BELLINI: I CAPULETI ED I MONTE

SECOND VIENNESE SCHOOL, THE

PUCCINI:LA BOHEME

Maria Callas: The Live Recordings (42CD/3BD) Marking the 40th anniversary of Maria Callas' death (16th September 1977), Maria Callas Livecaptures the legendary soprano in action on the stages of the world's great opera houses and concert halls. Thanks to new audio remastering from the best available sources, this 45-disc set reveals Callas' compelling genius as a singing actress with a new truthfulness and immediacy. Containing 20 complete operas - including 12 works she never recorded in the studio - and five complete filmed recitals (with two different stagings of Act 2 ofTosca) on Blu-ray, Maria Callas Live is the indispensable complement toCallas Remastered, Warner Classics' landmark collection of her studio recordings. This luxury boxset comprises42 CDs (20 complete operas) and3 Blu-ray discs(5 recitals). Twelve of the operas were never recorded by Callas in the studio: Verdi: Nabucco, Verdi: I vespri siciliani, Verdi: MacBeth, Wagner: Parsifal, Donizetti: Anna Bolena, Donizetti: Poliuto, Rossini: Armida, Bellini: Il pirata, Gluck: Alceste, Gluck: Ifigenia in Tauride, Spontini: La vestaleand Giordano: Andrea Ch�nier. Apart from that, we are also able to witness the historic performance of Verdi'sAidain Mexico City, where she interpolated a high E flat at the end of the Triumphal Scene, exciting the audience to ecstatic applause;La traviata (Lisbon 1958), conducted by Franco Ghione with Alfredo Kraus; her only incarnation on stage of Gilda inRigoletto; Bellini'sNorma, at the height of her vocal powers in London; Donizetti'sLucia di Lammermoorin the legendary perfomance with Karajan at the St�dtische Oper Berlin; Cherubini'sMedeaand Bellini'sLa sonnambulaunder Leonard Bernstein at La Scala, and the heartbreaking PucciniToscafrom Covent Garden, 1964.

Over a performing career spanning half a century, Christa Ludwig, born in 1928, consistently proved her greatness. "A source of as deep a satisfaction and fulfilment as the greatest of my operatic roles," is how she described the place of song in her life, and at the heart of this collection are the emblematic composers of the Austro-German repertoire. Throughout, Christa Ludwig's interpretative insight is as rich and compelling as her voice, exceptional for it's beauty, range and flexibility. This 11-disc collection includes recordings never before released or new to CD, and all items have been remastered in 24BIT/96KHZ from original tapes. This 11CD-set marks the 90th birthday of Christa Ludwig, a German mezzo-soprano who had a major international career between 1940 and 1990. Highlighting the wide range of her fine art in lieder and melodies, it includes many recordings which were previously unpublished or are released for the first time on CD - see colours on tracklist below. The recordings have been remastered from original tapes - except the album owned by Sony which has been remastered by them. CD wallets are designed from original LP covers and the booklet includes an exclusive interview with Christa Ludwig.

A Tribute To Jascha Heifetz (2015) Itzhak Perlman, Samuel Sanders "The first person in my evolution is Jascha Heifetz," Itzhak Perlman told The Strad magazine, "... Heifetz created a tradition for himself." In this tribute Perlman - who has also now created his own tradition - performs pieces arranged by the legendary Lithuanian-born violinist.

GROUND BENEATH OUR FEET

Taking it's title, Nessun Dorma, from the greatest tenor hit of them all, Pene Pati's second album balances favourite numbers with operatic rarities - two of them in world premiere recordings. In addition to Puccini, the Italian composers are Verdi, Donizetti, Mascagni and Mercadante, while the French school is represented by Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Massenet, Hal�vy and Guiraud. Joining the Samoan tenor on the album are his soprano wife, Amina Edris, his tenor brother Amitai Pati, conductor Emmanuel Villaume, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and the Choeur de l'Op�ra National de Bordeaux. In the words of the Telegraph, Pene Pati possesses an "extraordinary gift for producing a golden thread of sound that can swell without strain to magnificence," while Opera magazine has lauded his "distinctively clear, marvellously sunny timbre, innate musicality and exceptionally vivid textual projection". For the tenor himself, Nessun Dorma "showcases my love of the art of storytelling and the emotions it can elicit... As you listen to the album, I hope it takes you on an emotional journey."

Following his critically acclaimed Beethoven album, Nemanja Radulovic returns this fall with a terrific J.S. Bach album. Featuring the well-known Baderie as you have never heard it before, a brilliant transcription of la Sicilienne, Erbarme Dich, from Mattha�s Passion, with Philippe Jaroussky, the Double concerto for oboe & violin BWV 1060, Concerto for violin in E Major BWV 1042,. Infused by a very personal and chamber music style approach, Nemanja's Bach sparkles. Gramophone about Beethoven: "For me, though, it's the Violin Concerto that's the prize on this disc. It's a dazzling, profoundly personal interpretation, and I'm already completely obsessed with it."

Established in Moscow in 1945, and still performing today, the Borodin Quartet sustains a distinctive tradition in the interpretation of Russian chamber music. Over the decades it's members - all trained at the Moscow Conservatory - have inevitably changed, but the ensemble's identity has remained cohesive, it's philosophy and aesthetic embodying an entire musical culture. The quartet's close association with Dmitri Shostakovich has gone down in history, and his chamber works are central to this 7CD collection which, offering music by a succession of Russian composers from Borodin himself to Schnittke, spans the 19th and 20th centuries.

Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 6 'Pastorale' (2010) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle (conductor).

Classical Music

Stephen Kovacevich TITLE: Beethoven: The 32 Piano Sonatas, Bagatelles (9CD) "Nobody plays this music more authoritatively and eloquently," wrote London's Sunday Times of Stephen Kovacevich in Beethoven. "He is in his element, responding wholeheartedly to the extreme physicality that Beethoven brought to music... but the wit and delicacy of the playing are also remarkable."Kovacevich himself has spoken of his love for the "fun and virtuosity" of the composer's early sonatas, while in the often challenging later works he sees a "subtext of radiance and some sort of inherent faith in life."

Classical Music

A wonderful collection of 15 of the favorite and most popular carols for the Christmas season, performed by the world-famous Choir of King's College, Cambridge.