CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA, ROMANI

BALLAD FOR EDVARD GRIEG

Martha Argerich has been described as "unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time". She recorded this recital in 1965, shortly after her victory in the prestigious Chopin Competition, but it only became available in 1999. "Argerich was quite the most formidable player we had ever come across," said the album's producer, Suvi Raj Grubb, "Nothing would have been beyond this woman." All this adds up to a recording that is indeed legendary, and now fully newly remastered in HD 192kHz/24-bit from original tapes.

Sir Charles Mackerras was a towering figure in the world of classical music - renowned for his versatility, meticulous scholarship, and electrifying performances as principal conductor of the English National Opera and a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras and opera companies worldwide. Mackerras was particularly celebrated for bringing a revelatory freshness to familiar scores through his deep understanding of period performance practices and original manuscripts. This set covers a substantial part of his recorded legacy, ranging over half a century, from his debut on record in 1951 to his finest later recordings.

The Heart of the Cello (compilation - 30th Anniversary of death: October - Jacqueline du Pr� - "She clearly was born to play the cello," wrote the New York Times of Jacqueline Du Pr� in 1967. Just five years later her career was cut tragically short by illness. Du Pr�'s recordings provide a treasurable memento of the "perfect balance of youth and maturity" that her teacher, William Pleeth, found in her music-making: "She approached each new experience with spontaneous pleasure and enthusiasm." Offering a vivid experience of her life-enhancing art, this 2-CD set of concertos, sonatas and chamber works features recordings remastered in 24-BIT / 96kHz at London's famous Abbey Road Studios.

Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was one of the two most influential pioneers of early orchestral recording history, alongside Leopold Stokowski, both artists strikingly displaying a new potential in the gramophone's capacity for quality orchestra reproduction through the brilliant sonorities and dynamic shadings of their discs. When Sir Thomas formed his handpicked London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932, it is not an exaggeration to say that a new era of the very highest artistic and virtuosic orchestral quality was born, and he quickly discovered how to seize the kaleidoscopic colours, rhythmic panache and tight discipline of his LPO performances for the gramophone. He repeated the procedure again when he created his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946, and his prolific recording operations with both orchestras set legendary standards of artistry, virtuosity and sonority in gramophone history. All his mono recordings made for Columbia Graphophone and His Master Voice have been collected in this box set as a companion to Warner Classics' box of all his EMI stereo discs, revealing more vividly than ever before their luminous and exhilarating qualities. A lot of the recordings in this boxset have been specially remastered in HD from the original sources, many of them previously unreleased on CD.

Eccentric and dilettante, the quintessential English grand bourgeois, Sir Thomas Beecham was a self-taught conductor with a highly personal style and taste, brimming with elegance and charm. Beyond his tireless activity on stages around the world, he championed an eclectic repertoire ranging from Handel to Stravinsky, encompassing great classics as well as French composers such as Debussy, Saint-Sa�ns, and Bizet -his Carmen remains a landmark recording. A passionate advocate for the music of his compatriot Frederick Delius, Beecham also played a pivotal role in 20th-century English musical life, founding both the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1932) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1946). This box set brings together all the stereo recordings from his rich discography for Columbia and HMV, including the very first experimental stereo recording of Mozart's Symphony No. 41 first movement from April 1934.

Acclaimed pianist Beatrice Rana presents her latest album, a radiant tribute to J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concertos. Featuring BWV 1052, 1053, 1054, and 1056, this recording captures the intimate chemistry of Rana with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, with Candida Thompson as concertmaster. Recorded in April 2022, following a 10-concert tour together, the album reflects the depth and brilliance born of their shared musical journey. Bach's timeless elegance and energy are reimagined through Rana's expressive artistry and the ensemble's dynamic interpretation.

LEGENDARY 1965 RECORDING

Sensitive and talented, Marc Andr� is one of the few classical musicians to have chosen the double bass as a solo instrument, bringing it out of the orchestral ranks and into the spotlight. Playing a modified double bass - with a sound closer to that of a cello - for this debut album, Marc has chosen an eclectic program spanning eras and styles. From well-known melodies by Gluck to Piazzolla, with Tchaikovsky in between, the repertoire showcases the instruments full expressive range in arrangements for piano and double bass. Marc is also accompanied on two tracks by the guitarist Gabriel Bianco.

