Gabriel Olafs / POLAR - Icelandic composer Gabr?el Olafs' new album Polar is a work of speculative fiction in musical form. Polar provides the soundtrack to a frozen world. A world of towering mountain ranges, desolate tundra, forbidding oceans, and the monolithic remnants of a lost civilization.

Sensitive and talented, Marc Andr� is one of the few classical musicians to have chosen the double bass as a solo instrument, bringing it out of the orchestral ranks and into the spotlight. Playing a modified double bass - with a sound closer to that of a cello - for this debut album, Marc has chosen an eclectic program spanning eras and styles. From well-known melodies by Gluck to Piazzolla, with Tchaikovsky in between, the repertoire showcases the instruments full expressive range in arrangements for piano and double bass. Marc is also accompanied on two tracks by the guitarist Gabriel Bianco.

Harpist Ashley Jackson fuses music and storytelling in Take Me To The Water, a soulful exploration of spirituals, iconic works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Alice Coltrane, and an exhilarating interpretation of Debussy's "Danse Sacree." Take Me To The Water celebrates the transportive nature of water, and of the rivers that unite us.

Luciano Pavarotti - "The World's Favourite Tenor Arias" Originally released in 1975, Pavarotti's esteemed album, The World's Favourite Tenor Arias, is a collection of popular tenor arias from operas Carmen, La Boh�me, Turdandot and many more. To celebrate it's 50th anniversary, the album is reissued with newly remastered HD audio for the very first time. These were taken from the pre-master tapes in the Decca vaults and bring a fresh and beautiful perspective to these historic recordings. Verve Label Group; Decca; Classical Crossover; Catalog.

Luciano Pavarotti - "Mamma" Originally released in 1984, Mamma is a collection of popular Italian songs, arranged and conducted by Henry Mancini. In his note on the record, Pavarotti exclaimed "I grew up with these songs as did many others of my generation and they now evoke the sound of my childhood." The album is being reissued with newly remastered HD audio for the very first time. These were taken from the pre-master tapes in the Decca vaults and bring a fresh and beautiful perspective to these historic recordings. Verve Label Group; Decca; Classical Crossover; Catalog.

There is something wondrous in the music of Sergei Prokofiev, says Nemanja Radulovic, "as if it constantly moves between light and shadow, searching for truth through contrast, sarcasm, magic, love, irony, and beauty." Now the violinist - praised by The Times for both his "lyric delicacy" and "super-virtuosity" - has recorded an entire album devoted to Prokofiev. It embraces a variety of musical genres: the Violin Concerto No 2 (with the Philharmonia Orchestra under it's principal conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali); the Sonata for Solo Violin; the Sonata for Two Violins (with Johan Dalene), and (with pianist Laure Favre-Kahn), the Five Melodies Op.35bis and arrangements of excerpts from the ballets Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, the opera The Love for Three Oranges, and the 'Classical' Symphony.

Recorded in Salzburg with the city's Mozarteumorchester and conductor Howard Griffiths, Bartlett performs Bach's Keyboard Concerto No 1 in D minor, Mozart's 'Jeunehomme' Piano Concerto and Britten's Young Apollo, which is scored for piano, string quartet and string orchestra. "When I began shaping this album, I started with Benjamin Britten," explains Bartlett. "He was a brilliant pianist, remarkable for his purity of intention, clarity of touch, and emotional honesty... When programming his own Aldeburgh Festival, Britten would often give the works of Bach and Mozart special attention. He also showed his deep admiration in the way he allowed them to influence his own compositions."

A profoundly personal and curated new recording of duets by violinist Daniel Lozakovich, joined by pianist H�l�ne Mercier, inspired by his own reflections on childhood and the redemptive power of music. The album combines cornerstones of the Romantic repertoire (Vocalise, Apr�s un r�ve, Nocturne, La fille aux cheveux de lin) with rare incursions into chanson (La chanson d'H�l�ne, Autumn Leaves, Youkali).

Fazil Say brings together two, highly contrasted Viennese piano sonatas, composed at either end of the Romantic era. Conceived on an epic scale in four movements, Schubert's Sonata in B flat major was written shortly before his death in 1828, while in 1909 Alban Berg ushered in Modernism with his opus 1, the compact, haunting Piano Sonata in B minor. "Schubert was only thirty when he died," writes Fazil Say. "There is unique depth of sorrow and melancholy here, the pain of parting from this world. At the same time, we feel Schubert's joy of life, his vitality, his attachment, his passion, even his defiance." While the Schubert sonata is a recent addition to Say's repertoire, he explains that "I first encountered Alban Berg's piano sonata at the age of 15, and I performed it as a student in Ankara... he became one of the main figures who opened the door for me to contemporary music... His opus 1, while anchored in B minor, sails boldly toward atonality and modern expression... The piano is used almost orchestrally, full of colour and intensity. It is a remarkably beautiful piece."

