The Lorelei Rock in the Rhine River on which the siren Lurline played her enchanting harp to lure fishermen to a watery grave is the setting for Lurline, a Grand Legendary Opera in three acts, heard here in a new performing edition by Richard Bonynge. Victorian theatre critics declared it an outright success and the opera played for a substantial number of performances, making it a landmark production. This recording is dedicated to the memory of internationally acclaimed Australian soprano Deborah Riedel who was to have played the part of Ghiva but who sadly passed in January 2009. The superb Australian cast includes Fiona Janes and Bernadette Cullen, conducted by Richard Bonynge.

Strauss Die Fledermaus Overture, The Laughing Song, Voices Of Spring, The Gypsy Baron 'Who Married Us', 'As A Cheerful Spirit', Lehar The Merry Widow 'Lips Are Silent,' Vilja, The Land Of Smiles 'Thine Is My Heart', 'Who Has Planted This Love Deep Ini Our

A beautiful selection on 2 CDs of the best-known arias, duets and orchestral music from Vienna’s golden age of operetta, including Die Fledermaus, The Merry Widow, The Land of Smiles, The Gypsy Princess, The Gypsy Baron and Countess Mariza.

The notable musicologist Alfred Einstein commented that Idomeneo is ‘one of those works that even a genius of highest rank, like Mozart, could write only once in his life’. Every page of the score deserves appreciation. Of the many exceptional arias and ensembles, especially notable is the third act quartet ‘Andrò ramingo e solo’, one of the most moving concerted numbers in any Mozart opera. This recording is based on the original 1781 Munich version, without the extended ballet but including some music cut by Mozart before the première.

Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai is his only early Mass that can be directly connected to the Esterházy court. As the title suggests, it was probably intended for the Feast of St Nicholas which was also the name day of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy. Composed over 25 years later in 1798, the Missa in Angustiis is the third of Haydn’s six late Masses. The nickname ‘Nelson’ Mass was added several years later, possibly as a result of the famous English Admiral’s visit to Eisenstadt in September of 1800.

Her Sacred Spirit Soars, A Boy and A Girl, Water Night, This Marriage, Lux Aurumque 'Light of Gold', little tree, When David Heard, Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine

Eric Whitacre’s dedication to the beauty of sound, paired with exquisite texts, results in a poetic combination that creates a unique sonic experience. These works are existential choral moments, beautifully crafted, and harmonised to express a compressed moment in time. Such sublime sonorities transcend descriptions such as ‘warm’, ‘glistening’ or ‘shimmering’, although these features of his choral works do suggest affinities with the sound worlds of Arvo Pärt or John Tavener, for instance. However, Whitacre’s fluid lines and blossoming harmonies give his music its own highly personal and irresistible magic.

Partita Variations, Nach Bach, Sonata Fantasia

George Rochberg’s relationship with the past is not one of nostalgia; it is one of intimate, living familiarity. Partita-Variations, an energetic and exuberant work, makes unpredictable forays into realms of tragedy, innocence, mischief and heartfelt affection. Nach Bach Fantasy for harpsichord or piano, written for the harpsichordist Igor Kipnis, is a discourse between two composers active centuries apart, yet united in spirit and dramatic intent. A dark and deeply anguished work, Sonata-Fantasia demands the performer’s ultimate emotional, intellectual and technical powers. Volumes 1 (8559631) and 2 (8559632) are also available.

Although Philip Glass came only latterly to the string quartet, his contribution to the genre has since become a significant one. This disc features the first four of his five (to date) quartets, ranging from the uncharacteristic yet fascinating sound-world of his first acknowledged such piece, through the compact dimensions of his subsequent two works (themselves derived from theatre and film scores), to the more expansive manner of his Fourth Quartet that makes allusions to the formidable string quartet heritage.

