'Four excellent instrumental soloists have created a perfect ensemble' – was the critical response following the Milander Quartet’s debut at the Philharmonie in Munich. Since then the Quartet has quickly become popular in Germany and throughout Europe. With this release, the first of two surveying the Brahms Piano Quartets, the Milanders make their recording debut. Anchored by pianist Milana Chernyavska, who has collaborated with Julia Fischer amongst others, this continental ensemble of Ukrainian, French and Swiss-Hungarian musicians has been praised for its dedicated, sensitive and passionate playing.

The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio bowed on Avie earlier this year with an ear-opening account of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trios. They return with another rarity, Schumann’s Piano Trios performed on period instruments. Anchored by the enterprising violinist Monica Huggett, whose releases on Avie have made the Top Five of the Billboard Classical Chart and earned a Grammy nomination, the Benvenue's historically-informed style lends a unique clarity to these early romantic masterpieces. This is the first of two releases by The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio surveying Schumann’s works for the genre.

Avie continues its series of recordings featuring principal players of the New York Philharmonic with flautist Robert Langevin. Joined by fellow Philharmonic player pianist Jonathan Feldman, the Quebec-born Langevin gives flawless performances of three staples of the flute repertory. Though the Sonatas by Fauré, Franck and Pierné were all originally conceived for the violin, the composers sanctioned the adaptations for flute which fit the instrument perfectly naturally. Langevin studied in his native Quebec and in Europe. Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic in 2000, he was principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Montreal Symphony, with whom he can be heard on over 30 recordings. 'Dazzling performance … beautiful solo playing' – The New York Times

In November of this year, Concerto Köln will celebrate their 25th anniversary. Yet with the ensemble sounding so fresh and dynamic, it's a milestone that seems quite extraordinary. Classical music lovers the world over will recall how the Cologne musicians injected early music with their youthful verve in the latter half of the 1980s, emphatically blowing off the cobwebs. Right on time for the jubilee, in the wake of their recent successes with Handel's Water Music (BC0016172BC) and the discovery of the Rigel Symphonies (BC0016432BC), they have now come up with yet another large-scale Baroque project: Johann Sebastian Bach's four Orchestral Suites. Released on a double CD set, Concerto Köln's agile dynamism works wonders on the music, highlighting a dance-like character which is often lacking from other recordings. The vitality of the performance surrenders none of it subtlety, however, intelligently reproducing Bach's perfectly balanced structures.

Dan Laurin has a reputation not just as a recorder virtuoso, but also for his great interest in and curiosity about the lesser-known repertoire for the instrument. On disc he has performed not only staples such as concertos by Vivaldi and sonatas by Handel, but also earlier music – his recording of Jacob van Eyck’s monumental Der Fluyten Lust-hof on nine discs has been called ‘a standard to compare all others to’ (American Record Guide) – as well as contemporary works, many of which have been composed especially for him. With Songs of Yesterday he opens up yet another, still less familiar chapter in the history of recorder music: between 1939 and 1989 Carl Dolmetsch, the great pioneer in modern recorder playing, gave almost annual recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, for which he often commissioned works with piano or harpsichord accompaniment. In his own introduction to the disc, Laurin remarks upon ‘Dolmetsch’s ability to inspire composers to search for a contemporary idiom adequate for the instrument, resulting in an unparalleled number of top-quality works which unfortunately have been largely forgotten.’ Works by Rubbra, Berkeley, and Bowen give Laurin's instrument a rare opportunity to ‘sing like a French impressionist (Ravel, Debussy!) or a Russian modernist (Prokofiev!) – all of whom can be heard through the filter of this English, post-First World War melancholy longing.’

Carl Nielsen has sometimes been described as the most underrated composer of the 20th century, but most critics would certainly agree that his Six Symphonies, composed between 1891 and 1925, belong to the great classics of their era. Osmo Vänskä’s cycle of the works with the BBC Scottish SO was recorded after his landmark series of the symphonies of Sibelius and before his highly acclaimed cycle of those by Beethoven. Originally released on three separate discs, these accounts of the Danish master’s works were praised for their ‘great character and fire’ (International Record Review), and as ‘a first choice, full of intensity’ (BBC Music Magazine). For this boxed set edition, three shorter orchestral works have been included, namely the concert overtures Helios and Saga-Dream, and the ‘pastoral scene’ Pan and Syrinx. In these previously unreleased recordings, Vänskä conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, which he led for twenty years.

The Bach Collegium Japan was founded by Masaaki Suzuki 20 years ago, in 1990, and the team’s cycle of Bach’s Cantatas was launched five years later, in November 1995. Now, 46 volumes and fifteen years later, the series has entered the final stretch but is still going as strong as ever. Reviews of recent volumes speak for themselves – ‘With Suzuki you can hear Bach's heart beat...’ (International Record Review, Vol.40), ‘a set for the ages, not only performed with consummate style, historical considerations, and musical substance, but with a feeling for these seminal religious works that transcends the merely mechanical presentation that we so often - too often - hear.’ (Fanfare). There is certainly nothing mechanical about the present performances, of three works which in emotional content range from the joyful vitality of the Advent cantata BWV36 to the meditations upon death and the leave-taking of this world which permeate BWV27. Soloist Hana Blažíková, declared ‘an ideal Bach soprano’ in International Record Review on account of her performance on the previous Cantata volume, performs the charming and playful aria ‘Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen’.

