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ERATO STORY - LES SURPRISES DE L AMOUR

VIRTUOSO CANTATAS

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LA TRAVITA

JOYCE & TONY: LIVE FROM WIGMORE HALL

Something special happens when she starts to sing - something that sets off a thrill..." wrote Opera News of Vivica Genaux. This collection of three recitals showcases the virtuosity, elegance and expressivity of the Alaska-born mezzo-soprano in repertoire that has proved central to her career: Vivaldi, Handel, Rossini and Donizetti and - a composer she has championed - Johann Adolph Hasse. The recitals in this box were recorded in 2003 (Rossini/Donizetti), 2006 (Handel/Hasse) and 2009 (Vivaldi: Pyrotechnics). It was in Rossini that Vivica Genaux first made her name, particularly as Rosina in Il barbiere de Siviglia. Writing about this Rossini arias album, Time Out New York hailed Genaux "the most exciting singer in the world. Sinewy but lithe, her voice encompasses a wine-rich chest register, juiced up with just enough testosterone to keep things interesting, as well as luminous high notes that would do many a soprano proud." The first Baroque role that Vivica Genaux sung was in Handel's Ariodante, but she went on to make a particular specialty of the music of Hasse. Reviewing this album, Gramophone wrote: "Three well-crafted arias from Hasse's Arminio are ideal fare for Genaux's pinpoint accuracy and florid ornamentation." Of the album 'Pyrotechnics', Vivaldi expert Frederic Delamea wrote: "The dazzling arias in this program - some of which have never been recorded or, indeed, performed in concert - illustrate the different phases and forms of Vivaldian pyrotechnics, exploring every emotion and the most diverse dramatic situations, and continually varying instrumentation, tonality and tempo.

CELLO CONCERTOS

ARTASERSE

PIETA

VERITAS X2 SERIES is the leading range of early music recordings on the market. This new batch of ten essential reissues introduces into the Veritas range, for the first time, key recordings from the historic Erato catalogue. John Eliot Gardiner is at his best in this milestone recording showcasing the full splendor of Handel's music. Among the first historically-informed versions of these beloved choral works, the Dixit Dominus initially sold more than 500,000 copies around the world.

2012 release from lutenist Christina Pluhar and her extraordinarily multi-faceted instrumental and vocal ensemble L'Arpeggiata. On Los Pajaros Perdidos ('the lost birds'), the group has delved deep into the Latin American tradition, tracing it's roots all the way back to African rhythms and European baroque structures before moving through Spain to current South American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela. The pieces on the album cover a broad spectrum, from the sensual bolero 'Besame Mucho' (made famous by the late, great Cesaria Evora) to the lively 'Pajarillo Verde,' which will be familiar to fans of the Buena Vista Social Club.

LA MUSE ET LE POETE

MASS IN B MINOR

Joyce DiDonatos capacity for characterization is as astounding as the range and flexibility of her voice. This new collection showcases DiDonatos multi-faceted art, and the wealth of opportunities open to a mezzo-soprano by presenting her as different characters - both male and female - from the same opera story.

Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Florez, and Zeljko Lucic star in this 2008 Metropolitan Opera production of the Verdi opera conducted by Fabio Luisi and directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff.

Established as one of Virgin Classics bestselling artists, Philippe Jaroussky, who has been described as the Apollo of countertenors by Germany s Die Zeit, stands out among his many talented contemporaries as much for the sopranolike beauty of his tone as for the elegance and insight of his interpretations and his adventurous and erudite approach to repertoire whether unearthing neglected scores by little-known composers or venturing beyond the Baroque into the 19th and 20th centuries. Jaroussky s diverse achievements are celebrated in two new collections on Virgin Classics the 2-CD set The Voice and the DVD La Voix des reves. Greatest moments in Concert. Displaying the breadth of his repertoire from Vivaldi, Handel and lesser-known masters of the Baroque to Faure, Hahn and even Tango King Astor Piazzolla these two releases prove once again that there is much more to Jaroussky than the voice of an angel.

Joyce DiDonato, Eglise Guttierez, Alice Coote, Ewa Podles, and Jean-Philippe Latiort star in this Royal Opera production of the Massenet opera conducted by Bertrand de Billy and directed by Laurent Pelly.

