15 CDs for the price of 4. Widely regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Bach's music today, Masaaki Suzuki has made his name both as the artistic director of the Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) and as a performer on the harpsichord and the organ. Much interest has been focused on the best-selling BCJ/Suzuki series of Bach Cantatas, begun in 1995 and reaching its final stretch with the recent release of Volume 46 (of a projected 55 discs). Hailed by the international music press, this monumental undertaking has acquired a world-wide following. From the very beginning of the collaboration with BIS, however, there have been numerous recording projects beyond the sacred cantatas of JS and, indeed, beyond Bach himself. A superb selection from these acclaimed recordings can now be found in a new strictly limited edition boxed set, released for the the 20th anniversary of Bach Collegium Japan this year. Apart from Bach himself, the composers represented in the set are illustrious forerunners such as Monteverdi and the German quartet of Schütz, Buxtehude, Ahle and Kuhnau; Bach's contemporaries Vivaldi, Handel and Zelenka, and finally his own son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel. There is also an opportunity to sample the solo harpsichord-playing of Masaaki Suzuki in his acclaimed recording of the Goldberg Variations. The set also includes A Choral Year with J.S. Bach, a new compilation of Masaaki Suzuki's personal selection from famous movements in Bach's cantatas.

BUDGET PRICE. From Advent to Reformation Day – the church calendar set to music in selected movements from the cantatas by J.S. Bach, including the most beautiful and moving Christmas choruses, 'Nun komm der Heiden Heiland', 'Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen', and 'Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott', and the joyous 'Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied'. Hand-picked by Masaaki Suzuki, the collection also features the searing introduction to St Matthew Passion, the universally loved ‘Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring’, and Dona Nobis Pacem, the heartfelt prayer for peace for the world from the B minor Mass. Suzuki and BCJ stalwart Carolyn Sampson are will perform in Australia in 2011.

Michael Collins is one of the world's most versatile clarinettists, possessing a dazzling virtuosity and sensitive musicianship that have made him the favourite of conductors, composers, and audiences throughout the world. Accompanied here by Australian pianist Piers Lane, Collins is embarking on a series of recordings designed to display the extraordinarily wide range of music written for his instrument. The present programme comprises a varied repertoire, concentrating on its more extrovert virtuoso aspects and offering some breathtaking show-stoppers. Well-known works such as Rachmaninoff’s haunting Vocalise contrast with a bubbly fantasia on the most famous aria from La Traviata and Gershwin's three exuberant jazz preludes.

Chandos signed Karen Geoghegan as an exclusive artist in 2007 following her wonderful performances on the BBC TV ‘Classical Star’ programme. This is her fourth recording with the label, following her CD of works by Hummel, Weber, Berwald, Jacobi, Elgar and Gershwin, her CD of French music for bassoon and piano, and her contribution, in the Suite-Concertino in F major, to Noseda’s Wolf-Ferrari CD. All of these received much acclaim (including two ABC Classic FM CDs of the Week), and the expressive maturity and sensitivity of her playing have quickly cemented her status as a rising star. Since graduating from the Royal Academy of Music this year, Karen Geoghegan has been playing first bassoon with the esteemed BBC Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestra. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2009, performing Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda. The same strong partnership is performing again on this new release, with Mozart’s Concerto featuring prominently. Crusell and Kreutzer are little-heard but distinguished vehicles for the instrument. Vigorous and exhilarating, but with a dreamy and pensive second movement, Rossini's Concerto is a real gem. In the third movement, he puts the bassoon through some hair-raising paces across the whole range of its available register, before finally providing a satisfyingly high-spirited ending to an intriguing work.

Cédric Tiberghien offers us a panorama of Chopin’s output, with three of the composer’s key works framed by a selection of mazurkas. The latter, written between 1830 and 1849, refer to Polish folklore, but the later pieces betray the influence of French culture. The dance gives way to intimate confession; the specific elements of the mazurka are now only hinted at, and the genre is no more than a pretext for freedom of invention. Charismatic young French pianist Cédric Tiberghien performs in Australia with violinist Alina Ibragimova in October 2010.

In 1997, the Holst Singers and Stephen Layton produced a disc that immediately became a cult classic and a best-seller. Ikon, a selection of great Russian choral music from the 19th century, dazzled with its grand, opulent beauty. Now the same forces return with Ikon II. Many of the works recorded here are by composers whose names will not be familiar—but the extraordinary quality of the music is unmistakable and immediately enthralling. Stephen Layton toured Australia in August and September 2010 with the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, and is renowned for what choral music lovers and critics are describing as 'the Layton sound'.

American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, whose Complete Chopin set (CDS4435166) was acclaimed as one of the most important anniversary releases of 2010, now turns to another significant, though often overlooked, body of Romantic piano music—Brahms’ complete variations. The coruscatingly difficult Paganini variations, a bravura display of pyrotechnic virtuosity, frequently feature in piano competitions, performed to demonstrate extraordinary technique. In this performance, Garrick Ohlsson also displays remarkable musicality. The Variations and Fugue on a theme of Handel is one of the summits of his entire keyboard output, showing the composer at the height of his powers. This 2-disc set (for the price of 1) also contains some little-known gems, including the wonderful Variations on an Original Theme.

