Martin Kohlstedt creates dazzling musical pieces, tapestries of sound that grow organically from the keyboards of his piano and synthesizers. Such is the reputation that he has built in his native Germany that his latest album, 'Str�me' (currents), has been created in collaboration with the chorus of one of the country's most revered musical institutions, Leipzig's Gewandhaus. 70 voices blend and intertwine to mesmerising effect with the sounds created by Kohlstedt himself.

Separated by 7,800 kilometres, connected by culture - this is the motto of 2019, a year full of anniversaries. It is the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and South Korea. And Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra is also celebrating it's 35th anniversary. For this occasion, we proudly present the Mo�bius album, containing works by Penderecki, Lee and Ryu, performed by piano virtuoso Mackenzie Melemed (1-3), and Sinfonia Varsovia directed by Ralf Gothoni (1-4) and Grzegorz Nowak (5).

He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, observed nature with scientific understanding and helped mankind with his visionary ideas to advance towards a number of innovative technologies. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most important polymaths of all time - and a man who lived at a time of tremendous upheaval. That is apparent from the music that surrounded him: on 39 tracks the double album The Da Vinci Sound captures the sound of the Renaissance - with masses and motets, with songs, dances and madrigals.

'Dreamtime' is a spellbinding collection of works for flute and orchestra which, in Emmanuel Pahud's words 'expresses and gives form to the composers' most personal, spiritual or dreamlike visions'. The album ranges wide both culturally and chronologically, embracing works by Mozart, Reinecke, Busoni, Takemitsu and Penderecki, and inhabits a dimension populated by incantations and prayers, in which imagination is woven together and then unravels, and where desire is roused by fantasy. Pahud is partnered by the Munich Radio Orchestra and it's principal conductor, Ivan Repusic.

A classic recording of a classic pairing of French song cycles. Composed some 60 years apart, Berlioz's Les Nuits d'�t� and Ravel's Sh�h�razade both visit romantic, mysterious and exotic locations, evoking a wealth of moods and sensations. Janet Baker, an irresistible storyteller, is accompanied on her journey by Sir John Barbirolli, conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra with sensitivity and imagination.

Rudolf Kempe's recordings of Richard Strauss have long been prized for their unparalleled clarity and subtlety in music that has come to define the late-romantic temperament and it's expression of highly strung emotions. Strauss loves the complex textures that Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden clarify with the utmost skill and symphony.

A compilation of 50 of Mozart's greatest works including pieces from 'Symphony No. 40' and 'Violin Sonata K304'.

Classical Music

Intimate and inspiring communication is of the essence in chamber music. Here Beethoven's characteristically masterly works in the genre are interpreted by musicians who defined their era as star soloists and were also close collaborators and friends: Barenboim, du Pr�, Perlman, Zukerman, Harrell and others. Dating from the years around 1970 and from the early 1990s, these recordings do full justice to the spirit and scope of Beethoven's genius.

Classical Music

Doomin Kim, who makes his recording debut with this album of piano music by Mendelssohn, is a 16-year-old from South Korea, currently on a programme for exceptionally talented students at Paris's �cole Normale de Musique. 'Mendelssohn's music is like reading a book, a romantic story, a fairy tale or a poem. I hope that people will find peace in their hearts when they listen to it.' The best-known works on the programme are the mercurial 'Rondo capriccioso in E major' and the 'Fantasia in F sharp minor', known as the 'Scottish Sonata'.

The piano duo and twin sisters, Christina and Michelle Naughton, pay tribute to their homeland with the album 'American Postcard'. It offers music by four US composers: John Adams, Aaron Copland, Conlan Nancarrow and Paul Schoenfield. As the sisters explain, 'These pieces show the diversity and variety of American music, but one thing that ties them together is an exuberance that, to us, feels deeply American.'

