Two substantial Mass settings from Jacob Regnart, sound as though might have written them specifically for the glorious voices of Cinquecento. This is a welcome contribution to the restoration of an important, but still under-appreciated, figure.
Take 13 of the greatest songs that have coem from Broadway, combine them with a world-renowned orchestra that highlights the talents of almost 90 musicians and add in Chesky quality 96 kHz/24- bit audiophile recording, the result is classic entertainment and fantastic sound with Caspar Richter and the Orchester der Vereinigten Buhnen Wien taking you from New York to Vienna as the Musical Goes Symphonic.
Rudy Royston, first-call drummer with Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, JD Allen, Rudresh Mahanthappa and a host of others, is proud to present DAY, his fifth release for Greenleaf Music. DAY is the second outing from Flatbed Buggy, the adventurous, sonically varied small group that Royston premiered on the acclaimed 2018 album of that name. Marked by the low-register richness of John Ellis on bass clarinet and Hank Roberts on cello, the tonal subtlety and harmonic depth of Gary Versace on accordion and the virtuosic authority of Joe Martin on bass, the band debuted with a musical evocation of Royston's youth spent in rural Texas. On DAY, with the same lineup intact, Royston captures the turbulent emotional landscape of a day under xuarantine.
A portrait of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players through the 1970s, through their complete recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and Philips. This diverse range of repertoire receives luxury treatment from the musicians, always centered in beauty of tone and with the kind of joyful freedom of phrasing which world-class orchestral musicians produce when liberated from the authority of a baton. The Boston Symphony Chamber Players were created in 1964, to play at the Tanglewood Festival before the 'main event' of the Boston Symphony's concerts. Before long, the BSCP became the main event themselves, with a programme of concerts throughout the year, and a busy recording schedule. When the Boston Symphony Orchestra began to record with DG in 1970, so did the Chamber Players. Violinist Joseph Silverstein, cellist Jules Eskin and flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer all take starring roles on an album of late chamber music by Claude Debussy, and a new booklet essay by Peter Quantrill outlines the importance of these three superb musicians to the profile and the identity of the BSCP. As led by Silverstein, the repertoire of the BSCP also reflects the inclusive nature of the main orchestra's programming. There is high modernism, in an album of modern American chamber music by Ives, Carter and Porter. There is classic modernism, in immaculately prepared accounts of landmark works by Stravinsky and Schoenberg. There are core Romantic classics such as a Dvorak string quintet and the Clarinet Quintet by Brahms. Then there are delicious rarities such as chamber-scale arrangements of Johann Strauss waltzes. This diverse range of repertoire receives luxury treatment from the musicians of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, always centred in beauty of tone and the kind of joyful freedom of phrasing which world-class orchestral musicians produce when liberated from the authority of a baton. Coming to a close with a glorious pairing of the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms from 1993, led on Philips by the veteran clarinettist Harold Wright, this collection of 'Original Jacket' albums rewards lovers of chamber music with playing of consistent vitality and refinement.
To celebrate Gustavo Dudamel's final season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon proudly presents his final album as leader of the ensemble: Tales of Prokofiev. The two-part release begins with a unique interpretation of 'Peter and the Wolf,' with riveting Hollywood legend and EGOT-winner actress Viola Davis, as narrator. Featuring 10 tracks on vinyl with design elements by the acclaimed artist Alexandra Grant.
Antonio Pappano conducts Rome's Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in two works from the earlier phase of Richard Strauss's career: a comparative rarity, the mercurial, virtuosic Burleske for piano and orchestra, with Bertrand Chamayou as soloist, and the epic autobiographical tone poem Ein Heldenleben, one of the composer's orchestral masterpieces. "Strauss always thought dramaturgically," says Pappano. "Recording this music in Italy, the link has to be through opera, with all it's theatricality, temperament, contrast and colour... You need a certain charisma in the sound, which these players achieve."
Double vinyl LP pressing. Legendary pianist and composer Oscar Peterson led a storied career, spanning over half a century with new creative heights at every turn. 1971 saw Peterson touring the world once again, joined by bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummer Louis Hayes. As heard in this never-before-released live recording from Zurich, Switzerland, the collaboration and artistry between these musicians is unmatched.
Critics and audiences alike have nothing but rapturous praise for the voice of Anja Harteros. Some experts even regard her as the greatest female singer of the present day. With her broad palette of vocal colours, she is the ideal interpreter of Romantic songs for voice and orchestra. The fin de siecle atmosphere of Berg's Seven Early Songs, Wagner's Tristanesque conjuration of love in his Wesendonck-Lieder and Mahler's focus on a world of private introspection in his Ruckert-Lieder offer Anja Harteros ample scope for her multifaceted musical sensitivity.
Florian Weber - "Imaginary Cycle" [2 LP] Idiosyncratic, large-scale and in it's fundamental disposition one-of-a-kind, Florian Weber's Imaginary Cycle, conceived for the unique instrumentation of brass ensemble and piano, is a hybrid of multiple musical languages that seamlessly blends the harmonious with the oblique. Here, Weber presents a cycle in four parts, plus an opening and an epilogue, in which the German pianist is joined by a group of unexpected artists, together performing a work that blurs the line where improvisation ends and composition begins. 2 LP set. Verve Label Group; ECM; Jazz.
Andris Nelsons and the Wiener Philharmoniker explore the brilliance of Bela Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the emotional depths of Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Passionate but restrained, Andris Nelsons conducts both masterpieces with superb clarity and precision: Mahler's famous Adagietto unfolds with "unreal shimmer and dark glow" (BR Klassik). Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in one of the most difficult piano concertos ever written and impresses with "impeccable technique, expressive power, and a touch of swing" (Der Standard). The concert is part of the Wiener Philharmoniker's Mahler cycle with Andris Nelsons.
