The distinctive character of each of Prokofiev's Violin Concertos seems rooted in it's genesis: the first, nervy and iconoclastic, coincided with the Russian Revolution; the second, more sober and expansively lyrical, dates from 1935, when Prokofiev was preparing a permanent return to his native country. The two concertos were written nineteen years apart - a period that coincides almost completely with the years Prokofiev spent "in exile", first in the US and then in France. He composed No. 1 shortly before leaving Russia, and No. 2 just months before his return to the Soviet Union. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the two works are so different from one another. Perlman chose to record these two concertos with Gennady Rozhdestvensky, whose experience in this repertoire he no doubt deemed second to none.

Vivaldi: Four Seasons (Vinyl) - A truly record-breaking recording: Anne-Sophie Mutter's reading of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, conducted by the man who discovered her, Herbert von Karajan, was the first classical CD to go platinum. And to this day, it's legendary status remains untarnished.

Claudio Abbado had only made a very few recordings for EMI Classics (now Warner), including Mozart's Flute Concertos with Emmanuel Pahud. This live rendition of Verdi's Messa da Requiem is definitively a major modern version of the work. In 2001, Abbado was doing his. In 2001, Claudio Abbado was soon to complete his tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer not long before. Nonetheless, he was able to conduct this Verdi Requiem during two concerts that held a special significance, offering us a remarkable modern interpretation of the work. It featured an outstanding quartet of soloists, three of the world's most renowned choirs, and Berlin's iconic orchestra. "EMI was quite right to be on hand to record this performance in Berlin at a time when Abbado had arisen from his sick-bed to show just how much this work meant to him in the circumstances. It's conveyed in spades through the tremendous concentration and emotional thrust felt throughout this shattering interpretation. This performance has something extra that you find in Fricsay's live, 1960 account, and both come close to the spiritual element in the music. Abbado has at his bidding a superb group of specialist choirs who combine effortlessly into a cohesive whole, singing with commendable breadth, accuracy and involvement, few if any better on disc. They find fit counterparts in the players of the BPO who seem individually, in solos, and collectively intent on giving of their appreciable best for their chief. So all the big choral moments, Dies Irae, Rex tremendae, Sanctus, Libera me fugue are superbly achieved. EMI's recording is wide-ranging and immediate, the equal of any the work has yet received. If the solo singing can't be given such an unqualified encomium, much of it is impressive, especially that of the young mezzo Daniela Barcellona, even in tone and beseeching in manner. Gheorghiu does so much so well: she sings throughout in that rich, warm tone of hers and offers many long, arching phrases. She's also as dramatic as one could wish in the Libera me (...). Alagna sings with a deal of passion and authority. (...) Given it's superlative sound and special circumstances, [it] is an important addition to the work's discography." The Gramophone Classical Music Guide

Ian Bostridge and Leif Ove Andsnes have recorded many acclaimed Schubert albums together, among which was this recording of the pinnacle of the Lieder repertoire, Schubert's Winterreise. .This partnership is one of the most inspired of record-company matchmakings: the two musicians really do test and try each other at every turn, as well as being mutually supportive" The Times .[...] acuteness of colour and detail is characteristic of the performance of both artists who, more than most, highlight the mordant, ironic self-awareness that undercuts the wanderer's despair." BBC Music Magazine .It is a highly involving performance and is continually lifted by Leif Ove Andsnes's imaginative and atmospheric accompaniments. The recording is beautifully balanced, and this remains an unforgettable performance." The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music

Vinyl LP pressing.

Towards the end of Callas's career, there were many rumours that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera - and her only complete recording of a French opera. With Georges Pr�tre, one of her favoured conductors, and the ever-stylish Nicolai Gedda as her Don Jos�, she captured every facet of the role. As Gramophone said when the set was first released: 'Hers is a Carmen to haunt you.'

Bruckner is one of those rare geniuses, seldom to be found in the whole of European history, whose natural destiny it is to make the supernatural real, to force the divine into the strait-jacket of our human world. Wilhelm Furtw�ngler "Furtw�ngler's Bruckner interpretations were always marked above all by the intensity of his thoroughly romantic feeling and his temperament for improvisation, and his Bruckner recordings, perhaps more than any other, provide us with an especially impressive example of his own unmistakable approach to music, which itself was inclined to be basically 'ecstatic', and the main characteristic of which was the aesthetic, voluptuous flow of feeling." Walter Abendroth - The most accomplished version of Bruckner 7th performed live in Berlin in 1949, remastered in HD from the best source available by Art et Son Studio in 2023 - Bonus: Telefunken recording from 1942 remastered in 2021 at the occasion of The Complete Wilhelm Furtw�ngler on Record boxed set.

