What Makes Sammy Run? is based on the 1941 novel by Budd Schulberg and tells, through memorable songs and tragicomic situations the story of movie producer Sammy Glick, brilliantly portrayed by Steve Lawrence. The plot turns the inspiring rags-to-riches story upside-down revealing Sammy's manipulative rise to the top of Hollywood through intimidation, blatant plagiarism and back-stabbing. Sammy will stop at nothing yet he always seems to come out ahead, making Sammy Glick among the most memorable and complex of Broadway show villains.
In addition to Steve Lawrence, the cast includes Sally Ann Howes as ghostwriter Kit Sargent, Bernice Massi as Laurette Harrington and Robert Alda as Al Manheim.

The songs for the 1964 musical were composed by Ervin Drake with the show's script written by novelist Budd Schulberg and his brother, Stuart Schulberg. What Makes Sammy Run? was earlier dramatized into several made-for-TV plays starring José Ferrer and later Larry Blyden, but in its depiction of the decadent side of Hollywood, it is telling that though the rights to a movie version were purchased by Warner Brothers, the musical and the original novel and TV dramas have never been made into a movie.

The album includes all the songs from the original Broadway cast recording plus an illustrated booklet with a thorough and entertaining story of the show and complete plot synopsis written by Curtis F. Brown and Lucy E. Cross.

What Makes Sammy Run?
Based on the novel by BUDD SCHULBERG
Music and Lyrics by ERVIN DRAKE
Book by BUDD and STUART SCHULBERG
Starring STEVE LAWRENCE, SALLY ANN HOWES, BERNICE MASSI, ROBERT ALDA
Musical Staging by MATT MATTOX with BARRY NEWMAN, ARNY FREEMAN, RICHARD FRANCE ,GEORGE COE, GRACIE LA DANIELE , MACE BARRETT , RALPH STANTLEY,EDWARD MCNALLY and WALTER KAVUN
Vocal Arrangements and Musical Direction by LEHMAN ENGEL
Orchestrations by DON WALKER Dance Arrangements by ARNOLD GOLAND
Production Manager: MICHAEL THOMA

Production Supervised by ROBERT WEINER
Directed by ABE BURROWS
Produced for records by GODDARD LIEBERSON

Prophets of the New is a series from Sony focusing on classic recordings of the 20th century's most revolutionary works.

A classic Sondheim favorite with such hits as "Finishing the Hat," "Putting It Together" and "Move On", featuring unforgettable performances from Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.

The sweeping yet intimate drama based on the best-selling novel by Lisa See, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, tells the unforgettable story of two Chinese women whose friendship and love sustains them throughout their lives. Directed by Wayne Wang (THE JOY LUCK CLUB), the film, which takes place in 19th-century China, is a timeless portrait of female friendship. The original motion picture soundtrack is composed by AcademyAward-winner, Rachel Portman.

The baritone Christian Gerharher sets new standards in song interpretation both in concert and in recordings. However, he is also very successful on the opera stage: in 2010, the magazine Opernwelt named him Singer of the Year for his performances as the title character in Henze's Der Prinz von Homburg and as Wolfram in Tannhäuser.

Here now is his long-awaited new recording of romantic arias, accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Harding. Alongside such popular favorites as Wolfram's two solo numbers from Tannhäuser ("O du mein holder Abendstern" und "Blick ich umher...") are rarities from Schubert's Der Graf von Gleichen ("O Himmell") and two arias from the seldom-heard Alfonso und Estrella ("Sei mir gegrüsst, o Sonne" and "O sing mir Vater"). Also included are arias from Schumann's Genoveva ("Ja, wart Du bis zum jüngsten Tag" and "Wo berg ich mich") and the world premiere recording of the aria "Norton! Du bist es mit Frevler Wuth" from Otto Nicolai's Die Heimkehr der Verbannten, all showing Gerharher's unparalleled skill and artistry.

