This 31CD-box brings together all the operatic recordings that the German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) made in the years from 1956 to 1993 for EMI Classics and Electrola (now Warner Classics). Aged 11, Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) heard a performance of Humperdinck's fairytale opera Hansel und Gretel in his native Munich and, there and then, decided that he wanted to be the man in the orchestra pit who waved his arms and made things happen. It took him a while - war service as a radio operator and a spell as a prisoner of war delayed the inevitable - but by his late 20s he was conducting opera at Augsburg (starting with Hansel und Gretel) and he had barely turned 30 when at Aachen he became the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany. Opera recordings followed and his 1957 version of Richard Strauss's Capriccio is still regarded as the benchmark. Also in this box, along with more Strauss, perhaps the finest achievements of Sawallisch's other operatic hero, Wagner.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich embarks on an American Road Trip, travelling the musical highways and by ways of his adoptive homeland in the company of pianist Orion Weiss. The duo perform works by a melting pot of American composers, writing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and drawing on a diversity of idioms, influences and inspirations... from European Romanticism to revivalist hymns; from blues and jazz to bluegrass; from the banjo and ukulele to Jimi Hendrix's guitar, and from a little Mexican star to exquisite Japanese carvings. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and John Adams take their place beside Amy Beach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Eddie South, Howdy Forrester, Manuel M. Ponce and - flying the flag for today's composers along with Adams - Daniel Bernard Roumain and Stephen Hartke. Augustin Hadelich, born in Italy to German parents, moved to the USA at the age of 19 to study at New York's Juilliard School and became an American citizen in 2014. In the words of The Strad magazine, "Hadelich's playing brings together the best qualities of both American and European playing: passion, Polish and coherence, but also thoughtfulness, expressivity and nuance."

The young Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut has been described as "a miracle of musicality", while Anne-Sophie Mutter has singled her out as "undoubtedly one of the musical hopes of her generation". For her debut as a Warner Classics recording artist, Noa has chosen a programme of Mozart that combines concertante and chamber works. As she says: "I'm showing two sides of Mozart - and also two sides of myself." Noa Wildschut, the young Dutch violinist, turned 16 in March 2017, but was just 15 when she signed an exclusive agreement with Warner Classics and recorded her debut album for the label. It is entirely devoted to Mozart: the Violin Concerto No 5 and the Adagio K.261 (with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra under the leadership of Gordan Nikolic), and the Violin Sonata in B flat major, K.454 (with prizewinning pianist and festival director Yoram Ish-Hurwitz - Noa's uncle). "Mozart's music has such a feeling of purity, " Noa says. "and the Fifth Violin Concerto is so gorgeous. Of all his violin concertos, this is the one that contains the most humour. It's almost like a kind of opera, with all those different characters, really, a story is being told." Noa herself composed the cadenzas she plays in the concerto, with some help from Dutch composer Max Knigge. "Max came up with the concept, and I invented some things around it... it really became something by us together. It has been written in a way that does justice to Mozart, including lots of little jokes." The album release coincides with the release date of the documentary 'Zusjes' (Sisters), about Noa and her family, which will run in cinemas in Holland in autumn 2017. Worldwide release of the documentary is planned for early 2018. Noa has been a member of 'Mutter Virtuosi' since 2014, a string ensemble led by Anne-Sophie Mutter, and since May 2015 Noa has held an official scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation - their youngest ever member

Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) became a figure on the basis of a handful of recordings. The meteoric career of this distinguished ambassadress of the Hungarian violin school in no way foretold her posthumous idolisation. Her historic recordings of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and stunning readings of Schubert's complete works for violin and piano, together with a few first-class concerto discs, make up a legacy. At last, it is available and remastered in high definition from the original tapes.

Fresh and spontaneously joyful, this is a delightful version of what is probably the most over-duplicated work in the catalogue. Throughout the performances one welcomes the fiery magnetism of Chung. Editor's Choice of Gramophone Magazine when the Four Seasons album was originally released in 2001. Kyung-Wha Chung, an artist of passionate intensity and probing intellect, who communicates a vivid sense of spontaneity in her playing. Is one of the great violinists of the last 50 years.

Gershwin in Hollywood - Live at the Royal Albert Hall JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA - For this release, Warner Classics is proud to present Gershwin in Hollywood, recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, at the culmination of this extraordinary orchestra's sell-out UK tour in 2015. It includes well-known Gershwin favorites of the American Songbook, such as How Long Has This Been Going On?, The Man I Love, 'S Wonderful and They Can't Take That Away From Me, as well as rarely recorded gems like Slap That Bass, Treat Me Rough, and the magestic orchestral Overture from the film Rhapsody in Blue. With superb vocals from regular JWO guests Matt Ford and Louise Dearman, and the rich orchestral sound so evocative of Hollywood's Golden Age, all under the direction of John Wilson, this CD captures the thrilling atmosphere of a night to remember.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Mstislav Rostropovich - "Setting Rostropovich, an impetuously Slavonic musician if ever there was one, in front of such an unmistakably French orchestra as this produces an intriguing and most attractive blend of Russian fire and colour with Gallic elegance and sentiment," wrote Gramophone. The relationship between the great cellist-conductor and the Orchestre de Paris achieves glorious expression in this programme of Russian orchestral showpieces.