This new release from Chandos’ early music label, Chaconne, focuses on Buxtehude’s seven cantatas, collectively known as Membra Jesu nostri. These are among Buxtehude’s best-known works, in which Biblical passages are set for the whole ensemble and enclose stanzas from the mediaeval poem Rhythmica oratio,set as arias for reduced vocal forces and interspersed with instrumental ritornelli. Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri takes the form of a sequence of seven meditations on the crucified body of Jesus, beginning with the feet (‘Ad pedes’), followed by the knees (‘Ad genua’), the hands (‘Ad manus’), the side (‘Ad latus’), the breast (‘Ad pectus’), the heart (‘Ad cor’), and the face (‘Ad faciem’). As such, the work is written from the perspective of a penitent kneeling at the foot of the cross and gradually extending his gaze upwards, meditating on each part of the body in turn. The keys chosen for the cantatas seem to have added symbolic meaning. As the gaze rises, they move from flats to sharps, from C minor to E minor, before finally returning to the opening key to produce a beautifully unified cycle. The works on this disc are performed by award-winning viol group Fretwork and The Purcell Quartet, along with excellent early music soloists including Emma Kirkby.

Christopher Gunning is most famous for his music for the TV series Poirotand the score of the award-winning Edith Piaf biopic, La Vie en Rose, but his career in film and TV music stretches back some forty years. In his twenties Gunning composed the music for several documentary films and also worked as an arranger, providing the backings for a wide variety of recording artists, including Mel Tormé, Shirley Bassey, The Hollies, Colin Blunstone, and the saxophonist Phil Woods. For his film work he has won four BAFTA awards (La Vie en rose, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Middlemarch, and Porterhouse Blue),and three Ivor Novello awards (Rebecca, Under Suspicion, and Firelight). More recently, Christopher Gunning has been devoting much of his time to composing music for the concert hall. His output includes concertos for the oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and piano, and five symphonies for large orchestra. His latest recording, of Symphonies Nos 3 and 4 and the Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra, was released in May 2009 (CHAN10525). The Film and TV Music of Christopher Gunning is performed by the BBC Philharmonic with an exquisite solo performance from Australian guitarist Craig Ogden, ‘a worthy successor to Julian Bream’ (BBC Music).

Earl Wild, the legendary composer-pianist who died on 23 January 2010 aged ninety-four, was fondly known as the Peter Pan of pianists on account of his perennial youthfulness and stamina when tackling the great Romantic blockbuster concertos that formed the centrepiece of his repertoire. Famous for a unique style that encompassed many influences, both classical and popular, he will be remembered as one of the great interpreters of Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and, perhaps most significantly, George Gershwin. This CD comprises Earl Wild’s arrangements of well-known Gershwin tunes, as well as the Piano Sonata, an original composition from 2000 which carries strong imprints of jazz, blues, rag, and American folk music, while still remaining firmly rooted in the classical form. Wild’s Grand Fantasy on ‘Porgy and Bess’ explores well-known songs presented in a free-flowing style. In the Seven Virtuoso Études, ‘The man I love’ makes extensive use of difficult polyrhythm, and demanding scales and arpeggios govern ‘Embraceable you’ while ‘Somebody loves me’ uses legato to evoke a colourful but dreamy mood. Young American pianist Xiayin Wang tackles these works with her consummate technical brilliance and fine musicianship.

Most people associate Dietrich Buxtehude's name with the German Baroque, but in fact he began his career on the coasts of the Øresund in Helsingør (Elsinore) in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden - and in the rather wider perspective Buxtehude in fact spent his whole life within a very narrow radius around the Baltic. This recording offers an unusual selection of Dietrich Buxtehude's vocal music performed by Grammy® 2010-winning ensemble Theatre of Voices conducted by Paul Hillier. Among these rarely heard works with texts in Swedish and Latin, we find cantatas in the form of virtuoso concertos, as well as arias and chorale settings and Buxtehude's only work in the stile antico, the Missa alla brevis. The whole CD has been recorded in St Mary's Church in Elsinore, where Buxtehude himself began his career as an organist in the years 1660-68. This is the first time Hillier and his Theatre of Voices have recorded music by Buxtehude, but it will be far from the last, as a series with music by the composer and his contemporaries is planned in collaboration with Dacapo Records. View interviews and recording session footage here.

These world première recordings of N.O. Raasted's forgotten solo violin sonatas from the 1920s reveal the composer's idiomatic neo-baroque style, beautifully modeled on all violinists' Bible, the solo suites by Johann Sebastian Bach. Recorded in magnificent SACD sound, it is clear why the principal violinist of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Johannes Søe Hansen, now includes these sonatas in his solo recitals home and abroad.

The richness and splendour of French Baroque sacred music, by turns gravely sombre and spectacularly exuberant, have already been amply demonstrated by Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel through their series of recordings on Glossa of music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. But it was not just in Paris or in the country’s religious foundations that such involved music-making emerged, but also in cities such as Troyes and Châlons-sur-Marne where Pierre Bouteiller, maître de musique in cathedrals there during the reign of Louis XIV, composed his Missa pro defunctis, a beautiful setting scored for five voice parts with instrumental accompaniment. The 1693 religious ceremony for which this Missa pro defunctis was written would have required Bouteiller to find other suitable pieces from the time to complete the service and in the spirit of a modern-day reconstruction Hervé Niquet, employing his consummate flair and experience in this musical arena, entices us not only with the substantial Stabat mater by Sébastien de Brossard (an early champion of Pierre Bouteiller's gifts), but also with instrumental versions of pieces by compositional talents even less recognizable today – Henri Frémart, Louis Le Prince and Pierre Hugard. With a dozen male voices, low strings and organ, Hervé Niquet recreates the incredible French 'cathedral sound' from the turn of the 18th century.

