Beatrice Rana, characterised by Gramophone as a pianist of "fire and poetry, imagination and originality, temperament and charm, all on top of fearless technical address", brings together two monumental sonatas: Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' op 106 and Chopin's 'Funeral March' op 35. The Chopin has been in Rana's recital repertoire for more than a decade, but it was during the confinement of the pandemic that she first undertook intense study of Beethoven. "I really found a deep connection with this music, especially because of the isolation, being locked away from the rest of the world. Despite the fact that it reflected so much of what was going on at that time, it's a very positive piece. It really helped me through the pandemic. It is a very human sonata, but the Chopin sonata is human in a very different way. The trio in the middle of the funeral march [the famous third movement] is kind of ubermenschlich - how a philosopher might describe surpassing oneself in a transcendental way." Rana also believes that both works show their composers in technically adventurous form: "The last movements of the two sonatas are both experiments at the highest level and in completely different ways... In the Beethoven every line is going everywhere... and in the Chopin the two hands are parallel for the entire movement." She concludes that both works "transcend the human condition in very different ways - but not altogether different... They both have so much to do with the fear of death, with the fear of loneliness. Each finds a solution in different ways."

Lang Lang - "Piano Book 2". This new album continues to build the brand Piano Book, following the unprecedented success of the original released in 2019. A collection of the most popular short pieces for piano known, taught and played by players and piano lovers of all ages everywhere. Including iconic classical pieces, works by contemporary composers including soundtracks, gaming and anime, as well as unique arrangements. The album reflects Lang Lang's love of the piano, the joy of music making and his wish to inspire others, which he does through activities including Lang Lang Foundation. 2 CD Digipak.

Fatma Said's third album, Lieder, is a very personal tribute to the art of German Song. Singing lieder has a central place in Fatma's musical life, it is a world of unique expression for her, listen to e.g. der Zwerg and it becomes crystal clear. Lieder is also a great collaborative project. Fatma recorded with the outstanding clarinettist Sabine Meyer, Anneleen Lenaerts on the harp, with our recently signed and critically acclaimed baritone Huw Montague Rendall, and many, many more

Fatma Said's third album, Lieder, is a very personal tribute to the art of German Song. Singing lieder has a central place in Fatma's musical life, it is a world of unique expression for her, listen to e.g. der Zwerg and it becomes crystal clear. Lieder is also a great collaborative project. Fatma recorded with the outstanding clarinettist Sabine Meyer, Anneleen Lenaerts on the harp, with our recently signed and critically acclaimed baritone Huw Montague Rendall, and many, many more

Renaud Capucon expands his wide-ranging concerto discography with Bartok's two violin concertos. Composed almost three decades apart, they are highly contrasted, inhabiting very different emotional and musical worlds. Partnering Capucon is the London Symphony Orchestra under it's Principal Guest Conductor, Francois-Xavier Roth. - Firmly established as one of the world's greatest violinists, Renaud Capucon's career both on the stage and as a recording artist has spanned a wide gamut of concerto repetoire, chamber music and recitals. He has a reputation for impeccable performances and fine interpretations of classics and lesser-known repetoire, from his most recent albums with critically-acclaimed readings of the Bach Violin Concertos and the Vasks Violin Concerto, and a recital disc with Khatia Buniatishvili, to the Beethoven / Korngold and Brahms/Berg concerots, Renaud has become known for the breadth of his repetoire, his world-class chamber music partners, and the quality of is playing.

Cellist Edgar Moreau, with the WDR Sinfonieorchester and conductor Andris Poga, performs two concertante works from the mid-20th century: Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Concerto in C minor (1956), and Henri Dutilleux's Tout un monde lointain... (1970). Both were premiered by the great Mstislav Rostropovich, which creates a special link with Moreau: in 2014 in Paris, he won the Young Soloist Prize in the Rostropovich Cello Competition. In recent years, interest has grown in the music of the Polish-born Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who was mentored by Shostakovich. The title Tout un monde lointain... evokes a distant world, and Dutilleux's five-movement work does indeed take us to a very different place from Weinberg's, drawing inspiration from the sensuous poems of Charles Baudelaire. Praising Edgar Moreau's last Erato album, Transmission, Gramophone wrote: "His tone is beautiful, his phrasing rapt, and the intensity of his delivery is magnified in the immediacy of his presence in the sound picture."

