Rising star violinist Chloe Chua presents a vinyl edition of her acclaimed recording combining Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with Niccolo Paganini's First Violin Concerto, performed together with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Rodolfo Barraez and Mario Venzago. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto was written in 1959, and inspired by a tale often called the Romeo & Juliet of ancient China. Chen and He deftly combine a Western classical idiom with elements from Chinese opera, such as grace notes and portamento effects, and the work has become one of the most famous and acclaimed pieces of Chinese classical music. This album also features an interpretation of Chen Gang's Sunshine over Tashkurgan, which adds Central-Asian maqam to the stylistic palette. The programme concludes with Paganini's First Violin Concerto, musically inspired by Rossinian bel canto. The three works share a richness of melodic invention and orchestral colours, as well as breathtaking virtuosic demands for the soloist. The solo parts are in excellent hands with Chloe Chua, who admires the steadfast love and perseverance of the Butterfly Lovers and feels fully at home in these evocative and exhilarating masterpieces. Chloe Chua and the Singapore Symphony return to Pentatone after their acclaimed recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Locatelli's Labirinto armonico (2023).

Cappella Amsterdam and it's celebrated chief conductor Daniel Reuss present an integral recording of Lassus' Penitential Psalms. Building on their exquisite recording of Schnittke's Psalms of Repentance, this release explores new dimensions in the theme of penitence and marks a significant return to Renaissance repertoire following their celebrated PENTATONE debut album In Umbra Mortis. The album pairs Lassus' austere and introspective music with images from the richly-illustrated original score, one of the most visually beautiful manuscripts ever created. Under Daniel Reuss' artistic direction of over thirty years, the choir has garnered numerous accolades, including an Edison Klassiek Award for In Umbra Mortis (2021). This album was followed by David Lang: the writings (2022), Schnittke: Psalms of Repentance (2023) and Tales of song and sadness (2024), a tribute to those two giants of Dutch music culture, conductor Frans Bruggen and composer Louis Andriessen.

The Orchestre symphonique de Montreal and it's Music Director Rafael Payare celebrate Arnold Schoenberg's 150th birthday with a recording of two of his late-Romantic masterworks: Verklarte Nacht and Pelleas und Melisande. Both pieces are based on stories evolving around love, jealousy, acceptance and forgiveness, and showcase Schoenberg's expressive harmonic language and scintillating, multifarious orchestration. The album booklet features unique photography and paintings by Arnold Schoenberg, sketching a vivid picture of this extraordinarily versatile artist. After their acclaimed PENTATONE recordings of Mahler's Fifth Symphony (2023), as well as his Ruckert-Lieder and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (2024), Payare and the orchestra further explore this late-Romantic repertoire that fits them like a glove.

Saxophonist Raaf Hekkema presents Sigfrid Karg-Elert's complete works for solo saxophone, stylistically encompassing Bach and baroque dances as well as dance-hall and atonality. This recording is the result of a life-long quest to unveil the musical intentions of this enigmatic, colourful composer. It's hard to think of a better ambassador for this vibrant repertoire than Raaf Hekkema, one of today's most-acclaimed saxophonists. Raaf Hekkema is an adventurous Dutch saxophonist. Performing mainly his own arrangements, he gives approximately 100 concerts per year the world over. This is his first solo project on PENTATONE, after having released Hidden Gems (2018), Dido & Aeneazz (2019), Bach's Musical Offerings (2020) and An American Rhapsody (2023) as member of the Calefax Reed Quintet.

Global star tenor Piotr Beczala presents Vincer�!, the first fruit of his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE. Vincer�! is a collection of heart-wrenching opera arias by Puccini, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano and Cilea. For Beczala, this recording documents his vocal transition from the lyrical tenor repertoire to the more dramatic roles of Verismo, and thus simultaneously marks a significant new chapter in his stage career. Beczala is accompanied by the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, led by maestro Marco Boemi; an extraordinary singer's conductor who has worked with the greatest vocalists of our age. "Piotr Beczala has the kind of voice you want to hang medals on. It's luminosity makes many of his fellow lyric tenors, past and present, sound by comparison like flickering candlewicks. Beczala's clarity and cleanliness of tone are the essence of his appeal." (Opera News Awards, 2015)

SUITE FROM PELLEAS ET MELISSAN

SYMPHONY NO. 1 SYMPHONY NO. 4

ROMEO AND JULIET FANTASY OVERT

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

These are wonderful pieces, with only perhaps the Rodrigo at all well-known today, and then only because of his famous guitar concertos. Boieldieu was a very good composer, and his harp concerto is often breathtakingly beautiful; if the theme of the finale isn't the last word in elegant pathos then nothing is. The Villa-Lobos sounds just like--Villa-Lobos: rich, exotic, heavily scored, and voluptuous. It's a big work in four movements. The lively and lovely Rodrigo needs no introduction, save to note that it's one of his very best works in any medium.

The performances are really very good, and have withstood the test of time very well (they date from 1973). Catherine Michel may not be a household name, but she plays very well indeed--crisply, with a limpid sonority and a minimum of "twang". Antonio de Almeida offers fine accompaniments. There's a touch of untidiness in the strings in the finale of the Villa-Lobos, which is understandable given the awkwardness of the writing, but this is a very minor point. The engineering was and remains excellent, though as usual with these faux-surround productions I only listen in stereo.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Originally released in 1973, this album has been digitally remastered for re release. This album features the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, and contains Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Caprioccio Italien, and From Eugene Onegin, Op. 24. Leopold Stokowski enjoyed a sixty year conducting career, and became well known for his appearance in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia.

Dido and Aeneas is Henry Purcell’s only opera, and was written in the later portion of the seventeenth century, when there was no opera tradition in England. The libretto for this work is based on Virgil’s Aeneid. This album was originally recorded in 1970, and has been remastered for re-release. The performing ensembles are Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the John Alldis Choir under the capable direction of Sir Colin Davis.