Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s landmark series of Beethoven’s complete sonatas is now available as a complete set and at a very special price. Bavouzet has taken this programme to the most prestigious venues around the world and continues to perform it. Gramophone has nominated him several times for its Artist of the Year award, arguing that ‘Bavouzet’s chronological journey through the Beethoven sonatas has not been surpassed in the last 30 years. Yes, it’s that good.” Repackaged as a box of nine individual albums, and each including the original booklets with their usual personal ‘performer’s note,’ this is a must have.

Past praise of previously released sets that make up this complete edition:

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 2

His lean, pinpointed sonority, rhythmic directness, freedom from mannerisms, and strong linear awareness convey both a strong sense of classical style and expressive economy. Bavouzet’s dynamic range is not particularly large, yet his subtle variety of articulations, thoughtful accentuation, and very discreet use of the sustain pedal give the playing a distinctive profile that recalls other intimate, Apollonian Beethoven stylists like Wilhelm Kempff, Walter Gieseking, and Robert Casadesus.

– ClassicsToday.com

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Vol. 3

The meticulous workmanship and musical intelligence informing Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s previous Beethoven cycle installment are equally apparent throughout this third and final volume. Many pianists would be happy to claim Bavouzet’s authority and mastery

– ClassicsToday.com

Throughout the world Christmas is celebrated – and everywhere, singing Christmas carols is part of the celebrations. This limited special edition offers over 100 of the most beautiful German and international carols: For the first time, the “Weihnachtslieder” (German Christmas Carols) as well as the “Weihnachtslieder aus aller Welt” (Christmas Carols of the World) of the prize-winning LIEDERPROJEKT are being issued together in an incredible four-release set. The LIEDERPROJEKT is a charity project produced by Carus and Southwest German Radio. For every album set sold, 2 EUR will be donated to projects which promote singing with children.

The Royal Opera Collection brings together eighteen outstanding productions from The Royal Opera, spanning all-time classics and contemporary masterpieces. Featuring some of the world’s finest performers and leading directors, The Collection demonstrates the breadth of The Royal Opera’s work including Le nozze di Figaro, Carmen, Turandot, La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, and the Multiple award-winning Written on Skin. A special edition book is also included, containing new articles about The Royal Opera, richly illustrated with stunning photographs.

In these recordings, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Berliner Philharmoniker present a brilliant and multifaceted interpretation of Franz Schubert’s eight symphonies. This Schubert is colorful and dramatic – and represents a unique synthesis in which the famous sound of the Berliner Philharmoniker is as evident as Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s familiarity with the transparency and sound speech of historical performance practice. The CD hardcover edition enables playback with either the best CD sound or – when used as an SACD – in high-resolution audio quality and in surround sound. Founded in 1882, the Berliner Philharmoniker has consistently been ranked as one of the best orchestras in the world. In 2006, ten European media outlets voted the ensemble number three on a list of “Top Ten European Orchestras,” and in 2008 it was voted the world’s number two orchestra in a survey by Gramophone.

Francisco Correa de Arauxo’s surviving music is contained entirely in his Facultad organica of 1626. Published in Alcala under the composer’s own direction, this constitutes one of the largest and most significant works in the entire history of the organ. His compositions embody a wide range of characteristics, some rational and well structured, others mystical and even eccentric. Correa no doubt intended his works to be played in meantone temperament- the normal tuning system at the time for organs, and the one heard on these recordings. Robert Bates is an award winning, internationally known recording artist, recitalist, composer, and a specialist in early French and Spanish Organ music. His recordings include “Viaticum,” containing eight of his own compositions as well as “Complete Organ Works of Jehan Titelouze.” His live performance for the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists is available as “In Recital at Lagerquist Hall.” Professor at the Moores School of Music, Houston, Texas, Professor Bates previously served as University Organist at Stanford University where he received his Ph.D. in Musicology.

The artistic heritage of Antonio Vivaldi, acknowledged for his talent as far as the mastery of instrumental music is concerned, has waited for years for a correct evaluation in the opera music field as well. On the other hand, a musician who in 1739, at 61 years of age, was able to boast of having composed no less than 94 operas had a legitimate right to describe himself first and foremost an opera composer. Nowadays, unfortunately, only 23 of his opera scores have been preserved and not all are complete; as the scholar Reinhard Strohm writes, “We’re only able to document approximately 60 operatic performances between 1713 and 1739, in which the composer was personally involved in various ways. For these performances, he may have chosen the complete score, revised music by other composers, chosen and instructed the singers, rehearsed and conducted the performance, influenced revisions of his music by others, or worked in any combination of these possibilities. If we give a wide meaning to the word, Vivaldi was just as much an opera ‘impresario’ as an opera composer. This wasn’t at all common in Italy at that time and even less so for a priest. The least we can deduce from this situation was Vivaldi’s profound artistic passion for musical theatre.” Composed in 1724 for Rome’s Capranica Theatre, Giustino is a cornerstone work, situated on the ridge between the Red Priest’s old and new styles; precise indication of this importance is given by the fact that the customary borrowing from oneself, current usage in that period, is considerably reduced by Vivaldi for this work. Rather than to save time, since the inclusion of pre-existent episodes in the libretto and the score nevertheless involved laborious revision, this careful selection of the borrowing was used by Vivaldi to gather together a good part of his best previous music to impress the public: Giustino, as Strohm again states, is a sort of “Vivaldi anthology.” In fact, the borrowed pieces are often to be ranked among the best he’d ever written.