Classical Music

The world is looking forward to seeing Paris's Notre-Dame restored to it's familiar physical glory. In the meantime, the musical joys of the great cathedral can be experienced with the singers of it's choir school, Ma�trise Notre-Dame de Paris. Backed by more than 800 years of choral tradition, the Ma�trise offers training and performance opportunities to talented children, teenagers and adults. On Cath�drale d'�motions they and the professional singers of the Ensemble vocal de Notre-Dame de Paris perform music that spans the entire history of the cathedral, including works premiered at Notre-Dame in the 21st century.

Classical Music

Classical Music

The oboe has held a special place in France's culture since the time of Louis XIV, and on Bienvenue en France the oboist Fran�ois Leleux, partnered by pianist Emmanuel Strosser, performs works originating from the 20th century. The composers are Debussy, Saint-Sa�ns and Dutilleux, the lesser-known Piern�, Bozza and Sancan, and the contemporary Thierry P�cou. This music could not find a more eloquent advocate than Leleux, praised by The Scotsman as "a remarkably charismatic, flamboyant performer, matching immaculate technique with a dazzlingly vivid identification with his music

Emphasizing it's reputation as probably the greatest of all violin concertos, Perlman has described Beethoven's masterpiece as "classical and transparent", saying "You can't hide behind it". In this live recording, made with with Daniel Barenboim and the Berliner Philharmoniker, his playing is as fearless and authoritative as it is beautiful.

I find it fascinating how each piano is different from the next, says the 30-year-old Munich-based composer. "Some instruments really open up your creativity. To play on a lot of different ones is the best way to come up with new ideas.[...] It's this fascination which drives CORRELATIONS. Having begun playing at an early age [...] CIPA launched his recording career in 2012 [...]. Since then he has expanded his artistic range, collecting instruments and building his own studio, culminating in 2019's Retronyms, an album he describes as "dedicated to the idea of creating my own sound world". With this new release, however, he has decided to return, in a sense, to his roots. "I wanted to simplify the process," he says, "by focusing again on the piano, but spreading the concept. " For CORRELATIONS, CIPA carefully selected six grand pianos, three uprights, a square piano and a Rhodes.

Classical Music

Martin Kohlstedt's 2020 album, Flur is the German composer's way forward in a time of no clear paths. To deliver it's ten tracks, Martin turns inwards - not for answers, but rather, for a way of working with doubts and uncertainties themselves.

This album is a real dream come true for me. From my childhood days I've been absolutely passionate about musical theatre, which I discovered while taking my first steps on the stage. It's a genre whose magical power" to tell a story through theatre, song and dance I find utterly compelling. In this debut album I wanted to bring a French touch, an entirely personal sound, to the Broadway repertoire by including some French songs that were just as much a part of my first musical experiences. The combination of these two musical worlds is hugely meaningful for me, representing as it does my background and the songs, I used to sing all the time while growing up.

The young Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, praised for the luminosity and rich colours of her voice, makes her recording debut for Warner Classics with El Nour. Her enticing and absorbing recital programme crosses cultures, combining art songs by French, Spanish and Egyptian composers with Egyptian folk songs and popular songs from the Middle East. As she explains, "'El Nour' in Arabic means 'the light', and this album sheds light on how music that has been interpreted many times can be perceived in a different light. The idea is to connect three cultures - Arabic, French and Spanish - and to show how much, despite cultural, geographical and historical differences, they have in common when it comes to music".

Classical Music

Maurice Ravel's music reflects the cultural and creative ferment of his times, as the heady sensuality of the Belle �poque made way for neo-classicism, the Jazz Age and modernism. Strikingly diverse in mood and scale, his works assert his distinctive identity, expressed through craftsmanship of the utmost finesse and beauty: deeply sensitive and balancing sincerity, irony and a touch of provocation. An essential collection of landmark performances, this 21-CD box of Ravel's complete works brings together major interpreters of the present day and preceding generations. There are even contributions from the composer himself, as conductor, pianist (on piano rolls) and artistic supervisor.