LA RESURREZIONE

Rameau is one of the universal geniuses in European musical history, on the same level as Bach, Mozart and Haydn", asserts conductor Gy�rgy Vashegyi. With this recording of Les Bor�ades Vashegyi completes an ambitious 10-year Rameau project, run in collaboration with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. The cast of Sabine Devieilhe, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Tassis Christoyannis, Thomas Doli�, Gwendoline Blondeel, Benedikt Kristj�nsson and Philippe Est�phe is joined by the Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir - both ensembles founded by Vashegyi. Devieilhe - who made her Erato debut with a Rameau recital - takes the central role of Alphise, Queen of Bactria, who must defy the traditions of her country if she is to marry the man she loves. The theme of freedom, 'la libert�', is important in the opera; conceived in 1763 to mark the end of the Seven Years' War, it had to wait more than 200 years for it's first full staging. When the performers on this recording appeared in a concert version of Les Bor�ades at the Th��tre des Champs-Elys�es in Paris, Concert Classique declared that "Rameau's genius shines through at every moment.

Terrific debut album for Huw Montague Rendall, showcasing his multifaceted talent and stylistic sensitivity. Contemplation spans three centuries, the idioms of opera, operetta, Broadway musical, lied and m�lodie with arias and songs by Mozart, Thomas, Gounod, Duparc, Messager, Mahler, Korngold, Rodgers and Britten. In a duet from Mozart's Die Zauberfl�te the baritone is joined by Canadian soprano Elisabeth Boudreault.

As John Eliot Gardiner converted his Monteverdi Orchestra to early instruments in the mid-1970s and renamed it the English Baroque Soloists, he engaged his magnificent instrumentalists, choir and a host of first-class soloists in the most emblematic works by "the Greatest Genius we [England] ever had": Henry Purcell! He reception was unanimously enthusiastic and led Diapason to say: "Gardiner's reading of Purcell, dramatic, hyper-refined, sometimes burning, overwhelming, at all times enchanting, cannot escape the discography of the enlightened music lover. Purcell himself is there!"

The production takes itself none too seriously, the Baroque absurdities of the plot enhanced by absurd costumes... Fagioli rises to the challenge, as he offsets vocal pyrotehcnics with poignancy... - BBC Music Magazine.

The sixteen lullabies - or berceuses - that pianist Bertrand Chamayou has chosen for Good Night! Form a captivatingly varied album. His programme embraces a diversity of eras and musical cultures: Chopin, Liszt, Grieg and, of course, Brahms through Balakirev, Lyapunov, Alkan, Bonis, Busoni, Jan�cek, Martinu and Villa-Lobos to Helmut Lachenmann and a world premiere, Bryce Dessner's Song for Octave. "The lullaby's place is halfway between dream and reality," says Chamayou, "There is that special moment as you are falling asleep and you experience all kinds of emotions." A satisfying recital that will also enrich digital playlists, Good Night! #has been recorded in Dolby Atmos immersive sound.

In what was one of the great modern feats of classical recording, American-born organist and harpsichordist Scott Ross recorded all 555 of Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas between June 1984 and September 1985. Released in nine volumes, these recordings were widely acclaimed by critics and the public alike; they appear here at a super budget price ($7 per CD before our discount)! "This is quite simply a magnificent recording of magnificent music "- Gramophone.

The "Earth Requiem" is a gigantic work performed and recorded in Beijing in May 2011 in remembrance of the devastating Sichuan earthquake in 2008. This is the first Chinese Requiem ever composed. This massive work by renowned Chinese composer Guan Xia is scored for 100 instrumentalists, a choir of 150 singers, an organ and 4 vocal soloists. The well-established China National Symphony Orchestra invited the legendary French conductor Michel Plasson, who has long had a close association with EMI Classics, to work on the project. This partnership between West and East gives the recording a universal breadth as well as an overarching theme: The Earth. The emotional strength of the work is empowered by it's gargantuan scale.

BELLINI: LA SONNAMBULA - HLTS

Ludwig van Beethoven invented Jazz. That statement might seem enough to provoke a paroxysm from a musicologist, but, with a passage in his final piano sonata, Beethoven created the first example of pure swing in the history of music. We might also wonder how the serious-minded Johannes Brahms could open a sonata movement with a walking bass blues that smacks of the Mississippi Delta, or how Modest Mussorgsky, in his "Pictures at an Exhibition," foreshadows Quincy Jones. This album makes these extraordinary connections before exploring the profound influence of jazz on composers of the 20th century, from Maurice Ravel to Leonard Bernstein.

The unique radiance of traditional English choral singing that made Agnus Dei such a phenomenon is displayed in this set of international Christmas music by Higginbottom & The Choir of New College, Oxford. Mixing familiar tunes with less frequently heard gems, the carol texts take the listener from Annunciation through Epiphany with music from around the world - including the eloquent Poulenc Christmas Motets and Herbert Howell's haunting carol-anthems.

CLASSICAL HITS OF THE CINEMA

PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG

CHOPIN: PIANO SONATAS 1 & 2

LA FOLIE AMÉRICAINE !