SUMMER PORTRAITS

SOUND OF ARVO PART

360

2016 album from the acclaimed trumpeter. Alison Balsom has a rich Warner Classics catalogue, but this is her first CD recital with piano - here played by her long-standing recital partner, Tom Poster. Balsom describes the program as embracing "the most important repertoire for trumpet and piano" - taking a fascinating journey through 20th century works by such composers as Enescu, Hindemith, Martinu, Francaix, Bernstein and Maxwell Davies. That being said, the final piece - preceding 'American Songbook' encores by Gershwin and Kern - dates from the 21st century and was composed by the team of Balsom and Poster themselves. Called The Thoughts of Dr. May, it is inspired by another British musician: Brain May, lead guitarist of the rock band Queen - and also, as it happens, an astrophysicist. The recital was recorded live in London.

SUMMER PORTRAITS

SYMPHONIES & OVERTURE

Mar�a Due�as - "Paganini: 24 Caprices" [2 CD] Mar�a Due�as finds the perfect balance between artistry and technique as she tackles an icon of the repertoire for her second Deutsche Grammophon album. Having earned rave reviews and a 2024 OPUS KLASSIK Young Talent of the Year award for her DG debut, Beethoven and Beyond, the Spanish violinist now turns to Paganini's legendary 24 Caprices. She couples these with a selection of later works inspired by Paganini, presenting music by composers ranging from Berlioz to Gabriela Ortiz. Due�as is joined in chamber pieces by Boris Kuschnir, pianists Itamar Golan and Alexander Malofeev and guitarist Rapha�l Feuill�tre, and in orchestral caprices by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Mihhail Gerts. 2 CD Digipak.

Lise Davidsen / James Baillieu - "Live at The Met" / On September 14, 2023, Lise Davidsen became one of the youngest singers ever invited to give a solo recital at the Metropolitan Opera, a house with which she has a very special relationship: "I consider the Met my second home, " she says, "but that doesn't mean one will be asked for something so special as this, so I was very touched when Peter asked me." With pianist James Baillieu, Lise performed a program including highlights from her Met roles, as well as a variety of song literature, plus some lighter pieces from the world of operetta and musical theater. Peter Gelb (General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera) believes Lise Davidsen is "the greatest Wagnerian talent since Birgit Nilsson and Kirsten Flagstad. Her voice in the Met's luxurious acoustics sounds extraordinary, with incredible beauty but amazing power." Although still in her thirties, "she's the consummate artist."

PAGANINI: 24 CAPRICES

Alice Sara Ott - JOHN FIELD: COMPLETE NOCTURNES - CD - A visual and auditory exploration of a performer's journey through the music of a nearly forgotten composer. Praised by his contemporaries (Chopin, Liszt, Schumann), John Field left the world one of it's most beloved musical forms: the Nocturne. In a complete first for classical music, the album will be accompanied by a series sophisticated music videos uniquely crafted in a cutting-edge LED studio, pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON

The Sound of Simon Rattle - The Musical intoxication of a great era: on 7 September, 2002, Sir Simon Rattle was appointed new Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, marking the start of a new and memorable era for the world of music. Rattle has opened up new repertoire channels for the musicians, endowed the tradition-steeped ensemble with a youthful image and established the inimitable 'Rattle Sound'. Great moments - brought together here for the first time on 3 CDs.

LOUIS FREMAUX ICON: COMPLETE BIRMINGHAM YEARS

EL CANTO GREGORIANO EN EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO / VAR

WILLIAM TELL

The 2-LP set includes highlights from Bach's greatest masterpieces performed by first-class musicians: Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mstislav Rostropovich, Ton Koopman, Alexandre Tharaud, David Fray, Sir Neville Marriner, Fabio Biondi, Emmanuel Pahud, Beatrice Rana, Sigiswald Kuijken

Nicola Benedetti -"Violin Caf�" - Violin Caf� brings together music that represents the different musical strands of Nicola's life and career, from virtuosic showpieces to French romance, contemporary favorites and Scottish folk, freshly arranged for a new dynamic group of instruments: violin, guitar, accordion & cello, and smallpipes. This inventive new line-up of instruments delivers a communal, conversational "evening caf� appropriate" sound. A sound with the flexibility to work across genres, cultures and performance environments. The album reunites Nicola with audiences she has known and been supported by for over 22 years. This is a thank you to the people of all ages, from all around the world, who share a deep love of classical music and the violin, whose children Nicola has taught after concerts and whose curiosity of the arts she shares.

