Maria Callas is credited with changing the history of opera. Known as La Divina, she continues to fascinate as a supreme artist, but also as a woman and an icon of style. Her interpretations were as compelling for their dramatic truth as for their musical integrity. Her voice, with it's extraordinary range, was as distinctive as her infallible sense for a phrase. A magnetic presence, she brought operatic heroines to vivid life, magically shaping and colouring her tone, and making insightful use of the text of the libretto.

The release of this 61-disc box (58CDs and 3 DVDs) coincides with the 50th anniversary of the death of David Oistrakh, one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century - and indeed of all time. Born in Odesa (now in Ukraine) in 1908, he died while on tour, in Amsterdam, on 24th October 1974. The box contains - On 27 CDs: the entirety of David Oistrakh's Warner Classics studio catalogue (originally recorded for Columbia & HMV), newly remastered in HD from the original tapes and in packaging that uses the original LP artwork. On 31 CDs: live recordings and studio recordings from the early period of Oistrakh's career and from his post-War years of international celebrity. One-third of these items are world premieres and a number of them are CD premiere releases. All the recordings have been remastered from the best available sources. On 3 DVDs: DVDs 1 & 2: Performances (in the concert hall and radio/television studio), filmed in Moscow, of concertos and recital repertoire; presented for DVD by film/TV director and Oistrakh expert Bruno Monsaingeon. DVD 3: David Oistrakh - Artist of the People? A 1996 documentary, directed by Bruno Monsaingeon, examining Oistrakh's life. It includes interviews with his son Igor Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Sergei Rachmaninov was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor renowned for his emotive and virtuosic music. His works, characterized by lush harmonies and sweeping melodies, include the iconic Piano Concerto No. 2 and the hauntingly beautiful Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Despite facing personal and political upheavals, including emigration after the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninov's music maintained it's deeply expressive and romantic style. His legacy endures through his recordings and compositions, which continue to captivate audiences worldwide. Rachmaninov's artistry embodies the pinnacle of late Romanticism, blending technical brilliance with profound emotional depth. The artists performing on this vinyl, H�l�ne Grimaud, Nikolai Lugansky, Leif Ove Andsnes or Andr� Previn, are amongst the most inspired for this repertoire.

Maria Callas is credited with changing the history of opera. Known as La Divina, she continues to fascinate as a supreme artist, but also as a woman and an icon of style. Her interpretations were as compelling for their dramatic truth as for their musical integrity. Her voice, with it's extraordinary range, was as distinctive as her infallible sense for a phrase. A magnetic presence, she brought operatic heroines to vivid life, magically shaping and colouring her tone, and making insightful use of the text of the libretto. Assoluta Maria Callas BEST OF LIMITED EDITION CRYSTAL VINYL is a glittering selection of opera favorites that showcases, both in the studio (Side A) and on stage (Side B), her unique voice and her heartbreaking portrayal of tragic heroines. This LP has a completely different tracklist than the other best of LP La divina.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2022 release. "This album has been an utter joy to make [...] The concept of this project began decades ago, when I decided that Copland's Quiet City was a work that everyone needed to hear - especially so as Copland reveals the scene so brilliantly via the solo trumpet and cor. There is a true melancholy in this work that only a certain type of trumpet playing can achieve, and across the collection on the album I've tried to show that through the unique lens of the trumpet, the wonderful bridge and mutual respect between the classical composers and arrangers, and the jazz greats can be seen. For many of us, the sentiment behind Quiet City is pertinent at the moment, as we emerge from the loneliness of the pandemic and into another chapter of darkness in today's turbulent world."

George Szell's commitment to musical truth made him an intimidating figure - even among the other formidable conductors of the 20th century. His uncompromising quest for perfection drew performances of exalted quality from soloists and orchestras. In particular, his long tenure as the Cleveland Orchestra's music director (1946-1970) established it firmly as one of the world's great ensembles. This recording of Franz Schubert's masterwork, the "Great" Ninth Symphony, is one of the highlights of the discography Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra made for EMI. It is proposed here in the 2019 remastering done by Warner Japan.

