Following the success of last year's release of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, John Wilson and Sinfonia of London turn their attention to Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel. As in the case of the previous release in the series, this world premiere recording of the complete score features every note of music played at the first Broadway performance, here in the full thirty-five-piece orchestration made by Don Walker for the original production. The outstanding cast, led by Nathaniel Hackmann (Billy Bigelow), Mikaela Bennett (Julie Jordan), Sierra Boggess (Carrie Pipperidge), and Julian Ovenden (Enoch Snow), also features Francesca Chiejina (Nettie Fowler) and David Seadon-Young (Jigger Craigin). The extensive chorus material is sung by the 'Carousel' Ensemble - twenty-four young singers all currently working on stage across London's West End. John Wilson comments: 'Carousel is Rodgers & Hammerstein's greatest achievement. In it, Rodgers manages to create a score with operatic aspirations and dimensions. Everything in the score serves a dramatic purpose. Even in it's texture you can hear orchestral effects that are there to underline the drama's emotions, whether that's unease or joy or whatever. The drama is amplified by what's happening in the music.' Recorded in Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel will be available on Hybrid SACD and in spatial audio.

Anne of Green Gables is based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel. Norman Campbell, the composer, and Elaine Campbell, the lyricist, collaborated with Don Harron and Mavor Moore to create Anne of Green Gables – The Musical. The musical first hit the stage in 1965, and is Canada’s longest-running musical. (Sony)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Original Soundtrack) by Branford Marsalis The Netflix film features Chadwick Boseman's final performance and Viola Davis in the title role. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the new Netflix film, out December 18, that stars Viola Davis as blues icon Ma Rainey and the late Chadwick Boseman in his final on-screen performance. Tthe soundtrack featuresoriginal music from Branford Marsalis.

-----------------------

Milan Records announces the release of MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX FILM), an album of music from Netflix’s newest original film about “Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey. The album features score music by critically-acclaimed saxophonist, instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and educator BRANFORD MARSALIS, as well as newly-recorded covers of both popular Ma Rainey tracks and blues and jazz standards from the era. The multi-GRAMMY Award® winner brings over four decades of experience across stylistic boundaries to the project, imbuing the film with an authentic 1920s Chicago soundscape.

Of the soundtrack, composer BRANFORD MARSALIS says, “When George Wolfe called to ask me to compose music for his upcoming film, the project forced me to quickly fill in a gap in my musical experience: addressing the music of the 1920’s. I was excited about learning a new sound for my aural library and had to get right to work... Having only written arrangements for the modern big band (17 instruments, no strings), I looked forward to the challenge of writing in a ‘20s format and convincing the musicians to play the music as authentically as possible.”

Director GEORGE C. WOLFE adds, “When I signed on to direct Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, I instantly knew I wanted to work with Branford Marsalis, because when you collaborate with Branford the composer/arranger, Branford the historian, musicologist, dramatist and raconteur shows up as well. And because he understands the inherently transgressive nature of the blues, Branford’s arrangements capture not only the cultural and regional DNA in Ma Rainey’s songs, but the wit and rage embedded in every note, shout and moan.”

Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), her ambitious horn player (Chadwick Boseman), and the white management determined to control the legendary “Mother of the Blues.” Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe. Adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Produced by Denzel Washington, Todd Black and Dany Wolf. Starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, Jonny Coyne, Jeremy Shamos and Dusan Brown.

The music of Satyajit Ray's cinematic masterpiece (Jalsaghar, 1958), by Ustad Vilayat Khan (sitar) with the participation of Imrat Khan (sitar, surbahar), Bismillah Khan (shehnai), Akhtari Bai [aka Begum Akhtar] –thumri singing, Salamat Ali Khan –khyal singing etc. 'After the box office failure of my second film Aparajito (“The Unvanquished”), I was a little unsure as to what kind of film I should make next. After some deliberation, I decided on a film featuring singing and dancing –a formula which usually worked with the Indian audience. I chose a popular short story –Jalsaghar– about the last days of a music loving feudal baron. I was fortunate to be able to use some of the leading singers and instrumentalists for the film. As composer, I chose the great sitar virtuoso Vilayat Khan who was most ably assisted by his younger brother Imrat Khan, also a sitar virtuoso. The two of them provided superb solos and duets for the background music for which –with the exception of violins– only Indian instruments were used. All the background score is raga-based.' (Satyajit Ray)