In 1974, at just 18, Andrei Gavrilov stunned the world by winning the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Weeks later, he replaced Sviatoslav Richter at the Salzburg Festival, where his dazzling program won rapturous acclaim and revealed a pianist of "virtually unlimited technique" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). From this electrifying debut, Gavrilov was celebrated for fearless, spontaneous yet refined artistry. His brilliance set him apart, though his career was later shadowed by years of political confinement in the Soviet Union. This collection gathers all his Warner Classics recordings, a vivid portrait of a pianist whose artistry remains bold and captivating.

In this Schumann anthology, Elisabeth Leonskaja displays the full extent of both her love for the composer and her artistry, with the expressiveness and clarity that characterize her playing, making this recording a true Schumann-esque testament from this great lady of the piano. Many of these works are cycles of short pieces (Papillons, Variations, Symphonic Etudes) or sequences of miniatures, sometimes light and dance-like, sometimes virtuosic, but always imbued with poetry and depth.

These late works by Brahms are like a testament. But what is this secretive man revealing to us here? Or rather, what is he still trying to hide? Hiding it until the very end, arousing in us an irresistible desire to guess what it is? Perhaps that is where the beauty of these scores lies. - Piotr Anderzewski. A short album, a selection of jewels from Brahms' Late Piano works (Op. 116 to 119, with Op. 119 No.4 being the last piano piece Brahms ever wrote) presented in a carefully chosen order. Op. 116 to 118 represent the composer's late piano works, written during the final decade of his life. Here we find a more mature, intimate and subtle Brahms, far removed from the roaring Romanticism of his earlier works.

Abel Selaocoe, the innovative South African cellist, composer and vocalist, announces the release of his second album, Hymns of Bantu on Warner Classics on 21st February 2025. Abel follows the acclaimed release of his 2022 debut Where Is Home (Hae ke Kae) with a remarkable new body of work celebrating his South African heritage, and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Aldo Ciccolini (1925-2015) launched his career in 1950 after winning the prestigious Marguerite Long Competition. A child prodigy, he dedicated himself to rigorous study, drawing influence from Busoni, Liszt, and the Bel Canto tradition, which shaped his emotionally charged interpretations-he described himself as a "lirico spinto pianist." His rich discography, largely released by Warner/Erato, includes complete piano cycles by Liszt, Saint-Sa�ns, and S�verac, along with acclaimed performances of Debussy and Satie. This enriched collection also features exclusive, previously unreleased recordings, including live recitals at the Nohant Festival and a studio session of his favorite Encore pieces. To experience Aldo Ciccolini through his extraordinary recorded legacy is to be immersed in a masterclass of elegance and humility, struck by the richness of his tone or captivated by the mysteries of an entrancing piano.

Rufus Wainwright's Dream Requiem is an extremely prestigious project, the result of a commission from major cultural institutions in the US, UK, and Europe. This world premiere recording features a new composition by the legendary, Grammy-nominated musician, who has collaborated with the who's who of the pop music world. With narration by Meryl Streep, the project will be followed by a worldwide tour starting in January 2025. Written during the pandemic, it's a requiem "for the people we have lost in this crisis, for the past from which we are cut off and for the future to which we do not yet know how to connect, a Requiem for human contact, solidarity and the human voice that have all become dangerous and contagious"; It's also a reflection on environmental collapse and the increase in the number of natural disasters. The text of Dream Requiem weaves together words from the Latin Mass for the Dead - as used by his hero Verdi - with Lord Byron's apocalyptic poem 'Darkness', written after the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 and which brought about "the year without summer".

Following on the acclaimed 'Where is Home' and 'Hymns of Bantu', two genre-defying albums, 'Four Spirits' is also drawn from Abel's South African roots and seeks to create a communal experience with the audience through cello concerto, percussion, singing & improvisation. His first solo cello concerto and, formally speaking, a concerto cast in four movements - each movement takes an essential aspect of township life: ancestors, children, faith and community. Selaocoe positions himself as chief storyteller, combining cello improvising with lyrics in the Southern Sotho and Zulu languages.

Mikhail Pletnev, a virtuoso pianist of the Russian school, rose to global fame after winning the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. Known for his formidable technique and deep musical insight, his Erato recordings (formerly Virgin Classics) showcase his remarkable versatility and unique ability to bring emotional depth and fresh perspectives to works by Chopin, Haydn, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky. Despite his reserved nature, Pletnev's deeply personal interpretations continue to captivate listeners, solidifying his reputation as one of the most thoughtful and imaginative musicians of his generation.

