Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination – the British Library’s first major exhibition to bring together the Library’s Royal collection, a treasure trove of illuminated manuscripts from between the 9th and 16th centuries collected by the kings and queens of England between the 9th and 16th centuries. This CD is inspired by the exhibition and includes works performed by The Sixteen from the Eton Choirbook alongside fascinating pieces from medieval and Renaissance France, equally preserved in beautifully illuminated collections of manuscripts and performed here by the Hilliard Ensemble. And finally, one of the crowning glories of music from the Tudor period, Tallis’s monumental Spem in Alium. Over the years it has been our overwhelming desire to rejoice in the survival of this great music. It is collections such as those preserved at the British Library that have enabled us to bring back to life the music that illuminated these fascinating periods in our history.

In April 2012, the Schwetzingen Festival celebrates its 60th birthday. On this occasion, a very special oratorio recording from the festival's early years has been selected - a vintage performance of Haydn's "The Seasons", featuring the immortal Fritz Wunderlich!

Haydn wrote his oratorio "The Seasons" between the years 1799 and 1800. The work is based on the poem "The Seasons" by James Thomson in the German translation of the Baron van Swieten. The contemporary descriptions of nature and genre scenes are a work of perfection, insuring the composition's enduring popularity.

This early festival recording is a true time-capsule, recorded on May 24th, 1959 featuring in addition to Wunderlich, the vocal artistry of Agnes Giebel, and Kieth Engen, who together bring Haydn's secular oratorio to vivid life.

Prior to becoming Principle Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Andrey Boreyko served as chief conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra from and is currently in the same position with the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra. In his first recording for Henssler CLASSIC, Maestro Boreyko delivered what has come to be regarded as one of the definitive recordings of Shostakovich's difficult and emotionally searing Fourth Symphony. For this new release, Boreyko returns with what will surely become benchmark versions of two equally difficult Shostakovich scores.

Baritone G�rard Souzay never had the opportunity to develop a following due to his brief operatic career. Yet experts recognized his innate musicality and his perfect pronunciation of German - his Lieder interpretations are considered legendary. Souzay limited himself to recitals of German Lieder and French m�lodies, but what you'll hear provides sheer delight. He still is a singer for aficionados, but this historic recital, recorded in his prime, will surely further this great singer's reputation throughout the world.

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This album is a reissue of the Chandos label's 1988 recording of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and the Konzertstück for Cello and Orchestra by Dohnányi, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Charles Mackerras, with Raphael Wallfisch the featured soloist.

The Cello Concerto in B minor by Dvorák has become one of his most popular works, and perhaps the most popular concerto ever written for the instrument. He was asked to write this piece by a friend of Wagner, the cellist Hanuš Wihan. Initially reluctant, Dvorák stated that the cello was indeed a fine orchestral instrument but totally insufficient for a solo concerto. Fortunately, he changed his mind upon hearing Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto performed in concert, in 1894. The resulting Cello Concerto is richly inventive, full of deep feeling, and perfectly fitted to the cello. Dvorák combined his experience as an orchestral player with an understanding of the cello’s distinct textural qualities to produce a grand and emotionally intense work, one of his finest achievements.

Ernst von Dohnányi was highly acclaimed as a pianist-composer, and widely regarded during his lifetime as a successor to Liszt. As a composer, however, he had more in common with Brahms than with Liszt, despite his Hungarian heritage, and his creative output was not limited to the piano. His Konzertstück in D major is in fact a full-scale cello concerto, in three interconnected parts. A lyrical rhapsody, it begins quietly, the cello emerging out of the orchestra and seeming to sing, until parting with a sense of regret at the end.

Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 4-5 July 1988 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Janet Middlebrook (Assistant)

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The latest release in hänssler CLASSIC's Historical SeriesNicolai Gedda was one of the most famous singers of the 20th centuryA valuable compilation of recordings of the great Nicolai Gedda from the SWR archives

Chandos presents Volume 2 in its series of solo piano works by Chopin, played by the French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie. Recording exclusively for Chandos, Lortie is recognized as one of the finest interpreters of Chopin today. He first recorded Chopin's Etudes for Chandos more than twenty years ago; the disc was named as one of the '50 great performances by superlative pianists' by BBC Music.

