Includes work(s) by Ernst Toch. Ensemble: Louisville Orchestra.

Classical Music

The Idyll of Theocritus for soprano and orchestra is an amazing setting of the eponymous poem in R. C. Trevelyan’s English translation. (First Edition)

This disc gathers three recordings, of compositions from one of the best and most original Latin American composers from the '60s and '70s. (First Edition)

The latest disc demonstrates the scope of Louisville’s achievement by juxtaposing key works by American composers of different generations—Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, and Charles Ives. - Billboard (First Edition)

This 2010 recording includes contributions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Andre Previn, the Alabama Symphony, Paul Polinick, the Utah Symphony & Christopher Wilkins. (Soundmark)

Following the huge success of My First Classical Music Book, Genevieve Helsby and Jason Chapman return with My First Piano Book. Bursting with life and humor, this is a uniquely comprehensive introduction to the piano, designed first and foremost to inspire. Text and illustrations are so perfectly in tune with each other that every page is a treat to explore. With a cast of animal characters showing what they know (and what they don’t!), this truly is both informative and great fun. This original and vibrant approach to the piano integrates listening to professionals and learning to play in a unique and approachable way.

·         The first ever German album of Natalie Dessay (Her first Schubert album – Her first Lieder album)·         4 Lieder have never been sung by a woman before·         Recorded with Philipp Cassard (piano) in Berlin, Siemensvilla on November 28th – December 3rd, 2016·         From Schiller and Goethe to Heine, the Schubertian Lied, which is based on the best German poets, is a reflection of the intimate thoughts of the composer who realizes an outstanding fusion between the poetic verb and the musical lyricism.

Opera News Critic's Choice

Composed by multi-award-winning artist Michel Legrand and written by American poets Alan & Marilyn Bergman, this album is made up of a cycle of songs. It tells the story of a woman’s life from birth to death, passing by all of its highlights: childhood, adolescence, first love, and motherhood. Composed and written in the 70’s, the project was never completed. Thanks to Natalie's input, Michel Legrand rewrote the score and Alan & Marilyn Bergman rewrote the lyrics especially for her in order to give a second life to this project. This masterpiece was recorded last September in London at the Air Studio with the London Studio Orchestra, conducted by Michel Legrand.

-----

REVIEW:

Dessay is a worthy interpreter. The range of Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is well suited to her new voice, and she is able to delineate each of these songs—and each of these stages, from infancy to dotage—with the acting skills that have long marked her stage career. She is even called on at times to imitate the voice of a young child, and she does so without coyness. Legrand’s score is sweeping, reminiscent of the best of his film music, and it includes some irresistible jazz waltzes as well as low-key, conversational, closely miked passages.

– Opera News

Romance showcases Lang Lang’s innate yet sophisticated feeling for nuance and reflection. Carefully selected from his Sony Classical discography, the selections achieve a fulfilling programmatic unity through subtle contrasts in mood and style. The slow, yearning repeated note themes of Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 and Chopin’s “Aeolian Harp” Etude naturally lead into Hans Zimmer’s captivating main soundtrack theme from the film Gladiator. Similarly, the juxtaposition of Chopin’s C-Sharp Minor Nocturne, Liszt’s Consolation No. 3 and the Adagio from Beethoven’s Sonata, Op. 2 No. 3 and Bach’s Air on the G String illuminates the common ground between four proudly individual composers. Romance casts fresh light on Lang Lang’s lyrical gifts, revealing the artist behind the phenomenon.

This CD is a collection of arrangements by Herbert Breuer for piano duo of organ works, including a couple of arrangements of Mozart orchestral/choral works.

HYMNS FROM THE OLD COUNTRY CHU

After acclaimed recordings of music by the great masters, Lucas Debargue shines much-needed light on a composer he is determined must be heard: Milosz Magin (1929 – 1999). ‘Magin’s style is capable of both enchanting and surprising us,’ the French pianist says. ‘Few composers of his time were so open to cultivating the art of writing beautiful melodies.’ Born in Poland in 1929, Magin settled in Paris in 1960. After a car accident in 1963 he traded a career as one of Poland’s greatest pianists for that of an imaginative composer who would never forget the traditions of his homeland. Magin’s greatest inspiration was Chopin, another Pole who made Paris his home and whose piano works Magin recorded for Decca. The two composers are buried next to one another in Paris. Magin’s music shares much of the same lucid, distilled quality as that of his forbear, as well as a pianistic elegance that speaks of France and Poland in equal measure. ‘His music has been resonating in my mind’s ear for the last twenty years,’ says Debargue, whose first piano teacher was a student of Magin and ‘admired him not only as an inspired composer but also as a pianist and as a teacher whose advice on interpretative matters had often proved invaluable to her. His music has played a crucial role in my life. I grew up with it’, continues the French pianist. The pieces written for children, especially Magin’s Miniature Polonaises of which he presents Nostalgie du pays, were one of the first works he learnt with his first piano teacher.  When Debargue included Magin’s Nostalgie du pays at a recital in Paris, the composer’s granddaughter Alexandra contacted him. A correspondence began and a world of unpublished music saw the light of day.TRACKLIST1.           Andante pour violon et piano    Concerto No. 3 pour piano, cordes et percussions    2.           I. Allegro con fuoco - Allegro Appassionato    3.           II. Allegro    4.           III. Presto    5.           IV. Adagio    6.           V. Allegro con fuoco    7.           Vocalise No. 2 - Andantino    8.           Vocalise No. 3 - Vivace    9.           Nostalgie du pays, extrait des Miniatures Polonaises    Concerto Rustico pour violon, cordes et percussions    10.         I. Allegro    11.         II. Andantino    12.         III. Presto    13.         Vocalise No. 1 - Andante    14.         Vocalise No. 4 - Andantino    ​​​​​​​15.         Stabat Mater pour cordes et timbales

