众为之倾到。
在五、六十年代，曼托凡尼的演奏几乎风靡了世界每一个角落，成为人听人爱的美乐，唱片畅销数十年，并成为全球首位立体声LP销量突破一百万的音乐家。而在中国，曼托凡尼亦是在“文革”之后的各地广播电台中播放率最高的外国音乐代表，当年他那抒情清新的乐韵，不知让多少的中国乐迷领略了“外面的”音乐世界，从而留下了无数美丽的回忆。
作为同属环球宝丽金集团旗下的著名古典音乐品牌，出版本碟的英国Decca（笛卡）唱片公司和德国的DG相比，规模、历史、艺人阵容可能都相去甚远。但是在爱乐者和发烧友的心目中，Decca录音所特有的开阔而深远的音场空间感、透明度一流的秀美音色，如临现场的精确定位，以及华丽自然、辉煌而不刺耳的音域平衡度，已经和其蓝红相间的商标一样，成为了独树一帜、无可替代的黄金招牌。在艺术家的阵容上，Decca最引以为傲的是曾签约旗下40年多年的专属指挥大师乔治·索尔蒂爵士，他不仅为Decca创下了唱片史上的惊世巨献《指环》，更是世上获得葛莱美奖项最多的艺人，声望盖天。此外还有C高音之王帕瓦洛蒂、女歌唱家迪·卡娜娃、钢琴名家何什肯纳奇、小提琴女将郑京和等等。再有，迷倒世人的轻音乐团曼托凡尼、美国爵士乐传奇艾灵顿公爵、名歌手平·克劳斯贝等也曾为Decca留下珍贵的录音。由此可见，Decca是英伦之岛唯一可与百年老牌EMI相匹敌的古典唱片厂牌。
录音方面，Decca在50年代立体声录音的萌芽时期，就已经由资深录音师K.E.Wilkinson（威尔金森）发明了一种的独特的麦克风摆放阵式。这种后来被称为“The Decca Tree”的“麦克风树”，是以一组位于支架左右的麦克风和另一支垂直在适当距离的麦克风为主，这三支话筒构成的“麦克风树”矗立舞台，配合其他麦克风的辅助，可将单点和多点方式录音的优缺点加以妥协，创造出细致、平衡又不失动态的录音效果。这种录音技术确立了Decca以后的录音风格，拥有最平衡的音域和最深阔的音场，音质流光溢彩，华丽无比。曼托凡尼乐团是当年第一次尝试这种录音技术的乐团，其后这一摆法被推广到Decca的古典管弦乐和歌剧录音中，取得重大的成功。
为了使新一代乐迷摆脱时下大量平庸无聊的商业流行音乐的污染，重新找回健康和更高层次的音乐品位，Decca动用先进的数码混音器材将曼托凡尼黄金年代的精华曲目重新整理，辑成这套双CD精选集。这套CD的封套选用曼氏故乡意大利威尼斯的醉人景色。晕黄的晚霞中，一对恋人在静静的港湾相拥而吻，正好与唱片的主题《醉人黄昏》不谋而合。
每张CD收录的19段乐曲除乐迷早已耳熟能详的经典外，亦有多首在以前类似精选碟中没有收录过的，其中更有一些冷僻曲目保证国内的乐迷第一次听到。
《The very best of Mantovani》(曼陀凡尼精选大碟），系著名的迪卡（DECCA)公司模拟录音时代的佳作，弦乐甜美绝伦，松香味道十足。双cd，38首动人乐曲， 98年重新制作发行，坊间应不难觅。其录音效果秉承了迪卡一贯的特色：低音雄浑，中音丰厚，高音圆滑，其空间感、层次感更属一流。
该碟的曲目绝对不会令你陌生。如《MOON RI 》、《AROUND THE WORLD》、《AS TIME GOES BY》、《SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES》、《AND I LOVE YOU SO》、《MY WAY》等等，在曼陀凡尼的魔棒下，再度魅惑你的耳朵和心灵。尤其是A碟的第一首《CHARMAINE》，为曼陀凡尼的成名作。乐声甫起，如一线飞瀑倾泻而下，挟着沁人肺腑的芬芳，流进你荒芜的心田。在昔年曼陀凡尼的音乐会上，这一段往往赢得经久不息的阵阵掌声！
该碟的封面颇具特色，如抽象派画师的梦幻之作：港口，飞鸟，守望者，拥吻的恋人，都在一片黯黄的夕阳里。