Elegies, Moto Perpetuo, Six Caprices, String Quartet

The music of Iranian-born, American-based composer Behzad Ranjbaran has been praised as ‘noble and brilliantly conceived’ (American Music Guide). Awakening commemorates the triumph of peace over war. Moto Perpetuo combines moments of joy, humor and lyricism, ending with fearless energy. Elegy for Strings is reflective of life’s cycle, while Elegy for solo cello and strings is based on the second movement of his Cello Concerto. The Six Caprices explore a variety of violin techniques and textures, while the String Quartet reflects on the nature of life, dreams and the subconscious, and rituals and ceremonies. Praised as a 'top notch conductor-less string orchestra' by the Washington Post, Sejong was created in New York City in 1995 and met with immediate success.

Beck’s symphonies have long been regarded as among the most striking works of their kind from the mid-18th century. Remarkable for their dramatic flair, rich harmonic language and fluid, inventive part writing, Beck’s Op. 3 Symphonies (published in 1762) display a rare level of compositional finish that elevates them above all but the very greatest symphonies of their time. His elegant Six Symphonies, Op.1 (8554071) have been praised by American Record Guide, Fanfare and Gramophone. Naxos’s recording of symphonies by Beck and Gossec (8553790) won a Cannes Classical Award.

It is uncertain whether the Missa Solemnis in C major was composed by Wolfgang or by his father Leopold. Whatever the case, it was extremely popular during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was performed by Simon Mayr who copied the score around 1802. Mayr’s own festive Te Deum is believed to have been written for Napoleon’s coronation as King of Italy in Milan Cathedral on 26 May 1805. Mayr’s biographer Girolamo Calvi praised this effective work in the highest terms, declaring it a masterpiece.

The Mayan Creation, Estancia, Panambi, Suite de Danzas, Criollas, Ollantay

For the five works on this disc, Ginastera drew upon Argentine and other Meso- and South American subjects. Evocative of native influences, the life of the gaucho on the pampas, and influenced by the music of his time, they span the composer’s entire creative life, from his first acknowledged work, the ballet score Panambí, and the Inca-inspired Ollantay to the Mayan mythological compendium Popol Vuh, which occupied him for about eight years and remained unfinished. These exciting, richly orchestrated works abound in the beauty and energy of dance.

Ritmos, Fantasia Italiana, Fantasia sobre cinco notas

Fantasy, that marvellous ability the mind has to recapture past events or distant memories, or to idealise reality, is the thread that runs through this album. It was certainly central to the work of Joaquín Turina, who created a world that conjured up a childhood full of fantastical possibilities. This sixth CD of the complete Turina piano works as performed by Barcelona pianist Jordi Masó features pieces in which fantasy not only forms part of the title but also lies at the heart of the music itself.

Loris (Lykourgos) Margaritis (1894-1953) was a distinguished Greek composer, performer and music-educator. He cultivated a spirit of ‘music-universalism’, reinvestigating the delicate balance between German Romanticism, French Impressionism and Modernism in his multi-layered music. The varied, highly individual pieces on this disc often possess a dreamlike, nostalgic, even timeless quality which Schumann or Debussy would have appreciated. An enthusiastic advocate of Margaritis’s music, Felix Petyrek composed many piano works, including the Six Greek Rhapsodies, which use local scales and structural principles. Apostolos Palios received lessons from distinguished artists including Aldo Ciccolini, Murray Perahia, Cyprien Katsaris, Yonty Solomon and George Hadjinikos, and has won many scholarships and competition prizes.

One of the best-kept secrets of chamber music, Beethoven’s String Quintet in C major, Op.29, was written between the well-known ‘early’ and ‘middle’ string quartets. This strangely neglected masterpiece of startling originality is coupled here with Beethoven’s own transcription for string quintet of his early Piano Trio in C minor and the Fugue in D major, a musical curiosity written as an inducement to his publisher to make fewer printing errors. The Fine Arts Quartet has made many highly acclaimed Naxos recordings and is described as 'one of the gold-plated names in chamber music' (Washington Post).