To complete a triptych of recordings presenting an alternative view of performance practice from across a century of Franco-Flemish polyphony, Björn Schmelzer and Graindelavoix now turn their attention to music by Alexander Agricola and his contemporaries in Cecus. Following on from the two earlier albums, Joye and La Magdalene, Cecus delves into music associated with blind players (notably two fiddlers from Bruges), memory and commemoration (laments on the deaths of Agricola and Johannes Ockeghem) coming from the chapel of Philippe le Beau and Juana of Castile. Alexander Agricola’s own musical world – and especially Cecus non judicat de coloribus – crosses the border between theory and practice, between flamboyant experience and rational construction and constantly evokes blindness (to see and not to see) in relation to memory and written or improvisated music, but also in connection with those songs of mourning. Graindelavoix’s new CD for Glossa promises polyphony in sharply-articulated, richly-coloured performances by Schmelzer and his Antwerp-based ensemble.

Peter Grimes premiered in London in 1945 and was the first of Britten’s operas to be a critical and popular success. This 2000 Glyndebourne production is no exception. The role of Peter Grimes is amongst the toughest company on disc, with a heritage laid down by Peter Pears and Jon Vickers. In this recording Anthony Dean Griffey has the lyricism of Peter Pears and the weight and size of voice of Jon Vickers and above all is totally convincing in entering the mental state of Grimes. Vivian Tierney is an authoritative Ellen Orford, compassionate yet lonely and vulnerable, and likewise utterly convincing. Beautifully packaged as an ideal gift for opera lovers.

This companion disc to the recently released hänssler recording of Schumann’s complete works for violin and orchestra, presents an integral recording of the composer’s works for piano and orchestra – including a notable world premiere. For the first time, Schumann’s own orchestration of his Abegg Variations, Opus 1, which the composer wrote under the inspiration of Chopin’s Variations on La ci darem la mano. Also included, of course, is the famous Piano Concerto in A minor, the Konzertsatz in D minor, originally conceived as the first movement of an unfinished piano concerto as well as two concert works that Schumann wrote later in his life. The program on this disc has been organised chronologically. Thus Robert Schumann’s complete concertante works for piano can be experienced as a documentary process of the composer’s development. Florian Uhlig is not only young a pianist of international stature, but also one who knows Schumann's oeuvre very well. He is currently engaged in recording Schumann’s complete works for solo piano – the first volume of which is already available. Uhlig’s cycle will bring to light many forgotten and never before recorded masterworks.

Between 1924 and 1926, the young Georges Auric wrote two ballets for Diaghilev: Les Facheux ('The Tormentors'), and La Pastorale. Both works are regarded as his most important compositions for the ballet. For Les Facheux, the sets, costumes and curtains were designed by the famous Cubist painter Georges Braque. The ballet’s scenario tells of a young man who pursues his lover but is hindered by various tormentors preventing him from explaining his affection. The libretto is by Boros Kochno with an assist from Molière. La Pastorale was produced in 1926 choreographed by George Balanchine. It would be Auric’s third and final ballet for Diaghilev. The ballet’s story revolves around the shooting of a film in the country and the tensions between villagers and film people. Neither work has been previously recorded, so this exceptional performance marks their recorded premiere! Georges Auric was a prolific composer, but above all he was famous for his cinematic collaborations with Jean Cocteau in addition to composing scores for nearly 150 other films. With these two ballets, we havev a glimpse into the early days of the famous film music composer Georges Auric.

'Right from the start of the Jerusalem Prelude the musicians displayed real urgency and that supple response to every orchestral thrust and sigh that only committed Elgarians such as the Hallé can command...nothing budged the wonderful glow of the Hallé sound, the orchestra's mastery of Elgar's moods - from full Edwardian regalia to delicately scored rapture - or Elder's endless understanding of the composer's heart and soul' - The Times. With a text by the composer, and music which is at turns lyrical, mystical and magical, is ecstatic in its glorious choral depiction of the events following Pentecost, when the Apostles began their work for the Church in Jerusalem. Hallé's previous choral release, Elgar Dream of Gerontius(CDHLD7520) won Best Choral recording in the 2009 Gramophone Awards, with their Götterdämmerung (CDHLD7525) and Elgar Violin Concerto (CDHLL7521) taking Gramophone Awards by storm in 2010.

'My soul doth magnify the Lord.' The Magnificat was the very first work Bach composed after his appointment as Cantor of St. Thomas's School in Leipzig in 1723. We can imagine the care he lavished on the work that was to establish him in this new function. It was revised some years later: the key was changed to D Major and the forces were considerably enlarged. This is the version in which one of Bach's most famous choral works has come down to us (HMC901326).

These titles were released for the first time in 1990 (HMC901326), 1998 (HMC901959) and 2006 (HMC901782) and are presented in deluxe hard-back book packaging to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Philippe Herreweghe's Collegium Vocale Gent.

The Mass in B minor is the consecration of a whole life: started in 1733 for 'diplomatic' reasons, it was finished in the very last years of Bach's life, when he had already gone blind. This monumental work is a synthesis of every stylistic and technical contribution the Cantor of Leipzig made to music. But it is also the most astounding spiritual encounter between the worlds of Catholic glorification and the Lutheran cult of the cross. No other Mass, no other Requiem was ever again to reach such sublime summits. Instead of suffering from its heterogeneous qualities, the Mass in B minor turns them into the ultimate and most perfect expression of an architectural form that was 'dreamed, imagined, and finally realised' -A. Basso(HMC90161415). These titles were released for the first time in 1986 (HMC901231) and 1998 (HMC 90161415).

Surely one of the greatest gifts the Lutheran Church ever made to music was to have charged Bach with the duty of producing a cantata for every week of the year! He left us no fewer than three for the first Sunday in Advent alone, composed between 1714 (at Weimar) and 1724-31 (at Leipzig). They are inspired in very different ways by Luther's original chorale: it is as if all of baroque Germany is contained between the sobriety of BWV 61 and the ambitious frescoes of BWV 36 and 62...(HMC 901605). These titles were released for the first time in 1996 (HMC901594), 1997 (HMC901605) and 2003 (HMC901781).

