VERDI: AIDA

GONE

Fresh and spontaneously joyful, this is a delightful version of what is probably the most over-duplicated work in the catalogue. Throughout the performances one welcomes the fiery magnetism of Chung. Editor's Choice of Gramophone Magazine when the Four Seasons album was originally released in 2001. Kyung-Wha Chung, an artist of passionate intensity and probing intellect, who communicates a vivid sense of spontaneity in her playing. Is one of the great violinists of the last 50 years.

Klemperer and Brahms had much in common, which may go some way to explaining the empathy with which Klemperer conducts the works of the great composer. As Richard Osborne says in the accompanying liner notes: 'no detail was insignificant, yet none was allowed to subvert the larger whole'. The recordings in this box have all been remastered in HD from original tapes for the Otto Klemperer Complete Edition in 2023.

Gershwin in Hollywood - Live at the Royal Albert Hall JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA - For this release, Warner Classics is proud to present Gershwin in Hollywood, recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, at the culmination of this extraordinary orchestra's sell-out UK tour in 2015. It includes well-known Gershwin favorites of the American Songbook, such as How Long Has This Been Going On?, The Man I Love, 'S Wonderful and They Can't Take That Away From Me, as well as rarely recorded gems like Slap That Bass, Treat Me Rough, and the magestic orchestral Overture from the film Rhapsody in Blue. With superb vocals from regular JWO guests Matt Ford and Louise Dearman, and the rich orchestral sound so evocative of Hollywood's Golden Age, all under the direction of John Wilson, this CD captures the thrilling atmosphere of a night to remember.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Mstislav Rostropovich - "Setting Rostropovich, an impetuously Slavonic musician if ever there was one, in front of such an unmistakably French orchestra as this produces an intriguing and most attractive blend of Russian fire and colour with Gallic elegance and sentiment," wrote Gramophone. The relationship between the great cellist-conductor and the Orchestre de Paris achieves glorious expression in this programme of Russian orchestral showpieces.

A starry but congenial trio, Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim interact with each other and with the Berlin Philharmonic in Beethoven's extraordinary Triple Concerto. Released for the first time on vinyl.

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.

COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS - With his extraordinary pianistic talents, Turkish pianist Fazil Say has been touching audiences and critics alike for more than twenty-five years, in a way that has become rare in the increasingly materialistic and elaborately organised classical music world. He is a pianist, composer and director with firm reputation in Europe, Asia and the US. After spending five years under David Levine at the Robert Schumann Institute in D�sseldorf and further studies at the Berlin Conservatory he came to international attention 1994 when he was the winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Since then he has become a regular guest artist with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de France. - This release sees him return to Mozart, a composer with whom he has a great affinity, and a recording of his complete piano sonatas. The sonatas here are grouped by key, revealing Mozart's unique approach to tonality.

The idea behind Carlos Cipa's new album is easy to describe: one room, one piano, one pianist/composer. Taking one's time. Approaching with the greatest possible impartiality. Simply improvising, at first only from, for, and with oneself. But what at first might seem a simple concept becomes more complex at a closer look. With it's quiet, contemplative solo-piano sounds, Ourselves, as we are, is a "deeply vulnerable collection. In the age of fake authenticity, remakes... this approach is perhaps one of the few remaining ways to create art: to reveal our true selves. Radically personal. Radically intimate. Radically honest. Ourselves, as we are.

Otto Klemperer brings his customary nobility of conception to Die Zauberfl�te, with it's symbolic drama, and is joined by an exceptional cast. Gundula Janowitz sings Pamina with sublime beauty and the young Lucia Popp is brilliant as the Queen of the Night, the role that first made her reputation."Not the least extraordinary thing about this wonderful blend of the sublime and the humane is that it draws from all musicians the best of which they are capable... This issue is specially commended to those who are after the mystery and elevation of The Magic Flute." Gramophone

July 16, 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the spectacularly successful concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles of three men acclaimed as the world's greatest tenors: Jose Carreras, Pl�cido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. Their performance, which took place before the 1994 World Cup, featured a star-studded live audience and was broadcast in 100 countries to an estimated 1.3 billion viewers.

SYMPHONIES / OVERTURES / VARIATIONS / PIANO CTOS

In 2002, Dong Hyek Lim arrived on the scene at just 18 years old 'in a blaze of pianistic glory' (Gramophone) with a debut album championed by his mentor Martha Argerich, which was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'Or in France. The South Korean virtuoso went on to take third prize in the 15th International Chopin Piano Competition, and recorded a remarkable Chopin album in 2004 including the 3rd Piano Sonata and some Mazurkas. In 2008 followed an album of Bach's Goldberg Variations coupled with the Bach-Busoni Chaconne. The French magazine Le Monde de la Musique awarded it a 'Choc', while Gramophone wrote that: "There's no question that he's a very impressive pianist... [who gives] the sense of profound pleasure in the music... And he's not afraid to experiment with what he can do in this music... An artist to watch."

50 best classics - Various Artists