Journeying a forgotten repertory of emotionally wondrous music, Il Canto Delle Dame pays homage to the women composers of Italy's seicento period. Maria Cristina Kiehr, Concerto Soave and Jean Marc Aymes celebrate a creative fire unbound by social constraints, a passion at once ancient and modern.

Downtown Illusions turns city life into a fascinating sonic experience. Radically and without compromise, Spark has captured its very personal vision of thrilling urban fusion. Bringing together renowned composers and emerging newcomers, this intrepid fivesome musically traces skylines awakening in the morning mist, the bustle of the rush hour, multiculti goings-on in the street and the flickering night life. Baroque and Romantic masterpieces betray the group's classical roots and offer a contrast to new works. Traditions and trends, breathtaking virtuosity and minimal grooves melt into the pulse of the city: unceasing, intoxicating and magical. This is a remarkable debut album redefining the concept of classical music and presenting chamber music at the cutting edge.

For her 2009 concerts with Sydney Symphony, Imogen Cooper has just won two Helpmann Awards (Best Recital, Best Instrumental Ensemble Performance). The acclaimed pianist, a student of Alfred Brendel, has seen her highly regarded career blossom of late due to her recordings of Schubert’s late solo piano works and Mozart Piano Concertos on Avie. Most recently her Schubert series has appeared in the Top 10 of the UK’s Specialist Classical Chart, and has been lauded by the international media, from the BBC to Gramophone and The New York Times. This release is her third of Mozart concertos directing the Northern Sinfonia from the keyboard, and the synergy between soloist and orchestra results in a poetic clarity that befits Mozart’s late works.

The Brook Street Band burst on to the scene in 2003 with their Avie debut, the world-premiere recording of Handel’s ‘Oxford’ Water Music, a genuine chamber arrangement of the composer’s ever-popular suite which earned the period-instrument ensemble an Editor’s Choice from Gramophone. Since then the all-girl group, named for the London street where Handel lived and composed for most of his working life in England, has released three further Handel surveys which prove their own adept skills at arranging. They now apply the age-old practice to their first recording of the music of J. S. Bach, adapting his Organ Sonatas to their own instrumentation of two violins, harpsichord and cello. The result is yet another unique approach from the Brook Street Band, whose sheer pleasure in sharing this music shines though in their radiant renditions.

Queen Christina of Sweden is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of 17th-century Europe. As the only child of King Gustavus Adolphus, leading champion of the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years' War, she succeeded him on the throne at the age of six, abdicating 22 years later in order to move to Rome where she could openly practice her previously secret Catholicism. While still a reigning monarch, she invited a number of eminent artists and scientists (including René Descartes) to Stockholm, and in 1652 a company of Italian musicians arrived, engaged to supply the court with the very latest of music from Italy. A manuscript presented to Whitelocke, the English ambassador to Sweden at the time, contains some of the music that the queen would have heard. The programme on this disc consists of a selection from the Whitelocke manuscript, with Carissimi’s  large-scale cantata I Naviganti at its heart. The combination of simple yet elegant melodies and colourful, sometimes even bold, harmonies lends these songs a particular sweetness which is here brought out by a close-knit group of some of the finest performers in the field of period performance today, with Emma Kirkby and Peter Harvey representing Whitelocke’s country, and Susanne Rydén and Sweden-based cellist Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann the realm of Queen Christina. They are joined by the Danish harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen, who also adds variety to the programme with instrumental solos by Frescobaldi.

Ottorino Respighi’s Roman Trilogy (the tone poems Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals)holds a special place in the orchestral repertory, challenging almost any other composition for sheer audience appeal. Spectacular scenes such as Fontana di Trevi in the glitter of the midday sun, children playing under the pine-trees of the Villa Borghese or gladiators fighting at Circus Maximus provided the masterly orchestrator with the opportunity to employ the full palette of the large-scale symphony orchestra, to which he added various instruments, including organ, piano, celesta, glockenspiel, mandolin and tambourines. In fact, in the third part of the Pines of Rome Respighi went even further and specified, for the first time ever in classical music, the use of a gramophone, playing a recording of a nightingale singing. As a result, these works shimmer, blare and thunder: a true feast for the ear which here has found worthy exponents in the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra and John Neschling.

Composed between 1940 and 1944, Kaikhosru Sorabji’s set of 100 Transcendental Studies has a total duration of at least seven hours – by far the largest collection of concert études in the known repertoire. It is also among the most technically demanding music written for the piano, often moving in seven, eight or nine parts and at times notated on six-staff systems. Recording such a monumental work is a labour of love by a pianist of unusual capabilities – which Fredrik Ullén certainly is: well known for his concert performances and recordings of some of the most challenging piano music in existence, he is also a professor of cognitive neuroscience, with a particular interest in the effects of musical training on the human brain. Ullén’s traversal of Sorabji’s studies, begun on two previous discs, has been called ‘groundbreaking’ in the German magazine Piano News, and ‘nothing short of breathtaking’ in International Record Review. A kaleidoscopic offering, and another opportunity to sample Ullén as he ‘expounds Sorabji's studies with utter textual clarity and his usual jaw-dropping virtuosity’.

A member of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002, Stefan Schulz is one of the world’s leading bass trombonists. His first solo disc is a recital programme recorded live at a concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie in 2008. The programme has been chosen to emphasise the various facets of the bass trombone and in particular its ability to play music of a songful character. This certainly applies to Brahms’ Four Serious Songs, as well as the cantabile works by Lebedev and Šulek which both seem to point to the sonorities of Romanticism; but it is equally true of Jan Sandström’s wonderfully simple Song to Lotta, appearing as an encore. To balance the programme Schulz has included a work by Daniel Schnyder, the New York-based composer and saxophonist with whom he collaborates closely. subZERO, Schnyder’s concerto for bass trombone, places great emphasis on virtuosity and reaches out towards jazz idioms. Here performed in the composer’s own chamber version (for the first time available on disc), this virtuoso composition includes marimba, percussion and violin as well as piano.

Have the opus 101 and 106 Sonats really divulged all their secrets?
Great masterpieces are characterised by the infinite number of readings they can be given. Olivier Chauzu's profound exploration of the text has resulted in a performance that is deeply insightful rather than merely virtuosic and delivers a highly transparent reading of Beethoven's complex counterpoint.

Although Flavio, premiered in 1723, deals with motives of love, honour, and duty, the tone is domestic, with less emphasis than in many other operas on political or military changes of fortune. Though hardly a comedy, it does seem to move to a more detached view of human interactions. The action is set in Lombardy during the dark ages: the stratagem of sending unwanted individuals away to govern Britain – striking overtones of honour and punishment – would no doubt have been taken humorously by the London audiences. The music embraces a wide variety of emotions, with duets, one for each pair of lovers, framing the beginning and end of the opera. In Act III, as one lover pleads the case of his rival, the ambiguity of the situation causes a splendid ironical frisson in the plot, reflected in the music. Flaviois appreciated today as one of the composer’s most inventive operas, full of the varied imagination, superb arias, and excellent melody we expect from Handel’s best operas. Founded in 1994 by its music director, Christian Curnyn, the Early Opera Company is now firmly established as one of Britain’s leading early music ensembles. The Company’s debut production of Handel’s Serse led to an invitation to perform at the BOC Covent Garden Festival, and this was followed by three performances of Ariodante. In 1998 the Company made its debut at St John’s, Smith Square with a concert performance of Charpentier’s Actéon and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and was invited to stage Handel’s Orlando at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the South Bank Early Music Festival.