According to German theological tradition, which Bach knew in intimate detail, the alto voice was the very symbol of that of the Holy Ghost. These three solo cantatas do not contradict the rule, although we do not always know for whom Bach wrote them: it was neither a woman nor a castrato, so it could only be a falsetto or an extremely accomplished boy. These works demand enormous vocal virtuosity. Their extraordinary musical variety embraces sublime consolatory lullabies, a faithful echo of an organ concerto (BWV 170), and the dramatic qualities of an oratorio.(HMC901644) The cantatas for bass solo are based on episodes from the life of Christ (the healing of the lame man, the presentation in the temple, scenes from the Passion) with implications of the benevolence and consolation of death (HMC901365). These titles were released for the first time in 1991 (HMC901365), 1998 (HMC901644) and 2000 (HMC901703).

Dario Castello remains one of the most mysterious of composers: beyond a couple of references to his name on the title pages to his published works there is no record of his life; it has even been suggested—albeit inconclusively—that the name is an anagram. Yet his music offers clear testimony to his creative skills. The 1621 volume, which comprises twelve works, presents the first ever collection devoted entirely to instrumental sonatas; likewise, the seventeen pieces published in 1629 are also exclusively sonatas. Castello takes elements of the traditional multi-voiced Venetian canzona, not least passages of virtuoso solo writing and of concertante exchanges between several players, and successfully introduces them into extended works. Much more is known of the life of Giovanni Picchi. He was a fine harpsichordist, organist of several Venetian churches and institutions, and a noted performer and composer of dance music. The works on this recording are as innovative and varied as this heritage would suggest.

Lost music re-born' said the BBC Music Magazine of 'Magister Leoninus 1' issued in 1997. That disc won a Diapason d'Or d'Année and appeared among the BBC's 'Best of the Year' discs. Here is a second CD of austere and beautiful music by this mysterious master from the 12th-century School of Notre Dame, of whose name we are not even sure. Red Byrd's new recording includes compositions for three of the most important feasts in the liturgical year: Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.

A second disc from new chamber choir Consortium, who were acclaimed for their album of Brahms’s secular partsongs. Although Reger’s music has partly recovered from its unfashionable reputation, much of this prolific composer’s work still remains underperformed. This disc offers a chance to redress the balance, both by bringing to light an aspect of Reger’s output that has been relatively neglected, and by demonstrating that the important influences on him were not just musical but literary. Like his near contemporaries, Mahler, Strauss, Wolf and Zemlinsky, Reger responded deeply and imaginatively to the German Romantic poetic tradition. The works recorded here set many of the same poets (and even some of the same poems) that were popular among his colleagues, with a sensitivity and intuitive understanding that belie Reger’s reputation for stodgy academicism. Richard Stokes’s comment, that ‘Reger does not always lose out in comparison’ (when he and Strauss set the same texts as Lieder), could apply equally well to his choral music.

The start of another Hyperion Lieder series is always cause for celebration. In advance of his bicentenary in 2011, the label turns to a composer whose songs, against the vast bulk of his compositions in larger genres, were considered insignificant for well over a century. A collaborator with some of Europe’s best singers, Liszt used song as a compositional laboratory in which to experiment with Zukunftsmusik, or ‘music of the future’, including some of his most finely wrought works. A cosmopolitan artist who traveled prodigiously during his years as a virtuoso performer from 1838 to 1847, he chose song texts written both by denizens of Mount Olympus (Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Hugo, Tennyson, Tolstoy, Petrarch) and amateurs, the latter often aristocrats from Liszt’s glittering social circles. From their words he created songs that changed the very definition of the genre, that are a bridge to such later masters as Hugo Wolf, Sergei Rachmaninov and Richard Strauss. This first volume in the series features the American tenor Matthew Polenzani who has been astounding Met opera audiences in recent years with his expressive and ardent performances. He is accompanied by the curator of the series and Hyperion regular, Julius Drake.

Hamish Milne makes a welcome return to the Romantic Piano Concerto series with two recherché delights from the nineteenth century. Józef, ‘the other Wieniawski’ is the brother of the more famous violinist, Henryk. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and had a wide-ranging and successful performing and composing career. His highly attractive Piano Concerto in G minor is in the mould of those by Chopin and Liszt, with the piano very much in the foreground. The Rondo finale demands a spectacular display of technique, living proof of Wieniawski’s own brand of virtuosity. Goetz’s music, although full of melodic gift and mastery of form, was rarely performed after the end of his short life. His piano concerto proved to be the most successful of his orchestral works played during his lifetime.

Royal Holloway’s debut Hyperion recording (of the Latvian composer Rihards Dubra) received a rapturous response from the critics. Now they have produced a second volume of Baltic delights, turning this time to Lithuania and the sumptuous music of Vytautas Miškinis, the doyen of current Lithuanian choral culture. His music, while bearing identifiable Lithuanian roots, is a synthesis of different influences carefully shaped and moulded with an experienced understanding of choral orchestration. Like many other Baltic composers of the same generation, Miškinis takes an essentially diatonic approach but with much overlaying of harmonies and coloured cluster-chords. What makes the music unmistakably Lithuanian is the influence of two folk-song genres. The overall effect is luscious, radiant and exotic. This music is passionately performed by these talented young singers and sensitively recorded in a generous church acoustic. Anyone who enjoyed the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge's Baltic Exchange will have already experienced the beauty of tour will marvel at the beauty of Miškinis' choral sound.

