Before he was a noted composer of such shows as Little Me, Sweet Charity, Barnum and On the Twentieth Century, Cy Coleman was the favorite of the New York cabaret and supper club scene. Now, for the first time, Cy and his fellow musicians play the scores of Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s hit show Jamaica in addition to songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein hits Flower Drum Song and South Pacific. The works from the latter production have been taken from rare transcription recordings, and are making their first debuts since being recorded in the early 1950s. While listening to this jazzy album, think of yourself sipping a Manhattan cocktail or a martini at the Shelburne or Park Sheraton hotels’ club while Cy Coleman and his fellow musicians regale you with a bevy of Broadway blockbuster tunes. It’s ‘50s jazz at its finest.

Julius Burger was a gifted Viennese musician, conductor, repetiteur, and composer poised to make his mark on early 20th Century music, that is, until the rise of antisemitism and the Nazi party forever altered his life and took him on a journey in exile, across continents and cultures, and would come to reflect the very themes of Romanticism which he cherished. Burger’s varied career took him from Berlin Radio and the Kroll Opera house to the burgeoning BBC and later working with Columbia Records as well as a long tenure at the Metropolitan Opera where he coached some of the greatest voices of the 20th Century. But it wouldn’t be until he was in his 90s that he would finally fulfill a lifelong dream of hearing his own compositions performed. This album represents the first ever recordings of Julius Burger’s lieder, spanning from 1915 to his final piece in 1988. These lieder show a master of his craft and a legacy from a world which was thought to have been lost. A life in exile is a heavy burden to bear and, where many lose their artistic purpose, Burger persevered. According to those who knew him, Julius Burger considered his works to be his children, having no offspring of his own. It is our hope that with this album, his children will finally step off the faded manuscript pages and into the world.

This recording reflects musical life in France in the eighteenth century. Leaving aside the prestigious repertoire of vocal and instrumental works, however, Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien share with us music that played an important part, first of all, in the daily lives and musical practices of the aristocracy, before gaining much wider appeal among the Parisian middle and lower classes, so that in the end it was popular at every level of society. Everyone in eighteenth-century Paris was familiar with and fond of the songs known as brunettes and petits airs tendres. Minuets, too, their tunes borrowed from well-known operas and their words sometimes changed, and contredanses (country dances), imported from the ballrooms of England, permeated society, appealing to the lowly and to the titled alike. These pieces were not intended for passive listening, but to be played, sung, danced, and experienced on a daily basis, whenever the opportunity arose. Being appreciated throughout the various social strata, they acted, so to speak, as a common denominator- a taste and a sensitivity that were shared by all, in the French capital and beyond.

À la manière presents virtuoso trombonist Mark Davidson in a program ranging from Ferdinand David's popular Trombone Concertino and Hindemith's dynamic trombone sonata to recent works by French composer Jean-Michel Defaye and American Luke Dahn. Davidson, the principal trombonist of the Utah Symphony orchestra, is joined by pianist Viktor Valkov, winner of the New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Alexandre Kantorow released his first album for BIS in 2016, performing Liszt's piano concertos to critical acclaim: "I'm here to tell you that Alexandre Kantorow is Liszt reincarnated" wrote one impressive reviewer, in Fanfare Magazine. Not yet 20 years old, the French pianist and son of violinist and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow now explores his Russian roots, in a recital that opens with Rachmaninov's weighty First Piano Sonata, inspired by Goethe's play Faust, and its three main characters, the scholar Faust, his beloved Gretchen and Mephistopheles, the Devil's emissary. The nostalgic intimacy of Méditation and Passé Iointain, from Tchaikovsky's Op. 72 collection, offers respite from the drama, but tension returns with Guido Agosti's virtuosic piano arrangement of three extracts from Stravinsky's Firebird. Kantorow closes his Russian recital with Mily balakirev's "oriental fantasy" Islamey, one of the iconic works of the piano literature. Fiendishly difficult, the piece famously inspired Ravel to write something that would be even harder to play (his gaspard de la nuit). A committed Russian nationalist, Balakirev himself found the inspiration for Islamey during a journey to the Caucasus when he was introduced to the local music tradition.

Born in Ontario in August 1919, Tommy Reilly studied violin from the age of eight, and began playing harmonica at the age of eleven. Though he had played in England in 1935 – 37 and continental Europe in 1937 – 39, it was not until his arrest (while studying violin at the Leipzig Conservatory) and subsequent internment 1939 – 45 in prisoner-of-war camps that he developed his virtuosity on the harmonica, basing his ideas of phrasing and interpretation on the playing of Jascha Heifetz. Returning to London in 1945, Reilly began parallel careers as a concert soloist and recitalist, a popular BBC radio and television performer, and a studio musician-composer. He performed with most of the major European orchestras and toured all over the world as a concert soloist. Inspiring the composition of more than thirty works by other composers, Reilly also transcribed a great deal of repertoire for the instrument, in addition to composing his own works. In 1967 he designed a concert harmonica, later manufactured by Hohner and marketed as the Silver Concerto Chromonica. In 1992, he became the first harmonica player to be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. His other awards included the Gold Medal of the Deutscher Harmonika-Verband, and a Golden Badge from the British Association of Composers, Authors and Songwriters. Sir Neville Marriner and Igor Stravinsky were among those who admired his playing.

Almost forty years after his first recording on Chandos, this unique limited-edition release gathers some of the best and most-awarded recordings on the label by one of the most prolific conductors of all time: Neeme Järvi. It highlights a 200+ discography that explores an astonishingly wide repertoire, with selections from the legendary complete series of Prokofiev’s symphonies and Tchaikovsky’s ballets to the groundbreaking discoveries of composers such as Atterberg or Suchon. It features nearly a dozen of the numerous orchestras with which he has collaborated, including the RSNO, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, all here celebrated at their best. Offered at a very special price and retaining the original covers, this product also includes very special notes by James Jolly, Editor in Chief of Gramophone, as well as exclusive photos and interviews with figures central to Järvi’s extraordinary musical life.

Past praise of previously released material included in this set:

Prokofiev: Symphony No 6, Waltzes Suite / Järvi, SNO

As in all of his Prokofiev symphony recordings–this was the first, by the way–Järvi really digs into the music. The engineering is as big and bold as the performances. This recording deserves classic status.

– ClassicsToday

Smetana: Má Vlast / Järvi, Detroit Symphony

Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra deliver an expansive reading of the complete work, and their feeling for the music's vivid imagery and richly Romantic expression is spot on.

– All Music Guide

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This newly discovered live-recording of a performance of the Love Supreme suite is a revelation. Recorded at The Penthouse in Seattle on October 2, 1965, this recording transports the listener to a prime seat for piece of musical history. While not studio-quality audio, the power of the performance shines through. This version is also of the full suite and features an expanded band that includes the same Classic Quartet and Pharoah Sanders in his first official gig as part of Coltrane’s group.