As a surprise release for Erased Tapes founder Robert Raths, label buddies Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have collaborated for the first time ever. The pair have recorded an EP of ambient electroacoustic works called Stare. The release also features Anne Müller on cello with artwork by label-friend and in-house designer Torsten Posselt.
What started as a jam on old analogue synths at Nils’ Durton studio in Berlin, continued with a 4-day session at Óli´s E7 studio in Reykjavik. Ólafur explains, “the album became kind of an Iceland vs. Berlin thing. I think you can hear it very well in the sound (side a vs. side b) and that is the most interesting thing about this record for me: that subtle but significant different in the characteristics of the music two people made in Iceland against what the same two people made in Germany.” The project was kept secret until, “delivered the fully mastered record with finished artwork to Robert around the 5th anniversary of the label.”
‘a2’ is minimal and glacial. Like the EP artwork, it’s hazy … but precisely so.
There will be limited availability of Stare on Record Store Day 2012, April 21st, which just happens to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Erased Tapes - pre-order here.

The songs on "Unearthed" pay homage to ancient cultures with their titles (Cuzco, Pompeii, Harrapa, and Ebia), yet they are as contemporary as Deep Forest and Enigma and attract the same kind of fan. The music is at one moment dark and choral and at another light and airy; one moment you're in Greece and then in Ireland or South America. It's a film score, clearly cinematic, but there's no movie - rather there are the dozens of movies and movie trailers in which the music has appreaed. If you've watched Six Feet Under, the NFL or the US Open, you've heard their music. If you watch CBS's hit series "Cold Case" on Sunday nights, you've heard one of the most extraordinary theme songs ever, and it's the track "Nara". If you are even an occasional filmgoer, you've heard the music on "UNEARTHED"
E.S. Posthumus在2000年组成，是由Helmut和Franz Vonlichten兄弟二人合组的独立组合，音乐揉合交响乐及电子乐，加上鼓乐强劲节奏，气势滂薄，亦具史诗式的古典美。Helmut 和 Franz 自3岁起便跟随母亲学习古典钢琴，自小浸润在古典音乐的环境下长大。Franz中学毕业后在录音室工作。Helmut 在美国洛杉矶加州大学（UCLA）修读考古学毕业。兄弟俩受到Pythagorean Philosophy影响触发灵感，相信 "音乐是使反差变得和谐；把对抗的元素加以调和"。E.S.其实也就是"Experimental Sounds"（实验音乐）的缩写，而"Posthumus"一词代表了"一切已然过去"。 E.S. Posthumus深受电影或电视剧制作人等拥戴，其音乐常成为电影或电视剧前奏，营造出剧力万军的效果，或成为配乐。譬如说，2001年电影《决战猩球/猿人争霸战》用上了Menouthis和Pompeii两首；2002年电影《蜘蛛侠》用上Pompeii和Nineveh，电影《少数派报告/关键报告/未来报告》用上Tikal；2003年侦探电视剧《铁证悬案》（Cold Case）用了Nara，例子多不胜数。而Posthumus Zone这一首更是特别为美国哥伦比亚电视台（CBS）的体育节目制作的音乐。 兄弟俩身份相当神秘，至今只推出过一张专辑 Unearthed（2001年1月）和一张单曲碟 Rise to Glory（2005年9月）。虽然网站的资料显示，E.S. Posthumus计划在2006年推出新专辑，但时至今日仍未见面世。 曾有传言指Helmut和Franz Vonlichten是Robert和Jeffrey Pfeifer兄弟的化名，后者较多产，音乐也常见成为很多大片的电影配乐，其一为《指环王/魔戒》。