Klemperer and Brahms had much in common, which may go some way to explaining the empathy with which Klemperer conducts the works of the great composer. As Richard Osborne says in the accompanying liner notes: 'no detail was insignificant, yet none was allowed to subvert the larger whole'. The recordings in this box have all been remastered in HD from original tapes for the Otto Klemperer Complete Edition in 2023.

Maria Callas is credited with changing the history of opera. Known as La Divina, she continues to fascinate as a supreme artist, but also as a woman and an icon of style. Her interpretations were as compelling for their dramatic truth as for their musical integrity. Her voice, with it's extraordinary range, was as distinctive as her infallible sense for a phrase. A magnetic presence, she brought operatic heroines to vivid life, magically shaping and colouring her tone, and making insightful use of the text of the libretto.

Otto Klemperer brings his customary nobility of conception to Die Zauberflote, with it's symbolic drama, and is joined by an exceptional cast. Gundula Janowitz sings Pamina with sublime beauty and the young Lucia Popp is brilliant as the Queen of the Night, the role that first made her reputation."Not the least extraordinary thing about this wonderful blend of the sublime and the humane is that it draws from all musicians the best of which they are capable... This issue is specially commended to those who are after the mystery and elevation of The Magic Flute." Gramophone

July 16, 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the spectacularly successful concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles of three men acclaimed as the world's greatest tenors: Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. Their performance, which took place before the 1994 World Cup, featured a star-studded live audience and was broadcast in 100 countries to an estimated 1.3 billion viewers.

The idea behind Carlos Cipa's new album is easy to describe: one room, one piano, one pianist/composer. Taking one's time. Approaching with the greatest possible impartiality. Simply improvising, at first only from, for, and with oneself. But what at first might seem a simple concept becomes more complex at a closer look. With it's quiet, contemplative solo-piano sounds, Ourselves, as we are, is a "deeply vulnerable collection. In the age of fake authenticity, remakes... this approach is perhaps one of the few remaining ways to create art: to reveal our true selves. Radically personal. Radically intimate. Radically honest. Ourselves, as we are.

In 2002, Dong Hyek Lim arrived on the scene at just 18 years old 'in a blaze of pianistic glory' (Gramophone) with a debut album championed by his mentor Martha Argerich, which was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or in France. The South Korean virtuoso went on to take third prize in the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition, and recorded a remarkable Chopin album in 2004 including the 3rd Piano Sonata and some Mazurkas. In 2008 followed an album of Bach's Goldberg Variations coupled with the Bach-Busoni Chaconne. The French magazine Le Monde de la Musique awarded it a 'Choc', while Gramophone wrote that: "There's no question that he's a very impressive pianist... [who gives] the sense of profound pleasure in the music... And he's not afraid to experiment with what he can do in this music... An artist to watch."

Donizetti: Don Pasquale (2CD) Riccardo Muti, proverbial for his precision, brilliance and integrity in Italian opera, here brings incisive wit and gentle sentiment to the farce of Don Pasquale. The title role is taken by Sesto Bruscantini, a master of the buffo style, who is joined by two of the greatest Italian singers of their time, Mirella Freni and Leo Nucci, and the eloquent Swedish tenor Gosta Winbergh

Brahms's four symphonies lie at the very core of the Berliner Phiharmoniker's repertoire and reputation. With the combination of Sir Simon Rattle's vision and iconoclastic approach, and the orchestra's remarkable technique and unique sound, these performances mark a milestone in the history of Brahms recordings.

The Nutcracker, first seen in 1892, recounts the magical Christmas Eve of young Clara. Her adventures in the company of an enchanted prince inspired Tchaikovsky to such spellbinding numbers as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Waltz of the Flowers and a sparkling series of national dances. In describing himself in an interview as "a complete romantic", Andre Previn suggested just why his recordings of Tchaikovsky's three great ballet scores, made in the 1970s with the London Symphony Orchestra, have become classics of the catalogue. In their sweep, colour and surging emotion, they exemplify the spirit of late Romanticism, the musical aesthetic at the heart of Previn's repertoire. Over his 11 years as Principal Conductor of the LSO (1968-1979) he and his musicians became something of a media phenomenon, notably with their own series on BBC television, which helped to draw full houses for their concerts in London and on tour.

THRIVE was composed over the last couple of years, during a period of uncertainty and fear. I have always been convinced that it is in times of adversity that we remember what is essential to us. THRIVE is the inner strength that pushes us to fight in moments of doubt or sorrow. The impulse deep inside us that incites us to search for the best, to look up, to fight to overcome difficulties and reach a kind of fulfilment. This album is for those who feel, consciously or unconsciously, the need to build something else, to seek out new horizons. For those who wish to turn their backs on the things that oppress us and aggress us, on meaningless demands. This is a personal battle at a time when collective awareness is settling in: the planet is spiralling; a vortex. We must change; we can evolve. Many of us want this, and music can be a catalyst. The piano has always helped me find this momentum, and composing for strings has opened up new horizons for me. By taking inspiration from a theme, a melody, or a few notes by the greatest classical composers, I also wanted to show that there is always a personal path. I hope that this album will accompany you or inspire you to find your own way of life, there is always hope. Within us, we all have this ability; this power to transform a difficulty into an opportunity. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward. THRIVE!

A pop project featuring orchestral versions of 18 of the biggest sounds in a world-first TikTok album with Warner Classics. Some of the biggest TikTok hits are classically arranged and newly recorded by Germany's internationally renowned Babelsberg Film Orchestra