Everbest Music presents a reissue of two classic Virgil Thomson albums: Portraits and Self-Portraits and Mostly About Love. Performed by pianist and New York Times chief classical critic Anthony Tommasini, these out-of-print gems are now available as Portraits, Self-Portraits and Songs in a 2-CD set, digital download, and streaming formats. Previously released on Northeastern Records, these definitive recordings feature 22 of Thomson’s chamber and vocal works, showcasing his signature wit and shrewd musical style.

This release combines well known Sousa marches with Sousa’s less performed but equally enjoyable dances. Erich Kunzel’s direction is spirited and commanding, interpreting these works with the lilt and vigour of a band while maintaining the orchestral sound. Erich Kunzel was known as the “Prince of Pops.” In his long career he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestra, particularly the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, heard here, which he led for 32 years. He first took over the ensemble at their founding in 1977. With the ensemble, he made nearly 90 recordings, most of which would go on to become bestsellers.

Elmar Oliveira is an American violinist whose remarkable combination of impeccable artistry and old- world elegance sets him apart as one of our most celebrated living artists. Oliveira remains the first and only American violinist to win the Gold Medal at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition. He was the first violinist to receive the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and won First Prize at the Naumburg International Competition. Son of Portuguese immigrants, Oliveira was nine when he began studying the violin with his brother, John Oliveira and then attended the Hartt College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. He holds honorary doctorates from both the Manhattan School of Music and Binghamton University. In 1997, the Prime Minister of Portugal awarded Elmar the country's highest civilian accolade, The Order of Santiago. On this release, aptly titled The Virtuoso Violin, Oliveira presents works from Brahms, Sarasate, Suk, Debussy, Gershwin, and more, showcasing his ability in a wide array of genres.

This release from the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with Leonard Slatkin conducting presents two dark works by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The first is the choral symphony The Bells Op. 35. Written in 1913, the words are taken from the poem ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allan Poe. Symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont translated the poem loosely into Russian. The Bells is joined on this release by the tone poem Isle of the Dead Op. 29. This work was inspired by a black and white reproduction of Arnold Bocklin’s painting of the same name, which Rachmaninoff viewed in Paris in 1907. The common thread that can be heard throughout both of these pieces is the use of the Gregorian plainchant, the Dies Irae, used as an allusion to death.

Naxos, the world's leading classical music group, supports the Alzheimer's Association with the release of the Purple Classics series. Each release in this new series of 10 recordings features approximately 2 hours of classical music on 2 CDs. For every CD sold through June 23, 2017, Naxos will donate $.50 to the Alzheimer's Association, with a minimum donation of $25,000,to advance their efforts in Alzheimer's care, support and research.

Naxos, the world's leading classical music group, supports the Alzheimer's Association with the release of the Purple Classics series. Each release in this new series of 10 recordings features approximately 2 hours of classical music on 2 CDs. For every CD sold through June 23, 2017, Naxos will donate $.50 to the Alzheimer's Association, with a minimum donation of $25,000,to advance their efforts in Alzheimer's care, support and research.

2020 release. If you know anything about Joe Bonamassa -the post-millennium's breakout bluesman/pre-eminent Anglophile - you'll know that a lifelong ambition is to blow the roof off Abbey Road. Royal Tea brings Bonamassa full circle, the backdrop of Abbey Road demanded British Blues, reconnecting with the guitar-slinging kid who stumbled across Jeff Beck Group, John Mayall, Cream, etc. In his dad's vinyl collection. Co-written by notables like Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), Pete Brown (Cream) and Jools Holland.

The Brigham Young University Choirs have four auditioned groups: the BYU Singers, the Concert Choir, the Men's Chorus, and the Women's Chorus, and each December they come together along with the BYU Philharmonic for the Celebration of Christmas concert, which has combined the spiritual, traditional, and international aspects of Christmas into one joyous concert, with music as timeless as Christmas itself. These concert celebrations, which have been nationally broadcast on television since 1993, are a seasonal favorite at Brigham Young University and across the United States. Carol of Joy is the 6th in a series of fantastic BYU Choirs Celebration of Christmas albums, which showcase not only the talent and artistry of these students and their directors but also their strong personal and spiritual connection to the repertoire which they are performing.