Masterworks Broadway will release the New York City Center Encores! Cast recording of Lerner & Loewe's Paint Your Wagon starring Keith Carradine, Justin Guarini and Alexandra Socha, on May 27, 2016. Filled with gorgeous standards such as "They Call the Wind Maria, " "I Talk to the Trees, " and "Wand'rin' Star, " Paint Your Wagon is Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's sweepingly ambitious and surprisingly realistic take on freedom, family, and racism in the Gold Rush-happy America of 1853. The outstanding March 2015 production by Encores! #brought the almost-forgotten show back to New York's mainstream stage for the first time since the original Broadway production closed in 1952. And because the original cast album - an early limited capacity monaural LP - had omitted so much of the music, the score was ripe for rediscovery and a brand new recording. Helping to capture the spirit of the original Broadway production were the full handwritten scores used in 1951 by Franz Allers (Loewe's favorite musical director) and discovered accidentally by Rodgers & Hammerstein musicologist Bruce Pomahac at the bottom of a musty Warner Chappell trunk stored, curiously, at the R&H offices in New York. Album co-producer and Encores! Music Director Rob Berman leads the thirty member cast and thirty-one piece Encores! Orchestra, in the 2015 stereo cast album that celebrates the scope and riches of Lerner & Loewe's exceptional score. Much of the original dance music orchestrated by Trude Rittmann, created in close collaboration with both Loewe and choreographer Agnes de Mille, appears on this recording for the first time. Also recorded for the first time on this album is the bonus track "What Do Other Folks Do?" which was dropped from the original production before the show reached New York and whose historical importance is clear: Lerner and Loewe would later recycle the concept for Camelot's "What Do the Simple Folk Do?"

Few shows in recent years have drawn such unanimous praise from the London critics as Sweet Charity which opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre, on October 11, 1967, to a chorus of loud Hoorays. “Irresistible,” said the Daily Express. “A triumph,” said the Sun. “Everybody but everybody had a whale of a time,” said the Daily Sketch, and went on to describe the show as “a sweet, sweet, sexy fairy tale – nice and dirty, witty and pretty with enough energy to pop the corks of every bottle of non-fizz in the West End. And funny, very funny, too.” 

This first reissue in 25 years of a classic Original Cast Recording is a must-have for discriminating lovers of musical theater. Written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (THE FANTASTICKS, 110 IN THE SHADE and I DO! I DO!), CELEBRATION was produced on Broadway in 1969 and is considered one of the most provocative and entertaining musicals of the decade. Says Jones (now 92 and still writing for the stage): “CELEBRATION, along with HAIR, was one of the 1960s shows that sought to reinvent our musical theater...The score is rich and varied, the premise interesting and the characters and scenes funny and touching. I’m so grateful to Harbinger Records for wanting to share it with at least three generations!” In this battle between the Old Year and the New, Jones & Schmidt mixed symbolic figures with then-current prototypes. “Thus the Old Man typifies all the misgivings that the youth culture of the time had about the previous generation,” says Jones. “The Young Boy is the ultimate flower child. The Narrator is a sixties dropout who’s into booze and drugs. And the Girl is a teenybopper dreaming of being a celebrity.” The package contains a 24-album booklet with extensive notes by author Tom Jones; memories from two original-cast members, Susan Watson and Michael Glenn-Smith; and many recently unearthed photos of the original production. The album has been remastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Alan Silverman.

Like most hit Broadway musicals of its time, the rollicking Li’l Abner – inspired by Al Capp’s blockbuster comic strip – got the full Hollywood treatment in 1959. Musical theater fans know the film as a remarkably pure transfer of a classic 1950s Broadway musical, skillfully re-setting and preserving a theatrical experience onscreen. Most of the Broadway cast was retained: Peter Palmer reprised his portrayal of Li’l Abner, and the stage veterans included Stubby Kaye, Julie Newmar, Joe E. Marks plus a number of ensemble performers. Nelson Riddle adapted and conducted the Gene de Paul/Johnny Mercer score for the Li’l Abner soundtrack, with choral arrangements by Joseph J. Lilley; they earned the film’s only Oscar (and, later, Grammy) nomination. The “soundtrack” album (in stereo, while the Broadway recording was available only in mono) is actually a re-recording (or re-editing) of the songs for the soundtrack’s commercial LP release, a common practice that promised a smoother listening experience on the home hi-fi.

Salad Days was commissioned in February 1954, by Denis Carey, at the time Director of the Bristol Old Vic. Julian Slade was the resident composer there, and Dorothy Reynolds one of the leading actresses. The show was written during March and April, and presented on May 1st for three weeks, as part of the regular summer season. It was designed to suit the existing company of twelve actors, who even though accustomed to acting in plays, entered so happily into the spirit of musical comedy. Salad Days was transferred in August 1954, to the Vaudeville Theatre, London.