Alongside those with Simone Young and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, OehmsClassics is now offering the third Bruckner cycle here with Ivor Bolton. This time it includes ''only'' the Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9. In its April 2017 issue, the renowned Gramophone Magazine wrote the following about the Second Symphony: ''The overall impression is one of vividness and transparency, aided by the exemplary recording...Among single-disc offerings of the 1872 edition, Bolton's recording is hard to beat.''

Past praise of previously issued recordings included in this set:

Bruckner: Symphony No 3 / Bolton, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra:

There is a compelling sweep to Bolton’s interpretation, replete with an atmospheric and detailed recording. And the ending could hardly be more final, more unequivocal, just as Bruckner surely intended.

– MusicWeb International

Bruckner: Symphony No 6 / Ivor Bolton, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg

An excellent recording overall. The focus on detail really justifies many of Bruckner's compositional decisions. More grandiose recordings make the work out to be more like the monumental Eighth or Ninth. It is always going to suffer by comparison with them, so in many ways Bolton's approach - to treat the often delicate textures with more care and attention - better represents its more modest aspirations.

– MusicWeb International

Masur's first important conducting job was with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he worked from 1955 to 1958 and again from 1967 to 1972. He also worked with the Komische Oper of East Berlin. From 1970 to 1996 he was teh Kapellmeister of the famous Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In 1991, Masur became music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2002 to 2008, Masur was music director of the Orchestre National de France. On his 80th birthday, Masur conducted musicians from both these orchestras at a Proms concert in London, conducting music by Tchaikovsky and Bruckner. The beginnings of the orchestra go back to 1743, when a society called the Grosses Concert began performing in private homes. The orchestra gave its first concert in the Gewandhaus in 1781. It is the oldest orchestra in Germany, apart for private orchestras. In 1835, the great composer Felix Mendelssohn became the orchestra's main conductor. He was called the Gewandhauskapellmeister. He kept this position, apart from one year, until his death in 1847. In 1885, the orchestra moved into a new hall which was given the same name. The present Gewandhaus is the third building with the name. It was opened in 1981.

When the minimalism movement originated in the early 1960s, it sprang up organically – some composers played by the rules (even if they were rules of their own invention), while others experimented freely, unaware or unconcerned about how music 'should' be composed. One of those young mavericks was Dennis Johnson, who has now faded into almost complete obscurity after he gave up his musical ambitions for a career in mathematics. But his 1959 composition November can be considered one of the first, if not the first, properly minimalist work. It later went on to inspire La Monte Young to write his prolific Well-Tuned Piano. Complete recordings are few and far between, and this new recording by Jeroen van Veen is the perfect introduction for anyone looking to get back to the roots of Minimalism. Jeroen van Veen is one of the Netherlands' most prominent recording artists. This collection of Minimal Piano Music follows two previous successful albums, available on Brilliant Classics (BC8551 and BC9171). The last album provided a snapshot into the extensive scene of minimalist music today; this one takes us back to how it all began. Featuring several famous pieces from the original minimalist canon – including Philip Glass's Music in Contrary Motion and Terry Riley's Keyboard Studies – there are hours of beautifully relaxing and inspiring music here to enjoy. This release brings the listener back to the roots of Minimalism, all works were written in the seventies of the 20th century, a time when the new aesthetics and perception of music, sound, repetition and time experience were creating a new chapter in music history. The longest piece is the 5 hour “November” by Dennis Johnson, a work in which the player is free to build the intervals and chords according to his own timing and spacing. The other composers in this set are Philip Glass, Tom Johnson, Peter Garland, Terry Riley, Harold Budd and La Monte Young.

In a series of interviews with Camille De Rijck, Philippe Herreweghe sums up his musical trajectory by offering the reader his reflections, intermingling musical and personal considerations. A selection of archive illustrations to delight the eyes and an updated biography complete the contents of the book, which is published in four languages. A five-disc compilation of extracts chosen and discussed by the conductor himself provides a musical counterpoint to the text. The selection enables you to explore a whole life through the finest works of such composers as Lassus, Schein, Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Dvorak and Stravinsky. Thanks to the long-standing close collaboration between Philippe Herreweghe and his favorite ensembles - Collegium Vocale Gent, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic - this anthology of his most remarkable interpretations is also an opportunity to experience at leisure the extraordinary palette of colors and timbres that he invariably succeeds in obtaining from them, and transports us to the very heart of the Flemish conductor's inner world.