'Ranks honourably among the best available … Watkin has the advantage of outstanding continuo support and a recording of surpassing beauty and unexaggerated perspectives. If faced with a choice I'd opt for David Watkin's consistently articulate playing, the decisive criterion being Hyperion's rapturously seductive sound' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide)

Anton Bruckner began writing his Sixth Symphony after the Third had received a disappointing public reaction, and the Fourth and Fifth symphonies still remained unheard. His indefatigable need to compose here results in a work of graceful unity; and one that contains some of the loveliest music he ever wrote. This fine recording, under Christoph Eschenbach, is the fourth Bruckner Symphony disc to be released on the LPO Label: the Fourth, Seventh and Eighth, conducted by Tennstedt, were released in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. Eschenbach draws the most amazingly rich sonority from the LPO. Eschenbach’s interpretation and intent is clear from the outset: the first movement opening with a beautifully articulated rhythmic motive in the strings, wisely with the first and second violins divided. The Adagio is not especially slow, yet never sounds hurried or pushed. As the Adagio progresses it seems to naturally slow, but not enough to ever feel as it drags. In the Finale Eschenbach is a master in conveying a sense of the mysterious or sacred emerging.

This disc is a far cry from the typical fare we’ve come to expect on the shelves around the Christmas season. The inclusion of Bach’s sublime Cantata 63 and Mendelssohn’s Vom Himmel hoch give the disc a year-round appeal. Vaughan Williams’ joyful The First Nowell is a veritable feast of well loved carols and the London Philharmonic Choir together with soloists Lisa Milne and Christopher Maltman exude Christmas cheer. Vaughan Williams himself said ‘I think that every Christmas play ought to begin with God rest you Merry and end with The First Nowell.’

Music for the theatre has always formed a central part of Valery Gergiev’s concert repertoire. His recent recordings have included an acclaimed performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Julietand in November LSO Live releases a new recording of Ravel’s score for the ballet Daphnis et Chloé. Ravel was commissioned by Serge Diaghilev in 1909 to write the music for Daphnis et Chloé. Although he subsequently prepared orchestral suites of the score, the complete work is a magnificent orchestral showpiece in its own right. Ravel described it as a symphonie choréographique and it is essentially an extended tone poem. Luscious orchestral colours run throughout the work, portraying the passion of the two protagonists for each other. By contrast, Pavane pour une infante défunte, composed by Ravel whilst he was still a student of Gabriel Fauré, harks back to the simplicity of the eighteenth-century music of Rameau. Boléro, one of his final works, highlights the Spanish influences and passion that pervade so many of his works.

Among Sir Colin’s greatest triumphs on LSO Live have been his award-winning recordings of Berlioz’s operas plus Peter Grimes, Fidelio and Verdi’s final opera, Falstaff. Falstaff was released in 2004 and collected the Grammy Award for Best Opera. Sir Colin is joined, in the title role of Otello, by one of the world’s most exciting young tenors. New Zealander Simon O’Neill stepped in at short notice to these concerts, making his debut in the role (having studied it with Domingo), delivering what can only be described as an astonishing performance. The villainous Iago is played by Gerald Finley and Otello’s wife, Desdemona, by Anne Schwanewilms. Verdi had retired from opera following the premiere of Aida in 1871 but was eventually persuaded by his publisher to work with the librettist Arrigo Boito. As with Falstaff, Verdi’s final opera on which they would subsequently collaborate, they turned to Shakespeare for inspiration. Otello, which was premiered in 1887, marked a significant evolutionary development in Italian opera and is widely regarded as one of the great operatic masterpieces.

Michael Nyman has now completed scores for the three major films that the pioneering Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov made in the late 1920s. To Man with a Movie Camera he has added The Eleventh Year and A Sixth Part of the World and as a unique experiment for MN Records he has created a new Michael Nyman Band work - by making a montage of material from both of the soundtracks into a single, continuous piece which runs for 77 minutes. VERTOV SOUNDS is the fourth release on MN Records as part of the composer’s cut series.

The cello octet is a formation that is heard only rarely. Yet it harks back to a tradition which was highly esteemed until the early eighteenth century, the practice of forming ensembles of instruments of the same family. Recorder quartets, lute trios and ensembles of hunting horns were for centuries the delight of amateur musicians, to whom they offered an ideal opportunity to express themselves and exchange with each other. It was the requirements of the opera house that gave birth to our modern orchestra. Learned counterpoint and rich ornamentation disappeared, giving way to a much more rigid structure which, by separating melody and harmony, fixed each instrument in a clearly determined role. This luscious disc of music for eight celli includes classical favourites in seductively beautiful arrangements.

There is no record of how Purcell's unprecedented youthful genius was received by his contemporaries at this time, though it seems logical that it must have caused considerable wonder in the musical world centred around Westminster. The reality of London musical life was in fact difficult, frenetic, and grossly underfunded, and, along with the whole city, was thrown into confusion with the outbreak of the plague, the war with the Dutch, and the catastrophic fire of London. Suffice it to say that a lifelong friendship developed with Blow, who relinquished his post as organist at Westminster Abbey to the 20-year-old Purcell in 1679. Was it an act of simple generosity alone - or was it also recognition of a bewildering superiority and the inevitable need to stand aside? Blow's music in the Ode on Purcell's death is probably the most coherent melodious and inventive, outside his beloved Church music. It is also his most Purcellian.

Long thought to be Vivaldi’s first opera, Ottone in villa ('Otho on vacation') had its premier in 1713 in the small public theatre of Vicenza, the Teatro delle Garzerie. By this time Antonio Vivaldi was already a celebrated violin virtuoso and teacher at La Pietà. Ottone in villa bears witness to Vivaldi’s mastery in his first productive period (in 1711 he had published his Op. 3 concerti, L’estro armonico), and is a precious example of Venetian operatic culture. The drama is a satire of Imperial Rome’s high society, concentrating on amorous intrigues among an attractive group of young characters in a pastoral setting. Such a light-hearted entertainment would have been fitting for the noble Venetians who often vacationed near Vicenza. Many of the lovely, melodic arias in this work were reused by Vivaldi in other operas later in his career, proof of their immediate success in this, his first drama per musica. Following Armida , Ottone in villa is the second Vivaldi Edition opera recording of 2010 and the first full opera recording ever made by Il Giardino Armonico and Giovanni Antonini. These Baroque stars are joined by a dynamic young cast including Julia Lezhneva and Australian-born tenor Topi Lehtipuu. This is the world premiere complete recording of the work. Watch interviews and recording footage here.