Neeme Järvi is back conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with violinist Marianne Thorsen, in this second volume of Chandos’ series devoted to the orchestral works of Johan Halvorsen. This Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist was a prominent figure in his country’s musical life during the first decades of the twentieth century. The works on this CD are all performed by the orchestra that Halvorsen himself conducted in the 1890s. As in the first volume of the series, they represent Nordic folk-based music at its very best: light and airy compositions with the strings firmly at centre stage. Air norvégien was described by Halvorsen’s contemporary, Edvard Grieg, as ‘a folk-tune medley, but so well done that the result is a piece of art’. Because Halvorsen spent more than 36 years working at the theatres in Bergen and Oslo, a large proportion of his compositional output is music for the stage. The movements of Suite ancienne were originally composed for the play The Lying-in Room by Ludvig Holberg in 1911. The first two movements, Intrata and Air con variazioni, are in the style of late-eighteenth-century serenades, whereas the Gigue, Sarabande, and Bourrée were modelled after baroque dances. Halvorsen himself counted Suite ancienne as one of his finest compositions. Halvorsen also composed in more prestigious genres and his Second Symphony is commonly regarded as the best of his three symphonies. Praise for volume 1 (CHAN10584): ‘The performances throughout are top-notch and Chandos’s sound is of demonstration quality.’ -Gramophone

Edward Gardner, the music director of English National Opera, has completed the first disc in a projected Chandos series devoted to Polish music. Here he presents music by one of Poland’s most important 20th-century composers, Witold Lutosławski, including his most famous work, the Concerto for Orchestra (1950–54), a brilliant and highly attractive work. Also included is the Third Symphony (1981–83) which was given its world premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. Many passages employ the by then well-developed technique which the composer called ‘limited aleatorism’, according to which each individual orchestral musician is asked to play a phrase or repeated fragment in his own time – rhythmically independent of the other musicians. During these passages very little synchronisation is specified: events that are coordinated include the simultaneous entrances of groups of instruments, the abrupt end of some episodes, and some transitions to new sections. By this method the composer retains control of the work’s architecture and of the realisation of the performance, while simultaneously facilitating complex and unpredictable polyphony. In later years Lutosławski developed musical forms that combine unrelated strands of music, whose short, discrete sections overlap one another like the links of a chain. Elements of this method can be found in many of his earlier works, but the first to emphasise it was Chain 1 of 1983 for fourteen instruments, written for the London Sinfonietta. Chain 2, subtitled ‘Dialogue for Violin and Orchestra’, followed in 1985. The last work to adopt this approach was Chain 3 (1986) for large orchestra.

Beethoven has always been a part of the concert repertoire of exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie, and it rose again to the top of his agenda as he prepared to complete his recorded cycle of the composer’s sonatas earlier this year. Sonatas Nos 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31 and 32, newly recorded, will be released for the first time as part of a box set of the entire canon. This box set of the complete piano sonatas is a must for all lovers of Beethoven and great piano playing. The compositions are bold and beautiful, challenging, witty and fresh. They seem to encompass all aspects of human sensibility and aspiration, and the superb playing of Louis Lortie takes the music to another level. His recording of the composer’s ‘Eroica’ Variations, which won an Edison Award, was described by Gramophone in glowing terms: ‘His account… is spacious and magisterial, virile yet sensitive, and the wide range of dynamic nuance and keyboard colour is there to illumine Beethoven’s textures and not highlight the artist’s pianism. He succeeds in communicating the power of Beethoven’s imagination: the part-writing in the fugue emerges with a masterly clarity, and is beautifully weighted and balanced’. Highlights among the new recordings are that of the sublime Sonata No. 30, composed in 1820 – 22, which displays all the characteristics of Beethoven’s last creative phase: rich harmonic structures, a fascination with intricate counterpoint, and a strict adherence to classical and baroque forms. Also worthy of a separate mention is Sonata No. 22, a veritable study in contrasts. Its two complementary themes – a gracious, dignified ‘feminine’ theme resembling a minuet, and an assertive, ‘masculine’ theme – gradually influence one another in the course of the movement until they become thoroughly integrated and combined in the final passages.

A major collection of new choral music by John Rutter, featuring a host of previously unrecorded works in glittering performances by the Cambridge Singers and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conducted by the composer, John Rutter: A Song in Season, ranges across the church year, incorporating music for Christmas, Epiphany, Pentecost, Easter and Harvest. The first album of new anthems and canticles by Rutter since his landmark 2002 recording of Mass of the Children, this beatifully-packaged release promises to delight both seasoned Rutter followers and new listeners.

During recent years CPO recordings of the baroque operas Ariadne by Conradi and Thésée and Psyché by Lully have received Grammy nominations in the Best Opera Production category. This month, again in cooperation with the Boston Early Music Festival, CPO is releasing more baroque operas – this time by Marc Antoine Charpentier – proving to be no less diverse and entertaining. The focus is Charpentier’s Actéon, a creation inspired by the Italian cantata and the precursor of its French counterpart, which would first reach maturity in the early eighteenth century. Here the French composer employs what he learned from his Italian teacher Giacomo Carissimi toward the goal of exploring the intimate drama of a cantata intended for private chambers. He skillfully exploits the evocative power of the music and the vocal conventions of the time in order to present scenes displaying the transforming power of love.

For a long time Johann Mattheson was the 'known unknown' among the composers of the eighteenth century. His name was frequently cited but always as an important music theorist and the author of Der vollkommene Capellmeister, an elegantly written depiction of the musical aesthetics and compositional and performance practices of his time. He too, however, was a diligent practitioner, and during his years as cathedral music director at the Hamburg Cathedral (1715-28) he wrote important compositions continuing to be absolute listening musts even today. CPO has already rescued two of his oratorios from oblivion, and the label's third coup includes the grand Magnificat of 1716 and the Christmas oratorio Die heilsame Geburt. Both works display Mattheson’s special strengths: changing instrumental and vocal combinations full of color clearly exhibiting his delight in experimentation and compositional virtuosity, with his sacred music deriving inspiration from the innovations of the early eighteenth-century opera – one more highlight in CPO's alternative Christmas edition!

During the first half of the 18th century the court of the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt was a match for the magnificence and variety of musical development in renowned music centers such Mannheim and Hamburg. The Darmstadt court orchestra must have maintained a very high musical level of excellence. For five decades the court chapel master Christoph Graupner exercised absolute rule in this musical domain. He was a universal mind and a highly inventive and original composer who unfortunately much too early fell into oblivion. Hermann Max and his baroque orchestra Das Kleine Konzert delivers Graupner from this fate with a recording of five of glorious Christmas cantatas. In his compositions, even on feast days, Graupner usually limited himself to a somewhat unusual ensemble with soprano, alto, and tenor parts (that is, without bass). Features of his elegant late style are already in evidence in the cantatas from the 1740s. Here a composer of the late baroque – like his friend Telemann – has set out in quest of new expressive possibilities – to our great listening pleasure!

After its successful CD featuring choral music for Advent and Christmas by Michael Praetorius, the Bremen Consort under Manfred Cordes has now recorded a second disc with splendid Christmas settings by Hamburg composers for CPO. Shielded from the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War by its mighty fortress, this center of trade and commerce served as a place of refuge and work for the leading musicians of the time. The result was music combining original Hamburg elements and influences from the Low Countries through the 'organist-maker' J. P. Sweelinck. Musicians from Saxony and Thuringia, Pomerania, and Southern Germany were active temporarily or for longer periods of time in Hamburg and engaged in intensive exchange, so that the Hansa city’s music life can be viewed as a mirror of Northern European music culture. The present recording aims at tracing the development of the vocal music (and in part the organ music) of this epoch with examples of the rich stores of extant repertoire for the high church feast of Christmas.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra inaugurates Riccardo Muti's tenure as music director with one of the most anticipated releases of the year - Verdi's Requiem Mass, featuring the Chicago Symphony Chorus and four outstanding soloists. Recorded live from sold-out, electrifying concerts, this stunning performance brilliantly captures both the pathos and passion of Verdi's masterpiece. 'I'm sure many in the packed hall will long remember it as a life-changing experience...The thwacks of the bass drum ricocheted mightily...with the fiery blasts of the brass from the balcony really sounding as if Heaven were beckoning' -Chicago Tribune.

'The Danish Radio Sinfonietta play with an ideal balance between lean rhythmic articulation and shapely melodic phrasing. Fischer conducts with a sure sense of pacing ... I shall be surprised to hear a more satisfying Mozart opera recording any time soon'. GRAMOPHONE RECORDING OF THE MONTH - June 2010 (Mitridate).