REVIEW:

Set to a rich orchestral score, JANE the film offers an unprecedented, intimate portrait of Jane Goodall — a trailblazer who defied the odds to become one of the world’s most admired conservationists.

“Serengeti,” one of the score's most joyful cues, is a celebration of optimism, the piano rolls and the flute and horn section carrying it even higher. It’s a spectacular piece that shows the endless imagination of the composer.

– Soundtrack Dreams

Ernesto Halffter, one of Manuel de Falla’s most admired disciples and a student of Stravinsky and Ravel, was a close associate of iconic figures such as Dalí, García Lorca, and Buñuel on the 20th century Iberian cultural scene. His magnificent score for Jacques Feyder’s 1926 silent film, Carmen, is one of the great impressionistic Spanish masterpieces of its era. More sombre and tragic than the music for Bizet’s opera, Halffter’s vivid panorama depicts the range and depth of the powerful emotions encompassed within the Carmen story, a tale of thwarted love, passion, jealousy, and violence set in the heart of Andalusia in southern Spain. This is not only the work’s world première recording but the first performance to realise the composer’s musical intentions in full.

Continuing with Harbinger Records’ acclaimed series of albums devoted to jazz pianist, composer, Broadway songwriter, and black music pioneer Eubie Blake, we proudly present the original demo to the proposed Broadway musical ‘Shuffle Along of 1950.’ Harbinger’s recording of Sissle and Blake singing the score to the original production of ‘Shuffle Along’ won the Grammy Award for its brilliant liner notes by Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom, authors of an upcoming biography of Eubie Blake to be published by Oxford University Press. They are repeating their assignment for this recording. Also included is a bonus track featuring remastering of the only surviving acetate of a historical “Salute to Ruth King.” Ruth King was a famous Cleveland DJ who celebrated black musicians. And such notables as Sissle and Blake and the legendary WC Handy, composer of St. Louis Blues, play for Ms. King. Several songs from the original ‘Shuffle Along’ are included as are new songs written especially for this production. Later, other musicians augmented the score, and these songs are also included in this rare recording.

This album is a retrospective that is a must-have for all lovers of musical theater. Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt first won fame as the creators of The Fantasticks- the longest-running musical in the history of the world, with more than 21,000 performances given in New York over a period of 58 years. But the Jones & Schmidt musicals also include Broadway classics such as "I Do! I Do!," "110 in the Shade," and "Celebration." Selections from these and 12 other shows are included in this deluxe release, which features many previously unreleased "demos" by the songwriters themselves. Jones & Schmidt worked closely with Producer Bill Rudman for over two years to ensure that this album would best represent their legacy. "The purpose of theater is always to reveal us to ourselves. To help us perceive the 'poetry' beneath the prose and the minutiae of our lives. To make us exalt. To make us feel. And not least of all, to make us laugh." (Tom Jones)

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.

Produced by George Korngold

Recording Engineer: K.E. Wilkinson

Recorded in February 1973

"In his notes for this CD, Gerhardt states, "it is my conviction that so powerful an artist as Miss Davis, through the strength of her portrayals, inspired a variety of composers to produce some of their best work....her composers created a 'Bette Davis sound'." Here is a varied program of music written for some of her greatest roles, high points being the excerpts from Dark Victory and Now, Voyager." - Robert Benson, Classical CD Review

Set on the eve of World War I, A Dangerous Method is a true story based on the intense and turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Directed by David Cronenberg (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises), the film stars Academy Award® nominees Viggo Mortensen as Freud and Keira Knightley as Sabina with Michael Fassbender as Jung. This film was presented during the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The movie opens in the United States on December 11, 2011.

Howard Shore has composed music for more that 80 films, working with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme, with whom he collaborated on Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. His outstanding success was with the Lord of the Rings trilogy for which he received three Academy Awards®, two Golden Globes® and four Grammy® Awards,including the Grammy® for Best Song from a Motion Picture,“Into the West,” from The Return of the King.

Called “The hottest artist on the classical musical planet” by the New York Times, Lang Lang is one of the most popular classical pianists playing today. He was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world and was one of the headliners at the iTunes Festival in July 2011. His dazzling technique is matched by serious thought about the pieces he plays, and his performance of “Siegfried Idyll,” by Richard Wagner on this soundtrack, is nothing short of brilliant.the West,” from The Return of the King.