"• Exclusive to Naxos! • All titles never before available in the U.S.! • Incredible value; budget prices! • German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters Catalog in smart, desirable and collectible multi-disc editions • The Sony catalog is replete with legendary artists and many of the greatest recordings of the classical repertoire • Box fronts feature large, prominently displayed photo of the featured artist • Slender, shelf-friendly boxes; CD's housed in space-saving slipsleeves"

To mark the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth, Sony Classical presents a new recording of the composer’s best known masterpieces with the Orchestre National de France under the baton of Daniele Gatti. Making his Sony Classical debut, Gatti has been the Director of Music for the Orchestre National de France since 2008 and follows in the footsteps of such illustrious conductors as Charles Mu?nch, Lorin Maazel and Kurt Masur. Italian born Gatti has previously conducted the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and is currently the principal conductor of the Zurich Opera.

Gatti’s musical interpretations are a balance between rigorous fidelity to the score and the courage to go his own way. “We must treat tradition carefully,” says the Maestro. “But at the same time, I want to perform the score the way I understand it. I believe this is every artist’s responsibility, otherwise we would constantly just be repeating the same thing that we’ve seen or heard that way for decades.”

--------

No matter how many versions you have of this repertoire, do add this to your shelves.

Glenn Gould once said that Karajan’s conducting of Debussy was the perfect balance of the music’s “fire and ice.” Undoubtedly, Gould would have said the same about this exceptional new release by Daniele Gatti and the Orchestre National de France. It opens with a cogent and atmospheric performance of La Mer. The opening movement, De l’aube á midi sur la mer, exhibits the many hallmarks of orchestral execution and interpretative priorities found on the CD. Gatti displays a complete mastery of the score; as I followed along, every dynamic, articulation and expressive marking was honored. Yet there is also great expressive freedom, readily apparent in the many woodwind solos. Throughout, these solos are exceptionally beautiful, in large part because Gatti allows his players freedom to shape their phrases, and follows them every step of the way. In fact, I cannot recall hearing this orchestra ever sounding better than they do here. Debussy’s shimmering orchestral colors are superbly realized, the wind players displaying a chamber-music like awareness of what one another are doing. This is complemented by a string section that fully realizes Debussy’s many technical demands and changing timbres. These musicians are not simply relying on the conductor to create the correct color and balance. Instead, there is a corporate musical awareness and sensitivity that contributes to the special beauty of sound caught here.

The second movement, Jeux de vagues, is played with a delicate lightness, the result of greater attention to articulation and a more propulsive sense of forward momentum than is heard in the Orchestra National de Lyon performance conducted by Jun Märkl. The third movement begins impressively, with Gatti ensuring that the low strings honor the pp crescendo marking that is all too often ignored. Once again, the orchestra’s balance is impressively maintained, even at the powerful climax at REH 51. In the EMI Karajan recording the brass overwhelm the other sections, but here the episode is perfectly realized. One of my favorite moments in this movement is five measures after REH 54, where the violins play an A-flat harmonic and the two harps play ostinato figures, all accompanying the flute and oboe solos. Gatti’s violins are incredibly soft, and the solos are achingly beautiful - it took my breath away. For those of you who keep track of such things, Gatti does include the optional trumpet lines after Rehearsal 59. In the final minute, the brass again impress in their final choral-like passage, fully honoring Debussy’s instruction Trés sonore mais sans dureté (With great sonority without any harshness). Gatti and orchestra build inexorably towards the climax, leading into final bars of overwhelming power where the trumpets cut through the texture to thrilling effect. A first rate performance in every way.
 
The flute solo that opens Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune is played with rapt beauty, instantly evoking the sensuous atmosphere of Mallarmé’s poem. Gatti, never one to sentimentalize his performances, plays the entire work in 9.21, which is roughly 30 seconds faster than the excellent performances by Karajan and Rattle, and almost two minutes faster than Haitink’s admittedly somewhat cloying performance, done in 11.07. Yet there is no loss of atmosphere, such is the hauntingly beautiful playing. In undergraduate school my theory teacher once said that the passage 5 measure after REH 7, where the melody is played by the strings, accompanied by ostinato patterns in the winds and harps, is the most beautiful section of music anywhere. This performance could certainly be chosen to back up that assertion.
 