New recording from Elisabeth Leonskaja - an album which pays tribute to the second Viennese school featuring works by Berg, Schoenberg, Webern. One of the most celebrated pianists of our time, remaining true to herself and to her music, and in doing so, is following in the footsteps of the great Russian musicians of the Soviet era, such as Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels... "When I play, I am not presenting myself on the stage, but the music I am playing. It is the music that matters." EL

Vinyl LP pressing. "Eden is an invitation to return to our roots. It is an overture to engage with the sheer perfection of the world around us, to consider if we are connecting as profoundly as we can to the pure essence of our being. It is a clarion call to contemplate if our collective suffering isn't perhaps linked to the aching separation from something primal within and around us. This is a vivid musical exploration through the centuries to remember and to create a new Eden from within." - Joyce DiDonato

Callas and Turandot. "To have Callas, the most flashing-eyed of all sopranos as Turandot, is the most natural piece of casting. With her Turandot was not just an implacable man-hater but a highly provocative female. [...] With her the character seems so much more believably complex than with others. [...] The conducting is so vivid that the limitations of the 1957 mono sound hardly seem to matter." Gramophone

I find it fascinating how each piano is different from the next, says the 30-year-old Munich-based composer. "Some instruments really open up your creativity. To play on a lot of different ones is the best way to come up with new ideas.[...] It's this fascination which drives CORRELATIONS. Having begun playing at an early age [...] CIPA launched his recording career in 2012 [...]. Since then he has expanded his artistic range, collecting instruments and building his own studio, culminating in 2019's Retronyms, an album he describes as "dedicated to the idea of creating my own sound world". With this new release, however, he has decided to return, in a sense, to his roots. "I wanted to simplify the process," he says, "by focusing again on the piano, but spreading the concept. " For CORRELATIONS, CIPA carefully selected six grand pianos, three uprights, a square piano and a Rhodes.

Debut album for Daniel Lozakovich on Warner Classics, a recital with pianist Mikhail Pletnev. Repertoire features C�sar Franck: Sonata for violin and piano in A Major FWV 8, and Edvard Grieg: Violin sonata No. 3, Op. 45.

Debut album for Daniel Lozakovich on Warner Classics, a recital with pianist Mikhail Pletnev.

Repertoire features Edvard Grieg: Solveig's song, César Franck: Sonata for violin and piano in A Major FWV 8, Dimitri Shostakovitch, Romance, from "The Gadfly", Alexey Shor/Mikhail Pletnev: Violin Sonata in B minor, Edvard Grieg: Violin sonata No. 3, Op. 45.

Petrichor is the title of David Orlowsky's second album with Warner Classics. Recorded with guitarist Daniel Stelter, the percussionist Tommy Baldu, and keyboarder Lillo Scrimali, they present 11 tracks for 11 distinctive scents and smells that, in Orlowsky's words "produce a positive reaction in us". The title refers to the scents and smells produced when rain falls on dry earth, Orlowsky had always liked it, and was delighted to discover that it even has a name: Petrichor.

This collection is reviving the most popular pieces from blockbuster movies by offering a full fledge state-of-the-art orchestral sound. As the Original Soundtracks for many tracks are recorded in sound quality of the 50s/60s or even in mono - this recording brings a truly revolutionary listening experience to those pieces.

Simon Rattle's original 1980 recording of The Planets with the Philharmonia Orchestra. This is still a reference version of this iconic work by Gustav Holst, together with the later version Rattle recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker in the middle of the 2000s.

This 13-disc set brings together, for the first time, all the recordings that the French violinist Christian Ferras made for HMV and Telefunken including several first releases on CD. Amongst his musical partners featured in the set are Yehudi Menuhin, Paul Tortelier, Georges Pr�tre, Constantin Silvestri and others.

LIVE FROM COVENT GARDEN

Sergiu Celibidache considered 'Bruckner's existence as God's greatest gift'. He was also renowned for his dedication to exceptional and life-altering experiences for his audiences through a perfect balancing of sonic and spatial considerations. Thanks to the use of Overtone Reconstruction technology, which has widened the sampling frequency range and thus significantly increased the harmonic richness, fluidity and naturalness of the sound, these recordings are released for the first time on Hybrid SACDs, a collection that does full justice to Celibidache's characteristic breadth and spirituality in Bruckner's works. These performances are unique in their breadth, attention to detail and almost hypnotic control of the musical line. Gramophone Magazine, 2019

CAMILLE & JULIE

Vinyl LP pressing. His third album 'Retronyms' sees Carlos Cipa bring together his background as a classically trained pianist and composer with his interest for experimental forms and pop music. After numerous live performances throughout the years, a slew of collaborations and, amongst others, works for film and theatre performances, he invited different musicians to his Munich studio to record the eight pieces. On 'Retronyms', improvisation goes hand in hand with the high art of composition while acoustic (and partly unusual) instruments like the celesta meet with electronic production methods or analogue synthesizers. Between the avant-garde aesthetics of the opener 'Fanfare' to the orchestral 'Senna's joy' and the closing improvisational piece 'Paon', Cipa proves to have radically expanded his approach as a composer. Each note on this album is meticulously thought through and yet 'Retronyms' radiates with visceral liveliness.

