KLEVEN, A.: Lotusland / Symphonic Fantasy / Skogens sovn / Sinfonia libera in due parti (Stavanger Symphony, Malkki)

From the pioneers of musique concrete to the stars of 21st century clubbing, Qobuz is celebrating eight women who have left their own distinct marks on electronic music over the past fifty years.

Somewhat overshadowed today by his compatriots Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin is nonetheless a key figure in Russian music. At the beginning of the 20th century, the composer and virtuoso pianist broke away from the Romantic legacy to offer a unique and innovative musical language which no one would follow. His work, deeply influenced by mystical philosophy and synaesthesia, would undergo a dazzling evolution in barely two decades, interrupted by his premature death at the age of 43.

The great Dutch conductor who died recently at the venerable age of 92 proved the old adage wrong. Recognised by his peers throughout his own country from his youth, Bernard Haitink spent most of his vast career in the Netherlands, first conducting the Dutch Radio Orchestra and then the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for 27 years, with whom he made many legendary recordings for PHILIPS, DECCA and EMI CLASSICS, including more than 450 recordings of a wide range of composers, among which Bruckner and Mahler enjoy pride of place.