Mahler: Kindertotenlieder / Kathleen Ferrier Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, Christoph W. Gluck, Maurice Greene, Performer: Isobel Baillie, Gerald Moore (Piano), Conductor: Charles Bruck, Bruno Walter, Number of Discs: 1

Joyce DiDonatos capacity for characterization is as astounding as the range and flexibility of her voice. This new collection showcases DiDonatos multi-faceted art, and the wealth of opportunities open to a mezzo-soprano by presenting her as different characters - both male and female - from the same opera story.

Nelson Eddy, Gale Sherwood, John Conte, Otto Kruger. A wonderfully-done adaptation of Romberg's famous operetta as it was performed live for a 1955 TV telecast. Unlike earlier film versions, the live performance now captured on film illuminates the story in a much truer format to Romberg's original. 1955/b&w/76 min/NR/fullscreen.

The works on Viktoria Mullova's new album devoted to Arvo Párt's music for violin stem from the composer's study of medieval church music and are products of what Párt describes as a 'tintinnabuli' style, developed by the composer in the 1970s. Párt said of the style, ''I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me. I work with very few elements - with one voice, two voices. I build with primitive materials - with the triad, with one specific tonality. The three notes of a triad are like bells and that is why I call it tintinnabulation.'' Párt's works have become some of the most iconic pieces in the contemporary repertoire and have reached far beyond the usual 'classical' music world in their popularity. This album was recorded in the presence of the composer.

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REVIEW:

This is not music that hinges on sudden shifts and sharp contrasts. However, at its core lies the age-old dichotomy between freedom and control, head and heart…Mullova brilliantly manages to tease out these dichotomies on this new recording. In Fratres, she approaches each variation from a different angle. Sap and rosin fly off the bow in the coruscating arpeggio figurations of the opening chord sequence.

– Gramophone

Quartetto Gelato - a Concert in Wine country is the first DVD from the critically acclaimed chamber ensemble. Having already aired on PBS affiliates across the USA in over 50 markets big and small, the program will be repeated many times over the next year on digital as well as standard definition PBS affiliates. The group recently lost founding member Cynthia Steljes to cancer, however the remainder of the group continue to tour including dates in the USA in fall 2007.

Carl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759) wrote a total of 27 operas for the Berlin court and not least for Frederick II. In 1742 his Cleopatra e Cesare" was performed at the opening of the Haus Unter den Linden", and in 1755 he wrote his most impressive work -

This Opera de Paris staging of Jean-Philippe Rameau's burlesque on the vicissitudes of love, is a pure joy from start to splashing finish" (Wall Street Journal Europe). Laurent Pelly's staging of Platee is an exhilarating display of gags and West Side S

The evocative music of Claude Debussy has been described as the foundation of modern music. But how did the composer come to develop his unique style? On this video, maestro Francois-Xavier Roth and the London Symphony Orchestra present the UK premiere of a previously lost work by the young Debussy, alongside some of his earliest inspirations. Debussy's newly discovered Premiere Suite gives a rare insight into the mind of a young composer on the cusp of innovation. It's a work filled with Romantic and Eastern influences and glimpses of the unexpected harmonies that came to define Debussy's work. Paired alongside the composer's role models - from Wagner's powerful intertwining motifs, the abundant Spanish influences in Lalo's rarely-heard Cello Concerto performed here by Edgar Moreau, and Massenet's majestic Le Cid - Francois-Xavier Roth gives a fresh perspective on the much-loved composer.