Long acknowledged as one of the great pianists of our time, Elisabeth Leonskaja shares her wealth of experience of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 5, the 'Emperor', with the players of the Orchestre Fran�ais des Jeunes, aged between 16 and 25. She describes it as "the supreme piano concerto... "Nothing transcends the connection it creates between the soloist, conductor and orchestra." Belgium's Crescendo magazine, reviewing a live performance of the concerto, admired "the perfectly disciplined orchestra and the sureness of Michael Sch�nwandt gestures," writing: "The young instrumentalists... showed flexibility in following the marvellous Elisabeth Leonskaja, who... with the absolute 'rightness' of her playing, immersed everyone present in a moment of true grace."

Itzhak Perlman, born in 1945, is the supreme violinist of his time. Over the past 60 years he has become established as one of the great violinists of history - a player on a level with such legendary figures as Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh, and an influential musician admired around the world by a broad and varied public and by students of his instrument. Presenting his art in all it's warmth, generosity and brilliance, this comprehensive 78-CD edition features all the recordings Perlman made for EMI Classics, Teldec, Erato and Warner Classics over a period of more than 40 years. The recordings document his collaborations with the world's greatest orchestras and feature an array of superlative fellow soloists and conductors, including Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Andr� Previn and Pinchas Zukerman.

Georgian pianist Mariam Batsashvili's Influences features works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven-the three giants of the sonata form. Mariam has selected her favourite sonatas, leading to the final piece on the album: Liszt's Fantasia quasi sonata. The album includes Liszt's famous Liebestraum No. 1 & 3 and Campanella, along with other beautiful solo works.

Alexandre Tharaud's new album features three world premieres on record - three piano concertos written for & dedicated to him by three of the most exciting contemporary composers active today. A deeply engaging, virtuosic tour-de-force of an album.

For more than six decades, Adrian Boult was at the forefront of British music-making. He was the most skilled British conductor of his era, with the widest musical sympathies. Known for his conducting style characterized by it's clarity, discipline, and objectivity, his recordings are highly regarded for their integrity and musical insight. This edition includes all his mono recordings made between 1920 and 1957 for HMV, Pye Nixa and Parlophone labels. More than half of this box set is available for the very first time on CD, in HD remastering made from the original sources, and it includes several previously unreleased recordings. This first box devoted to the Mono recordings will be followed in January 2026 by another box devoted to the complete Stereo recordings by Adrian Boult on Warner Classics. The albums are presented as original pairing programs with original cover artwork.

Maria Tipo's extraordinary talent was so evident from a young age that she was nicknamed the "Neapolitan Horowitz." After her early success at the Geneva International Music Competition, she rose to international acclaim within a decade of her recording debut, performing over 300 concerts in the United States. While she later chose to limit her concert activity, Tipo became a revered teacher in Geneva, Bolzano, and Florence, with Martha Argerich once recommending her to Nelson Goerner as "wonderful for you." She also made a decisive contribution to the legacy of Muzio Clementi, declaring: "I want to show that he is the one who opens the door to Romanticism, which leads directly to Franz Liszt." Tipo's recordings - from her legendary Scarlatti and Bach albums to her pioneering complete Clementi sonatas and her deeply lyrical Chopin Nocturnes - remain a precious testimony to an artistry combining astonishing technique with profound human sensitivity.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt was one of the most influential conductors of the 20th century, a pioneer who redefined how we listen to music. A cellist by training, he first revolutionised Baroque performance with his own Concentus musicus Wien, before seeking an ensemble that could bring the same spirit of discovery to the Classical and Romantic repertoire. His encounter in 1986 with the young Chamber Orchestra of Europe was the beginning of a unique artistic partnership. Harnoncourt demanded extremes of colour, tension and risk, challenging the musicians to abandon routine and rediscover the radical force of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert or Schumann. What began as a trial evolved into decades of groundbreaking concerts, operas and recordings, from revelatory Beethoven cycles to Schumann and even Gershwin. Their collaboration not only transformed the orchestra but also left a lasting mark on performance history, setting interpretative standards that continue to inspire musicians worldwide.

Dedicated to the STEREO recordings of Sir Adrian Boult, this edition forms an essential counterpart to the previously issued Mono Recordings 1920-1957. Few conductors embraced the transition from mono to stereo with such sensitivity and imagination: Boult drew on a new generation of producers and engineers to achieve a remarkable balance of clarity, depth, and power. Covering the years 1956 to 1978, this collection captures his "Indian summer" in the studio and includes his landmark Schumann and Brahms cycles, alongside authoritative interpretations of fellow composers Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Britten, and Holst. Celebrated for their vitality and architectural grandeur, these recordings confirm Boult's central place in the history of orchestral performance on record.