'With a fresh-voiced young cast and orchestral playing of crackling energy, this Danish Radio recording eclipses its closest CD rival...' The Daily Telegraph, UK (Lucio Silla)

'Adam Fischer encourages playing of quivering energy from the trim, lean-toned Danish orchestra.' GRAMOPHONE EDITOR's CHOICE - Awards Issue 2008 (Mitridate)

The Tallis Scholars celebrate 30 years of recordings on their own label Gimell with three specially-priced boxed sets – one for each decade of recordings. Each collection of 4CDs features over 5 hours of the award-winning performances that helped establish the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance as one of the great repertoires of western classical music. Established in 1980 solely to record The Tallis Scholars, the Gimell label has gone on to win many awards throughout the world including three Diapson d’Or Awards and four Gramophone Awards, one of which was the Gramophone Record of the Year Award in 1987. Gimell was the first independent label to receive this prestigious award and it remains the only recording of Early Music to have won this coveted accolade. The first Gimell recording, of the much-loved Allegri Miserere, was made in 1980, in the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford, renowned for its outstanding acoustics. Some of Gimell’s best-loved recordings have been made in this Chapel, including their acclaimed CD of Tallis's monumental 40-part motet Spem in alium. The Tallis Scholars are much loved by Australian audiences thanks to frequent tours, and are known as 'the rockstars of Renaissance vocal music' (New York Times).

For almost 25 years, Antonio Florio and his colleagues at the Centro di Musica Antica Pietà de’ Turchini in Naples have successfully breathed new life into the forgotten repertory of the Neapolitan Baroque. Now Florio has signed with Glossa to issue recordings of the ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, now renamed as simply I Turchini. The first offering, recently recorded, focuses on cantatas by Cristofaro Caresana, a composer born in Venice who went on to become, according to Florio, one of the two greatest musical figures from Naples from the second half of the 17th century, alongside Francesco Provenzale. Both the music and the performance are imbued with the theatrical, exuberant reflection of the Baroque Neapolitan spirit; accomplished singers such as Maria Grazia Schiavo, Giuseppe De Vittorio and Rosario Totaro form part of the team for a group of multi-voiced Christmastime works and a solo offering – the cantata Partenope from 1703 – sung beautifully by Schiavo. Instrumental sonatas from Pietro Andrea Ziani, thought to be Caresana’s teacher in Venice, demonstrate the virtuosity of I Turchini’s string players. An early Christmas present from Glossa, Antonio Florio and I Turchini!

Focusing on the central notion – one very dear to the troubadours themselves – of l'amour de loin ('love from afar'), this new programme leads the listener through that maze of amorous emotions linked with the sense of absence (be it as a result of the Crusades, war, tournaments, or paternal bans...); the route chosen here is an unconventional one, traversing differing styles and epochs, with music from villages as well as from the courts, a journey into the vast world of song and in the company of its earliest masters - the troubadours, the trouvères - and of its ageless servants: the traditional singer-poets from Occitania and from Spain. After four CDs on Glossa dedicated to sacred music, in L’Amor de Lonh Dominique Vellard and the Ensemble Gilles Binchois step forward with their first secular programme in some years, offering compelling interpretations and demonstrating once more why – after more than 30 years of activity – they are still considered the leading exponents of early vocal music.

Nine new additions to Glossa's cabinet of curiosities, stretching from early music to Baroque and Classical repertoire released on Spain's beloved boutique label.

Whether she is wife, lover or mother, the image of a woman mourning the loss of her loved one is one of the recurring themes of Baroque music in both church and opera house. One of the most celebrated of all these laments, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, is framed here by three more masterpieces of the pianto genre in a similar spirit of deepest sadness. Anna Prohaska and Bernarda Fink give one of the most moving performances recorded of Pergolesi's grief-laden, serpentine vocal lines.

The Tokyo String Quartet completes its acclaimed Beethoven cycle with the composer’s valedictory quartets of 1825-26. As he looked ahead to structures and soundworlds then unimagined, and glanced back to the bedrock counterpoint of Western music, Beethoven turned inwards to his well of experience, much of it harsh, from which he drew this music of transcendent power. The Tokyo String Quartet presented a program of Beethoven for their 2009 Australian tour.

In his Musique de Table, through skilful organisation, breadth of imagination and sheer masterful inspiration, Telemann concentrates the entire range of European musical styles. This bravura display brings together ‘what stern custom had divided’. Here is the ultimate glittering banquet of late Baroque  in all its rich diversity. Often compared to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Musique de Table is presented here by one of the world's foremost Baroque period-instrument ensembles, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

This prestige set brings together the three ‘Baroque' recordings made by Alexandre Tharaud for harmonia mundi between 2001 and 2007. Baroque? At a time when most recordings of Rameau, Bach and Couperin are played on period instruments, the French pianist has masterfully absorbed the numerous discoveries made in the field of period performance practice over the last thirty years, while simultaneously making these time-hallowed works sound genuinely contemporary. A trilogy which has already enjoyed unparalleled success in beautiful packaging for a geat Christmas gift.

Brahms composed his two published String Quintets amid the rural tranquillity of Bad Ischl in Upper Austria and the works can almost be seen as an expression of escape from the 'urban stress' of nineteenth-century Vienna. The Quintets show Brahms standing at the pinnacle of the composition of chamber music, their gentle pastoral character being subtly shaded by a profoundly melancholy introspection. This disc follows the extrordinary success of The Raphael Ensemble's recording of Brahms's two String Sextets (CDA66276).

'This rich anthology is presented with breathtaking skill and soul-stirring animation by one of the world's greatest choirs' (Gramophone)

'Superlatively beautiful' (The American Organist)

This fourteenth volume of Christopher Herrick’s monumental Organ Fireworks series comes from the organ of Melbourne Town Hall. As ever, Herrick presents a cornucopia of virtuoso delights, opening with a bang with Lemare’s outrageous transcription of the Grand March from Aida, given a new sheen by Herrick himself. Other works include pieces by living composers Iain Farrington and Paul Spicer, and examples of the best of the English and French traditions of 19th- and 20th-century organ writing.

The British viola player Lawrence Power continues to be acclaimed as one of the greatest performers of today. Together with Hyperion he is recording all of the seminal twentieth-century works for the viola. Of the three Hungarian works for viola and orchestra on this latest release, the best-known is Bartók's viola concerto, completed after the composer's death by Tibor Serly. Serly was Bartók's most constant and trusted Hungarian musician-friend in his last years in the USA. William Primrose (who edited the viola part himself) was able to premiere Serly's recension of the music on 2 December 1949, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati. Almost immediately it was recognized as one of the major contributions to the small literature of concertos for the viola, and has been a cornerstone of the instrument's repertoire ever since. Serly's own Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra dwells somewhat within Bartók's shadow, but is nevertheless a skilful and elaborate work with a rollocking finale. The disc is completed by a modern viola concerto by the film composer Miklós Rózsa. The overall impression of the work is individual, darkly Romantic, and authentically Hungarian in inspiration. Lawrence will be performing with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2011.

Ferdinand David is principally known today as the dedicatee of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto; he gave the premiere of the work in 1845. But in his time he was also celebrated as a composer, and Hyperion is delighted to present this disc of world premiere recordings as Volume 9 in the Romantic Violin Concerto series. David was a prolific composer and his output included two symphonies, five violin concertos, a string sextet, quartets, several sets of variations and volumes of studies for violin, choral works and some Lieder. His works had considerable success in his lifetime, and their revival reveals highly attractive music of phenomenal accomplishment. Bearing in mind David’s close affinity with Mendelssohn it is hardly surprising that some of his music has a fairly Mendelssohnian character. This extends to the skilful handling of Classical forms with a rather more Romantic palette, but there is also an amiable individual character at work which produces music rich in wit and sentiment. Hagai Shaham, a regular of this series and a master of the 19th-century virtuoso idiom, performs these works with his usual panache, ably accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins.