Prolific and critically acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson releases his DG debut album.
ORPHÉE is his highly anticipated new studio album the first in 6 years!
Jóhannssons genre-blending score represents all facets of his previous works from intimate string quartet pieces, to large string orchestra works, featuring electronics, drones, organ, piano, choir, as well as enigmatic shortwave broadcasts to create an evocative & immersive sound.
I started writing this album in 2009, using a number of simple contrapuntal themes. I began to reshape and transfigure these ideas, writing many different variations. These renderings slowly mutated over time in a process of deconstruction and re-assembly, to the extent that the original versions began to fade into the darker corners of my hard disk. Unlike many of my previous albums, this one didnt start out with a conceptual or narrative theme binding the music together. Rather, the music seemed to be waiting for its form, for its momentum. Jóhann Jóhannsson
ORPHÉE is a melancholic, yet optimistic musical journey inspired by the Orpheus myth Orpheus rising from the underworld, trying to escape darkness into the light.
Orphée was for me about moving to a new city, breaking up old relationships and beginning new ones, leaving behind an old life in Copenhagen and building a new one in Berlin. I think thats why I gravitated to Ovids version of the Orpheus myth, which tells of death, rebirth and an artist s search for truth. This album is an oblique reflection on personal chang

The brand new album from Max Richter DGs best-selling artist/composer with music crafted from 2015s outstanding ballet production Woolf Works, a critically-acclaimed ballet triptych by choreographer Wayne McGregor, inspired by the life and works of English novelist Virginia Woolf.
Featuring powerful, compelling, emotional music, encompassing electronic textures and soundscapes, as well as orchestral episodes.
Following the success of SLEEP, this album showcases different sides of Max Richters vast palette of sounds, including upbeat, Arpeggiator pieces
Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works shows Maxs passion for both lavish string and piano melodies, but also his virtuoso electronic side.
The first track on the album features spoken words by Virginia Woolf herself, reading the essay Craftsmanship from a BBC recording of 1937.
The original ballet was met with outstanding critical acclaim on its premiere in 2015, winning the Critics Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography and the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.
The Observer described it as a compellingly moving experience; for The Independent it glows with ambition... a brave, thoughtful work; The Guardian called it a haunting meditation on memory, madness and time and lavishly atmospheric score.
Each of the three acts springs from one of Woolfs landmark novels: Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves enmeshed with elements from her letters, essays and diaries.
What a brilliant creative human being Virginia Woolf was. Its been extraordinary to have the chance to be submerged in the matters that troubled her, the questions she wrestled with and the visionary quality of the answers she discovered Max Richter

Ólafur Arnalds teams up with Mercury Classics to bring you a unique and evolving audio-visual portrait of his home country of Iceland.
Over the course of seven weeks in the Summer 2016, Ólafur will be traveling to seven very different locations in Iceland - one per week - to record a series of new compositions. In each location
Ólafur will be collaborating with artists local to the town to create and perform a new song.
Visit
to follow the journey!