In 2024, near Wagner's former Zurich residence, where much of the "Ring des Nibelungen" was composed, Opernhaus Zurich staged it's first complete Ring cycle in more than 20 years, performed under the musical direction of Gianandrea Noseda. "In a way, the 'Ring' returned to it's origins," said Andreas Homoki, stage director of Wagner's grandiose myth, which depicts the rise and fall of an entire world, delving into themes of love, fate, courage, and betrayal. At it's core, the "Ring des Nibelungen" is also a family drama about Wotan, the father of the gods, and his struggle to keep and break treaties, about freedom, it's presence and absence, and his desperate attempts to halt the very downfall he set in motion. Homoki's production brings the gods, humans, and mythical beings strikingly close, making their relationships and motivations vivid and compelling through meticulous character portrayal. The same outstanding cast performs across all four operas, heightening the dramaturgic intensity: Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan, Camilla Nylund as Brunnhilde, Christopher Purves as Alberich, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke as Mime, and Klaus Florian Vogt as Siegfried, who also gave his acclaimed role debut in Homoki's Zurich productions. Recorded live at Opernhaus Zurich May 2024
Exclusive Japanese reissue from Universal. During his brief 54-year life, Carl Richter made an indelible mark on the history of Bach performance, recording 76 of Bach's church cantatas and one secular cantata, along with monumental works such as the Matthew Passion and the John Passion. His extraordinary achievements remain a benchmark for excellence in interpreting Bach's music.
From the Fantasie Op. 17 - a pinnacle of lyricism and virtuosity - to the irresistible Carnival Scenes from Vienna, via the Humoreske that bubbles over with invention, Nikolai Lugansky explores three of Schumann's iconic masterpieces for piano: a compelling panorama of an intensely personal musical world, mingling passionate outbursts with ironic daydreams and poetic depths.
Vinyl LP pressing. Bringing together the last sessions of Django Reinhardt for Decca and Blue Star, recorded in Paris from January to April 1953, shortly before his passing at the age of 43. Remastered from the original master tapes and presented on standard black vinyl.
World premiere recording. Mozart's magnificent setting of the Requiem Mass needs no introduction. One of his last works and a landmark of choral music, it is paired on this album with a new and complementary work by the pianist and composer Fazil Say: Mozart ve Mevlana, an homage to Mozart's Requiem, based on the texts of 13th-century mystic Mevlana Rumi. Introducing Mozart ve Mevlana, Fazil Say says: "Mevlana is a great philosopher from the Eastern world - the Orient. I'm from Turkey. I thought: 'Why not unite East and West in love and friendship through texts from the great philosopher Mevlana and quotations from the music of a composer of genius like Mozart in a fluid musical space?... I play all Mozart's works for piano and I have recorded them all. So Mozart plays a very special role in my life... Mozart's music is the music of humanity. Likewise, Mevlana's words unite people regardless of their religion or belief."
2019 release. "The most dramatic piece that Berlioz ever wrote," is how conductor John Nelson describes La Damnation de Faust. The composer designated this thrilling hybrid of oratorio and opera a 'legende dramatique'. Following in the triumphant footsteps of Les Troyens, also recorded at the Auditorium Erasme in Strasbourg, this performance reunites Nelson and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg with singers Michael Spyres, Joyce DiDonato and Nicolas Courjal. This recording was made in the Auditorium Erasme in Strasbourg in April 2019, two years after Nelson, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and a superb cast including Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres and Nicolas Courjal brought Berlioz's Les Troyens to life in the same venue. The associated Erato recording of the huge two-part opera has gone on to win unalloyed praise and multiple major prizes. As the New York Times wrote: "Berlioz's epic opera has rarely been given such luxury treatment as in this magnificent live recording from France."
Recording these works today has become a rite of passage for singers aspiring to being accepted as mature interpreters, also true for violinists with the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and for cellists, with the same composer's unaccompanied Suites. It was not always so. When Ms. Matthews taped her reading of these songs about 1953-4, there had been only a few 78 sets of each and another few on LP. These recordings differ from many others since they are usually performed by men as the protagonists are male. They are sung here by mezzo soprano Inez Matthews. Of women singers only soprano Lotte Lehmann had recorded them before her.
LOVE IS HERE - COMPLETE PARIS 1975 ORTF RECORDINGS
ELEMENTAL MUSIC REC.
Vinyl
$44.99Sep 05, 2025
Pharoah Sanders' COMPLETE 1975 RECORDINGS AT THE MAISON DE LA RADIO IN PARIS. Tranferred from the original STEREO tape reels at the French INA (Institut national de l'audiovisuel). LP mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. Includes an extensive booklet with rare photos from the actual performance by Christian Rose, and an exclusive essay by longtime jazz critic/historian and Down Beat contributor Kevin Whitehead.
The Philharmonic Brass / Overture! / What happens when the illustrious brass sections of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic come together? The answer is The Philharmonic Brass. This debut album is conducted by Tugan Sokhiev and includes virtuoso arrangements of some of the best-known overtures including Verdi's La Forza del Destino and Gershwin's Cuban Overture.
Vinyl LP pressing. Anchored in the idea that, despite all obstacles, the human experience casts a net of possibilities, Defiant Life - Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith's second duo recording for ECM - proves a profound meditation on the human condition and both the suffering and resilience it entails. Recorded within two days at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo, Defiant Life was produced by Manfred Eicher. "This recording session was conditioned by our ongoing sorrow and outrage over the past year's cruelties, but also by our faith in human possibility." - Vijay Iyer