Rachmaninov’s Vespers is undoubtfuly one of the greatest choral masterpieces. Laurence Equilbey has coupled it with the lesser-known but equally beautiful Liturgy of St John Chrysostomus. Accentus is joined here by the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, making 65 singers on this recording of two monumental Russian choral works.

Jorge Bolet made this superbly languid and delicate recording of 16 Préludes by Debussy less than two years before his death in 1990 at the age of 75. The Cuban-born pianist's reputation was largely founded on his mercurial, blockbusting performances and recordings of Rachmaninov and Liszt, but this disc shows a true pianist’s lightness of touch, as well as some superbly sensitive engineering and technical preparation of his beloved Baldwin SD-10 instrument, chosen by Bolet in preference to the far more popular Steinways. Bolet's own personal fastidiousness – he always recorded in a jacket and tie – is reflected, and in perhaps unexpected and certainly fascinating ways, in this personal selection from the two books of twelve Préludes, and the ordering of them. ‘Bolet’s performances, with their inimitable beauty of line and shimmering sonority (very much the product of an unobtrusive but subtle virtuoso pedal technique), their poetic freedom within a basic pulse, were like some serene and final distillation of all he had learnt and known, the massive and legendary virtuosity of earlier days directed into an everincreasing concern with more durable musical truths.’ -Gramophone, 1991

Tchaikovsky wrote four works for piano and orchestra: the three concertos, and the Concert Fantasy in G Op.56 (1884). The First Concerto ranks today as possibly the most famous piano concerto ever composed. Its entry into the world was, however, far from easy. Dismissed by critics as a flop, and by its dedicatee Nikolai Rubinstein as unplayable, the concerto was premiered in Boston in the USA in 1875, its success never in doubt from then on. Rubinstein relented and undertook to champion the concerto. It is a large, dramatic work with its roots firmly in the Chopin/Mendelssohn school. The underrated Second Concerto (1880) was for many years performed in a cut version made by Tchaikovsky’s pupil Siloti. This cut the jewel of the concerto – the ‘triple concerto’-like second movement for violin, cello and piano. Happily the recording in this set is of the original version. The Third Concerto (1893) – today only performed as a one-movement Konzertstück - was created out of the abandoned Seventh Symphony in E major. It is technically very challenging for the performer, and contains some wonderful music. Recording made in 1982.

This CD contains two works that illustrate the two very different sides to Bartók’s musical personality. The ballet The Miraculous Mandarin (1926) is a work that arrived on the scene with the impact of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. It tells the story of a wealthy mandarin who is lured into a brothel, where a girl dances provocatively for him. He throws himself at the girl who runs off, chased by the mandarin. He in turn, is chased by the thugs and pimps who stab, strangle and hang him – stealing his purse and money in the process. His battered body refuses to die, and begins to emit a strange blue-green light. The girl finally allows him to hold her, whereupon his wounds bleed, and he is able to die. The Concerto for Orchestra dates from 20 years later, when Bartók was living in exile in the USA to escape the Nazis. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. At this time Bartók was suffering from the leukaemia that would kill him two years later in 1945. The work is very accessible, and in the five movements each section of the orchestra is given an opportunity to shine. The spirit of folk music is never far away, possibly a nostalgic reference to Bartók’s youth, and his homeland. 'Ozawa is strong on sensuality' -Gramophone, AUGUST 1995

Gustav Holst’s ‘Suite for Large Orchestra’ known as The Planets was premiered in 1918, whereupon its rapturous reception ensured the fame of its composer. The Planets shows Holst to be perfectly attuned to contemporary music of the time. The influence of Stravinsky’s ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring can be detected in ‘Mercury’ and ‘Mars’; Ravel and Schoenberg can be glimpsed in other places. This is not to say that Holst hadn’t created a unique style. The Planets, Egdon Heath, Savitri, and The Perfect Fool all show him to have one of the most distinct voices among 20th-century composers. The Planets is one of the most famous orchestral works of the last 100 years, and has influenced many a soundtrack composer tasked with a sci-fi score! ‘Ozawa’s interpretation of The Planets is assuredly not in the Boult tradition, but brings a fresh approach to Holst’s sole excursion into extravagance. Tempos are not those to which we are accustomed: Mars brings war at record speed and Mercury is a more leisurely winged messenger than usual. Both Venus and Jupiter are presented more conventionally and are finely played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra … it is stimulating to encounter a fresh mind at work on the music.’ Gramophone, JUNE 1987

Hidden Acoustics is Ruth Palmer’s ground-breaking solo tour, where music reveals startling acoustics, hidden in architecture that comes to life in programmes centred on Bach. Ruth says, 'Bach’s solo violin music has its own hidden acoustics in its counterpoint, and I have found that solo violin allows me the purest link to the space and acoustic of the building in which I am playing. To me, when the piece of music and the building match in spirit, something magical happens.' In the words of Daniel Libeskind, 'That raw communication between the building and the person, the child so to speak, standing in front of it and being in it, that is really the discourse; it’s an experience that you have with your body, with your mind, with your soul.' Ruth recently performed in Australia with the Sydney Dance Company.

Hans von Bülow once made the witty remark that Johannes Brahms’ First Symphony, which was born only after the greatest trials, doubts and qualms, is actually 'Beethoven’s Tenth'. But despite all the work’s apparent references to Beethoven’s symphonic creations, this is of course a misunderstanding, and the work has since been accorded the status it deserves as a truly original, thrilling orchestral masterpiece. The venerable Laeiszhalle in Hamburg is the scene for a Brahms recording in audiophile SACD quality with the historic Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been acclaimed in recent years for its recordings of the original versions of the Bruckner Symphonies under Australian conductor Simone Young.

