SanCtuS Recordings was founded in 1995. Its primary
objective is to create high quality recordings of significant music.
In an age of overwhelming availability of new titles, SanCtuS
directs its efforts to only produce recordings which meaningfully
contribute to the legacy of recorded music. The SanCtuS
catalogue strives to grow at a pace which allows to maintain these
standards and to carefully mould a name associated with excellence.
SanCtuS Recordings produces two different lines. The first
is directed towards recovering important recordings of the past
which have been neglected for unaccounted reasons but are too
precious to be allowed to disappear. The other line concentrates on
bringing outstanding contemporary musicians to the recording hall
where they can create and reveal with new insight their
interpretation of important music which has also either been
neglected or which is in need of being presented in a new light.
More about SanCtuS
Regarding the historic line, SanCtuS Recordings has
already released unique musical documents, one of which is a CD with
the only existing recordings of the Brazilian composer Heitor
Villa-Lobos playing his own compositions on the guitar, the piano,
accompanying a soprano and even delivering a speech on culture. All
historic releases in the catalogue present recordings that are
unique and no effort is spared to revive this material with the
utmost care regarding quality of sound and presentation. Among the
precious selections available are rare recordings of Elena Gerhardt,
Povla Frijsh, Lotte Lehmann, Elsie Houston, Maria Kurenko, Dame
Maggie Teyte, Eleanor Steber and Miliza Korjus, just to mention a few.
From the very start of its line of new recordings, SanCtuS
achieved with its second release (a world premiere recording which
brought to life the music of the 18th century Italian
composer/cellist virtuoso, Carlo Graziani), recognition from
FANFARE, when its 2-CD album was selected by Michael Jameson as one
of the five outstanding issues of 1996. Another recent success was
the release of Schumann's Humoreske, op.21, and Novelletten, op.21,
with Nikolai Demidenko. Fanfare's reviewer, Susan Kagan, wrote:
"...of the several versions available on CD, I find none that
surpasses Demidenko in Schumannesque expression and technique".
SanCtuS Recordings has already earned the respect and
received praise from critics around the world. Its releases have
received from Classic Express and Gramophone in England, Opera News
and Fanfare in the USA, Early Music News in Australia, the Neue
Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) in Switzerland and Classic CD in the UK and
Brazil. SanCtuS Recordings takes meticulous care with the
quality and presentation of its products. Sleeve-notes have original
and informative texts mostly written by authorities on the recorded
repertory. Sound transfers are made with state-of-the-art technology
and production is entrusted to a manufacturer of international
repute. Booklets appear in at least four languages and the art-work
is painstakingly researched.
SanCtuS Recordings will continue to surprise the
music-loving public with a unique selection of repertory and
high-quality interpretations. Among the next scheduled releases are
recordings with Nikolai Demidenko, Rafael Puyana, the Dumka Choir,
and English Serenade with Roger Birnstingl playing the bassoon, and
many others.
The name SanCtuS is a natural association with the patron
saint of musicians, Santa Cacilia. Her most beautiful visual
representation (an etching by the Italian Renaissance artist
Marcantonio Raimondi, based on the painting by Rafael, in the
Galeria Nationale in Bologna) has been adopted as the company's
logo. In the etching, Santa Cacilia (the patroness of musici