The King's Singers celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Disney with When you wish upon a star, a joyful album of twenty-five hit songs drawn from the soundtrack of the past century. They are joined by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and a host of guest artists in a programme comprising virtuoso close-harmony arrangements freshly commissioned from an international line-up of composers, including John Rutter, Nico Muhly, Alexander L'Estrange, Toby Young, Jim Clements and Jamey Ray. The tracklist embraces songs from nine decades of Disney animation, spanning everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Coco (2017) to evoke memories of childhood for listeners of all ages.

This cello prodigy belongs in the family of the greatest artists of all time, states La Provence. Recorded with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and conductor Michael Sanderling, this album from Edgar Moreau features works from composers who have been inspired by different aspects of Jewish life, religion, and culture. It includes Bruch's Kol Nidrei, Ernst Bloch's Schelomo & From Jewish Life, Korngold's Cello Concerto, and Ravel's Deux Melodies Hebraiques. Moreau loves this repertoire and gives it a prominent place in concerts: it is essential for him to "transmit" this.

The pianist Claudio Arrau fully deserves the epithet "legendary": a sovereign technical command, a deep patience and a gravitation towards weighty matters, enriched by his study with 'philosopher pianists' such as Busoni and Martin Krause. Made in London from the late '40s to the late '50s, this collection of profound and impassionate recordings is a striking illustration of his Beethovenian authority.

Unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time is how Gramophone magazine has described Martha Argerich. Her relationship with the label goes back to 1965 and her victory at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Over several decades it has produced a rich catalogue of live and studio recordings, embracing a repertoire that spans three centuries, a diversity of genres, and collaborations with such figures as Charles Dutoit, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky and Itzhak Perlman. The complete recordings for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics are featured in this box. Martha Argerich is a pianist of transcendent gifts and her special joy in musical collaboration is the key to the second part of this collection: the complete live recordings made at Switzerland's Lugano Festival between 2002 and 2016 and released by EMI Classics and Warner Classics. Argerich is heard in solo works and concertos, but above all in intimate partnership with fellow instrumentalists, performers she sees as her musical "family". This new boxset puts together in 46CDs all the recordings made by Martha Argerich for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics, from 1965 to 2020.

Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition and famous for his distinctive mix of "feline agility and lightness of touch" (New York Times), breaks new ground with the supposedly well known. Following his enormous success with WAVES, a tribute to French composers and nature themes, The Seasons now focuses on Tchaikovsky's and Liu's relationship with music. "For me, this is a moment to explore some personal emotion," the pianist says of his latest album, which envelops the Russian composer's intimate and profoundly poetic language with musical breathing space.

2 LP, Limited Edition. Luxurious 180 g heavyweight vinyl pressings from OPTIMAL. This release includes a voucher with a unique code to download the digital audio files (MP3) of the full album for free. Works by Chopin, Tan Dun, Haydn, Liszt, Schubert, Schumann. "An awesome new recording of the most spectacular recital I've ever seen" (Gregory Krischling, Entertainment Weekly)

The Schwetzingen Festival concerts were dedicated to Chopin in 1999 on the 150th anniversary of his death. Four pianists were invited to the event. Three of them-Lilya Zilberstein, Anatole Ugorski, and Andrei Gavrilov-were 'stars' of Deutsche Grammophon. The fourth was Idil Biret, who had not attained 'star' status as it was only available to those with contracts with the so-called "major" record labels. But she had been the first pianist ever to record the complete works of Chopin for solo piano and with piano and orchestra for Naxos, received a Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin in Warsaw in 1995 for this, and was to be decorated with one of the highest orders of Poland by President Kaczynsky in 2007. Idil Biret did something no other pianist could do. Dr. Peter Stieber wrote: "Your own Chopin evening was then the breath-taking testimony of a great artist. We all could experience together how in your hands the wonderful music of Chopin begun truly to blossom."

The new program by French baroque violinist Hélène Schmitt moves along a French-American axis and features six violin sonatas by female composers from both sides of the Atlantic. These are small-scale works, full of warmth and sensitivity, ranging from pure Romanticism to the cautious breaking away from tonality. The instruments are played with gut strings, and the Steinway grand piano is a historic model made in New York; pianist Antoine de Grolée accompanies eloquently and sensitively.