'Would you accept position Director National Conservatory of Music New York October 1892. Also lead six concerts of your work.' With Jeanette Thurber’s telegram of 6 June 1891, began the American episode in Antonín Dvořák’s life. In short, he was exactly the kind of European personality for whom Thurber had been searching. And the salary on offer was a princely one: 30,000 guilders per year was 25 times what he was able to earn at his post in Prague! Seiji Ozawa is a master of Dvořák’s most beloved symphony.

Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem was recently recorded by the same Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin) for Deutsche Grammophon but the Choir was not satisfied with the result. The group relished the opportunity to re-record for PentaTone, in what is bound to become a benchmark recording thanks to Marek Janowski's deft understanding of this repertoire.

It is difficult to understand why the romantic and virtuoso piano concertos by Mendelssohn never became as popular as his E minor violin concerto. Whatever the reason, the works are of same calibre and here delivered by Martin Helmchen who regularly works with Philippe Herreweghe. This collaboration has resulted in a very special album which also features the Rondo brillant, Op.29. There is no other recording of these works currently available on SACD. All Helmchen’s recordings for the PentaTone label have been award winners.

Voces8 return to disc with this new recording of J.S.Bach's Motets, BWV 225-230. Joined by the Senesino Players, this young group prove their versatility and skill in performing some of Bach's most challenging and engaging compositions. This disc follows their a cappella debut with Signum earlier this year, Aces High (SIGCD187) – themed around some stunning jazz arrangements and songs from the James Bond films: 'The slickest of the lot … two parts King's Singers, three parts Swingle Singers, a dash of Bobby McFerrin and California sunshine … fans of a cappella ought to hear this, not just for the singing but the production values and Jim Clements audacious arrangements' Andrew McGreggor, CD Review, BBC Radio 3

Described as 'one of the truly great musicians of our time' by The Times, Llŷr Williams brings an extraordinary musical intelligence to his interpretations and performances. These works are all evocative musical 'pictures' of different times and places: from Debussy's decidedly Spanish Estampes to Mussorgsky's vivid Pictures at an Exhibition.

'…And few could have expected his performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition to be so overwhelming. There wasn't a finger out of place all evening, and the dramatic plotting was spot on…' -The Guardian (Wigmore Hall Recital)

I’m satisfied. It went quickly...Antonín Dvořák jotted down at the end of the sketch for his String Quartet Op. 96. The work, one of the most beautiful quartet pieces in the history of music, originated in America on the heels of the 'New World' Symphony. I wanted to write for once something very melodious and simple, and I always kept Papa Haydn before my eyes. The American critics lavished it with praise: 'Why didn’t Dvořák come here earlier, since he can write such great music in America?' The 'American' quartet, and, perhaps to an even greater extent, the subsequent quartet, Op. 106, the first composition Dvořák created after his return from America, are a heartfelt matter for the youthful Pavel Haas Quartet. In the wake of the previous, highly acclaimed recordings of the complete quartet works of Janáček, Haas and Prokofiev, and an Australian tour for Musica Viva, the ensemble displays its equilibrium between precision and spontaneity, remarkable interplay and the 'solo' potential of all the musicians. In all likelihood, Dvořák would have jotted down the words 'I’m satisfied' beneath this new recording too.

The most recent Supraphon recording of My Country dates back to the halcyon days of 1990. In the first year of freedom, at the euphoric opening concert of the Prague Spring festival the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was conducted by the 76-year-old Rafael Kubelík, who had just returned from exile. Twenty years on, the festival entrusted this honourable task to the 28-year-old conductor Jakub Hrůša, who emulated the legendary Václav Neumann in becoming the youngest conductor in history to open the festival. Hrůša, while respecting time-honoured tradition, primarily focused on faithful and well-considered reading of the score. Owing to the legendary vigour, musical fidelity and sheer engagement of the Prague Philharmonia, those in attendance at Prague’s Rudolfinum were witness to a truly remarkable and inspired performance of this symbol of Czech music. The more chamber-like configuration lets the fine planes ring out in an unusually transparent sound, so that the water nymphs really are water nymphs... By contrast, the extreme drama of Šárka resounds with a surprising power.

'Chopin and Liszt reinvented the piano, their contributions were unique and their music is now as live as ever. I am incredibly happy to be submerging myself in the music of Chopin this year, music by a composer who made himself so indispensable and to which I feel particularly close.' The Argentinian pianist Nelson Goerner, whose Chopin playing has prompted Gramophone to describe him as 'a player of exalted poetic verve', celebrated the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth with a major series of performances of his music, including this Wigmore Hall concert last October. His recital begins with Chopin’s last large-scale work, the Polonaise-Fantaisie, one of Goerner’s favourite pieces by Chopin, which he regards as among his greatest and most visionary works. The name Nelson Goerner is already firmly established as one of the most remarkable pianists of his generation. Following a meeting with Martha Argerich, he received a scholarship which enabled him to travel to Europe. 'Everything about Goerner’s playing of the Opus 10 set revealed his finely balanced, secure and non-showy musicianship [and] his formidable technique... Goerner’s range of colour and touch, allied to clarity of technique and discretion of temperament, puts him on a par with the great Chopin pianists.' -Classical Source, October 2009

