Principal players of the London Symphony Orchestra display their virtuosic talents on this album of concertos for wind instruments by Mozart, recorded in concert with conductor Jaime Mart�n in the excellent acoustic of the Jerwood Hall at LSO St Luke's. Three of Mozart's wind concertos are included: the Oboe Concerto (K 314) with soloist Olivier Stankiewicz, the Clarinet Concerto (K 622) performed by former LSO Principal Andrew Marriner, and the Horn Concerto No 2 (K 417), played by Timothy Jones. Complementing these works is a performance of the beautiful Sinfonia Concertante (K 297b), in which oboist Juliana Koch, clarinettist Chris Richards, and bassoonist Rachel Gough join Timothy Jones in the solo roles. Also included is a recording of Mozart's popular Serenade No. 10 "Gran Partita", performed by the LSO Wind Ensemble.

The third album on The Cleveland Orchestra's label follows the 'old-new' pairing of their previous release, showcasing recordings of Prokofiev and Schnittke that cover both preand post-pandemic music-making. Prokofiev's Symphony No.2 is a beautiful and exquisitely fashioned gem, inspired by the early 20th century's fascination with mechanics and industry, and the everchanging world during that era. Franz Welser-M�st sees the work as "a fascinating examination both of the World War itself and a reflection on how it changed people's views. This is a far-sighted view of Modernity, and shows us an Expressionist spirit that is still deeply moving - and disturbing - today." Schnittke's Concerto for Piano and Strings, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman with the orchestra's strings, was recorded at Cleveland's Severance Hall, during the midst of Covid-19 restrictions, as part of the orchestra's new In Focus digital broadcast series.

DECCA OPERA: STRAUSS - CAPRICCIO

Marin Alsop leads the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a new recording of Bernstein's riotous satirical operetta, Candide. Made almost three decades after the composer's own iconic recording with the Orchestra, Alsop's new version was captured during celebratory concerts marking Bernstein's centenary year, and features an outstanding array of soloists, including Leonardo Capalbo (Candide), Jane Archibald (Cun gonde), Anne Sofie von Otter (The Old Lady) and Sir Thomas Allen (Dr Pangloss, Narrator). With lyrical contributions from acerbic writers Richard Wilbur, Dorothy Parker and a young Stephen Sondheim, Candide marries raucous humor with the extraordinary genius of Leonard Bernstein. Includes 5.1 Multi-Channel.

Gustavo Dudamel presents his highly anticipated second album on Deutsche Grammophon. Again with the forces of the Sim�n Bol�var Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the disc features another symphonic masterpiece - Mahler's captivating Symphony No. 5. Gustavo Dudamel's debut album of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 caused a celebration in the music world and received ravishing reviews: "This is model music-making... every phrase is played with an exciting, deeply internalized sense of ownership that adult orchestras would do well to emulate." -The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Critics and audiences alike have nothing but rapturous praise for the voice of Anja Harteros. Some experts even regard her as the greatest female singer of the present day. With her broad palette of vocal colours, she is the ideal interpreter of Romantic songs for voice and orchestra. The fin de si�cle atmosphere of Berg's Seven Early Songs, Wagner's Tristanesque conjuration of love in his Wesendonck-Lieder and Mahler's focus on a world of private introspection in his R�ckert-Lieder offer Anja Harteros ample scope for her multifaceted musical sensitivity.

ROMANTIQUE

FANFARE FOR THE VOLUNTEER: THREE PIECES FOR VIOLIN

ESSENTIAL MOZART / VARIOUS

CARMINA BURANA is a 13th century manuscript discovered in the medieval monastery of Benediktbeuren. It means literally "Songs of Beuren," and consists of 250 poems in latin and Middle High German.

Ledger has the advantage of fresh and detailed digital recording. He directs resilient, well-paced readings of all 6 concertos on modern instruments, lively, yet never over-forced. The slow movements in particular are most beautifully done, persuasively and without mannerism. Flutes rather than recorders are used in No.4. (Penguin Guide 3 stars) "I suggested this as the best of the budget-price CD versions - a commendation it now retains. All the soloists (listed inside) play with accuracy and sensitivity, Garcia earning an honourable mention for the fleet-fingered dispatch in Concerto No.4. There are many good things in this set, not least the expressively played slow movements" (Gramophone)

Internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time, Manuel Barrueco has become renowned as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician of the highest level for decades. His supreme musicality, his mastery, precision, finesse, the richness of his sound palette, the extent of his repertoire - from baroque to contemporary and popular music - have earned him acclaim on the most prestigious stages around the world. This box-set brings together his entire legacy for Warner Classics and bears witness to his unique artistry which prompted the New York Times to write of him"... a warmth and a singing quality that would undoubtedly have made Segovia smile".