Reminiscences, Fantasy Hexameron

Operatic reminiscences and fantasies were a necessary part of the repertoire of any 19th-century virtuoso pianist. Liszt excelled in these, often treating the original material in novel ways to reveal new features. Hexaméron, Grandes Variations de Bravoure, comprises an introduction and statement of the March from Bellini’s I Puritani (Liszt), with variations by Thalberg, Liszt, Herz, Czerny and Chopin, capped by Liszt’s spirited Finale. With this disc, William Wolfram transports us back to the heyday of the salon and the birth of the modern piano recital. American pianist William Wolfram has been praised by BBC Music Magazine for his ‘fine performances’ and ‘elegant craftsmanship’.

Piazzolla, Harbison, Scholler, Persichetti, Barker, Ziporyn Works for Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Basset Horn

Taking its name from Evan Ziporyn’s Hive, which grew out of the composer’s experience as a bee-keeper, this album brings together an engaging selection of pieces for solo clarinet and clarinet ensembles of various sizes. From Piazzolla’s popular tangos to Harbison’s Bach/Stravinsky-inspired Trio Sonata, Schullers’ Duo Sonata and Barker’s Single Six, both jazz-inflected yet classical in spirit, to Persichetti’s lyrical Serenade, Clarinet Hive is an endlessly fascinating showcase of the instrument's expressive and virtuosic potential, as well as its wide range of subtle sonorities.

Nuit mysterieuse

It may seem strange to associate Charles-Marie Widor (the foremost organ virtuoso of his day) with the restrained art-form of the French mélodie. Yet they formed an important part of his output and he played a major part in its establishment as a serious art-form. He composed nearly a hundred, including the song-cycle Chansons de Mer in which the sea’s constant ebb and flow, rendering all things transitory, reflects human life in its ever-changing moods. The remaining mélodies demonstrate the maturation of Widor’s style in different ways.

Concerto for Strings Piano Timpani and Percussion

This first of four recordings of Alfredo Casella’s orchestral music couples his first and last purely orchestral works. Completed the day before his 23rd birthday, the Symphony No. 1, which here receives its world première recording, exudes a self-confidence few composers could match at such an age. Although it abounds in echoes of other music, at its best – above all in the beautiful central slow movement – the Symphony has a truly distinctive identity: Casella’s fondness for dark, even crepuscular sonorities can be heard in the sometimes stunningly imaginative orchestration. After that, the driving motoric rhythms and astringent harmonies and timbres of the Concerto, Op. 69 erupt like the work of a different man entirely.

Lament for Spain

Sephardic music, from the ancient domain of al-Andalus, lies at the heart of this musical selection. The word endechar comes from a time before the expulsion of the Jews and their culture from Spain; within the Jewish community it meant ‘to sing funeral dirges’ or ‘to lament’. Enriched by Arab, Balkan and Turkish music and enhanced by the new instruments musicians adopted after leaving Spain, Sephardic Jews continue to preserve many aspects of their life in the centuries-old heritage of their music and songs.

The highly Romantic music of Alla Pavlova, a Russian composer now resident in the USA, has been praised for its ‘directly appealing melodic melancholia’ (MusicWeb on her Symphony No. 5 –8570369) and its ‘integrity and good old-fashioned craft’ (Fanfare on Sulamith – 8.557674). These traits are amply evident in her highly emotional Symphony No. 6, inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting The Starry Night and dedicated to the tormented artist, and the delightful suite from her ballet Thumbelina, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale.

New Epigrams, In modo di Passacaglia

Now in his creative maturity, the Catalan composer Benet Casablancas has a growing interest in the sensuality of sound. Seven Scenes from Hamlet, one of his best-known works, is a theatrical mosaic of images inspired by Shakespeare’s play. The Epigrams and New Epigrams present a fertile whirlwind of sensations, references and surprises. In modo di Passacaglia unfolds as a cycle of forty variations on a twelve-note melodic theme, which fluctuate between agitated virtuosity and tranquility. The dazzling and dreamlike Petita música nocturna emerges from and returns to nocturnal silence.