She clearly was born to play the cello, wrote the New York Timesof Jacqueline Du Pr� in 1967. Just five years later her career was cut tragically short by illness. This LP provides a treasurable memento of the "perfect balance of youth and maturity" that Du Pr�'s teacher, William Pleeth, found in her playing: "She approached each new experience with spontaneous pleasure and enthusiasm." Offering a vivid experience of her art in the concerto, not least her legendary Elgar, the album comprises recordings remastered in 24-BIT / 96 kHz at London's famous Abbey Road Studios.

BEST GUITAR 50 / VARIOUS

Schumann: Cello Concerto / Saint-Sa�ns: Cello Concerto No. 1 - "It is good to be reminded of du Pr�'s vivid, intense and joyful music-making" wrote Gramophone of this pairing of cello concertos by Schumann and Saint-Sa�ns. "[The Schumann] has that kind of spontaneous freedom of line that made her account of the Elgar so famous. Her delicacy of response in the slow movement is matched by a romantic flair which carries the outer movements along so admirably. Barenboim directs a sympathetic accompaniment, following her subtle manipulation of rubato with complete understanding."

CELLO SUITES

Maria Callas - Verdi: I vespri siciliani (Firenze, 26/05/1951)(3CD) I vespri siciliani, originally conceived as a grand op�ra for Paris, is one of Verdi's most ambitious works, and the multi-faceted central role of Elena is one his most demanding: Callas is one of the few sopranos who have encompassed it's vocal and dramatic diversity. This performance - conducted by Erich Kleiber and with Boris Christoff as the Sicilian activist Procida - took place in Florence in Spring 1951. Just over six months later, Callas opened the season at La Scala in the same opera.I vespri sicilianialso served for her sole foray into directing opera, for the opening of the new Teatro Regio in Turin in 1973.

Maria Callas - Puccini: Tosca (Covent Garden, 24/01/1964)(2CD) There are obvious parallels betweenTosca- the passionate, but vulnerable Roman diva - and Maria Callas. 'Vissi d'arte' (Ilived for art), the character's moving Act II aria, has acquired a particular symbolism since the soprano's death in 1977. Toscawas the last opera that Callas performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It afforded her a triumphant return to the opera stage after an absence of nearly 18 months. Scarpia was sung by her beloved colleague Tito Gobbi, another natural stage animal, and the sumptuous production was by Franco Zeffirelli. As the critic John Warrack wrote: "Insum, this was one of those precious occasions when the disparate parts of opera mysteriously fuse into the total experience we always await. "

Vinyl LP pressing. It is 40 years since Maria Callas died (16th September 1977), but she lives on as the epitome of the operatic diva. She has never lost her place among the top-selling classical artists. Warner Classics re-releases one of Maria Callas' legendary studio recitals on vinyl, using state of the art remastering done in 2014. Callas first sang at Milan's legendary La Scala for the opening of the 1951-52 season (in Verdi'sI vespri siciliani) and she became closely identified with the theatre, notably in productions directed by Luchino Visconti and his prot�g� Franco Zeffirelli. Spontini'sLa vestalewas staged for her there in 1954, Bellini'sLa sonnambulain 1955, and her final La Scala performances came in 1962 with Cherubini'sMedea. 'Callas at her most spell-binding and enthralling,' wrote Gramophone, 'Callas at La Scala shows the diva at her most exciting and most beautiful.'

Maria Callas TITLE: Bellini: Norma (London, 18/11/1952)(2CD) Bellini'sNormais an epic and multi-faceted role, often considered the ultimate vocal challenge for an operatic soprano. Callas sang it on stage 92 times, more often than any other heroine, and her achievement casts a long shadow: more than 50 years after her last performance in the role (Paris, 1965) she remains the point of reference for any soprano who aspires to it. It was in 1952, as Norma, that she made her debut at London's Royal Opera House, the theatre that witnessed her final operatic appearance 13 years later. In the famous duets that Norma shares with her fellow druid priestess, Adalgisa, Callas is partnered by another superlative singer, Ebe Stignani, the greatest Italian mezzo-soprano of her era. Taking the small role of Norma's servant Clotilde is a singer who in 1952 was destined for great things, and for the role of Norma... (Joan Sutherland)

The annual Progetto Martha Argerich at the Lugano Festival, is well-established as one of the world's most important music festivals. The latest installment of highlights from the Martha Argerich Project at the Lugano Festival, this is the 14th annual 3-CD set celebrating the musical fruits of a project in which young artists join seasoned performers, including Martha Argerich herself, to explore wide-ranging chamber music and orchestral repertoire, both well-known and rarely heard. The 15th annual festival, which ran from 7-30 June 2016, featured international soloists such as Nicholas Angelich, Stephen Kovacevich, and Renaud Capu�on as well as many of her young prot�g�s, including Karin Lechner and Sergio Tiempo, and her daughter Lyda Chen. The festival also celebrated the occasion of Martha's 75th birthday, and she features on many of the performances on this highlights collection, including Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.