Blu-ray. To celebrate their 15th Anniversary and the release of their Timeless album, the groundbreaking classical crossover group Il Divo embarked on their 6-continent tour in 2018 bringing them to Tokyo's Budokan Stadium for this magical concert. The songs are a classic mix of favorite pop and traditional standards in four languages including 'Regresa a Mi (Unbreak My Heart)', 'What A Wonderful World', 'Smile', 'All Of Me', 'Angels', and their acclaimed cover of Adele's smash hit 'Hola (Hello)'.

Benjamin Grosvenor - "Liszt" Hot on the heels of his 2020 Diapason d'Or and Gramophone Award triumphs, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor presents his next album with Decca Classics. The album, Liszt, signifies Grosvenor's most substantial solo recording to date, centered around the works of the Romantic piano virtuoso and composer, Franz Liszt. The release marks Benjamin's sixth album on Decca Classics, following the award-winning Chopin Piano Concertos in 2020.

Standard Version - The internationally renowned and beloved Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli releases his breathtaking new album, Believe, celebrating the power of music to soothe the soul. It follows his record-breaking 'Music for Hope' performance at Easter from the historic Duomo cathedral in Milan which was watched live by millions around the globe. It features a previously unreleased track from the late, great Italian composer Ennio Morricone, as well as 'Gratia Plena' - from the critically acclaimed new movie, Fatima -, two duets with award-winning mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, and for the first time ever Andrea Bocelli has recorded his own interpretations of 'Ave Maria' and 'Padre Nostro' along with familiar favourites such as 'Hallelujah', 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and 'Amazing Grace'. Believe, co-produced by Steven Mercurio and Haydn Bendall, is a collection of uplifting songs that have inspired and sustained Bocelli over the years

A collection of the very best of Bartoli's treasured recordings of musical delights and discoveries of the 17th and 18th century. Featuring two previously unreleased world premiere recordings of forgotten jewels by Leonardo Vinci and Agostino Steffani. With guest appearances from Philippe Jaroussky, June Anderson, Franco Fagioli and Sol Gabetta.

The penultimate release in Angela Hewitt's cycle of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas features the Piano Sonata in F minor Op.2 No.1. The listener's understanding is again enhanced by Angela's illuminating booklet notes, in which she sets out her approach to performing these most canonic of works in the entire piano literature.

Deluxe Edition. 2018 release. Andrea Bocelli has teamed up with some of the hottest musical stars on the planet for his album Si reuniting with his friend Ed Sheeran after their chart-topping 'Perfect Symphony' on a new song called 'Amo Soltanto Te' (written by Ed with lyrics by Tiziano Ferro) and joining with pop sensation Dua Lipa on the single 'If Only'. Crossover superstar Josh Groban and classical soprano Aida Garifullina also duet with Bocelli on the record. It is his first album of new material in 14 years - 16 brand new songs which celebrate love, family, faith and hope. At the center of the new record is a spine-tingling duet between father-and-son, as 20 year-old Matteo Bocelli steps into the limelight to duet with Andrea on 'Fall On Me', a beautifully poignant song which reflects the bond between parent and child.

Rachmaninoff's output of chamber music is small but all the more precious for that. Two absolute gems bear witness to the fact: these ‘elegiac trios’, which were produced by a young composer still indisputably under the influence of Tchaikovsky. However, Rachmaninoff’s personality is already fully present, reaching heights of emotion and expressiveness.

The pieces by Suk and Grieg add a further touch of character to the picture, which is painted with an exceptionally rich palette: the artistry of the phenomenal Trio Wanderer.

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REVIEWS:

The Rachmaninov Trios share not only a sombre soundworld but a clarity of line that’s captured engagingly in these lyrical yet unsentimental performances by the Trio Wanderer. The Wanderers’ performance, a notch faster than many, has an urgency that is highly persuasive. Grieg’s dark and impassioned Andante con moto fits right in after all this, and the disc is rounded off with a sweetly understated Elegie by Suk. – BBC Music Magazine

The Trio Wanderer’s new disc, centred around Rachmaninov’s youthful trios, has all the finesse and subtlety that we’ve long associated with this French ensemble. From the start, though, one thing struck me – how curiously un-Russian these pieces sound in their hands. It’s partly due to their emphasis on clarity of texture, together with a certain Classical restraint.

– Gramophone

Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 album from Egyptian soprano Fatma Said. Joined by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo under Sascha Goetzel, the vision string quartet and more, Said sings numbers like I Could Have Danced All Night from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady and Irving Berlin's Cheek to Cheek alongside opera hits like Meine Lippen sie Kussen so heiss from Franz Lehar's Giuditta.

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.