i am sitting in front of a sheet of paper. my right hand is bending over my left thumb. the first day i got out of my cast i could bend it by 15°. now i am already at 50° and that makes me happy. things are going uphill…
as you can imagine, it is really bad news for a pianist when he gets diagnosed with a broken thumb. that day i was sitting in the emergency room, feeling rather dizzy while thinking of a zillion shows coming up and all the people involved around it. i realised in that moment how busy things have become. it is hard to turn down interesting projects and opportunities, since i surely love my work. it actually never felt like work. playing piano and playing it for wonderful people is the greatest joy i can imagine.
for a couple of days i felt like this all could be over. how pathetic. but hey – also feeling sorry for yourself has its place somewhere. all of a sudden i had so much time, an unexpected holiday. i cancelled most of my schedule and found myself being a little bored. even though my doctor told me not to touch a piano for a while, i just couldn’t resist. i started playing a silent song with 4 fingers on my left and the remaining 5 on my right hand. i set up one microphone and recorded another tune every other night before falling asleep.
the day i got rid of my cast i had recorded 9 little tunes. they have helped me feel less annoyed about my accident and reminded me that any good is something i can only achieve, when i am making the most out of what i’ve got.
thank you all for listening!
with lots of love,
nils …
_________________________
September 20th marks the 30th birthday of Berlin pianist Nils Frahm, but also the day he has chosen to give his fans a special gift in the form of 9 songs he recorded with 9 fingers, entitled ‘Screws’.
Nils experienced an unfortunate accident which saw him fall from his bunk bed located directly above his studio, which resulted in a broken thumb. But through inspiration from his fans and after a gentle walk and talk through the park with a close friend, he decided to deal with the situation in the only way he knew – playing his piano.
With four screws surgically placed inside his thumb, he started recording with his remaining 9 fingers, what later resulted in 9 intimate piano recordings.

Nils Frahm is a German musician, composer, and record producer based in Berlin. He is known for combining classical and electronic music and for an unconventional approach to the piano in which he mixes a grand piano, upright piano, Roland Juno-60, Rhodes piano, drum machines, and Moog Taurus.

High Quality MP3 Download – 3 Track Single incl. Machinefabriek Remix & Unter Music Video directed by Ralph Etter

Since 2012 Erased Tapes peers Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have spent many hours together in their studios across Berlin and Reykjavik, freely improvising and occasionally capturing the music for their fans. The duo's sound is an astoundingly rich, tonally pure example of synth-driven experimentation, conceived and performed by two prolific collaborators.
During a session at Nils's Durton Studio in Berlin last summer the two specially invited photographer Alexander Schneider to capture one of their unique improvised sessions. Lasting long into the night, the pair gradually and organically formed several individual songs – each contributing to the narrative of a larger, transformative piece of music. Recorded in eight hours with no overdubs or edits, 'Trance Frendz' is a captivating journey through grand soundscapes and droning crescendos which crash and recede back, making way for delicate piano notes and swirling synthesizers.

This new compilation of solo piano tracks features some of the leading modern classical artists like Nils Frahm, Peter Broderick, Joep Beving and Library Tapes and exciting young composers like Dmitry Evgrafov, Anna Rose Carter and Lucy Claire.

Berlin-based contemporary composer Nils Frahm has built a steady reputation for his intimate, poignant piano recordings, yet they only reveal a fragment of what to expect from a Frahm concert. The artist’s heart lies in improvisation, in the magic of a moment where, inspired by the space and the audience, his fingers create new compositions loosely based around his familiar melodies.

Spaces is an ode to the joy of live performance. It expresses Frahm’s love for experimentation and answers the call from his fans for a record that truly reflects what they witness during his concerts. Breaking the convention of a traditional live release, the album was recorded over the course of two years in different locations and on various media, including old portable reel-to-reel recorders and cassette decks. These moments were later pieced together in his Durton Studio for what Frahm refers to as a collage of field recordings rather than a live album.

Spaces includes surprises such as the sound of a toilet brush banging on piano strings to create a dub-sounding track. The decision to select takes that include the sounds of people coughing and cell phones ringing make clear that his audience is an integral part of every performance. In his own words: “What I love most about playing in front of people has something to do with a certain kind of energy exchange. The attention and appreciation of my audience feeds back into my playing. It really seems as if there is a true and equal give and take between performer and listener, making me aware of how much I depend on my audience. And since the audience is different every night, the music being played will differ, too. Every space I performed in has its own magic and spirit.”

The album was mastered by the gifted hands of Mandy Parnell; its November release will be preceded by a string of West Coast shows in late September and celebrated with a special concert in New York City on November 25th.

Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi OMRI is an Italian pianist and composer. Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as pop, rock, folk, and world music.