Howard Shelley’s series of Clementi’s Piano Sonatas has received the highest critical acclaim and reawoken interest in this important body of piano music. Today, the composer has been overshadowed by his great rivals; but, as this unique series has shown, the best of his sonatas can equal Mozart and Haydn and were clearly a huge influence on the young Beethoven. This sixth and final volume contains some of the most complex, virtuosic and large-scale works that Clementi wrote for the keyboard, written for performance in London concert halls, by the great pianists of the day, for a fashionable and discerning audience.

These CDs present all of Beethoven's music for string trio, even including the alternative 'trio' (Hess 28) of the Scherzo movement of Op 9 No 1. Although these works bear early opus numbers they should not be regarded as anything other than first-class, mature Beethoven. They are fine, absorbing pieces, not as well known as they should be—a state of affairs which these wonderful CDs should do much to rectify.

Without a doubt, Locatelli’s L’Arte del Violino (‘The Art of the Violin’), printed in Amsterdam in 1733, was one of the most influential musical publications of the early eighteenth century. It is a collection of twelve concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo, with a ‘capriccio’ for unaccompanied violin inserted into the first and last movements of each concerto as a sort of cadenza. 'Elizabeth Wallfisch ... meets Locatelli's formidable challenges with splendid brio ... she imparts a lilting gaiety to the music and negotiates the Capriccios with breathtaking finesse. All lovers of Baroque violin will want this release, but its cache of bright, lively music and brilliant playing deserves the widest audience' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide)

Holst’s The Planets requires no introduction. His inspiration for the piece came from hearing live performances of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in 1913, and Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra in 1914. These two seminal 20th century works left a strong impression on Holst. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has a long association with The Planets. The Orchestra has recorded it under Principal Conductors Adrian Boult (twice in 1953 and 1978, with Boult also giving the first ever performance in 1918) and Sir Georg Solti, then twice in 1970 with Bernard Haitink and film composer Bernard Hermann. Vladimir Jurowski continues the association with this recording. What can clearly be heard in this interpretation is the influence of the Boult recordings as well as the recordings Holst himself made conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the 1920s. The tempi are well-chosen, effectively emphasising the drama and creating a performance that resonated strongly with the concert audience, who left feeling that they had been part of a very special musical event.

The Mariinsky label’s first recording of an opera by Wagner features an exceptional international cast led by René Pape, Gary Lehman and Violeta Urmana. The Mariinsky Theatre has a long association with Wagner’s music. The composer himself conducted at the Theatre, which in 1863 was the location of the first performance of music from his as yet unstaged Ring Cycle. Over the past decade Valery Gergiev has become a frequent conductor of Wagner’s operas, establishing a formidable reputation in the repertoire, although remarkably this is his first recording of the composer’s operas. The recording took place between 5 and 13 June 2009 at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg, incorporating live concert performances. Parsifal will be the fourth opera on the Mariinsky label. Previous releases have included Shostakovich’s The Nose, Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer and Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, which have collected numerous international awards. The Nose, the label’s debut release, also received two Grammy Award nominations.
View two mini-documentaries and interviews with Mariinsky's Parsifal cast.

1853: three artists struck up a mutual friendship. Schumann, the German Romantic, was living out his final moments of creativity before sinking into madness. Clara, his admired pianist wife, had already penned more than twenty works of her own. The ambitious young composer Brahms, on the advice of his friend Joseph Joachim, left the northern mists to come and knock on the Schumanns’ door and meet Robert, whom he venerated. Pianist Clair Desert explores this unique musical and emotional bond on an album that includes Clara Schumann's and Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann.

In the unusual balance between vocal registers which is characteristic of Vivaldian opera, the tenor voice occupies a privileged place. At a time when the castratos were triumphing everywhere, the prete rosso, independent artist and shrewd manager that he was, soon distanced himself from their ruinous domination of the contemporary operatic scene, notably by refusing to limit the tenor voice to the smallest share of the musical and dramatic interest. He made this natural voice a key element in his operas, often going so far as to employ two tenors in a single work or give one the title role. This tendency can be seen right from his operatic debut, and was to prompt him to embark from 1715 onwards on a veritable ‘hunt for tenors’ that was to continue until the end of his career. As a result he was able to engage, and often to discover, the most brilliant contemporary representatives of this vocal register. Brisbane-born tenor Topi Lehtipuu explores Vivaldi's finest music for the tenor voice with a splendid selection of arias from 11 operas.

The arrival of Gluck in Paris (1774) coincided with a renewal of the vocal aesthetic of the Opéra’s resident company. At the instigation of a group of exceptional artists, the French school of singing moved towards a technique which, to a much greater extent than is commonly thought, anticipated the power and projection of the Wagnerian and Verdian roles of the following century. In fact it was this period that saw the birth of the typology of Romantic ‘grand opera’ to come, which renounced coloratura to give pride of place to vocal power. After the 1850s, the taste for coloratura pyrotechnics (still in evidence in Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète, written for Pauline Viardot) gradually died out. From that time on, the mezzo-soprano voice found its place in every repertoire. It was even subdivided into several categories, becoming ‘light’ (Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), ‘coloratura’ (in Auber’s Zerline), ‘lyric’ (Margared in Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys), even ‘dramatic’ at the Opéra (Dalila in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila). The bravura pieces selected for 'Ne me refuse pas' (a phrase taken from the title-track aria of Massenet's Hérodiade) are perfectly suited to the strong voice and personality of French-Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, who performs roles by Berlioz, Debussy, Gluck, Handel, Honegger, Monteverdi, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Vivaldi and Wagner in the world’s leading opera houses. In 2008, Naïve released a recording of Vivaldi sacred works with Philippe Jaroussky, in which she sings the famous Stabat Mater. This was followed last year by a recital of Schumann songs with the pianist Daniel Blumenthal and a programme of Vivaldi arias with the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

Ravel himself has left us eloquent testimony on the subject of what is one of the most frequently played piano concertos of the twentieth century. He stated in an interview that the work was ‘a concerto in the strictest sense of the term. I mean that it is written in exactly the same spirit as those of Mozart and Saint-Saëns. In my opinion, the music of a concerto can be gay and brilliant and it is unnecessary for it to aspire to profundity or aim at dramatic effects.’ The G major Concerto is indeed a vital, sparklingly virtuosic work whose formal model is the eighteenth-century divertissement, a genre generally characterised by life-affirming optimism. A thoroughly modern virtuosity is the dominant characteristic of long stretches of the concluding Allegro tempestoso, a movement that might very well adopt as its motto the title of a novel by Theodor Fontane: Irrungen, Wirrungen ('Aberrations and confusions'). As if in a  kaleidoscope which Ravel once held in his hand, the timbres, forms and figures are shaken up until they reach a point of repose where they are able to gather their wits. From this develops the second theme, a simple and beautiful Mussorgskian lullaby touching in its lyricism, which, as it grows more intense and assertive, re-establishes the balance among the jumbled elements of the movement’s sound-world. Anna Vinnitskaya has won several international prizes, most notably first prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels in 2007 and the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in 2008.

A new Christmas series of beautifully presented 3- and 4-CD boxed sets from Naïve's Vivaldi Edition and Baroque Voices series. Other titles include a 3-CD collection of Beethoven's complete Piano Concertos with François-Fréderic Guy as soloist, and a choral music trilogy from Accentus featuring the Fauré Requiem and the Christmas album, Nuits sacrées.