Call Me by Your Name (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Music is vital to director Luca Guadagnino's films, but he normally doesn't hire composers, and instead makes selections from pre-existing music. While the soundtrack for CALL ME BY YOUR NAME is a compilation of tracks by numerous musicians, Guadagnino decided he wanted to approach American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens to create a song especially for the film. "An artist for whom I have enormous admiration is Sufjan. His voice is fantastic and angelic, and his lyrics are so sharp and deep and full of sorrow and beauty. The music is so haunting. All these elements were the ones I wanted to envision in the film." - The soundtrack for CALL ME BY YOUR NAME also includes tracks by John Adams and Ryuichi Sakamoto as well as pieces written by Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel and Johann Sebastian Bach. As the film is set in the 1980s, Guadagnino chose period Italian pop music (including Giorgio Moroder & Joe Esposito's "Lady Lady Lady") for the radio, but particularly spotlights The Psychedelic Furs' anthem "Love My Way". "I love The Psychedelic Furs," says Guadagnino. "It's kind of autobiographical, because I remember listening to that song when I was seventeen and being completely affected by it. I wanted to pay homage to myself then." - CALL ME BY YOUR NAME is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by Andr� Aciman, written by Oscar� nominee James Ivory and starring Armie Hammer (The Social Network) and Timoth�e Chalamet (Interstellar, Homeland).

About this Release GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) features score music written by Rob Simonsen for the latest chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. The film marks the third collaboration between Simonsen and Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-writer and director Jason Reitman, the duo working closely to reimagine the iconic soundscape crafted by Elmer Bernstein for director Ivan Reitman's original 1984 film, which was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Of the soundtrack, composer ROB SIMONSEN says, "Working with Jason Reitman on Ghostbusters: Afterlife has been a career highlight for me and my twelve-year-old Ghostbusters-loving self. To reflect the idea of passing the torch from old Ghostbusters to new, from Ivan Reitman to his son Jason, we integrated and reimagined Elmer Bernstein's classic original score into something for a new generation." Simonsen has reprised familiar themes and expanded upon them, ultimately crafting a nostalgia-tinged score that both pays homage to Bernstein's muchloved music and establishes an entirely new sound for the new chapter. ABOUT GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman, comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind. Based on the 1984 film "Ghostbusters" an Ivan Reitman film written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Annie Potts and Paul Rudd.

Digitally remastered from the original analogue stereo masters. Includes original LP liner notes.

'Just Dance the Steps' is a personal portrait of the Dutch choreographer Hans Van Manen in the run-up to his 90th birthday. For over five years director Willem Aerts followed and observed this internationally acclaimed master of contemporary ballet during his life and work at Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam, in the studio of the Ballett am Rhein in Du�sseldorf and at Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague. This powerful tribute and inspirational portrayal looks back at van Manen's remarkable artistic legacy, and documents a life that remains inseparable from dance and choreography.

BACK TO THE FUTURE SOUNDTRACK

This classic soundtrack (originally released in 1982) is now available on Polydor Sound Savers compact discs and cassettes. Features the tracks "Back to School Again," "Cool Rider," "(Love Will) Turn Back the Hands of Time," "We'll Be Together" and more.

One of Rogers & Hammerstein's most popular works with songs including "Happy Talk," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair," "Bali Ha'i," "There Is Nothing Like a Dame," "Some Enchanted Evening" and more.

SKELATTACK (MUSIC FROM THE VID

Sony Music announces the release of THE HUSTLE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) with music by composer ANNE DUDLEY (The Full Monty, American History X, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again). "THE HUSTLE is based on one of my favorite films Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and, in a nod to this, my score takes as it's starting point the music of The Hot Club of France," says composer ANNE DUDLEY of the soundtrack. "I've always found this sound both irrepressibly happy and somehow a bit louche. The driving energy of the guitar rhythms coupled with some sophisticated harmonies represent the contrasting characters of Penny (Rebel Wilson) and Josephine (Anne Hathaway), without the score having to be overbearingly 'comic.' It was a particular delight to work with some of my favorite musicians - especially John Parricelli on guitar, Chris Garrick on violin and Eddie Hession on accordion. It was also a pleasure to work with Chris Addison, the director who was full of good cheer, and musically incredibly literate."In the hilarious new comedy THE HUSTLE, Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them THE HUSTLE is directed by Emmy Award�-winner Chris Addison (Veep) from a screenplay by Jac Schaeffer. Cave 76's Roger Birnbaum and Rebel Wilson's CAMP SUGAR produced the film. Ilona Herzberg and Alison Owen serve as executive producers