Sinfonia concertante for violin viola and orchestra in E Flat K364

Select is proud to announce Australian classical buyers can purchase this disc locally one month before the rest of the world  with an advance release date exclusive to Australia! Destined to be one of the most popular and accessible classical albums by any Australian artist this year, this is the Australian Chamber Orchestra's much-anticipated first album dedicated solely to Mozart following a national tour featuring one of his violin concertos. It's set to rival Tognetti’s recordings of Bach which won three consecutive ARIA awards. Mozart's violin concertante works are amongst his most beautiful, and Richard Tognetti as soloist plays them on one of the world's finest violins (the extraordinary 10-million-dollar Carrodus crafted by Guarneri in 1743) with rare insight, passion and poetry. This is surely the must-have classical album of 2010. Watch footage from the recording sessions, interviews with Tognetti and more.
Watch footage from the recording sessions, interviews with Tognetti and more.

Baiao Malandro, Hasta Alicia Baila, Seven Dances and No Looking Back, Introduction and Fandango, Ajde Dali Znaes Pametis Milice, Pajduska, La Muerte del Angel, The Swan, Malaguena Salerosa, Tarantella, Made in France

Dances is the second release for Chandos by the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet. The percussive capability of the guitar lends itself extremely well to the rhythmic energies of many dance forms. This collection highlights the versatility of the classical guitar and the manner in which it can be used to interpret such vibrant dances, from classics such as Boccherini’s Introduction and Fandango to original arrangements of the music of Piazzolla and Biréli Lagrène. The Aquarelle Quartet formed and studied under Australian guitarist Craig Ogden. Praise for their previous album Spirit of Brazil (CHAN10512): ‘...outstanding playing and infectious spirit. This is no mere niche guitar CD, but a luscious and lively general-appeal winner.’ -BBC Music (June 2009) *****

Trios in C Hob XV-27, E Hob XV-28, F Sharp Minor Hob XV-26, D Hob XV-24

This Trio, performing primarily Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven on period instruments, takes its name from the fact that the working lives of these composers were encompassed by the lifespan of Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828). The piano trio formed an important part of Haydn’s chamber music output. The range of colour and imagination displayed by the works on this disc is striking, from the brilliance of the opening movement of the C major Trio, Hob. XV: 27 to the darker hues found in the F sharp minor Trio, Hob. XV: 26. Each of these delectable works is imbued with the bubbling vitality and classical elegance for which this composer is famous.

The merrymakers overture, The three bears, Queen Elizabeth March

Esteemed English conductor Charles Mackeras conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Eric Coates’s famous light music compositions. Mackerras’ love of Coates’s music is well documented, and here he brings to bear all his insight and understanding of the composer in glorious performances of Coates favourites including The Merrymakers Overture, By the Sleepy Lagoon, The Three Bears (A Phantasy), The Man from the Sea, and others. Also featured is Mackerras’s 1957 album Sullivan Overtures, in which he leads the Philharmonia Orchestra through delightful arrangements of music for four Gilbert and Sullivan operas – The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard, Iolanthe and Ruddigore.The perfect disc to accompany the Proms season, at a budget price.

At the press launch of this year’s BBC Proms season Roger Wright (Controller, BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms) announced that for the first time ever, one pianist, Paul Lewis, would be performing all Beethoven’s Piano Concertos. His complete set of the Beethoven sonatas enjoyed extraordinary acclaim in the UK, culminating in the prestigious ‘Recording of the Year’ award from Gramophone magazine for the fourth volume in 2008. Encouraged by what has now become a worldwide success, Paul Lewis has chosen to turn his attention to the five piano concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recorded between July 2009 and March 2010, these interpretations paint a portrait of Beethoven full of light and shade. Paul Lewis gives Beethoven recitals in Australia during June and July for a national tour supported by Musica Viva.
Watch video footage from the recording session

Sonatas in C Sharp Minor 'Moonlight' Op 27 No 2, E Minor Op 90, F Major Op 10 No 2, A Flat Major Op 26

Angela Hewitt’s legion of fans will be delighted with this eagerly awaited third volume of Beethoven sonatas. Her first two releases in this series were praised for their ‘clarity, intelligence and elegance’ … ‘fusing poetry and passion’, and all these trademark qualities of her playing are fully present in this third disc. Four contrasting sonatas are presented here, including Op 27 No 2 ‘Moonlight’, which needs no introduction!

Angela writes, 'This recording, the third in my series of Beethoven piano sonatas, comprises four works from three different periods of the composer’s life. As with the two previous recordings, there was no particular plan governing their being put together, other than the inclusion of one very famous sonata (in this case the ‘Moonlight’) with others that are less often heard. Three of these sonatas I learned before the age of fifteen, the other five years later, and as so often it has been a particular pleasure to return to works I first played in my youth.'

The most beautiful and dramatic Vivaldi arias recorded by stunning French soprano Sandrine Piau since 2005 are now gathered together on a single disc. The Naive Vivaldi Edition's most exquisite and versatile voice, Piau is today's leading Baroque soprano; a 'real ear-catcher...who shows a delightfully fresh manner in a rich vein of effective ornamentation’ (Gramophone on Vivaldi Arias OP30411). This collection also features countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and other luminaries in duets and ensemble music.

'After nearly three centuries of neglect of most of these gems, Sandrine Piau makes them her own in sparkling fashion. By turns a noble Silvia, a timid Licori, a prostrate Atenaide or a pirouetting Candace, she gives us, with her interpretation of these arias, so extraordinarily varied in terms of affects, treatment of the vocal line, instrumentation, key and tempi, a rich image of the operatic language of the composer of The Four Seasons' -Frédéric Delaméa

Ravel Tzigane, Berceuse on the name of Gabriel Faure, Blues from Violin Sonata (arr Chilly Gonzales), Enesco Violin Sonata No 3 in A Minor on popular Romanian themes Op 25, Sarasate Zigeunerweisen Op 20 arr Strings and Cimbalom, Monti Czardas, Georges Bou

This spirited album of classical music with a fierce gypsy twist is the debut offering from Romanian-born rising star Sarah Nemtanu, first violin and soloist with the Orchestre National de France and the violinist in the French film Le Concert. Produced by Armand Amar (Songs from a World Apart), Gypsic irreverently blends classical precision with Balkan fire, notably in its cimbalom accompaniment and in a jazz and world music-tinged rendition of Ravel’s Violin Sonata Blues. The result is a surprising and fresh concoction; a must for fans of Pavel Šporcl's Gypsy Way (SU3951).

Recorded live at the Bayreuth Festival in 2008, this milestone production is the third part of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle. Christian Thielemann, one of the most sought-after conductors in the world, takes the baton with the Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Lavishly packaged and available in a boxed set of the complete cycle (OACD9000BD). 'There is no doubt that this year's Ring at Bayreuth belongs to Thielemann... [who] creates a musical experience epic in its scale and inexorable in its apocalyptic, shattering power.' -The Guardian

John Copley’s enduring production of one of the most famously melodious and popular of all operas is a classic of the Royal Opera repertory. With historically accurate designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman and an excellent cast headed by Hibla Gerzmava and Teodor Ilincai, this 2009 revival, in which conductor Andris Nelsons makes a distinguished Royal Opera House debut, does full justice to Puccini’s masterpiece. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

'[Ilincai] gave a thoroughly assured and engaging performance. ... Sumptuously sung, Gerzmava’s portrayal was sensitive and well-rounded – timid yet warm and attractive in her first scene with Rodolfo, intimate rather than melodramatic in her final death-bed moments.' -Classical Source
Watch the trailer