2020 release. Guitarist Gerard Cousins's Escape features arrangements for solo guitar of Philip Glass's best known music. Appropriately, Cousins starts with a flowing account of 'Opening', the first track from Glass's iconic 1983 album Glassworks, designed to introduce the public to the composer's music. Cousins follows the mood with four tracks from Glass's piano pieces Metamorphosis, the second of which, 'Metamorphosis No.2', became the basis for the piece 'Escape!' from the Oscar-nominated score to The Hours. The album concludes with 'Knee Play 2' from Glass's 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach, a landmark of 20th century theater, and finally 'Truman Sleeps' from Glass's Golden Globe-winning score to The Truman Show.

Includes work(s) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Soloist: Siegbert Rampe.

•For their second OehmsClassics recording, the Lower Austrian Tonkünstler Austria decided on the Mendelssohn First and Third Symphonies. Recorded live at the Vienna Musikverein, these performances further reveal the growing sense of appreciation conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada is receiving. He is soon to be appointed Principal Conductor of the hr‑Sinfonieorchester, Frankfurt, Music Director of the HoustonSymphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the LondonPhilharmonic.

Robert Schumann: Works for Piano (Recordings 1956-1959)

TCHAIKOVSKY: SOUVENIR DE FLORNCE SCHOENBERG

Stunning contemporary music from the French-Canadian violinist – a ClassicFM Album of the Week

After a fight against cancer, the French-Canadian violinist Angèle Dubeau has produced an album of beautiful contemporary pieces that are linked by their common evocation of light and peace - all works that she says have personally helped her through her illness.

The album consists of 14 pieces from 12 different composers including international movie maestros - Ennio Morricone, Joe Hisaishi and Ryuichi Sakamato - and such varied genres as jazz and folk, as exemplified by the music of Dave Brubeck and Cat Stevens.

Angèle Dubeau is a sensational violinist and the selection here is serene and heartfelt. She is ably accompanied by her all-female string ensemble La Pietà, who turn "Morning Has Broken" into a rolling, pastoral rhapsody.

– classicfm.com

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"Blanc like purity, serenity. Blanc for light music which, by their size and their evocative power, can bring inner peace. Of emotions on skin that reflect this strange loneliness qu'amène disease. After months of struggle against cancer, music has help me stay on track, music brought me comfort, tranquility and often Escape necessary. These songs, which are those of Brubeck, Dompierre, Golijov, Hisaishi, Morricone, Mozetich, Munsey, O'Connor, Phillips, Sakamoto, Schyman and Stevens. Musical moments without artifice, true and hopeful. This album tells a story, my story, that of a woman who, like so many others had to fight against the disease, and serenely grown spring." – Angele Dubeau

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

BEETHOVEN: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4

One of the leading mezzos of our day, Alice Coote delivers a Schubert recital which offers seventy minutes of pure pleasure. The twenty-one songs recorded here are among Schubert's finest, from "Erlk�nig" (written in the composer's annus mirabilis of 1815) to "Leise flehen" (which dates from his final summer).

A composition as brilliant as it is protean, the Mass in B minor occupied Bach until the end of his life. The earliest sections date back to 1724, others were written in 1733 in the hope of obtaining a post in Dresden. The work, which is more ecumenical than strictly Catholic, offers a digest of his art at it's expressive peak as a world in itself. Ren� Jacobs, Akademie f�r Alte Musik and RIAS Kammerchor were eager to revisit it, following their acclaimed interpretations of the two Passions and the Christmas Oratorio.

A must-have for all sci-fi fans, Galaxymphony II - Galaxymphony Strikes Back, a symphonic space journey. Travel the universe with the best tracks from Apollo 13, Avatar, Blade Runner, Gravity, Interstellar, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Mandalorian.

The legacy of the conductor Sergiu Celidache is honored with a re-release of a 1965 live performance with the Orchestra e Teatro "La Fenice" di Venezia. With a program that included winning performances of Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition", along with the not usual inclusion of Cherubini's "Symphony in D" and the then premiere of a work by Swedish composer, Sven Erik Back, the maestro Celidache's reputation as an iconoclast among conductors with his programming choices is evident with this collection. With exception technical and sound quality, this live recording presents a significant opportunity towards a reappreciation of Celidache.

Tafelmusik presents Beethoven's landmark Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" - an heroic and monumental symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon - and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 "Italian." with historical performances Maestro Weil and his players may yet convince you that "Beethoven can sound as radical in 21st century as he must have in the 19th" (Gramophone).

Boris Lyatoshynsky is seen as the father of twentieth-century Ukrainian music. His compositions brought him not only critical acclaim, but also into conflict with the Soviet authorities. The remarkable First Symphony draws on the romantic traditions of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, and has at its heart a dramatic and tragic central movement originally entitled Lyric Poem. The symphonic ballad Grazyhna is one of Lyatoshynsky’s true masterworks, expressing the highly charged emotions of sorrow and heroism in Adam Mickiewicz’s inspirational poem. This is the first of three discs comprising the complete Lyatoshynsky symphonies.

An all star ensemble of early and baroque music specialists masters the delicate beauty of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos: the alternating solo and ensemble parts all shine with musical excellence, the communication between the musicians is outstanding, the structure of the music is always clear and intuitively understood. The Orchestra Mozart is led by Giuliano Carmignola, the Italian master of the violin, who has earned a reputation as a specialist in 18th-century music with his work with the Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. The soloists include also other eminent instrumentalists such as Jacques Zoon, Reinhold Friedrich, Alois Posch, Ottavio Dantone, Danusha Waskiewicz, Mario Brunello, Alessio Allegrini and Jonathan Williams.