Schumann Fantasiestucke Op12, Brahms Intermezzos Op 117

‘Biret is one of the finest natural Schumann players I have ever come across. In fact I cannot recall ever hearing a better all round performance of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke in any concert hall in this city,’ wrote Jacob Siskind in The Montreal Star, while Marc Pincherle proclaimed in Nouvelles Litteraires (France) that ‘we are in the presence of one of the greatest virtuosos of our time. I do not see in her generation any other pianist who possesses an equal mastery of the keyboard, in the service of such a mature mind so rich in imagination.’ These works, late flowers by Brahms and one of his mentor Schumann’s finest and most imaginative piano collections, make a fascinating pairing.

Sophisticated wit and intense emotion, religious fervour and erotic sensuality, delight in life’s pleasures and fascination with death, are all to be found in the paradoxical poetry of John Donne. One of the foremost metaphysical poets, Donne’s ingenious metaphors and inspired use of language has earned him affection and reverence in near equal measure to Shakespeare. This collection of his finest poetry showcases the diverse range of his work, and includes Death Be Not Proud, A Hymn to God the Father, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Go Catch a Falling Star, The Flea and To His Mistress Going to Bed. The most illustrious of the metaphysical poets, Donne remains a popular figure, and profoundly influenced 20th-century poets such as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. The scope of the ‘The Great Poets’ series expands into Renaissance-era poetry with this new addition. Donne’s verse has been well-loved across all ages due to its fusion of poetic ingenuity with passionate feeling.

This 14th-century Italian poet was a model for many who followed him. His passionate sonnets to Laura became the epitome for love poetry. Over some 40 years he wrote 366 sonnets to Laura, whom he probably never even spoke to, and they remain immediate and affecting even now. Called Rime Sparse ('Scattered Rhymes'), they influenced Chaucer and many others. This is an unusual addition to ‘The Great Poets’, but part of the intention of the series is to cover the major stepping stones of world poetry. Read by Anton Lesser, one of the most well-known voices on Naxos AudioBooks and BBC Radio.

One of Tolstoy’s most important shorter works, The Kreutzer Sonata presents a problematic view of the relationship between the sexes. Pozdnyshev jealously observes the intimacy that emerges between his wife and a violin player. Haunted by Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata over which they bonded; it plays round and round in Pozdnyshev’s head driving him to distraction and to an unquenchable rage. The Kreutzer Sonata is a psychologically fascinating novella, offering interesting insights into the power play between the sexes. Part of the programme of Tolstoy releases this year which mark the 100th anniversary of Tolstoy’s death.

One of the most important books of the growing feminist movement of the 1950s, it was brought to a wider public by the Nobel Prize award to Doris Lessing in 2007. Authoress Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive ‘golden notebook’ which draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook: sources of her creative inspiration in a black book, communism in a red book, the breakdown of her marriage in a yellow book, and day-to-day emotions and dreams in a blue book. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life - emotional, political and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s. In this authentic, taboo-breaking novel, Lessing brings the plight of women’s lives, from obscurity behind closed doors, into broad daylight. The Golden Notebook resonates with the concerns and experiences of a great many women and is a true modern classic, thoroughly deserving of its reputation as a feminist bible. A notoriously long and complex work, it is given a new life by this - its first unabridged recording.

Here are the six final stories from The Innocence of Father Brown relating the crime-solving adventures of a rather unconventional detective. Having accumulated wisdom and empathy from years of listening to the dark confessions of his parishioners, Father Brown is able to solve mysteries in a flash that confound all others. Here is an eccentric and loveable character that will appeal to fans of the legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. The stories are engagingly read by David Timson. The Innocence of Father Brown has been widely adapted for film, television and radio since its first publication.

The ultimate escapist adventure story, The Prisoner of Zenda transports the listener into a bygone era, awash with swashbuckling heroism, cunning plots and courtly love. The popularity of Hope’s tale of intrigue was such that it spawned an entirely new genre known as the ‘Ruritanian romance’. When the King of Ruritania is kidnapped, the onus falls on a British tourist, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the King, to stand in for him and to avert disaster by coming to his rescue. The frequent replays of the film with Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. testify to the continuing popularity of this evergreen adventure. Andrew Pugsley’s reading captures the excitement and the momentum.