Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream was written in 1842, on a commission from King Frederick William IV of Prussia. The king was inspired by a presentation of Sophocles's Antigone which featured music by Mendelssohn, and was the first of several commissions for the composer to write music to accompany the king's favorite plays. It is interesting to note that the work's dazzling overture was actually written a full sixteen years earlier, and was not originally intended to be performed in conjunction with Shakespeare's play. This recording from Ivan Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra captures the magical spirit of this music as never before. The program is complemented appropriately by three orchestral songs of Fanny Mendelssohn.

Meridian adds piano for their sixth album here with repertoire that 'romps through this new sonic spectrum.'

2006 first prize winner at the International Paganini Competition, Ning Feng follows in the footsteps of great violinists such as Kavakos, Kremer and Accardo. Now based in Berlin and performing worldwide, the Chinese-born virtuoso has developed a reputation internationally as an artist of great lyricism and emotional transparency, displaying tremendous bravura and awe-inspiring technical accomplishment. Following on the success of his first two releases on Channel Classics, both devoted to solo repertoire, here Feng is accompanied by the Deutsche's Symphonie Orchester Berlin led by Yang Yang in two staples of the concerto repertoire - Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and Tchaikovsky's beloved Violin Concerto.

Classical Music

The Ragazze Quartet is a young Dutch/British string quartet acclaimed for it's musical enthusiasm, talent, versatility and dynamic presentation. On Cesko, they take us across Europe to the extraordinary land of Bohemia (popularly known as Cesko, but officially the Czech Republic), the homeland of composers Anton�n Dvor�k and Erwin Schulhoff. The indescribable energy of this music transports us. It's folk melodies and harmonies reveal the essence of a nation steeped in a deep cultural history. Both composers were masters of merging the old with the new and fusing a rich new musical heritage.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

This specially priced set presents all eight of the highly acclaimed Mozart sonata discs that Rachel Podger and Gary Cooper recorded for Channel Classics. Also included are informative liner notes written by producer Jonathan Freeman-Attwoord. These recordings of Mozart's complete Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin have received countless awards and accolades, including multiple Diapason d'Or awards and Gramophone Editor's Choices, and have been hailed as 'benchmark' recordings. Originally released as SACDs, they are offered here on standard CD.

Classical Music