Gregory Hutchinson's "Kind of Now - The Pulse of Miles Davis" is a fascinating and highly rewarding album that breathes new life into some of the immortal classics from Miles Davis' repertoire, such as Charlie Parker's "Ah-Leu-Cha" or Miles' own "Seven Steps to Heaven", discounting the obvious while closing in on the deep cuts. The leader's excellent drum interludes tie this hour-long program tightly together, adding a futuristic newness that's all in Hutch's time. The overall quality and density of "Kind of Now" has everything to do with the musicians involved, a great group of young legends and lions carefully selected by the leader, just the way Miles used to do: Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Ron Blake (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet), Jakob Bro (guitar), Emmanuel Michael (guitar), Gerald Clayton (piano) Joe Sanders (double bass).

There is something wondrous in the music of Sergei Prokofiev, says Nemanja Radulovic, "as if it constantly moves between light and shadow, searching for truth through contrast, sarcasm, magic, love, irony, and beauty." Now the violinist - praised by The Times for both his "lyric delicacy" and "super-virtuosity" - has recorded an entire album devoted to Prokofiev. It embraces a variety of musical genres: the Violin Concerto No 2 (with the Philharmonia Orchestra under it's principal conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali); the Sonata for Solo Violin; the Sonata for Two Violins (with Johan Dalene), and (with pianist Laure Favre-Kahn), the Five Melodies Op.35bis and arrangements of excerpts from the ballets Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, the opera The Love for Three Oranges, and the 'Classical' Symphony.

Recorded in Salzburg with the city's Mozarteumorchester and conductor Howard Griffiths, Bartlett performs Bach's Keyboard Concerto No 1 in D minor, Mozart's 'Jeunehomme' Piano Concerto and Britten's Young Apollo, which is scored for piano, string quartet and string orchestra. "When I began shaping this album, I started with Benjamin Britten," explains Bartlett. "He was a brilliant pianist, remarkable for his purity of intention, clarity of touch, and emotional honesty... When programming his own Aldeburgh Festival, Britten would often give the works of Bach and Mozart special attention. He also showed his deep admiration in the way he allowed them to influence his own compositions."

The definitive power and passion of Dvor�k's Symphony No. 9 'From the New World', captured in Karajan's legendary 1977 recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker, is made available in a limited edition LP pressing. Widely celebrated for it's vivid dramatic sweep, lush emotional depth, and superb orchestral execution, this performance stands as a landmark in the history of classical recording. Karajan's interpretation sensitively reveals how Dvor�k weaves the musical impressions of his American experience into the unmistakable fabric of his Central European Romantic style.

This boxset includes the Beethoven recordings made with the Philharmonia Orchestra between 1951 and 1958: the complete symphonies (with the Nos. 8 and 9 in stereo) - Karajan's most highly regarded cycle - as well as three overtures, some arias with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 with Swiss pianist Walter Gieseking, and finally the Missa solemnis. "Karajan's 1953 recording of the Seventh Symphony truly is one of the finest performances of the Symphony ever put on disc... his 1954 Pastoral is indeed miraculous." Gramophone

A profoundly personal and curated new recording of duets by violinist Daniel Lozakovich, joined by pianist H�l�ne Mercier, inspired by his own reflections on childhood and the redemptive power of music. The album combines cornerstones of the Romantic repertoire (Vocalise, Apr�s un r�ve, Nocturne, La fille aux cheveux de lin) with rare incursions into chanson (La chanson d'H�l�ne, Autumn Leaves, Youkali).

