Donizetti: Don Pasquale (2CD) Riccardo Muti, proverbial for his precision, brilliance and integrity in Italian opera, here brings incisive wit and gentle sentiment to the farce of Don Pasquale. The title role is taken by Sesto Bruscantini, a master of the buffo style, who is joined by two of the greatest Italian singers of their time, Mirella Freni and Leo Nucci, and the eloquent Swedish tenor G�sta Winbergh

GREAT CANTATAS

Brahms's four symphonies lie at the very core of the Berliner Phiharmoniker's repertoire and reputation. With the combination of Sir Simon Rattle's vision and iconoclastic approach, and the orchestra's remarkable technique and unique sound, these performances mark a milestone in the history of Brahms recordings.

The Nutcracker, first seen in 1892, recounts the magical Christmas Eve of young Clara. Her adventures in the company of an enchanted prince inspired Tchaikovsky to such spellbinding numbers as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Waltz of the Flowers and a sparkling series of national dances. In describing himself in an interview as "a complete romantic", Andr� Previn suggested just why his recordings of Tchaikovsky's three great ballet scores, made in the 1970s with the London Symphony Orchestra, have become classics of the catalogue. In their sweep, colour and surging emotion, they exemplify the spirit of late Romanticism, the musical aesthetic at the heart of Previn's repertoire. Over his 11 years as Principal Conductor of the LSO (1968-1979) he and his musicians became something of a media phenomenon, notably with their own series on BBC television, which helped to draw full houses for their concerts in London and on tour.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. It is 40 years since Maria Callas died (16th September 1977), but she lives on as the epitome of the operatic diva. She has never lost her place among the top-selling classical artists. To mark this anniversary, Warner Classics releases this compilation. This collection benefit from the superb new remastering and conveys Callas' compelling genius as a singing actress with a new truthfulness and immediacy: Maria Callas Live and Alive! The passion and charisma of Maria Callas, performing live on the stages of the world's greatest opera houses and concert halls, can now be experienced as never before - thanks to new audio remastering from the best available sources. These are performances that played a crucial part in creating the legend of Callas, La Divina, and which keep her thrilling art very much alive.

THRIVE was composed over the last couple of years, during a period of uncertainty and fear. I have always been convinced that it is in times of adversity that we remember what is essential to us. THRIVE is the inner strength that pushes us to fight in moments of doubt or sorrow. The impulse deep inside us that incites us to search for the best, to look up, to fight to overcome difficulties and reach a kind of fulfilment. This album is for those who feel, consciously or unconsciously, the need to build something else, to seek out new horizons. For those who wish to turn their backs on the things that oppress us and aggress us, on meaningless demands. This is a personal battle at a time when collective awareness is settling in: the planet is spiralling; a vortex. We must change; we can evolve. Many of us want this, and music can be a catalyst. The piano has always helped me find this momentum, and composing for strings has opened up new horizons for me. By taking inspiration from a theme, a melody, or a few notes by the greatest classical composers, I also wanted to show that there is always a personal path. I hope that this album will accompany you or inspire you to find your own way of life, there is always hope. Within us, we all have this ability; this power to transform a difficulty into an opportunity. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward. THRIVE!

Vinyl LP pressing.

The German-born conductor Otto Klemperer, a towering figure in the musical history of the 20th century, died at the age of 88 on July 8th 1973, so 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of his death. His complete recordings on Warner Classics catalogue are being made available for the first time in 2 huge separate boxes; the first volume with the Symphonic Works, Concertos & Lieder (95CD) will be released in June 2023. All recordings are remastered in HD 192/24 from original sources. By the mid-1960s, the 80-year-old Otto Klemperer had recorded the nine symphonies, the Violin Concerto, Fidelio and the Missa solemnis, but not the piano concertos, which he had performed with such legendary figures as Schnabel, Claudio Arrau, Edwin Fischer, Wilhelm Backhaus and, in Moscow in 1936, the young Emil Gilels. In 1967, he recorded Mozart's Concerto K503 with the 24-year-old Daniel Barenboim, the prodigiously talented pianist and conductor, whose recordings of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas were already taking the world by the ears. There was an immediate rapport between the two musicians, out of which came a Beethoven concerto cycle like no other the gramophone had yet given us. Barenboim has said of Klemperer: 'He approached the essence of what he wanted directly and without hesitation. He was not interested in sound as such but in correctness of execution of tempo, dynamics, and orchestral balances, over which he took immense care.' He was, says Barenboim, an uncompromising musician and human being. No orchestra ever doubted the inner strength that emanated from him. At the time the recordings of the piano concertos were made, Backhaus was still alive, as was Arrau, but neither could have challenged, provoked, and delighted the Grand Old Man - or offset his vivid but essentially monumental approach to the concertos - quite as Barenboim did. It was an inspired pairing in which distinct styles of music-making confront one another, yet are movingly and joyously linked in what appears to be (and to some extent was) an improvised act of live music-making.