John Taverner (1490-1545) and William Byrd (1540-1623), born a generation apart, both hailed from Lincolnshire and left a collection of choral works that rank (with those of Thomas Tallis) among the finest of their age, or indeed any other. Both men worked in turbulent times – the older Taverner during the reign of Henry VII as Informator Choristarum at Cardinal College, Oxford, where Taverner recruited 16 boys and 12 men for the choir. He fell foul of the authorities, arrested for his Lutheran beliefs. Cardinal Wolsey was lenient towards him, but the Cardinal’s fall caused Taverner to resign in 1530. The college was renamed Christ’s Church by Henry VIII. William Byrd lived through even more febrile and dangerous political times – the rapid succession of monarchs from the Protestant Edward VI, to the Roman Catholic ‘Bloody’ Mary I, followed by the Protestant Elizabeth I – made life a tightrope walk for any official. Byrd was a devout Roman Catholic but escaped arrest, possibly due to his close Royal connections. He became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royall, and with some cunning concern for political diplomacy as well as renown he composed music for the Anglican Church, while producing music for private use by Roman Catholics. These CDs contain the three masses Byrd composed for 3, 4 and 5 voices, and Taverner’s great Mass of the Western Wind. ‘The performance of the Mass is a beautiful example of the sensitive and deeply musical singing that we have come to expect from King’s College Choir. There is admirable definition in the individual parts, and anoverall blend of tone that comes more from perfect internal matching of tone-colour…This is spiritual refreshment indeed’. -Gramophone (Byrd Mass for 5 voices)

For many years Rachmaninov’s symphonic output was neglected, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Second of his three symphonies was heard in its original uncut version. Slowly the realisation that this work and the masterful Third Symphony and Symphonic Dances were indeed able to stand comparison with the best of the symphonic repertoire finally dawned. They are now standard repertoire for most of the major orchestras, and as popular as the piano concertos. The Philadelphia Orchestra was Rachmaninov’s favourite, and the sound for which it became famous under Leopold Stokowski suits his music well. These recordings were praised for their sound upon release in the 1990s, and Charles Dutoit captures the ‘Philadelphia Sound’ admirably. Rachmaninov’s own recording of the Third symphony was made with this orchestra, who premiered it under Stokowski in 1936. ‘Compared with other versions, Dutoit’s performance of The Bells is remarkable for subtle pianissimos and half tones rather than dramatic bite…helped by the dynamic range of the atmospheric recording, it is an impressive performance.’ -Gramophone, August 1994

Dating from 1969 to 1973, these recordings were acclaimed by the critics at the time, and are still considered benchmark interpretations even in this age of period practice. Henryk Szeryng was born in 1918 in Warsaw, the son of a pianist mother and a wealthy industrialist father. By the age of 9 he had sufficient skill on the violin to play the Mendelssohn concerto for Huberman – a close friend of the family. Huberman recommended that the boy study with Flesch, who encouraged his pupils to establish their own musical personality upon their  performances. In 1933, Szeryng's big break came in a performance of the Beethoven concerto with Bruno Walter in Warsaw. Further study in Paris cemented his admiration for the French Violin School. ‘They don’t attack the violin...they treat it like a human being,’ he once remarked. He became friends with Enescu and Thibaud, and studied with Nadia Boulanger. Among his great recordings are the complete solo Sonatas and Partitas of Bach, the great concertos from Bach to Bartók and these recordings of the Mozart Sonatas with Ingrid Haebler. His playing is noble in style, almost aristocratic, and he adhered to the text – everything is scrupulously prepared and executed. ‘There is taste, humour and brilliance in these performances…a superlative record.’  -Gramophone

Count Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692-1766) was a nobleman, and Dutch ambassador of the United Provinces to Paris and Cologne in the 1740s. He was also a remarkably skilled amateur musician and composer. Like many wealthy men of the period who had similar musical gifts – Albinoni and Marcello for example – he published his music under a false name as the social standing of musicians and composers was beneath his. For many years the Concerti Armonici on this CD were by an unknown composer, later credited to Handel and Pergolesi, among others. Only in 1979 did it become possible to attribute these concertos with certainty to Wassenaer. His compositions are up-to-the-minute in terms of fashionable musical styles of the time, and, perhaps a result of his travels as a diplomat, have a distinctly Italianate sound. Corelli is especially detectable, with a fondness for sensuality, lyricism and contrasts.

Leopold Stokowski was a close friend and champion to many composers, especially the Russians exiled in the USA after the Revolution, chief among them Stravinsky and Rachmaninov. The US premiere of The Rite of Spring was conducted by Stokowski, and in 1920 the US premiere of Rachmaninov’s choral symphony The Bells was given by Stokowski, who together with the composer had premiered the revised version of the first Piano Concerto. It was natural that when Rachmaninov completed his Third Symphony in 1935, Stokowski would give the premiere, which took place on 6 November 1936. Although the work is the composer’s orchestral masterpiece, it was met with a lukewarm reception at the time, and Stokowski never conducted it again in public. However, at the age of 93 Stokowski returned to the studio, and to his friend’s Third Symphony with an orchestra of hand-picked London musicians. The recording is a remarkable achievement. Stokowski proved that he had new things to say about this masterpiece, and the performance bristles with excitement and tension.

Leopold Stokowski was born plain Leo Stokes in the East End of London in 1882, and became one of the 20th century’s greatest conductors. He had a huge personality and an eye for the ladies – it was said that his accent moved further east (Russia) the further west (US) he travelled, and it always ensured that he was surrounded by glamorous female admirers: his second wife (of three) was the heiress and designer Gloria Vanderbilt. He was an outstanding musician, studying at the Royal College of Music, Paris Conservatoire, and Munich Conservatory, and was a superb organist with positions in London and New York. In London in 1905 he was sponsored by Sir Henry Wood, and soon had his own orchestra, the new Cincinnati Symphony. After three years he had the top job at the Philadelphia Orchestra. His musical interests were wide – from movies (he acted in two films), where he brilliantly selected and adapted Bach, Dukas, Beethoven and Stravinsky to Walt Disney’s cartoon masterpiece Fantasia, to working with composers such as Berg, Rachmaninov, Schoenberg, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams and Ives. Charles Ives’s notoriously complex Fourth Symphony received its premiere in 1965 under the baton of an 83-year-old Stokowski. This recording captures the magic of the Stokowski sound, his meticulous attention to detail, and his skill as an arranger. The Tallis Fantasia was a work he championed from 1926, and his support for the composer continued up to Vaughan Williams’ death in 1958 with the American premiere of the Ninth Symphony. The Dvořák Serenade on this CD was Stokowski’s first recording (at the age of 93) of the work.

This new recording features conductor Sakari Oramo and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with two Italian masterpieces by the late-Romantic composer Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936). The symphonic poem Fontane di Roma remains one of Respighi’s most popular works and forms part of his Roman Trilogy. Each movement depicts one of Rome’s fountains during different periods of the day and night, while the work as a whole showcases the centuries-old Italian marriage of culture, art, and worldly pleasure. The discovery piece on this disc, the monumental Concerto ‘in the Mixolydian mode’, deserves more widespread introduction into the standard repertoire; its title refers to the work’s majestic main theme, derived from medieval plainchant. This Concerto's champion, star pianist Olli Mustonen, has been hailed by The Sunday Times as 'a living dream of pianism, having broken through an expressive barrier that other players do not know exists'. Mustonen performed in Melbourne in 2010 and returns next year for more concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Two of Einojuhani Rautavaara's most enthralling and mystical orchestral works, championed here in their definitive interpretations and recorded in Rautavaara's presence. The Third Piano Concerto, 'Gift of Dreams', was commissioned in 1998 by Sydney Symphony's Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Vladimir Ashkenazy, who is the piano soloist and conductor on this disc. Leif Segerstam’s 1995 premiere recording of Angel of Light (Symphony No. 7) became an international bestseller and spurred Rautavaara to considerable international fame. The two classic recordings are brought together here for the first time, accompanied by a complete Ondine 2010 catalogue in full colour to celebrate the intrepid Finnish label's 25th anniversary. All at a budget price.

Richard Strauss’s most popular opera mixes comedy and philosophy with farce and romance, as audiences will see later this year with Opera Australia's production of Der Rosenkavalier. Exceptional singing from Anna Tomowa-Sintow (The Marschallin) is perfectly complemented by Kurt Moll’s Baron Ochs, Ann Murray’s Octavian and Barbara Bonney’s Sophie, with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Andrew Davis. Packaged in an attractive clam-shell box. Recorded at the Royal Opera House, London, 3 March 1995.