This album, which features both of Schumann's concertos with an exceptional cast of performers, has been among the best sellers in the Teldec catalog since it's release over thirty years ago. It will be released on vinyl for the very first time, shortly before Argerich's 85th birthday (on June 5th). "In her live recording Martha Argerich gives a vividly compelling, characteristically volatile reading of the Schumann Concerto, at once poetic and full of fancy, not to say powerful and often wildly individual. The performance, recorded live in July 1992, culminates in an account of the finale so daring one wants to cheer at the end" Gramophone

NABUCCO

Nocturnal Blues, an ode to the night, is music for those who listen best when the world is silent. A collection of 15 contemplative, impressionistic nocturnes - music for moments of reflection, memory, and tenderness - illuminated by the soft luminosity of the night. 'For centuries, artists have turned to the night as their muse. My greatest hero Vincent van Gogh once wrote: "It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day - as if the night were not black but blue, violet and green." That idea - that the night contains a deeper palette, a richer language - lies at the heart of this album.' Matteo Myderwyk

Fazil Say brings together two, highly contrasted Viennese piano sonatas, composed at either end of the Romantic era. Conceived on an epic scale in four movements, Schubert's Sonata in B flat major was written shortly before his death in 1828, while in 1909 Alban Berg ushered in Modernism with his opus 1, the compact, haunting Piano Sonata in B minor. "Schubert was only thirty when he died," writes Fazil Say. "There is unique depth of sorrow and melancholy here, the pain of parting from this world. At the same time, we feel Schubert's joy of life, his vitality, his attachment, his passion, even his defiance." While the Schubert sonata is a recent addition to Say's repertoire, he explains that "I first encountered Alban Berg's piano sonata at the age of 15, and I performed it as a student in Ankara... he became one of the main figures who opened the door for me to contemporary music... His opus 1, while anchored in B minor, sails boldly toward atonality and modern expression... The piano is used almost orchestrally, full of colour and intensity. It is a remarkably beautiful piece."

Sir John Barbirolli's electrifying interpretations of the works of Jean Sibelius have inspired audiences all over the world. In a letter to Barbirolli, Sibelius declared himself to be a 'devoted admirer' of the conductor, adding that he was always happy to know that his compositions were in Barbirolli's 'masterful hands'. This collection features, among other works, the complete symphonies - including Barbirolli's specialty, No. 2 -, the incidental music of Pell�as et M�lisande and that great instrumental song of nationalism Finlandia.

In 1974, at just 18, Andrei Gavrilov stunned the world by winning the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Weeks later, he replaced Sviatoslav Richter at the Salzburg Festival, where his dazzling program won rapturous acclaim and revealed a pianist of "virtually unlimited technique" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). From this electrifying debut, Gavrilov was celebrated for fearless, spontaneous yet refined artistry. His brilliance set him apart, though his career was later shadowed by years of political confinement in the Soviet Union. This collection gathers all his Warner Classics recordings, a vivid portrait of a pianist whose artistry remains bold and captivating.

In this Schumann anthology, Elisabeth Leonskaja displays the full extent of both her love for the composer and her artistry, with the expressiveness and clarity that characterize her playing, making this recording a true Schumann-esque testament from this great lady of the piano. Many of these works are cycles of short pieces (Papillons, Variations, Symphonic Etudes) or sequences of miniatures, sometimes light and dance-like, sometimes virtuosic, but always imbued with poetry and depth.

She clearly was born to play the cello, wrote the New York Timesof Jacqueline Du Pr� in 1967. Just five years later her career was cut tragically short by illness. This LP provides a treasurable memento of the "perfect balance of youth and maturity" that Du Pr�'s teacher, William Pleeth, found in her playing: "She approached each new experience with spontaneous pleasure and enthusiasm." Offering a vivid experience of her art in the concerto, not least her legendary Elgar, the album comprises recordings remastered in 24-BIT / 96 kHz at London's famous Abbey Road Studios.

These late works by Brahms are like a testament. But what is this secretive man revealing to us here? Or rather, what is he still trying to hide? Hiding it until the very end, arousing in us an irresistible desire to guess what it is? Perhaps that is where the beauty of these scores lies. - Piotr Anderzewski. A short album, a selection of jewels from Brahms' Late Piano works (Op. 116 to 119, with Op. 119 No.4 being the last piano piece Brahms ever wrote) presented in a carefully chosen order. Op. 116 to 118 represent the composer's late piano works, written during the final decade of his life. Here we find a more mature, intimate and subtle Brahms, far removed from the roaring Romanticism of his earlier works.