A pop project featuring orchestral versions of 18 of the biggest sounds in a world-first TikTok album with Warner Classics. Some of the biggest TikTok hits are classically arranged and newly recorded by Germany's internationally renowned Babelsberg Film Orchestra

Hollywood, the new album of German pianist Sebastian Knauer is centred around the music and family story of legendary American film music composer Alfred Newman. He recorded it with the son of Alfred Newman, conductor and composer David Newman and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Alfred Newman, the founding father of the Hollywood sound, composer of the world's most famous fanfare, the 20th Century Fox logo, winner of nine Academy Awards, nominated for 45, friend of Gershwin, Copland, Bernard Herrmann, mentor of Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith and founder of the most successful film music dynasty: his younger brothers Emil and Lionel Newman ("Hello, Dolly!"), his older son David Newman ("Ice Age", "Anastasia"), the younger son Thomas Newman ("American Beauty", "James Bond: Skyfall"), his nephew Randy Newman... and his grandchildren are already starting their careers... George Gershwin or Aaron Copland, Alex North or Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann or Jerry Goldsmith - all the composers on Sebastian Knauer's new album have three things in common: they come from the USA, they have naturally intertwined classical composition and film music and they are closely associated with Alfred Newman.

BLISS is a state of being where fear does not exist. BLISS is perfect happiness and joy. To record this album, I wanted to place myself in this state, physically and mentally. I meditated daily. Silence, nature, beauty and peace help me to alter my state of consciousness, to escape from daily reality and express myself through music. That is my vision of BLISS.

A forbidding and gothic new score by Christopher Young (Hellraiser, Species, Urban Legend, The Grudge, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) for the F.W. Murnau classic 1922 silent-movie 'Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror', one of the most influential films of all time and one that continues to cast it's long shadow across the horror movie genre even still. The perfect match of composer and movie. The recording of this new score was made with Frank Strobel, conductor, Saya Hashino, organ and Tonhalle-Orchester Z�rich.

Daniel Barenboim will turn 80 on November 15th. We are celebrating the great musician, who has had tremendous success since the 60s both at the piano or conducting, with an album made in the mid-90s that is close to his heart and Argentinian origins, though aside of the classical repertoire. Tangos Among Friends - Mi Buenos Aires Querido (named after a tango by Carlos Gardel) proves again all the talent and swing Daniel Barenboim has, and has been a huge success since released by Teldec on CD in 1996. We have revamped the album on a vinyl release, with updated tracklist (to fit on one LP), new album name and packshot. "I spent the first nine years of my life in Argentina and only in Argentina. The rest of the world was far away. Everything Argentinian was close to my heart. The concepts of cosmopolitan existence or international thinking were not yet awakened. The air that I breathed was Buenos Aires, the language that I spoke was Spanish porte�o and the rhythm to which I danced (figuratively speaking...) was the tango! My idol was Carlos Gardel. Nearly half a century later I came back not only to Argentina, not only to my childhood but especially to my Buenos Aires querido and many other wonderful melodies that make up this sentimental record."

This 3LP set is the reissue of the 1954 box initiated by Walter Legge, EMI's famous producer, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Diaghilev's death. The cover reproduces the original illustration purposely designed at the time by Natalia Goncharova, one of the famous set painters of the Ballets russes. The 32-page booklet, richly illustrated with historical photos, sketches of costumes, and sketches of sets, includes the notes from the 1954 edition by Igor Marketvitch. It is in English and French, and features a short excerpt of 'Le Ballet' by Boris Kochno along with work presentations by the British dance specialist Cyril W. Beaumont.

Rudolf Kempe's recordings of Richard Strauss have long been prized for their unparalleled clarity and subtlety in music that has come to define the late-Romantic temperament and it's expression of highly strung emotions, whether in a state of Nietzschean exaltation, on the summits of 'Also sprach Zarathustra' or in the post-war despair of 'Metamorphosen'. Strauss loves the complex textures that Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden clarify with the utmost skill and sympathy