In 1980 John Williams accepted the conducting post for the Boston Pops Orchestra. Thus begant the partnership of the most successful film composer/ conductor and the oldest and most successful "pops" orchestra in the world. Celebrate this fantastic partnership with this new 2-CD set with almost two and a half hours of memorable tunes in magnificent arrangements.

ESSENTIAL WEDDING COLLECTION / VARIOUS

2021 release. On Jeremy Denk's Mozart Piano Concertos, Denk is joined by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for two Mozart concertos-No. 25 in C Major, K. 503 and No. 20 in D minor, K. 466-bookending the composer's solo Rondo in A minor, K. 511.

The emotional sweep of these marvelous works, reflecting the vicissitudes of Schumann's complex personal life at the time, calls for a pianist wholly responsive to their fervent Romanticism. The artistry of Stephen Hough proves ideal.

WESTERN WYNDE MASS / MISSA MATER CHRISTI SANCTISSI

35 year-old Jack Liebeck has established himself as one of the most compelling young violinists on the concert platform today. On Volume 19 of Hyperion's Romantic Violin Concerto series he turns in a dazzling performance of the much recorded Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 and readings of the gorgeous Serenade Op.75 and Romance Op.42 that are full of youthful vigor.

Dona Nobis Pacem became a somewhat unexpected hit for Vaughan Williams. A fervently antiwar plea, the work remains to this day one of the composer's most widely performed works. Coupled with it here is the first recording of Stephen Hough's Missa Mirabilis (the title derives from an unfortunate motorway incident), a work which shares with the Vaughan Williams an ability to seem very much greater than the sum of it's parts. Andrew Litton directs the Colorado Symphony and all-star soloists Sarah Fox and Christopher Maltman.

Volume seven of Hyperion's Complete Strauss Songs cycle focuses on the juvenilia. But the mysterious TrV references obfuscate compositions of a beauty hard to reconcile with the facts behind their genesis (Strauss was just six when he penned the first of them - his mother had to write in the words for him). Three new singers - Ruby Hughes, Ben Johnson and G�nter Haumer - join Roger Vignoles in this most unexpected of recitals to relish.

The Orlando Consort's third recording for Hyperion turns to the music of Loyset Comp�re, a composer the group first investigated some twenty years ago. In the intervening decades musicological research has elevated this composer from also-ran outsider to something of a trailblazer. For example, the wonderfully complex Magnificat recorded here, is now thought to predate the masterworks of Josquin by some fifteen years. A gorgeous selection of motets and chansons further charts this period of radical musical experimentation.

Wiener Philharmoniker -"Deluxe Edition, Volume 1" - Presenting a fascinating cross-section of the musical history of the Wiener Philharmoniker. It includes over 70 minutes of previously unreleased recordings with The Clarinotts (Andreas, Daniel and Ernst Ottensamer), Andris Nelsons, and Semyon Bychkov. Deluxe Edition 20 CD set features a 100-page, lavishly illustrated hardcover coffee table book in landscape format in English, Japanese and German, with introductory notes by Daniel Froschauer, Chairman of the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Tharaud records Beethoven for the first time! Beethoven's last three sonatas, Nos. 30, 31, 32, composed 1820-22 They are considered some of the most difficult works in the repertoire The NY Times said "[Alexandre Tharaud] imbued the opening of Beethoven's Sonata No.31 (Op. 110) with a poetic introspection..." Arte broadcast of Alexandre performing Beethoven In advance of the Beethoven 2020 anniversary year

This album contains Hindemith's most popular orchestral works, including the Balanchine-choreographed Symphonic Metamorphosis, performed with lapidary precision and great empathy by Hyperion regulars the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins, who have proved themselves consummate interpreters of this composer. Countermanding his reputation a composer of grim, gritty music, this is Hindemith at his most genuinely enjoyable - as Gavin Plumley writes in his informative booklet notes, "Hindemith's music is both intelligible and intellectual, as entertaining as it is finely wrought."

Limited 11 disc (nine CDs + two DVDs) set. "An independent spirit, a gracious, generous woman who was also deserving of a place among the great pianists of the 20th century." Hephzibah Menuhin is summed up in those word by Bruno Monsaingeon, who was close to both her and her dazzlingly famous violinist brother, Yehudi. The distinguished French filmmaker has curated this set, spanning the years from 1933 to 1980, the year before Hephzibah Menuhin's death at the age of 60. Containing a substantial proportion of world premiere releases - live performances and TV interviews - Hephzibah Menuhin: Homage documents the pianist in her familiar role as her brother's duo partner and sheds new light on her prowess as a recitalist and concerto soloist. It also provides fascinating insights into her life, her relationship with Yehudi and her humanitarian beliefs and activities.