The disc ends with an impressive performance of Images. Debussy began work on the piece in 1905, originally intending to write for piano duet, but after a few months he opted for the orchestra. Several years passed before it was complete, because Debussy was struggling with alterations and rewrites. As Guido Johannes Joerg notes in his excellent liner-notes, Debussy was placing “the impressionist’s free brushstrokes to one side in favor of the exact dots of color applied by a pointillist.” Gatti and the orchestra are supremely sensitive to this stylistic change, and deliver a performance that, while exacting in detail, nevertheless retains a sensuality that fully captures the always shifting atmosphere of this marvelous music.
 
As we celebrate the anniversary of Debussy’s birth this year, we are sure to see a large influx of new and re-issued recordings of his music. Although it is only May, it is hard to imagine that any of these new recordings will be more impressive than this Gatti recording. No matter how many versions you have of this repertoire, do add this to your shelves.

-- David A. McConnell , MusicWeb International

A Sondheim cult favorite largely due to this sensational recording of one the composer/lyricists jazziest scores.

SCHUBERT: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 &

Following the success of her Chopin album on Sony Classical, Khatia Buniatishvili now reveals a new, highly personal side on her album ‘Motherland’.

The CD is an intimate quest encompassing solo piano works from Bach to Pärt and from Brahms to Kancheli, in which the themes of longing for home, the merriment of a folk dance and the eternal cycle of growth and decay are apparent.

Spanning a broad stylistic and historical range, the album celebrates the works that have accompanied Khatia Buniatschvili’s personal path in life, including pieces from her Georgian homeland.

Background: Full of magic and monsters, ITV’s big budget television drama Beowulf fits into the hugely popular fantasy genre, delivering epic adventure, danger and excitement. The first season will consist of 13 45-minute (approx.) episodes, which premiered in the UK on 3 January 2016, “The series is beautifully shot with impressive set design, production values and […] special effects” – DEN OF GEEK About this Release: Recorded with the Budapest Film Orchestra and Choir, Rob Lane’s cinematic score for Beowulf befits the epic scope of the television series. In addition to utilizing large forces for a sound more akin to Hollywood blockbusters, the score for Beowulf also reflects the mythical and ancient nature of the series with an impressive collection of ancient instruments. Bronze age horns, Celtic Bodhrán drums, psalteries, harmonic flutes, and even an ice horn give the score a fantastical color, fully enhanced by the use of overtone singing.

This is also available in a Deluxe CD & DVD Set.

Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project has been on a mission to promote innovation and cross-cultural understanding through the arts for the last 15 years. The newest chapter comes with the Sony Masterworks release of the new album A Playlist Without Borders.

The vision of Yo-Yo Ma's limitless collective, the Silk Road Ensemble, is as timely as ever: to connect the world's neighborhoods by bringing together artists and audiences. From flashy surf guitar sounds to ninth century Chinese poetry, from modular playlists to Egyptian rhythms, the Silk Road Ensemble mixes the modern and the traditional, breaking boundaries of ethnicity and era. A Playlist Without Borders demonstrates once again that there are no barriers for those approaching music with an open mind.

SYMPHONIES & OVERTURES

One of RCA’s great stars was the glamorous American soprano Anna Moffo, and one of her most celebrated Verdi roles is featured in this new release. From 1965, we have Moffo in the title role of Luisa Miller, “one of her best recordings” (MusicWeb International). The rest of the cast is no less distinguished: “Carlo Bergonzi is his usual, aristocratic self and also is in excellent voice. Cornell MacNeil is exactly right for Miller, the quintessential Verdi baritone role” (ClassicsToday).

AVE MARIA (DELUXE DIGIPAK)