Marin Marais is one of the most important figures of the French baroque. At once a virtuoso on the viola da gamba, a composer and a teacher, Marais left behind a varied body of work that displays strikingly abundant inspiration. Five books of viol music punctuated his life. Published between 1686 and 1723, these collections for solo and accompanied viol not only offer a remarkable synthesis of the practices of the time, but they also bear witness to the development of the instrument. Marais's frequently intimate music, a far cry from courtly splendors, calls up an imaginary world of light and shadow. Atsushi Sakai has launched a series of recordings of this unique collection of pieces. This album, the first, is devoted to Book I, a transitional work that confirms the refinement of the "style fran�ois". Viola da gambist Marion Martineau and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset join Atsushi Sakai on this adventure, recreating the trio that stood out so brilliantly in their Forqueray and Couperin albums.

With his First Concerto, the young Brahms set his own course in the wake of Beethoven and Schumann and at the same time poured forth his personal emotions in this work of impressive dimensions. Russian soloist, Alexander Melnikov, has chosen an instrument contemporary with the premiere, a magnificent Bl�thner piano from 1859, a perfect match for the Sinfonieorchester Basel under it's British conductor Ivor Bolton. In addition to Brahms's Tragic Overture, the program also includes the much rarer Overture to �liza, an opera by Cherubini, a composer whom Brahms greatly admired.

The curiosity of the countertenor Andreas Scholl, one of the most recognized opera singers, is well known, with his taste for rare and precious musical items. We find him here with the lute player Edin Karamazov in the embodiment of an encounter between Havana and Leipzig, between contemporary Cuba and baroque Germany. Navigating from the one to the other, the two musicians weave the fabric of a musical reverie in which Johann Sebastian Bach walks alongside the Cuban master Leo Brouwer, whose crossover works draw at once from folklore, creole roots, dance and the scholarly European tradition. These works marvelously echo the chorales, the Cello Suite and the English Folk Songs, arranged here by Brouwer himself, and dedicated to the duet. The poetic, intimate instrumentation, with an utterly limpid lute and the velvet tone-color of Andreas Scholl, becomes the delicate setting for the hushed, modest expression of the different faces of love.

MUSIC FROM PRAGUE

Robert Shaw conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for this Telarc recording containing Stravinsky's the Firebird alongside Borodin's Overture & Polovetsian Dances.

The second release in Sir Colin Davis' acclaimed Nielsen cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra features the first and sixth symphonies.

SYMPHONY NO. 7

1812

Discover powerful and moving music by Tchaikovsky in this all-new release from Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. With the heroic Symphony No. 5 and the passionate Romeo and Juliet, featuring one of the best-known love themes ever written, this thrilling, live recording is the perfect addition to any music collection.

This recording features two of the works that helped cement Beethoven's reputation as a creative genius like none other. Internationally acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax joins Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony in a dynamic performance of Beethoven's robust Piano Concerto No.3. Then, MTT leads the GRAMMY-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus and musicians in a rarely performed work, Beethoven's sublime Mass in C major.

This release from Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony features Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 coupled with the Leonore Overture No. 3. One of his most stirring works and also one that he considered among his best, Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 was immensely popular from it's first playing. Recently, it's powerful second movement was used to great dramatic effect in the seminal moments of the Oscar-winning movie the King's Speech. While Beethoven wrote only one opera, he wrote multiple overtures for it, and the third of the series fully captures the joyful outcome of the story. Both recordings were taken from live in concerts held at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.

SYMPHONY 1

HOLIDAYS SYMPHONY / APPALACHIAN SPRING

Winner of the 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium!

In celebration of Michael Tilson Thomas' 25th and final year as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, SFS Media presents the premiere recordings of MTT's first and most recent compositions for voice and orchestra. MTT's From the Diary of Anne Frank and Meditations on Rilke feature narrator Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny. Inspired by and based on the words and compassionate spirit of Anne Frank, From the Diary of Anne Frank opens with a flourish and culminates in a solemn yet hopeful vision for the future. Meditations on Rilke takes listeners on an emotional and evocative journey befitting the lyrical sweep of Rainer Maria Rilke's poems. This album will be available June 26, 2020 for digital download and streaming and July 17, 2020 in studio master-quality double SACD set.

The Grammy Award-winning team of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony releases a premium edition two-disc recording of the complete symphonies of Robert Schumann, one of the most evocative composers of the Romantic era. Michael Tilson Thomas’ nuanced approach accentuates the tender, simple, and vulnerable side of Schumann’s symphonies, which MTT calls a “preserve for endangered emotions.” Recorded live, these performances of Schumann’s symphonies are hailed as “nothing short of magnificent” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Produced by the Symphony’s in-house record label SFS Media in the highest quality audio, and packaged in a deluxe 82-page hard-bound book.

All works recorded in PCM 192 kHz/24-bit audio live at Davies Symphony Hall—a venue of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, City and County of San Francisco, California Symphony No. 1 (November 19-22, 2015), Symphony No. 2 (March 30-April 2, 2016), Symphony No. 3 (November 13-15. 2015), and Symphony No. 4 (May 19-22, 2016)

PETRUSHKA / SYMPHONIC DANCES

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.

SYMPHONY NO.15

VIOLIN CTO VALSE-SCHERZO / SERENADE MELANCOLIQUE

SYMPHONY 8

SYMPHONY 8

SYMPHONY 4

SYMPHONY NO 6

Bernard Haitink is internationally renowned for his interpretations of Bruckner and is widely recognized as the world's leading Bruckner conductor. Bruckner's symphonies are often described as 'Gothic cathedrals in sound,' an apt description considering the composer's devout faith and early vocation as an organist. He died before he could finish his Symphony No.9 but within it's three movements can be found some of his most complete music, imbued with a sense of deep solace and resolution.

Vasily Petrenko and the award-winning Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra present a program of Russian orchestral classics. Ravel's brilliant orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Khachaturian's sumptuously romantic suite from his ballet Spartacus keep company with Kabalevsky's fizzing overture to his opera Colas Breugnon, Schehedrin's 'Naughty Limericks' and a beautiful orchestral arrangement of Rachmaninov's wistful Zdes' Khorosho.

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REVIEW:

Vasily Petrenko has been among the most musically reliable of the wave of Russian performers who settled in Britain following the fall of the Soviet Union. He grasps that the Ravel version of Pictures is, first of all, an orchestral showpiece, and there's something very satisfying about hearing the Liverpudlians nail their parts one by one. Everything falls into place in the pieces by Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, and Rachmaninov. The same is true of the engineering, as the Onyx team knows the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall well. The result is a fine recording that shows there's life in the old warhorses yet.

– All Music Guide