Following their recent performances in Australia, The Brodsky Quartet turn to 5 composers who have consistently burst through musical barriers in favour of freedom of expression, including one of Gershwin’s few chamber pieces. The Brodskys are renowned for pioneering work with diverse artists and interesting quartet repertoire: 'The Brodsky Quartet’s musical explorations know no limits.' -Gramophone

Renowned British tenor James Gilchrist presents his second recording for Orchid Classics: Schwanengesang ('Swan Song'), Schubert’s final song cycle, coupled with Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte ('To the Distant Beloved'), widely considered to be the first song cycle ever written. The ACO and Teddy Tahu Rhodes perform An die ferne Geliebte to open their 2011 season. Gilchrist is one of Britain’s most popular and sought after singers. This is the first time he has recorded Schwanengesang, a wonderful and much-awaited addition to his extensive discography. Gramophone advertising will support this release. Gilchrist has also recorded Die Winterreisefor release in 2011. 'He is now unsurpassed amongst lyric tenors in sweetness and technical security, and for his musical intelligence.' -The Independent

There are very few recordings available of both Bartok concertos on one disc. Young star violinist and Sydney Symphony favourite Arabella Steinbacher presents them here following her 2010 Grammophone Editor's Choice for Dvořák and Szymanowski Violin Concertos (PTC5186353). 'For PentaTone, this is goodbye Julia Fischer, hello Arabella Steinbacher...Music fans may already know her discs for Orfeo and on this evidence - sensitive, alert performances - she's top class.' -Gramophone.

'It was that single minute that decided everything. When the last notes of Bruckner's Eighth had died away at the end of Christian Thielemann's magnificent guest performance as conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle, a silence that enfolded hundreds lasted an endless minute before the applause broke out like a thunderstorm. In precisely that minute of silence for the beauty of music in the Semperoper on September 13, Thielemann probably made his decision to come to Dresden as principal conductor'. (Die Zeit)

For You is a new opera that brings together the music of composer and BBC Radio 3 presenter Michael Berkeley and Booker prize-winning author Ian McEwan. This gripping tale of love, lust and obsession centers on the composer and prodigious womanizer Charles Frieth (Alan Opie), and the tragic consequences that his selfish actions cause him and those around him. Although essentially dark, there are moments of irony, wit, and humour throughout the opera. Soaring vocal lines, intricate ensemble pieces, and imaginative instrumental writing make this an electrifying work. Masterly performed by Music Theatre Wales, directed by Michael Rafferty. The Opera has had great success from its initial performances in Wales and the Royal Opera House provoking great reviews. 'For You is a dark opera worth waiting for.' (Evening Standard), '... a dazzling and taut chamber piece which gives passionate way to Bergian lyricism while referencing both Britten and Richard Strauss in its airy, word-driven vocal lines.' (The Independent)

Francis Poulenc is now considered to be among the most important composers of choral music of the 20th century. Yet his early career reveals no trace of the dazzling and idiosyncratic unaccompanied choral textures so abundantly produced in the second half of his life. This new collection of Poulenc's choral works is centered on his masterwork, the Figure Humaine. Even though it is only 20 minutes in length, the work is a supreme test of stamina, technical agility, range, aural skill and musicianship. The professional chamber choir Tenebrae (directed by former King's Singer Nigel Short) are more than capable of tackling this repertoire, and this disc promises to provide a new benchmark in interpretations of the work.

Paths of Song is a new collection of works by leading Welsh contemporary composer John Metcalf. They explore a variety of engaging themes and ideas, with the works 'Paths of Song' and 'Mapping Wales' based on concepts of travel and journey in and around the composer’s homeland. As well as contributions from a number of talented performers and ensembles, these works feature a key role for harpist Eleanor Turner (soloist and member of 4 girls 4 harps), who provides some truly standout performances. This is Signum’s second release with composer John Metcalf, following 2007’s In Time of Daffodils with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (SIGCD103): 'It's difficult not to be charmed ... The strength of Metcalf's score lies in its horse-sure sense of shaping over an extended, one-movement span and his creative handling of the orchestra …' (Gramophone)

J.S. Bach’s Passions have been said to employ the word with more than one meaning – as well as telling the story of Christ’s sacrifice, they are simultaneously a celebration of human feeling in the joy and suffering of man’s pilgrimage on earth. The expert early music chamber orchestra Yorkshire Baroque Soloists bring all of these feelings to life in a dramatic and resonant performance of Bach’s Passio Secundum Johannem (St John Passion). Joined for this recording by the excellent Charles Daniels, Stephen Varcoe and Stephan Loges, the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists have been a leading light in the world of Early Music performance since their formation in 1973.

In 1612, Prince Henry Frederick, son of James I and heir to the thrones of England and Scotland, died from a suspected bout of Typhoid Fever. His untimely death inspired a massive outpouring of artistic tributes in both verse and music, reflecting the mood of a nation mourning the loss of this popular future king at just 18 years of age. This is the second disc from early music consort group Gallicantus, joined this time by lutenist Elizabeth Kenny to perform works of the early 17th century by a variety of composers. Their performances reflect the precision of Tenebrae, combined with a passion and commitment to crafting exemplary interpretations of the music they love. Reviews for the groups 2009 disc, Hymns, Psalms and Lamentations: Sacred Music by Robert White (SIGCD134): 'Taste the final amens in Exaudiat te, Dominus, where imitative exchanges spiral in ecstasy. Impassioned, exciting music.' (The Times). 'What an outstanding disc … never once is there a loss of clarity, a hint of muddiness.' (Gramophone)

Prayers for Mankind celebrates the life and writings of Father Alexander Men, a Russian Orthodox Christian priest who, whilst being little known outside of his home country during his lifetime, has come to be hailed as a saint and martyr by thousands all over the world. 2010 marks the anniversary of what would have been his 85th Birthday, as well as 20 years since his brutal assassination on the way to a Sunday morning service. Following years of religious suppression under the communist regime, Father Alexander Men emerged as a leading Christian and humanitarian figure in Russia, through radio and TV broadcasts and his prolific written works. These prayers, set by Russian composer Alexander Levine, capture the beauty and humanity of Men’s view of the world, and is brought vividly to life by Nigel Short’s professional chamber choir Tenebrae.

Soli Deo Gloria is delighted to release Bach Pilgrimage Volume 12 - Cantatas for the 22nd and 23rd Sundays after trinity.  The soloists include James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey and Joanne Lunn. The highlight of this album is Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme ('Sleepers, wake') – one of Bach’s best known cantatas, and one that has long been part of the Monteverdi Choir’s repertoire. It is described as 'a cantata without weaknesses, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order'.  Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht ('I, wretched man, I slave to sin') is Bach’s only cantata for solo tenor still in existence, sung movingly here by James Gilchrist. Of three cantatas on the parable of the unjust steward (BWV 55, 89, 115), Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit ('Prepare yourself, my soul') is considered to stand out for its subtle instrumental writing and spellbinding arias, which evoke the yearning of the soul for divine mercy. The recording in Tooting (CD1) is the only one in the entire series that wasn’t recorded live: as the original concert took place in Eton Chapel, right under the Heathrow Airport flight path, the choir recreated the same conditions in a quieter place.

'One of the most glorious countertenor voices in the world today' (The Independent). Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Best Young Artist 2009, countertenor Iestyn Davies demonstrated that he is the outstanding singer of his generation. His expressiveness of tone, intensity of sound and musicianship were brought to bear in concert, and, of course, in opera, where his natural sense of drama stole many a show and, significantly, brought the spotlight back to the countertenor voice. Iestyn Davies emerged as one of the country’s leading countertenors following his prize in the London Handel Singing Competition in 2004, only shortly after completing his studies at St John’s College, Cambridge as a choral scholar. He was immediately identified as an exciting operatic prospect, and his roles soon included Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Zurich Opera with Harnoncourt), Corrado in Vivaldi’s Griselda (his recording debut on Naive - Ensemble Matheus with Spinosi), and Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha (Welsh National Opera). This recital was part of the Wigmore Hall's ongoing 'Art of the Countenor' series, which also featured Andreas Scholl and Bejun Mehta.