This 1960 Norma represents Maria Callas's final complete documented version of her signature role. Seven recordings of the opera exist with Callas (1950-60), plus numerous snippets and scenes captured between 1949 and 1965. With 89 performances, Norma is Callas's most performed part; certainly no other 20th-century diva is more closely associated with the role, and no one since has even remotely eclipsed Callas in the perception of opera lovers. Countless moments, too numerous to catalogue here, raise this Callas Norma to the level of genius. From a haunting 'Casta Diva' to a final scene of incomparable grandeur and sweep, in every startlingly brilliant detail, Callas is Norma.

B�sra Kayik�i on Places: Places is a continuation of my solo piano album Eskizler (Sketches), which was the result of my first compositional endeavours, studies written in early 2019. Those experiments in music reminded me of the sketches I would make in my work as an interior architect, at the start of a new project. I was profoundly influenced by the way these two disciplines - architecture and music - work with the same principles, one addressing the ear and the other the eye. It was inevitable, therefore, that I would follow an architect's process when writing music. I devised my musical templates using methods I derived from architecture. And with this new album, Places, I feel I have taken those sketches a step further. I can hear them evolving, in a way. Sometimes I'll try to construct a specific place I have in mind, one that I miss, but sometimes it's just about an emotion. There are moments in life that make me believe places are also spaces in which we take refuge, and that we find shelter in our emotions, too. Those emotions become a shield, a roof over our heads protecting our inner peace.

Mozart's special affection for the clarinet found heartfelt expression in one of his last works, the Concerto in A major. Sabine Meyer performs it, as the composer intended, on the deeper-pitched basset clarinet. "The music is so simple, so easy, and let so deep emotionally - like a religion", she has said. Like the Quintet K. 581, the Clarinet Concerto was originally written for basset clarinet, a now obsolete instrument especially designed by Stadler with an extended lower register. Although the autograph score is lost (the earliest surviving edition is a 19th-century adaptation for standard clarinet), many modern-day clarinettists have made guesses as to how Mozart originally wrote the clarinet part, based on the composer's surviving sketches. One of the first to explore the concerto on a modern reconstruction of a basset clarinet was Sabine Meyer. German-born Meyer's successful career as soloist and chamber musician has always had Mozart at it's core. Her many recordings to date include acclaimed accounts of the Clarinet Quintet, numerous serenades, and two versions of the much-loved Clarinet Concerto. Completing the album is the exquisite Sinfonia concertante in E-flat with it's quartet of soloists.

Itzhak Perlman, born in 1945, is the supreme violinist of his time. In works composed by Nicol� Paganini and Pablo de Sarasate - two virtuosi who in their own eras defined the art of the violin - Itzhak Perlman, in the recording that launched his Warner Classics catalogue, offers both dazzling brilliance and enticing lyricism.

This Tosca, made in 1953 with the forces of La Scala, is a landmark in recording history. Conducted with searing intensity by Victor de Sabata, it teams Callas with two of her closest colleagues, the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano and the baritone Tito Gobbi - a performer who could rival Callas in dramatic finesse and power. Tosca's aria 'Vissi d'arte' (I lived for art) has come to be seen as Callas's personal manifesto. / Abbey Road Studios engineers have returned to the original studio master tapes in 2014, bringing new clarity and brilliance to a classic interpretation: 'One of the great classics of the gramophone. Wonderful as Gobbi's and Di Stefano's performances are, and superbly dramatic as de Sabata's conducting is, it is the unique Callas in the title role who provides the greatest marvel. Callas is incomparable as Tosca'. (Gramophone) Triple vinyl LP pressing.

David Oistrakh (1908-1974), renowned for the fullness of his tone, his unparalleled sense of legato, his warm, powerful, and deep sound, his incredible mastery of the bow, and a sonority that is immediately recognizable, is undoubtedly one of the greatest violinists of all time. His recordings have been celebrated worldwide and continue to be milestones in the discography of classical music. This double vinyl album features some of his finest recordings, including a magnificent rendition of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Andr� Cluytens, a moment of pure poetry. It also includes the Kreutzer Sonata with his legendary partner Lev Oborin, and a selection of encores with Vladimir Yampolsky. The entire program benefits from a new high-definition remastering from the original tapes, ensuring that the brilliance of Oistrakh's artistry is preserved and enhanced for contemporary listeners.

Deeply soothing choral music and plainsong, selected from throughout the Warner Classics and Erato catalogues. Carefully chosen to bring peace and warmth to even the deepest mid-winter night, this is the Christmas compilation that leaves the obvious behind, and instead explores a world of festive stillness and serenity.

Vinyl LP pressing of this holiday release.