Volume 1 of his current Chopin series also has received excellent reviews: the magazine Pianist wrote, “He is a pianist of our time when it comes to speed, energy and an unfussy approach to Chopin. His way of playing is like a sharply cut steel sculpture, super elegant and with not one single smudge.” And in the words of International Piano: “These are full-blooded and eloquent performances, an auspicious start to what looks likely to become one of the finest of Chopin surveys.”

Drama, surprise, humour and still life - with a bubbling undertone of anarchy. Composer Ib Nørholm (b. 1931) presents us with a delightful twist on Danish nocturne and condensed music drama for two in Tavole per Orfeo. This world premiere recording by soprano Else Torp and guitarist Per Pålsson unfolds as a fascinating testimony to an inspired encounter between words and music and a meeting of strong artistic personalities. Else is a core member of Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices, with whom she has performed around the world.

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Chandos Records has signed an exclusive contract with the Brodsky Quartet in time for the celebrations of its fortieth anniversary in 2012. Formed in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet quickly emerged at the forefront of the international chamber music scene. It has performed more than 2000 concerts and made more than fifty highly acclaimed recordings. This is the Quartet’s first release on Chandos, and includes many of the encores it has performed over the years, notable for their novelty and diverse range of styles and emotions. All the pieces have been arranged by past or current members of the Quartet, and together form an entertaining and original collection.

One of JS Bach’s most famous and loved masterpieces with the Portland Baroque Orchestra conducted by Monica Huggett. The double-CD package includes full texts and translations. (Avie)

Country Current is the premier country-bluegrass group of the US Navy Band that showcases traditional, contemporary, and original bluegrass compositions. This is … Navy Country features new arrangements of great country classics along with several original compositions from members of the ensemble. From Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" to Josh Turner's "Long Black Train," this album will appeal to any country music fan.

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) carries a musical legacy that extends beyond the realms of being a writer or bandleader. His music still stands as a brilliant model of American compositional creativity. Although Ellington had a profound influence in the world of jazz, his mastery extends even further into several other compositional outputs including concerti, tone poems, film scores, ballets, big band arrangements and several operas. The four works found on Duke Ellington: The Symphonic Portrait are some of these masterworks that were eventually arranged for the symphony orchestra. Each selection varies greatly in structure, however Ellington’s visionary compositional style, combined with his discomfort with musical labels such as jazz and classical, resulted in a genre that integrated these distinct styles most effectively.

Following his extraordinary, critically acclaimed recording of concertos by Martinu, Hindemith, and Honegger, the charismatic Johannes Moser returns with a stunning new release, featuring two of the most distinguished 20th century cello concertos. Both works were originally composed for the great Mstislav Rostropovich. Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 was premiered in October 1959, and is characterized by vitality, humor and virtuosity. Britten's "Symphony for Cello and Orchestra" op 68 was premiered in 1964, with Rostropovich once again as soloist. This new recording continues Moser's stunning exploration of 20th century cello concertos while at the same time building upon his masterful interpretations of cello sonatas by the same featured composers, Shostakovich and Britten.

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On a new disc to celebrate the 2012 Diamond Jubilee, the King's Singers present a selection of works from the past 500 years written in honor of the great Monarchs of Britain. Starting with works for (and in some cases by) Henry VIII, the program covers the Elizabethan 'Triumphs of Oriana' by composers such as Gibbons, Mundy and Dowland; a very Victorian selection of dedicatory works by Elgar, Parry and Parratt; choral arrangements from the opera 'Glorianna' by Benjamin Britten; and a new piece by Paul Drayton that comically pens 'A Rough Guide to the Royal Succession'. (Drayton is perhaps best known to fans of the King's Singers as the composer of their much-loved encore work Masterpiece.)

The Italian-born pianist and Leeds competition winner Alessio Bax returns with his third solo recital disc for Signum. His programme surveys a selection of highlights from Brahms' pianistic output, charting his development from the early lyrical collection '4 Ballades' (1854) through to the 'eight perfect gems' that are the 8 Klavierstücke Op.76 (1871-78). Bax also tackles Brahms' fiendish set of 'Variations on a Theme of Pagainini, Op.35', which Bax describes in the programme notes as one of 'the most fearsome works ever written for piano'.

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The album also contains additional tracks by Francois Couperin that are identified by generic Baroque era dance titles without specific details: Allemande, Sarabande, Sicilenne, Gavotte.

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