Violinist Augustin Hadelich embarks on an American Road Trip, travelling the musical highways and by ways of his adoptive homeland in the company of pianist Orion Weiss. The duo perform works by a melting pot of American composers, writing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and drawing on a diversity of idioms, influences and inspirations... from European Romanticism to revivalist hymns; from blues and jazz to bluegrass; from the banjo and ukulele to Jimi Hendrix's guitar, and from a little Mexican star to exquisite Japanese carvings. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and John Adams take their place beside Amy Beach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Eddie South, Howdy Forrester, Manuel M. Ponce and - flying the flag for today's composers along with Adams - Daniel Bernard Roumain and Stephen Hartke. Augustin Hadelich, born in Italy to German parents, moved to the USA at the age of 19 to study at New York's Juilliard School and became an American citizen in 2014. In the words of The Strad magazine, "Hadelich's playing brings together the best qualities of both American and European playing: passion, Polish and coherence, but also thoughtfulness, expressivity and nuance."

This 31CD-box brings together all the operatic recordings that the German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) made in the years from 1956 to 1993 for EMI Classics and Electrola (now Warner Classics). Aged 11, Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) heard a performance of Humperdinck's fairytale opera H�nsel und Gretel in his native Munich and, there and then, decided that he wanted to be the man in the orchestra pit who waved his arms and made things happen. It took him a while - war service as a radio operator and a spell as a prisoner of war delayed the inevitable - but by his late 20s he was conducting opera at Augsburg (starting with H�nsel und Gretel) and he had barely turned 30 when at Aachen he became the youngest Generalmusikdirektor in Germany. Opera recordings followed and his 1957 version of Richard Strauss's Capriccio is still regarded as the benchmark. Also in this box, along with more Strauss, perhaps the finest achievements of Sawallisch's other operatic hero, Wagner.

The great Italian conductor Carlo Maria Giulini (1914-2005) was acclaimed for his interpretations of the Romantic and early 20th-century repertoire. He recorded a lot for EMI Classics, including landmark versions of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Messa da Requiem, Brahms' 4th Symphony, Rossini's Overtures, or the Debussy's masterpieces which are featured on this vinyl. Known for his profound musical insight and sensitivity, Giulini's conducting style emphasized clarity and emotional depth. His recordings, particularly of works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Verdi, are regarded as definitive interpretations. Giulini's legacy endures through his masterful performances and enduring influence on generations of musicians. "La Mer was a Giulini signature piece, and this is his finest recording of it, capturing the music's capricious sense of flow, perfect in transitions, and with climaxes that preserve the music's clarity and balance without ever sounding excessively restrained. " CLASSICSTODAY. COM

Few personalities of our time unite so many diverse talents with such passion, generosity and charisma as the immensely gifted American composer, pianist, conductor and music communicator Leonard Bernstein, world citizen and all-round star. His death in October 1990 did nothing to diminish his legacy, still deeply felt to this day. Lenny, as he loved to be known, shaped the musical culture of America. His boundless energy and talent was his gift to the world, despite moments of self-doubt and ambivalence. The spectrum of his creative activity ranges from the famous musical West Side Story with it's pulsating Broadway rhythms to grave, complex works that embrace his Jewish faith or political sensitivity. He once framed his convictions thus: "What have we artists got to do with oil and commerce, with survival and honour? The answer is everything."

Johanna Martzy (1924-1979) became a figure on the basis of a handful of recordings. The meteoric career of this distinguished ambassadress of the Hungarian violin school in no way foretold her posthumous idolisation. Her historic recordings of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas and stunning readings of Schubert's complete works for violin and piano, together with a few first-class concerto discs, make up a legacy. At last, it is available and remastered in high definition from the original tapes.