This outstanding album of Italian Renaissance songs is beautifully performed with expert performance practice by soprano Jessica Gould and lute and chitarrone player Diego Cantalupi. Works by Benedetto Ferrari, Tanquinio Merula, Giovanni Felice Sances, and others are featured. Jessica Gould has wowed audiences and critics across the globe with her impressive interpretations of early music. “A dramatic intensity that honored the texts.” (The New York Times) “Dazzling… expansive range, coloratura facility, and multi-hued, powerful sound” (Seen and Heard International) “Astonishing passage and ornaments, executed to perfection” (Lute News, UK) Diego Cantalupi was born in Milano and studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano, and the Conservatorio di Parma. He holds a degree in lute performance.

Originally written as a set of piano pieces, Mussorgsky's splendid Pictures at an Exhibition translates the artistry of the composer's friend Victor Hartmann into unforgettable music. Peter Breiner's new orchestration creates a showpiece for our times, achieving contemporary sounds through unusual instrumental combinations, and right up to a spectacular Great Gate of Kiev performed by 104 musicians. Mussorgsky's remarkable song cycles contrast encounters with death against the often uneasy world of children in the Nursery.

Celebrating the union of classical and jazz, LSO Live's latest release encapsulates the very best of the two genres with an irresistible selection of works by Bernstein, Stravinsky and Golijov, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Argentinian tango and jazz course through Golijov's vibrant Nazareno. Superstar piano duo Katia and Marielle Lab�que are flanked by brass, percussion and cellos in this special arrangement for two pianos and orchestra by Gonzalo Grau. LSO Principal Clarinettist Chris Richards steps into the spotlight in Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto. The work is an era-defining amalgamation of jazz and classical, reflecting back the variety of a rapidly changing world, at turns frenetic and agitated, mournful and bluesy. This fluidity extends into Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs - an exuberant display of contrasting musical ideas, harmoniously intertwined together.

Keith Jarrett is one of the few jazz superstars whose concerts sell out almost immediately, wherever he plays. Keith is much more than just a jazz musician. Through an exploration of his life and work, and close encounters with the man himself, this documentary offers an exceptional opportunity to examine the contrasting worlds of jazz and classical music. At the same time it is a fascinating and analytical portrait of a remarkable musician whose interests and influences range from jazz, ethnic and folk music, to Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky and Samuel Barber. The film explores, through a collage of interviews and performance, the complete range of Keith Jarrett's life and work. Great archive material is interweaved with original and richly detailed filmed interviews, not only with Keith himself, but with all the musicians he has played with over the years, as well as with members of his family, tour managers and other close musical and recording associates. "Keith Jarrett - The Art of Improvisation" - produced and directed by Mike Dibb, in collaboration with Jarrett's biographer Ian Carr - is the first ever major documentary about Keith Jarrett, made with the full co-operation of Jarrett himself.

MUSICAL JOURNEY - ITALY: A Musical Tour of the Southern Tyrol

The Places
The Southern Tyrol was in earlier times part of the Habsburg Empire, governed from Vienna, and ceded to Italy in 1919. The region remains largely German-speaking and enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy. Of particular interest are the rock-formations of the Dolomites and the many castles and fortified houses of the province. The tour shows two historic buildings, Scholss Velthurns and Schloss Runkelstein.

The Music Music for thebr> tour is by Mozart, born in Salzburg in 1756. With his father, Leopold Mozart, Vice-Kapellmeister in Salzburg, he made three notable visits to Italy, and on various occasions broke his journey at Bozen (Bolzano) and visited Brixen (Bressanone). The music heard here is the Posthorn Serenade, written in Salzburg in 1779, and the Notturno, another serenade, written there in the winter of 1776–77.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 59 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Classical Music

The composer that Casella most resembles in his chameleon-like musical personality is probably Martinu, and this is nowhere more true than in the Partita for piano and small orchestra. Scored for the distinctive combination of oboe, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three trumpets, timpani and strings, the work is an unalloyed delight. Listen to the end of the first movement recapitulation, and you’ll be hooked. Like Martinu’s Sinfonietta giocosa, the lightweight title in fact conceals a work of genuine substance, lasting (in this case) just over half an hour. The central Passacaglia (a form much exploited by Casella) is profoundly beautiful, and its evocative use of trills reveals that Casella learned a trick or two from the first Nachtmusik of Mahler’s Seventh, which he arranged for piano four-hands.

The Introduzione, aria e toccata again recalls (or foreshadows) Martinu–in this case the Toccata e due canzone. Like that piece, this is a substantial, at times brooding work brimming with memorable invention. The music’s stylized, neo-Baroque idiom couldn’t be farther removed from the nearly contemporary orchestral fragments from Casella’s only opera, La donna serpente (The Snake Woman), after a play by Gozzi. These “fragments” are actually pretty extensive, lasting a full half an hour, and if they pay homage to anyone I’d have to mention Rimsky-Korsakov. The Military March that ends the first suite evokes a fairytale atmosphere similar to that of The Golden Cockerel or Tsar Sultan, but there’s nothing Russian about the melodic material, which is completely personal.

This disc marks the conclusion of Naxos’ Casella series, and it has been a wonderful journey. As with the other discs, the performances are excellent. Sun Hee You does a wonderful job in the Partita, offering effortless virtuosity and an aptly light touch. There’s only one other recording available, featuring the very good Joshua Pierce, coupled to concertante works by Respighi and Rachmaninov, but conductor Franceso La Vecchia proves himself more imaginative an accompanist the Anton Nanut, and he also has the better orchestra and engineering. Casella truly was a great composer. The evidence on this disc is incontestable.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Live Performances by the Great Black Harpsichordist [Black Swans Series]. "Amazingly inventive and fearless playing" - Kenneth Cooper; "She deserves a chance at a major career" - New York Times