This film is about a very special moment in the film composer and cult figure's artistic life. Composing with innovative minimalism for memorable films as The Draughtsman’s Contract, Man on Wire, and most famously for Jane Campion’s The Piano,he has reached an international audience. But now, Michael Nyman is about to become a filmmaker himself. Featuring unprecedented access to the composer and his working life, this documentary shows one of the great composers of our time in all his diversity and endlessm energy. From London to Berlin, in Mexico, Poland, the Netherlands and Portugal, the film is also a journey through the today's musical landscape. It shows Nyman the performer, in his concerts with The Michael Nyman Band and live collaborations with other internationally known musicians or orchestras. But throughout the journey, we discover Nyman’s increasing passion for filming and photography. Witnessing the development of Nyman’s visual works from the very first moment of inspiration, this film gives a unique insight into Michael Nyman’s very personal views, his thoughts and emotions; his world.

Gian Carlo Menotti was one of the most important 20th-century composers of opera working in the United States. For his opera The Consul he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. This unique studio recording from the early years of television is performed by an extraordinary cast featuring Melitta Muszely, Eberhard Waechter, Res Fischer and Hilde Konetzni. The plot of the politically charged drama takes place in Europe of the 1950s. The Orchestra of the Wiener Volksoper is conducted by Franz Bauer-Theussl. An important document of operatic and film history, this restored recording is available on DVD for the first time.

The first fully-staged productions of the LA Opera House ground-breaking Recovered Voices project, highlighting the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. A double bill of one-act operas: Viktor Ullmann’s Der zerbrochene Krug, taken from a comedy by the Romantic German poet Heinrich von Kleist, and Alexander Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, based on Oscar Wilde’s powerful tragedy The Birthday of the Infanta. The music of Zemlinsky and Ullmann remained buried for decades in the wake of the destruction wrought by the policies of the Nazi regime. Dozens of composers and hundreds of compositions are still largely unknown to musicians and lovers of classical music and opera. 'Full recognition of their works and genius still awaits Alexander Zemlinsky and Viktor Ullmann, more than sixty-five years after their deaths. Their works, in their very different ways, are powerful, vibrant, life-affirming and tragic in turn. They pulsate with the complexity of the human condition. Their lives and personal histories were tragic, but their music transcends it all. It is for us to appreciate their story in its full historic and artistic context.' James Conlon

The programme of this concert, recorded at one of Austria‘s finest baroque monasteries, is dedicated to the works which Johann Sebastian Bach wrote for Advent, two of his finest cantatas and his Magnificat. The performances of these three works are excellent. Not only are the choir and orchestra of the quality one expects from a conductor such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, but the soloists including Christine Schäfer and Ian Bostridge are all top-notch as well. A must-have disc for collectors of Bach DVDs.

Humperdinck‘s opera is steeped in the guileless world of folksong:
the children‘s songs and dances, the idyllic forest scenes, the supernatural material and the central thematic chorale are all rooted in German traditional music. Frank Corsaro’s production for Zurich Opera was designed by the legendary Maurice Sendak. They have worked together on numerous highly-acclaimed opera stagings, all noted for their striking visual impact. Sendak is renowned world-wide for his classic children’s books. His vivid, magical and often disturbing imagery is perfect for the fairy-tale world of Hänsel und Gretel. He expands the Witch’s gingerbread cottage into an entire farmyard of sweetmeats, complete with windmill. The house has a life of its own, with menacing, glowing eyes, which also dominate the stage during the ‘Witch’s Ride’ interlude. This production of Humperdinck’s endearing and musically adroit opera will entrance adults and children alike.

Swan Lake is undoubtedly the most successful ballet of all time, the epitome of classical dance. Together with The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty, it makes up the great trio of classical ballets set to Tchaikovsky’s music. Arthaus presents a DVD of the 2004 Teatro alla Scala production of Swan Lake. Two classical ballet world stars take the lead roles: The young prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova – the most sought-after representative of the Russian style - as Odette / Odile and Roberto Bolle, the La Scala star dancer and most important ambassador of today’s Italian Ballet. Directed by Florence Clerc from Paris and Frédéric Olivieri, Artistic Director with the La Scala Ballet, the Milan staging combines the best of both worlds in ballet: It brings the Russian classical school together with the history of choreographic adaptation in the West. The version presented on this DVD is based on the choreography of Swan Lake which in itself has become a classic:
The Burmeister choreography of the 1953 production at the Moscow Academic Music Theater, which first came to the West as Lac des cygnes at the Opéra in Paris in the 1950s, and has since been adapted numerous times.

This DVD combines a number of operatic highlights: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly - the composer’s self-proclaimed favourite work and certainly one of the most beloved operas in the repertoire - is brought to life at the world-famous Arena di Verona. This opulent production, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, is presented by a cast of excellent singer-actors and conducted by long-established Arena di Verona conductor Daniel Oren, with all the splendour that Puccini's sumptuous score demands. Fiorenza Cedolins is a sought after Butterfly and her Pinkerton is played by the renowned tenor Marcello Giordani.

Arthaus presents a truly new way of looking at La clemenza di Tito with this famous and star-studded production from the Salzburg Festival 2003. Here Nikolaus Harnoncourt, renowned for his analytical approach to the search for the core of the music, interprets Mozart’s last opera. Harnoncourt identifies with Mozart’s score as both an extremely knowledgeable musician and a conductor who invariably plays an active part in helping to shape the drama. Together with the Vienna Philharmonic, he savours the miracles of Mozart’s late work, bringing out its instrumental colours and effects and at the same time stimulating his singers while proving a solicitous accompanist. Martin Kušej’s production emphasizes the darker sides of the piece, exploring the opera’s basic archetypal patterns while at the same time interpreting it as a highly topical and – in the truest sense of the term – timeless political and human power game. His ability to bring this concept across through every last detail of the characterization reflects the demand to provide new insights into Mozart’s works that, in Salzburg more than anywhere else, is incumbent upon interpreters. The suggestive power of this performance however, is also due to an ensemble that was truly worthy of a festival appearance. As one critic wrote, six hand-picked artists 'brought to their parts both plenty of character and a flawless technique'.

Arthaus presents a staging of Jenůfa sung in the original Czech language, directed by the French-Austrian Olivier Tambosi. For Janáček, opera was a vehicle for describing reality, and he pushed this idea to the point of fashioning a new theory of verismo. Its basis was that the two major strands, music and drama, were to be linked indivisibly in his operas. Tambosi takes up the challenge in a Jenůfa that is realistic, clear and direct in its exposition of the characters’ feelings. He also makes key motifs in the work visible through symbolic elements on stage. The haunting effect is brought to life admirably by a cast of outstanding singer-actors. The result is a Jenůfa of immediately accessible emotions, explicit and more brutal than other stagings of the opera.

One of today’s most sought-after performers, the Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner brings his love of Beethoven and Chopin to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and presents very personal interpretations of two important sonatas and two études. His rare talent was spotted by Martha Argerich, thanks to whom he was awarded a grant for further study in Argentina and Europe. He is now established as one of the most remarkable pianists of his generation.

These magnificent interpretations of three Mendelssohn works – two orchestral and one chamber – are given by the phenomenally talented Chinese pianist Yuja Wang and other young performers. Praised in BBC Music Magazine for her ‘keen intelligence’ and ‘staggering technique’, Yuja Wang has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as ‘the sort of musician whose combination of talents appears in the world only rarely’. The Verbier Festival Orchestra consists of musicians hand-picked from every part of the world. Here they are directed by the doyen of German Mendelssohn conductors, Kurt Masur.

A joyful celebration welcoming the New Year, this Gala from Berlin presents the world-renowned Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, in Carl Orff’s famous Carmina Burana, an intensely dramatic cantata that remains one of the most widely performed works from the twentieth century. With an exceptional vocal line-up – soprano Sally Matthews, tenor Lawrence Brownlee and baritone Christian Gerhaher – this is an energetic and thrilling performance. Beethoven’s Leonore No. 3 overture and Handel’s supreme ‘Hallelujah’ Chorus are also included.