The best boxer on his ship, a sailor named Kelsey Jones winds up punching out the ex-boyfriend of his romantic interest while docked. His love, Red Dale, isn't impressed with his drunken antics, so he leaves off the booze. Wealthy Kay Whitney catches him in a moment of weakness and tempts him into picking up the bottle again - and the two end up getting married. Red picks up the pieces of her broken heart and pursues her dream of opening a diner. Meanwhile, Kay and her wealthy family have purchased Jones's early release from the Navy, and removed him from the boxing scene. Miserable, he then finds Kay with a gigolo and files for divorce. But can he get himself back in shape and do what it takes to win back Red? 644827503421 NSTF5034DVD 35953890 6.11 9.99 .15 REEL VAULT DIGITAL VIDEO DISC MOVIE COMEDIES 03/07/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/1/6/5/3775615.jpg 0 1 N GOD'S OWN COUNTRY GOD'S OWN COUNTRY 865774000478 SGF400047BR 35954446 14.54 24.95 .18 SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS BLU-RAY MOVIE DRAMA ADULT CONTENT 02/13/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/5/5/5/3775553.jpg 0 1 N BROCAL,JULIEN REFLECTIONS This is great Chopin, transparent and warm at the same time, fabulously played in both the left and the right, dosed with masterful touch and filled with an inexpressible longing for something that is impossible and yet let's it materialise somehow. In short, we are in the unfathomable realm of a Lipatti, Pollini, Blechacz sometimes even Cortot. OpusKlassiek 5065002149497 RBCN1008.2 35956723 14.94 21.98 .12 RUBICON COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 04/20/2018 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/14/3479914-2614605.jpg 0 1 N STERN,LENI 3 898225000062 LNI1044.2 35958710 11.92 15.98 .06 LENI STERN COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 04/27/2018 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/11/3480111-3326986.jpg 0 1 N MAHLER / TENNSTEDT,KLAUS MAHLER: DES KNADEN WUNDERHORN 4943674280506 IMT4280506.2 35959700 11.72 17.99 .23 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/18/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/6/9/5/3775960.jpg 0 1 N MAHLER / MEHTA,ZUBIN MAHLER: SYMPHONY 2 4943674280537 IMT4280537.2 35959731 11.72 17.99 .18 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/18/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/3/6/9/5/3775963.jpg 0 1 N BARDOSCIA,MARCO / MARCOTULLI,RITA TRIGONO 8056364970123 IMT4970123.2 35959991 15.34 23.99 .14 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/3/1/6/3776135.jpg 0 1 N PORTA,PAOLINO DALLA MOONLANDING 8056364970154 IMT4970154.2 35960027 15.34 23.99 .24 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/3/1/6/3776138.jpg 0 1 N BONAVENTURA,DANIELE NADIR 8056364979089 IMT4979089.2 35960058 19.85 30.99 .23 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/4/1/6/3776141.jpg 0 2 N DE VILLERS,MICHAEL COMPLETE SMALL GROUPS SESSIONS 1946-1956 8427328609517 IMT8609517.2 35961055 15.34 23.99 .24 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/6/1/6/3776160.jpg 0 1 N TWO OF US TWO OF US A comically bittersweet coming of age story, Claude Berri's The Two of Us is also a poignant drama of identity and heritage. When an 8-year-old Jewish boy (Alain Cohen) living in Nazi-occupied France is sent by his parents to live in the country with the Catholic parents of their friends, he is faced with a culture clash both religious and generational. As the grandfatherly Pepe, beloved character actor Michel Simon infuses the role with a gruff tenderness, his growing relationship with the boy a touching portrayal of connection in a broken world. Cohen Film Collection is proud to present a gorgeous new 4K restoration of this world cinema classic. 741952844891 CHMD8448DVD 35965718 16.65 25.99 .18 COHEN MEDIA GROUP DIGITAL VIDEO DISC MOVIE COMEDIES 05/29/2018 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/97/3480997-2546445.jpg 2 1 N BABY DRIVER 2: THE SCORE FOR A SCORE / VARIOUS BABY DRIVER 2: THE SCORE FOR A SCORE / VARIOUS Vinyl LP pressings. 