For the third time on the Phi label, Philippe Herreweghe gives us the opportunity to (re)discover three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach – Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101, Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103 and Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115. After two albums of cantatas written during the composer’s first year in Leipzig (LPH006 and LPH012), the Belgian conductor and his Collegium Vocale Gent, orchestra and choir, will be performing three cantatas he composed during his second year as Kantor at St Thomas’s.

There is a broad consensus that Jascha Heifetz set a standard of violin playing that has yet to be surpassed. Fellow violinists have called him the High Priest of our profession (Carl Flesch), the greatest violinistic influence since Paganini (Ruggerio Ricci), The Emperor (Henryk Szeryng), the King of us all (Pinchas Zukerman), and God (Itzak Perlman). His playing continues to inspire new generations of musicians.

Widely recognised as the finest flautist performing on the world stage today, Emmanuel Pahud has joined forces with the Kammerorchester Basel for his new album of flute concertos by composers from the time of the French Revolution. The album, to be released early March, reveals how the form and the instrument underwent their own musical revolution during this tumultuous period.

20 years after her critically acclaimed début at the Salzburg Festival as Susanna In Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro, Dorothea Röschmann releases her first solo Mozart album, including famous arias from Don Giovanni and Le Nozze Di Figaro. Dorothea Röschmann is in the prime of her voice and referred to 'as one of the leading Mozart sopranos today“ (Der Tagesspiegel). The CD track list not only reflects her at her glorious best, but is also a dream come true for Dorothea: “Mozart is the reason I wanted to do opera,” she says.

Thibault Cauvin is one of the most talented, charismatic and sought-after guitarists in the world today. He is traveling the globe throughout the year at the invitation of the most prestigious festivals and concert halls. His extensive touring schedule ranges from New York to Hong Kong, San Paolo to Istanbul, London to Melbourne or Singapore and Tel-Aviv, being warmly accepted by the critics on more than 1000 occasions. He has also participated in many TV and radio programs and collaborated with famous musicians, composers and symphony orchestras. Considered as an innovative and creative performer, Thibault is regularly the guest of honour at festivals, universities and conservatories throughout the world to give master-classes, lectures or to judge competitions.

This album The Tree of Life follows Daniel Taylor's successful 2015 album Four Thousand Winter.

This is a series which continues to redefine the standards by which these works should be performed. As before, the music spans most of Mozart’s life, from 1763—when he was just seven years old—to 1782, and (another) unfinished present written for his new wife Constanze.

Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake is one of the most popular of all ballets. Fashioned from Russian folk tales, the ballet tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by the curse of evil sorcerer, Odile, the Black Swan. This album presents Tchaikovsky’s immortal ballet music in a new version by conductor Kristjan Järvi. The chronological order of the pieces has been newly arranged to achieve a dramatic arc of tension.

Over twenty-five years ago, Nigel Kennedy made his breakthrough with his recording of Vivaldi s The Four Seasons. The 1989 recording earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling classical work of all time and has sold in excess of two million copies. Now, he returns with a new and fresh interpretation, Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons. Mixed by Damon Reece (Massive Attack, Goldfrapp), who also did the electronic drum programming, Kennedy deconstructs this classic piece in a daring, modern way.

Recorded at the Golden Hall in the Musikverein Vienna in 2012, this is two of the most important works of Mozart’s ‘middle’ period that Harnoncourt has never recorded with a period-instrument orchestra before. Harnoncourt is well known for his unique interpretation of Mozart and this is reflected by the highly flexible playing and phrasing from the orchestra. This album marks the 60th anniversary of the collaboration between Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien.

Brand new recording of all Luther cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Half a millennium ago, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther launched this movement by posting his 95 theses on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church. Two centuries later, inspired by Luther’s words, & fully in the spirit of the reformer’s aim of spreading his theories via hymns, Johann Sebastian Bach composed what is probably the most significant body of cantatas based on Luther’s texts.

Universally recognised as the finest cellist of his generation, Gautier Capuçon has a firm reputation as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He is a regular performer with the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, NHK Symphony, and at festivals such as Verbier and Lugano, and has won several awards at the ECHOS and the Victoires de la Musique.

Pablo Heras-Casado enjoys an unusually varied conducting career—encompassing the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, historically informed performance and cutting-edge contemporary scores. He has served as Principal Conductor of Orchestra of St. Luke’s since 2011, now extended to September 2017. OSL began as a chamber ensemble based at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields in Greenwich Village.

'One glance at Schubert's trio, and the miserable hustle and bustle of human existence vanishes, the world takes on fresh lustre', wrote Robert Schumann in 1836 of Schubert's Piano Trio D898. He was equally admiring of the Viennese composer's other great trio, D929, notably its funeral march-like Andante con moto, later to achieve cinematic fame in Kubrick's 'Barry Lyndon'.

Mention Marie Antoinette, and inevitably the guillotine springs to mind – one is less likely to think of the harp, which, according to courtiers’ accounts from the end of the Ancien Régime, she played admirably.