Introducing Masterpieces of Classical Music is an informative and entertaining guide to some of the most important symphonic works of music history. As well as featuring a complete concert performance, it also includes an insightful documentary, in which an expert presenter guides the viewer through the structure of the music. Renowned scholar Wulf Konold discusses Beethoven’s life and the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Fifth Symphony. Footage of the composer’s birthplace in Bonn, quotations from his contemporaries, as well as plentiful musical examples also help to bring the creation of this extraordinary masterpiece vividly to life.

Well-known author and journalist Habakuk Traber discusses Bruckner’s life and the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Eighth Symphony. Footage of Bruckner’s birthplace in Austria, quotations from contemporaries, as well as plentiful musical examples also help to bring this monumental masterpiece vividly to life.

Well-known scholar Jeremy Barham discusses Mahler’s life and the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Fifth Symphony. Footage of the beautiful Wörthersee in Austria (where Mahler wrote the symphony), quotations from contemporaries, as well as plentiful musical examples all help to illuminate the meaning of this enigmatic masterpiece.

Almost exactly twenty years ago, two of the most impressive figures from the world of classical music appeared with one of its most famous orchestras at the Philharmonie in Berlin: Kurt Sanderling, the grand gentleman of the German Romantic school, conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in performances of Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto in G minor and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony in F minor. The soloist was the gifted pianist Yefim Bronfman. It was a unique encounter on the highest musical level, and thanks to the brilliance, expressive power and sheer musical delight of both artists it revealed a degree of timeless perfection that turned this concert into a precious jewel among performances for connoisseurs and music lovers alike.

May morning in Oxford, and the Berliner Philharmonic joins in the celebratory mood abroad in the university city’s medieval streets with this concert in Sir Christopher Wren’s glorious Sheldonian Theatre. For 20 years, the Berlin Phil have given a May Day concert in one of Europe’s great historic cities, and here, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, the Berlin players thrill the Oxford audience with the sonorous Prelude to Act III of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, a deeply-felt account of Elgar’s autumnal Cello Concerto by the young American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and a rousing performance of Brahms’s life-affirming First Symphony.

Exactly 150 years after the birth of the brilliant composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, a select band of artists gathered in his birthplace, Kalište, to honour his creative talent in a very special way. Under the direction of the Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck and accompanied by the internationally acclaimed Mahler Chamber Orchestra, three world-famous soloists came to pay tribute to Mahler at a gala concert: Thomas Hampson, Anne Sofie von Otter and Marita Sølberg. The result was an unforgettable summer evening of classical music made up of outstanding excerpts from Mahler’s Second Symphony and his best-known orchestral songs, performed on an impressive open-air stage against the backdrop of an idyllic natural setting – it was, in short, a worthy tribute to the great Gustav Mahler.

Twenty-nine of the world’s best young pianists converged in Fort Worth, Texas in May 2009 for a once in a lifetime chance at gold in the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Contest. Emmy-winning director Peter Rosen follows these distinctive personalities during a rigorous three-week competition – through intense rehearsals, introspective moments, preconcert rituals, and endearing celebrations. Hailing from 14 countries, competitors were welcomed with Texas-sized hospitality by their host families and immersed in a city best characterized by 'Cowboys and Culture.' With the performances of Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven, and Rachmaninov and other piano masterpieces setting the impassioned tone, the result is an intricate inside view into the world’s most prestigious piano competition and a heartwarming story that proves to be a momentous Surprise in Texas.

BONUS: Concert excerpts of the medalists: Nobuyuki Tsujii (Gold Medal): Liszt La Campanella, Hungarian Rhapsody; Haochen Zhang (Bronze Medal): Stravinsky Three Movements from Petrushka; Yeol Eum Son (Silver Medal): Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole.

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind took place over 3000 years ago: the transition from polytheism to monotheism through the prophet Moses. God revealed himself directly to Moses, instructing him in absolute truth. Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land and escaping from Egyptian slavery. Moses came to embody the relationship between the human and divine truth. God’s call to Moses presented a new idea that exploded all previous religious concepts: ‘One God – unique, eternal, intangible, inconceivable’. Moses understands this concept, but is unable to express it, and therefore God appoints Moses’ brother Aaron as his spokesman. They are bound to fail: Aaron can only approach sharing the idea by compromising its meaning, whilst Moses is left to search fruitlessly for 'the word I lack …' When Arnold Schönberg composed what he regarded as the dramatisation of his religious beliefs, he felt as though he was himself a Moses of the art world. 'Endowed with a sense of mission', Schönberg continually reflected on how 'to make the unfathomable, fathomable'. A spectacular staging by Willy Decker - A new reference recording!

This amazing DVD-Box will be released in October 2010 in a limited edition. The awe-inspiring surroundings of the 1st-century Roman quarry at St Margarethen in eastern Austria provide the perfect backdrop for these thrilling live performances of opera at its grandest. All the splendour of ancient Egypt and Babylon is on display for Verdi’s spectacular Aida and Nabucco, while only open-air performance can truly convey the heat and dust of the Seville in which the tragedy of Carmen is played out. The Paris Opera conjures the moneyed, heartless society that condemns the heroine of Verdi’s La Traviata to her poignant fate.

This amazing DVD-Box will be released in October 2010 in a limited edition. The greatest names in opera take to the stage for these galas from three musical centres that have come to stand as symbols of rebirth – Vienna, Berlin and Dresden. Vienna celebrates the 50th anniversary of the State Opera House’s reopening with music of humanity and rejoicing from Rosenkavalier to Fidelio, international stars fill the Dresden night with the sounds of operatic favourites, and Claudio Abbado conducts a New Year’s Eve tribute to Verdi in Berlin, closing with the life-affirming fugue that brings the curtain down on the master’s last opera, Falstaff.

This amazing DVD-Box will be released in October 2010 in a limited edition. Definitive performances of five of the great masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire, combined with unmissable documentary introductions. Legendary pianist Martha Argerich brings her unique intensity to Schumann’s lyrical Piano Concerto, while violinist Gil Shaham dazzles in Brahms, and the greatest German orchestras from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig are heard under such illustrious names as Abbado and Chailly. Perfect for DVD is Strauss’s gargantuan Alpine Symphony, which needs to be seen as much as heard, and adding depth to the experience are the authoritative and insightful films that explore the background to each work.

Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s Hollywood-style production updates this Wild West story to the capitalist culture of Wall Street, perfectly reflecting Puccini’s innovatory spirit. In a new angle on the age-old love triangle theme, corrupt Sheriff Jack Rance (Lucio Gallo) and charismatic criminal Dick Johnson (Zoran Todorovich) vie for the love of glamorous blonde and devout Christian Minnie (Eva-Maria Westbroek), finding her way in a man’s world. Carlo Rizzi’s idiomatic conducting draws excellent singing from the large cast and fine playing from The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound. Anyone who enjoyed Opera Australia's 2010 production of La Fanciulla will delight in this offering from the Netherlands Opera.

Based on Gogol’s fantastical and comic story of the Devil’s antics on Christmas Eve, this magical blend of opera and ballet is brought to vivid life in Francesca Zambello’s colourful production. Magnificent set designs (Mikhail Mokrov) and costumes (Tatiana Noginova), and an excellent, largely Russian cast provide authenticity. Splendid dancing by The Royal Ballet and Cossack dancers completes the spectacle. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

MacMillan’s vision has been vital in shaping The Royal Ballet’s style and repertory, and what better way to appreciate his art than with this rare chance to experience three contrasting works in a single performance. Abstract, dramatic, humorous – this programme gives a wonderfully varied introduction not just to MacMillan’s work but to the beauty and dramatic power of ballet itself. Concerto, to Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, contrasts moments of exuberance and elegiac reflection. The Judas Tree places a single woman among 13 men to enact a harrowing event that is recognisably contemporary but with biblical overtones. Elite Syncopations completes the programme with a sparkling evocation of a dance hall that brings ragtime rhythms to the dance, and a ragtime band to the stage.

TDK presents three ballet recordings of outstanding productions staged at the Opèra national de Paris, one of the world’s most famous opera houses. The DVD set features Paquita by Edouard Delvedez & Ludwig Minkus, Notre-Dame de Paris by Maurice Jarre and Le jeune homme et la mort by J.S. Bach and Carmen by Georges Bizet.