A pianist whose exceptional intelligence and sensitivity draws on her effervescent spirit, Anne Queffelec learned her craft in both Paris and Vienna. She had a close relationship with Erato and Virgin Classics, which produced a rich discography. This recording is an absolute best seller, and probably the most famous version of Erik Satie's masterpieces, the Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes. It's featured here in it's original iconic cover artwork.

My love for baroque music has never been exclusive. Of course I am attracted by period instruments, but that has never been an end in itself. For me, it is simply a matter of always moving further towards the truth, towards a fresh interpretation." As idiomatic and revelatory in Bach, Handel, Purcell, Rameau and Campra as in Gluck, Berlioz, Offenbach, Chabrier and Massenet, Sir John Eliot Gardiner is a conductor whose passion and curiosity for music seem as inexhaustible as his enterprising spirit. This 64CD set unites his entire discography for Erato, EMI and Virgin, produced over a period of nearly 20 years. Many of the recordings cast new light on the repertoire, expanding Gardiner's influence and enhancing his reputation as the guiding force of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists, and Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon. As the Financial Times has written :.What Gardiner demonstrated... is that stylistic fidelity is a movable feast, and he has not lost his hunger for it."

If music... showcases star countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski in 17 songs and arias by three composers of the Baroque era: Purcell, Handel and Fux. Perhaps unexpectedly, he is partnered not by an ensemble of period instruments but by a pianist - his long-standing colleague Michal Biel. "On this album we have combined arias and songs that inspire and speak to us, " says Jakub Jozef Orlinski. "I love thinking of albums as pages out of my diary. They are a statement of where I am as an artist." As Michal Biel, who draws on all the possibilities of a Steinway grand piano, freely admits: "If music... is not an answer to the question of how to perform these masterpieces with historical authenticity." He sees each aria or song as "a carefully considered transcription that reveals it's appeal transcending instrumentation".

This album dedicated to Ernest Chausson gathers some of the finest French interpreters of today, a rare collaboration between violinist Renaud Capucon, Quatuor Ebene and pianist Nicholas Angelich. The program offers a comprehensive look at Chausson's genius, pairing the intricate chamber music of Concert Op.21 with the sweeping Poeme for violin and orchestra. This album also serves as a tribute to the late Nicholas Angelich, timed as it is to coincide with the anniversary of his passing on April 18, 2022.

'Claude Debussy is still the greatest musical enigma that has ever existed,' said Aldo Ciccolini. 'You never get to the bottom of his music. That is perhaps why he will never be forgotten: people will never give up trying to make sense of him. Debussy never fails to surprise you and his music has a charm that is quite indefinable.' Ciccolini, though born in Naples, confessed to having a French soul and he distinguished himself as a supremely subtle and illuminating interpreter of the composer who described himself as 'musicien francais'.

Beethoven's 16 string quartets occupy a place of honor in the chamber repertoire. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the composer's birth, and Quatuor Ebene is recognizing this with an extensive tour, entitled Beethoven Around the World. Over that period the French ensemble will give over 120 concerts in a total of 21 countries on six continents, focusing on complete cycles of the quartets from February 2020. Beethoven Around the World encompasses live recordings for Erato, building a complete cycle, made in seven of the world's great cities: Vienna (at the Konzerthaus); Philadelphia (Kimmel Center); Tokyo (Suntory Hall); Sao Paulo (Sala Sao Paulo); Melbourne (Melbourne Recital Centre); Nairobi, and, with the support of UNESCO, Paris (Philharmonie de Paris).

2020 release. Expressing his own cultural identity, guitarist Thibaut Garcia combines Rodrigo's archetypally Spanish Concierto de Aranjuez with a declaration of l'esprit francais: Alexandre Tansman's neoclassical Musique de cour, inspired by the court of Louis XIV. Garcia's heritage is Spanish, but he is French, born in the city of Toulouse, where this album was recorded with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the young British conductor Ben Glassberg. It is completed by four solo pieces by Regino Sainz de la Maza, the guitarist who gave the premiere of the Concierto de Aranjuez in 1940.