2018 release. Featuring even more gems from almost every musical genre and spanning across multiple decades, Baby Driver Volume 2: The Score For A Score includes more memorable songs from the movie, exclusive tracks and special remixes that mirror the unique experience of the movie as well as dialogue excerpts from the film, and the unreleased score by Oscar winning composer Steven Price. This special album follows Music from the Motion Picture Baby Driver, the 30-song soundtrack from Edgar Wright's critically acclaimed, music laden blockbuster film Baby Driver. The film Baby Driver was written and directed by Edgar Wright, and tells the story of Baby, a talented, young getaway driver who relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. 190758211619 CLBI582116.1 35972099 25.49 34.99 .59 COLUMBIA RECORDS VINYL LP POP SOUNDTRACKS & FILM SCORES V/A COMPILATIONS 04/13/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/6/5/2/3782562.jpg 2 1 N ELLIS,SHIRLEY THREE SIX NINE: THE BEST OF SHIRLEY ELLIS UK collection. Recorded between 1963 and 1967, two dozen of the Nitty Gritty Girl's finest recordings for Congress and Columbia, many written by her mentor Lincoln Chase. Includes Shirley's unforgettable signature hits 'The Nitty Gritty', 'The Name Game', 'The Clapping Song' and 'Soul Time' (all in stereo), many other great singles, and highlights from her In Action and Sugar, Let's Shing-A-Ling: Soul Time With Shirley Ellis albums. Bumper 24-page booklet features in-depth notes by Harry Young and a cornucopia of colorful illustrations, including eight previously unpublished photos courtesy of the Sony Music Archives. 029667087728 ACI7087728.2 35972938 11.72 17.99 .25 ACE RECORDS UK COMPACT DISCS POP R&B / SOUL / FUNK 05/04/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/6/7/7/6/3776776.jpg 3 1 N VERNIZZI,RINO QUARTET GREEN MOON 716642152228 IMT2152228.2 35959274 15.34 23.99 .24 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/0/0/1/6/3776100.jpg 0 1 N MURUBUTU IL GIOVANE MARIANI ED ALTRI RACCONTI 8055323989725 IMT3989725.1 35959526 31.99 44.99 1.00 IMPORTS VINYL LP POP INT'L & WORLD MUSIC ITALY 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/2/1/6/3776125.jpg 0 2 N RACHMANINOV / JANSONS,MARISS RACHMANINOV: SYMPHONY 1 4943674280551 IMT4280551.2 35959755 11.72 17.99 .20 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/18/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/b/500/5/6/9/5/3775965.jpg 0 1 N RUBINO,DINO ROAMING HEART 8056364970055 IMT4970055.2 35959953 15.34 23.99 .14 IMPORTS COMPACT DISCS POP JAZZ 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/3/1/6/3776131.jpg 0 1 N LAST SHOP STANDING / VARIOUS LAST SHOP STANDING / VARIOUS 5055869505185 IMT9505185.7 35961321 17.99 24.99 .50 IMPORTS 7-INCH SINGLE MOVIE DOCUMENTARY 05/04/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/2/0/0/6/3776002.jpg 0 1 N BATTIATO,FRANCO COME UN CAMMELLO IN UNA GRONDAIA 602567377771 UNIT7377771.1 35961987 29.99 41.99 .76 UNIVERSAL ITALY VINYL LP POP INT'L & WORLD MUSIC ITALY 03/23/2018 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/a/500/1/7/0/6/3776071.jpg 0 1 N ALLISON,BERNARD BORN WITH THE BLUES Reissue of 1997 album. The title is program. Born in 1965 in Chicago Bernard Allison was introduced into the roots of black music and playing electric guitar by his father, the living blues legend luther allison. At the age of 20 he played with the Queen of Blues Koko Taylor for two years and took part in countless sessions with musicians like Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey. He joined the tour band of Luther Allison in 1989 after a furious collaboration of Father & Son" at the '89 Chicago Blues Festival. A recording of this formation is to be heard on the Luther Allison album Let's Try It again. Bernard released his first solo album in 1990 with the significant title The Next Generation. Bernard was not only influenced by the old masters or musicians like Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan but also grew up with the music of George Clinton and Johnny Guitar Watson. Born With The Blues was recorded in Chicago and mixed in Memphis - together with the band of blues legend Buddy Guy (with Ray Killer Allison/drums). Bernard's co-producer is the Rounder Bullseye producer Ron Levy who also plays the keyboards.