World Premiere Recording on DVD! A production of the LA Opera House ground-breaking Recovered Voices project, highlighting the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. Walter Braunfels, a strong advocate of neo-Romanticism, made significant contributions to the world of 20th-century opera. Deeply rooted in German Classicism and Romanticism, he concealed none of his admiration for the inherited past and saw himself as building on its fundamentals. By almost any standard, he was a  conservative. The premiere of Die Vögel (The Birds) in Munich in 1920, under the direction of Bruno Walter (who still lauded the work as late as 1950), was a huge public and critical success. The number of productions and performances in the following years was staggering. However, in the post- World War II years of his 'rehabilitation,' Braunfels never regained a foothold. Die Vögel was not produced again until 1971 in Karlsruhe and 1994 in Berlin. 'A rare chance to hear Braunfels‘s lighthearted, tenderly spiritual and little-known fable…' -The New York Times

Arthaus presents the performance of Haydn’s Missa Sanctae Ceaciliae conducted by Rafael Kubelík live from the Basilika Ottobeuren. The work was without doubt one of the highlights of the wonderful Kubelík era. Under his guidance the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra also became one of the world’s foremost Haydn orchestras. When the orchestra discovered the baroque Basilica of Ottobeuren as the perfect venue for sacred music of the classic-romantic repertoire, their concerts enjoyed huge popularity, leaving a lasting impression on those who experienced them first hand. Features Lucia Popp as solo soprano.

November 20, 2010: Maya Plisetskaya‘s 85th birthday. Maya is one of the most outstanding dancers of the second half of the 20th century. Immediately after graduation from the Moscow Choreography School she found fame, creating her own style characterized by a brilliant technique, elegance, perfection of each individual gesture and pose, always in combination with her beautiful dramatic art and extraordinary musicality. 'I am happy to see the most important milestones in my creative life brought together like this. The DVD contains a selection of my collaborations with leading choreographers from Roland Petit to Maurice Béjart. Wonderful!' -Maya Plisetskaya

Arthaus presents the ballet Appartment of the legendary Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, which he created for the soloist dancers of the Opéra National de Paris. The ballet is set to the music of the Swedish rock band Fleshquartet, performing live on stage. 'Apartment is the place where we spend our lives, in close proximity to ourselves and others, where life’s rich pageant unfolds. But at the same time, “appartement” means “separation” and isolation - a place, which can simultaneously be personal and “apart”. The title of the ballet became compelling during the latter stage of preparation in Paris, encapsulating as it does various images and actions, which do not tell a story but can be linked to this key word. Not everything is connected with the concept, however. You will notice a zebra crossing. In reality it is situated in front of the Mistral bistro in Paris, next to the municipal theatre, where for many years I have had the opportunity to observe the everyday interplay of the passers-by.' -Mats Ek

Arthaus presents the world première of the unabridged version of Don Carlos at the Vienna State Opera, in a staging by the world-renowned German director Peter Konwitschny. This staging remains true to Giuseppe Verdi’s original vision of his grand opera, when it was premiered in Paris in 1867. However, during the rehearsals it soon became clear that Don Carlos would not fit within the convention of duration, and Verdi was forced, against his will, to make cuts. Over the next 20 years, he would repeatedly turn out new versions of the opera, none of which ultimately left him satisfied. It was not until October 2004 that his original work without cuts and sung in the original French - received its world première, now available for home viewing on DVD. Led by French conductor Bertrand de Billy, the singers were lauded by audience and critics.

A superlative staging of Puccini’s Tosca by Italian opera producer Hugo de Ana, brought to you from the world-famous Arena di Verona and complete with all the splendour that a Puccini opera demands! The popular tragedy is sung by a dream team of excellent singer-actors and conducted by Arena di Verona stalwart Daniel Oren. The recording captures one of those special Verona summer evenings, when the audience fi lls the historic circle in expectation of the enjoyment of an open-air opera performance. Verona’s amphitheatre, known as the ‘arena’, provides an atmospheric setting for the summer festival. To view an opera in the former amphitheatre, the second largest of its kind after the Colosseum in Rome, can truly be regarded as an impressive experience. The DVD provides a closer look at the stage and the singers and brings this dramatic opera directly to the home viewer.

The DVD shows two masterpieces of French post-war ballet and a homage to Roland Petit, its most influential figure. Including the ballets Le jeune homme et la mort and Carmen in a production with the Orchestre Colonne directed by Paul Conelly. Premiered in June 1946, Le jeune homme et la mort marked the start of a whole new generation of choreography in liberated Paris, becoming the trademark of existentialist ballet. Petit choreographed his Carmen ballet, which is loosely based on Prosper Mérimée‘s story, to a musical potpourri from Bizet‘s opera. In this recording filmed at the Opéra National de Paris, the star soloists of the Opéra ballet company take on the challenge: Nicolas Le Riche, Marie-Agnès Gillot and Clairemarie Osta. Filmed with great visual and musical mastery, both works are documents of Petit’s enormous influence on post-war ballet and this DVD can be regarded as a homage to the grand seigneur of French dance.

Karajan and Menuhin together in concert for the first time on DVD and Blu-Ray (no CD recording is currently available, either). Filmed in 1966 on 35 mm by film director H. G. Clouzot, the creator of classic films noirs such as Quai des Orfèvres and Wages of Fear, this classic concert performance includes two popular works: Mozart's Violin Concerto No.5, and Dvorák's Ninth Symphony. 'Maestro Karajan does not stand in front of his Berliner Philharmoniker players, but among them – again and again the cameras capture him in spellbinding close-up. [...] Karajan and his musicians perform their wonderful Dvořák, while the viewer’s eyes are drawn to him.'

100 minutes of the most stunning visual and musical highlights of this pioneering production by La Fura dels Baus, conducted by Zubin Mehta. Foxtel’s arts channel STVDIO has devoted an entire day to airing this complete 'Ring of the future' in all its glory. Experience the thrilling power of these performances distilled, on a budget-price, Blu-Ray highlights disc. It's the perfect collection of 'hits' to prepare Australian opera lovers for Melbourne's 2013 Ring Cycle. View the trailer