At the beginning of the year Naïve announced the signing of an exclusive contract with the singer Anne Sofie von Otter. Diversity and discovery are the hallmark of this collaboration: the Swedish mezzo-soprano has chosen to make her first recording for Naïve with the jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, who has previously recorded with Renée Fleming. Their meeting at Carnegie Hall in 2009 gave rise to a cycle of 7 Love Songs, settings by Brad Mehldau of poems by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), as well as a selection of French, American, English and Swedish songs they have performed together with great success at many international venues, before recording them for Naïve in Stockholm. Together Anne Sofie and Brad have assembled some of the greatest songwriters, including Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Michel Legrand, Leonard Bernstein, Paul McCartney, Joni Michell and others. 'Powerful, literary, poetic and rich in emotion, they wrote music that has you in tears,' says Mehldau. 'Anne Sofie expresses tenderness without sentimentality; she knows how to be expressive without ever overdoing it. She has great understanding, more than anyone else, of the text, whether it is in English, French, German, or any other language.'
See a personal message from Anne Sofie announcing her signing to Naive.

 'The inspiration for this album was driven by a simple idea: push the limits of the cello. I wanted to take the instrument out of its classical ‘box’ and travel with it through beautifully crafted loops and overdubs, solo passages in songs and in samples, while of course exploring the exotic territory of improvisation. In short, a musical deviation off the well-chartered route of a classical cellist. Challenging both musically and logistically (French record label based in Paris, a recording studio in New York, and composers spread across America and Victoria’s East coast), this assembly of fantastic musicians and composers really inspired everyone involved and propelled this project to new creative peaks. These composers represent such unique musical scenes, many of which they’ve carved out for themselves while still sharing their place along the fault lines of today’s contemporary music. Founders and members of groups like The National, The Books, Clogs, Bang on a Can, they really define a musical culture which amasses so many of the disparate influences of music that inspire me as a cellist and musician. The idea of commissioning brand new material, coming from so many musical vernaculars to feature the versatility and beauty of the instrument, gave each of us the opportunity to step outside of our familiar practices. Rooted in such varied musical scenes and styles yet united around the idea that this album was going to be a departure, bringing together an audience as diverse as the musical influences it represents. From Le Gentil Garcon’s beautiful and unique conception of the album’s design and cover, to the musical offerings of these six extremely talented composers and musicians, I couldn’t be more proud to share with you my debut album.' Zach Miskin

The much awaited last volume of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantatas Pilgrimage, one of the most talked about musical events of the last decade. An anthology of the Christmas period combining cantatas for Christmas Day and the Epiphany, it features ten acclaimed soloists including Magdalena Kožená, Bernarda Fink, James Gilchrist and Christopher Genz. The album opens with Christen, ätzet diesen Tag ('Christians, engrave this Day'), which was performed on Christmas Day 1999 to launch the year-long pilgrimage. This is one of Bach’s best known cantatas. The accompagnato recit was sung by Bernarda Fink to great acclaim. Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the song of the angels at the birth of baby Jesus, is best known as the Gloria in the B Minor Mass. Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen ('All they from Sheba shall come') describes the procession of the three magi. Bach conveys the majesty of the scene by using high horns, and the recorders and oboes da caccia create an Eastern-like atmosphere.  This album was recorded at Weimar’s Herderkirche, Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche and Hamburg’s Hauptikirche St Jakobi. It is packaged with a separate index of the Cantata series.

'Ferociously gifted young musicians' (The Times) Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien return with the second in their series of the complete Beethoven violin sonatas, recorded live at Wigmore Hall and released in Australia one month ahead of the rest of the world to coincide with their Musica Viva tour. The riveting performances in Volume 1 (WHLIVE0036) were deemed 'fresh and spontaneous ' (Financial Times) and 'brimful of life,' (Gramophone, Editor’s Choice). It has been five years since the duo met on the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, where they immediately forged a dynamic rapport and the signs of an exciting new creative partnership began to emerge.

The Waldbühne Concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic marks the end of the 2009/10 season. More recently visitors to the orchestra’s Waldbühne concerts have been regaled by some of the greatest opera singers of our age, including such operatic legends as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, the Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón and the wonderful Russian soprano Anna Netrebko. A further high point in the history of the Waldbühne concerts was undoubtedly the appearance of enthralling American soprano Renée Fleming, who brought to this 'Night of Love' her soft-toned but richly coloured voice. 'It’s such a beautiful place,' she told the Berlin Times.'When you’re standing there on the stage, you have the feeling that you can sing into the sky.' The Berlin Philharmonic gives its high-profile Australian debut in November 2010.