Experience an exhilarating live performance of Holst's "The Planets" and Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This 2-for-1 priced 2-disc set offers a virtual reality recording, bringing you close to the music like never before. Recorded in the acoustically-perfect McDermott Hall in Dallas, Texas.

Yes, there was another Cleopatra! She was married to Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia, and together they created an Armenia that reached from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. The resplendent and regal voice of soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is perfectly suited to the role of Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian shines in arias from three rarely heard operas about King Tigranes and his queen. Bayrakdarian’s multi-hued voice relates the passion, drama, and fervor of the love story of Tigranes and Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian sparkles in five arias from Il Tigrane by Baroque master Johann Adolph Hasse, famous in his day as one of the foremost composers of opera. Arias by Vivaldi and Gluck add further excitement to the album. Vivaldi, known primarily for his instrumental music, stands out as an opera composer, while Gluck, in an early opera, already shows his mastery of the form. Bayrakdarian is supported by the Grammy-nominated team of Constantine Orbelian— “the singer’s dream collaborator” (Opera News) —and his marvelous Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra.

This album offers delightful chamber music of Giya Kancheli, regarded as one of Georgia’s greatest composers. The 18 Miniatures for violin and piano draw from music Kancheli wrote for plays and films. As he explains, he chose “the themes I especially cherish” for this set. His trio, Middelheim, is dedicated to the doctors of the Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp, where Kancheli received a dramatic resuscitation in the winter of 2016. About the Miniatures, Kancheli said, “While dedicating myself to symphonic and chamber music, I simultaneously wrote music for the stage and screen. No wonder, then, that certain themes originally intended for plays and films made their way into my larger works. ”Piet Koornhof has recorded many albums for Delos, including Violin Plus One and Frolov & Friends, both with pianist Albie Van Schalkwyk, who also performs with Koornhof on this album. They are joined by cellist Susan Mouton for the mesmerizing Trio, Middelheim. Together, these works take the listener on a fascinating journey.

REVIEW:

These are late works, and both are worthy of attention. …there will be listeners who buy this CD and listen to the 18 Miniatures with a rapt expression on their face… These performances, by three South African musicians recorded in that country, seem very good… Middelheim, like many of Kancheli’s works, challenges performers to keep the music moving forward even when the tempo is close to glacial, and Koornhof, Mouton, and van Schalkwyk surmount that challenge. The engineering is excellent, and the booklet note by Sandro Kancheli, the composer’s son, complements the music well.

-- Fanfare

With this release, distinguished Korean pianist Klara Min brings her special touch a seventeen-piece survey of her favorite Mazurkas - a unique “composer genre” from Frédéric Chopin. Widely regarded as the most intimate, heartfelt, emotional, and personal music that the “poet of the piano” composed, the mazurkas fairly shine under Min’s fingers. Her tone has been called “ravishing” and “out of this world” (American Record Guide), and her rare interpretive acumen, technical wizardry, and intuitive musicianship make Chopin’s music a perfect fit.

Delos has the tremendous honor of issuing the first-ever album devoted to the wonderful compositions of Nadia Boulanger: truly a release of great historical importance. None dispute that Boulanger was by far the twentieth century’s most influential composition teacher. Yet “Mademoiselle,” as she has long been known in the music world, dismissed her own works as “useless,” with the result that they are almost completely unknown to the musical public today. But not anymore. Music lovers everywhere can now hear Boulanger’s complete works, published and unpublished (including 13 world premieres), in the genres of the art song, solo piano, cello and piano, and organ, as performed by an all-star array of musicians. Mademoiselle’s music, with its beauty and originality, will amaze listeners everywhere.

REVIEWS:

Absolutely nothing about this record denotes one of the most important classical records of this or any year -- not the venerable but small American label Delos or the French, Israeli, and American musicians involved.

But what you've got here is historic and very great indeed: the first recording of music by one of the most important figures in all of 20th century music but one whose own music has been kept under virtual lock and key since her death in 1979 at the age of 92.

Nadia Boulanger's own compositional life occupied only a small part of her very long life: from 1901 to 1922. She didn't think her own music was worth much. You will differ completely after hearing these two discs. Listen to these songs, piano pieces and works for cello and piano and you'll, in fact, be dumbfounded that it took so long for this music to have its world premiere on record.

– Buffalo News (Jeff Simon)

The performances here range from good to considerably better. Nicole Cabell’s singing of just over half the songs is exquisite: delicately shaded, tonally lovely, and sensitive to the texts. Neither of the two male singers has a voice with the distinctiveness of hers, but both are fine singers and more than do justice to the songs. Tenor Alek Shrader really understands the French style. The usual range of subjects—love, grief, nature, and religion—are all covered in Boulanger’s melodies. Some songs are surprisingly passionate from a composer whom history has painted as a reserved and controlled personality.

The instrumental works, all miniatures, are skillfully crafted (as one would expect from a life-long pedagogue), but also display a spark of ingenuity and inspiration. The third of the three pieces for cello and piano, Vite et nerveusement rythmé, is a vivid depiction of nervous energy, forming a strong contrast to the first piece, which is longingly romantic. There is throughout the disc a great deal of variety of mood and color, which helps to maintain interest. Pianist Lucy Mauro does yeoman’s work as both soloist and as collaborative pianist, though without demonstrating a really strong musical personality. The cellist and organist are quite good as well, and the well-balanced and natural recorded sound is also a plus. Finally, so are Delos’s extensive and informative notes. Everything about this disc combines to make an enthusiastic recommendation easy.

-- Fanfare