The American Brian Asawa, who died tragically young in 2016, became one of the world’s foremost countertenors before he was 30, acclaimed for the exceptional size, richness, agility and beauty of his voice. In 1991 he was the first countertenor ever to win the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and soon he was singing with opera companies all over the world. He was also a gifted recitalist and made a notable series of recordings for RCA/BMG. All reissued here, they range from Elizabethan Lute Songs to a disc of songs by Ned Rorem and include excerpts from the complete recording of Handel’s opera Serse conducted by Nicholas McGegan, in which BBC Magazine singled out for praise Brian Asawa’s “luscious legato” in the role of Arsamene.

Following up its recent box of his 78 and early LP recordings for RCA, Sony Classical is now issuing a 5-album set of Chopin recordings made by the Ukrainian-American pianist Alexander Brailowsky in stereo for American Columbia in the early 1960s. The new reissue contains the complete Preludes, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Polonaises, Andante spianato, B minor Sonata, Fantaisie-Impromptu, Berceuse as well as numerous other works.

REVIEW:

If Brailowsky's Polonaises don’t match Arthur Rubinstein’s finesse and red-blooded ardor, they’re at least idiomatic and shapely, as are the sensitively turned-out Chopin/Liszt song transcriptions and the Berceuse.

– ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)

Sony Classical is pleased to announce a new batch of reissues from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor/BMG back catalogues. This latest instalment of the popular series showcases Mozart and Chopin along with conductor Robert Craft’s pioneering Webern recordings and the global journeys of that irrepressible musical explorer Yo-Yo Ma.

Sir Colin Davis was indisputably one of the greatest Mozart conductors of the last century, both in the opera house and in the recording studio. In Munich in the early 1990s, near the end of his tenure as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, he recorded several of the popular serenades and wind concertos (“Davis is completely at home in this music and brings to it grandeur and delicacy in good measure and judicious balance” – Gramophone). And in 1998, as the Dresden Staatskapelle’s first-ever conductor laureate, he recorded twelve opera overtures (“Beautifully turned string playing, wonderful contributions from the wind section, and transparent textures: it all represents splendid ‘big band’ Mozart in the modern tradition” – Classics Today). These superb RCA recordings are now reissued in a 4-album box set.

REVIEW:

Colin Davis’s RCA Mozart CDs from the 1990s, mostly with the Bavarian RSO, tend towards more relaxed tempos than on his earlier analog recordings, a live coupling of the Posthorn Serenade and the Bassoon Concerto recorded at the Mozartfest in Würzburg in June 1992 claiming among its many virtues textural opulence (Eberhard Marschall’s bassoon is among the richest in tone that I’ve ever heard) and, as Christopher Headington noted in these pages (9/94), an unhurried finale ‘despite the Presto marking that tempts less experienced conductors’. You might additionally note Davis’s Toscanini-like vocalizing at the start of the Andantino, a romantic reading that works wonderfully well. Also included are similarly affecting accounts of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the Wind Serenades Nos 10-12, the Clarinet Concerto (with a mellifluoussounding Karl-Heinz Steffens), and the one CD featuring the Dresden Staatskapelle, an hour’s worth of overtures. I’d never clocked on previous occasions the strong similarity between the very brief Bastien und Bastienne Overture and the opening of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. As Mozart orchestral compilations go, this is among the best, one that you should return to with constantly renewed pleasure. The recordings are full-bodied.

--Gramophone

Sony Classical is pleased to announce a new batch of reissues from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor/BMG back catalogues. This latest instalment of the popular series showcases Mozart and Chopin along with conductor Robert Craft’s pioneering Webern recordings and the global journeys of that irrepressible musical explorer Yo-Yo Ma.

Between 1966 and 1974, Glenn Gould paid repeated visits to Columbia’s New York studio to record the piano sonatas of Mozart. Often revelatory, sometimes quirky, but always stimulating, these controversial readings tell us as much about the performer’s own endlessly fascinating musical mind and his conflicting attitudes to Mozart as they do about the composer’s genius at the keyboard. But no other classical sonatas – not even Beethoven’s – were paid the tribute of an integral recording by Glenn Gould. His delight in playing them can be heard throughout this set. Sony Classical is now reissuing the 18 sonatas and two fantasias in a remastered 4-album box.

REVIEW:

Every time I return to Glenn Gould’s set of the Mozart piano sonatas, I’m both aghast and, in some weird way, inspired. Take K310, where the central Andante cantabile rises to an awesome central climax, played staccato, but where the first movement is less Allegro maestoso than Allegro frenetico! Or there’s that strangest of beasts (in Gould’s hands), K331, the opening theme taken so slowly that it sounds as if a (very) young Glenn is tackling it for the first time, head buried in the music, humming away. Yes, things do return to a semblance of normality, though the finale is less ‘alla turca’ than a proud ‘cock o’ the walk’ Turkish trot. Then there are the two Fantasias, K397 in D minor taken at a deathly slow tempo filled with pregnant pauses, a spooky enactment with dark shadows lurking around every corner. Gould’s approach to Mozart in many respects courts extremes but I challenge you to sample any of it and not want to return, if only for a handful of spot checks. It may be outlandish but it’s also utterly fascinating.

--Gramophone (Rob Cowan)

Selections from the star tenor's early recital recordings, including music of Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, and more.

Classical Music