Sony Music announces the release of MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE FILM ROMA, an album of music inspired by Alfonso Cuar�n's award winning film. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture. The album features songs from BECK, BILLIE EILISH, EL-P, IBEYI, JESSIE REYEZ, LAURA MARLING, PATTI SMITH, UNKLE and more, recorded exclusively for this project. Included is BECK's first musical offering of 2019, entitled "Tarantula". Beck's radical reimagining of "Tarantula," a 1982 B-Side by 4AD artists Colourbox, replaces the minimalist groove of the original with an epic arrangement by Beck in collaboration with his father, David Campbell. Produced by Beck and mixed by Tom Elmhirst, the track features a riveting Beck vocal performance at it's centerpiece with the backing of a 24-piece ensemble. After completing work on ROMA, director Alfonso Cuar�n was struck with the notion of having his favorite musical artists create songs inspired by the film. Interested in hearing what the film might inspire in artists across the globe, Cuar�n and his music supervisor Lynn Fainchtein began exploring possibilities with the help of their friend Randall Poster. They approached artists of all genres and backgrounds, inviting them to contribute either an original piece of music or a cover of one of the songs heard in the film. For some, ROMA inspired new originals, including Billie Eilish's "WHEN I WAS OLDER". Like most of the original songs contributed to the collection, it incorporates various sound elements from ROMA's dense audio tracks. From shouts of student protests to barkings of Borras to the grinding of knives, artists drew inspiration from the sonic landscape meticulously crafted by ROMA, imbuing their compositions with the day-to-day soundtrack of the streets of Mexico City. 16-year-old Bu Cuar�n makes her musical debut with her contribution "PSYCHO," opening with a dramatic audio clip from ROMA before descending into a synth-heavy, electro-pop gem. Elsewhere, British singer-songwriter Laura Marling covers the Mary Hopkin original "Those Were The Days," which is heard in the film as a cover by Ray Conniff & The Singers. The legendary Patti Smith records a new version of her 1996 track "Wing," while French musical duo Ibeyi draws inspiration from the character of Cleo and her story. From hip-hop's El-P to R&B breakout Jessie Reyez and electronic producers UNKLE and DJ Shadow, the remainder of the collection is a diverse tapestry that transcends genre, geography and age. From Sonido Gallo Negro and Quique Rangel's Mexico City roots to singer-songwriter Asaf Avidan's native Israel, and with artists belonging to five different generations, Music Inspired by the Film ROMA is a contemporary touchstone that further reiterates the film's ability to connect with audiences of all ages across the globe. Music Inspired by The Film ROMA is the latest addition to the sonic universe of Alfonso Cuar�n's semi-autobiographical film, following the release of ROMA (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack). Delivering a sonic portrait of Mexico in the 1970s, the soundtrack presents a mosaic of sounds that further encapsulate the sociopolitical transitions of the era.

Oscar contender Roma goes beyond history: it captures the perception of time, everyday life and the history of Mexico

Directed by Academy Award and Golden Globes winner Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Curated by the director Alfonso Cuarón and the soundtrack producers Lynn Fainchtein and Randall Poster, the soundtrack of ROMA brings us back to the sonic Mexico of the 1970s, when the famous XEW, a reference of Mexican radio, transmitted English pop and rock, while gradually introducing the new Mexican pop, through performers like José José, Juan Gabriel, and Rigo Tovar, musical icons that in the present, have remained as references of Mexican and Latin American music.

The music of ROMA portrays the musical diversity of those years, from rock as the nascent symbol of the counterculture, to a few months of the Avándaro Festival, to the tropical rhythms and pop that marked the decade.

This emotional musical compilation narrates in itself many stories of the Mexico of those years, immersed in sociopolitical and cultural transitions that seem to oscillate between the impetus of change and resistance to it. That is why ROMA is the portrait of the great mosaic of sounds that face and complement each other in a clash between the past and the possibility of a future; between the world and Mexico and among the many Mexicos that the film shows us.

ROMA, is the most recent production by Alfonso Cuarón and the first Mexican film to win the "Golden Lion" as best film at the Venice International Film Festival; considered by critics around the world as one of the best movies of 2018 and of recent years.